Daily Discovery: Debbie Neigher, “Lavender Honey”

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ARTIST: Debbie Neigher

SONG: “Lavender Honey“

BIRTHDATE: December 20, 1986

HOMETOWN: Chester, NJ

CURRENT LOCATION: San Francisco, CA

AMBITIONS: To continue to push and challenge myself musically and stylistically, beyond my comfort zones, while doing my best to connect with and transport listeners, as so many amazing musicians have done for me. Oh and to learn how to play the drums!

TURN-OFFS: Selfies, entitlement, bigotry

TURN-ONS: Defeating patriarchy, ice cream, and horror movies

DREAM GIG: World tour with Feist or St. Vincent!

FAVORITE LYRIC:

“She’s got a rose in her teeth

And a lampshade crown

One minute she’s so happy

Then she’s crying on someone’s knee

Saying laughing and crying

You know it’s the same release”

-Joni Mitchell, “People’s Parties”

CRAZIEST PERSON I KNOW: I convinced my best friend Janell to skip work and jump out of a plane with me for my 25th birthday…so I guess that means both of us?

SONG I WISH I WROTE: “In Your Eyes” (Peter Gabriel), “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” (Arlen/Harburg), or “Help Me” (Joni Mitchell)

5 PEOPLE I’D MOST LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: Billie Holiday, Charles Bukowski, Joni Mitchell, My parents when they were teenagers, Malala Yousafzai

MY FAVORITE CONCERT EXPERIENCE: I saw Bon Iver play the Greek Theater in Berkeley a few years ago. 8,500 people were dead silent during the entire show, as the sun gradually slipped down. It was stunning! And on the complete opposite side of the spectrum – when I was 16 my parents miraculously let me go down to Asbury Park, NJ for the Skate and Surf Festival with some of my friends, where we spent 3 days running around and crowd surfing to a bunch of hardcore, emo, and punk bands. We thought we were the coolest kids on earth and I nearly died when I met Fall Out Boy! My god.

I WROTE THIS SONG: To explore and challenge the idea of femininity when loving someone – wanting to be exposed and vulnerable and strong without the frills and pressures of wearing makeup or dressing up for someone else. The ending of this song was something I played with on Garage Band on my computer for a long time, adding more and more harmonies, and I was so excited to finally have it come together with horns, synths, lap steel guitar, and the full band in the studio.