Photo: Shervin Lainez.
Molly Lewis, a professional whistler.
So many kinds of jobs in the world! And anyone who doesn’t see the ideal job out there can always invent one. In the case of Molly Lewis, she joined a very small elite of professional whistlers.
Shane O’Neill writes at the Washington Post, “If you’re a comedian, at some point you’ve gotten the dreaded ‘Tell me a joke!’ from a stranger. If you think that’s bad, try being a professional whistler. ‘It happens all the damn time,’ said Molly Lewis with a smile. ‘Sometimes I’ll oblige.’
“Lewis’s first album, ‘On the Lips,’ was released [in February]. She’s hoping that it can raise the profile of whistling. ‘People often don’t have a reference for whistle music apart from a jingle or a riff in a bad pop song,’ Lewis said. ‘I think it’s a beautiful instrument.’ …
“People are beginning to take notice. Her whistled cover of Billie Eilish’s ‘What Was I Made For?’ appeared in the Barbie movie, once in a scene and again during the credits. …
“Believe it or not, Lewis brings depth and nuance to a form that is usually cheerful or absent-minded. Still, she’s aware that there’s something novel and kitschy about what she does. … One of her chief inspirations was Marty & Elayne, the husband-and-wife lounge duo with a cult following in Los Angeles. ‘They played for 37 years, five nights a week, and it was this very special, beautiful thing,’ Lewis said. ‘They had great outfits.’ She bristled when this reporter implied that some people didn’t care for Marty & Elayne’s brand of camp. …
“Lewis learned to whistle when she was 4 years old. She occasionally fielded compliments from strangers, but hadn’t taken her talent seriously until she saw Pucker Up, a 2005 documentary about competitive whistling. She attended the International Whistlers Convention in Louisburg, N.C., in 2012 and has been plying her trade in music clubs ever since.
“Lewis’s whistling has brought her to a residency in Mexico and a show in Shanghai, but Los Angeles remains home.
‘To me, L.A. is a magical place where you can make a living doing wonderful, strange, creative things.’
“There, she has found a community of show people on the creative fringes, including puppeteers and theremin players.
“Starting in 2017, Lewis curated a series of shows called Café Molly at the Los Angeles music club Zebulon that drew the likes of actor John C. Reilly, Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs and singer-songwriter Mac DeMarco. She also appeared at an open mic held at Canter’s, a beloved time capsule of a Jewish deli near West Hollywood. …
“On tour, she would strive to create an atmosphere of louche elegance. ‘I wanted to make a show that felt like the kind of show I would want to go to,’ she said. ‘Beautiful, lounge-y, something where you want to get dressed up to go.’ …
“Now, with ‘On the Lips,’ she wants to bring that experience home. The album comes with instructions on how to enjoy it: ‘Mood lighting is a must — the record will not play if you have bad lighting. Splayed on a chaise lounge with eyes closed works too.’ “
More at the Post, here. And speaking of whistling, check out my 2015 post on a Turkish whistling language, here.
Thanks for expanding my knowledge of music and art forms.
I like how she refers to her whistle as an “instrument” the way opera singers refer to their voice.
Yes, I noticed that too!