Caroline

A conversation with Caroline Lufkin

(April 2006)

Interview by Daniel Brody

Photograph by Olivia Lufkin

Somewhere on the path to becoming a Japanese pop superstar like her sister, Caroline Lufkin decided that the pop music machine was too hard on her craft, and ran off to America to pursue a quieter road to artistic success.  After e-mailing her songs to Temporary Residence Records, home of experimental rockers like Explosions in the Sky and Mono, the label offered her a deal.  One listen to her debut album Murmurs, and it is easy to see why: songs like “Where’s My Love” and “Bicycle” are some of the most gorgeous and delicate electronic love songs you will hear all year.

Last month saw the release of Murmurs as well as her first live gig at South by Southwest.  It is all a bit of a whirlwind for Caroline, who only recently graduated from the Berklee School of Music in Boston.  In the midst of figuring out how to take her intimate studio jams to the stage for a full-fledged tour, Caroline chatted with The Red Alert about the strange turns life took on the way to inevitable indie rock superstardom.

You just played your first live show ever at South by Southwest.  How did that go?

I was pretty nervous, but I think under the circumstances it was pretty good. 

Where did you find the musicians you played with?  Did they play on your album as well?

No, actually they were my old friends that I found from college.  I knew them in Boston, and I moved to LA and found out that they lived here so I asked them to play.  We basically threw it together in a month and a half.

Is there gonna be a tour?

Yes, I know we’re going to Taiwan soon, as well as some other dates in Asia, and hopefully in the fall we’ll be touring the US. 

Is there some buzz over in Asia for you as well as here?

Honestly, I don’t know.  I think so!  (Laughs)

Supposedly you were being groomed to be a Japanese pop singer.  What intervened to keep you from doing that?

I was in the industry for a while, working on the album for months and months, and basically they kept on telling me to change things and I didn’t want to change them, and it didn’t work out.  They were trying to make the music super-pop, and I couldn’t quite deal with it. 

Was it similar to American pop, in that you would have had to make videos and dance around?

A little bit.  Basically they just wanted to speed my songs up a lot, bumped up to dance tunes.

You mean the songs on Murmurs?

Yeah, they wanted all those songs at double the speed.

I can’t imagine that at all.

I was crying in the studio, and then just kinda quit.

So at the same time, you were studying music at the Berklee school in Boston.  When you went to Berklee, had that been your first time spending a lot of time in America?

I lived in North Carolina and California when I was younger, each for a year and a half or two.  My dad was in the military, so I lived in the states for a few years before Boston.  But Boston was definitely the longest I ever stayed.

What did you think of Boston?

I loved it.  If it wasn’t for the winters I would live there. 

A lot of your lyrics on Murmurs reference childhood.  Do you miss that time?

I feel like I still am a child, maybe.

Do you wish you could go back?

No, it’s nothing like that.  (Giggles)

How did you get hooked up with Temporary Residence?  You sent them a link to your website?

I sent them an e-mail asking them if I could send in my demo, and when I signed my name I added in the link to my MySpace, and he checked it out, and he wanted to sign me in a few days.

What made you pick them in particular, or were you sending your music out to a bunch of different labels?

I was researching a lot for cool indie labels when I was in Japan, and I think it was at Tower Records in Japan, they had a huge display for the label in the store.  Every single artist was amazing, all the artwork was beautiful, so I had them in mind for a long time, and it was definitely my first pick.

You are often compared to certain female electronic artists.  Does that bother you or do you find it flattering?

Well, all the female electronic artists are usually grouped together anyway, but I don’t want to be compared to other artists too much because then it makes it seem like you’re not unique.

What artists got you into that glitchy, down-home electronic sound?

Well, I love Lullatone, Manual, and Opiate.

One song that stands out to me on your album is “Everylittlething.”  It seems harsher than most of the other songs.  Are you naturally usually drawn to softer sounds?

A lot of the album was written while I was in college, and “Everylittlething” was one of my later songs, so it depends on the time period.  “Everylittlething” and “Pink and Black” were some of my newer songs.

Do you think those songs are indicative of the creative direction you might take?

I don’t know.  I haven’t really written any new songs in a couple of months, so I have no idea, I am kinda curious myself.

Besides touring, what else do you have coming up in the next few months?  Any offers for film scores?

A lot of people want me to sing on little projects, commercials and video games, stuff like that.  Nothing too big. 

How long have you been in L.A.?  What do you think?

Less than a year.  I love the weather.  I don’t know about the whole driving world, I’m still getting used to that.  I love having some space to write, and having my own room.  I’ve been living out of a suitcase for a while.

Do you have a favorite museum?

I loved Tokyo’s art exhibitions.  They have these little cafes that would sponsor art exhibitions, and I miss that.  I miss all the lounges and the art on the wall.  I haven’t been around L.A. enough to know too much about it yet. 

Who did the artwork for your album?

My sister and I did it.  We went around taking pictures in Tokyo, and she made most of the drawings and collages.