Laura Stevenson is a songwriter living in New York. Her newest album, Late Great, is out now on Really Records.
(Photo Credit: Rachel Brennecke)
Laura Stevenson is a singer-songwriter based in the Hudson Valley; Jeff Rosenstock is a singer-songwriter based in LA. The two have been friends and collaborators for 20 years, with Laura joining Jeff’s band Bomb the Music Industry! in 2005. Laura’s new album, Late Great, just came out on Jeff’s label Really Records, so to celebrate the release, the two got on a Zoom call and caught up about email anxiety, therapy, Hudson Valley parenting, the time Laura almost punched a cop at a Long Island bar, and much more.
— Annie Fell, Editor-in-chief, Talkhouse Music
Laura Stevenson: Jeff, you got a whole rig. Look at all this gear!
Jeff Rosenstock: I got it all for this podcast. How are you, Laura?
Laura: I’m OK. Everything’s OK! I’m doing really good.
Jeff: Obviously, since we are working on a record rollout together — everybody’s favorite — I’ve been talking to you a lot, but I haven’t actually spoken to you in a couple weeks.
Laura: I know. Have you noticed, I’m trying to be really organized? Because remember how I would always kind of fuck everything up?
Jeff: Yeah, I remember how you fuck everything up. [Laughs.] No, I would not say that you fuck everything up.
Laura: Really?
Jeff: Laura just made a face like I said the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to her. No, I don’t think it’s a character trait that you “fuck everything up.”
Laura: [Laughs.] Wow. Well, this is great for me.
Jeff: But, let’s say you did. What is this new you?
Laura: Well, new me — I don’t know if it’s the Wellbutrin or the parenting or what it is, but I have been really good at answering emails in a timely fashion. I don’t get stressed about it. I don’t put them off. Because I used to do that, and then everything used to haunt me, and then I just would be like, Just gotta go watch TV. Can’t do anything.
Jeff: That’s what I do.
Laura: You’re really fast with reply times. I’m trying to turn over a new leaf, because I used to just let anxiety make me seem like I wasn’t productive. And maybe I just wasn’t productive. But now, I’m trying to be really good at it.
Jeff: I’m really relieved and happy for you that you’ve beaten anxiety once and for all. It seems like it’s working amazing.
Laura: Yeah. I’m trying to be a grown up.
Jeff: Yeah, it’s tough. I feel like I’m now having one of those weeks where — Monday, we did this benefit show, and it was kind of a last minute thing, so I woke up on Monday and there was, like, 15 emails for me to look at. I was just like, No. And now I feel like I’ll be recovering from that, if not ‘til the end of the week, ‘til the end of the month.
Laura: You’re going to make it out.
Jeff: But it’s not like that with your record. I’m on the money with that stuff.
Laura: You are!
Jeff: I feel like, if there’s somebody who I want to reply to me, you have to just send something right away, because you set the pace of what’s happening. If you wait three or four days to reply, then that conversation is just going to take…
Laura: Yeah, that’s the precedent. That’s really true.
Jeff: How are you feeling about music? About, uh…
Laura: The industry?
Jeff: I didn’t come up with the questions for this, because I figured we could just talk for a while.
Laura: Wait, was I supposed to come up with questions?
Jeff: Let’s both ask a question at the same time.
Laura: One, two, three. What’s…
Jeff: What’s…
Laura: Your favorite…
Jeff: Your favorite…
Laura: Food? Blueberries.
Jeff: And mine is red raspberries.
Laura: I had those for breakfast.
Jeff: Oh, I meant blue raspberries.
Laura: Oh, blue razz? Yuck. I got car sick on a long road trip to Lake George, and my sister and my stepsister at the time — I had a stepsister, briefly.
Jeff: So this didn’t just happen this morning?
Laura: No, this was my childhood. But they were both housing a whole bag of blue razz Blow Pops, and it was the worst thing I’d ever experienced.
Jeff: And it made you sick just watching.
Laura: Yeah, real sick. And nobody stopped the car. Not for me.
Jeff: I get queasy in the car still, if I look on my phone.
Laura: Let me tell you, there’s a thing that fixes that. I don’t know if the Android has it, but there’s a thing on the iPhone — it kicks in when I’m not even in a car, if I’m just moving around real weird or fast. It’s these dots on your screen that move around to orient your focal point.
Jeff: And it works?
Laura: I don’t use it in the car, because I’m always driving.
Jeff: Go on a safe road, swerve, get yourself nauseous — or go to a parking lot and do donuts. Hey, what kind of pop filter you got going on over there?
Laura: Oh, Amazon! I got this on Amazon, because I was doing stuff for you and I lost my little… I had the stocking on the hanger trick.
Jeff: The classic.
Laura: Yeah. Then I lost that. And then I didn’t have any more stockings, because what am I going to do, buy stockings?
Jeff: Yeah, buying a pair of stockings randomly when you go into a store, and you’re a 20-something in Brooklyn and you look like me, was always fun.
Laura: What else would you be buying? A tall boy?
Jeff: Yeah, probably a Four Loko. Maybe some Pepto. And, of course, one set of stockings. But, yeah, that’s the pop filter trick. You don’t need to buy one; just get a wire hanger, a pair of stockings, and it lasts basically forever. The one that I used, that you probably sang into a bunch that I had in Brooklyn — I feel like I used that hanger with the stocking around it for, like, eight years.
Laura: It didn’t make the move [to LA]?
Jeff: No. I think one day I bought a pop filter so I could clip it onto my mic stand.
Laura: The clip.
Jeff: Although, you know what you could use for it? Chip clip.
Laura: Which brings us to: the chip clip!
Jeff: Laura, are you happy about the chip clip? Are you happy about magnetic poetry? These pre-order items?
Laura: I’m so happy. I mean, the chip clip — you know I like to do funny shit. And a lot of times, people were trying to tell me, “Don’t do dumb shit. Don’t have Cartman projected behind you during an entire set.”
Jeff: Can you just, real quick, expand on what you just said? Because I was here for this moment, and it’s one of my top five Laura Stevenson moments in my life.
Laura: [Laughs.] You were on half of that little tour. We were in Fort Lauderdale, I want to say? And the guy that ran the place used to be a lighting tech, so he had this crazy lighting rig, and he was really enthusiastic. He was like, “You can have anything projected behind you. Anything in the whole world — any image, any video clip, any colors, anything.” And I just thought, Eric Cartman from South Park.
Jeff: That’s the one. But I remember that we delayed the show because of Cartman.
Laura: We couldn’t get it loaded in time. [Laughs.] I was like, “This one’s a little pixelated when you blow it up. You gotta get high-res.” And then we did. And it was a beautiful moment for me, because I didn’t get to do fun funny shit… I don’t know, I was talking about this the other day and I went to a dark place.
Jeff: Do you want to talk about it? Because everybody loves you, Laura…
Laura: Thank you.
Jeff: But you’re the funniest person I know. And I’m sure there’s some sort of… not expectation, necessarily, but it’s easy to get in your head when you’re making serious music. I would argue your songs are not particularly funny.
Laura: No, never funny.
Jeff: You’re not making comedy songs. But you’re a funny person. And I think in life, that’s how people are. A lot of depressed people are funny. But with music, I feel like there’s sometimes this pressure to present yourself in a way that your art and your music seems important, and if you don’t ignore that side of your personality, it might be taken less seriously. As one of the funniest people I know in my life, how the fuck do you deal with trying to stifle that when you’re presenting your work?
Laura: That’s a great question, and thank you so much. Even in interviews — I just did one this morning talking about my process, and I don’t know how to be serious. Because I feel like life isn’t very serious. And even when I’m talking about really dark stuff, I laugh. That’s definitely a defense mechanism. But I think putting putting sad stuff with beautiful music can ease the pain a little bit. And then taking just life stuff and making it a joke eases the pain. It makes it palatable.
Jeff: Do you like doing interviews? I don’t go to therapy — I probably should go to therapy — but when I’m in a press cycle, I hate all the work that I have to do, but once I’m in an interview I’m like, Alright, let’s go, free therapy. Do you get like that too?
Laura: [Laughs.] Oh, my god, so much. I disclose way more than I should, and I want everybody to be my friend. But it’s exactly like when I’m in therapy — I just want my therapist to like me. I’m like, How am I gonna make Susan laugh today? I’m not ever doing the real work. But [doing interviews] is filling the hole that has been left by me not having therapist. My last one — she was too young. She was so young.
Jeff: With a young therapist, what is it? Just not enough life experience, or you’re on different pages, or what?
Laura: Yeah, it felt like she had a lot of wisdom — maybe she was an old soul — but I really need just advice, you know? My life was in a place that I just needed some day-to-day actual advice that was tangible and practical. And she was just like, “Where do you feel that in your body…?” [Laughs.] I’d be like, “I feel it fucking everywhere. Where do I not feel it?”
Jeff: I think we could be clear here: We’re not ageist. That said, what is your ideal age for a therapist?
Laura: 65.
Jeff: Ooh.
Laura: Long Island — hard Long Island. I got one on Zocdoc that I was like, “She’s from Elmhurst, this is my girl.” She was older. But I gave her three sessions, and by the third session, she had not asked me a single question and I knew everything about her stepkids.
Jeff: Describing what a 65 year old from Long Island would be like as a therapist — just talking a lot about Muriel and Bernice…
Laura: “And Stephanie, she’s going to Loyola in the fall.” [Laughs.] I really wanted her to be my number one therapist, because I do feel so comforted by a Long Island older lady. I don’t know what it is.
Jeff: I mean, you’re from Long Island. And you’re a lady.
Laura: I’m lady, and I’m getting older by the day.
Jeff: We’re all on our way to being older ladies. [Laughs.] Do you miss Long Island at all? When was the last time you went back?
Laura: That’s a great question… Oh, I was at a funeral! Thanks for bringing it up, Jeff.
Jeff: I’m sorry.
Laura: [Laughs.] I went to my uncle’s funeral, and I didn’t have a home base anymore so we just stayed in a hotel by the Roosevelt Field Mall. And we went to Maggiano’s two nights in a row and my mom got super wasted on red wine. The Maggiano’s late nights were really interesting and very Long Island, and it brought me back.
Jeff: For those who don’t know, what is Maggiano’s?
Laura: My sister was trying to describe it before we got there, and she described it as a “high-end Italian chain.” I felt as though it was not high-end, I would say.
Jeff: Is there is there a “high-end” restaurant chain at all?
Laura: Ruth’s Chris? I’ve never been in one, but it seems expensive.
Jeff: I’ve been to one. It is expensive. I don’t eat meat — very brave of me — but I was there for a bachelor party in Atlantic City. They brought me — and this is probably the best version of this I’ve had in my life — it was a sliced tomato. It was a very good tomato. But that was all they had. I think the mac and cheese had bacon in it, and the Brussels sprouts had bacon in it, the mashed potatoes had bacon in it. And then we split the bill, and of course, I had to throw in for everybody’s steak or whatever the hell they were getting. So that was my Ruth’s Chris experience.
Laura: Did they disguise it as, like, a salad? Or was it a side of tomato?
Jeff: It was like a beefsteak tomato. And, again, great tomato. I remember it being three-to-five thick slices kind of fanned out in a row. That’s it.
Laura: No balsamic?
Jeff: Maybe some balsamic or some shit on it. I don’t think there was fresh mozz.
Laura: Basil?
Jeff: I don’t know. I don’t think it was a caprese. I think it was just, like, tomato. An $80 tomato.
Laura: Well, it’s low cholesterol.
Jeff: Are there Long Island things that you feel like you do that are unacceptable in the Hudson Valley — the place where New Yorkers go to be as close as possible, but also free of their being from New York City or Long Island or New Jersey? What tics do you have that people give you shit about?
Laura: Nobody’s giving me shit. I get a little bit Long Island when I’m in traffic, and I call everybody clowns. But it’s mostly parenting stuff. Like, we’ll be at the park and I’m like, [does a thick Long Island accent,] “Go stand over there.” And it’s very gentle parenting up here — it’s always like, “Radiant, if it pleases thee, relocate over to this area.” And I’m just like. “Go stand over there and wait for me and maybe turn around.” But it’s fine. I have a friend who’s from Staten Island that has a kid up here, so when we go to the park, it’s like, the moms are here.
Jeff: [Laughs.] LA is like that, too, where it’s like, you don’t get grades in school and it’s very free-spirited. And I feel like we come from a place where it is like, “Your grades are important and if you fuck them up, your future’s over!”
Laura: “You’re nothin’!”
Jeff: “You’re trash!” [Laughs.] We don’t have to talk about that. Unless you want to talk about that.
Laura: I mean, we can talk about it. I feel like enough time has passed, right?
Jeff: Do you wanna talk about the cop that you yelled at?
Laura: Well, he was off-duty… I got rear-ended real hard by this guy. It was the day after Thanksgiving, so I was feeling warm inside, and so I was like, “You know what? We don’t have to do police report. It’s fine.” He was driving out of the back of a bar, so who knows, he probably was wasted. But I was like, “We don’t have to do a police report. We can settle it, just exchange insurance and whatever.”
Jeff: And you were 19?
Laura: Yeah. But he rear-ended me so hard, it was crazy. Because he was going to make a right and peel out, but he only looked left and I was pulling right. Anyway, then a cop came to the scene and the guy was just like, “I’m a Nassau County cop.” Somebody in our party heard him say that. And then he went over to me and he’s like, “We’re good here, right?” The guy was starting to be a dick to me, and he was implying that it was my fault that he hit me. I was starting to get a little like, Huh? So we ended up not getting a police report, we exchanged insurance information. And then a couple weeks later, my insurance company called me and they were like, “Well, this person’s saying that you backed up into them.” And I was like, “What?” I didn’t know where to go from there. But my mom’s boyfriend, Mr. Olsen, was a maritime lawyer, and my mom was like, “Mr. Olsen will help you.” And I was like, “I think that he just knows about the sea. I don’t really know if he can help me.” But there’s no qualifier for what kind of law you practice, you just have the esquire signature and it’s fine.
Jeff: Do you apply for maritime law because it’s the easiest one to get?
Laura: Maybe. But you have to put a little sailboat next to your name, so they’re like, “This is land law. This is out of your jurisdiction.” [Laughs.] So anyway, he wrote a letter to the insurance company that was like, “We’ll take you to court if you try to lie.” And then he dropped it. A couple of months later, I still hadn’t been reimbursed for all the damage. But then on my birthday — so this is April — we go to the hibachi place next door to that bar that the guy was pulling out of, and I got a little drunk. Because they spray it in your mouth — they spray the sake, and if it’s your birthday, they just keep going. What are you going to do? Say “stop”? Your mouth is full of sake…
Jeff: Also — and stop me if I’m being aggressive or out of pocket — I think you’re allowed to have a little drink on your birthday.
Laura: Thank you! Also, it was a baby-shaped thing, and the spray comes out of the baby’s genitals. It’s very gross.
Jeff: I didn’t remember that part of it. Is that restaurant still there?
Laura: I don’t know if it’s still there, but Stinger’s is gone. My childhood bar.
Jeff: Stinger’s was the Irish bar in Rockville Centre, where all of our good friends who are garbage monsters would go. That was like the lair of garbage monsters.
Laura: That’s the bad end of the night place that put up with the most bullshit. So, we go there for our after party — and the guy’s there, and he was being a total asshole. One of the people that was in my car went up to him and was just like, “You know, you really fucked over my friend.” And then he was trying to fight him, and then I got really crazy and started screaming that he was trash. And you had to pull me physically out of the bar — like, really physically. You had to hold me back.
Jeff: [Laughs.] “You’re trash! You’re trash!”
Laura: I was fighting you guys. It wasn’t for the look — I was really going in. But I’m glad you guys took me out.
Jeff: Do you think this is going to bring this motherfucker to justice? Because now that time has passed and we are aging rapidly… You were 19, that’s fucking crazy. You were a fucking kid.
Laura: Yeah, it was a long time ago. What am I now, 41?
Jeff: I either say I’m 28 or I’m 68. I don’t know.
Laura: This was over 20 years ago. And is it bad for Stinger’s that I was under 21?
Jeff: [Laughs.] They’re closed. It doesn’t matter.
Laura: RIP.
Jeff: Well, I always thought that was very fun and cool of you — and I guess lame of me, to prevent you from punching a cop.
Laura: No, I’m glad that you kept me from getting in a physical altercation.
Jeff: What is the question people have asked you most about this record, or that you’re sick of talking about? Is there anything?
Laura: There’s nothing yet that I’m sick about talking about, but I’m going to have to side-step some hard deets.
Jeff: Some hard personal deets. It’s a personal record! You’re usually one for metaphors and cool references, but this one…
Laura: Yeah, I’m too sad for metaphors at this point. [Laughs.] I think we got another chip clip slogan.
Jeff: “Too Sad for Metaphors.” That could be a good bib slogan. We were also gonna make bibs, but you had to make, like, a thousand bibs.
Laura: Yeah, the bib was going to say, “Don’t Look At Me.” As all adult bibs should say. But, yeah, it’s going to be difficult to do that in a way that is fun and friendly, to be like, “Uh, no comment.”
Jeff: Yeah, sure. Especially, I feel like you and I are both kind of people-pleasing people.
Laura: Wait, are you trying to please people? [Laughs.] Just kidding.
Jeff: Uh, no, not you. Not my business partner.
Laura: Well, I’m pleased.
Jeff: Alright, we’re gonna do some album rapid fire. I’m going to go through the track list, and you tell me something. First song: “#1.” This song fucking rocks. You know what I like about this song? It’s got a chorus, but it never comes in where you think it’s going to come in.
Laura: Is that true? Where do you want it to come in?
Jeff: Well, I feel like the two verses are different things.
Laura: They’re totally different things.
Jeff: And then it’s that chorus, which is a great chorus. “Baby, you’re the one.”
Laura: Thank you.
Jeff: Pepsi is going to license this.
Laura: Would this be my very first sync?
Jeff: You’ve gotten a sync! You’re on everybody’s favorite television show, This Is Us!
Laura: No! I was trying to be on it. They asked me to write songs for it, and then I wrote all these songs, and then they didn’t take them.
Jeff: You get a demo fee?
Laura: No.
Jeff: I did that for this Chloë Moretz movie, and same thing. No demo fee. I wrote all these songs… Did you ever put those songs out?
Laura: No. They were really bad, so I understand why they didn’t buy them.
Jeff: One of the songs I had was good, but three of them were pretty bad. I just said the name of the movie over and over again.
Laura: [Laughs.]
Jeff: Alright, “I Want To Remember It All” — go!
Laura: I like it, I wrote it, and it’s in C, so it’s easy to play.
Jeff: “Honey.”
Laura: It’s got really cool guitars. I put a lot of guitars on there. It’s folky, it’s sweet, it’s sad. It’s everything that you’d want, and then more.
Jeff: We have one minute left, and I feel like I didn’t ask you anything. But I love you, Laura. I miss you, my friend.
Laura: I love you, too!
Jeff: I’m really happy that we got to do a record together in this way, and it just fucking rips. I’m really proud of you for making this beautiful, powerful record, that we did not talk about at all. But describing music with words — like, that’s not how that works…
Laura: Who needs it? Let’s tell a rambling story from 20 years ago about me in a bar.
Jeff: This cop needs to be brought to justice. You can’t just go rear-ending 19 year olds.
Laura: No, you can’t.
Jeff: I mean, I guess you can.
Laura: Because he did. 
