Molly Lewis is L.A.-famous for her very particular skill set.
Now shes coming to New York.
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Afew months ago, atGreta Gerwigs 40th-birthday party, Molly Lewis walked in and began to whistle Happy Birthday.
No one seemed especially surprised.
In fact, they knew precisely what was happening the Whistler was whistling.
Some including Gerwig were moved to tears.
I appreciate L.A. so much, she says.
I wouldnt have been able to do any of this if I didnt live here.
I really believe that.
Its a city that really cultivates the weird and the wonderful.
Lewis is 33 and has been whistling in an official capacity for the past eight years.
Her teeth were kinda suited for it, says Berman.
She had a little space.
I remember her making these, like, alien noises.
Incidentally, her father, the Emmy-winning director Mark Lewis, mostly makes films about niche subcultures.
She won her first albeit slightly A-for-effort-ish award for her skill: Whistler Who Traveled the Greatest Distance.
(She was living in Berlin at the time.)
From then on, I always felt like every performance led to something else, Lewis says.
I said, Holy crap!
Like, who even whistles like this?
says Reilly over the phone.
(Karen O had invited her via DM.
I dont know how she found me, Lewis says.
I hadnt really performed much.)
Being a professional whistler in Hollywood has led to some truly odd jobs.
She recorded in the studio withDr.
(His producer stumbled upon her randomly.
He was looking more generally for dope whistlers.)
He asked me to whistle Just a Closer Walk With Thee and Danny Boy, she says.
He was lovely and still himself and asking the nurse for a smoke.
Reilly naturally has joined her.
So have many others.
He says he was really blown away.
And I said, There is no one who whistles like her!
Thats like asking, Isnt there someone else who sounds like Stevie Wonder?
BeforeBarbie,Lewis had been releasing EPs through her label, Jagjaguwar, for a small but dedicated listenership.
After her name appeared on the score, things changed.
Theres just so much happening in New York, she says.
I think it could really invigorate the place, says Reilly.
Despite all this, Lewis says she doesnt think a career in whistling has longevity.
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