The Shoe Turns Heads With the Freest of Styles

Los Angeles —True artistry is defined by constant evolution; something which actress-turned-singer Jena Malone knows all too well. Malone has been conquering the big screen for more than a decade, but her bad ass Hunger Games: Catching Fire role was far from the peak of her career. Now, she and composer Lem Jay Ignacio are using their talent and quirky charm to take over the music industry with The Shoe.

After a chance meeting in 2008 that lead to six hour-long jam sessions, the twosome formed the scat-happy band that thrives off of eclectic instruments, Ignacio’s classically trained ear, and Malone’s improvisation. In celebration of their debut LP, I’m Okay, the duo took their inventive electronic instrument called “The Shoe” and their floating songs to The Roosevelt for a free marathon of performances on Tuesday. The results? Dreamy

The Shoe’s first performance at the glamorous celebrity haunt was a scene to be remembered. With the romantic lobby as their backdrop, the audience hovered over a daybed where Malone’s animated voice harmonized with Ignacio’s sound engineering. Vulnerable diary-like songs like “Paper Cup” traveled through Hollywood’s historic halls to tell a tale of woman who has experienced plenty, but still has a lifetime of lessons to learn. Fans and wandering hotel guests got a glimpse into the mind of an actress’ journey into self discovery: “I’m just a paper cup/You can fill me up/ It’s not enough to be simple anymore/ It’s just this big old empty door.”

A few hours later, The Shoe set up on a platform in front of the hotel’s far-trendier Tropicana pool. A much larger, hipper crowd emerged as the pair delivered even more ooey- gooey rhymes that melted with the warm summer night. Malone may have felt embarrassed about spilling water on her speakers, but her giggly shrug and a freestyle scat about her adorably clumsy move proved that her persona isn’t a charade. Yes, their lyrics are entrancing, but in between songs of lost love like “Dead Rabbit Hopes” and “I’m Okay,” Malone’s lyrics about her very unique perspective of the world around her were the most enchanting of all.

It was just so wonderfully uninhibited and tender. The night felt more like a poetry slam that just so happened to be in the company of Ignacio’s sophisticated yet delicate melodies. Like Malone’s unique on-screen persona, there is a star quality about The Shoe with an ethereal sophistication that is only beginning to shine.

Ariela Kozin: You both have been making music for years. Why did you decide to collaborate with one another?

Jena Malone: I think the most beautiful things happen without even knowing they’re happening. When we first met we just started making music together. It was only within two weeks of us jamming that we were finally like, “Oh, this is kind of rad.” We were literally jamming for 6 hours a night for almost two weeks. It just happened naturally.

Lem: Yeah, we never said, “Let’s start a band.” All of a sudden, we were in the middle of getting together and jamming all night. We were just freestyling songs.

AK: I’m Okay isn’t freestyling though?

JM: The title track actually is a freestyle. Every other song came from freestyle and then we molded.

LJI: We recorded and then we would go back and rework the freestyles after the fact, but almost all the songs came from an original jam from 11 AM or 11 PM.

AK: I understand that the band’s name actually comes from an instrument Jena created called The Shoe. What made you want to create a whole new instrument and how did you come up with that name?

JM: I was making music alone in my bedroom a lot when I was working with my old band, Jena Malone and her Bloodstains. I got to a point where I wasn’t working with other musicians and I wasn’t a musician. I was just playing around and overlaying things. I thought, “What is the most terrifying thing for me to do?” It was for me to put all my instruments into one little box and start playing on the side of the road. I wanted to become a better musician. I thought, “How do I build it?” I had this steamer trunk that was full of my lingerie and I was looking at it and I was like, “That’s it!” I carry it around and it’s like my shoe. I’m like this old woman who wants to live out of her shoe and carry around her children inside. Then I met Lem Jay and it just became a whole other thing. Depending on the show or environment, I will create or recreate a Shoe for that performance.

AK: Besides what comes from The Shoe, there are a lot of experimental sounds on this album.

LJI: When we’re recording, we’ll usually put down the vocal and something simple. A lot of times, to get the percussion element, I get ideas from Jena’s percussion and drumming because she always comes up with parts that are kind of from a less musically trained point of view. It’s always random rhythms, like tap dancing, and it always works so well with our songs. She would be playing back the tracks on her headphones and she would start hitting her suitcase with some mallets or she would take drum brushes, almost painting the walls in my garage.

JM: I’ve always kind of been the drummer in the band, even though I’m not. I like to put on tap shoes or do something while I’m freestyling.

AK: Do you feel your songs are confessional?

JM: We started making the songs and it wasn’t about singing out, it was about singing in. I play with more of my real voice instead of the character voice. I love singing in so many different characters, but it is so much more intimate to try to find my voice. I have a really tough voice, you know? It’s not very trained.

LJI: Yeah, it’s interesting you said that. Especially the first track, “I’m Okay,” which came out of a complete freestyle — almost verbatim. When we were relearning it to record it, I was having a hard time with it because it’s not like a traditional song with a verse and a chorus. I was kind of getting frustrated with Jena because it felt like a monologue to me. It just went on like an open monologue, both musically and lyrically, which I think is really challenging and interesting.

AK: How is your musical style different or similar to your acting style, Jena?

JM: In acting, the perimeters are there. I’m not building the perimeters; I’m fitting myself into the perimeters. With music, the character, the production, the lyrics, and the structure — I get to create it all. In that way, I can’t help but want to f**k shit up when I’m creating music. Actually, freestyling music taught me about acting in a way. I had never been that kind of person and now I’m more of an improvisational actor and less worried about failing. You have to fail. You have to put yourself out there. You never know what you have until you do it and that’s when something amazing happens.

AK: What is next for The Shoe?

JM: We’re going on tour with the Thompson Hotels. Tomorrow [ the Roosevelt Hotel release party] is just the beginning. We’re going to be doing these creative takeovers. We’re going to do multiple shows a day in every Thompson hotel across the United States and Canada. It’s just the beginning and they will all be free.

LMI: And unlike our Roosevelt shows, we’ll also be doing them in stranger places. We want to do performances in elevators and girls’ bathrooms.

JM: We’ve always played in improvisational spaces. I like taking the audience out of where they’re used to. I like performing in spaces that are kind of off.

LMI: It’s just an extension of what we’ve always done. It’s just a little more organized.

CLICK HERE to discover when The Shoe will be visiting your town. In the mean time, download I’m Okay HERE.

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Ariela Kozin

Ariela was born and raised on Los Angeles' creative hunger and booming sounds. She grew up humming the Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan records her mother played on repeat until a driver's license gave her the freedom to obsessively explore the live music scene. It only seemed natural that when Ariela went to journalism school, she paired her love of writing with her passion for discovering amazing new music.