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Lady Ro is a Baltimore based indie folk rock musician. Formally know as Baby Carrots, Lady Ro began playing shows in Baltimore in 2019, where she quickly garnering a solid following. Her performances are a dynamic blend of heartfelt song writing, humor, a stirring powerful voice, and a wicked sense of style.
We had a lovely chat about the great city of Baltimore, DIY aesthetic, thanos & eros, creativity, melancholy, style, the city, photography, vinyl and Rock & Roll.
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Transcript
Introduction and Ro's Background
00:00:42
Speaker
mesmerizing. Like, I always struggle with words for music, but I just sunk into it. Ro, welcome to something rather than nothing. Thank you for having me. Yeah. And um Excited to chat with you a little bit about where we're reaching you from out in Baltimore, Maryland and um and ah just about about the band and um some of the work you've done out there. Could you tell us a little bit about ah Lady
Creating Lady Roe: Persona and Artistic Freedom
00:01:16
Speaker
Rowe? um I've seen some singles and just with this new album and videos and like I said, I was just
00:01:25
Speaker
really, really drawn to it. Tell us about this project. Tell us about, but you know, what you're doing. Yeah. So um Lady Roe, this music project of mine was like persona, I guess. it She was born, like, honestly, I It was like three years ago, I did a show, it was my first Lady Rose show. um And my friend and I constructed this, what I call my cellrate cellophane trash egg.
00:02:01
Speaker
Um, and to start the show off, I emerged from this trash egg. Um, and it was kind of, I feel like the birth of lady row. Cause before that I used to go by baby carrots, which is a fun, deep cut of mine. She's baby carrots is still on Spotify as some of my like first recordings and first like foray into like putting my, my music on the internet. Um,
00:02:31
Speaker
But I felt like the name, Baby Carrots, was a little limiting. And so I was, so Lady Roe was formed at that point.
Heartbreak Flowers: Album Significance and Aesthetic
00:02:42
Speaker
um And since then, I've just been yeah writing music under the moniker and putting it out. And this record, Heartbreak Flowers, is like my first full full-length record. um I feel like all those things are a little arbitrary though, like EP, LP, whatever. I was just like, this is a collection of songs and it feels right. So um yeah, this is like my first bigger project that I put out there is like a full a full thing. Yeah, Lady Row is just ah sort of an extension of of myself and
00:03:21
Speaker
um
00:03:24
Speaker
It's just like what felt comfortable to perform under and to be on stage. I feel like there's, it's nice to have a distance from yourself a little bit when it comes to, for me, when it comes to music and things, it's it's nice to not just be like, hi, I'm my my name, you know? Yeah. So yeah, I was like, late Lady Rowe also feels like this. um She's like royalty somehow, but she's also like, I call her like,
00:03:53
Speaker
rock and roll trash royalty, because I also love like dirty, gritty like yeah kind of stuff like
Artistic Journey and Identity Challenges
00:03:59
Speaker
that. But then I look luxurious and like over the top and very like campy or like just dramatic stuff. Fashionable. Yeah, fashionable, totally. The fashion icon. I don't know. That's sort of like a sort of lady row, I guess.
00:04:22
Speaker
Well, let's talk about you as you as you as an artist, right? So I on the show talking big questions are in philosophy. So yeah was there a point where you're doing something, you know, like, holy shit, I'm an artist, you know, or, you know, as part as of of your identity, was there a time like you saw yourself as an artist and and what happened then? You know, I feel like it kind of ebbs and flows.
00:04:53
Speaker
And I think that's like, I feel like I've always kind of seen maybe myself as like a poet or a songwriter. um And I've seen myself that way for a long time, but the idea of like being an artist felt so like almost like untouchable for a while or just like, oh, I don't do enough or like,
00:05:20
Speaker
Oh, I, you know, you're born an artist and maybe I wasn't born one, which I think is a bunch of like gatekeep bullshit, but, um. You know, I've read years ago, I was reading, you know, The Artist's Way, you know, that book, very popular. I never finished it, but I've started it like four times where I would, you know, really get it. I've heard other people say the same thing. There is a company in what you say, a wonderful book, but ah folks have not finished as well. Yeah. But in I think that it's still wonderful that it inspires people. I remember reading um one of the first chapters and they said, like,
00:06:01
Speaker
They were telling like a little anecdotal story about some somebody who was surrounded by artists. All their friends are artists. All their friends are doing all this stuff that they didn't see themselves as one. But then you realize you're like, wait, you like the people around you are a mirror of yourself. And so I like to remind myself of like, I'm i'm so lucky to be surrounded by artists and musicians and stuff and be like,
00:06:26
Speaker
wait, like I'm a part of this this crew. I am an artist and yeah I am a musician and a songwriter and and someone who like I think part of being an artist is having just a perspective that that you want to share with people and a perspective that might be a little different from you know the main or like the
00:06:50
Speaker
whatever, regular culture, I don't know what to say. i know it's tough to so The word is invading me right now, but yeah, I think like, I think just kind of recognizing that my life is is just different than, you know, the run of the mill or like, I don't, but yeah, my life follows a different path. um And I feel like I have something to share.
00:07:17
Speaker
And I feel like I recognized maybe it was maybe like three or four years ago when I was like, OK, I'm an artist. But then when I was saying like an ebbs and flows, there's days where I'm like, I'm going to give this whole artist thing up or I'm just like, I'm going to like, i I don't even know how to write a song or like, I don't know how to do this. But I feel like being an artist is so much more than just, you know, the momentary like doubt of like, oh, I haven't written a song in five months, you know.
00:07:43
Speaker
um There's an ambiguity in the experience as you describe it, which I think, I was connecting to when you were you saying it, it's like, you know, sometimes it can be viewed as like a hard identity type of thing, you know, some something cracks in somebody's brain and they're never the same again, but the times that you feel in creating, you know, I feel, i um when i'm when I'm creating, ah you know, ah painting or writing or creating this show, it's like,
00:08:14
Speaker
When you do it over an amount of time, you have a relationship with yourself. Like, what's my relationship with my artist self? And prior to seeing myself as an artist and creating things more deliberately, I never understood the absolute power in that. And you were pointing towards that when you were saying about that you know that other identity or d a is something like that you had the ability to be something else or to be rebirth. And there was this distance in space.
00:08:44
Speaker
when I started seeing myself as an artist, where I was like, I feel like I can say a lot more than I could before. like Just in the sense of like I have this ability to, and not platform, it sounds too boring, but just in performing as an artist, there's some space to do these things. And I love that space. you know like I love what that is and sometimes it feels like you can't maybe can't write if anything or or what have you. let me let let's Let's push it a little bit back to like a big question of art before we took talk too much of art. We're gonna stock this up with like the theoretical right up front. What is art? what What do you believe art is?
Baltimore's Impact on Ro's Music Journey
00:09:33
Speaker
i was I was mulling over this question. um I feel like, for me, art is something that elicits some sort of emotion or makes you think. I feel like at its most basic thing, ah yeah art is something that like makes you pause.
00:09:57
Speaker
um And I also believe that like any anything can be art. And I also believe everyone is an artist. I think that humans are artists. But yeah, I feel like i at my like most like basic answer or just synthesized would be something that makes you feel something. You get an emotion, you get a feeling, you get a thought maybe that you didn't have before. and I think that that is that is art or it's like an expression of your,
00:10:33
Speaker
it's just an expression really. I don't think it has to be more complicated than that. So yeah. Yeah, what um I wanted to jump over to where you are operate from in Baltimore. Before we get on recording this episode, um we're just chatting about um ah you know the music. and i I love my time being over there, and you expressed some appreciation and love for um
00:11:06
Speaker
the art scene and the music scene. So um can you tell us a little bit about like your connection to Baltimore as like as a place that that you're creating? That's a vibe I really like to try to pick up on. ah he yeah what's What's the exchange there? I'll talk about Baltimore all day. I love the city. I think it's truly a gem.
00:11:31
Speaker
um I did not grow up like my childhood was not in the city of Baltimore. um And honestly, it wasn't a city that I, you know, I went to I went to middle and high school, like outside of Baltimore, like in, you know, the suburbia. um And it's not like it's not a city that like You know, if you live in Jersey and then you're you you're like, oh, your parents are like, maybe one day you'll live in New York and let work in the big city. You know, it's like aspirational place to be. But Baltimore, you know, people are like scared of it. They're like, don't go there, you know, crime, blah, blah, blah, all the all the bullshit. um So honestly, it's like not a city that I.
00:12:15
Speaker
you know, ever thought I would live in. And I've lived since moving, since like high school, and like I've lived and traveled and been so many places. I feel very lucky to have, you know, done that. But I ended up in Baltimore after I had been bopping around the world for a couple years on and off. um And I was just back um have my parents spot just like figuring out what to do next and then a room opened up at a friend's house in Baltimore and I was like oh sure I'll move there and I'll hang out for six months and whatever.
Pandemic Influence on Ro's Art and Persona
00:12:51
Speaker
um and And as soon as I got there I kind of jumped right into them the music scene um and was part of this um this festival that my friends put together called the Baltimore Mixtape um and started. Great name. Yeah, right. ah Yeah. um Shout out to the Baltimore Mixtape. But yeah, I kind of jumped right into that. and um And then I ended up just really liking the city. I i worked at a grocery store and um one of those like bougie ones that, you know,
00:13:33
Speaker
I don't know, it was like a Whole Foods but not a Whole Foods. A bunch of other artists and young people were working at this spot and i got like I feel like from that little community there, I was able to connect with a lot of people and just felt very at home pretty from like the onset of moving to Baltimore. I've also had a lot of friends that like live in the city.
00:14:00
Speaker
Um, and so yeah, I ended up just be like, actually, I like it here and I'm going to stay a little longer. And then, you know, the pandemic hit. Um, and so I ended up living in the city and in the same, the spot I was living in, in Hampden, um, for like, he was like four years. And during that time, uh,
00:14:29
Speaker
I guess for the first part of it, I went by baby carrots and it confused a lot of people. They didn't really get it. They were like, wait, your baby carrots? And I'm like, yeah. And they're like, you're a children's fan. I'm like, no, it's just, it's just my name. um And yeah, I don't know. I started, I mean, during the pandemic, it did some of those like,
00:14:53
Speaker
video broadcast. What was that experience for like for you at the time, like ah just in the sense of ah not being as familiar baby cares, but like when, when, but whether it's identity or like what you're creating, like what you're doing at the, what was it doing for you at that, at at that time? Like the name or? Yeah, just like what you were creating and like creating an identity around that and and putting out art, you know, ah during some tough times.
00:15:22
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like that name emerged from, I had a nickname, my nickname was Carrots in college. And so when I was deciding to be like, okay, I've always looked at musicians and and friends who are musicians and just like wanted to do that. And so I was like, all right, I'm gonna i'm going to try this thing. And I was like, well, when I was choosing a name to identify myself as, I was like,
00:15:52
Speaker
came up with different names, one of them being like Zola Jones. And I was like, I don't know who that is. I don't think I can identify with it. It's weird. And then I was like, well, carrots is a name that I've always kind of identified with like throughout college. And and after I was like, I don't know, it just felt like a name I could be. And so I was like, well, I don't want to just be carrots, kind of want it to be some sort of a title.
00:16:16
Speaker
So baby carrots emerged and it was just kind of one of those things where you're like, all right, she's in a name and this is gonna be it um And I feel like it helped me just to say like fuck it do it, you know, don't be so precious about stuff like yeah, yeah just try it out just start just start throwing shit at the wall and see what sticks and um Yeah, I feel like it was
00:16:44
Speaker
It helped me just to to kind of compartmentalize and just move forward from something. It kind of gave me a starting place, I guess.
00:16:57
Speaker
i Yeah and then I get like creating during the pandemic was honestly that first month when everyone was like support artists blah blah blah like I made more money during that month doing art than I I don't even I think I may have like it may be still the most money I've ever made.
00:17:17
Speaker
I kind of roll my eyes at that time, just like with all the things we were, as humans, trying to do i that were just kind of silly, like calling everyone a hero. Like, I'm i'm sure it was helpful, but it also was just kind of cringy. um But I, during that time I did, I would spend so much time in this middle room in my house that wasn't really used. I would just spend like all my time in there just like like playing music. I would, I had my little looper pedal and I had like, I would just, I would just create. And, um, I just, yeah, I remember doing that. Like that was just all I did. I mean, there was not a lot other, but there's not a lot of other stuff to do. Um, but I found so much happiness there and so much like freedom and just like, I was, I was like feeling pretty good of just like,
00:18:17
Speaker
I felt like I also would just think if there was the space and the time to be able to like to do that stuff. So it felt good.
Performative Elements and Artistic Process
00:18:27
Speaker
Oh yeah, I'm sorry to interrupt. I wanted to, so I didn't forget so i didn't forget to ask you. um ah One of the things that was known is Friday 13th, recently we recorded this in December, 2024, album release. ah what was wow What was that like? I saw just a post on Instagram about it, but like having that album release and having people there enjoying it, what was the experience for you both before and after?
00:18:56
Speaker
Um, that really show was awesome. I'll say that like, it was so much fun. Um, I'd say the before was I, I was in this place of.
00:19:09
Speaker
kind of like, what is the point of all of this? like Why am I putting out this music? Why am I you know trying to get people's attention about it? And then putting the show together, I like to do, like like I said, I came out of a trash egg a few years ago and did this theatrical thing and had like costume changes. and Um, I was really questioning. I was, I wanted to do some other theatrical stuff with this show, the release show. And I was really questioning like, what is the point of all this? Like, why, why do the costume change? Why do the, you know, the silly little dance and song? Like, what what is the point? Like, and I even talked to my, my therapists about it. I was just like, I just feel like,
00:19:55
Speaker
you know, is this some sort of like narcissistic ego trip of a thing of like, everyone come watch me. What's the answer? What's the answer? Well, one, my, my therapist, I thought their answers pretty brilliant. They were just like, look, like,
00:20:12
Speaker
One, if you go up there and you're not having a good time, everyone else isn't going to have a good time. yeah So go out there, have a good time. and like Also, this is about you. So enjoy it. like yeah And the answer that it came to was just like,
00:20:28
Speaker
It's okay for things to just like for fun, for the sake of fun, for the show, for the sake of the show. yeah And like, you know, like why not give people some sort of spectacle? Why not have like a good time with it? Because what else is there in this moment, you know? I'm with you. Why not? I'm with you. So yeah, my answer really the short is why the fuck not? um And that show I, my one of my good friends or my very good friend Molly, she's always um down to like come up with um like
00:21:11
Speaker
different, I don't know, ideas and brainstorm for like sort of that theatrical stuff and like what could we do? um So in preparation for the show, I think this is actually kind of a funny story. i So then the name of the the path album is Heartbreak Flowers. And a couple years ago, my friend and I, we were chilling in a graveyard as one does in the cemetery, you know, just hanging out. I do love cemeteries. I think they're really peaceful and they're like these curated parks, you know.
00:21:45
Speaker
I I must I must interrupt you ah On cemeteries because I hate to interrupt them. I'm definitely gonna hear everything you have to say but Cemeteries are special on this show. I've had guests who write books about cemeteries and in an interview with my partner Jenny and I had an interview with ah squirm which is a kind of like a Uh, helping the couples communicate about sex and intimacy. Jenny and I talked about how she, uh, basically corrupted me in a cemetery.
00:22:23
Speaker
um, and I just I couldn't like I couldn't in good faith as the host here being like this is a cemetery like ah a very A show that's very curious about cemeteries and if listeners were listening a couple episodes ago They'd be listening to me and being like well, jeez the cemetery thing keeps coming up all hail to cemeteries. Yeah, um that's ah But uh, sorry to interrupt i I had to be a proviso there and I mean, yeah, I So yeah, my friend and I are in the cemetery and we're just walking around and we started to see these little like, we started to look like we're looking down at the grass and we see these colorful bits of stuff. We started to pick them up and we realized that they are the like fake the fake flowers that people put on people's graves and they were all like little bits and pieces that were cut up by the mower and stuff.
00:23:15
Speaker
ah And we started to collect them, all these bits and pieces out of the grass, and then we were able to sort of like put them together again and make these flowers. um And I was really inspired by that experience. So when I was prepping for this show and wanting to sort of like do something for the the actual release show, i went I was like, I'm going to go back to that cemetery and collect these flowers that are like in the grass or blown into the trees yeah t to use. as as like And they're literal and their're literal heartbreak flowers, which I thought was very like fitting because people you know like put them they put them on people's graves and mourn.
00:24:05
Speaker
um So I was going back to this graveyard and I was picking up some of the the the pieces in the grass and whatnot, but then I i saw in one of the trash cans that there were these there were the fake flowers, just like a full bouquet of them in the trash. And so I decided to go around the cemetery, go to all the trash cans and take these flowers. And I want to be clear that I did not take, I did not take flowers off of anyone's grave. Absolutely. yeah None were taken from a place they shouldn't have been taken from. Right. Exactly. So I, I, when I was like, it felt almost like this,
00:24:51
Speaker
I was like, wow, these are these are these heartbreak flowers. And as I was sort of like, you know, I was trying to be respectful or just sort of like thoughtful in my process of doing it. I'm just kind of like thinking about how that person went to that. They went to the store and they thought what what flowers might this person like or like I don't know, just kind of like think about that as I was as i was collecting these flowers. And then I took the flowers and I made a tapestry out of them. um So I like took them off of a lot of the stems and I hot glued them to a to a curtain, um this like sheer red curtain. um And then I used that as like
00:25:41
Speaker
It was like a cape. And so for the show, I had i came out of the backstage out into the crowd and I had this flower cape on me and then I also had um two people in morph suits ah that were black and white. One was striped and one was polka dotted and they had these giant flowers on their their head which were made by my friend Molly um out of crepe paper. So to the entrance was kind of this like clowny
00:26:17
Speaker
like goofy entrance of to the stage. and um The people in the more suits were like completely blind. though They could not see, they could not see a thing. So they're like bumping into people and whatnot, which is honestly, I was like, guys, it's going to be a little bit of like a cluster. It's fun. You got knocked around a little bit. Yeah, that's part of the part of the vibe is just like, just have fun with it. um But they had some of the the flowers, um some of the heartbreak graveyard flowers in their hands and they were like giving them out to people in the audience as they walked through. um And then we attempted to hang the tapestry up above my drummer or behind my drummer. um And it's kind of, it was like very lopsided and didn't look awesome, but it was perfect for the
00:27:08
Speaker
The whole energy of the show is just very playful and very fun. And I think like, so going back to sort of the question of like, why? It was just kind of like, I know that this is going to make people smile. I know that it's going to engage them. And it also is just like all of these ideas and all these things are
Audience Feedback and Album Symbolism
00:27:31
Speaker
coming together. So why not just express them?
00:27:34
Speaker
um Cause I feel like for me a lot of times there isn't necessarily like, well, I don't want to say theory, but like sometimes ideas just come to me and I don't know exactly like the meaning behind them just yet, you know? So I feel like it was just one of those things where I was like, these ideas are coming to me. They sound like fun and they really were, and the really shows was honestly just like people had such a good time and they were so like,
00:28:05
Speaker
I feel like just everyone felt like everyone was buzzy afterwards and like. um That right there, Lady Ro Ro, like that right there, like I was just listening from the beginning there and you know, the heartbreak flowers and like that kind of bringing things back, like bringing things back into life and just that whole performance. When you were saying just now about the like the ideas and not knowing the meaning. I really, my mind quickly jumped to David Lynch in his talking about creativity of capturing the big fish that floats by in his head and just doesn't know what it's connected to, doesn't know why it's there, knows it's an interesting
00:28:50
Speaker
nos knows it's a weird fish and you take it. And so it's the the meaning and the other stuff ends up coming out back behind it. But I'm really fascinated by that. And um gosh, the cemetery, death, life, you know, thanos, eros, it's like for me as a thinker, it's like it's all right there, sex.
00:29:11
Speaker
death, mortality, like broken things, right? Like this artificiality of the flowers and like, or like pulling these things together to create. Ah, anyways, I really, really just to hear about that. Yeah, it all kind of just, this whole record, I feel like kind of just came together very organically. um And Yeah, it just felt like these songs sort of just found each other. And then also like I had done like a photo shoot, which is the the cover of the album, um just like months before I even knew what exactly, you know, if I was even gonna use these photos. um So yeah, it all just kind of goes like, oh wow, this this matches this and this is perfect. And and the fact that like the cover out the cover of the album, I'm holding a fake rose,
00:30:08
Speaker
um, which ties into the fake flowers that I got. Like, you know, yeah, all of these things, like, they're not necessarily, yeah, they're not like plotted and planned, but then they just come together in a way you're like, wow, like, I think that's also the beauty of art and creation where you're like, you feel like it's like this, ah like the universe is like revealing itself to you or just like,
00:30:31
Speaker
you know things just kind of grow and and flower out. And you're like, wow, like I didn't realize what I was doing, but I was was planting all these these seeds and I didn't know what was going to grow. but And I wasn't even thinking about anything growing. I was just doing i was just doing the thing.
00:30:48
Speaker
Um, and I feel like that's yeah, that's I feel like just fascinating like yeah the crux of the creativity you're like where that Where that like creation where that creation comes from? That's um, oh Uh, so I wanted to ask you ah another ah art question and ah we record in late 2024 2025 for people feels politically fractious world heating up diseases, etc. um It's a ah sobering outlook for a lot of
00:31:33
Speaker
going into the future. That's the way it feels to me and almost everybody I talk to. Has the role of art changed now in these type of conditions or is art just still art-ing doing whatever it does?
Art, Activism, and Community Connection
00:31:49
Speaker
It's it's role.
00:31:53
Speaker
I feel like my first thought goes to sort of like the cheapening of art with, you know, social media and all those things. um But then I think like
00:32:06
Speaker
really, art is kind of the most essential thing right now. And when I think art, I guess in this sense, I'm thinking community. um Because I ultimately like, for me, I want my i want my art, my music, my shows to be this feeling of of community and celebration. um Because yeah, everything kind of sucks right now. um And I feel like there's it's just that much more important to continue to create and also like just processing everything that's happening.
00:32:50
Speaker
Yeah, just creating for the sake of like, I need to do something with my hands or else I might go crazy. Yeah, it's like, yeah, I'm just what are you trying to do with your I don't know, try to stay sane. That's about it. I'm just trying to stay like breathing insane. How about that one? and mr flo That was the the question of also like, why am I doing it? Like I got vinyls printed. Yes. Tell us about those two. Yeah. i So I got I got vinyls done.
00:33:17
Speaker
um I don't know if you post the video too, or is it just audio? Yeah, let's use the video. It's an audio button. Don't worry. We'll let it, but let's do the video bit here. So here's the album. Uh, tell us about it. I see it. You can see. Yeah. Um, so I was just, I feel like a guy I, I. Finals are just so cool. And to have something physical in your hand is really,
00:33:47
Speaker
and it's kind of It's unique these days when everything, especially music, can feel so just ethereal or so like intangible. um yeah Yeah, sure. so i also like I don't know, all the people that I look up to, like one of my best friends is um Liz Cooper, who's also an amazing musician and songwriter. and i i really look up to her i I've always looked up to her and for years she's been doing music and touring and putting out records. And so like to be able to hold my record like next to hers. Heck yeah. I think really like I'm like, Oh, physical, right? The physical like this, these things are right next to each other.
00:34:30
Speaker
Yeah. And also there's like I'm like, oh, I'm a I'm a real, you know, musician now, which I think is kind of a silly thought. But just like also like I had this record next to Purple Rain and they look really good together. And I was like, exactly. You got a pair of them. It's like Taylor Swift albums with books. You got to you got to peer things like that. Yeah. It just adds to each one.
00:34:53
Speaker
to hold. like bere Like, wow, like me and Prince are just hanging out together. Like, that's so cool. um And all our our records look very nice together. um But yeah, so there was a question for me of like, okay, vinyl is literally plastic. And it is not a very ah environmentally friendly um thing, you know, and that really that really tripped me up. And I feel like merch in general really trips me up because it's like consumerism and all that stuff that's like just kind of like, if yeah but then, you know, talking to some of my, like, I don't know, just my spiritual guides and people that i I look up to or just go to for advice and to process my thoughts. I was talking to, um,
00:35:44
Speaker
Yeah, my friend and she was like, okay, if you're gonna do this, you're gonna make these things, just make sure that it's worthwhile, make sure that it's good, make sure that it's something that like, it's gonna be out in the world for a while. So make sure that it's something that's worth being out in the world or worth, you know, engraving on some plastic. um And then there's also this element of like,
00:36:10
Speaker
we all gotta live, we all gotta eat. And part of being a musician is having merch and and branding yourself, which again is another existential question of like, oh my God, do I wanna like, you know, become a brand? And the short answer is no, but also like, I i love artist merch. I think it's like, it's so cool to be able to wear your favorite band. I feel like a lot of my clothes this year have, this year has turned into,
00:36:40
Speaker
merch of artists that are more and better stuff nowadays too like variety and style and even thinking about like with fashion and stuff like you know nothing against like a standard you know like shirt that like heck that's a lot of what I would wear too but just like nowadays the creativity like behind is like when you see a band and then you see in a company in the image you know as art like me I'm looking I'm like Who did that like that? the The art piece of this? Like how is it connected to the to the artist? And there could be such places of um creativity and like even our collective the collective thing I was Last night I saw a show ah with my child aid and ah the band leftover crack out of LA and holy holy shit Was that a friggin show at Dante's Inferno in Portland? It sounds as everything is like any of these details ah
00:37:33
Speaker
Um, uh, you know that ah that it was um, but um, I lost my train of thought uh the merch thanks again, um, uh, the band was uh systemic uh collapse and uh during this the show as a whole there was um Kind of calls for mutual aid and support heading into 2025 and right next to dante's is uh ah Rose Haven, a place, a shelter space, ah particularly for women, trans, queer ah communities, important, at risk, and struggling with homeless and ah house you know ah homelessness and in and other issues. So, you know, you have this ban, which is
00:38:23
Speaker
preaching directly against some of the some of the ills that we're seeing in society. The absolute sickening ills for me and as an anti-capitalist, but also you know a chunk of the proceeds were going over towards that shelter you know that's two blocks away. And this band is speaking truth to power and it it is a nice celebration, sold out celebration in Portland, say fuck this.
00:38:48
Speaker
Sick system, you know and and bands saying that type of thing and now I'm a labor guy So like I do my labor job during the day and heck that takes over my mind and everything with that But then when I'm in like this artist space and I'm like, this is all the same fucking shit. It's all the same people You know, like we're resisting. I'm like, oh my gosh, that's where I get excited with. I get paid to organize and I try to art organize as well and just talking to people and being like, you know what, man, we might not win all the fights, but we can, we can go, ah we can go some rounds if we stick together and shit that, uh,
00:39:30
Speaker
Just being around that and hearing the energy around your show you show that there's a collective, that there's a cheering for each other, that the art that you're putting up is nonsensical and people are laughing, because it's or or it's sensical or whatever it is to anybody. that like They're like, this is an experience. This is fucking cool. I'm not staring out the window at the ground at the moment. or And it's fine if you want to. you know I think that's what you just touched on there is sort of that like experiential stuff. Like I feel like to to be with one another in that space and to experience one another, to experience like just the physical energy of a crowd and and like
00:40:13
Speaker
be like being with other people and feeling you know the base go through your feet. That stuff I just feel like is so it's so essential and it's so important. and that was kind of like I was like eventually came to the conclusion of like, yeah, let's do this show because why the fuck not? Let's get together, let's celebrate. and I think amongst all of the heartbreak of the world and the trauma and all this stuff, like it's still so important to gather and to to experience joy and to experience, or like experience emotions together, I think is so important. and like yeah yeah I think like and don't know like the heartbreak flowers are there or the heartbreak of the heartbreak flowers, like part of it is just like
00:41:06
Speaker
my heartbreak for the world. um there's a snake One of my song's timelines is kind of this like, it almost feels like there was one song where I felt like maybe it wasn't fully finished, but I think it almost adds to the artistry of it or just sort of like the story of like, like the song is like, i I wish we could be in a different timeline where I could just sing Kumbaya with my friends, especially it's like the gist of it. But there is a line in it where it's like, you know,
00:41:36
Speaker
um like I want to live in a timeline where there's there isn't time for war crimes and genocide and like this this yes longing and this yearning for just things to be different, but recognizing that like this is what we're in. um and you know i don't like it's It's not a song where I want people to be like, oh, it's just like ignoring all of these things. it's like Man, I am overwhelmed and I don't really know what to do. And my mind goes to wishing we were somewhere else, but ah we're here. We're in this timeline. So like, what can we do? um And I think a huge, I think it always, for me, it comes back to community and loving, loving one another and hearing one another and just like holding one another, you know?
00:42:29
Speaker
Yeah, that's the that's the that's the kind that's the common glue. That's the common glue. I think that's that's that's what really helps. When you're around people, maybe sometimes people get lonely and they don't experience, I don't know whether it's notions of solidarity or care or something like that. But when you experience that and you know, like if you're in danger or you're tripping or you're, fought like that there's somebody to catch you in any sort of way that, the you know, and that feeling you can't like think your way to.
00:42:59
Speaker
Like, you have to feel it in your body. I remember like thinking about solidarity. I'm a union guy for a quarter century. And ah how do I describe it? Well, one time I slipped on the ice after occupying the Wisconsin Capitol with my members, and I slipped. And there was no way I was falling because I think four people caught me.
00:43:20
Speaker
Well, you know, what's solid air? I don't know what the fucking solid air is. It's a textbook. I could teach you at the college. It's fucked up. I will. Somebody had my back and it's like, whatever, man, that's where it is. And I look at things after that differently, being like, oh shit, man. So.
00:43:38
Speaker
I think there's power in that, you know, and in sharing that with you. And I think the trippy part is when I've tried to bounce around and have as much time bouncing around with like kind of organizing within the arts, the energy of if it's even more exponential beyond my labor, you know, people view things within like a labor union lens. But when you're thinking about like community organizing, or like, how are we going to like make sure people get health care and stuff like that? This, you know, that's some pretty
00:44:06
Speaker
some pretty important work and like we can help each other. Nobody's going to help, you know, like like help each other and like build from there. Yeah. That's the thing I also like, I i want, i I want my art to be, and this is something I kind of want to strive towards is just for my art to be more connected to that kind of like justice work. Um, cause yeah, there's this, this,
00:44:36
Speaker
push and pull of like, do you monetize yourself? Or do you like, work with your like, work towards? How do you do it, right? Yeah, like, yeah, how do you struggle with that? And I don't really have an answer of just like, how do I also stand for all the things that I stand for, which is like,
00:44:54
Speaker
an equitable world and like really just like again that kumbaya love whether whatever it sounds cheesy but really like it's a natural yearning like yeah it's not an experience which we should be devoid of yeah I mean and but then also being like okay but it would be nice to be able to to support myself or to be in a place where music can be more of ah a viable like you know, life, income, whatever, you know, I got to eat, you know, that's, that's the other, the other part of it is like, you know, figuring that out.
Farming, Ethical Living, and Baltimore's Art Scene
00:45:31
Speaker
But I think, I don't know, I live my life in a way that
00:45:37
Speaker
I don't really care what my job is a lot of the times, or not that I don't care, as long as i'm I enjoy the people I'm around and I'm doing something that you know doesn't completely take my soul. like i don't Money and the way I get it isn't the most important thing to me.
00:45:55
Speaker
I do want to say though that I i am a farmer. I have a lot of odd jobs and one of my things is farming and I found so much um connection in that and like I feel like so many jobs I've done. I am in a mode of like what is this for? This is just like we're just polluting the earth more or like this is just what am I doing here? But when i' when i'm when I'm harvesting food, I don't have those thoughts so much. um I'm just like, it feels so much more direct. And so I feel like maybe my art sometimes isn't the most like obviously justice oriented, but I feel like the way I live my life is one of like, I want to live my life in a way that feels in line with
00:46:49
Speaker
I don't know. my My morals, my ethos. Yeah, yeah it's all all philosophy. you want to like So know you want a good and a corrupt world. You want to what is you know what you want to move towards the good or or betterment in the world. It's like, Jesus, look at the values that are out there publicly. read Look at the news. It's like cartoonish. yeah If it wasn't so serious, it would be It would be cartoonish if wasn't so serious. But anyways, that's the that's the world at large. OK, big question row. Why is there something rather than nothing? Why is there something rather than nothing? I mean, I mean, maybe this is just me repeating myself, but like, why not? Yeah. And in like a sense of like, i yeah, why are we here? What is going on? Like, I don't know if there really is a reason, but we're here and we're doing it.
00:47:46
Speaker
yeah And like in terms of just like my art, why why is there something? Why do I have... you know Why did I do vinyl? Why did I put on a show? Because why not? Because and it brings me bring me joy. And it and and is also like people seem to connect with it too. so Love it. if i'm being you know like I feel like I...
00:48:12
Speaker
It's very validating to have people like, I mean, have someone across the country just be like, hey, I found your stuff. I really like it. Let's talk. um That's really cool. And then to have, again, my community in Baltimore just be like, ah we like you. We think you're, you know, we want to come to your shows. We want to like see what you're up to next and Like that's such an honor. Like I i really do feel very like lucky to have that. So, I don't know. Take it in. Take it in, lead into it. Shout out to Baltimore and shout out to the to the love there. There was something, ah not to jump back to the cemetery, but I wanted to mention that there was a, going way back when there was this magazine, it meant a lot to me, it was Underground Magazine, um later turned into a collected book and it's called,
00:49:07
Speaker
morbid curiosity cures the blues and it was ah by Lauren Rhodes who does some Cemetery guides and it's uh, I don't know how to sum it up gleeful exploration around the macabre and and the mortal, you know, it's it's it's monuments and overgrown savannan You know ah trees and anyways, it's just wonderful but the the kernel of the morbid curiosity cures the blues There's something about that statement where I was like, that's so true. That's me
00:49:43
Speaker
I like weird things, morbid things. When I look at them, I feel better. It might feel like a strange feeling. Am I normal? I look outside. Am I normal? Morbid curiosity cures the blues. I think it does. and It had such an influence on me. and um I've had Lauren on a couple times on on the show. and um I also had um a woman who does tours for some of the cemeteries in New York City, and it's just a world unto itself. and um I'm there in a second. um in I just love that curiosity piece of like being interested in the flowers when you're talking about the flowers and like being interested in
00:50:28
Speaker
regeneration it was for me, you like life you know from from death. um I wanted to ask you one more thing about ah ah everybody. ah Roe ah showed me a book about Baltimore um before we got on the program. And, Roe, one of the reasons I got so excited about it and listeners um and we'll tell you about this, but ah ah these these photography, these some street photography and in Baltimore and one of my favorite mediums and I bring it out to the show a whole bunch. of um
00:51:08
Speaker
zines, trashy zines, trashy nightlife, like wrestling mags, like yeah gritty stuff like that. ah Ro, tell us about ah the volume you're holding its title and your involvement with it.
00:51:25
Speaker
Yeah, so this is a book called seen Scene Scene. The first scene is S-C-E-N-E and the second is S-E-E-N. And it is a collection of photographs of Baltimore artists and bands, mostly musicians, um by Micah E. Wood. Shout out to Micah for putting it together. And I just got it the other day. I haven't fully looked through it, but Micah, it's actually very serendipitous because I was crafting crafting an email to send to Micah one day about like having a photo shoot to do some promo for this record. yeah And that same day before I even before I sent the email to them, they messaged me on Instagram and they're like, hey, I really want you to be a part of this book I'm putting together. Wow. And I would love to have you to do a ah shoot. And I was like, well, this works out.
00:52:22
Speaker
Um, because I was going to hit you up. And so I'm featured in this book, which just feels like, again, I'm so honored to, to be beside like so many hands in the city. Um, we'll just show the, this is my feature feet in station north here in front of this, this club called Royal blue. That is usually is really fun.
00:52:51
Speaker
ah full name Yeah. And I'm like, well, I'm lady row. I'm royalty. So, you know, here we are in front of royal blue. Lean into it. And then a picture of me sitting over 83, which is like the highway that runs through Baltimore.
00:53:07
Speaker
Oh, wow. i I'm looking at that now. And yeah. Yeah. See, it's OK. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of a little bit scary to sit up there and I'm sure I would be. i way Yeah. We're like, what is going on? And then we did a little bit of the shoot in the Penn Station, um which is that transit travel. Yeah.
00:53:28
Speaker
I'm a huge Trane fan. um I love I love our trains the best. They're the best public transit is is my shit. um I love it too. So many other bands in here and like some of them like Dan Deacon is a pretty well well known like um they're pretty well known throughout like I feel like the US are just like You know around and then there's a bunch of like people that honestly some of them like are new to me.
00:53:58
Speaker
um But I'm I just think that Micah does such a good job of um capturing this scene of Baltimore and the way that they, like, this is my friend, Plant Dad, and they have, like like, this shot of them, like, all in this crate that's, I'm pretty sure they're on the avenue in Hamden, and it's just so colorful, and that is that is Baltimore.
00:54:30
Speaker
um And I think there's such a ah beautiful, like, scene here, and there's such a beautiful, like, energy and effervescence of this of this city where I think like if you're you might not know about it if you don't know about it but also if you just walk around like maybe you don't feel it but like once you're in it once you like once you realize like the gem that this is like it's kind of hard to ignore and I again like I'm so um
00:55:02
Speaker
I'm really honored to be in this book and to to be a part of this scene and to be recognized as part of this scene because it it really like, it's so cool. And that's a great artist city to like, it's a great place to grow and to learn. And it's very collaborative, which I think is evidence in this book of like, you'll see like, you know, faces in one band and there'll be in another one or that kind of stuff. So.
00:55:27
Speaker
Yeah. So also these are, they're selling these books. So anyone listening wants to dive into the Baltimore scene and see what hell yeah I've recommended before. You know, essentially I had a couple of guests before and I'm sorry if I missed anybody, but illustrators from, um, Baltimore area, one, uh, Alex fine. And you find a lot of Alex's stuff, I think in but national, and some national publications, but also in, uh,
00:55:57
Speaker
locally um in Baltimore and Chloe Nicholas as well. So it's interesting. I love talking to illustrators to their very particular way of looking at things like that type of conversation, but I'm getting back to Baltimore too. And I really, you know, I'm really thrilled to have the chance to talk with you, Roe. I um um i bounce around on the show on, and and you know, um with with music and other art forms and, you know, bumping into artists, you find that they do so many like other type of things and think about so many other type of things. I know as an artist that can be a little bit frustrating sometimes is like, how do you want to know me, you know, like to the public. And um so I was really, really happy to encounter um that that wonderful, a wonderful album. ah Speaking of which, Ro, lead folks to where they can find, where you want them to find your work, your art, your music.
00:56:56
Speaker
um Well, one way to do it is on all streaming platforms, um even though like, fuck those streaming platforms. But I mean, they're they also allow me to share my music. And you told me you found um you found me on Spotify. So while you know, it's kind of that double edged sword. um But yeah, you can find me on Spotify, on a Amazon, on whatever, all those other on Apple.
00:57:23
Speaker
um But also, I am on Instagram. My Instagram is LadyRoe, which is just R-O. No E, no W. And it's .jpg, so .jpg without the E.
00:57:35
Speaker
heck you um And I feel like if people want to support me, um you know, a follow is always cool. But also, I do have um these vinyls that I would love to ah share with people and um sell a few. You go to the band camp for those?
00:57:57
Speaker
um I guess I could have, a I gotta update my link. So i could I'll put them up on Bandcamp. Also you can find my stuff on Bandcamp and if you buy it on Fridays, I get all the proceeds. um But yeah, I'll have a link to the album or the vinyl on my Bandcamp, but also if you just like,
00:58:17
Speaker
DM me and let me know you want a vinyl, you know, I'll ship one out or whatever. Get that signed. Get that signed. Yeah, I mean, you can find me on all those all those places. And yeah, Bandcamp, honestly, is probably if you want to just support me digitally. That's a that's a huge spot to do that. Or I think also just.
00:58:43
Speaker
Sharing sharing my music is huge Yeah, I I guess that's my that's my plug I love it. I love it Thank you so much. I want to Listeners we're gonna go out with a song By lady row all the colors So this is the first track ah Sinks into you and I couldn't get out. I don't know what other people's listen experience are Yeah,
00:59:19
Speaker
yeah yeah, so um, tell us a little bit about all the colors yeah, so I think this was the first song that I recorded for the record some of them I wrote beforehand or ah but this was the first song where I so it was the spring of 23. And my aunt, ah Aunt Kathy, she was sick and she ended up passing away from colon cancer. And
00:59:51
Speaker
I had started to write this song around the time of her passing. I was like, started, before she passed away, I started working on this song. And I don't know, it was one of these songs where I feel like a lot of my songs are very, they're about memories. They're about like dreams and sort of like, there's always like this melancholy that runs through a lot of them. ah But this one kind of came together around the time of her passing. And I remember I was up in Washington Square Park um And I was looking at these spring trees that were blooming and pink and just beautiful. And right there was this you know confluence of like life and death and and ah this sort of like, it's all right here, everything, all of the bad, all of the good, all of the in-between, all right here. All of the colors are all right here.
01:00:49
Speaker
um the murky browns and the bright pinks. And it was springtime, which holds, I feel like springtime is, you know, the final death of like the past year. And then it's this rebirth. And I feel like that season has always hold a lot of grief and a lot of mourning, but then a lot of, again, joy and new life. So that song was kind of born out of that time um and that feeling of like,
01:01:18
Speaker
I feel like in the end it's kind of a like it it has sort of melancholy, but there's also a hope to it that I feel like is captured pretty beautifully. And I recorded it with my friend Tom, um who's also an incredible musician.
01:01:33
Speaker
And I think one of my favorite things we did is I just sort of, I was playing the piano with it and I love at the end how it just spaces out into this sort of like airy, ethereal sound that I feel like, yeah, it kind of leaves you where you're just like, you could just rest in that forever, which, um yeah, this song I felt like is just like really, really beautiful and I feel like it captures that really well.
01:02:02
Speaker
Yeah, moving into, uh, moving into ladies and gentlemen, we're, we're floating into space
01:02:28
Speaker
Used to know, yeah.
01:04:58
Speaker
I guess
01:05:44
Speaker
you
01:06:26
Speaker
This is something rather than nothing.
01:06:30
Speaker
and listeners to stay connected with us in our guests visit something rather than nothingthin dot com join our mailing list for exclusive updates in access to guest-c createdated art if you enjoyed this episode or any episode please like subscribe leave a review on your podcast platform people really read that shit Your support helps us reach more and listeners and spread our community across the planet. This is a global show and we like to give a shout out to our many listeners across the world, including many listeners in Canada, Spain, Germany, UK, Argentina, Brazil, India, Thailand, and so many more places. Be sure to follow us on Instagram.
01:07:14
Speaker
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