Welcome to the September (In Retrospect) Issue: YOUTZ edition.
As promised, this month I’m talking music, podcasts, books, and my work.
First things first, if you haven’t read Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari I literally don’t know what you think you’re doing. Never in my life has a book made me laugh out loud so many times while still presenting a massive effort of field work and data and still maintaining relatability. Trust me. I am not overselling this.
For those of you interested in the trendy medium of podcasts, I have a couple of suggestions:
Magic Lessons--basically conversations between Liz Gilbert and other creatives about creativity and process. Every episode has at least one moment where I’m like ‘daaaaaamn girl, spot on!’ but then like ‘tone down the witchy woo woo/universe shit just a tad won’t you?’ (Shout out to Emilie for this pick)
Song Exploder--my dream come true podcast. 15 minute episodes isolate individual tracks from great songs and interview artists about how/why they constructed it that way. Also, shout out to Rob Mulder for this pick. ALSO, literally 30 seconds in I was like holy shit is that my pal Hrishikesh Hirway from The West Wing Weekly? It is! Hands up if you feel like Hrishikesh is KILLING the podcast game right now.
So, basically, as you’ll see momentarily, I think the length of my hair right now is saying: Hi, I’m every single boy you had a crush on in junior high!
Without further ado, here’s some pics of my super yummy community. I’ll check in with you in a bit.
This view made all of the tracking down landlords bullshit worth it.
Emilie was jazzed AF about our very first loaves of Danish rye bread.
Sun and takeaway salads for one pound make for happy, happy girls.
Emilie finds my constant picture taking really embarrassing...she’ll thank me when she’s 70 and has loads of proof she was hot for her grandkids.
Nina turned 22 and made us all feel special with homemade vegetarian dishes and cocktails.
This is Ash and I eating bits of balls from a rather X-rated cake.
Sam looks better in my window and twist scarf than I do. Curse you Sammo! (jk luhh you bübü)
Home sweet home pre-filthy-broken-couch-removal.
Bridget rolled up to enrollment day in her Tacoma Goodwill bins finds lookin like fiiiiiiiiine hipster trash. <3
Life Update: I’m an accidental vegan. Basically, Emilie has a lot of allergies and is way more health-conscious than me, but it’s more fun/economical to shop/eat/cook together sooooo that’s me animal-byproduct-free. Being primarily vegan is actually shockingly easy, but let’s be super clear--I still have dreams about a fat fuckin bacon cheeseburger and some choice smoked salmon on bagels smeared with shmear. However, eating a plant-based diet makes my body feel like a smexy fuckin unicorn with mucho energy and pretty skin. It’s also elevated my cooking skills significantly. You may call me a soup-er goddess.
Vegan morning noms by Emilie. My tum tum is ecstatic, y’all.
Conor O’Shea’s professorial debut in the newly re-named John Lennon Lecture Theater. Watch as pupils Sam and Joseph take it in with rapt attention. (By the way if you didn’t read that in your David Attenborough voice you did it wrong. Try again.)
TEQUILA NIGHT COURTESY OF GORGEOUS NORWEGIANS. what even is life?
Tender muffin babes at gig night.
The hangover! It’s too much! ARHGKDHFIOWEIHGLSKDH!!!!!
Ash got a fresh cut and we were all a bit drunk and euphoric after watching our buds in MOTHERHOOD slay their set so, naturally, fond grooming and fondling ensued.
My little corner of the world.
Things I listened to pretty intently in this corner:
Hole—Live Through This: Actually a really underrated album. Definitely going to point to Courtney Love and this record as an example of outsiders in my thesis. Hole was basically the only band with women in that could really be classed as “grunge” as opposed to punk or Riot Grrrl. Also, this record plays with really interesting themes of body image, vulnerability, substance abuse, motherhood, rape + sexual assault, societal pressures, shady female-against-female feminism, etc. and it does it with some serious guts and vocal hooks. What else are we looking for in good music again? Oh yeah, musicians who don’t offend us or make us think to hard about what we’re listening to while we sit around taking drugs and chatting shit! (P.S. In case my disdainful tone didn’t drip off those last two sentences, I’ll wait while you go back and read it again…Are we on the same page now? Fab.) (Wow, I’m a really feisty typer today! Apologies, sweet babes!) (P.S. Please don’t take this as me like ignoring Courtney Love’s sorta shady feminism moments or many of the other more problematic aspects of her public persona...this is strictly about the record).
Bon Iver—22 A Million: This is the Bon Iver record I’ve been waiting for since Bon Iver became part of our collective consciousness. Every track on this album occupies a piece of the cohesive space that this record creates and it’s angsty and challenging and delicious. Angst is my bezzie and while For Emma, Forever Ago and Bon Iver, Bon Iver were nice and all, this album is feeding me in alllllllllllll kinds of ways.
I’m ready for a YOUTZ photoshoot day in Blackpool!
My friends are actually angsty spellcasters who frequent massive Sainsbury’s in strange Northern cities.
Fully sheathed aubergines. But actually, Rob had just taken beautiful photos for my project for a full day and Emilie was my morale booster/distraction. #LooseNougat
When your friend is talented AND dressed like a trendy 4 year old
CJ legitimately folds at a 90 degree angle to play pool.
Don’t they look like a celeb couple?
And finally, who needs resistance training equipment when you can just haul large amounts of awkwardly shaped musical instruments/gear around?
I am now a proud member of ASCAP! Of course, this means I have to give myself a crash course in how to register my rights and such, but hey, that’s what are Saturdays for, yeah?
I had this weird moment at the beginning of the month where I was reading all these interviews and oral histories, etc. with artists I admire and people who’ve achieved sort of the pinnacles of success in the music industry. I got all kinds of freaked out and nervous about some of the huge egos/personas that seem like pre-requisites for even getting your foot in the door. Like I know that arrogance, narcissism and self-importance aren’t necessary precursors to success, but sometimes I do wonder if there’s such a thing as being too nice to make it in music? Note to self: practice being more assertive and by assertive I mean lady boss and by lady boss I mean bad bitch getting shit done. Ok, weird brain ramble over.
This month I had planned to hit the ground running in terms of preparing the live set. However, a number of unforeseen circumstances shifted my gears onto a different, but no less productive, track. I got the promo photos for YOUTZ shot by the delightful and wonderfully talented Rob Mulder, managed to get the equally talented, v chilled Saam Jafarzadeh to agree to engineer two of my tracks for these music videos I’ve got planned and FINALLY got Sam and our new drummer Liam in the room for the very first YOUTZ rehearsal. I’m over the moon. My octaver pedal is literally everything--it gives my cello that muuuuuch needed low end punch.
I’ve written 5 new songs, only 2 of which are appropriate for YOUTZ, but I’ve loved showing up and doing the work for myself. There’s a country song in there that could potentially make me a li’l money down the line as well if I can just figure out some appropriate production. I can’t wait to show y’all my output sooooooooon!
I’ll meet you back here in a month little darlins! Wishing you growth and momentum for the most autumnal month of the year! Bye bye for now from me and Sad Ashwin.
