Stuffed & Ready
Aside from having had Cherry Glazerr songs featured in film soundtracks, Creevy’s acted on Transparent and modeled for the likes of Saint Laurent—but her idea of success is simply getting to make music and go on tour. Something she’s doing a lot of these days.
During a brief stop in New York, the singer sat down with office to talk Stuffed & Ready and growing up.
How did you realize you were into making music?
When I was 14 I started going and seeing a lot of bands around LA. I was really into No Age and Battles and angular rock bands. I also watched a lot of videos of bands playing on YouTube. A lot of my earliest experiences with rock music came from the internet. I started making Cherry Glazerr songs when I was 15 and I started recording my own music with help from my friend Paige who is in this band called Tashaki Miyaki. Then Joel Jerome who is an LA producer/songwriter, he helped me record my first batch of recordings when I was 15. I always played guitar and was writing a lot of songs. So, it came really naturally.
I’m interested to hear your perspective about the internet, because in your case it was something that helped you get into your passion with music. But what do you think of it as a landscape?
It’s a reflection of the world. There’s a lot of great things on the internet and a lot of corruption as well. I had been musical ever since I was like, four years old, so it was something that facilitated what I was already doing. It wasn’t a place where I discovered who I was at all. I’m of the school that thinks that the world is not a bad place and for the most part, our inclination is to love one another and that we want peace and harmony—that the world isn’t bad, that it’s awesome and beautiful. And I think when you get stuck in an internet K-hole, that idea can be tarnished. And that’s sad to me because that’s not reality. I feel like a lot of the crap on the internet is a projection of our fears just accumulated into one and we’re forced to look at it. And that sucks. But there’s so much cool stuff on the internet too—I’ve met a lot of cool people from the internet.
I think we have such a complicated relationship with it and I think the fact that everyone talks about how social media makes them feel bad is in and of itself an act of radical pushback. Because if we’re all talking about how shitty it makes us feel, then there’s a consensus that maybe we should do something about this thing that makes us feel horrible about ourselves all the time. I don’t think we’ve figured out how to navigate that yet, but I think we’re at a good starting point.
It is something we all collectively complain about, but then a lot of us are still really addicted to it. And I think the way it meshes with creative careers—a lot of people feel like they have to have an Instagram because it’s how you promote yourself.
I can definitely relate to that. I use Instagram a lot. And if my Instagram account got deleted I would probably go into a state of panic. I’d feel like a part of my identity had been stripped away. And that’s what’s so corrupt about it. I’m not a brand, I’m just a person. But I think Facebook and Instagram want us to believe that we are a brand, and I think that’s really harmful. But I think most of us have an awareness of that and know that that’s shitty, and that’s, to me, a good starting point. It's complicated.
Does getting to travel on tour keep you more connected in a real way?
Totally. Being on tour is a really natural state for me because I love playing every night. And being on tour allows me to play music every night. And my version of success is making music. So, it’s a very natural place for me to be—I wish I could be on tour 24/7. And then I’m on tour for 10 months and I’m like... 'Just kidding.'
You’ve spoken about the misogyny you’ve faced specifically in venues, and now you’re 22, you’ve been doing this for awhile. How has that shifted? Or is it still the same?
That’s a good question. For the most part venues are accommodating, shows run smoothly, things are great. And then sometimes you run into a great deal of sexism and I think it’s like anything else in the world, because misogyny permeates every aspect of our society. So, for the most part, it’s awesome. I love being on the road and venues are great to me. I’ve noticed people know who I am now, which is crazy to me. I still think of myself as a baby band but then I’m like, ‘Oh shit, I have been grinding at this for seven years.’ We’re not fucking Arcade Fire but people do know who we are. So, I have been running into instances of people being very respectful and understanding of my history of having done this a lot. That’s very surprising and humbling.
Well, being women we’re still fighting to be taken seriously, but we have a lot of women in the arts and in music that paved a path for us.
Yeah dude. I hang out sometimes with Allison Wolfe from Bratmobile which was a ’90s Riot Grrrl band, super influential along with Bikini Kill and that whole scene. She’s so dope. We did a West Coast tour with one of her bands Sex Stains that she was in two years ago, which is now defunct. She’s the reason I’m able to do what I do. She kicked down so many doors so I could do what I do. She said that to me, and I was like, ‘You’re so fucking right and thank you so much. And thank you for saying that too and allowing me to realize it.’ People were actively and aggressively trying to tear her down because she was trying to be a part of punk music, and this wasn’t even that long ago.
It seems to be improving now but there’s always been such a boys’ club in the music scene and basically no space for women at shows.
Yeah not at all. And not only was there no space, people actively didn’t want you there. I think for the most part people don’t really care, but there’s this thing that happens in those environments where men get macho and try to claim their territory, claim their space. And that’s such a sad, ingrained reality.
How do you feel your lyrics have shifted thematically on this record?
It’s hard for me to answer that question being on the inside of it and it seems like a natural life for me. But I do think that on earlier records when I was younger, when I was 18 and 19, I wanted everything to be a metaphor and I wanted to sound smart. But I think with Stuffed & Ready I dropped that attitude a bit and wrote about my raw feelings more without having to use random big words.
Do you have any idea what caused that shift? Was it maybe having time on the road, time away from school?
That’s a good point, nobody’s ever brought that up. I think being out of school definitely influenced my writing and my way of thinking. School is so weird and so not like real life because everything is so structured and bureaucratic. You run into bureaucracy in life, but I think for the most part school doesn’t teach free thought.
I went to a progressive school and it was awesome; I got to take women’s studies which changed my life and made me a feminist. The day I learned about solidarity—this idea that men have been helping men helping men helping men to create the economy and that if women helped women helped women helped women, we could also create an economy—that blew my mind. I’ve thought about the world differently ever since. So, I feel super grateful to have had that. School teaches you to think about time in such an arbitrary way, and there’s so much arbitrary bullshit in school.
Do you have any thoughts on the versions of you that have existed throughout all your albums? What version of you does this album tap into?
I think I have more chill. Even though the record is really heavy, I’ve developed certain ways of thinking that have given me more of an inner reserve. And I think this album is a lot about developing that within myself.
What ways of thinking?
Just certain practices have helped me become the person I am today. Mostly practices related to trusting myself and not beating myself up, and that’s made me a happier person. The album is a lot of getting the shit out, and getting a lot of things that have been weighing on me out. But then there are songs like “Stupid Fish” and “Daddi” which are more like ruminations on what I believe in. I think the album also has a lot of me figuring out what my philosophies are about things, which is important to me, because I’m a dumb human trying to find meaning in everything.
'Stuffed & Ready' is out now.
