Hosts Fidel Martínez and Suzy Exposito sit down with Lorely Rodriguez –aka Empress Of– indie pop singer, songwriter, and producer, for a conversation about identity, resilience, and her new album Dream House, made while simultaneously rebuilding an actual house in Altadena alongside her mom. Lorely traces her path from growing up Honduran-American in Altadena, absorbing her mom's music and community at home while privately obsessing over jazz as a teenager, to catching Lady Gaga at the Avalon before anyone knew who she was, to moving to New York and falling into the indie music scene that would define her early career. She also talks about the afternoon she met Blood Orange walking down the street and how they made Best to You, a song that now apparently plays at quinceañeras and first communions. She talks about the emotional weight behind Dream House. How she wrote a song for her mom about building her a home without ever telling her, and what happened the day her mom stood in the house and said she had finally built her dream house. She also opens up about what led her to start listening to hardcore music, going to her first Sound and Fury festival alone in LA and why Knocked Loose became an unlikely form of catharsis. Plus: Why she thinks LA is a hard place to date. Produced by Los Angeles Times, L.A. Times Studios, and Sonoro. 🎙 De Los Podcast drops new episodes every week on YouTube and all major podcast platforms. Subscribe so you never miss a conversation.
Hosts Fidel Martínez and Suzy Exposito sit down with Lorely Rodriguez –aka Empress Of– indie pop singer, songwriter, and producer, for a conversation about identity, resilience, and her new album Dream House, made while simultaneously rebuilding an actual house in Altadena alongside her mom.
Lorely traces her path from growing up Honduran-American in Altadena, absorbing her mom's music and community at home while privately obsessing over jazz as a teenager, to catching Lady Gaga at the Avalon before anyone knew who she was, to moving to New York and falling into the indie music scene that would define her early career. She also talks about the afternoon she met Blood Orange walking down the street and how they made Best to You, a song that now apparently plays at quinceañeras and first communions.
She talks about the emotional weight behind Dream House. How she wrote a song for her mom about building her a home without ever telling her, and what happened the day her mom stood in the house and said she had finally built her dream house. She also opens up about what led her to start listening to hardcore music, going to her first Sound and Fury festival alone in LA and why Knocked Loose became an unlikely form of catharsis.
Plus: Why she thinks LA is a hard place to date.
Produced by Los Angeles Times, L.A. Times Studios, and Sonoro.
🎙 De Los Podcast drops new episodes every week on YouTube and all major podcast platforms. Subscribe so you never miss a conversation.