RECORDS LiVE

Tamara: Thank you, guys. You don’t even know what it’s about yet. Who’s been here before? Okay, we have some returning people. We are here at RECORDS LiVE. It is a live talk show.  

Basically, it’s listening to music with your friends in the living room, vibing, talking about the music. I’m Tamara. I’m your host and we are three years old today. This is our anniversary show!  

We’re so excited. It’s actually a very special show tonight. We have very special guests. I cannot wait to introduce them. I’m kind of just in a waiting period right now… 

*Doorbell Rings* 

Tamara: Okay, we have our first guest. Why don’t you come on in? I have Val here today from Revel Girl. Get your microphone.  

Val: I project, sorry.  

Tamara: She projects. Were you ever in theater?  

Val: Marching band.  

Tamara: Do they project in marching band? 

Val: Yeah. I was holding a trumpet, so I’d have to make sure I was having enough air for the show.  

Song Plays: Japanese Breakfast – Diving Woman  

Tamara: Okay, so your first song today is Japanese Breakfast, “Diving Woman.” Do you want to talk a little bit about why you chose this one?  

Val: So, a fun fact is I gained Tinnitus in November of 2021 after seeing Japanese Breakfast two nights in a row. I went to go see her at Desert Daze and the very next day at The Glass House and the ringing hasn’t stopped since. So as an ode to that, I thought it’d be nice to start off with her. Not only that, but she had an impact in my 20s. When listening to music, I really got into her lore and I read her book Crying In H Mart, a memoir about her mom, but it also talks about the beginning of Japanese Breakfast. I’m a really big sucker for knowing the beginning and the before an artist becomes. So, I thought it was a good song for that as well.  

Tamara: And what resonates with you about her music and the lore of it?  

Val: I just like knowing things.  

Tamara: You just like knowing things. You don’t need to even relate to it?  

Val: No, I just like knowing the history and what made something, what created something.  

Tamara: And you’re a big fan of music history. Do you want to talk a little bit about that and how you got into music history in the first place?  

Val: I watched Almost Famous in ninth grade after an English teacher told me I should watch it.  They thought I’d really resonate with it. And I was like, I don’t know what that means.  

So, I watched it and that kind of had me start going into like, well, it was based in a very real time in history. Which kind of coincided with the time when I was also starting to find my own music taste, which is very rock heavy. I only really listened to Disney Channel music and RBD up until seventh or eighth grade when I decided to listen to new music.  

And I just looked up “music to listen to” and it was just dad rock that popped up. So, Nirvana, The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac. And that just ended up kind of going hand in hand with Almost Famous. I ended up reading about Miss Pamela Des Barres, which is one of the most famous groupies. Penny Lane is based off her and off of another groupie named Bebe. And I’ve read Pamela’s memoir. I’ve gotten to meet her, and I’ve gotten to kind of dive into this whole side of rock that people don’t really talk about.  

Tamara: Oh, awesome. I love that. And you’ve talked online about how groupie culture and fan girls are what make music what it is. Do you want to talk a little bit more about that too?  

Val: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I think we understand the boy band as a concept. We know that they’re a bunch of cute boys dancing around. But did we realize what’s bringing them on stage?  What’s selling out the stadiums? It’s the girls. It’s the fan pages. It’s the crazy little girl up at 2am just obsessed with this band because it means more to them than anything they’ve ever known. And that’s just been going on for decades. I mean, The Beatles built on fan girls. They couldn’t even play arenas anymore because they were just too big.  The fans were too loud. The girls were collapsing. They were chasing them down. They were tracking them down. I recently heard a story where they found out The Beatles were somewhere in LA and the fans ended up renting out a helicopter and taking turns to fly around in the helicopter.  Fan girls are crazy and they’ve showed their devotion one way or another.  

They’ve also contributed to the culture by being producers and promoters and tour managers and public personal assistants and all these behind-the-scenes things. We may not see them on stage, but we’ll see them behind the curtain.  

Tamara: It’s in the credits somewhere. Somewhere in the credits, you know a woman’s there. 

Val: Yeah.  

Tamara: Yeah, I love that. And going back to this song, I know you said you have a ringing in your ear from seeing Japanese Breakfast live. When you hear the ringing, do you hear Japanese Breakfast music also?  

Val: In my subconscious. Yes.  

Tamara: In your subconscious. You’re taken back?  

Val: Yeah, and I also picked this record because I’m also really into albums being listened to from front to back. That’s how the artist created it. That’s how it should be listened to. And this is the intro. This is the title track, “Diving Woman.” And it really sets the scene for the album. And I think everyone should listen to an album front to back. I’m a purist when it comes to that. Do not listen on shuffle.  

Tamara: Are you a physical media collector?  

Val: I am. I collect vinyl. So, I think maybe I’m partial to that because I’m used to listening front to back.  

Tamara: Does your car have a CD player anymore? I know you recently got a new car. 

Val: I got a new car. RIP the ‘09 Civic.  

Tamara: Congratulations to her, but RIP to the CD player.  

Val: Yeah, it’s just Bluetooth now, guys.  

Tamara: Oh, god. Death to physical media? I hate that. They’re taking away our ancient technologies.  

Song Plays: Beach House – Lazuli  

Tamara: Okay, so this is another very beautiful song. You guys may recognize this artist, Beach House. Any fans here of Beach House today? Okay, we got a few Beach House fans. There’s a lot of really good Beach House songs. How did you choose this record? 

Val: I think this is a song I would sit in my room or go on drives and listen to. This is very much either “pandemic, sitting in a purple lit room, just staring at the ceiling.” Or this is like “I’m driving, it’s late at night, and I just want something calm and pretty to listen to.” So, this one just speaks in very different ways.  

Tamara: What era of your music journey and discovering music has been the most formative for you? What shaped you into the person you are today?  

Val: The little pretentious 16-year-old me era.  Fuck-ass bob. Listening to Tame Impala for the first time.  

Tamara: That changed you?  

Val: Yeah, because then I realized like, “Stop thinking you’re so much better than everyone. Listen to pop.” And that’s kind of when I realized The Beatles are amazing. You don’t have to be secretive about it. I’m going to talk about The Beatles a lot. I fuck with The Beatles. I will say they were a pop band. They were meant for the girls. But then all the old guys started to kind of claim them.  

Tamara: Yeah, old heads took them over.  

Val: Yeah, and I was like, Okay, but thanks to the girls they made it. Anyway, just because they’re considered a dad rock band, I wanted to bring that up.  

Tamara: Nice. And elements of this song, what do you hear when you listen to a Beach House song or a song that you’re going to drive around with? Or just sit in your room quietly?  

Val: I really like synths. I can’t tell you the name of a single synth, but I could say that they’re pretty. And I like when specific synths play in specific songs.  

Tamara: Yeah, shout out synths. Any synth players here today? Oh, we got one today. So, what is another thing that you look for when you listen to music for the first time? What makes you hold on to a song?  

Val: I think I first listen to the drums and the bass, usually. But when there’s something so unique, like a synth, then I really gravitate towards it. A lot of the records I brought are very synthy. And the lyrics come later.  I like to read the lyrics and kind of go through the genius or the lore or YouTube videos kind of breaking the song down. Again, I like knowing the intimate details to the song that people may not otherwise know.  

Tamara: Are there any details about this song that you could share with us or no?   

Val: No, but I think they dated. That’s far as I know. The people in the band dated. And then they kept making music because they realized their connection was in music.  

Tamara: I feel like a lot of bands that we really love are like that. Where two people dated and they’re like, Oh, no, we’re not right for each other. However, we can write a great song. The Marias, ABBA, MUNA, the Wiggles. In the new iteration of the Wiggles. Yeah, they dated, divorced. They had some tragedy happen. I know Wiggles lore. I really love The Wiggles. They’re my Beatles.  

Let’s talk more about this song. I know you said you listened to the bass and the drums first. Do you listen to guitar. I know we talked about this once before. You don’t really go for guitar.  

Val: Guitar isn’t the first thing I listen to.  

Tamara: Okay, why? Why do you think that is?  

Val: Pass.  

Tamara: This is a really good song. I feel so low heart rate right now with the song so far. They’re really relaxing. 

Val: Yeah. I think they’re one of the few bands from the records I brought that I haven’t seen live. I saw Beach House play like two songs once at a music festival, but I still haven’t caught a full set. I’m sure it’d be a nice time. They’re very much like, I’d to lay in the grass and listen to them. They definitely had to have played Desert Daze. Anyone know?  

Tamara: Nobody knows. We’re going to fact check that later. They should have played Desert Daze. (Beach House headlined Desert Daze in 2022) And this out of your lineup, is this the only band that you haven’t seen live?  

Val: No, I think one of them is dead. So, I can’t see them.  

Tamara: Oh my gosh.  

Song Plays: Weyes Blood – Movies  

 Tamara: So, we’re going into our next song, which is from a very important artist to you. You taught me how to pronounce her name. It’s Weyes Blood (pronounced Wise Blood). Right? 

Val: Yeah. So, she was originally spelled Wise Blood, but then because of a whole ordeal with a different band having the name Wise Blood, she ended up having to spell it a different way. She’s still Wise Blood just spelled differently. I think she’s a lot more successful than the other Wise Blood out there.  

Tamara: Yeah, who is that person?  

Val: Okay. So, I love Natalie Mering. Natalie Mering is amazing. Not only was she on the Minions: Rise of Gru soundtrack covering “You’re No Good” by Linda Ronstadt, she has also produced the Marty Supreme soundtrack. She has recently collaborated with Olivia Rodrigo, but her solo stuff is just amazing. I saw her for the first time in 2019 when I took an ex to see her, and I didn’t really know what I was getting to.  

I was just there for the plus one. And this song played and it was like that scene of the season finale of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia where Danny DeVito is like, “I get it now.” It was just like that. When Mac does the whole dance scene and comes out. That was me.  

When I saw this song, I was at the Fonda and she had all these flowy projections kind of like you’re stuck in a lava lamp. And it kind of got me hooked from there. She’s worked with some of my favorite artists. I’m really into her whole circle. So, from her, I started listening to The Lemon Twigs who were two of the producers on “A Lot’s Gonna Change,” they’re the background vocals. I love the Twigs. She worked with Jonathan Rado very closely. Jonathan Rado is a phenomenal producer. He’s recently worked with people like Miley Cyrus and The Killers. So, it’s cool to see him branching out and being outside of the niche pocket. But he produced this album and it’s so special to me. It’s a front to back, no skips album. Also, very much a sit in your room or drive around kind of album.  

Tamara: Her voice is very entrancing.  When you saw this live, I understand why you were like, I get it now. You’re just in a spell with her voice.  

Val: Absolutely. And how she sounds on the record is how she sounds in person. I’ve seen her at The Greek Theatre, like a big venue and I’ve seen her at the AWE Bar, RIP. It closed down in Yucca Valley. I think it became the Mojave Gold and that closed down too. Every single time I’ve seen her, she just never misses.  

Tamara: That’s a small venue. It’s the Mojave Gold? 

Val: Yeah, I thought they closed.  

Tamara: That’s small. No, they’re still open, but it’s tiny. You saw her there? That must have been special for you. What was the stage production of that? Was it anything with the visuals and the projection?  

Val: No, so it was just the beautiful brown wood kind of wavy venue. It was her and her iconic little suit. She always has one suit that she wears for the entire tour. So, she’s in her kind of little suit. She has her five-piece band. There’s this instrument, I don’t know the name of it, someone could probably tell me. But it’s the instrument where you’re kind of picking at it. It’s kind of like guitar, but not. She always has one of those. And that’s really fascinating to watch. Does anybody know what instrument that is?  

Audience Member: Lap Steel!  

Tamara: What is it? Lap Steel? Oh okay, love that. Let’s talk about this album because this is fully created on her own, right?  

Val: The woman that she is. So, this album cover isn’t a painting. This is actually a photo. So, they set up an entire room, filled it up with water. And they only had 13 minutes to shoot before everything started to disintegrate. Could you believe this? What a woman. 

Tamara: Insane. You know so much music lore. I think you need to write a book.  

Val: Maybe one day. On the IE music scene?  

Tamara: On the IE music scene? Who’s going to give her your lore and your secrets? Everyone’s scared. You’re going to find it all out.  

This song has a really nice build to it also. Talk about what you go through listening to this or how the build feels. What do you listen for?  

Val: With the build in this one, you kind of picture yourself in a ballroom and eventually you’re just spinning around or something. That’s all I could say. I don’t know. It’s very moving. I could definitely scream to this.  

Tamara: Hard to sing to.  

Val: Oh, but we try, nonetheless.  

Tamara: Yeah. It’s such a beautiful song.  

Val: She also has this awesome pattern of using environmental existentialism in some of her albums.  

Tamara: Describe that for anybody who wouldn’t know what that concept is.  

Val: Environmental existentialism is kind of being worried about the future depending on climate change and our environmental state, which is something that becomes very, very apparent and very true as the years go on. And she’s done that by highlighting the Salton Sea with Front Row Seat to Earth and then it being submerged under water and the name is very intentional behind that.  

Tamara: That was an amazing song. What track on the album is that one?  

Val: I think it’s somewhere in the middle. I listen to this album front to back.  

Tamara: Yeah, so it’s all one track if you listen to it front to back.  

Song Plays: Broadcast – Papercuts  

Tamara: Who’s dead on this? Is it the last artist? Is this person in Broadcast alive?  

Val: Actually, maybe there’s two of them that are dead. I don’t know if Broadcast is dead.  

Tamara: They might be dead. This is a very old cover art.  

Audience confirms a member of Broadcast has died. 

Tamara: Yeah? Okay, thank you. R.I.P. Great song. So, let’s talk about it.  

Val: So, I used to work at a very trendy retail store, and they would always play a song called “Come On Let’s Go.” Amazing song. I think it’s their most popular one. I got really hooked onto this album in particular, The Noise Made by People. It’s really funny because this is the only album I’ve ever played for my mom in the car and she was like, “Can we turn it off?” I don’t know why. Because there’s a time I listened to 100 gecs and she didn’t mind that. But this was just not it for her.  

Tamara: What did she not like? 

Val: It was kind of the distorted stuff 

Tamara: It does makes you feel kind of weird in your stomach.  

Val: But I really like the jazzy kind of elements to it. I don’t know. I was spoken to it by feeling.  

Tamara: What are you listening to in this one?  

Val: The bass.  

Tamara: The bass always. She’s a bassist. Do you know what era this is?  

Val: ‘90s I think? It’s funny because you’ll see me on one side where I know everything and then there’s…  

Tamara: Well, there’s songs where it’s just like, I enjoy this song. It does something for me. It just resonates in some way, and I don’t need to know anything about it. That’s how some music is. And that’s okay. This album you’ve listened to front to back as well.  

Val: Yeah. All of these.  

Tamara: Okay, you listen to the bass in this song. What about the vocals?  

Val: Oh yeah, she has a very interesting voice. If I could sing like anyone, I think it’d be her. It’s a little haunting. I like the idea of kind of sounding like a little porcelain doll. 

Tamara: You said this is kind of jazzy. I would say some jazz makes me feel unsettled. There’s the stress of jazz because I feel like a lot of it’s kind of improvised. So, it stresses me out listening to jazz music. How often are jazz inspired tunes in your rotation?  

Val: There was a time when I was listening to a bunch of random jazz albums. 

Tamara: I don’t listen to jazz. The closest I got to jazz was the Mickey Mouse computer game where he’s a detective. Have you guys played that? He’s a detective and there’s jazz music throughout the whole game. It’s really good. Goofy’s like missing or in trouble.  

Val: I was in jazz band I think for two semesters in high school. I played bass. I played three instruments in high school: French horn, trumpet and the double bass. But I started off with the violin because I really wanted to get into music when I was first researching. I was like, how do I get into music? And the easiest outlet was to join an ensemble on campus. That’s how it started.  

Tamara: Nice. Besides bass, what’s your favorite instrument?  

Val: I love the French horn. It’s slept on.  

Tamara: Bring it back. It’s underused in music. 

Song Plays: Margo Guryan – Hold Me Dancin’  

Val: I wanted to bring an upbeat one.  

Tamara: Okay, good. We’re ending it great. We started it great. So, dead?  

Val: Dead. She passed away, I think, November 2021. My friends were able to look through her entire record collection and she listened to a bunch of jazz, which I think is really, really cool.  

Tamara: Was it a record collection up for public viewing?  

Val: No, my friends worked at a record store at the time. So, they were able to look it over.  

Tamara: Okay, like her actual collection?  

Val: Yeah. Her son was like, “Okay, I’ve combed through whatever I wanted. You could have the rest sold.” And I guess it was a lot of jazz. But yeah, she’s from the 60s. She refused to tour and then her moment of fame kind of dwindled. But then in the 90s, I forgot where they rediscovered her. It was probably Japan.  

Japan’s always on it. And then she had another little revival recently, I think Clairo covered “Love Songs” by her. I don’t know what else has brought her to the mainstream. But yeah, she has an album called Take a Picture that is absolutely beautiful. It’s a little softer. This is one of her few, very, very few, dancey tracks, but it always puts me in a good mood. That’s why I picked it.  

Tamara: We’re ending strong. I love this song. When are you putting this on?  

Val: In the morning when I’m getting ready for something I’m excited for? Or if I need to get some energy out.  

Tamara: Okay. This is a great movie song.  I can imagine this in the opening montage of a film and something bad is going to happen afterwards. But for a bit, they’re euphoric. They’re having a great time.  

Val: What’s the bad thing?  

Tamara: I just think this is something Quentin Tarantino would use in a film and it’s a woman and she’s getting ready. And then turns out she owes money to some crazy guy, and he’s got a large fish tank. That’d be the whole plot. 

Val: And it’d be four hours long.  

Tamara: Yeah, it’d be maybe it could be something he wrote but didn’t direct. So, it could be a modest two hours. This is a short song. Oh my god. Give me one more little tidbit that you like about this song.  

Val: I don’t know. It just makes me feel good. It’s fun.  

Tamara: And that’s all music should be. It makes you feel good. It’s fun. Hey, we’re at the end of our journey here today. Thank you, Val, for being here. I want Val to give us three artists to watch because I feel like she’s got her ear on the ground for good music in the scene. So, give us three artists to watch before closing out.  

Val: Okay. Stateira, she’s on the rise. We just had a show with her two weeks ago. Her debut show. Pleasure Pill. A little boy band from Chula Vista on the come up. And… pass.  

Tamara: Those are the only ones to watch guys. Everyone else blew up recently. Well, thank you for joining us today. Where can they find you?  

Val: @scaryelbows on Instagram.