Gil Landau and Yael Shoshana Cohen of Lola Marsh speak with the cadence of old friends, easily completing each other’s sentences and telling stories in tandem. On the eve of the first show of their U.S. tour, the duo and I talked about how the magic is made, and where it all began. You can check out the schedule for their shows at SXSW here!
How did you get started as a band?
Yael Shoshana Cohen: We always say we met at Gil’s birthday party, but we actually met before. We met through a mutual friend one night and we played Foo Fighters and Disney songs together.
Gil Landau: Yael is a Disney geek.
Yael: I remember we played “Baby Mine” from Dumbo. We had a songbook.
Gil: But we didn’t click then. It was just for fun…
Yael: It was a cute night. But at Gil’s birthday, we really clicked.
How did you decide on this name for your band?
Yael: We just sat with a bunch of friends [and came up with the phrase].
Gil: We needed a name, and it sounded good! We liked it. It was originally “Marsch” with a “C.”
Yael: But people called us “Lola March,” so we put in the “S.” People think it’s a person, or a place. I don’t remember who suggested it.
Who or what influences your music?
Yael: Artists and things around…my grandmother. Sufjan Stevens. We love him and are inspired by him. Nina Simone, Fleet Foxes.
Gil: The bands were different when we started. At first, it was back to the roots, like Elvis, Moody Blues…then Bon Iver, MGMT, LCD Soundsystem. We took a little bit from each one.
Remember Roses is one of those rare albums that I really enjoy from start to finish, so thank you for that.
Gil: Thank you so much!
Yael: Thank you. It’s a dramatic, romantic album!
When I heard “Wishing Girl,” I knew I was going to love it. I’m a sucker for anything with whistling in it.
Gil: [Laughs] Okay, next album will just be…
Yael: I’ve loved to whistle since I was a child.
Gil: She’s the best. Actually, on this track, it’s me whistling.
Yael: Really? It was not me?
Gil: Well, we recorded you, but–
Yael: –It was too good.
Gil: We wanted something more rusty.
What can fans expect from a Lola Marsh show?
Yael: We have a suitcase full of flowers and [we set it up] like a garden. We create an atmosphere so that when a person comes to our show, he’ll forget he’s in a club.
Gil: We’re trying to tell a story during the show, both visually and with the setlist. It’s very dynamic and connected. It doesn’t feel like a regular concert.
You like to transport the audience.
Gil: And ourselves.
What’s your favorite song to play live right now?
Gil: It changes all the time. We supported Milky Chance in Europe, and we didn’t do our regular live set for a few weeks. Then we had one show in Israel for 45 minutes, and I really enjoyed every song.
I like that you can’t pick one!
Yael: That show…they were so loving. It felt like home.
How was touring with Milky Chance?
Yael: They’re cool people. Very fun to be around. And they have an amazing crowd.
Gil: It was a really good experience for us. Being support isn’t always easy, but they made it so much fun.
Yael: The crowds were really loving and after the shows, I went to the merch stand and talked to people who discovered us and bought the CD. So we gained some new fans!
What’s the weirdest or most unique venue you’ve played?
Yael: A boat in Switzerland! The stage is on a boat.
Gil: There’s the boat, and the river–
Yael: –And the people are sitting on the stairs on the banks.
Gil: So in order to get to the stage, we had to take a little boat.
Yael: We were on this boat and people were clapping [as we went by]! On the stage, it was challenging, because they were far. I felt I needed to do bigger moves. It was beautiful.
Have you had any touring drama? Has a band member ever been left behind in another country?
Gil: Actually, totally. Our drummer lost his passport in Vienna, Austria, and we had to go to Paris. We were like…good luck with that! [Laughs] He managed. He took a bus to Paris.
Yael: It was hard to leave him behind.
Not a terrible place to be trapped, though, Vienna.
Gil: Right! Then the last time we came to the U.S. from Canada, all of us passed immigration, except our keyboardist.
Yael: The plane was late and we had half an hour to run to our connection. And immigration closed right after me! He was literally standing behind me, and they were like, “Nope, closed.”
Gil: Trapped in Toronto.
Yael: But we had luck, because the show wasn’t the same day. [Whispers] It was pretty funny.
Gil: Touring in Europe, our guitarist put his hand in the car door and our sound engineer slammed the door by accident. He played the whole tour with a bandage.
Yael: Once, my suitcase got lost, and people from the audience in Poland gave me dresses. We got to the show and we went to H&M and it was so hot. I wore a dress and during the show, I told the audience it wasn’t my usual dress…and after the show, two girls brought me clothes for the rest of the tour! That was amazing.
Sounds like you’ve been through quite a lot. Who would you still love to tour with?
Yael: Sufjan Stevens! Easy.
You’re also playing at South By Southwest for the first time this year.
Yael: We’re excited and intimated by it! We’ll jump into the water and see what happens.
Gil: It’ll be good vibes.
Are you working on the next album yet?
Gil: We’re writing and trying to have time for it! After this tour, we’re going to write and demo for two months. Hopefully we’ll start recording after the summer.
What’s your writing environment like?
Gil: I’m usually in my home studio [in Tel Aviv]. Drinking lots of Turkish coffee. I love it.
What’s the process like? Do you write songs separately and trade, or get in the room together?
Gil: Both. When both of us come to a meeting ready with any idea, we’ve done a bit of homework, so something good will probably happen. We listen to music, take a walk.
Yael: It’s strange. It feels like this cosmic thing, that we have between us. Sometimes we don’t have any idea, and one of us will take an instrument and start playing, and suddenly we have a song. I’ll have watched a movie and I have an idea.
Gil: One minute it’s like, shit, we have nothing, I hate writing, we don’t know what to do.
Yael: [Sighs] So dramatic.
Gil: Or it’s like, hey, that’s really good. That’s why I think it’s hard for us during tour. We have to focus.
If someone hasn’t heard you before, what song should they listen to first?
Yael: “She’s a Rainbow.” It has our DNA, I think.
Finally, what are you passionate about outside of your work?
Yael: I love to dance! But we don’t have much time…
Gil: Chill with my friends. Drink coffee, meditate, read books. I just started Harry Potter for the first time. I finished the first book. Wow! It’s amazing.
Yael: Watching movies. I loved Call Me by Your Name. Scavenging for furniture on the street.