The Bald and the Beautiful with Trixie and Katya - The Nightmare Rock with Ashley Levy of The Blah Blah Blahs

Episode Date: December 1, 2020

Trixie and Katya are joined by Ashley Levy of The Blah Blah Blahs to discuss crystal-induced nightmares, making music for commercials, and the wonderful world of voice flavors. (FYI: Katya's voice is ...apparently a Triscuit) Check out more of The Blah Blah Blah's music: tinyurl.com/ListenToChampion To follow The Blah Blah Blahs: @theblahblahblahsmusic To follow Trixie: @TrixieMattel To follow Katya: @Katya_Zamo To listen to our podcast on YouTube: http://bit.ly/TBATBYT Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:01:02 Or beautiful. We have a hairy, ugly guest. We have an icon. Icon. Actually, an icon who has been a pivotal guiding force in both of our careers. Yeah. Ashley Levy, songwriter. Go ahead.
Starting point is 00:01:21 I was just going to say songwriter extraordinaire. And you may have heard her voice and not even realized yes you definitely have commercial songstress oh that's right that's right so what okay well hello hey guys thank you for joining us thank you for having me so let's give a little background on how we know ashley levy i met her probably the same way you did through the incredible music producer mon Monica. Yeah. Through the music producer, Killingsworth.
Starting point is 00:01:49 And you guys are like creative partners sort of. Yes. I've been working with Tomas and everybody at Killingsworth since I'm like 16 years old. Are you serious? See, that sounds racy. Let's get into that. Oh my God.
Starting point is 00:01:58 Did they snatch you off the street in a van or something? Oh man. Everybody. That's like a cool story to tell, but that's not the story. So his parents were best friends with my grandparents who raised me and when I was 16 my grandpa saw me like you know fiddling on garage band and he's like I think my best friend has a music studio on Long Island like you should just go intern for him and like see what he does yeah and that's what happened I started with garage bands did you have this did you have this kind
Starting point is 00:02:23 of voice when you were that young no oh my god I wanted to sound like josie and the pussycats i wanted that feminine small voice you know i think that i was just listening to letters to cleo their live music today yes that sound is incredible and iconic it's a beautiful i love the mousy rock and roll voice the mousy rock and roll voice like madonna has it like early madonna okay oh yeah it's really like um how would you describe that i think you i mean i love the gogos i think you sound a little bit like belinda carlisle wow you told me that before and i like i had to sit down because there's there's power but there's a lot of it's kind of cutesy and it has a lot of attitude, but there's obviously power to it.
Starting point is 00:03:05 Whereas like, I think a Madonna sound, especially if you think material girl, Madonna, it's almost like Julie Brown, like cartoony. I don't think you sound like that because your voice has meat to it. Well, that took a while to get to it. At first I was like, no, I want to be a little, little mouse. Cause I was also a 350 pound girl. And like, I just wanted so badly to, to at least sound like that type of girl,
Starting point is 00:03:27 like a, like a 90 pound, barely alive. As a six foot tall bald man, when I'm in drag, I want to sound that way too. So I feel it. I'd want to sound like Kathleen Turner. Oh yes.
Starting point is 00:03:42 We'd have to get you to train your voice up for that. But I think I heard you first. Well, I discovered you through the Blah Blah Blahs, which, you know, is like, it's one of my favorite bands. That's also like one of the best band names ever. Blah Blah Blahs. How did you guys think of that? Well, it's a read on the Yayayas. Okay.
Starting point is 00:04:00 Because I can't stand Karen O. Really? Not even the haircut? Look, I've got respect. I've got respect, but when that MAPS song came out, I couldn't escape it and I felt her singing from like her palate.
Starting point is 00:04:14 So it was like, MAPS, and I just couldn't get down with it. That is what it sounds like, but I can't, I mean, there's parts of that song, to me, maybe it's like the beginning. Sure.
Starting point is 00:04:25 Do you know that song? I do, yeah.'s like the beginning. Sure. Do you know that song? I do, yeah, that was really good. Yeah, the drums in that song are so iconic and her big round bowl cut. I think that band has other songs that are better. I don't think that should have been their mega hit. Sure. Because like Zero is great
Starting point is 00:04:40 and they have a lot of great songs, but. Off With Head was great. I loved when they got into that. Oh yeah. Yes. That was a good one. But in the beginning i was like the yeah yeah yeahs the blah blah blahs the yada yada yadas i'm a seinfeld fan too the way you write i just love the way you write music i i'm such a stubborn asshole and when anybody presents me with something i'm like we'll see what this sounds like and when
Starting point is 00:05:05 you ashley wrote we got the look by yourself in your house right yeah and she sent it to me i was on tour i remember where i was it was in a hotel room and i was like we'll see about that 41 seconds and i was like i don't care what she asked for i have to have this song it's so so if you ever listen to barbara she wrote we got the look and i'm glad you saw past like the demo quality because it was just like acoustic guitar like shitty drums me like clapping and you still heard the potential in it so i love all your music oh my god all the right moves i listen to it all the time really yes i saw twiggy i listened to it all the time oh man um all right what's the other um i listened to both those albums they're so good i had so much fun writing those albums and it was like you know you guys talked about i do commercial music like it became commercial music but this it was just music that i loved
Starting point is 00:05:55 you know 50s 60s sunshine pop was the best pop yes what is sunshine pop it's like early beach boys like it just makes you feel like warm and fuzzy inside yeah good times good i think i think one of the through lines a lot of the time is it's sometimes melodramatic content but it sounds happy right yes i killed my dog today that kind of thing yeah exactly i just i've always loved you and you wear wigs oh yeah oh yeah the first couple times we're in the studio together you you sure did have a wig on you had wigs on in the studio I know I know I stopped doing it because the expectation became crazy takes me fucking three hours to get ready and it's like I just need to like write songs and focus on that you know oh did you like get
Starting point is 00:06:40 dressed up so you can feel it I used to do the whole thing the first three years of my like writing career I would just show up to the studio and like full drag that's fantastic i am with you i've done it and it helps you go in there you've done what i've recorded music and drag and you go in there and you're like oh you feel you feel like that one yes yeah and like when i did super drags the voiceover the cartoon I played a drag queen I we're gonna be vulnerable did you talk I wore a head wrap and magnetic lashes and nothing else and I stood in that sound booth and read my lines I needed to feel it I wore fabric wrapped around my head with little magnetic lashes on like that's very like four years old drag you know what I mean oh I had
Starting point is 00:07:23 a towel on the head with my mom's heels that's your personal style you do like a i feel like we're so ahead of the horse here but you're you do like the 60s things so well yeah well we have a lot in common that way musically with the style if you got a foot taller you could shop in my closet but i got about two feet on you unfortunately you can shop off the rack for blahah Blah Blah's costumes and stuff? Not always, because I have big hips. It's hard. So it's like, I always have to size up and then tailor down.
Starting point is 00:07:52 If you have big titties, you have to buy everything big and then have too much in the waist. Yes, right. It's the struggle. When you buy women's clothing, does it fit? No, shoulders. Yeah. Shoulders. For me, it's always the shoulders and the arm length.
Starting point is 00:08:07 You know what I mean? And sometimes you get really fit and your shoulders get big. Yeah, they just like, it's never like, I don't understand like the sizing, how it works because models will be six feet tall. Right. But then like, I don't, I don't get it. Like, how does it, I don't, I don't get it. But they're not broad.
Starting point is 00:08:23 They're not broad at all. Right. And then also their, their arms aren't long also recently everyone knows models have little t-rex arms yeah and legs that started their ribs yeah um i had to um i i'm ordering from aliexpress like the chinese um ebay or whatever or the chinese um amazon i'm like i'm a 3xl I'm a 3XL what? a 2XL if I'm trying to be safe
Starting point is 00:08:49 3XL if I really want the arms to fit you know like I don't know what the word is but they warn you they say like this is like China standard sizing so I'm like a 4X a 5 10 I don't even want to know
Starting point is 00:09:03 it's just wild well I got those Five, five, ten. Yeah. I don't even want to know. That's why I don't shop. It's just wild. It's wild. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I got those. Do you know about these brackets that go into your face mask? What? No.
Starting point is 00:09:13 They're scented? They can if you want. I mean, you have to wash them. But yeah, they're brackets that go into your face mask. I exercise in them. And it just helps like, you know, you have some room to breathe. And I got them from China. And I ordered like a size large because i'm like whatever i have a wide set face and it didn't even cover like my nose
Starting point is 00:09:31 it didn't even but these are faces like they're they're not different people don't have difference like you know that's crazy they do have a different everything like no i've seen chinese people don't have tiny little faces. I've seen it. Well, they don't have schnozzes. I have like a schnoz. So I didn't like, you know. Interesting. You got a healthy nose.
Starting point is 00:09:51 Yeah, I do. Healthy nose. No, it's happening. And it's crooked. Ever since you pointed that out to me, I can't. It's extremely crooked. What? To the left.
Starting point is 00:10:01 Look at it. Look at it straight on. I can't tell. Your nose in drag is always crooked. I'm like, do you Look at it. Look at it straight on. I can't tell. Your nose in drag is always crooked. I'm like, do you understand? I have to draw my nose on literally over here. Wow. Let me see it again.
Starting point is 00:10:14 That is wild. It's so crooked. That is wild. I don't want to get a nose job, but if I did, it would just be to straighten it. Yeah. I said in a video that she should. Oh, you need a nose job. And then people really popped off. She planted the seed. I planted. video that she should oh you need a nose job and then people
Starting point is 00:10:25 really popped off she planted the seed i planted they were like do not get a nose job i love your nose it's like i used to get insecure about it because i was you know when you're young and you're yeah you're like i'm a petite woman but then as i got older i was like well people often are guys will be like i love your big nose i'm like sure great yeah take it i love i love huge noses i also love bags under the eyes oh totally yes big chapped lips and then yeah yeah absolutely no seriously like that i was yeah big chat big ones though not thin villainous chapped lips like i want big chapped lips yeah sometimes like this is so gross i went out on a date but i thought it was a date i kind of like made it a date the guy who didn't think it was a date and um i actually peeled a little
Starting point is 00:11:08 thing off his um lips like skin off it with my hands you enjoy that i did and picking scabs and things is that part of it that's the reveal of the lip skin i was like oh i'm just gonna get that for you and i literally just peeled off a whole like a piece of dry skin off his top lip. Did you know that your lips are see-through? So your lip color is the color of what's under your skin.
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Starting point is 00:12:31 the beer. Your game time tastes like Miller time. Learn more at MillerLite.ca Must be legal drinking age. You better get into it. Are there anything, what are the most attractive uh qualities on a man that if you had made like name i don't know three or four of them what do you look for
Starting point is 00:12:51 good hands good hands hard working hands okay not totally like you know calloused up or anything like that and not sausage fingers but just nice you like nice big hands nice big and and like firm you know like i look at it yeah because as a musician like you pay attention to hands sure you know do you play guitar i do yeah you play keyboards no not at all strings are great so guitar bass ukulele a little banjo a little bit wow can i ask i mean obviously you've written music for both of us oh yeah yeah yeah but like who's your real claim to fame and what because i know you were in a revlon commercial right when you heard all the right moves in revlon commercial were you like i've made it i was screaming because models are singing my lyrics while they're like having a pillow fight
Starting point is 00:13:38 it's like crazy that was damn it that was wild yeah that's like a huge payday huh those like that's like the dream right i mean it? That's like the dream, right? It's for sure. Look at the material. You got this. It helps sustain. So that part of my life helps me be able to do everything else. Have you placed this in that yet?
Starting point is 00:14:00 Yes, it was in an NBC promo. Was it NBC or ABC? Oh my God god i could get in trouble for not knowing can we tell the listeners i don't think they you you have a musician career that's unique and that you guys often put out music with the intention of it being in commercials so it's like it's like instant earwormy and not generic, but let's say feel good and could be put into a lot of things. Right. Yeah. And very, uh, not generic lyrics, but certainly like universal, universal, universal.
Starting point is 00:14:33 Like when I heard this and that I was like, I back to school, sure. Shopping target. How do you, I was thinking about that. Like, so, you know, if you're like something that is commercial is designed to appeal into please the eyes and ears of, of, of like as many viewers as possible. So how do you like, how do you come up with the, a sound that is pleasing? Like to as many, is that, that's the goal, right? To, to, do you have like specific goals in mind or like, how do you come up with a sound or how would you describe a sound that is like universally pleasing? Can you tell us all how to do your job? No, no, no, no, no, no. That's
Starting point is 00:15:16 like so ridiculous. Can you tell us all how to steal your gig? How do you look beautiful? No, it's, it's, it makes sense what you're saying saying but i think when you're writing for an ad there's a certain way of writing okay when you're writing for a promo there's a certain way of writing so there are formulas for everything gotcha but in terms of like the lyrics that you use like you have to be really mindful of like okay we can't sing about love okay we can't gender anything interesting yeah it's like it goes it goes deep, you know, because people could not choose a song just based on one word. Right. So you want to have the best shot possible.
Starting point is 00:15:53 Yeah. Cunt is a is usually one of them. And you guys the vibe you guys choose to it's almost I want to say it's almost Smash Mouth. I hope that is a compliment. I love Smash Mouth. Because it's retro, but it sounds like it was recorded yesterday. Right. So it could be placed in a lot of different, like it doesn't sound like music of today.
Starting point is 00:16:13 It sounds like music of any time. Right. Oh, okay. I'm trying to wrap my head around that. Because it sounds kind of retro, but it also has tricks in it that make it sound fresh and cool. And I feel like Smash Mouth is like the master of that. Like Walking on the Sun. Oh, yeah, totally.
Starting point is 00:16:28 It could have been recorded yesterday. Oh, I got you. It's like 20 years old. I got you, I got you. It's 20 years old now. And it was kind of a retro sound of something from like 30 years before that. And it still sounds fresh. Right.
Starting point is 00:16:39 And if you like music like that, it's really easy to write music like that. Like my main, like who I always look to is the B-52s. Icons god do you know they don't have a grammy what they don't have a grammy they were nominated for best ensemble vocal arrangement for love shack didn't win they don't have a grammy i always thought the grammys were shit are they aren't they just are is it just a it's just a political like who care i mean is it it depends who you talk to we won't say the people the people who have Grammys will say like this is a big deal okay and like you know I could say it's not a big deal but then get a Grammy tomorrow and be like oh no this is a big deal her tune's totally gonna change yeah yeah I think you could get one in your lifetime 100%
Starting point is 00:17:19 absolutely we all can absolutely everyone in this room can I'm getting I'm gonna get a Grammy I'm putting it on my vision board Iggy told me like she was nominated and she lost and she felt like she was happy. She lost because then, especially in that world when you win and she was, there was her first year with fancy and everything. So she's overnight number one. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:17:37 Right. And she's like, then everyone's going to hate me if I win. Oh, that's true. The Goggles were only nominated once and they lost for beauty and the beat, even though they had the first female rock album to be at number one for like two months and they were like we're they were like we're happy we didn't win because then people didn't hate us but i also
Starting point is 00:17:54 think it's a people hate women thing oh well yeah that's always yeah and women in rock especially it's really tough it's really really tough isn't it like they would be like isn't it cool that you're a woman who got a grammy like it would be that like how people say you're my favorite female comedian yeah what is that i was like comedy and music is like it's just brutal it's just brutal for like women maybe it's because we're big fags and we don't listen to like i don't listen i like male comedians but i wouldn't say they're my my top 10 is not mostly men all the music i listen to is female vocals pretty much 90 percent of it. Really? Absolutely. I can't stomach male vocals.
Starting point is 00:18:28 Really? This one? No, I really can't. I really don't. 90%. 95%. She doesn't like a lot of live music, period. She doesn't like singing. I didn't know that. No, I do like live music, but I don't like English vocals and I don't like
Starting point is 00:18:43 male. So it's a guy singing in English. Get it out of here. Bring a book. Yeah, bring a book. Exactly. But that's where we connect because I also have an appreciation for music that is not in English. Let me tell you. Let me tell you.
Starting point is 00:18:57 Let me tell you this one. So we got to the studio. So I'm going to back it up a little bit. So you helped me write all the songs on vampire fitness and she was so good at like, um, which is the number one electronic album, by the way.
Starting point is 00:19:11 Number one. Give it up. Wow. There's so many people. I really got to label these. Yeah, you do. There's so many people to thank.
Starting point is 00:19:23 Um, but so I have no idea how to write a song obviously and like so but you were so helpful in the you made like the arrange you arranged all the lyrics we just had a bunch of lyrics for ravioli and then you came up with that lovely like demonic
Starting point is 00:19:37 children's choir kind of thing weird you guys I love you both that song creeps me out ravioli does but you know what i feel like a song like that you're allowed to feel what you feel from it i don't think that's not meant to creep me out it's not no it's not terrifying yeah yeah yeah it's not supposed to make you feel like you're going to look at the material me in this pink house being like oh my this so some demon shit on that track um but then she had to sing she had to do you had to do um backup vocals for a song in russian a song in italian and then a song in portuguese
Starting point is 00:20:14 you slayed yeah multilingual and she's so difficult under you right like on ding dong like you're the woman voice with her on every on the verse yeah in every verse or the whole thing yeah yeah yeah well i think there's one part that doesn't but yeah of course yeah i don't think on you're the woman voice on the verse. Yeah. And every verse or the whole thing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think there's one part that doesn't, but yeah,
Starting point is 00:20:28 of course. Yeah. I don't think on the course, but just tucked in there just to help a little bit. She really does help. Um, she's like the, um,
Starting point is 00:20:34 the stuffing in my bra feminizes the voice a little bit. Do you know what I mean? Like you're the, the gaff in bra for my, like, yeah, my, yeah.
Starting point is 00:20:42 With a male voice, nothing's more feminizing than a real female voice right next to it. You guys should be really proud of it. It's fucking cool. Thank you. Yeah. It was a lot of fun. I cannot believe how like, you know, it's taken me about 10 years to develop like a
Starting point is 00:20:58 halfway decent Russian accent. And she just goes in there and like gets it in three tries. It's so crazy. she just goes in there and like gets it in three tries it's so crazy well i used to study um all of that like linguistics and and i'm not good at languages like i took japanese classes last year and i i broke down crying in the middle of class because she asked me a question i was like i don't know what's going on and there was like eight people in this class mind you and i'm just like in the middle of the class crying was it waisians it was i'm assuming it was a lot of like 18 year old like a couple of them for chance treatment but some people like working at google that are just like oh i have this job in you know japan google
Starting point is 00:21:33 that i need to go like learn the language now interesting mixed bag yeah that sounds so hard oh it'd be so fun for you to write cute music in Germany. Oh, I know. Oh, I do. I go to Japan every year before pandemic. Are you serious? Japan-demic. Japan-demic. But yeah, I go there every year and I make like a working vacation out of it. So I have connections there that I can, you know, work with J-pop artists and also like, you know.
Starting point is 00:21:58 And you write with them? Shut the hell up. Oh, it's so much fun. You are like my hero. Yeah. Oh my God. You have a cool life. You have a cool life. You have a cool life.
Starting point is 00:22:07 Now to pivot to beauty, because once in a while we do have to talk about. Oh, we're pivoting. We'd like to acknowledge that on this, we called it the bald and beautiful and we had to not talk about beauty. We have to talk about hair, relax. Well, when did you embrace
Starting point is 00:22:19 the smoke and mirrors of cosmeceuticals? Because you really go with the hair and the makeup. You mean in drag or out of drag? Like bothicals because you really go with the hair and the makeup you mean in drag or out of drag like both where did you get into it well i was raised by a hairdresser my grandma is a hairdresser she's a beautician so like very very young i was like putting way too much blush on making mistakes with the eyeliner you know but she encouraged experimenting cool so and she was really into drag queens too really oh absolutely oh wow she always said like grandma to have i know yeah she's she's wonderful but um yeah so it's always been a
Starting point is 00:22:53 part of my life like i grew up with a beauty parlor in my house because she worked from the house i know i know i'm really spoiled so it was always like something fun to do it was never like you know drag is never a drag in a sense or was it always something like fun yeah yeah you know and lucky for you it sounds like the vocabulary was set up that there was no clean line about costume and and normal makeup and crazy makeup it's like right and also i went to private school so i was in a uniform for most of my childhood so when it was time to like have fun with clothes and makeup, like I was there. You went off.
Starting point is 00:23:27 Oh yes. I think uniforms are great for that. They kind of like equalize everybody to it in a certain extent. And then also like make you appreciate your own personal style. Like, yes, it becomes all about who has the flashiest eyebrow ring or whatever. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:23:40 If they allow an eyebrow ring. Everything I know about private school, I learned from the craft. So like, don't go by me. No, they could definitely not dress like they do in the craft in a private school. Oh, really?
Starting point is 00:23:50 No. No, my God. No, no, no. Absolutely not. You would get detention if your skirt was too high. Like, that's an actual rule. Okay, so the girls roll them up, right? The girls, to be slutty.
Starting point is 00:23:59 They roll them up. Yeah. Yeah. But it depends on the private school. So like, mine was a little more like lackadaisical. So if you rolled it up like twice, it was fine fine but there was this one called kellenberg where it's like you couldn't even dye your hair you couldn't paint your nails like anything that was unnatural on the body you weren't allowed to come to school with unnatural on the body unnatural yeah so
Starting point is 00:24:19 luckily i wasn't in that school yeah i'm fine with whatever people can like people can look as extreme as they want yeah then again i don't know i'm more into whatever people can like people can look as extreme as they want yeah then again i don't know i'm more into i would like be more um uh concerned about behavior rather than like appearance you know what i mean it's like no don't bring a gun to school and don't shoot anybody yeah like wear your black lipstick yeah but get good grades and don't mess with it you know what i mean absolutely yeah sure but if it's catholic school the black lipstick means the devil something else yeah totally you're a pig from hell yeah um are you catholic i'm i'm a spiritual person okay i don't you know subscribe to one particular thing crystals candles oh yeah oh yeah you have a good crystal story oh oh not is it a crystal No, it's the good crystal story.
Starting point is 00:25:07 We have a crystal. We're going to take a break. RBC has helped millions of young Canadians turn their most likelies into most definities, making their ideas happen with scholarships, internships, and skill development, plus resources for artists and athletes. Learn more at rbc.com slash support youth. Hey you. Yeah, you. Scrolling TikTok and avoiding your chem homework? Chegg here. Hot take. You've seen enough Bama Rush, ASMR keyboard, and viral dance videos for one day. Let's lock in and start that assignment. If you need a little help, lean on Chegg's expert-supported learning tools. I say this with love. Put on some
Starting point is 00:25:51 lo-fi beats and get going with our step-by-step study support. Your weekend will thank you. Small steps today means big wins tomorrow with Chegg. Subscribe today. You got this. This episode is brought to you by Mazda. When you drive a Mazda, you'll find out why our SUVs won more 2024 IIHS top safety picks than any other brand as of June 2024. Find out what makes Mazda different at Mazda.ca. And we're back for the crystal story. All right. Crystal AB dance button.
Starting point is 00:26:26 So when we were working together, who is it? It was a couple of years ago. A couple of years ago. We were doing the album like probably three years ago. No, what? Why is that funny? No, I actually remember that because I remember you telling me about your food album. Yes, yes.
Starting point is 00:26:40 Yeah. Yes, yes. And originally it was a bit more ambitious. We had like eight tracks or something like that. And then there was one, you had done an arrangement in Sanskrit and Latin. Right, yes. And then we cut those
Starting point is 00:26:51 because dead languages don't really burn up the dance floor. Turns out. True. Turns out. In a dramatic turn of events. A language that's been dead for thousands of years. Womanizer ends and people are like, I want to hear something I don't understand liturgical yeah um but then so you what was it that that um
Starting point is 00:27:12 this rock it was um oh my god so i had katya over it was i had katya over for raviolis because we were just talking about writing ravioli and i'm like i have ravioli i can make sauce come on you know come over i love your accent oh yeah i can make a sauce it's amazing yeah oh hardcore long island long island but um so basically i i had this i wasn't going through like a weird time and i have a very spiritual friend who's into like crystals and stuff and i'm like desi and he also has a company called developmental now where he just like has these amazing like it's like a i don't even know how to describe it it's just all spiritual things to help you in your lifestyle but basically he was like oh you need to get some modal moldavite it'll help you like
Starting point is 00:27:57 get through this change in your life i'm like great i go to the crystal store and they're like you want moldavite and they they have to actually take it out of a locked box it's separate from all the other crystals moldavite moldavite it's considered one of like the darker stones because it it pushes you through trans transitions um so they were like dark that what are you going through excited yeah they looked at me like moldavite you got a demon you got a demon in your closet yeah and the thing about the moldavite oh you're looking it up yeah it's green huh it's green yeah so it's it's from a meteor that that hit the earth and because of the chemical changes like all these properties and moldavite help you go through like extreme changes so anyway um desi said okay you have to sleep next to it for like
Starting point is 00:28:43 five days before you even put it on your body. You have to align your energy to it. So first night slept with it. No problem. Second night, I had like just weird stress dreams. Third night, my boyfriend wakes up screaming next to me. He's like, is that nightmare rock in the room? Mind you, it's next to me.
Starting point is 00:29:01 It's next to me on the bed. And he's like, get that thing out of this room he's having a traumatic dream and uh then the next day after that you were coming over for ravioli yeah and i know you were going through transition as well yeah and i was like transition but you operate on like on a certain frequency that I'm like, I absolutely I'm like, I'm like, you know, I think this would be better off in your hand. Yeah. And I gave her the Moldavite that night.
Starting point is 00:29:32 And then I checked in a couple of days. I'm like, how's the rock treating you? And you loved it. I love that rock. She gave me the best dream. One man's nightmare rock is another man's dreamscape. Spectacular. Yeah. Because I think like, you know, it was so funny because I think I slept, it was on a pendant.
Starting point is 00:29:50 Yes. And I think I slept with it on for like- First night. Yeah. Straight up? Yeah. She goes right in. Ashley, are we surprised?
Starting point is 00:29:56 Oh, please. Are we surprised? If you said like, do not go into that closet, you know, it's haunted. I would just be, I'd be, just jump right in there. She'd be there jerking off. Yeah, like, whereking off like where you at where you at yeah yeah i love that shit oh my god it's fun do you still have it i think so yeah i think so oh that's good i think it's like i might have like molded into a butt plug and stuck it on
Starting point is 00:30:16 my ass however you have to bond with it yeah can i ask when as a performer did you start i mean for a woman to embrace the wig of like and you don't wear like a like a pop star wig you wear like a stylized yeah it's a 52s wig yeah yeah yeah you don't wear just like a fall right do you use your real hair in the front or is it a full wig it's full wig because in the beginning i was brunette when i was first doing the blah blah blahs and i'm like i feel like she has to be blonde oh 100 and then also it's like, I don't want to, because I grew up with a beautician,
Starting point is 00:30:47 like I knew I didn't want to tease my hair all the time because it would destroy my hair. And teasing color treated, lifted, super lifted hair. It's yeah. Lifted. Oh, there's like bleached. Lift the color.
Starting point is 00:30:57 For her to lift from her natural hair color to that and style it all the time. Oh, it would have been a nightmare. Bald. A lot of wear and tear. Well, I did. I did have to cut it off like the first hairdresser i had in la burned my hair off they burned it right off yeah
Starting point is 00:31:09 so i had to that's why i think when i met you my hair was a lot shorter oh yeah oh i remember that yeah so that wasn't by choice you like the long i love having long hair but i also long on you i love short hair too though because it's so easy and you could do fun things with it. I did like all kinds of like faux Hawks, like the Brody Dale fantasy, you know, Brody Dale from the distillers. Oh, I don't know them. Uh, I think she was, or is married to the singer ranted. I don't know. I haven't checked in on her, but if you guys Google the blah, blah, blahs right now and
Starting point is 00:31:39 you, you see her, her album covers, it's, it's a wig. It's a huge wig. It's huge. I got it from Outfitters wig though. Oh, I was going to say, yeah, they're from Outfitters.
Starting point is 00:31:48 They're huge sculptural like helmets. They're amazing. Well, you know who helped me pick it out? Actually, Sharon. Sharon Needles. that's right.
Starting point is 00:31:55 Oh, cause you worked. That's the Moldavite. I get her some Moldavite. Yeah, she has, I'm sure she has some. She is walking Moldavite. You worked on, how I'm sure she has some. She is walking moldavite.
Starting point is 00:32:05 You've worked on, how many drag race alumni albums have you worked on? So many. Oh, so many. It's a dream. Sharon's. I can't even tell you. PG-13. Oh, wow.
Starting point is 00:32:15 When that came out, it was, Sharon, I'm sure you're listening. That was the best drag album that ever. It was amazing. There was nothing like it. Those songs are amazing. Call me on the Ouija board. Oh, fun right flew the chat i love that song it's great it's so good we had a lot of fun writing that album and that was like one of the last albums where we really made like a party and an event out of it i like i haven't had that kind of experience with writing a full
Starting point is 00:32:44 album since that what do you mean? Say more about that. What is like a party or an event? So like basically David would make these beautiful spreads of food. He made like an apple cobbler on the barbecue. Like David Charpentier. Yes. Are you fucking kidding me?
Starting point is 00:33:01 David Charpentier. You've been holding out on us. I was going to say, I can barely get a phone call. Grilled copentier, you've been holding out on us. I was going to say, I never- I can barely get a phone call. Grilled cobbler? You've been found out. I know. Oh, it's-
Starting point is 00:33:10 That's me. It's his manager, by the way. It's going down. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A cobbler and a barbecue. Can't return my phone calls, but you can grill some pastries for Sharon. Okay. Barbara's on the charts again.
Starting point is 00:33:18 You got this right. I'll send you some flowers. Meanwhile, I got a rack of ribs for Sharon. Oh my God. So how long would it take to write the album the album i mean i was still working a nine-to-five job in new york that i just quit and i was like well i'm going to do the sharon record you guys snapped and honestly that album you want to talk like opening it because it's like rupaul supermodel that's
Starting point is 00:33:39 probably the next drag race album that opened that door more for any of us right it's amazing and did you do battle axe yes that song is so good and tomas and shiny i should have known it was you it's so you guys that song is amazing well sharon's fun because she comes in with like a fully developed like this is the concept help me like put a melody to these words like sharon has just books and books of words yeah she's a rock star oh she's a freaking rock star and the voice is great I've and this is not a read to Sharon I've seen her get up there in a blackout oh yeah sing the words and the notes really yes I mean she just can do it yeah my like most iconic moment was I toured a Halloween thing with her
Starting point is 00:34:21 and she gets wheeled on on stage in a coffin, right? And one night they were like, all right, everyone knows Sharon's gonna come out of the coffin, but what if you were in there too? And then halfway through the set, you pop out like you've been suffocating the whole time in there. So it's Halloween, actually Halloween.
Starting point is 00:34:35 And I'm in the coffin face-to-face with Sharon on stage for like 30 minutes in a coffin together. No, no. But it was like being in Santa's sleigh on Christmas. Oh. I don't know that I would say that. If Santa was like drunk. I was going to say in Santa's sack with a bunch of dead cats.
Starting point is 00:34:54 So then she gets out and does half her set. She's laying on the coffin. I'm still in there. I'm like smiling. And then halfway through the show, I bust out of it. I love Sharon. That's so funny. What an icon. I mean, if it weren't for her, I wouldn't be with my boyfriend and that's the truth uh yeah so i was out with
Starting point is 00:35:11 sharon because she calls me up when she's in town you know pre-pandemic we could go to like you know the burgundy room and hang out with the burgundy and well i was out with sharon and then grant who wasn't my boyfriend yet he called me up and he's like hey what are you doing and i'm like oh you gotta come out meet my friend sharon and like he called me up and he's like, hey, what are you doing? And I'm like, oh, you got to come out, meet my friend Sharon. And like, he's a comic too. He's a professional comic. So when he was talking to Sharon, he was like, wow, I feel like I'm talking to a comic. Like, cause he had never like been in the drag queen community, you know, like it's
Starting point is 00:35:36 comics and drag queens. It's a weird separation. I don't know why. Miles apart. I don't understand it because there's so many similarities. Yeah. But yeah, she's like, oh, I feel like I'm talking to like a comic. This is crazy.
Starting point is 00:35:50 And then when he left, Sharon was like, you got to keep this one around. You got to stop hoeing around. You got to lock this one down. Not Sharon saying you got to stop hoeing around. It's the multivite. Did you work on Alaska's albums? Yes. You did yes you did how many so who like go down the list two of you whose albums so so started with sharon alaska uh violet tchotchke oh that's right miss fame did you do betty yes betty tommy lee did betty tommy lee those are tommy lee drums Those are Tommy Lee drums Ashley You are so iconic Betty Was
Starting point is 00:36:25 Betty was so good Oh I love that song so much I think That one is My favorite Violet All of them You guys
Starting point is 00:36:32 Violet All of you snapped If you guys at home Have not heard Violet's album Her song Betty Her EP Yeah It's so good
Starting point is 00:36:38 It's so so good It's kind of vampire fitness adjacent Oh I mean I would like I would die Like if I would absolutely Just redo that song with my voice. Yeah. Maybe.
Starting point is 00:36:49 Cause it's an industrial vibe, right? Betty part two. Like what's another name for Betty? Petty. Petty. Oh my God. Petty. The studio, the people in the studio love it.
Starting point is 00:37:01 Lori Petty. Okay. And then who else? So, okay. Miss Fame, which a lot of that actually turned out great to my like surprise. studio the people in the studio love it laurie petty okay um and then who else so okay miss fame which a lot of that actually turned out great to my like surprise oh it's great she has a beauty she can get like whimsical and ethereal well you know she doesn't exactly have like a songbird vocal she has a david bowie quality in her voice oh i hear that listen in certain parts yeah yeah
Starting point is 00:37:23 like she she can the way she enunciates and stuff is very bowie to me sometimes and you want to talk crystals and energy oh yeah that freak is nude in switzerland right now stroking a crystal in some like um hot springs just like getting in tune with the divine yeah completely dewy skin looking over her shoulder like yeah acceptance is the key to transcendence totally she's she's a wacko jacko who's it can i ask you who's like your dream collaboration like what artists would you love to write for or sing with in in life in my entire dead or alive your world is your dead or alive oh my god okay the band dead or alive i love dead or alive oh myive. Oh my God. Is that Pete Townsend?
Starting point is 00:38:06 Pete, no, Townsend. No, I said you spin me right round, baby. Yeah, yeah. You look like you're having fun. Who's the one who's the... Pete Davidson. Not Davidson. Anyway, go back to it.
Starting point is 00:38:21 Sorry. I think Alive, Julian Casablancas. I'm a big Strokes fan. Love the Strokes. Oh my God. Anyway, go back to it. Sorry. I think Alive, Julian Casablancas. I'm a big Strokes fan. Love the Strokes. Oh my God. That 1251 song is embarrassingly good. I know.
Starting point is 00:38:32 I know. Who do you think is the most beautiful voice? Beautiful? Yeah. You covet their voice. Yeah. Yeah. I mean Adele.
Starting point is 00:38:40 Adele. Adele. It's next level. A full bodbodied, beautiful clarinet voice. It's amazing. What does that mean, clarinet voice? So when I hear voices, like Sam Smith to me is a saxophone. If you listen to the tone of his voice, I hear, okay, the same kind of sound comes out of a saxophone. To me, Adele could be a clarinet.
Starting point is 00:39:00 Adele's more of like a woodwind. What's Celine Dion? She can be brass She's an oboe Yes She could be brass Or she could be an oboe For sure
Starting point is 00:39:09 Okay Who's Michael Bolton Oh He's French horn French horn That's interesting
Starting point is 00:39:18 What about Sorry I'm gonna keep going No I like it Who's Britney Yeah Britney Spears Oh my A kazoo I'm just kidding keep going. No, I like it. Who's Britney? Yeah, Britney Spears. Oh my. A kazoo?
Starting point is 00:39:26 I'm just kidding. I sense flavor sometimes with voices, like especially women's voices. Oh, that's cool. Like confections, like flavors, like foods. Okay, what's Britney? Britney to me is like a caramel. Really? Wow.
Starting point is 00:39:40 I can see that. Because it's so mellow and like. Yeah. What about. More stylized mellow and like. Yeah. What about. More stylized speaking in a way. Yep. What about like Joan Jett? I love Joan Jett.
Starting point is 00:39:54 Yeah. Oh my God. But what confection is she? Yeah. And what instrument and what flavor is she? She is a. She is a flavor blasted gold. I'm not saying they all pop out very obvious sure sure I saw her when I was
Starting point is 00:40:07 16 I was at a pride festival and I was in a sea of lesbians and she's you know 65 and patent leather with a corset with white paper white skin singing this song fetish and then the interpreter is having to interpret all these pornographic lyrics and she's humping him and rubbing her crotch. And I was just like. Yes. I just, I love her. I mean, the Runaways, the cultural impact. Sure.
Starting point is 00:40:32 Iconic. The Cranberries, Dolores O'Riordan. What flavor? That's a fun voice too. That is fun. She's like a. In there, Bob. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:40:43 Miso soup. No. Beautiful voice. Yeah. Gorgeous. Haunting. Yeah. she's like a um in there yeah miso soup no beautiful voice yeah gorgeous haunting yeah haunting what what instrument would she be she's she's a woodwind to me i'm not exactly sure which one she's gonna have to do some research yes what's the woodwind it's like a like a woodwind would be like a flute or a clarinet or an oboe or and what's the bassoon that's a woodwind that's a woodwind a woodwind would be like a flute or a clarinet or an oboe. And what's a bassoon? That's a woodwind. That's a woodwind. A woodwind.
Starting point is 00:41:08 Yeah. Just checking on different instruments. Just checking in. Yeah, just checking in. You're going to think about that though, right? When you're listening to voices now. Also like, yeah, instruments and flavors too. What flavor are you?
Starting point is 00:41:21 What's your singing? Oh, it's probably like, um, it's like, uh, something that's too dry tobacco. It's like, um, you know, something too crispy in your mouth gets all dry. It's a Triscuit.
Starting point is 00:41:33 Yeah. It's a cracked water. It's a cracked olive oil. Yeah. Yeah. Rosemary Triscuit. That's it. I love that.
Starting point is 00:41:39 That's my favorite Triscuit. But with no water, no drinks around. Oh, really stressful. No cheese. Really stressed. I love the sound of your voice. do too it's so beautiful and it's the perfect amount of like it sounds good
Starting point is 00:41:51 but it doesn't you don't sing like you're trying to uh sing you sing like you're like telling a story yes it's like you're not trying to like it's more like the attitude and the delivery because the foundation is so like yeah it's a great voice yeah you sing it like you mean it like it's a story i just love it effortless yeah incredible raw do you want to know where people can listen to you you guys have to listen to ashley's music yeah yeah oh yeah so you could check us out at uh the blah blah blahs music on instagram and then it's just the blah blah blahs on spotify and we have a couple music videos out too you could youtube us i love super duper yeah um wait i want to ask something else who do you think um who would play her yeah let's give it who would play actually
Starting point is 00:42:38 who would play you in a movie the movie of your life who would play you and then also who in contemporary music do you think is a no talent piece of shit motherfucker who doesn't deserve their success so who would play you yeah would you like to play you who would i like to play me that's a really tough question i've never thought about this what do you guys think you guys know me well yeah like you're i'm thinking of your your face reminds me of like a few different actresses and i'm trying to think of who um it's well depending on my weight i've gotten claire danes yep i can see that oh i can see that yeah i'm thinking it's um is it emma stone from the face no no really i definitely see claire danes claire danes yep um i'll take her romeo and juliet claire danes thank you i'll take her that's an anybody
Starting point is 00:43:25 will take her in that role so beautiful broke down palace we're the broke down palace emma stone and then who's your contemporary it's it's music that everyone hears that you're like i see emma stone hold on really yeah smile yeah listen she's beautiful yeah well thank you oh that's very sweet and then um yeah i don't know january jones for some reason is also what i'm saying january or if you're if you're spanish speaking so beautiful i don't know yeah britney snow britney snow oh i love britney snow she's fun Who's Brittany Snow She played Amber in Hairspray She's not gonna know what that is Brittany Snow Screaming Brittany Snow into the phone
Starting point is 00:44:13 Oh yeah Oh I know who that is She has big eyes Big lashes She'll have to wear brown contacts But that's okay And then What's the contemporary music
Starting point is 00:44:19 That you're just like Why do people live Yeah is there like Is there a fad Or like a She's like how much time do you have Yeah Well it's hard right because like i have to like keep my pulse on like what's going on absolutely now and but what i really like to do is like when i'm cooking i listen to the turtles so the turtles i love the turtles so my heart is in the past but i have to keep my pulse
Starting point is 00:44:41 on what's happening now and i'm gonna going to say, because I stood up, I just watched the documentary on a Takashi six, nine. Oh, is that the guy, the, the, the predator raper? He's a lot of things.
Starting point is 00:44:53 Yeah. He's, he's a lot of run-ins. I don't know. I don't want to get in trouble. I don't want anybody coming after me. Oh, that's yeah.
Starting point is 00:44:59 Yeah. Let's keep it. Keep it hush hush. But, but also I just, I don't think i understand it like most like trap artists i would say like i get it but that's not like where my heart is so like to my ears i'm like i'm not gonna listen to that yeah yes very in the school of like there's no right
Starting point is 00:45:16 answer in music so it's always from like if i don't like it i'm like yeah it does nothing for me i don't get it right yeah that's the thing do you think art i mean i'm trying to think about like if other uh art works that way like the same way it does in music because it seems like okay i've accepted the fact that some music just sounds like total fucking shit to me and it can be the you know the most inspiring thing to somebody else does that work with other stuff like i think so um because i don't love friends but i know that people love both both the show and people i don't like having friends but i know if everyone loves it it's gotta be hilarious it's just not my thing i'm also not into friends but if so many people love it that makes three of us yeah no i think one two three that makes us right well millions of people
Starting point is 00:46:02 are wrong yeah we're right yeah and in music is the thing that is like, you know, film, television, even like painting or whatever. I mean, music is the ultimate snobby. Like that is the thing that people love to get completely snobby and judgmental about. And it's like when people say, like, I have the best taste in music. I'm like, yeah, everyone thinks they do. Everyone. Have a great day. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:46:24 Especially metalheads especially i dated one for a long time and he didn't want to hear anything else about any other genre of music oh yeah so you came home to like like like that music playing yeah and like even harder than that and i listen to it but it's got to be in another language like there's i know a whole bunch of metal Japanese bands I love. Oh, that's fun. Yeah. Did you like Evanescence back in the day? Who didn't like that song?
Starting point is 00:46:51 That's what I'm saying. Oh, I hated that. Evanescence was so wonderful. They were great. They had a great song. I hated that. What was that album called? Bring Me to Life?
Starting point is 00:46:57 No. I don't even know. Is that the Fallen? Wake Me Up Inside? Yes. Evanescence Fallen. That's what it was. I fucking hate that shit.
Starting point is 00:47:03 I've never liked music like that, but for some reason when they came out i don't know her voice is beautiful the songs were great but i would never listen to that type of music again no yeah i can appreciate the like the oh nice vocals i suppose that music doesn't sound like pots and pans banging around but i hate it so much it's like i don't like pop at all i know that ariana is probably one of the best voices of our generation but i don't like the songs because i don't like pop right but i know she's a great singer of course i i feel the same way is this is it weird to say that i feel like her voice is not being used to it's um not like it's not being i feel like it's wasted on the music that she makes sometimes yeah like i hope one day she does like a a, like I bet you she could murder some like hymns,
Starting point is 00:47:46 ballads. Yeah. Hymnals. Please praise him from whom all blessings flow. Yeah. Something like that. Did you sing in church? Is that how you got your start?
Starting point is 00:47:57 No, no. I, it was like, I went to Lutheran school, so it was not fun. Church Baptist music. You know,
Starting point is 00:48:04 I wish, I wish Lutherans like i do gospel now because i'm making up for lost time and you're trying to atone for your slutty days figure yeah you're backwards before sharon put you on the right track how slutty are you that sharon has to say you know you really need to pull back yeah that's scary there was a new every time I saw her there was just a new guy you know I had just moved to Los Angeles I was having fun yeah I don't blame you you're young you're beautiful you're talented take the world yeah so you're wild oats absolutely well that's that I mean I've been with this man for almost like four years now and it's great I prefer a relationship personally like i don't know how you guys feel about it but i'm still trying i'm always ltr i always have a boyfriend yeah she does
Starting point is 00:48:51 yeah serial monogamous serial monogamous yeah it's just something more cozy about it yeah then sometimes you do have to you know oh wow so gotta hold on oh i know fuck everyone oh that's right i keep forgetting but yeah she's on a relationship wait a question what is cuffing season so what does that mean you want to go ahead so cuffing season is especially like when you're on the east coast right boston like the colder months you find somebody to like snuggle up with in the winter and then you hold on to them until the late spring comes and then it's like party time and then it's get the fuck out of here what does cuffing mean though so it's more like we're going to shack up at least for the next few months
Starting point is 00:49:27 because we're going to be going out less. We're handcuffed to each other. Yeah. And everyone's wearing cufflinks. And their pants are tight rolled. Yeah, and they're in like a chain gang. Okay. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:49:38 Okay, got it. That makes sense. Well, Ashley, we love you. Yeah, thank you so much. One of our favorite people. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. Yeah, and you so much. One of our favorite people. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. And continue to inspire the world with your beautiful voice.
Starting point is 00:49:48 Yes, go listen to Blah Blah Blahs. I'm promising you'll never heard anything like it. You're going to love it. Yay. Bye. Bye. Bye.

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