Brooklyn – Maine’s own Lady Lamb the Beekeeper is one-woman wonder Aly Spaltro, whose work is as earnest as it is poetic. Speaking to Bestnewbands.com, Spaltro opens up about the trajectory of her career, planting new roots in New York and of her future aims.
A musician whose personality is as charming and lovable as the work she slaves over, Lady Lamb the Beekeeper is a standout act. Spalto’s work is the perfect soundtrack to nature-steeped vistas, and is seemingly crafted for the introspective, ambitious soul. As evidenced here, this 24-year-old artist is sagacious beyond her years.
Her last record, Ripley Pine, came to us in 2013 via Ba Da Bing Records. Spaltro is gearing up to record once more, and her next album promises to be as stunning as her persona. While we wait, get to know Spaltro below.
LR: Talk to me about Maine – you gained a lot of ground in the Portland music scene, and became a favorite local act. Do you think those days informed or played a role in launching your career?
AS: Oh, definitely. Starting out making music in Portland you’re essentially in a community that’s really supportive, encouraging and welcoming. I feel like the early days were really shaped by the support I had from local music listeners and musicians. It really gave me the confidence I needed to really go for it, and end up moving out of Maine to New York. It was such a nurturing environment.
LR: Have you liked living in New York; have you found it very different?
AS: I really love it. I honestly don’t find it too different in my specific circumstance because I found that once I moved here and started meeting people the music community in New York is actually really small and close knit. There’s all these little pockets of musicians that all know each other and play together and support each other. I was worried that moving to New York I’d find a really aggressive, competitive community music scene. But mostly, it reminds me of Portland. I feel really at home here.
LR: What got you into music in the first place?
As: I think the seed was planted from the time I was in the womb. My dad is a musician and he was really intense about wanting me to learn an instrument. I spend my whole life pushing against that and rebelling, as kids naturally do, but I started playing and teaching myself when I was 18. It was mostly because I was supposed to go live in Guatemala for a year after high school, I took a year off before college and that trip fell through financially at the last minute. I ended up being stuck in Maine and the idea of not doing something productive with my year was completely out of the question. I already had an interest in poetry and decided that it would be a really good focus and challenge to try to put those words to music. I kind of simultaneously started learned how to play, writing songs and recording them.
LR: The image of you writing and recording music in a basement in Brunswick fits the tonality of your early-released works. Can you talk to me about the songwriting process for 2013’s Ripley Pine and how that differed?
AS: Yeah, it was so different. I spend my early years recording all alone in a basement in Maine and doing it really late at night. My whole thing back then was writing and recording a song all in one sitting, whether that meant it was done in an hour or eight hours or 15 hours, I would just finish it. With Ripley Pine, I was in the studio for nearly a year working on it with my partner Nadim Issa. Essentially the songs were all written but they weren’t arranged, so I was slaving over these 12 songs spending months on them. It was really brutal, in a way. When there were breakthroughs it was amazing, but a lot of the time it was really frustrating trying to figure out how to wrench these solo songs open. I’d know these solo songs for years, some of them. It took a lot of patience. As it happens often in life, the reward at the end was so much greater because I had put all that time into it.
LR: What was it like bringing Nadim Issa into the process and working with someone else for the first time?
AS: At first it was a little nerve wracking because I didn’t know how to collaborate in that way. I learned very quickly, I think we both did, that our chemistry was so amazing that a couple months in we were literally finishing each other’s sentences with what the next step was. We had such a mirrored vision and understanding of what this record was and what it was meant to be, which basically meant capturing the rawness, energy, passion and sincerity of my demos. With that understanding, we were the perfect pair and we’re actually co producing my next record together.
LR: You’ve been touring with Typhoon, how did that go? Any standout performances or memorable moments from life on the road?
AS: That tour was, through and through, so amazing and exciting and fun. The rooms were a lot bigger than I’ve played in a long time, and all 11 of the members were just fantastic, interesting and really warm people. The shows were really exciting because I was playing as a trio with three friends. We were playing Ripley Pine songs but also a few new ones. It was really exciting to see the crowd’s reaction to the new songs. For me the standout show was probably the New York show. It was fun to come home and play a show at Webster Hall, witch is a venue I’ve seen many shows at and always wanted to play.
LR: Who would you cite as some of your influences?
AS: I really love Kate Bush; I love Lauryn Hill, Sufjan Stevens, Paul Simon, Of Montreal, Fiery Furnaces…
LR: You said earlier that you had a longstanding interest in poetry, and I think that’s reflected in your lyrics. I’m wonder about how you write the words to your songs and what informs your lyricism.
AS: A lot of times it’s, what is it, the associate property? I’ll hear someone say something on the street and instantly in my mind I’ll lock on a word in their sentence that I really love for whatever reason. Or, I’ll hear a word they say and my brain will find a rhyme for it. Then I’ll start writing a phrase in my mind based on that rhyming word. A lot of times it’s stream of consciousness, other times I’ll be right on the brink of falling asleep and a phrase will pop into my head and I’ll write it down and build off of that in the morning. The process for me is sort of like disconnecting myself from my hand and just blabbing, just writing, a ton of words. Within those words I find there’s a lot of alliteration and metaphors. I find that when I read back, it makes sense that I made certain connections. Or, it makes no sense and I’ll go with it!
LR: If you weren’t a musician and could pick any other career, what would you want to be?
AS: I really love plants. So, a botanist? I would love to work with plants. I love that and I also love film editing and decorating. I think something like interior design would be fun. I have so many houseplants; it’s ridiculous. I have to stop myself from spending all my money on houseplants.
LR: What new groups are you listening to now, who would you file under best new bands?
AS: I really like Mac Demarco, and Angel Olsen. Within the last couple weeks, my drummer from the Typhoon tour actually turned me onto this Sub Pop guy called Chad VanGaalen. He has put out five or six records and just put his most recent within the last week, I think. He’s amazing, in particular this record from 2008 he made called Soft Airplane, I’ve just been listening to it on repeat. He’s kind of reminiscent of Neil Young, but his lyrics are so in your face, just really beautiful and visual.
LR: Earlier, you alluded to working on a new album. What can we expect on the horizon from Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, in the short term or the long year.
AS: Sure, in the short term I’ll be off heavy touring. But in the long term, recording. My new record is going to be just as lyric based, a little more rock and roll and something you can really jump around to. The themes are a little different. It’s a little dark and existential, while still having pop elements. I’m really excited about it and I’m in the zone to start recording. I’ll start this summer and I’m hoping it’ll be out early next year.
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Liz Rowley
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