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Local Music Q&A

MIKE OLCOTT

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Quick, think of the moment you first heard Gracie Slick hollering ''Feed your head!'' over and over in ''White Rabbit's'' epic climax. Now, when you remember that moment, is it just of the sound of Jefferson Airplane banging drums and (ahem) tripping over one another? Or are there rich palettes of colors and images with bellbottoms, and Louis Carroll, and the Mad Hatter populating your mind's eye?

Some artists you remember just for the sound of their jangly single, ''Mmm-bop'' for example. Other artists have a way of evoking the world around them, losing themselves to it, and taking listeners there with them. With a scrappy, pure voice and storybook longing in her lyrics (''For I've been searching days and days for apricot groves/my shoulder blades were left to bake in the blunders of the Yoke-Hued Sun''), Lady Lamb the Beekeeper has been turning a lot of heads since she started concentrating on her music. She's honest, loyal to her work ethic and to Portland, and has a spirit that connects to others without effort. As a singer she paints, or maybe as a painter she sings, but to be inside these songs is cinematic, you can close your eyes and, say, go have a chat with a hookah-smoking caterpillar.

Stream Lady Lamb the Beekeeper at www.myspace.com/ladylambthebeekeeper. Check out the upcoming show at www.bigeasyportland.com/calendar/.

LLTB, aka Aly Spaltro, will be playing alongside Sara Halle Richardson and Courtney Underwood at the Big Easy on Dec. 26, so she met with GO to share what the whirlwind of the last three years has been like.

There's some pretty wild artwork with rabbits and old transistor radios on your MySpace page. What's going on there?

Oh, man, I love those little rabbits. I found them in an old book full of pictures of rabbits wearing classy outfits -- doing everyday things like watering the garden, pushing a wheelbarrow full of turnips, climbing a ladder, sharing a lovely, home-cooked meal at a hand-crafted table in a fully-decorated rabbit kitchen, flying in a dirigible, chit-chatting on the ol' ham radio -- you know, good-natured, rabbitesque chores and leisure.

What drew you to music in the first place? How long have you been at this?

I would say my initial draw to music started as early as I can remember with my parents' records. Some of my favorites were Stevie Ray Vaughn, Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Journey and CCR. When I was 5 my babysitter turned me on to The Beatles. I credit those four, shaggy Brits almost entirely for how I turned out. While all the other kids were putting sand in each other's shoes, I was listening to my ''White Album'' cassette and watching ''Help!'' on the weekends. I was a bit of a recluse in that way, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself in kindergarten.

I deferred from college for a year after high school and knew there was something missing in my life. It took me a while to realize that all that I really needed and wanted was to be writing my own music. Before I even picked up a guitar, I got a little 8-track recorder, because at that point I was interested in layering instruments directly to the recorder without a song being previously written. I became obsessed with the spontaneity of the process, singing improvised lyrics over one-shot instrument tracks. I got into the groove of completing a song in one sitting, no matter how many hours it took. I recorded an album's worth of songs in that fashion and immediately moved onto a second (a handful of which made it onto my most recent album released by Eternal Otter Records, ''Samples For Handsome Animals''). This was back in the late summer of 2007, so I've been at it for about 2½ years now.

Outside of writing and performing, what do you like to do? Where do you like to go?

I'm a huge film geek. I work at an independent video rental store (that doubles as my practice space) where I'm spoiled with all the movies I could ever want to see. I'm also really into decorating. I moved to Portland from Brunswick at the beginning of October and spent hours upon hours making everything just right in the apartment with the colors, patterns, textures, art work, etc. I view it as another major form of self-expression. It's important to me to love the space I'm in. I also love to travel, but I always miss Portland when I leave for too long. My favorite thing to do here is to go to shows. I whole-heartedly believe that Portland has the best music scene in the country. I couldn't be more proud to be part of this music community, and at this particular time, too. The level of love and respect for one another -- band to band, audience to performer and vice versa -- is through the roof. I can feel it on the stage. I can feel it in the crowd. It's a uniquely beautiful thing. I leave every show increasingly in love with the city.

Describe some of your favorite collaborations on the Portland scene, recorded, live or casual.

My favorite collaboration without a doubt is that between Sontiago and dilly dilly. They did an acoustic version of Sontiago's ''Hide N Seek'' at the Tower of Song Festival in May that cracked my heart open like a kinder egg. The pair of them can make me laugh while I'm crying. They can also make me cry over my laugh, which is a good sign that I've been moved. They completely disarm and displace me (in the best possible use of the word) every time. I'm also really feeling Jesse Pilgrim's full band lineup these days. They were air-tight at the [dog and pony] DVD release show last weekend and I really like the storytelling aspects of Jesse's new material.

You have such an unpredictable style. How do you envision your sound evolving? What types of elements are you looking forward to adding on your next project?

I would like a small marching band to take Lady Lamb the Beekeeper to lunch. I envision myself busting out some sporadic a capella hand-clappin' audience participation call-and-response jams with a marching snare drum around my neck; vocal choruses and singing saws; step team routines and looped bird calling; keyboard arpeggiators and muffled trumpets. I want it all, baby. I'm recording my new full-length with Alias in 2010, and I may or may not have one or one-and-a-half to two tricks up my sleeve.

What's the best constructive criticism you've ever gotten and how did you respond to it?

The best constructive criticism I've ever received was from a godsend named Bartholomew D'alauro. He's my boss and friend, and the first person I ever gave a mix of my early material. He was very honest about how heavy-handed and overwhelming (in a not-so-good way) it was. At first I was a bit devastated since I had been terrified of sharing it with anyone in the first place, but I got over myself and took his advice and began simplifying my arrangements. I take his criticisms more to heart than anyone's to this day -- he's pretty much the reason my music left the cave and came to Portland.

Who do you write your songs for? What types of characters in stories are you interested in?

I write my songs for myself first and foremost, to work through anything in my life past or present that puzzles or disheartens me, but also to commemorate and praise the people and places that have shaped and inspired me. I hope that by being honest and coming from a place of sincerity, people who hear my music will be uplifted when they are down. I hope they can maybe relate to something I'm singing that makes them less puzzled or disheartened in an area of their lives where they may be feeling as such. For those who find Lady Lamb in their happiness, I hope for it to be sprawling and stay put.

Paint a detailed picture of where you see yourself in five years as an artist. What do you want out of these next five years?

I want to be able to embrace change as it happens. Change is inevitable; feelings and surroundings, friends and interests, all take new shapes in time. I hope to be aware enough of changes in myself and in my music in the next five years to handle them gracefully. I don't want to forcibly pull anything towards me, and I don't want to push anything that could potentially make me a stronger person and artist away from me. I'd like to one day have the opportunity to sing duets with Victoria Legrand and Justin Vernon. I'd like to be in more of a position to play electric lead guitar in live performances. I want to fully appreciate where I am while I'm there, physically and figuratively. I don't want anything falling in my lap. I want to work for it.

What's the story behind the name ''Lady Lamb the Beekeeper?''

I wish I had a more action-packed, car-chase sort of story for this one: I went through a phase surrounding the first two weeks I started making music wherein I tried my hand at lucid dreaming (pun very intended) and kept a notebook by my bed in an attempt to train myself to write in the middle of the night while still half asleep. I woke up one morning and there it was, scribbled on a page near the back of the notebook in poor penmanship (insert EXPLOSION!): Lady Lamb the Beekeeper. I couldn't argue with it. Also, no one knows this, but in my mind, Lady Lamb's first name is Adelaide.

Mike Olcott is a freelance writer who lives in Portland.