Next Tuesday, June 18th, catch Lady Lamb the Beekeeper and Torres at The Crocodile (doors 7 p.m., $8).
Despite being 23 years young, Aly Spaltro, also known as Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, is not just another chick with a guitar. Her debut studio album Ripely Pine has received rave reviews from the likes of Pitchfork and Consequence of Sound, calling her nearly indescribable sound “nourishing, deeply alive,” and “addictive.”
Ripely Pine is not without its flaws, and that’s just how Spaltro prefers it, though her ability with words is beyond her age. Spaltro’s connection to each lyric in every song is deeply personal. She talks about them as if they were in human form, like a family member she doesn’t want to let down or disappoint. Songs like “Crane Your Neck” and “You Are the Apple” take on a life of their own.
She has already conquered one of her biggest fears: performing live — which you would probably have never guessed at, given her commanding presence onstage. I had the opportunity to chat with Aly over the phone before her performance this Tuesday night at The Crocodile. We talked about the most important things in life, of course: peanut butter, Arrested Development, and not taking the traditional route.
So first off, I was looking at your pictures and I have to ask about the peanut butter one. It cracked me up. What was the inspiration behind that?
I just really like peanut butter!
Smooth, crunchy, organic, unsalted…?
I would ideally say organic crunchy, but I’m not against any peanut butter whatsoever.
Did you just have it lying around or were you like, I have to include this?
I have it on my rider, so I’m constantly getting jars of peanut butter and hoarding them in my apartment. That particular photo was shot by one of my best friends Shervin who is a music photographer in New York. We were hanging out and I brought a jar of peanut butter and a spoon with the plan of eating it…and it just ended up in the photos. (Laughs)
You just came back from touring in Europe – how was it overseas?
It was amazing. I lived in Germany when I was a kid and it was the first time I got to play there, so it was really exciting.
I’ve talked with few artists that go abroad and they are always so surprised by the amount of people that come out and know their lyrics by heart, despite language barriers. Did you experience anything like that?
Yeah! I absolutely did. In Berlin I was totally caught off-guard because there were two girls who were requesting old songs of mine that aren’t even on my new record. They were songs that I recorded in my room, so it was really humbling.
Have you always been independent musically? Or do you feel more comfortable playing with a band?
I feel comfortable both ways. I’ve been solo for six years, so I’m very confident in that way. I appreciate how I’m able to improvise within a song as a solo artist. It’s fun for me to be able to spontaneously make decisions in the moment. However, I will say that there is something very special about collaborating. My next step is putting a band together. I really want people to go to my shows and feel like they can dance and have fun. Some of the material is heavy, but when you put a beat behind it, it loosens it up a bit.
You’ve toured with a lot of really powerful musicians that are women, such as Neko Case and Torres. How does it feel to be on tour with them?
I’m a huge Neko Case fan; I have been since I was 14 years old. My aunt got me a Neko Case record for Christmas, so it’s been almost 10 years of me listening to her. I had the most surreal experience when I was traveling around with them on the bus – it felt completely normal. But when they’d go on stage, I’d just melt. I watched their set every night. But on the last night in Brussels, I pushed my way to the front row and pretended I wasn’t on the tour. And I was just happy as a clam. (Laughs) I can’t fully express the feeling of being in the vicinity and sharing the stage with people you admire. It’s life-confirming in a way.
Making the jump to playing music fulltime (as a career) is a big risk. Did you have any hesitation about not going to college?
I’ve never been the type to want to be in the spotlight. My whole life I’ve been so shy, the quiet kid. There was never an urge in me to be on stage in front of people. It actually took me a really long time to make myself go into a venue and play. I would drive to the open mics and park outside and sit in my car. And then I’d do a loop around the block and then go back and sit in my car again…and then go back home. I knew it was the right thing that I wanted to be doing once I started to perform. That’s why I didn’t go to college – I had a much clearer path than that. I knew exactly what I wanted.
Were you parents always supportive? Or did they push you to a more traditional route?
My dad was sort of pushing me towards music in a way. He wasn’t pushing me towards it professionally, but he really wanted me to learn guitar. I was 18 when I learned. I think it’s safe to say that most parents want the best for their kids and want them to be happy. My parents saw that I was super happy so that’s all they could ask for.
Is it emotional for you to perform your songs live? The audience seems to really connect with your vulnerability on stage.
Honestly, it’s second nature at this point. It’s constantly therapeutic. There isn’t a time where I’m singing and I don’t feel like I’m not getting something from it. It serves me every time.
When you recorded your album, was it difficult to take your words and translate them into songs? I read somewhere where you said, “I wanted it to be right. I didn’t want to hurt them, I wanted to respect them.” I’ve never heard an artist talk about their lyrics in that way – almost personifying them.
When I went into the studio, it was challenge to wrap my head around the idea of opening up these songs that I knew to be solo performances to other instrumentation. I felt like each song was completely different and each song was talking to me. When I put something into the recording that it didn’t want, I got a feeling in my gut that it wasn’t right. I was constantly aware of what would help the songs and what would hurt them.
On Ripely Pine, your voice is raw and imperfect at times. Was it more important to you to get the emotion across than have a flawless record?
Yeah, always. It was always about which take was the real one, which one I put myself into all the way. For example, in “Regarding Ascending the Stairs,” halfway through the song my voice cracks. It’s because I was literally crying in the vocal booth. My producer and I were choosing between a perfect take – hitting all the notes, where it was very smooth and very pretty – or the one with me crying. And we chose the one with me crying.
Do you think that sets you apart from other artists – choosing emotion over a flawless song?
Yeah, that’s what I value as an artist and in music, where I can feel the artist is there in the song. The artist is either in it or not, and you just know when they are. I was initially in it for the pretty take, but I think it added an extra element to put the imperfect one and to show how human I am.
Some of the songs are nearly seven minutes long and don’t follow a “traditional structure.” Did you ever feel a need to edit yourself or did anyone ever tell you “put a chorus here”…?
If anyone ever said that to me, I would have been, like, “Bye!” I couldn’t tolerate that. I’ve even had a couple opportunities lately to go on certain radio programs…but they want me to cut like three minutes out of a song and perform an edited version. To me, that’s blasphemous. I can’t get behind it. It ruins what I’m getting across. I can’t cut three verses, because in my mind it’s a story.
It’s like cutting the middle of the plot and getting straight to the “happy ending.”
Yeah, it’s like, no one wants to watch a movie where it starts at the beginning and skips to the end and we don’t get to see the middle. It’s very important to me that the songs be what they are.
Could you tell me about the inspiration for your music video for “The Nothing Part II”? It’s definitely interesting!
That spiraled out of control in a weird way. (Laughs) When my record came out, I had an idea for a promotional video where it was a close up shot of me eating a pie in a pie eating contest and looking from side to side as though I’m looking at my competition. And then a hand would keep putting a new pie in front of me and I would keep eating it. But then when the camera zoomed out you would see that I was alone, just eating a pie by myself. It was supposed to be like a 30-second promo.
Where did you get the idea of a pie eating contest? (Laughs)
I have no idea! Again with the peanut butter thing, I just really love pie. And I tend to incorporate things that I like, and sometimes they are food related. I like to eat, I really like dessert…
How did the music video come about then?
It morphed into this bigger idea. Wouldn’t it be funny if this tiny girl – me – kidnapped all her friends and made them eat pie? There was no reason, no hidden agenda or meaning behind it. And then the fencing thing just happened because, again, I really like fencing. I’ve never done it, but I’m fascinated by it and I love the outfit. It’s meant to be tongue in cheek; I think some people take it too seriously. Some people see it and they are like, “This girl is fucked up.” It’s meant to be silly. I laugh when I see myself dragging my friend at the beginning. It’s not meant to be dark.
Last question – I saw on your Facebook you like Arrested Development. Who is your favorite character?
That’s too hard! If I had to pick I would say Lucille. And also Lindsay, she’s just hilarious. I love her slut tank top. But I also love how Lucille is so dry. You know that one scene where she growls cause they are out of vodka? It’s hilarious. (Laughs)
