Lion Babe Interview

Having taken 2015 by storm with their hit track ‘Treat Me Like Fire’ we speak to Jillian Hervey and Lucas Goodman of LION BABE about their plans for 2016, the release of their new album ‘Begin’, and hanging out with Pharrell and Beyoncé!

We saw you at Heaven in London back in November, what a gig! What do you make of the
UK crowds?
We’ve heard they can be pretty stiff but we have to disagree. We always see them dancing
and having a blast. The UK has been so supportive of us since the beginning, so we always
like to give them a good show.

So Jillian, you’ve got some serious dance moves when you’re on stage, did you study ballet at all? We were highly impressed with your flexibility!
Ha, thanks! Before LION BABE I was dancing professionally in NYC. I have been dancing
since I was two so I am much more trained as a dancer than a singer. I grew up doing
modern and then later branched out into ballet, jazz, contemporary, African and
improvisation and lots more in college.

We also love the fillers you put in-between tracks at the live shows referencing acts such
as Missy Elliot, Erykah Badu… would you say these are your musical influences?
People love this question. Covers are a nice way for us to show our audience who we admire
while also showing what ways we would change a song, plus it’s a great way to get the
crowd going. Missy and Badu are just two of the many people we love.

Lucas, the production is so refreshing, and it’s so cool to hear some proper RnB/Soul again, why have you strayed away from the “dancey electronic” vibe that’s everywhere else?
Thank you. A lot of the songs on the record were started within the same time as tracks
like ‘Treat Me Like Fire’ and ‘Jump Hi’… that’s when the first ideas came about. Those tunes
are kind of all of a certain sound and feel. It’s just what we were into at the time. Being
out in the UK, we’ve definitely been exposed to more dance type sounds, which we dig too.
The more rhythmic soul feel is just what we’re rooted in. We want to mess with all sorts
of sounds though – electronic punk rock vibes or something.

Your music is described as ‘Neo Soul’ would you agree with this term? Do you at all feel
‘post modern’ in this sense?
Neo Soul is a little bit dated in our minds. When we think of that genre it really was an
area where we think of Jill Scott, D’Angelo, Floetry, Badu, and The Roots to name a few
that really caught everyone’s attention and crossed into the mainstream, (‘90s early 2000s). While we love the association, we don’t identify as one type of sound. We are definitely
rooted in soul, but if we had to call it anything it might be future soul.

So 2015 was a really successful year for you two, what’s in the mix for 2016? Can we
expect to see you at any festivals?
We are hoping for 2016 to be our best year yet. So happy to have our album ‘Begin’ out
and of course we would love to play more festivals, especially since we have new music
coming.

‘Treat Me Like Fire’ is probably your best known track amongst the fans you’ve picked up
over the last few months. Be honest, are you sick of singing it? We still love it!
Not at all, it is by far our favourite song and the one we feel best represents us. Happy to
sing it forever.

Your fan base is really varied, right from 20-somethings to 40-somethings; what do you
think it is about your music that strikes a chord with so many people?
We always try to think universally when it comes to our sound. The timeless music is the
kind that you can hear with you grandma or out with friends, so we definitely tap into a
bunch of flavours for all different people.

With a family in the “biz” you’ve probably grown up with quite a few famous faces around, however have their been any starstruck moments for you both since Lion Babe blew up?
There have been amazing encounters via phone and in person. When we got a personal call
from Rick Ross early on it was super exciting! We also got to meet Beyoncé at Pharrell’s
Grammy party and that was definitely a moment! I mean it’s Queen B!

How did you two meet and start producing music together?
We met through a mutual friend years back when we were both in the early part of college
and then reconnected through that same friend years later. Lucas scored a dance piece I
was choreographing in college, and after that went well, we started talking about the idea
of making music. The whole collision was very organic.

So, Jillian is on vocals, Lucas is on production, but do either of you play any other
instruments at all?
We both grew up playing instruments; Lucas started on the guitar and now dabbles on
keys, bass and drums and I played the trumpet all through grade school until the end of
high school.

If you could perform with any other artists, who would you choose and why?
It would be amazing to perform with Kendrick Lamar because he is such a strong performer
and so ground breaking – and also Justin Timberlake, I would love to dance with him.

Thanks so much for your time!

By Hannah Shakir