The first time Emily Twombly organized a concert, she didn’t think to rent a sound system. A couple of years later she lived in a sorta punk house called the Bone Church where acts like Kimya Dawson and local favs Night Rally played. After a move out west in 2008 she became a fixture in the L.A. music scene, working with Origami Vinyl, FYF Fest, and throwing concerts at spots like Pappy and Harriet’s. We lived together for a bit in Jamaica Plain, MA and I’ve always thought she was just like...cool. She is leather jacket cool with an infectious laugh. Today, Emily’s 1/3 of a post-FYF events crew called This is Who We Are Now and organizes Presence, a queer-focused community / maker event with her partner CJ. We spoke on March 26, 2020.Ben: Hello in Los Angeles! Emily, how are you doing with all this shit?
Emily: Hi! Personally I feel healthy but it's hard to feel safe. There's still so many people who just don't follow rules very well. The public parks, all the trails, national parks, and county-owned parks are closed because people have been hiking and clogging up the trails, not abiding by any sort of social distancing. People are acting as if it’s a snow day. Our mayor seems like a really reasonable person, but it's definitely clear that he's getting frustrated by people not following the rules. My house feels safe and I know I'm okay. I'm trying to stay positive.
Ben: Are you two [Emily and her partner CJ] totally locked down? Sheltering in place?
Emily: Now? Yeah. We’re sheltering in place. I just went to Target to pick up a prescription and that's the most I've gone out in the past week pretty much, aside from a grocery store run.
Ben: What have you been doing to sort of pass the time?
Emily: I’m still trying to figure it out. I did some gardening which was nice. I have a big backyard, I've been trying to read. CJ and I have a couple of projects that we've been working on so it's nice to do that. We're making this pamphlet to help inform people about transgender people, specifically around the service and retail industries. These individuals are public facing all the time and have to deal with a lot of shitty questions and assumptions all day at work. CJ’s a bartender and at work she has to deal with so many fucking shitty questions from people. Mostly men. This is something to hand out as if to say, “Please educate yourself. Don't put this work on me. Don't make me do this labor.”
Ben: That is awesome. You are DIY to the core, my friend. Speaking of that, I know you were doing local shows as early as high school. How’d it start?
“One kid got his eyebrows burned off. He was not happy about it.”
Emily: It was a Battle of the Bands at Bill’s Bar. I don't think it exists anymore, but it was on Lansdowne Street in Boston. I went because my friend Dan was playing and I want to say The Vigilantes played. That was middle school, and then I definitely went to a bunch of DIY shows in Belmont at the Center for the Arts, and in Mansfield at a Knights of Columbus Hall. But the Battle of the Bands felt wild ‘cause it was at a bar. It was the first time that I had gone to a bar. It was a whole new world for me. I never played music myself but I wanted to see certain bands play together and from that just thought booking was how you make it happen. My first show was a failure because I didn't think to rent a PA system. I had no idea how to do any of that.
Ben: You got all the bands, but no sound gear?
Emily: Look, I had no idea. I remember my dad had to go driving around the city looking for a PA to rent or something.
Oh Sees performing at Pappy and Harriet’s. Photo provided by Emily Twombly.
Ben: When we met, you were in college and I remember you lived in this house which, correct me if I’m wrong here, I'm gonna say that you lived in a somewhat disgusting punk house?
Emily: This is true.
Ben: Did the house have a name?
Emily: We tried to name it Bone Church but most people just called it 81 Linden.
Ben: I remember it being a sort of violent place. Not the people who lived there but for some reason it attracted certain people. It felt like a fight was always about to break out.
Emily: There were a couple incidents. A couple. These punks from Newton would come to our shows and just fuck shit up. There was one Halloween show where all these kids...they threw a stereo out the window. Somehow they got their hands on a hacksaw and removed part of the toilet. Stuff got so bad we had to call the cops on our own party.
Ben: How many people lived there?
Emily: At the peak of it, I think there were eleven. Oh this other time, my roommate Doug invited this noise band to play. They ended up being really offensive and dangerous. They brought a blow torch into that basement which you know, had a six foot ceiling, seven at most. And there was that shitty foam soundproofing everywhere. I mean, it was super fucked up. One kid got his eyebrows burned off. He was not happy about it.
“We work with some unexpected and emerging venues that are exciting to bands and crowds. We’re not Live Nation.”
Ben: I think that’s a reasonable reaction. Let’s fast forward to when you moved from Boston to LA. The ultimate sin.
Emily: That was 2008. After I had moved to Oakland and San Francisco and back, after I lived with you. I was working for American Apparel and got promoted to work in their retail office out here in L.A.
Ben: Once you got out there, you got involved with Origami Vinyl yeah?
Emily: After about two years, I met the guys opening it and because I knew both music and retail, I started working for them. It was great. It was such a cool moment in L.A., too. There were so many local bands coming up and Origami was sort of a hub.
Ben: What bands?
Emily: All sorts. Jónsi from Sigur Rós, Screaming Females, Father John Misty, Downtown Boys. And of course, unknown and quirky bands, and bands that were just not good. For some touring bands I was literally the only person there, and I worked there. Those could be super awkward, but even if people didn't show up, it still felt like a nice place to be.
Ben: I mean long term, nobody's keeping a head count anyhow. Some band that drew 2 people at Origami can still say they played there…it has weight because of the reputation you helped the shop build.
Emily: Yeah, absolutely. And we were always upfront, We’d let bands know if we could pay them or not, or would offer special things for Record Store Day. Like whatever we could do to make people know we cared. We just tried out best and asked bands to try their best. It wasn’t perfect and not how I would do it now, but it was special. You know, it was right for the time and place.
Ben: After Origami wraps up for you, you got involved with FYF?
Emily: So I met Sean, the founder of FYF, through the record store. He would ask me to do poster art and sometimes work shows or DJ them. Eventually it turned into a part time gig doing creative work. He really knew how to book a festival, there was heart to FYF in those days. I don’t even like festivals but Sean was so good at making them awesome. But yeah, marketing, social media, content team stuff. It was only four of us working including Sean so we all had to wear a lot of hats.
A flyer for an early concert Emily organized at Spontaneous Celebrations in Boston. Provided by Emily Twombly.
Ben: I have to ask about the sexual misconduct claims that were brought against Sean. Were you aware of any of that while working there?
Emily: Sean had a big personality, and could be inappropriate at times. I think that given his position of power, his actions were inappropriate. At the same time, because he was in the position that he was, a lot of people were quick to frame things a certain way. It did make me question all of our interactions because people in similar positions have treated me a certain way in the past. It made me question why I was even hired, you know? Was I hired because he had a crush on me? I don't think it’s true necessarily, and I never felt Sean necessarily crossed the line with me but it definitely made me question my worth. Why was I there, you know?
Ben: I'm sorry to hear that, Emily. After Sean sold off his portion of the fest’s name and rights to Goldenvoice [I think that’s what happened]…
Emily: So Dave Pianka from Making Time had just moved out from Philly to work for FYF, just a few months before this all went down. When everything fell apart with FYF three of us [Emily, Dave Pianka, and Dave Peterson] decided to just try to keep going with our own thing. Since then we’ve been working under the name This is Who We Are Now at a few places, including Pappy and Harriet's. We’ve maintained a good relationship with Goldenvoice, too. We do a lot of cool shows.
Ben: So what’s your role within this newer venture?
Emily: Right now we're trying to figure out how to survive throughout COVID-19. Dave P is back in Philly focusing on his stuff there. While we're currently restructuring a bit, I tend to do most of the marketing, ticketing, and manage our calendar. The thing is, we all have other things going on, like other jobs. So it’s not like any one of us does just one thing. It’s sort of a rotation.
Ben: When you're working with a venue like Pappy and Harriet's that has their own internal production staff, are you then just booking and promoting? What’s the production like?
Emily: For some events there we'd bring in our own production staff. We'll use their sound person, they’re generally great. But we have our own teams. Especially for outdoor shows, we bring in all the lighting and sound. But yes, we act as a liaison between the venue production teams, agents, TMs [tour managers] and artists.
Bread and Roses performing in the backyard of 81 Linden Street in Boston, MA. Photo provided by Emily Twombly.
Ben: Are agents coming to you because of your PR, name, and credibility or are you approaching agents about specific artists?
Emily: It's a combo. People know we’re a bit unique, and they know us from our respective past jobs. We work with some unexpected and emerging venues that are exciting to bands and crowds. We’re not Live Nation. Like this classic banquet hall Don Quixote’s. It’s 750 cap, and beautiful. We had Ben UFO at this other spot Lazaro's Latin Lounge. In the LA music industry people are bored of booking the same room over and over again.
Ben: Most memorable event This is Who We Are Now’s done? For you?
Emily: My favorite? Wow. Well we booked Chromatics and Hot Chip, both at Pappy and Harriet's for back to back nights. Those two shows were just dream shows for me, two bands I really love at my favorite place to book shows. Both sold out, the bands were super happy, and there were no issues. Everyone was happy. You could feel the energy. It just summed up why I do what I do, you know? We also got hired to book a Ministry tour as part of a Wax Trax! project that toured last April.
Ben: The one Cold Cave played?
“…agents and riders are important and have their place but it’s also important to have space to be more loose and free.”
Emily: Yeah they opened the tour, the whole thing was really fun. Wax Trax! was releasing the soundtrack to a movie Vans produced for them. This was the first time it was screening to larger audiences; it was a big release. We toured it to five different cities and did Q&As with various people from the label. You could get a ticket to the show and movie if you bought the soundtrack on Record Store Day so we teamed up with a bunch of stores around the country. I got to combine like, everything I’ve learned across my whole career and it was just a ton of fun. The respect I have now for the Wax Trax! people, and all the Vans people...everyone was so fucking nice.
Ben: So on the one hand you’re doing sold out Hot Chip shows and Wax Trax! tours, but you’ve also been holding down a relatively intimate DJ night called Record Club for what feels like forever. What’s the story there?
Emily: Yeah, we started it back at Origami actually. I've been doing Record Club for 10 years. The idea was everyone would bring a record that they bought on a new release day that they were excited about. We would play some of it and, you know, it was just a chance for record nerds to hear new music and talk and drink beer or whatever. I really enjoy doing it. We have regulars who are real weirdos. You know, the good kind. Everyone's kinda nerdy. It’s currently happening at a cool bar called Bernadette’s.
Ben: Do you ever get trolled? Someone tries to sneak in a Nazi punk 45 in or something?
This is Who We Are Now. From left to right: Dave Peterson, Dave Pianka, and Emily Twombly. Photo provided by Emily Twombly.
Emily: I did have one kid that used to come who would buy any shitty record at the thrift store across the street. A spoken word record nobody’s ever heard of or I don't know, a fucking Winnie the Pooh LP.
Ben: You're calling bullshit on Christopher Robin?
Emily: I'm calling bullshit on playing that Christopher Robin shit at a bar! For the most part people just wanna play something cool though, they don’t want to be embarrassed. It kind of curates itself. If something is really bad the bartender will make us kill it.
Ben: And you've been doing a series called Presence with CJ. What’s it like working on an event with somebody that you're in a relationship with?
Emily: The idea with Presence was to bring people in our queer community together and highlight different artists, musicians, and vendors. We wanted to create a space for people to meet and support each other. We have a bunch of vendors set up there, tables to sell things. Makers, clothing, designers, that kind of thing. We have bands play throughout the day and incorporate a charity aspect to it also. So donations at the door goes to a queer charity. It’s been well received, too. At our last one, we raised over a thousand dollars or so for RAICES. We had Kitten Forever play, who were on tour from Minnesota. They're fucking great if you haven't heard them.
CJ and I are both super busy all the time, so it's hard for us to plan it. but when we do it usually it comes together pretty easily. I think between the two of us, we have pretty different networks and that lets us incorporate a lot of different types of people, and not just the same people over and over again. It's been pretty seamless and it's very different from, from booking shows. We're not dealing with booking agents. We're not dealing with contracts or riders or anything like that. Of course those agents and riders are important and have their place but it’s also important to have space to be more loose and free.
Ben: Your work with CJ is curated from the standpoint of wanting to be political, radical, and community-centric. When you do shows with bigger acts in more traditional spaces…how are you thinking about bringing those ideas into the fold?
Promo poster for Van’s documentary on Wax Trax! Records. Pulled from a Brooklyn Vegan listing.
Emily: I'm always mindful of our lineups and the demographics of the bands. That said, sometimes there's no getting around the fact that one band of straight white men that are on tour and only want to play with this other band of straight white men. Not because they are bad people but maybe it’s just, their old friends or something. But we're not in a position to necessarily turn down package-deal shows at this point. When we do have an option of booking an opener it’s a conscious decision to seek out bands that include minorities or have queer people. Back with FYF, because we had a lot of money and clout, we could incorporate more charities or organizations like Plus1. With This is Who We Are Now, I think we’re working on getting back to that place. I would also add that I don't think that any space is necessarily “safe”. I don't really like that term. But as much as we can, we try to make sure all our staff are respectful and kind.
Ben: What's the best show you've ever seen?
Emily: Grace Jones at FYF was incredible, she is such an amazing performer. Missy Elliot, too. We booked Neutral Milk Hotel at Pappy’s and it was just a mix of the perfect band at the perfect venue. People were crying, it was just really lovely. Also you know, a lot of the shows I saw when I was younger had that “we're never going to die” feeling. It felt like a real community and sometimes that I miss that.
Ben: Any shows from back then that stand out?
Emily: Kimya Dawson played our house at 81 Linden. She covered June on the West Coast by Bright Eyes. I remember everyone singing along; it was a pretty quiet show but everyone was in awe. I feel like that was a dream.
Ben: I have a final question for you. Do you remember the night when we were living together and ate mushrooms and made incredibly, incredibly bad nachos? Do you remember this night?
Emily: Yeah! I do remember that!
Ben: I only remember those two facts. Can you help me fill in the gaps here?
Emily: Yeah, hah. I remember we did a photo shoot of. We had bags of trash in our kitchen because the lady that lived on the second floor would get pissed at us for leaving trash on the back porch. So we kept our trash inside and I remember doing a photo shoot of us, hiding behind the trash bags like Gollum. Like two little Gollums. I still have those on some digital camera somewhere.
Ben: Find that camera and destroy it.
Emily: I also have really good memories of us getting super high, ordering from Food Wall, and watching lots and lots of X-Files and just eating on the floor. Did we have a couch?
Ben: We had a futon. Also, I had Food Wall within the last year. It holds up.
Emily: I'm glad that place is still there.