Speaker 1: Loud and Quiet presents Midnight Chats. Hey, what's up everyone.
Speaker 1: Thank you for downloading this episode of the podcast. This
Speaker 1: is Midnight Chats from Loud and Quiet Magazine. My name
Speaker 1: is Stuart and my guest tonight is the incredible Sharon
Speaker 1: van Etten, who I hadn't met until now. A friend
Speaker 1: of mine actually asked me if we know all the
Speaker 1: people before they come on, which I took as a
Speaker 1: very big compliment. Sometimes we have met some of these
Speaker 1: artists before through doing the magazine and other things, but
Speaker 1: a lot of the time we really haven't, and they're
Speaker 1: always very nice. You know, there's a couple. There's a
Speaker 1: couple who are not very nice. I won't name them.
Speaker 1: But Sharon Vanetten I hadn't met, and I watched some
Speaker 1: videos of her online just to try and get an
Speaker 1: idea of like the kind of person she's going to be.
Speaker 1: And I thought, that's someone who I think is going
Speaker 1: to be extremely lovely and very easy to talk to,
Speaker 1: very quickly from the off, and that couldn't have been
Speaker 1: more correct. I did a pause then for dramatic effect,
Speaker 1: but it could have been more correct. Sharon was lovely
Speaker 1: and we spoke for an hour, and I mean it
Speaker 1: could have gone on. I'm not sure if she maybe
Speaker 1: felt that, but I could have spoken to her for ages.
Speaker 1: She's done a lot this year. She's released her fifth album,
Speaker 1: which is called Remind Me Tomorrow, and there's been five
Speaker 1: years between that and her previous album, which is called
Speaker 1: Are We There, And in that time her plan was
Speaker 1: to kind of just calm down, not do so much,
Speaker 1: get off the road, and just live life a little bit.
Speaker 1: But she's filled that five years with having a baby
Speaker 1: and falling in love and becoming an actor as well.
Speaker 1: So a lot of this episode of the podcast is
Speaker 1: not really music based. We get to the music about
Speaker 1: halfway through, but the first half is me talking to
Speaker 1: Sharon about her love for comedy. She loves comedy and
Speaker 1: wanted to be a stand up. She's even tried stand up.
Speaker 1: She talks about that. She talks a bit about becoming
Speaker 1: a mother, her son is currently two years old, and
Speaker 1: what else comedy, writing films, meeting David Lynch says a
Speaker 1: lot in this one. It's also the podcast out of
Speaker 1: all of the ones that I've recorded, that has the
Speaker 1: most midnight feel to it. On What I mean by
Speaker 1: that is it's very kind of loose. Sharon's from New Jersey,
Speaker 1: but she lived in Tennessee for a while and it's
Speaker 1: got that kind of oven. Just calm to it, I think,
Speaker 1: or she does at least, and then you know, every
Speaker 1: now and then I start honking, laughing and ruining the mood.
Speaker 1: But it's very mellow this listen, so I hope you
Speaker 1: enjoy it. If you do, please do subscribe. Listen back
Speaker 1: to our previous episodes, and yeah, I'm going to just
Speaker 1: leave it there, so please enjoy this episode of Midnight
Speaker 1: Chats with Sharon Vannatt. And thanks very much for Sharon
Speaker 1: for coming on. And we didn't speak that much about
Speaker 1: the new album, but you should go and check it out.
Speaker 1: It's called Remind Me Tomorrow. It came out earlier this
Speaker 1: year and it really is a great record. So thanks
Speaker 1: to Sharon for coming on. And I should just say
Speaker 1: that we start the conversation halfway through Sharon and I
Speaker 1: talking about different places we've djayed, and me talking about
Speaker 1: djaying our wedding of a friend of mine. So with
Speaker 1: that in mind, here we go. Doing a wedding was
Speaker 1: just hard.
Speaker 2: Because people have so many requests on top of and
Speaker 2: they get so angry and you are because they get
Speaker 2: drunk throughout the night and then they want to dance. Yeah,
Speaker 2: there's too many slow jams. The crowd gets anxious.
Speaker 1: Yeah exactly, and the crowd is to split because there
Speaker 1: were some old there were some young people, and they
Speaker 1: just kept asking for drum and bass. But we were
Speaker 1: at a wedding and that probably wasn't very appropriate for
Speaker 1: the older.
Speaker 2: People who want to get out there too, yeah exactly.
Speaker 1: And then those people were quite angry when we play
Speaker 1: younger stuff and the young people were angry and we
Speaker 1: played like classic stuff and I was driving, so I
Speaker 1: had to be sober the whole time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, a wedding sober.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was long, it was like and when we finished,
Speaker 1: they all kind of started booing us that we'd finished,
Speaker 1: and they wanted us to play more, and people were
Speaker 1: really drunk by them. So just don't do it, that's mine.
Speaker 1: Just just just don't do it. Just wedding ever, never, just
Speaker 1: stick to the tour of us.
Speaker 2: Well, actually, there's a funny song. A friend of mine
Speaker 2: got married and a song came on but I I
Speaker 2: never really connected with before, but in the context of
Speaker 2: this day, I just heard it in a different way,
Speaker 2: and that that song by a Hot Chocolate.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, which one like you sexy thing?
Speaker 2: Yeah, but like when he says the way he says
Speaker 2: miracles makes me laugh so hard because like I believe
Speaker 2: in move like the way he I just started cracking
Speaker 2: up and like now it's one of my favorite songs
Speaker 2: and my my partner and he actually just proposed to
Speaker 2: be so we're starting.
Speaker 1: To congratulations that's.
Speaker 2: Your first Yeah, exactly that that. You know, some people
Speaker 2: like you want to be something romantic like no, we
Speaker 2: want to like go out with a bang, like we
Speaker 2: want to we want to like mess mess it up.
Speaker 1: Yeah, have you set a rough date? Do you know what?
Speaker 1: Just in terms of year you get.
Speaker 2: Okay, so maybe we don't have time. It's going to
Speaker 2: be this insanity. I mean we're on top of me
Speaker 2: touring all summer and relocating from New York to North
Speaker 2: Carolina to Los Angeles. I mean it's going to be it's.
Speaker 1: Too much, too much. At the moment, you're still in
Speaker 1: New York, right.
Speaker 2: Yes, we're in New York until June and.
Speaker 1: Then you're the plan is to go all the way
Speaker 1: west to La Yes, but you're going to North Carolina.
Speaker 2: First, Yeah, because I'm touring all summer, like two weeks on,
Speaker 2: two weeks off, and we have family down there, so
Speaker 2: we figure let's see as much family as we can
Speaker 2: before we go on the opposite coast of where everybody lives.
Speaker 2: And then and then we'll take a breather and try
Speaker 2: to settle down for a minute. But it's you know,
Speaker 2: and with a little one, we want to make sure
Speaker 2: he sees his grandparents, yeah, uncles.
Speaker 1: And how did the proposal go? Were you? Were you
Speaker 1: expecting it?
Speaker 2: I didn't. I did not suspect it. I mean I
Speaker 2: knew that he was going to ask me one day. Yeah,
Speaker 2: he used to be married, so like that, we had
Speaker 2: the joke where I'm like, why don't you just be
Speaker 2: single for a while and enjoy that? And so I
Speaker 2: knew that he was gonna ask me. And we have
Speaker 2: a kid, so you know, I was like, that was
Speaker 2: the ring, you know, But I knew when he did it.
Speaker 2: He's a romantic like me, so I knew it was
Speaker 2: gonna be really special. And I come back from my
Speaker 2: US tour that lasted like three weeks, and we got
Speaker 2: a babysitter just to go on a date. So that
Speaker 2: alone I was so excited, We're going on a date
Speaker 2: like we you know, as new parents, Like I think
Speaker 2: most people know that it's just really hard to get
Speaker 2: a moment. And so he surprised me with tickets to UCB,
Speaker 2: which is like improv comedy in New York, which I'm
Speaker 2: a huge fan of comedy. So we went there, and
Speaker 2: then we went to dinner at a place that's kind
Speaker 2: of on our bucket list of places. It's called Minetta
Speaker 2: Tavern and it's in the village and it's just one
Speaker 2: of the oldest restaurants in the neighborhood and just very
Speaker 2: classic New York kind of cocktail, steak potatoes, like burg
Speaker 2: They're known for their burger and their cocktails. And we
Speaker 2: had a great dinner and he asked if I wanted dessert.
Speaker 2: I said, actually, let's go to my old hood and
Speaker 2: grab a cocktail. And this old bar that we used
Speaker 2: to go hang out at and listen to jazz. It's
Speaker 2: like a speakeasy. You know, there's no sign, there's just
Speaker 2: a guy standing at the door that doesn't want you
Speaker 2: to come in. So he's like, oh, that's perfect because
Speaker 2: I wanted to stop by this place and it's on
Speaker 2: the way, so we got a cab and he pulled.
Speaker 2: He told the cab driver to pull over, and it
Speaker 2: was in front of my old apartment on West fourth Street,
Speaker 2: which is a sandwich between a sex shop and a
Speaker 2: bar and right next to the music ind kind of
Speaker 2: and you know Dylan the Street. He's like, I wanted
Speaker 2: to get a photograph of you in front of your
Speaker 2: old apartment because this is, you know, represents our relationship
Speaker 2: and where we start dating. And then he took a
Speaker 2: picture and showed it to me, said some nice things,
Speaker 2: and then he pulled out a couple photographs from his
Speaker 2: pocket and it was him and my son picking out
Speaker 2: the wedding ring in North Carolina when we were there
Speaker 2: in December for Christmas. And he's held onto this ring
Speaker 2: since then, and so my son helped him pick out
Speaker 2: the ring. He even had it on his finger. So
Speaker 2: I started crying, and he said some more nice things.
Speaker 2: Then he asked, if you know I wanted him to
Speaker 2: get down on his knee. I said, yes, I want
Speaker 2: you to get down on your knee.
Speaker 1: I think he was thinking at this point, this is
Speaker 1: surely enough for me to not have to get down
Speaker 1: the name.
Speaker 2: I was like, oh, no, get down on your knee,
Speaker 2: and so like we had a good laugh, and like
Speaker 2: I was kind of floored. And you know, West Fourth
Speaker 2: is very busy. It's like a major train station area,
Speaker 2: and so there were passerbys that caught it, and so
Speaker 2: like they like said, you know, they take some photos
Speaker 2: like well he was on his knee, and they're like
Speaker 2: say yes, and so it was really sweet and nice.
Speaker 2: You know. I just I said yes, and then I
Speaker 2: think I said thank you. I appreciate it. So yeah,
Speaker 2: so now we're you know, we went and got a
Speaker 2: cocktail and there's a great jazz band playing and we
Speaker 2: we just.
Speaker 1: That's brave of him to to hold onto it for
Speaker 1: so long for a few months. The ring, because when
Speaker 1: I proposed to my wife, I went and got the
Speaker 1: ring and I was so panicked to be in possession
Speaker 1: of this really expensive thing that I almost just threw
Speaker 1: it at her when she walked in. And it wasn't
Speaker 1: it wasn't very romantic at all. It wasn't I don't
Speaker 1: think it was what did you do? It wasn't that.
Speaker 1: It wasn't what you just described put me to shame.
Speaker 1: But I wanted you mentioned about about being a fan
Speaker 1: of stand up comedy. Is it true that you wanted
Speaker 1: to be a stand up or if you tried stand
Speaker 1: up recently?
Speaker 2: I tried to stand up once in LA because my
Speaker 2: babysitter convinced me and she was putting together a variety
Speaker 2: show and she's a comic and improv and writer.
Speaker 1: And how long ago was it? So this is only
Speaker 1: like what year ago?
Speaker 2: Yeah? This is last year when I was making the record.
Speaker 1: Okay, and you'd never done stand up before?
Speaker 2: No, no, no, no no no. I mean I'm a
Speaker 2: silly person.
Speaker 1: How did it go?
Speaker 2: Let's just say I printed out like a five page
Speaker 2: thing that I referred to when I got nerded, I
Speaker 2: had a glass of wine in one hand, and I
Speaker 2: apologized like every other joke. It was fun and it
Speaker 2: was like a warm crowd. It was like our friends,
Speaker 2: did it go?
Speaker 1: Did it go well?
Speaker 2: I wasn't booed, you know, And it was like a
Speaker 2: mix of like since it was a variety show, like
Speaker 2: there were people people, you know, there were stand up,
Speaker 2: there was a comedy troupe and you know there's a
Speaker 2: reading and from a book and it was a good. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it was like a very welcoming crowd.
Speaker 1: How long was your bit, It's.
Speaker 2: Like fifteen minutes.
Speaker 1: That's long. Long, that's long for someone starting out. I thought,
Speaker 1: when you start out, you do like five.
Speaker 2: That's probably what I should have done. It's probably what
Speaker 2: I should have done.
Speaker 1: What was what was your material?
Speaker 2: Then?
Speaker 1: What were your what were the things you were talking about?
Speaker 2: Hi? My name is Sharon Bennett and I'm a songwriter.
Speaker 2: I have a band, and I fell in love with
Speaker 2: my drummer who was married because I am an adult
Speaker 2: and I can make my own fucking decisions and now
Speaker 2: he's my manager and he can make my decisions before me.
Speaker 1: And that was is this your delivery as well? I
Speaker 1: like the delivery is amazing, but it was a.
Speaker 2: Pretty dead pit was like, and uh, it was kind
Speaker 2: of awkward, you know, and it's like, you know, it's like,
Speaker 2: you know, I like the awkward laughter in the audience,
Speaker 2: and then like I went, I'm just kind of telling
Speaker 2: our story and the awkwardness of you know, being in
Speaker 2: a bend and having feelings and you know, it's a
Speaker 2: lot more complicated than that, but you know, you have
Speaker 2: to make light of the seriousness.
Speaker 1: That's a brave thing to do.
Speaker 2: Though.
Speaker 1: I go to see stand ups sometimes but I generally
Speaker 1: am instantly embarrassed for them, even even as soon as
Speaker 1: they come on. I'm so I'm too scared that they're
Speaker 1: going to be terrible. We had to stand up where
Speaker 1: I used to DJ in my bad student union. On
Speaker 1: a Saturday night before the DJing happened, they had a
Speaker 1: comedy night and I saw a guy there totally totally
Speaker 1: die in front of it. Was it was. It was
Speaker 1: terrible to watch.
Speaker 2: It's got to be the hardest job in show business.
Speaker 2: I just it's so specific, you know. At least with music,
Speaker 2: I feel like people can connect with it on their own,
Speaker 2: in their own way, whereas with comedy, it's like you
Speaker 2: have to be on, you have to be funny. It's
Speaker 2: funny or not.
Speaker 1: Would you do it again? Would you?
Speaker 2: I don't know. I feel like delivery isn't my strong
Speaker 2: I'm interested in the writing process though, and my babysitter
Speaker 2: and I are actually toying around with the idea of
Speaker 2: working on a show together. I had this idea of
Speaker 2: kind of like a not quite a sitcom but high
Speaker 2: maintenance style, but it's more babysitters, So it's like a
Speaker 2: mother and her relationship with her babysitters because it's such
Speaker 2: an intense relationship, but you get put in the most
Speaker 2: awkward circumstances where there's a hierarchy. Have babysitters and they
Speaker 2: become a part of your family. And as a mother,
Speaker 2: it's so liberating to trust someone enough to leave them
Speaker 2: alone with your child so you can go about your
Speaker 2: life and like figure out how to work again. But
Speaker 2: you get put in these like weird situations where you're
Speaker 2: like every now and then, it's like I don't know
Speaker 2: this person, but I'm just gonna have to trust that
Speaker 2: they're a good person and like whatever. And there's one
Speaker 2: time I came home and the babysitter left, didn't say anything,
Speaker 2: she was totally fine, and like the apartment smells like shit,
Speaker 2: Like what is going on? And I look at the
Speaker 2: monitor and the whole entire crib is just covered and
Speaker 2: shit And she chose not to wake him up, to
Speaker 2: clean him up or change his diaper.
Speaker 1: Is this the same baby saying that you did the comedy.
Speaker 2: Show for no? This? Yeah, this is we call her
Speaker 2: last resorts.
Speaker 1: Okay, so she's still there just in case, Well, we.
Speaker 2: Probably will not call on her again. But I could
Speaker 2: not believe that. I was like, how do you let
Speaker 2: a baby sleep? And shit like that was terrible.
Speaker 1: So when you discovered this, did you you called her
Speaker 1: and said what No?
Speaker 2: I was like, that's not something you confront you like,
Speaker 2: you're not calling them back?
Speaker 1: Okay, right right right?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Yeah, well like things like that. And or there's
Speaker 2: one time where the babysity that is the comedian she
Speaker 2: she taught my kid how to pick up the remote
Speaker 2: and use it as a phone and she would say hello,
Speaker 2: and so my son would pick it up and go hello,
Speaker 2: like you know, the hello motion, like the cell phone
Speaker 2: kind of thing. And she walked in the door one day,
Speaker 2: uh to come to work, and she saw me doing
Speaker 2: her her little thing. She's like, that was like our thing,
Speaker 2: you know, like I was stealing my babysitters moves. Because
Speaker 2: in all reality, babysitters have more experience than I do.
Speaker 2: You know, as a mom, I have two ears under
Speaker 2: my belt and they have way more than I do.
Speaker 1: So do you have like different babysitters in different towns?
Speaker 1: The comedian is your la? Is that your la babysitter
Speaker 1: when you're when you're over.
Speaker 2: That side, yes, And I'm getting a Rolodex, you know,
Speaker 2: as I you know, meet more moms around the world.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I definitely don't have babysitters everywhere. But you know,
Speaker 2: it's something that every time we choose to bring our
Speaker 2: son when we go somewhere, we ask our friends for advice.
Speaker 2: And it's funny too, because people get very territorial because
Speaker 2: if you end up moving somewhere and you use your
Speaker 2: babysitter and their babysitter likes you more, or you call
Speaker 2: on the more, or they go to get a date
Speaker 2: night and they're taken by you, it gets weird. They're like,
Speaker 2: we can't go out because you got her.
Speaker 1: You've got You've booked a babysit.
Speaker 2: Sol her from us. So it's funny. Especially in New York.
Speaker 2: People get really like, I'm like, do you know anyone?
Speaker 2: They're like no, kind of like okay, I get it.
Speaker 2: I get I'll look up somebody.
Speaker 1: You're Meanwhile, you're passing on the name of the person
Speaker 1: who lets your baby just sleep covered in shit.
Speaker 2: Oh yes, yes, yes, she's fantastic. She's very relaxed.
Speaker 1: That sounds like a good rich source for a comedy,
Speaker 1: and I've not heard of a comedy about babysitters and
Speaker 1: the relationship between babysitters.
Speaker 2: And parents, and everybody has different needs, and I think
Speaker 2: I think there's like a whole new wave of shows
Speaker 2: coming out that are about new mothers and how vulnerable
Speaker 2: that is and the expectations that come with, you know,
Speaker 2: especially mothers that feel guilty for going back to work.
Speaker 2: Because I think that's just a society right now, is
Speaker 2: that both partners have to work to make it. Especially
Speaker 2: if you live in a city, it's just kind of
Speaker 2: there's or if you're a creative person, it's like you
Speaker 2: have to work or you're not happy and you're not
Speaker 2: as fulfilled. And it's my partner and I are both
Speaker 2: like creative and work a lot, and we're in the arts,
Speaker 2: and we know it's going to be a struggle, but
Speaker 2: we also want our kid to grow up watching us
Speaker 2: struggle and figure it out and do what we love.
Speaker 2: But it's a struggle, and there's a lot of people
Speaker 2: helping us make a work, and I think that that's
Speaker 2: definitely not something that's talked about enough.
Speaker 1: Sure, so, how far have you got in planning this show?
Speaker 1: Have you written any of it? Have you actually written
Speaker 1: any of that? Written it?
Speaker 2: I have. I have episodes sketched out, and like, basically,
Speaker 2: you know, it's it's loosely based on my life, where
Speaker 2: the joke is so like the sitter that I'm writing
Speaker 2: this with is hopefully going to be the main character,
Speaker 2: or at least it's based around her, depending I don't
Speaker 2: even know if I'm actually going to be in it
Speaker 2: or if it's just loosely based on me. It would
Speaker 2: be kind of be fun to direct somebody else. But
Speaker 2: my so, my friend who's who are collaborating is her
Speaker 2: name is Bridgid Ryan. So my character is this write
Speaker 2: songwriter in New York who she's in such a happy
Speaker 2: place in her life that she's just not inspired to
Speaker 2: make a record. So her label comes and checks in
Speaker 2: on her to see how she's doing. She's like, actually,
Speaker 2: I'm doing really great. My kid is great, everything's great.
Speaker 2: But I I'm so happy. I just can't write. I
Speaker 2: can't write right now. So you know, I actually got
Speaker 2: offered this acting job in LA and I think I'm
Speaker 2: gonna take it and just kind of take a break
Speaker 2: and try something new and hopefully that inspires me to
Speaker 2: write a record. And my label is so amazing and understanding.
Speaker 2: Then they let me go, and so I go and
Speaker 2: I and I have to find a sitter to help
Speaker 2: me land this new job while we relocate to Los Angeles.
Speaker 1: And sounds this sounds quite familiar, right, Yeah?
Speaker 2: And then but my sitter is such a mess that
Speaker 2: at the end of every episode she tells me about
Speaker 2: what's going on in her life and how terrible and
Speaker 2: chaotic and dramatic it is. And I am inspired by
Speaker 2: her life and I start writing songs based on her
Speaker 2: about her nice. Okay, so like, and that's that's part
Speaker 2: of the plot.
Speaker 1: I started watching The o A last night. I did.
Speaker 1: I didn't know that we can necessarily get it over
Speaker 1: here because our Netflix isn't the greatest.
Speaker 2: Yes, for some reason, it's not the same, which I
Speaker 2: don't Yeah.
Speaker 1: We don't get all the same stuff, but we do.
Speaker 1: But I found it and I watched episode one. But
Speaker 1: you're not in episode one right, right? But it's creepy.
Speaker 1: Tell me a bit, like for anyone who's not watching
Speaker 1: this is this is a show that's on Netflix. You're
Speaker 1: in six episodes in series one, right.
Speaker 2: Something like that?
Speaker 1: And serious series two started or is it?
Speaker 2: Yes, it just got released, and so you know one
Speaker 2: thing is an older person. That I'm learning is that
Speaker 2: they put it out and it's the whole season. You
Speaker 2: can binge watch the kids do today.
Speaker 1: Yeah? Absolutely, so that How would you describe the as
Speaker 1: I say? It's very it's as I say, I've watched
Speaker 1: episode one so far.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a sci fi. It's a dark sci fi
Speaker 2: about a scientist that kidnaps people that have near death
Speaker 2: experiences and does experiments on them.
Speaker 1: And you and.
Speaker 2: And I'm a captive hilt in his basement.
Speaker 1: Right, so I've not got that far yet. I've got
Speaker 1: as far as the o A is the name of
Speaker 1: the lead character, right, yes, and she is, just she's
Speaker 1: escaped episode one. She's escaped from having been captive for
Speaker 1: seven years. Meanwhile, your character, I've not got to yet.
Speaker 1: What's your parents called?
Speaker 2: Rachel?
Speaker 1: Rachel? Rachel's still there. I presume I'm going to get to. Okay,
Speaker 1: I don't want to. Okay, I don't want to. That's fair.
Speaker 1: What kind of character's Rachel?
Speaker 2: Is that?
Speaker 1: What can you tell me that doesn't spoil it for anyone?
Speaker 2: Well, this is the first acting role I ever got offered,
Speaker 2: and this was literally two weeks into me going back
Speaker 2: to school. After I took a break from the road intentionally,
Speaker 2: and so I was nervous to audition because I.
Speaker 1: Felt like, did you have to go and do the read?
Speaker 2: Like I did a reading in front of Aby Kaufman,
Speaker 2: who was the casting director, who is like a big.
Speaker 1: Casting and you've never done anything like that before, You've
Speaker 1: never done any acting.
Speaker 2: Never done any acting. I had one audition for like
Speaker 2: Girl the Dragon Tattoo.
Speaker 1: Did you for what part? For the big the part?
Speaker 2: Yeah? But I was terrible on and yet it I
Speaker 2: had no idea what I was doing and I did
Speaker 2: it with my phone and like a boy myself.
Speaker 1: And was it the one that was Is it Rooney
Speaker 1: mahra They made this one?
Speaker 2: I think it was around twenty ten, twenty eleven, because.
Speaker 1: There's one with Daniel Craig and there's one with someone else.
Speaker 1: There's a David Fincher one. Anyway, anyway, I.
Speaker 2: Think it was the Fincher one though, Okay, first one.
Speaker 1: Right, yeah, yes, okay, see right, So that was the
Speaker 1: only thing.
Speaker 2: I didn't get it, and which is fine. I don't
Speaker 2: think I was meant for that role. But I was
Speaker 2: intrigued with Rachel because she her biography was like very
Speaker 2: close to my life. So, like she grew up in choir,
Speaker 2: she ran away from home to pursue music. On the way,
Speaker 2: something terrible happens and her life changes forever, and she
Speaker 2: is scared and vulnerable but like empathic and and I
Speaker 2: just you know, I felt like I could draw from
Speaker 2: personal experience to be a believable Rachel.
Speaker 1: I'm going to keep watching I'm In I'm hooked. It
Speaker 1: ends that first episode kind of are they all an
Speaker 1: hour a long?
Speaker 2: No, they're all different, Like, okay, right, because.
Speaker 1: That first one's quite a long while, but I was
Speaker 1: it was. It's weird, isn't it. It's not really that long,
Speaker 1: but in the modern world, Yeahvan TVLand. That's so when
Speaker 1: you went for the for your audition, like, had you
Speaker 1: had you always thought I'd quite like to give acting
Speaker 1: a go.
Speaker 2: No, definitely not, it's just for were you.
Speaker 1: Just so, how did this kind of come about?
Speaker 2: Well, Like I grew up in choir and musicals. I
Speaker 2: was in musicals in high school. And when I was
Speaker 2: in high school, I thought I wanted to be on
Speaker 2: Broadway until I started writing my own songs and then
Speaker 2: I found this superpower. So then that was the path
Speaker 2: that I took from high school and I stayed on
Speaker 2: that path until I'm thirty eight now. So I'm finally
Speaker 2: making a living at thirty eight. So with you kids
Speaker 2: out there that think you want to do music, think
Speaker 2: about that for a second. But I mean, I I'm
Speaker 2: interested in it. It came about because the assistant to
Speaker 2: the casting director was at a Nick Cave show. I
Speaker 2: was supporting Nick Cave in twenty thirteen, and he saw
Speaker 2: our performance and two years later, somehow in his mental
Speaker 2: rolodex emotionally what the character called for in the script.
Speaker 2: He's I was one of the people he thought of
Speaker 2: to audition. Well, I think they wanted it to be
Speaker 2: a singer and not an actress first, And rumor has
Speaker 2: it that other like I think Angel Olsen got asked
Speaker 2: to audition, and I think my friend Jen Wessner from
Speaker 2: Yo got asked audition as well. So like they're looking
Speaker 2: for something specific.
Speaker 1: So did they read for it? Do you know? I
Speaker 1: don't know, I'm Chinese. Do you know who you beat
Speaker 1: for this?
Speaker 2: I mean I think it was more of like they
Speaker 2: just couldn't do it. So I don't think I like
Speaker 2: beat them. I think they were just like they had
Speaker 2: so much stuff going on. You know, most musicians are
Speaker 2: touring months out of the year, and when they're not touring,
Speaker 2: they're making a record like That's so I'm surprised that
Speaker 2: it worked out for me, and my school deferred my
Speaker 2: enrollment so I could take that and then go back
Speaker 2: the next semester, and then I got pregnant in between.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So in that the five years since are we
Speaker 1: there and the new record, You've filled it up with
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff. There's just been a lot going on.
Speaker 2: It's pretty insan.
Speaker 1: It's almost as if you'll now have decided to like
Speaker 1: tour record to relax for a little bit, Like I
Speaker 1: need to relax.
Speaker 2: It gets sleep.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I need to sleep. I need to eat properly.
Speaker 1: So I'm going to go on the road.
Speaker 2: I have one meal a day, wake up with no voice,
Speaker 2: and the hope that it comes back by the time
Speaker 2: the show starts.
Speaker 1: You also, so you're also in the remake of It's
Speaker 1: not really remake is it? This next series of twin Peaks?
Speaker 1: Were you just performing a track in that or were
Speaker 1: you a part I've not seen the new series of
Speaker 1: that at all.
Speaker 2: We performed, we performed, yeah, yeah, Okay, in the roadhouse.
Speaker 1: Did you meet mister Lynch?
Speaker 2: I did?
Speaker 1: What was it like? We had him on the cour
Speaker 1: magazine about five years ago. I didn't meet him, but
Speaker 1: a photographer who was in LA who shot him at
Speaker 1: his house described him as he said that there was
Speaker 1: an area around him. He said that at one point
Speaker 1: David Lynch touched him on the shoulder and asked him
Speaker 1: what it like where he'd like him to stand, and
Speaker 1: he said it was an incredible feeling of being touched
Speaker 1: by an amazing person. Does that sound familiar?
Speaker 2: He is the definition of intentional, you know. It was.
Speaker 2: The whole thing was surrounded by mystery and and and
Speaker 2: we didn't have a lot of information, but basically, very
Speaker 2: last minute, we booked a red eye light to be
Speaker 2: out there, you know, just me and my partner who
Speaker 2: plays who played drums on the last record, and we
Speaker 2: had two friends that were just living in LA so
Speaker 2: we could just have them on call and they would
Speaker 2: pick us up and like have the gear, and you know,
Speaker 2: we're just flying by the seat of our pants. So
Speaker 2: we take the Red Eye. We get there in the
Speaker 2: morning and we're waiting for the call and they give
Speaker 2: us a call and they give us an address, and
Speaker 2: we show up and to this undisclosed location and there's
Speaker 2: a mysterious door that somebody opens once we call this
Speaker 2: number and they open the door and we walk in
Speaker 2: and we're in the roadhouse and like Eddie Venner had
Speaker 2: just finished performing, and all the other bands that are
Speaker 2: playing or are waiting in the wings, and the audience
Speaker 2: is already there, and you're walking through and you just
Speaker 2: feel like you're in the film already, and behind the
Speaker 2: audience the director's chairs and David's sitting there with his megaphone,
Speaker 2: chain smoking and like analyzing every little thing from the
Speaker 2: light to the angles of the light, to the order
Speaker 2: of the height of the audience and you know, just
Speaker 2: making sure that and like the placement of an amp.
Speaker 2: He's like hands on with everything.
Speaker 1: Did come Did he come and speak to you before?
Speaker 2: He didn't speak to us before. Well, when we finally
Speaker 2: set up on stage and he basically just asked us
Speaker 2: to perform, and we ran at once, and he moved
Speaker 2: a couple things, very small moves, and then we did
Speaker 2: it again and he's like, are you guys happy? I'm like,
Speaker 2: if you're happy, I mean I have saw I need
Speaker 2: you know, if you stay, We're good. We're good. And
Speaker 2: so I walk off stage and you know, he shakes
Speaker 2: my hand and says thank you for being a part
Speaker 2: of it, and he's you know, just's squaring the eye
Speaker 2: and said, thank you, shake my hand. And his son
Speaker 2: is a big fan and he was, you know, complimentary
Speaker 2: of my style, but also asked about my jag, my
Speaker 2: jag because he has a Jaguar as well, and so
Speaker 2: like I let him like mess around with it, and
Speaker 2: he was super psyched. And his name is Riley Lynch
Speaker 2: and he was I think in his twenties. Okay, right, yeah,
Speaker 2: so he's I think he he turns his down onto
Speaker 2: music as well, right, and he has he has a
Speaker 2: good ear. So it was it was nice to meet.
Speaker 1: It sounds like it felt like being in a dream.
Speaker 2: It was very dreamlike. I mean literally, it's like even
Speaker 2: Trent Reznor was waiting in the wings like when we
Speaker 2: were there.
Speaker 1: Did you know any of the others that had you
Speaker 1: met any of the other bands before?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean we've cross paths. I've been a fan
Speaker 2: of Pearl Jams since I was a teenager.
Speaker 1: Did you get the feeling they were as kind.
Speaker 2: Of everybody wasn't everyone's super humble being quiet spectators, like,
Speaker 2: you know, because there were booths in the back, so
Speaker 2: like all the artists were in the booths behind the
Speaker 2: director's chairs. There's one bathroom upstairs where it's like whatever
Speaker 2: artist is on next, they're getting ready. So as I
Speaker 2: was packing my things up after I had finished, Trent
Speaker 2: Reznors coming in and he shook my hand as we
Speaker 2: like just for trading positions, you know, we're all just
Speaker 2: kind of like and I'm peeing my pents as well, okay, cool,
Speaker 2: just checking like so it's no, it was really really special.
Speaker 1: That sounds great. Yeah, And once you move over there,
Speaker 1: you can just be doing this on a weekly basis.
Speaker 1: This can this is just going to be your world.
Speaker 2: About that?
Speaker 1: Are you going to are you going to pursue acting?
Speaker 2: Though I'm interested in all angles. I think I want
Speaker 2: to learn more about the writing process, and I'm hopefully
Speaker 2: going to be working on a score and I'll have
Speaker 2: a home studio while I'm out there, so I can
Speaker 2: hopefully help other people make music too. Like I think
Speaker 2: producing is interesting for like not super full on production,
Speaker 2: but like helping young songwriters kind of find their voice
Speaker 2: and give them a space to let go and be
Speaker 2: themselves and maybe take some acting classes. Because I have
Speaker 2: no idea what I'm doing up there.
Speaker 1: I'm just like, well, you must be doing something. Maybe
Speaker 1: that's the key though, because in the OA, for example,
Speaker 1: they obviously wanted wanted you to be you to an extent,
Speaker 1: you know, but I suppose maybe not, not all roles would.
Speaker 2: Be Yeah, but I did get to take like an
Speaker 2: improv class with my my friend that's my babysitter, and
Speaker 2: maybe we yeah, we did. We did an improv You
Speaker 2: can do like drop in classes that are just one
Speaker 2: off right at Groundlings.
Speaker 1: Oh, the Groundings, Like that's a big famous like improv place,
Speaker 1: Like yeah, a lot of the Saturday night Live.
Speaker 2: Guys come from absolutely Okay, So like UCB is one,
Speaker 2: Groundling is one, and so there's just there's so many
Speaker 2: outlets there.
Speaker 1: But the real culture of that in the States that
Speaker 1: we don't have here. We don't have improv classes at all. Really,
Speaker 1: I don't think it's even a thing. Like you can
Speaker 1: go to a theater group or we call it am
Speaker 1: dram amateur dramatics, but it's not necessary. It's not like
Speaker 1: improv is a thing. Isn't it like that's more you
Speaker 1: join a theater club and they're going to put on
Speaker 1: a production of a Twelfth Night in a local theater,
Speaker 1: than you audition for a role and you get your
Speaker 1: role in.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's pretty classic.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but the Groundlings is like comedy sketches, isn't it?
Speaker 2: Yeah, like learning how to fly by the seat of
Speaker 2: your pants, you know, like an upright Citizens Brigade is similar.
Speaker 2: And Second City is another one right where like a
Speaker 2: lot a lot of comedians to come up through there,
Speaker 2: but they also have in New York and LA. There's
Speaker 2: also straight up acting schools that you can go to.
Speaker 2: But you can also just seek out an acting coach.
Speaker 2: You know. I saw an acting coach for my auditions
Speaker 2: that I've taken. I saw a lot to learn, pretend
Speaker 2: like I'm good. I have no idea what I do.
Speaker 1: I think it's like a super brave thing to do.
Speaker 1: I thought when I was like in school, I thought
Speaker 1: I'm going to be an actor. I was in like
Speaker 1: school plays and things. What were you I was in?
Speaker 1: Any of my friends listeners will laugh at this because
Speaker 1: I remind them of it, especially my wife. I remind
Speaker 1: her all the time that I was Bugsy Malone in
Speaker 1: Bugsy Line, I was it's my big moan. It's all
Speaker 1: been downhill since I was fifteen, and I believe that
Speaker 1: I peaked. I peaked at fifteen. I just got out
Speaker 1: of the game and I was in the crucible. We
Speaker 1: did some like and I was in What did I?
Speaker 1: Because I studied like some drama at like a level
Speaker 1: and I went to UNI and did a bit, but
Speaker 1: I did it at UNI. But actually so we went.
Speaker 1: I went to university to study drama, thinking I'm going
Speaker 1: to go and become an actor. And then I got
Speaker 1: there and it was all very It was more like
Speaker 1: avant garde performance, and everyone on the course thought they
Speaker 1: were going to be on TV and in the movies.
Speaker 1: And we got there and we were just learning about
Speaker 1: things that are actually much more interesting, but not really
Speaker 1: what we were into because we were all eighteen and
Speaker 1: thought we were going to be famous, and it was
Speaker 1: like art performance and people kind of cutting their arms
Speaker 1: and bleeding on stage for twenty minutes, bleeding out on
Speaker 1: stage and being taken tolls of it and things like that.
Speaker 1: We were like, this isn't really what I was after,
Speaker 1: but we did what else was I did like some
Speaker 1: waiting for god.
Speaker 2: Oh oh sure, that's a funny one.
Speaker 1: That's a funny one, like a funny surreal one. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so a few bits. But the reason I think I
Speaker 1: wasn't cut out for it at all was because actually,
Speaker 1: when I really thought about the reality of having to
Speaker 1: go and stand in a queue of people and go
Speaker 1: an audition in front of people like you see in Hollywood,
Speaker 1: I just thought, there's no way I'm going to be
Speaker 1: able to do that because the stress of that and
Speaker 1: the rejection of it I couldn't handle. I'm not strong
Speaker 1: enough for that. So I think anyone that does it,
Speaker 1: I think it's like a super brave thing to do
Speaker 1: to go and stand in front of those directors. And
Speaker 1: is it as frightening as I'm thinking in my mind?
Speaker 2: Oh yeah. And I feel like I was on the
Speaker 2: Virgitiers when I was doing the reading, and I think
Speaker 2: the only thing that helped me was that I was
Speaker 2: supposed to be so like are the only characters I
Speaker 2: ever get? I'm always like, what am I doing? I'm
Speaker 2: actually just really nervous and trying to keep it together.
Speaker 2: And that's what landed me. The role is being scared shitless.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so you found your kniche you have the only
Speaker 1: you can only audition for things where you're upset.
Speaker 2: The most awkward comedian is the one that cries on stage.
Speaker 1: So in terms of the comedy, what comedians did you
Speaker 1: did you grow up watching like stand up comedy or comed.
Speaker 2: Paula pound Stoney, I mean we're like early.
Speaker 1: Played Ellen's show, right, Yes.
Speaker 2: I played Ellen. I got to play it on the
Speaker 2: last record as well, which is really fun. You know,
Speaker 2: I grew up watching SNL and you know, the British
Speaker 2: version of the Office definitely got me through some hard
Speaker 2: times in the early two thousands. I still think it's
Speaker 2: beautiful like and it has is so well rounded for
Speaker 2: being a comedy. I was also brought to Tears by
Speaker 2: a special and I think that one's really special. And
Speaker 2: then the comedian Nate Brigatzi, I don't know if you
Speaker 2: know him, but he's really great. I think he's about
Speaker 2: either it either just came out or it's about to
Speaker 2: come out of his new special. And he's really really funny.
Speaker 2: He's from Tennessee, and since I lived there for a while,
Speaker 2: I feel like a kidship to that mentality.
Speaker 1: I over here, we find out a lot about well.
Speaker 1: I find a lot out a lot about a lot
Speaker 1: of American comics, stand up comics, from listening to like
Speaker 1: Mark Maron's podcast, Oh sure, as he talks about them
Speaker 1: all the time, like people that we that over it,
Speaker 1: they don't necessarily make it over here. Have you done
Speaker 1: his podcast? No?
Speaker 2: I have not.
Speaker 1: Would you like to? Maybe he's quite because he's quite
Speaker 1: a big character, isn't he.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I'm you know, I'm a fan of
Speaker 2: Mark Marren and I love Glow'd right good, that's you know.
Speaker 2: I don't get to binge watch many things, but that's
Speaker 2: something that me and my partner Binge watched that and
Speaker 2: Russian Dolls.
Speaker 1: Which I'm three episodes in.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, it gets so good and then it
Speaker 2: is it gets you at the beginning anyway, but it
Speaker 2: gets better and.
Speaker 1: Better because so I'm three episodes in, but I'm I'm
Speaker 1: not sure that I'm loving it.
Speaker 2: I need to says that says by episode four turns yes,
Speaker 2: and I but I loved it all the way through.
Speaker 2: And I think the music in there.
Speaker 1: Is the music's great. That's also John Mouse tracks.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and like Joe Wong is the music supervisor, and
Speaker 2: I there's one song on there because he does the
Speaker 2: he helped Fred Armison with the Drummer podcast. But there's
Speaker 2: a song by Anika called called try to Sleep. I
Speaker 2: think it's called is it off of herr solo Nica?
Speaker 2: I think so. I didn't know her music before I
Speaker 2: heard the song, and this song is just amazing.
Speaker 1: I will stick with it.
Speaker 2: And also it's so New York, like I recognize so
Speaker 2: spots and it's like in the East Village, like Alphabet
Speaker 2: City area, and like I just noticed a lot of
Speaker 2: the parks and stuff. It's it's kind of.
Speaker 1: It's fun to watch things when that's set way for sure. Yeah, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'll stick with that. I've got that, and I now
Speaker 1: hang in there. I'm now invested in.
Speaker 2: The double down double Down in the darkness.
Speaker 1: Yeah, all the dark ones.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Shall we talk about the new record? Talking about the
Speaker 1: new record? We don't, I mean, we don't have to know.
Speaker 2: I'm still learning to talk about Okay, how's it all going.
Speaker 1: Seems to be getting very well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been really fun to play these songs.
Speaker 1: Do you consider it your fifth record? Yes, because I
Speaker 1: like the fact that you released like seven CDRs that
Speaker 1: you were releasing CDRs yourself.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I was handmaking them for so long, never
Speaker 2: thinking a label would want to put out my music. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you know, not even thinking that like that wasn't It
Speaker 2: never came into my head when I started playing music,
Speaker 2: was I'm going to get a record deal and I'm
Speaker 2: going to go on tour. Like I was just driven
Speaker 2: to make music and I would play whenever anyone asked me,
Speaker 2: and I would mostly play open mics and for like
Speaker 2: nobody sure, and I just love playing, like I had
Speaker 2: a drive to perform, but with no goal on mine,
Speaker 2: and so I just had fun making these CDRs out
Speaker 2: of broken bags from the wine store I worked at.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the record that is your official debut was in
Speaker 1: two thousand and and that was because I was in love.
Speaker 1: How much before that were you releasing stuff yourself?
Speaker 2: I had garage bend my laptop and I recorded them
Speaker 2: on that from like two thousand and five till two
Speaker 2: thousand nine.
Speaker 1: You had four years and what would how would you
Speaker 1: do it? You would just like, how many would you
Speaker 1: like press? If they see the seas could be worth something?
Speaker 2: Now, I mean I've definitely seen some money, but I
Speaker 2: have friends of mine that send me photos of ready,
Speaker 2: because they're all very different. I used to hand paint them.
Speaker 2: I used to like put duct tape on them. I
Speaker 2: had like a wax seal at one point. I don't
Speaker 2: know me, did you like it was a craft lady.
Speaker 2: I would. I would get off work from the wine store.
Speaker 2: I'd come home with a bottle of two of wine
Speaker 2: and I would track songs and if I had a show,
Speaker 2: I would maybe put six songs that I was the
Speaker 2: most excited about on it and just like give them away.
Speaker 2: People could pay whatever they wanted, and like that was it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, like you was your shows?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was just at the shows that I was at.
Speaker 2: And you know, the cake Shop was a venue in
Speaker 2: New York?
Speaker 1: Was that still that? No, it's not not there at all.
Speaker 2: No, it's gone.
Speaker 1: What is it now?
Speaker 2: It's so it's unrecognizable. It's like a fancy place. Okay,
Speaker 2: Because I tried revisiting a bunch of places when I
Speaker 2: was shooting the video for seventeen, because I visited old
Speaker 2: apartments and old venues that some are still there, some not,
Speaker 2: you know, just as like a goodbye to New York
Speaker 2: kind of an acknowledgment of how things have changed, since
Speaker 2: I started playing. But that was the first place to
Speaker 2: actually sell my CD in the store because they had
Speaker 2: the record store upstairs some of the venue downstairs, and
Speaker 2: so they had my handmade ones there. You know, every
Speaker 2: time I had a show, I would just put random
Speaker 2: songs on that I was psyched about at the time,
Speaker 2: and then that was it and I would do a
Speaker 2: different you know, I felt like maybe if people knew
Speaker 2: that every time I have a show, it's like, you
Speaker 2: never know what new songs I'm going to play, what
Speaker 2: songs are going to be on the disc, and I
Speaker 2: just they can they're kind of collecting them.
Speaker 1: Know, just did you have like a following of people?
Speaker 1: Would would people come to the gigs repeatedly? You'd see
Speaker 1: the same faces.
Speaker 2: I mean, I mean that's why I kept doing it,
Speaker 2: you know, eventually people started coming. Yeah, but it took me. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean it took me. Sorry, it took me about
Speaker 2: four years to have a you know, build a following.
Speaker 2: And I just worked my ass off and I play.
Speaker 2: I said yes to everything, and I eventually got offered
Speaker 2: a residency at this venue called Zebulon where I was
Speaker 2: able to curate my own shows once a month and
Speaker 2: invite people that I connected with as musicians and got
Speaker 2: to know, put on a show every month with people
Speaker 2: that I cared about, and it was a real community
Speaker 2: there for a minute. I mean most of us have
Speaker 2: you know, moved away or so busy that, you know,
Speaker 2: we don't get to do that anymore. In that venue
Speaker 2: doesn't exist either anymore in New York. It's in La now.
Speaker 1: Oh, it's moved to all the way over the other side.
Speaker 2: They literally moved the bard So to Los Angeles, and
Speaker 2: it's open there now, so you.
Speaker 1: Can play it. Once you're over there, you can stop
Speaker 1: playing there again.
Speaker 2: Except my ex works there, so I probably won't.
Speaker 1: Oh, okay right now, bad idea.
Speaker 2: But no, it's doing really well though. They put on
Speaker 2: really cool shows. They and it's you know, there's a
Speaker 2: good scene there right now. But most of the venues
Speaker 2: that I grew up playing in New York are no
Speaker 2: longer there.
Speaker 1: That's sad, isn't it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's why it goes right, it is?
Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, it is of course. Yeah. Are you gonna
Speaker 1: really miss Are you gonna find it hard to move
Speaker 1: out of New York?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I've been there fifteen years. That's longer than I've
Speaker 2: lived anywhere, but I need a change and I can't
Speaker 2: afford to live there anymore. So it's so ridiculous. And
Speaker 2: then a one bedroom and my son is sleeping in
Speaker 2: my closet, right, something's got to give.
Speaker 1: Yeah, London's like that. My bathroom is like behind you there,
Speaker 1: you see that. I should probably describe this on for
Speaker 1: the podcast listeners. That's like the steps that go up
Speaker 1: to that mezzanine and it's slanted. Imagine if you put
Speaker 1: a shower and a toilet in that gap there. That's
Speaker 1: got a slanted room and you can't even really stand
Speaker 1: up in it without that's our bathroom you have.
Speaker 2: Do you have a seat in there?
Speaker 1: There's like hardly enough room to turn around. It's frustrating.
Speaker 2: I remember when I first was looking at apartments in
Speaker 2: New York and there's a bathtub in the bat in
Speaker 2: the kitchen and the toilet was right next to the oven.
Speaker 2: It's like ad door, right, you know. I was like,
Speaker 2: isn't there an expression like don't ship where you eat
Speaker 2: or something like I just like, I just don't know.
Speaker 2: You're having a nice intimate dinner party, and like someone
Speaker 2: asked to use the restroom I'm just like, one of
Speaker 2: the things we checked off when we were moving into
Speaker 2: the apartment we're in now was a bathroom that's not
Speaker 2: connected to the kitchen.
Speaker 1: Like you, it's a deal break, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: It's like there are things in your life as you
Speaker 2: as you progress as an adult, like maybe I want
Speaker 2: my bed not in the living room. Yeah, maybe I
Speaker 2: want it in its own room. Maybe I have a
Speaker 2: two room apartment, you know at least.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's good to have these small goals, yes, but
Speaker 1: to slowly.
Speaker 2: Get there, like having a closet is huge.
Speaker 1: It's a massive, a massive deal. But it's amazing that
Speaker 1: you during all that time when you were like putting
Speaker 1: out your own CDs and just playing everywhere and just
Speaker 1: kind of you really were just doing it for the
Speaker 1: love of doing it, right, did you have any notion
Speaker 1: whatsoever that you would ever get a deal?
Speaker 2: No, not at all. I mean I remember a friend
Speaker 2: of mine, Kip Malone. He's in a band called Team
Speaker 2: on the Radio, and I grew up with his little brother.
Speaker 2: And I met him by going to see this band
Speaker 2: called Celebration play and he opened up and he looks
Speaker 2: super familiar, and I saw his last name, and I
Speaker 2: realized that he was the brother of this kid I
Speaker 2: went to high school, so I introduced him. I introduced
Speaker 2: myself to him, and I just said, I went to
Speaker 2: school with your brother. I just moved back from Tennessee.
Speaker 2: I'm like pretty lost, was trying to figure it out,
Speaker 2: was playing music, just here's my CD. And he reached
Speaker 2: out to me and we stayed in touch, and he's
Speaker 2: he was definitely integral and showing me neighborhoods and then
Speaker 2: used to play or just go check out music and
Speaker 2: neighborhoods to move to. Once I decided to move from
Speaker 2: New Jersey to New York. And there's one time we
Speaker 2: were hanging out in New Jersey because he has family
Speaker 2: there still, and he did a fake interview with me
Speaker 2: over a diner at a diner table in New Jersey,
Speaker 2: like Jersey diner, total Jersey diner, and he just said,
Speaker 2: I think I'm a feeling you're going to have to
Speaker 2: learn how to have an interview. And so he would
Speaker 2: like ask me questions, like you know, fake questions, and
Speaker 2: I would just giggle because I just I thought he
Speaker 2: was off his rocker, you know, and he's like, so,
Speaker 2: why do you play music. What is this song about?
Speaker 2: Tell me about yourself? It was like.
Speaker 1: Start messing with me orre you just thinking I'm never
Speaker 1: going to be in this situation. I don't need to
Speaker 1: learn this.
Speaker 2: No. I thought it was like having a girl, you know,
Speaker 2: But no, I never. I had no idea that I
Speaker 2: could be where I am today. And you know it's.
Speaker 1: So now that you're on what is officially your fifth record,
Speaker 1: remind me tomorrow how's it all going. Because the reason
Speaker 1: there's five years between your last two records is because
Speaker 1: you did kind of think I'm gonna just put this
Speaker 1: on hold for a little bit and go to school
Speaker 1: and learn psychology. But then suddenly all these things happened,
Speaker 1: like you had a baby and you became a Netflix star,
Speaker 1: all of those things. Did it just feel like, Oh,
Speaker 1: I just kind of miss making music, so I'm going
Speaker 1: to make another record and get back into that again.
Speaker 2: It was something that was unintentional. I left tour in
Speaker 2: twenty fifteen with no plan to make music again. I
Speaker 2: wanted to live. I just didn't have a plan. It
Speaker 2: wasn't like I was saying never. I just I was like, no,
Speaker 2: I'm good right now, and I want to live a life.
Speaker 2: I want to be home. I want to nurture my relationship.
Speaker 2: I want to actually live in New York. I've worked
Speaker 2: my ass off to be able to afford to live here,
Speaker 2: and now I don't want to be gone nine months
Speaker 2: out of the year, like I want to enjoy my
Speaker 2: time here. I want to explore these other sides of
Speaker 2: me that I haven't gotten to explore. I want to
Speaker 2: live a life, so I have something more important to
Speaker 2: write about than the inside of a van and being
Speaker 2: miserable because I don't have any place to land and
Speaker 2: to grow in, like a relationship, all these things that
Speaker 2: I wrote about. It was really I was running away
Speaker 2: from all the things that I didn't know how to have.
Speaker 2: So I gave myself the time to live and to
Speaker 2: reflect on my life and explore other things. And during
Speaker 2: that time, I didn't realize it, but I would just
Speaker 2: write to write, and I would write to reflect on
Speaker 2: my life, but not with the intention of sharing it
Speaker 2: with other people. But I was experimenting, you know, just
Speaker 2: trying new things and challenging myself and writing and collaborating
Speaker 2: and writing for other people, writing with other people, and
Speaker 2: singing for other people's music. And I just feel like
Speaker 2: it opened up this whole other door I didn't know
Speaker 2: was there. And I turned around suddenly one day and
Speaker 2: I realized that I had forty demos, but not with
Speaker 2: the intention of making a record. It was more of
Speaker 2: a diary, you know, of what my life. I always
Speaker 2: kind of write in a way where it just represents
Speaker 2: where I'm at in my life. But I had never
Speaker 2: given myself that much space to live beyond music, and
Speaker 2: I think that affected my style majorly.
Speaker 1: And the record that the studio you were like writing
Speaker 1: in you were sharing with Michael Sarah, right.
Speaker 2: That was one part of it was that in La
Speaker 2: because I had I had an apartment where I had
Speaker 2: a piano and a drum kit set up in my
Speaker 2: studio apartment, and so I wrote a handful of songs there.
Speaker 2: And then when that got old, yeah, I moved into
Speaker 2: a practice space and I was looking for one other
Speaker 2: person to share it with, and I randomly met Michael Sarah,
Speaker 2: who wanted to play the drums and the piano, okay,
Speaker 2: and so we we shared a space and he had
Speaker 2: the synths.
Speaker 1: Where did you meet him?
Speaker 2: It was on a beautiful New York day where my
Speaker 2: partner and I just got to be slow, and so
Speaker 2: we had like a brunch and we had a coffee,
Speaker 2: and we walked through the park and I remember seeing
Speaker 2: Michael Sarah reading a book on the bench and we're
Speaker 2: just kind of having like a New York moment where
Speaker 2: we elbow each other. We're like, that's Michael Sarah. But
Speaker 2: we keep going right and then you know, and during
Speaker 2: this time, also I had opened for my friend's film
Speaker 2: that he did a cameo in Rick Alverson film, and
Speaker 2: we didn't get to meet, but when I opened as
Speaker 2: a musician for this film and then saw he had
Speaker 2: a cameo in it, so then it was just funny
Speaker 2: to return from that to New York and see him
Speaker 2: in the park and just be like, oh, that's funny.
Speaker 2: But we cared about our day and we took our
Speaker 2: bikes and we rode to this neighborhood called Red Hook,
Speaker 2: which is like right on the water, a fisherman kind
Speaker 2: of town, working class, like blue collar, and we go
Speaker 2: to dinner and then we get a cocktail and we're
Speaker 2: sitting at this bar and he literally walks and down
Speaker 2: next to me and we just start cracking up because like.
Speaker 1: This is too following you.
Speaker 2: I don't think so. I mean, but he's you know,
Speaker 2: he's you know, he's he's kind of peculiar. So maybe
Speaker 2: he did it, but not just kidding, but you know,
Speaker 2: he was just reading a book. He just sat down
Speaker 2: order to drink, was reading a book. And I finally
Speaker 2: just I was like, I have to say something to him. Yeah,
Speaker 2: So I'm like, hi, my name is Sharon, and I
Speaker 2: think we live in the same neighborhood and told him
Speaker 2: about the Rick Alverson connection and seeing him around the
Speaker 2: neighborhood and he was so nice and he just started
Speaker 2: chit chatting did.
Speaker 1: He know you? Because he knows music pretty well, doesn't it.
Speaker 2: I don't think so. Let on ye, but I mean
Speaker 2: he definitely I don't think he did. And maybe that's
Speaker 2: what was comforting about it to him, you know, where
Speaker 2: I was just like, I that week I had found
Speaker 2: a space and he was saying that he plays piano
Speaker 2: in his apartment and that he's like, you know, my girlfriend,
Speaker 2: you know, I think she would appreciate it if I
Speaker 2: a separate space so that it's just our living space
Speaker 2: and not my writing space. Actually I have a piano
Speaker 2: if you want to come. He's like, oh, really, what
Speaker 2: else do you have in there? I'm like, I have
Speaker 2: a drum kit and his eyes lit up. It's like cool.
Speaker 2: I was like, have guitars, bass, I mean it's it
Speaker 2: would just be you and meat. So you get like
Speaker 2: three days a week and then we can share one
Speaker 2: day every other week, you know, and ended up working
Speaker 2: together like yes and each other.
Speaker 1: But he brought us like he had symps and things.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he had this awesome organ called the c X
Speaker 2: three and a synthesized I called it Jupiter before and
Speaker 2: which is.
Speaker 1: What you made. Kind of a lot of this record
Speaker 1: sound kind of comes from that, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2: I definitely got inspired by that. So it was like
Speaker 2: a lot of the synth drones and and syncopated drum
Speaker 2: beats because it's like for someone that's not a drummer,
Speaker 2: I'd have to like have four tracks of drums to
Speaker 2: really make it sound like drums. Yeah. Yeah, but that
Speaker 2: was the core of the record. So dark drone, a
Speaker 2: weird beat, and my melodies. YEA all for it.
Speaker 1: It's great works, it's great.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's fun. Yeah, it's different, but it's still me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely. Yeah. I don't really know how to end this.
Speaker 2: Well, I I'm really proud of the record, and I
Speaker 2: know that I've done all different kinds of things, but
Speaker 2: it's been comforting after taking a break for five years
Speaker 2: to know that I still love music even when I
Speaker 2: even when it wasn't at the center.
Speaker 1: Sharmon, thanks very much for coming on the podcast.
Speaker 2: Thanks for having me, Thank you.
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Speaker 2: For more information, visit Loud and Quiet dot com.