motel void

South African-born, Berlin-based artist Lucy Kruger is best known for her solo project Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys and her work with the duo Medicine Boy. In this conversation, Kruger reflects on her journey from Cape Town to Berlin, the restless pull of live performance, and the creation of her upcoming album. She discusses writing Anchor, the first single from the new record, finding balance between touring and creativity, and her complex relationship with the music industry and streaming culture.

MOTEL VOID: You’re originally from South Africa but are now based in Berlin. Could you tell me a bit about the context of that move? And do you still return home from time to time – maybe even for shows?

LUCY KRUGER: Playing live — however nerve-wracking — is what I love most, and what most effectively quiets my existential drone. It was difficult to find ways to do that consistently in South Africa.

In 2015, André Leo and I started Medicine Boy out of curiosity about how our voices would sound together, and from a shared drive to tour. We made an EP and immediately began booking our own European tour. It took a lot of emails into the void, but it eventually led to a couple of months of playing across Europe and the UK — a very profound experience. My suspicion that playing live was the best teacher was confirmed.

After two EU tours, we realised that building something sustainable while based in South Africa would be difficult. We wanted to be somewhere where touring consistently would be possible. Berlin became the choice largely for bureaucratic reasons – it’s stimulating, of course, but also one of the few places where artists with South African passports can practically base themselves in the EU.

I return home as often as I can, usually to play shows. My family lives in Cape Town, so I mostly perform there, but last year the band came with me and we played in both Johannesburg and Cape Town — which was wonderful. I hope to keep doing that whenever possible.

MOTEL VOID: I first came across your music in Berlin, when I attended a concert of your side project, Medicine Boy. You’ve been also consistently releasing solo work since 2014, when your first EP came out. How has your approach to writing, recording, or even to music in general changed over that time, if at all?

LUCY KRUGER: It’s hard to say exactly, but I hope there’s been a sense of constant exploration — however slow or subtle — throughout the years. I’ve tried to be less afraid of not knowing, which of course is how you learn, even if only a little.

After every album, I seem to want more of something and then go looking for it. I try to slowly sidle up to the things I’m a bit afraid to explore, because they’re usually what I’m seeking.

MOTEL VOID: You’ve just released your new single Anchor. Will it be part of your upcoming album? Can you tell us something about the story or inspiration behind the track?

LUCY KRUGER: Anchor is the first single off the upcoming album. Musically, I was trying to make simple beats or loops that felt new to me — with a kind of sensuality and strangeness. My initial intentions usually disappear once I start, but they give me a quick way in before I get happily distracted.

Lyrically, this one feels quite exposing. Much of the album does. There’s a fall from grace, and a longing to return to a purified state — which of course doesn’t exist. Perhaps it’s something in my upbringing that makes me believe such a thing is possible, and makes the desire to return even more distressing. But maybe it’s less cynical than that — maybe it’s simply a longing for simplicity and safety, for some kind of fundamental truth and love.

MOTEL VOID: From what I’ve seen, you’ve been touring quite heavily – how difficult is it to find time for songwriting with such a schedule? Do you usually write on your own, or collaboratively with the band?

LUCY KRUGER: I’m still figuring that out. Lately, it’s been hard to find time to write with all the touring. I’ve had to become more intentional about carving out time — it doesn’t happen accidentally in between. I fantasise about being someone who writes on the road, but I haven’t managed that yet.

I’m quite shy about writing collaboratively in the very first stages of a song, but once there’s a seed or a heart, I’m very hungry for input from the band.

MOTEL VOID: Lately, there’s been a lot of discussion around Spotify, with some bigger bands even leaving the platform. Since you’ve been releasing music for more than 10 years, you’ve also experienced the pre-streaming era as an artist. What do you see as the main positives and negatives of streaming?

LUCY KRUGER: Oef. This is a hard one for me. I shudder a bit every time I hear the word industry connected to music — though I know that’s naive, and that we need to face questions of streaming and sustainability with strength, intelligence, and some sense of unity.

I’m grateful to those who are asking the hard questions and taking a stand, because I’m still finding my way there. None of the current structures make much sense to me — but that’s true for many systems under capitalism. It’s remarkable that anyone is still trying to make music a viable profession. It’s a bit mad, really, and it speaks to the overwhelming desire to make and share. I hope it makes more sense one day. (I think I avoided the question a bit — I’m sorry.)

MOTEL VOID: Do you have plans for another tour in support of your new album?

We’ll be on the road for much of next year performing the new record. I’m very much looking forward to sharing it live.