Ruby Friedman Orchestra Talks New Album 'Chimes After Midnight' | LPtv

Hey, this is Lindsay Parker for LPTV at Licorice Pizza. We're getting ready for an instore performance by an actual orchestra, the Ruby Freeman Orchestra. We're here with Ruby Freeman and Ben Lansk uh from the orchestra. Your album Chimes After Midnight just came out. Congratulations on that. I I mean, there's a lot to unpack here. Where do I start? I have a quote about what the album's about. I'm just going to read it. This is you. You said, "I'm giving voice to remarkable people who time will erase otherwise. Ordinary men and women." A lot a lot of stories about women who change history. Uh, a lot of women, invisible women who or women who were made invisible, who were trying to be seen in the dark, kept women kept in the dark, exploited women. There's a lot of story songs on this record. So, I mean, let's just get into it. Like, what was inspiring you? I know you're you went to UCLA and were a history major. I went to UCLA, too.

Uh, so yeah, you this is a deep album. Let's just get into what inspired it.

Well, I think honestly the the thing that inspired the album was this director friend of mine named Steve. Now I'm blanking on his last name, but he was a direct he directed that that movie um Miracle Mile

did not.

Steve did not. Yeah, that's So he shared this

share a mic.

He shared an audition. Yeah,

I know you guys know what you're doing because Ben, you co-produce this album. So you guys are used to sharing equipment and such.

We are indeed.

Um

so he shared what was the director's name?

Steve.

Steve Dejernot.

Thank you.

He shared an audition reel um of an actress from the 80s or 90s named Emily Longstreth and people on Facebook and people were chiming in what happened to her? She disappeared. And then somebody else would like comment, oh no, she ran. She was she lived in her car outside my theater and I let I let her and her mom's and it's just all these crazy stories and I'm watching this audition real and somebody else like you shouldn't share that. That's not cool to share an audition really you know whatever but anyway um I went down the Emily Longstreth uh rabbit hole and

that started when the hangman and uh that's pretty much started the album. Let me ask what inspired out that's that that that concept of somebody just disappearing having so much talent and impacting so many people and there's like there's a lot of people looking looking for Emily Longstrad for for 20 years now

well there's a song

she was in Pretty and Pink

huh

who was she in Pretty and Pink

I don't know but she go yeah you'll go look up

I'll look for IMDb after this

that song's about three different women though

okay what are the other women

the other one was an educator during like the 19s and she taught like thousands of people to read in Appalachia and um well when she got older, you know, she was blind and her her brother put her in a hotel and just like left her there um you know, she became a burden and uh she ended up like as the song says um in a poppers grave. She's historically sort of well-known. Um, and this woman that I do book trailers for, music for book trailer, we've done music for this author named Kim Michelle Richardson, who another song is the bookwoman's the bookwoman's daughter. Um, anyway, uh, she bought her a grave a graves a grave marker, but she's the one that told me the story about her. And, um, yeah. And then the third story in that same in the same song is about uh, Tanya D. I won't

mention her last name. And um she was kind of done in by her her boyfriend, but a great songwriter. And I was singing one of her songs, you know, I could I still sing it in my head, one of her songs. So that's the third verse. Anyway,

there's another artist that a different song, but named Connie

Connie Converse from the 50s.

Yeah. So I didn't I've never heard of her at all. And you have a song uh Honey Stomach is what a great title.

Who's this person? Why were you inspired by a song? Converse was a uh a folk singer that predates Bob Dylan and should be attributed as the first, you know, intimate folk singer, songwriter, but when she went to New York to like showcase what she was doing, nobody was interested in it. Um I don't know, you want to say what we can we can kind of speculate as to why that is, but ultimately she disappeared.

She literally disappeared. Um she intended to disappear and in the song um she disappeared in the song that she disappeared because an alien an alien craft called the honey stomach comes and takes her and to their solar system where she has tons of fans. So it has a happy ending.

So it's not entirely a non-fictional song. It's not entirely based on

magical magical reality.

We don't necessarily know. I mean, you know, she drove off.

She did drive. She She wrote a a letter to her brother saying, "Here's enough here's enough money for my health insurance for a year. After a year, don't come looking for me."

So, the other another there's a few songs I wanted to specifically get the stories of because they're all like they're not typical. They're not typical subject matter. The song Music Row.

Oh, yeah.

Tell me the story behind that because this fascinated me.

It's crazy, right? It was funny cuz we played Nashville last week and I I was introducing the song and I said, "Do you guys know which city in the United States was the first city to legalize prostitution and every like no they say Portland?" I think they did say Portland of course where I where I live where we live but it wasn't Portland. It was actually Nashville. So it's like the history itself was completely you know erased. But yeah, during the Civil War, um, prostitution was legalized for about two years to better regulate diseases that were spreading among the soldiers. They tried to get rid of the girls. They put them on a boat called the Idaho. ID I know ID Ah.

Is this true? This is true.

So, no, you can go research. You cannot make this.

I'm a I'm a history major. I'm not going to make stuff. I mean, I'll make some stuff up. That's the story. It's about It's about Well, they they had to bring them home because none of the ports would let them uh get off the boat. So, they they brought them back to Music Row, which is So, that song basically memorializes these women that were like, you know, widowed, you know, their husbands were soldiers that were killed in the war or their fathers, whatever their families were decimated, whatever it was. But, but it's just Yeah, it's just one of those interesting things.

It's peculiar, but it's real. You in general tend to write songs, not all the time. Obviously, there are some songs that are autobiographical or more personal, but like you write a lot of songs from that are his historical or based on historical things or inspired by other legends, other stories. Where and like you we've mentioned, you were a history major. Where does where does that come from? Where did that fascination develop? I don't know. I like old clothes. I like old facts. I like old I just like old things. I like re I like I like to search for truth. And uh what what we don't do we need another love song? I don't know. I just I write what it's what moves me to write. I I don't really want to write. I mean I don't really want to write. I'm here against my will. Lindsay,

what do you mean you don't want to write?

I feel like hostage. I'm totally held hostage by

What do you mean you don't want to

I don't want to write. I only write when I'm forced to write. Like like it's like I have like

No, no, no. It's like But no, internally internally forced to write out compelled.

Yeah. To get it out. And um and what else would do that to me except these crazy stories.

Yeah.

There's a great Thomas man quote. I think he says uh a writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for anyone else.

With this album with chimes after midnight some of these stories about like women eraser of women in history

like what was the theme? Why did you resonate towards that theme? Did you relate to that fear or you had

it? Wasn't even planned. It was just at the end of the when we had we actually recorded more than 10 songs but at the end of the call um it was like whoa there is a theme you know when I was being interviewed by the person that was going to do the bio it was like oh and it was just talking about it but that person also that when the hangman dot dot dot it's very important that's on there

yeah it's very important not four of them either just three

yeah it's four it is important

very small little detail but it's very important um yeah he was noting that it was really interested in those three different stories. So, and I was like, well, that's interesting because, you know, there's actually an homage to Frank Black. There's a couple, you know, I have a couple. Yeah. Well, who's the mayor of North Hollywood Park?

That's actually that's actually Greg Sill, whose father was Lester Sill. Greg was a music supervisor that was a champion of mine. He put my music in Justified FX. It's on FX. And um he his

brother was Chuck K from DreamWorks. Um his father's Lester cell just you know music publishing luminary family. Anyway

um he was an addict um untreated and he

died homeless in a park and um and at

his memorial his brother his brother referred to him as the mayor of North Hollywood Park. And I just knew, yeah, when I was when I was that was going to be the a song cuz it was just I don't know. It's just a way for when I write it. I'm just I'm just paying homage to people. So sometimes I know them and I actually wrote one about the person we were talking about earlier, but

a mutual friend of ours who passed.

Yeah.

Is that song I don't know if you want to talk about that. Is it going to come out?

It's a it's a it's in its it's in a germinating form and it probably won't.

I mean, you never know, but it's just it's always just one of those just darting around in my head. How do you know when a song has reached full germination, so to speak, and is ready to be recorded by you guys?

Huh.

It fits something. It fits a need. It fits a need.

Well, I can speak to that a little bit. A lot of times it's it's something that you've kind of already seen, Ruby. You've it's a vision. It's a vision that is is there and then we're just trying to express that sonically. And so, so I think once the vision is there, then the rest is it's almost just like the rest is logistics. I feel

Tell me about the song Milky Way Ode to Frank Black there. I of course I noticed the title. Did you know Do you know Frank Black?

I don't know him. I don't know him, but I feel like I know him and I'm so grateful for him and that's what the song is basically about. But the song doesn't really talk about him. The song alludes alludes to some of the some of some sonic cues, you know, like I'm whistling at one point. I whistle anyway, but I mean I to whistle whistle on everything. Um, yeah, but it's it's it's basically about like in a sea of just gross people and gross art and gross music or whatever. Just grossness and there's oh, there's Frank Black, but yeah. No, but just it was basically just like I wrote it as a response. It was just a a gratitude response that he even exists after I had a a dinner with a music music executive that slobbered all over me. That's what hap that's how that So that's what happened.

That happened to you a lot. I would assume I mean I would assume a lot. I don't live in LA anymore. So it doesn't happen anymore.

Is that one of the reasons? Why did you leave LA? You're from like me. You were born and raised here. What made you leave?

Yeah. What made me leave? Well, I used to leave a lot actually. Um I've lived in a lot of cities. I lived in New Orleans. I've lived in New York. Three different places. I've lived in a lot of places. Yeah. Toronto. And we were talking a little bit off camera about when you leave LA, how you get a little bit of different perspective and how

that's why I leave and then I miss it and I come back and then I'm like, well, that's why that's why I left and I leave again and then and then I got kind of marooned in Portland and it's a good thing. It was a good thing.

Do you have it?

Because of co have Oh, yeah. There's that. There was that. Have you dealt with a lot of gross men in the business like that?

Every woman has.

Yeah. They're obviously a strong woman who like can hold.

I don't think I'm ever what what they want, right? Cuz I have a I just have a mouth on me. So, I'm just not Yeah.

I mean, it served you well in your music. You have like stuff.

I'm just happy I can still sing and do my do my music. I'm just Yeah. Keep writing songs. I'm happy that I met Ben, you know, in port, you know,

in Portland.

Yeah. And Ben plays Penny. Ben is an orchestra. Ben played everything.

How did you guys meet?

A mutual friend. Yeah. Yeah. I was actually coming up to Portland to do two different things and three weeks apart and I stayed at my ex-manager's house in Portland. His his name is Tony Ferguson. He was the vice president of Innercope.

Yeah, I know that name.

Yeah, I just saw him the other night. He was at our show in Portland. Um and he's in one of our videos, too. I put we put him in a strip club. We put him in the vegan strip club and film.

Is it actually Well, yeah. Port Portland. Isn't Portland the strip capital of strip club capital of America?

There's a vegan strip.

I thought it was Atlanta, but it's Portland. per capita. There's

a pizza, too. Um, it's

pizza strip clubs.

Yeah. In my building, the bottom floor is a tattoo shop. Like, it's just the coolest. And before it was a tattoo shop, it was like a mental health cover center.

So, like the Portlandia show is kind of like real.

I don't I don't I think it's better. It's It's even more Portlandia than even that was. I think especially our existence. We were just talking about that.

I feel like you should have your own

We do. We do have our own show.

Scripted.

Yeah. We

Tell me about that because you've done a lot. You mentioned Justified. You've had so much of your music in films in sing. You've been gone a lot. I don't know what to tell you.

What's the show though? That's what I want.

No, no, I'm kidding. I mean, I've been I' I've been writing a couple shows, but I you know, who could who could finish anything right now?

Is there any other songs sometimes after midnight? You want to tell me?

Flower you would like.

Okay, tell me, tell me if the story. the flower war. I was I was working part-time um at a at a at a market at the well at the flower department and my coworker is this thing on my coworker was is was an addict and um so it's

basically so she would just like she was really out of it and she would just start mumbling and I would write everything down and I told I did tell her I go this is this is going to be in a song I hope you don't mind

she's okay change any details she's well she's okay now she's okay now but you know I didn't know that at the time the song and at the time I was working there I really did think we were going to end up with an OD that just stayed OD we had Nan in the drawer like yeah

but she's everybody okay now and she's

she is actually she's well I don't know if she knows about

well we didn't say her name maybe hopefully she's not watching whatever

I know we're you actually are going to play in our story mid so I will ask one question it's you've probably been asked this before but you mentioned the word Ben vision and you know I've seen the catchphrase or whatever the the the the the elevator pitch of what the Ruby Freman Orchestra was conceptualized as as sort of being like a band in the future.

Oh, where did you see that?

I didn't I don't know. I'll do more research.

I think I read I saw it on your Wikipedia actually.

Oh, wow.

That was a You conceived as an orchestra in the future

trying to

interpreting music from

I was literally in class at UCLA. I was taking intellectual one on the history intellectual history and tripping out on uh I think it was thorough reading a a a primary source and he was basically talking about history and and and questioning why you you would even spend your time studying it because you're almost wasting your time because you're wasting your present there will be history so you know I mean and it's it was really like and then all of a sudden I saw this like band in the future like it was almost like a carnival troop but not really, but just yeah, just in this kind of kind of like post-apocalyptic setting. And they were they were just all they were interested in was doing music from the 20th century and they got it wrong. They got it wrong, but it was, you know, and then right.

They got it wrong, but they thought they were, you know, um and and uh and then I just was like, whoa, what I wonder what that would sound like. And then it was a weird confluence of events right after that because one of my friends in school had to go to a John Cole train thing. It was like an credit for her elective. She had to go she had to go to this this thing. So, I went there with her. She begged me to go out. I don't do music, you know. Anyway, I went with her and then met Edwin who became my upright bass player, the first incarnation of RFO in 2009. And then Ul was part of that too, the one who's playing trombone tonight. And um yeah, just kind of grew.

You hadn't done music before that or hadn't thought to?

I I have. Yeah, I've done music since I was zero years old. My mom's a my mom's my mom's a singer and my my mom's my mom's side of the family is very musical. There are vaudevilians and opera singers and violinists and like just tons of my mom doesn't stop playing music. It's always on.

Wow.

So when I go over there I was just like trying I come in and shut it off like I need silence.

So it was in your blood. You never had another path to this.

I don't think so.

You could have been a professor.

I think I've tried and it just hunts me down. It just hunts me down. I've tried to get rid of music. Don't Don't ever get rid of music. This album is fantastic. Yeah. Thank you.

So, we're going to hear you play it outside, but I want the Portland style TV show.

Well, it's actually

and the Rock musical.

It's coming. It's all coming.

Is it really? Are you just kidding?

I have a couple. It's I have a couple. We've been talking about this other thing.

It's in development.

It's Well, when you're able to give me more details.

So many There's so many things you can spend your time doing, you know.

Well, it seems like whatever you do, it works for you. So, keep doing those things and thank you for coming to Licorice Pizza. I'm looking forward to seeing you perform out there in just a few minutes.

Thanks for having us.