Rachelle Garniez

Rachelle Garniez is a quirky, unique and talented multi-instrumentalist. She is a solo artist, and a member of the VickiKristinaBarcelona Band who has collaborated with the likes of Jack White, Suzy Roche and more. On this episode we explore the intersection of art, mental health wellness as well as the joy of tour life through Europe. https://rachellegarniez.net

the book referenced in this episode is "Extreme Exposure" by Jo Bonney
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Rachelle Garniez is a songwriter, singer, composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Born and raised on New York City’s 1970s culturally diverse Upper West Side by an American classical pianist and a European professor of French literature, Rachelle was exposed to a singular multiplicity of rich and multi-layered influences, from utopian collective free-schooling and Austrian Expressionism to the roller disco dancers and congueros of Central Park.

In 1982, at age 17, she left home and spent a year making her way around Europe. By default, she picked up a guitar and started playing folk songs on the streets of Venice and Avignon. She wound up on a beach in the south of Spain, where she was adopted by the local Gypsy flamenco singing champion and began to develop a commitment to the visceral and ephemeral mode of live music. After a year, she moved back to New York, gave away all her LPs and lived in a squat on 89th Street before eventually settling in the East Village and being hijacked by an accordion, an instrument that served to connect her with an infinitely expanding motherlode of multi-cultural music.

From her first adventures as a street musician and a fixture in the 80s New York boho scene, Rachelle went on to form a band (The Fortunate Few) and has released seven albums under her own name. In addition, Rachelle’s songs have been performed and recorded by jazz artist Catherine Russell, pop singer Karen Elson, and Ingrid Lucia (The Flying Neutrinos). Besides her her own work, Rachelle has performed and collaborated with Jack White, Suzzy Roche, Sven Ratzke, Palmyra Delran, Thomas Dolby’s TED House Band, beloved bar band Mumbo Gumbo, roots-world ensemble Hazmat Modine, and sonic sorcerer Sxip Shirey. Together with Terry Radigan and Amanda Homi, she is a member of VickiKristinaBarcelona Band, covering the Tom Waits catalog in three-part harmony.

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Produced and Edited by Arts and Craft.
Theme Music: Sound Gallery by Dmitry Taras.

Transcript

I'm kind of interested in a bit of like insecurity and complete lack of inhibition they kind of go together is like flip side she is a delightfully quirky unique and talented multi-instrumentalist she has played solo and collaborated with the likes of Jack White Susie roach and more today's special find is Rachelle Garnier my name is Nancy Magarill I'm a singer songwriter composer performer graphic and web designer and I'm Peter Michael Marino and I'm a writer producer Creator performer and educator we are new york-based artists you may or may not have heard of and we are here to introduce you to other artists you may or may not have heard of I'm not trying to be cruel or even unkind but we were too cool for school and I was out of my mind maybe that's no excuse for playing so fast and loose but it's the only one I've got

yeah we must have had some fun but you could have been

anyone the butcher the baker the Candlestick maker the doctor a lawyer or an Indian chief yeah I Wasing Feld God's I sat and listened to some of the tracks on your website today MH and I just have to say your voice is just so so unbelievably gorgeous and versatile like you have the ability to do everything with your voice and tell stories in a way as a songwriter and a singer that is just mesmerizing for me and when I saw you a couple of weeks ago at City Winery the the entire table we all were just blown away and loud and way wght is amazing but you were absolutely hands down the highlight of the night for us oh I'm so glad you were there and thank you um for that yeah do you do you not like getting compliments I love getting compliments okay it's just the response little shy yeah I was like stop stop she's getting uncomfortable I'm a little shy you know but uh that's part two I guess getting older is my goal to say thank you I'm so glad you loved it it's really hard when people are lavishing you with praise it feels a little awkward I think no I think it's wonderful and I so appreciate your communicating that I really do because as you know sometimes on our journey which is just a dreadful word I think but but what can you do you're rowing Upstream every so often you just hit a good spot and sometimes you know so every little word of uh encouragement and the fact that I can feel yeah it connected you know it really really makes a big difference yeah as an artist is self-doubt is that is that someone you live with self-doubt or or do they live upstairs you know what I'm saying like yeah how close are you to that it's a combination because I think it interests me to write and and manifest for lack of a better word some of that self-doubt that I think a human being just has like I'm I'm kind of interested in a bit of like insecurity and complete lack of inhibition they kind of go together it's like flip sides it's like a balance between the two right sometimes I'm like I'm ready to just run away and then I have that I'm alive I love what I do just go for it and be uninhibited but we can't we're human beings right we have we have that we have all of that in US Pete do you wrestle with that too well I mean a little bit we kind of just talked about that um with another guest about how like I just said so when you're not nervous anymore it's kind of it's kind of time to move on right I mean I know it's a very blanket statement but like I feel that way as an artist and like well I was saying like but sometimes it's just a really good paycheck so you you know you're just you got to do the gig and you're like well I'm getting paid well for my experience and my stage presence and my all the other stuff and no I'm not going to be nervous about this but then there's other times where you're like I should be nervous right now and you're not or I'm not I mean I feel like if I'm not nervous what I'll do is I'll make myself sing a song I've never sung or do something I like oh my gosh I like being on the edge off yeah I really like it and so this is something for better or worse I like it I was you know in in punk rock bands when I was a mirror child and all kinds of stuff and I kind of like that feeling like I'm just jumping into the ocean it's going to be really fun it you know now I feel as I've gotten older which is just wonderful thing to do um and kind of inevitable yeah that I don't I don't question myself and I also know where like I am kind of on the rails even if I'm off the rails I don't go as far off road as I used to yeah um but I'm glad I took those chances and it's almost like you take what you learn from it uh I think stage nerves are normal for me I'm never going to stop having that right um You don't have stage fright do you no not not as soon as the thing happens and it's happening it's the best thing ever what is it like for you before before you get on stage oh it's terrible I have an narcolepsy is basically the thing like go into sleep mode my hands turn into ice blocks and so forth really it's so this is only before performances this doesn't happened before like I don't know dinner or a date or what oh gee wiiz well that's a whole other thing that's the social anxiety right then we need to know all of this wait is it do you think it's because you play so many instruments that your hands freeze up like that because you play accordion piano you play a ton of instruments I was actually thinking about like what your warmup must be like because you have so much you have to warm up your voice you have to warm up this and that I would imagine your hands would have to freeze up think it's just some kind of weird thing like the brain goes narcoleptic and maybe all the blood like goes right into some organ or another that's like going to propel the show because as soon as I get up my hands are fine and everything wow I'm making an effort to practice a little more but I just had a thought like when you said social anxiety you know the term like being a social butterfly yeah the Social Butterflies in the stomach I think is more what I'm into I like how you're writing that down I know I have a feeling there's a song we just created a song song coming y all did where do songs come from do you ever like set out to write a song or does the spirit move you to write a song I will say it's come at different times I don't know how you know how you do that uh Nancy and and so and at times in my life I've been like get up three hours sit down every day kind of like an Irving Berlin task Master type of thing other times I'm just waiting for some disaster to happen or or something annoying or something lovely so yeah but on those days where you wake up and you're like three hours I'm going to do this that is you're saying that to yourself without being accountable to another person meaning like if I have a deadline then I'm going to freaking work yeah but if I don't I'm kind of lazy are you like that uh I'm C at times and then every so often I can do it's almost like a ritual of some sort where I'm like dividing myself into different you know how do you say Well everybody's got a little bit of a multiple personality you know at least every artist does you know so I try to access the the hard ass and let her sort of be the one who's directing the FL I love that way of thinking that's really good you know um I wonder if this time in it all so um I've been on a lovely mental health Journey lately I think maybe I mentioned Mental Health on this um podcast because we're talking to artists and I feel like that is something that many artists either have embraced or ignored and uh because I want to be someone who encourages people to examine their mental health so yeah I guess I've become somewhat of a a mouthpiece for that so I was unaware that if you negative selft talk to yourself especially if you are a loner so you have lots of time to say you loser why' you that that is that is very detrimental I mean I don't know why this is news to me but it it is it's like onee news of like oh right I am a person who is constantly saying terrible things to myself about myself now somehow that um observation related to something you just said maybe because I referred to what should probably be a spirit guide I called her hard ass now maybe she's just my spirit guide I wrote a song a while ago and I wrote it for John Claud vanam and that's addressing you know a diagnosis that I have in common with him and I'm also a mouthpiece for a mental health I'd like to think that I find it makes people some people uncomfortable people that I'm surprised are uncomfortable and when I can decide that I want to say that I have a diagnosis of bipolar disorder there are people that will say well all artists have that and I don't agree I don't agree I don't agree yeah I think it's people who don't understand what that is might say I agree yeah and I know go go ahead no I I I think I know people who are like hey Pete maybe don't talk about your um Mental Health challenges so much why well because you know people might not hire you mhm what like literally any person who would hire me definitely already has their own challenges like what why would I not talk about it like it's not the year 2000 we are totally allowed to and should be of if people can hear us which a lot of people their voices are not heard if we have the opportunity to be heard whether it's on a podcast or in a blog or on whatever it is then use that time to insert in I I almost said agenda it's not an agenda but I think it should be on my agenda if I have an opportunity to talk about it then it makes some other person go oh oh I'm not I'm not the only one who tells myself I'm a terrible person and untalented and a loser yeah and I also think part of what we need to do as a society is deal with all issues I think what we're seeing especially over the last 8 n years is that when you sweep [ __ ] under the rug it it creates chaos and part of the thing that's so great about the Arts is it allows people to deal with things in a productive way instead of being [Music] violent don't know who I am but your courage and your honesty had a profound impact upon me [Music] it seems we share a similar chemical in Balance which although might help to access certain talents at the moment I'm in Kingston New York Upstate oh sure yeah yeah and yeah being a lifelong City person I'm feeling country mouse these days so I like it so much even though I have to drive a car you do I love Kingston though Kingston is really wonderful I spent Summers I rented a house with a friend in Olive Bridge oh yeah and it was in this really remote Road where we were like about two miles in no one else around us and then the other house that the people own was down another like half a mile and they were never there and it was really in the middle of nowhere and in the winter it was pretty intense but I love it up there yeah I'm really happy up here and I'm happy that there's the mighty h nearby I like being near bodies of water so it feels good same and yeah it's an interesting part of part of the state the first capital of New York state so a lot of interesting stuff here which I like there's a scrapyard not far from me which I just find beautiful and I can kayak through this whole kind of industrial area and then kayak the other direction out into the river with and their Eagles and just beautiful blue and you and Alby don't you kayak like even through the winter yes that's amazing Al is her partner yeah do you run into bear or any bears out there that would freak that's one of my biggest phobias just so you know oh I have a big thing about that oh no I'm sorry there was a bear in this little area and like an idiot I was I said wow great I'm going out for a walk hopefully I can see it and but I didn't and then the bear sort of meandered away we had some Bobcats across the road which oh they're really in these days yeah yeah right what really in I don't know I keep hearing about that they are apparently foxes are making a comeback like they're going to we're going to start seeing stray foxes in New York City more often well we're definitely getting coyotes here wow oh yeah I think I like foxes more than coyotes I love foxes they're so coyotes are so needy and noisy aren't they well they're Killers you know so are all those well all Wildlife is right I don't I don't mind a little predatorial thing I mean we had these little Robins outside in a nest right outside the window that hatched and the blue eggs and mama and daddy fed them worms and we were obsessively checking on them and then they became Crow snacks oh did you actually see them getting eaten I saw the crow flapping away with I'm so sorry to make you answer that question now this is the kind of thing where there's a song in there I was just gonna say so you wrote a song not quite yet but the yeah sorry so I here's a question this had nothing to do with art but maybe maybe it does is there a place to put the nest that makes them more secure is that part of the problem is that this Nest was put in a place where it's just like hi your prey yeah the birds didn't think it through oh it was something you at made they did they did it and you know now what I'm trying to do is create a um sort bird certified Sanctuary for pollinators and birds outside so there's no mowing the Lawns no mow they call it and I'm put no mo no mo yeah exactly no mo mo and so this is a mission you know to create a habitat for butterflies bees birds and bats nice I don't know but yeah I appreciate speaking to you all and that you don't have a stigma around certain subjects is very helpful and good and that goes for you know the same thing I feel are these animals that are have their habitats are shrinking that's why they're coming to the city yeah absolutely yeah so do you find that creating music and creating art helps with what's going on with your mental health is that why you started doing music do you think um or was it just something you've always done I grew up with a musician as a mom she's a classical piano player Nancy Garnier she's also very involved with ear ear training and all this so I've grown up around music my whole life I didn't learn how to read or do any of it because read music yeah I could read words pretty early um but yeah I don't I don't read music it was funny because I as a kid I just thought I just want to write books I just want to be a writer but it just I thought I'm G to be way too lonely if I do that and music just seemed like too easy to me I was like why should I do that I'm not going to do that um and then it sort of came to pass by a bit of an accident I got into busing and playing on the street and I was in Europe as a young like lady like 17 years old and I fell in with all kinds of very interesting musicians flamco a group of um Roma in Spain it just was an education I came back to New York and gave away all my recorded music because I said it's dead the only music is live oh you were making an artistic statement that's why you gave it away I just said I need to be outside and play You Know music I don't care if it's in a club I don't care where it is but I just felt that after hearing you know a very old woman under a bright Full Moon singing solo flamco into the night I just thought this is the best thing ever and it's just being it's just happening in the moment you know but somehow you were confident that I mean sounds like you were young when you made this when you made this observation you were confident that this will be the way that I earn an income yeah because I was really fascinated by the busking world and I was a handball you know and I felt like this is just how I want to connect with people it was strange it's true it's a different way to connect you're getting paid by strangers yeah right and then usually have a conversation and then they want to kind of what you're doing next or where you're going yeah yeah and did you have a whole repertoire for that or were you just making stuff up on the go well I start Ed busking you know sort of in in in Italy and doing these kind of folk songs and I met a woman that played the harp and we were just running around in Venice and all kinds of Adventures it's hard to run around with a harp yeah she had a little like a little one you know running with Harps running with Harps she should write that solo show you know well now actually the next thing I'm going to put together has a lot to do more with theater and storytelling and putting the songs in there you know like with a narrative there's going to be some narrative but it may be um nonlinear Oh I thought you're going to say non-verbal like the the the narrative is just in how the songs go from one to another like a concept album I suppose sure yeah a song cycle but I think I'm a yapper you know the last few shows I've done I'm doing a lot of speak and it's comedic and it's tragic and it's intertwined with sounds vocal sound so this is something I improvise often like there'll be a stick I'm going to stick to that but I don't know the challenge is going to be keeping a spontaneity with a more structured format you know I just did a workshop with Gretch and crier on the same thing putting a solo show together yeah and it's such a fascinating experience because it's not something I ever did cuz I've always played my music in clubs and then maybe I've had some you know banter or I've told some stories depending on what the news was of the day yes it's really interesting creating a show that incorporates either your music or someone else's and filters a story through it you know and and it there's a really great book with these monologist who do the same thing and they're all different styles and ways to do it and it's really a fun adventure to pull this together and try to think of a thread that can pull it all together to make it a really interesting night yes well I so want to check out the book because I know today's sort of mission was look around and see who's doing what I always liked the sandre bernhard's style of uh mixing music and monologue because uh I like the idea of having um a music bed underneath your monologue I feel like it it helps to drive and helps to set a tone and all that um trying to think of others who oh well um you know whose show is uh I talk about a lot is the um [ __ ] seventh grade Jill so's oh I loved that show one woman show I haven't seen it but I'm a fan of hers it's coming back and you should see it is it back now yeah it's opening in a couple I I oh I'm going this week I'm going this week I didn't realize it was back weekend I believe it started this weekend yeah and she's telling her story her you know not her whole life story but a good chunk of it and um not only is it incorporating you know sort of the songs that came out of that story but the band also kind of plays characters throughout the story which I just love that I it's just so clever it was really well done where do you picture this piece happening is it in a theater is it in a concert venue is it a City Winery kind of place or a you know I don't know the Green Room something like that yeah I mean I think it's a the point of it will be it's portable and flexible smart you know and that that interestingly you you were speaking about sort of the underpinning of music or sounds under the verbal stuff that's really a lot of what I do anyways yeah and I don't know it's a very interesting proposition that I can't always imagine singing without holding an instrument or creating creating the space of that interesting yeah yeah so so portable it's sound that portable with the number of instruments that you play well that's yeah well the piano is kind of hard to take around unless that's usually in the gig that's usually in the venue right if we're lucky right not always that's true yeah yeah when did you start the band well I've had all kinds of configurations of bands over the years you know a lot you're playing solo right now right mostly except for the vi with the Vicky Christina Barcelona band The Vicky Christina Barcelona band The vkb is so much fun and yeah we're having a great time with Amanda homie is fantastic she's amazing May Minch we just did a record with her also incredible musician and it's a great project three women we're all songwriters uh from Super different areas and and uh influences and we get together and do Tom weight's songs in three-part Harmony and play instruments all of us play and yeah that's been a very cool cool project to do we're going to Europe in January and then to India in February wow so how did it all I mean you know folks listening might not know how a group of people decide to come together to create things did you decide to come together or did it sort of happen and then it was like oh I think we've got a thing here let's keep exploring it yeah the the group went through some incarnations and began with I wasn't part of it Terry rigan and jooy ask you and Amanda homie were the first group and um Terry rigan's great guitar player songwriter and then I'd seen them they were part of a an evening of performance that Angela mclusky who a just beautiful singer and dear friend and who passed uh away and I can't believe she's gone she was a force of nature um but I I first heard the the Christina Barcelona same night that I was playing with Angela sort of a variety show and I thought I just want to be in a band that sings three-part Harmony I was a bit jealous but very happy for them and then I got a call I was setting up at Pangia to play a show and I was thinking about three-part Harmony and I got this call oh my gosh from Terry and she said oh joy can't make this gig and she's doing other things and this do you want to do this with us and I said are you kidding yes you know so that that started gosh probably seven years ago or something oh really it's been that long I think so oh I thought I thought I saw the band like much longer ago maybe longer yeah yeah should we get Pangia to sponsor this podcast because we have dropped pang's name I know right every other time they actually I think there is a podcast that there is going through Pang so what are some of your other favorite downtown haunts either to perform in or to see things in well yeah downtown haunts I suppose I I'm not a I don't go out enough so that's I kind of just like throw myself into the Pangia Universe well once you know what once Pangia became so cool and so many great artists started playing there there's almost nowhere else I want to go because it's that's where a lot of the great stuff is happen happening right now or the more interesting I have to agree and that there's the opportunity what I love about it is that you can play in the back room and it's beautiful and they've orchestrated so nobody's like handing out checks while you're playing your most Soulful Encore and everyone's crying and then they're like they're cool with it then everyone can go into the front room nobody's getting kicked out of the place you know it's the old school new New York that I love where a gig is going to be a whole evening it's not just your time slot and then everybody boom out and oh that's such a lovely way to look at it I really never thought that is true it's it's the socializing for the audience beforehand and then the show which is a form of socialization and then afterwards that is why people hang around I never put that together and I've been there a gazillion times produced shows there but that is such a big part of it which is now Mak sense when I'm like I'm leaving right after the show is like what MH after you're that is part of the show yeah this sort of Hyperbaric moment where you're like I'm coming back into the world or you just see people you know and you want to talk with them or you just I don't know it's just gentle it's not like the flood lights get turned on and everybody has to yeah there's something you also don't want to retreat to the green room right after the show because it's a hall way well yeah that green room is not easy to be in I mean it's really especially for more than one not a green room right yeah it's pretty crazy there it's really hard to be in that room before a show I will say like as far as like getting into the vibe of a show and being in that space it's a little funky especially if you have those butterflies it's a little funky in there yeah you can't quite stretch and you know you can step outside but you might get locked out which means then you have to go back around so yeah yeah well it's these little challenges that make things interesting I I was playing a a g a gig recently that a lot of bands uh also play and so you know I had it was just a solo show and I had access to the backstage with the refrigerator you know and the whole deal my you know my diet coke and my Sprite and my energy bars felt great and then I was like oh I have time I'm just going to like lay down on this big old leathery couch that's been here since 1968 and then you lay down and you're just like like it just eats you because every band has been just plopping their [ __ ] down on this thing and you're like actually this feels kind of like I'm getting some good DNA out of this you know probably are getting DNA well that's oh boy yeah I didn't mean it that way but yeah you're right you're right but there is something nice about the sort of you know I can't even imagine what it would be like to have a dressing room or a green room that is you know you've got the shower they provide the soap you know all that stuff I can't imagine alls I can say is go to Europe you know oh they're good there oh my God I mean I will say well the last 15 years I've worked in Europe more than New York probably all total and I'm so fortunate to have this wonderful label German label Yaro in based in Breman in Germany he's also taken on vkb we're signed with them too they manage tours they book tours it's a record label that also just it's like a one house you know uh service so we are so lucky that Lee bals who runs it books us on tours and when you go there you are whined and dined and hotell and properly treated and paid and there's a thing that I love there first of all I'm an accordionist you know a lot of the time that's not looked at as being completely insane over there um also that I feel uh because of age agism is not as strong there I really believe and I get the feeling that it's not the Judgment that you go through here in the US especially as a there's a respect yes yeah um yeah so there's DNA like everywhere all every backstage it's full of DNA you know it's not like we have Uber Uber Posh Posh Posh tours but they're they're great they're they're civilized it's cool and it should be that way because you should be able to enjoy it which gets the best performance for you and it shouldn't be you know you see why so many American artists get sick on tours and they have to cancel their tours and all that because they're they're being driven to an impossible situation where they have to go they have to drive all day they have to whatever it is it's it shouldn't be that way it's it's so disrespectful to artists yeah I mean we do have long drives that I'm not going to lie but um it doesn't matter that's that you know that's why we're not in this Super Deluxe range at the moment but that could change at any time we could just who knows and I also did want to mention that uh you know I've been doing this farewell party show this would be the eighth year what is that well when the election results of 2016 came through it seemed that most of my friends and myself and people I knew needed a bit of cheering up especially also as Prince had died David Bowie died Leonard Cohen died Sharon Jones died you know so I decided we have to have a party I was going to call it a farewell party and I decided to uh celebrate the music of these artists that had passed away that year and that was at Pangia and then Stephen and Arnaldo said you need to do this every year oh that's great yeah so that has been a tradition and this year I'm actually going to do it at a space called the Ley Lounge which is Uptown and it's more a format of a house concert where up it's on 113th Street uh between Riverside and Broadway oh a friend of mine Mark Ettinger runs this place it's also a recording studio and they have um Beautiful piano and this year is just going to be a bit of a different Edition up there mark plays trombone and bass and piano and all kinds of go guitars and so forth so I think we're going to do it this year as a just a different style I am dying to know when I ask what is a disastrous experience you've had in either performing or booking or cuz I think it's important for people to hear the bad as well as the good oh I've got a good bad oh good good good but it happened a long time ago but it's a universal bad I

think so do you remember that venue The Fez undertime sure we talked about it two weeks ago oh yes so how wonderful it was many years ago already I mean I'm talking like 20 something years back um I had record out which had a giant band we had horn sections and violin and the piano and the guitar and the bass and drums and I was a really cool record my second album I made and I booked a residency at Fez because I was very excited I can't remember the name of the guy but we had a relationship every month we're going to do this show uh with a like 11 piece band or some nonsense and I was very excited I you know those were the days when you bought stamps and printed postcards and went out and did this there were things you could touch and I was so happy the first gig was booked and we had on my postcard you know like four dates and so we did the first one and you know those shows where you just think this is great like if anything happens to me I will have exper my life has been full I'm good oh you know what I'm saying the bartenders were crying everybody was like oh my God this was I mean I've never it was just stupendous if I may say so myself I walked out in a bee costume I mean we had so much fun and I called the manager the next day to thank him and to say I'm so delighted and thank you so much I'm so looking forward to the next ones and he says well we have a problem and it was sold out by the way of course Sr o yeah plus yeah oh and I said well excuse me he said yeah well people were listening to the music and they didn't buy enough drinks oh so that I will say the beautiful balloon was like Wow and I said well well I can't cancel the next three shows dude because I have booked my band it's a whole situation I have postcards oh yeah yeah and so he said okay well I'm going to have another band then open for you and so that particular group of people I will say none of them were professionals oh all of them had lots of friends because they weren't busy being artists all day so they filled up the place with people who love to drink in order to tolerate the music that they oh no and then that was your audience too right well they kind of split like he he made it happen so that I could bring the people in you know so that but then that created a whole thing so that I will say was an interesting moment I think that's where the two drink minimum thing came in because I think that I mean justifiably a club has to make their money absolutely but on the same token you can see a lot of bands get booked because they're just going to bring people in who drink and it really ruins the music and I think if you're going to be a music venue then that's one of the things I loved about the living room is they were bringing in people that they believed in and wanted to push and I think that's really important if you're going to have great music in the world you have to support music and figure out creative ways to you know support your Venue yeah and to make your Venue you know a reputable such as barbes it's very you know I really got to start there and I have to thank them all the time for that um the living room was like that and Chen Chen when that was what Chen was like for me mhm it was just such a great room oh so great that you were part of that I I wasn't part of that one but I mean just lovely and then you know have your money making nights you know have your like figure it out that's how I feel with these venues but that was a sad so what is next for you rashelle what is your next up it is it the play the musical uh the solo show is that what you're going to be working on primarily or you pulling it all together and just keeping them all going you know it's yeah I like to have you know what do they call balls in the air um you know irons in the fire balls in the air I had an accountant who used to say you throw enough pieces of spaghetti on the wall something will stick Oh indeed yeah I will just say oh I'm going to play A Day of the Dead show way up state in a little beautiful town called halcott New York in Green County that's coming up on Saturday the 2nd which is dios I gotta play uh in the gra Hall up there which is just great like venue wise I'm really into these little cool spots Upstate yeah it's they're like old school right they're you know they they look like how they looked exactly yeah and and there's DNA there too you know oh yeah yeah yeah these sort of old buildings and real cool stuff so that's sort of a thing I'm getting into up here and then yes I I guess I've said it in public so I have to start working on this other project and then we're working with with vkb you know we're always making videos and I love your videos by the way I'm sure that you have a a very big say in how things are going to look in your videos and your your personality just is so clear in so many of your videos it's super impressive well I'm working a lot Amanda homie and I uh have sort of a production team which has sort of come to just manifest she's got editing skills she's got technical skills she would she wouldn't have gone through technical difficulties today but uh she's got mad skills she's got mad skills so okay we're not 20 and then Al Al be uh my partner is wonderful with camera and we happen to have really a good fortune to be able to set up and get a lot of work done and go shoot on location she and I just shot our video of Murder in the Red Barn we shot that on iPhones and that's just released yesterday on YouTube is she Upstate now too yeah so we have headquarter and another project we're into is actually working with other artists to uh create um videos we can record you know not a 12 piece B but we can make decent recordings up here get some photos done we do a lot of styling you know so this is yeah your your art Direction I mean you clearly have a I mean even what you're wearing right now is so fre cool oh thank you you have like a and that J like in your music it's in your personal what you're wearing you know for a little Zoom podcast oh and in your videos as well it's just so nice I I don't I I I don't want to use the word branding MH but there's um aesthetic and the fact that you have an aesthetic is so I appreciate that so much because I feel it's very hard to feel comfortable enough with just here's what I here's how I see the world and to trust that other people be like oh that's kind of weird but I I'm attracted to it yeah I think that's part of everything right when you get the nerve like all of us do to get on stage right you have that yeah goes back to the beginning of the conversation yeah and I and I really appreciate you're speaking about the negative voices of like telling you that this and that that you know we're all gonna make a promise right now to listeners this means you too yes to say what is that promise well when the when those you know the self-doubt not the good kind of self-doubt but the bad kind of self-doubt kicks in we're just going to have to figure that out and just say okay thank you for your input voice I am now casing you in a small sphere of bubbleless and blowing you away Into The Ether I just thought of it the the that voice is your ex like don't and they're still in your life you're still friends you know but like all the just just tell your ex we're not together anymore there you go I don't need I like that I'm going to listen to my other half of my brain they're dating this wonderful person who loves me it's it's we've only been dating for a few a little bit of a little bit of time which is why they love me so much [Laughter] uh yeah that's a good way to look at it too it's just like no you know we broke up sorry bad voice also I think it's important to note when that negative voice is your path of least resistance of what you've gotten so used to that you don't my friend Diane used to say this to me that whenever you start to get freaked out or that Panic or whatever it is just kind of breathe and go no you know what I'm not doing this and just go I understand you and it's like you said the bubble blow like that little what's the flower the little um that you dandelion thank you um where you just blow it away and it just goes away I love that image I think that's really helpful and that involves breathing also you're exhaling right right right yeah I think that's a lovely lovely thought and important yes this is more than a podcast this is a this is a saving people's lives it's we end this every time with like this is [ __ ] therapy you know it is co it is I think if more people even if they're not even if you are listener are not an artist dig in because this is if you allow yourself to just experience this and think about this stuff it's so helpful there's a lot of people that don't even know what a Deja Vu is and I think that's very telling yeah it's very telling because I think you have to open your mind to believing just opening it to a lot of things and I think that um more people could use that anyway I think this is probably a good place to stop right sure what do you think we I have fallen in love in the past 45 minutes I need to always see your stuff I need to always come to your shows and sometime when I'm in Kingston I need to just run into you at the organic food store it has to happen love it listen shoot me an email the saying goes we'll do that we'll do that and also please keep me informed as well I need to go see y'all perform too and do your thing you know and let's extend that breathing exercise and make it through the next few days yes hey thanks for checking us out links to today's guests can be found in the show notes don't forget to subscribe like us rate US and tell all your friends about arts and craft