From party trick to pop star — meet Molly Lewis, professional whistler
6/12/202651 min
Molly's niche career began over a decade ago when she entered a whistling competition on a whim and she now performs all over the world.
Her music sits somewhere between birdsong and the soundtrack to a film noir.
Born in Sydney, Molly moved to Hollywood as a baby before returning to Australia for high school in Byron Bay.
Once she realised her talent was more than just a hobby for family and friends, she began performing live with musicians in LA and has collaborated with the likes of Dr Dre, Beck and Karen O.
Mark Ronson even asked her to whistle on the Barbie soundtrack.
Now Molly is at the centre of a new documentary, Whistle, which follows whistlers from around the world as they prepare for the Masters of Musical Whistling competition.
This episode of Conversations was produced by Jen Leake, the Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.
It explores whistling, music, art, film soundtracks, Hollywood, LA, Byron Bay, whistling competitions, African Grey Parrots, Mark Ronson, Barbie, Alessandro Alessandroni, Ennio Morricone, The Good the Bad the Ugly, Harry Dean Stanton, Cafe Molly, John C Reilly,African Grey Parrots, Mark Lewis
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMolly Lewis· Guest0:00
ABC Listen. Podcasts, radio, news, music, and more.
Richard Fidler· Host0:05
When I was a kid, old folks used to whistle all the time. They'd amuse themselves by whistling these merry and jaunty little tunes, and it made them seem younger and approachable. People don't whistle so much these days, but Molly Lewis does. [whistling] Molly's an Australian American who whistles her own tunes. They're gorgeous and cinematic and lush and a little eerie. They're both weirdly comforting and unsettling at the same time. Molly's music lands on your ears like something between birdsong and the soundtrack to an impossible film noir movie. [whistling] Molly Lewis has collaborated with musicians as diverse as Dr. Dre and Karen O, and many others. She's performed all over the world, and she even whistles a little Billie Eilish tune in the Barbie movie. Molly released her debut full-length album, On the Lips, in 2024, and she's now at the center of a new documentary playing at the Sydney Film Festival called Whistle, which follows a group of whistlers from all over the world as they prepare