Mandy from Misterwives sits down with host Lisa Worden to chat about the band's hit song "Nosebleeds", how she met Etienne, busking in her teens, touring with Bishop Briggs and more.
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(00:00):
You were listening to. She isthe voice the female alternative artist that you
need to know. Eight seven LA'snew alternative and we are so happy to
have our special guest with us tonighton She is the voice Mandy Lee from
Mister Wives. Thank you, thankyou so much for coming in. We
(00:21):
are obsessed with Nosebleeds, one ofour favorite favorite new songs to come out
this year. High eight. Wow, I'm blushing. You can't see it
on the radio, but I amblushing. Okay, well, and it's
funny. Before we get into theinterview part, you were saying you heard
it on the radio for the firsttime. Yes, can you tell that
(00:41):
has never happened in being a bandfor ten years. The only time we've
ever heard our songs on the radiois when it's like told to us,
hey, it'll be on at sixpm, ten pm, which is incredible
as is. But this was totallyorganic. And I was out for dinner
with my friends and we got intothe car after dinner and it was the
first thing that was playing when weturned the car on, and I cried
so much and just screamed. It'sfunny when you have those reactions and things
(01:04):
and you think you're saying things andI wasn't. I was just screaming the
whole time. So thank you forquite literally making our dreams come true,
oh ten years in the making.First of all, it's one of our
favorite things to do here and oneof my favorite things to do in radio
is champion and play songs that welove. And that song, I have
(01:26):
to tell you when you do hearit on the radio, and it's funny,
Caitlin work with me. We allwere talking about like, oh my
god, this song is so freakinggood and it sounds even better on the
radio. That sound good on theradio? It does. I never got
that phrase until I heard it,and I was like, it does sound
better. It does filter. It'sjust like this big, robust at pop
(01:47):
anthem thing. And you know,that's one thing too that I love about
the radio is it's spontaneous. Youdon't know what's coming on, and then
you're sharing that experience. You know, there's you know, thousands, hundreds
of thousands of other people hearing italong with you. So now I'm nervous.
That's the video and that's I love. Thank you. You are such
a champion for us, for otherfemale artists, non binary artists. It's
(02:13):
really incredible to have this platform toofor people like us in a genre that
is particularly so male dominant. Sothank you. It is and you know,
we can get into that a littlebit, so for those listening.
We do this every Friday night onA ninety eight seven from eight to nine
pm, and it's my privilege tohost the show. It's where we dedicate
an hour of space each week toplaying new music and playing trailblazers from the
(02:38):
alternative format like Kareno, Shirley Manson, and you know, I always grew
up loving female artists, so Ilike to expose new artists and then also
play the women that kind of createdthis whole scene. Incredible. You're also
a trailblazer because in radio it's notthat. So thank you for making the
space for all of us to thriveand champion each other and support each other
(03:01):
and have that space. Is reallyincredible, So thank you for saying that.
It's the truth. Thank you.We're talking to Mandy from Mister Wives
and you're going on a decade ofbeing being a band, and i'd love
for you to talk about how theband started, how you got your start,
and this is for people that mademe. Aren't familiar with you guys,
(03:21):
most people have, but thank you, yes that we have an amazing
fan base who has carried us theselast ten years and are like the reason
we have kept going. But uh, oh man, where do I start?
I always loved music and singing,like since I came out of the
womb, like kindergarten talent show,I sang respect by Aretha Franklin and you
(03:43):
Don't Own Me the next year,and like always also gravitated too strong female
voices like who are some of yourfavorites? Oh? My god, so
many? Aretha Franklin obviously, Um, I mean Fleetwood, Max tv Nicks,
There's Edda James and you know Simone. I love so in jazz.
But then I also, as Igot older, fell in love with bands
(04:03):
obviously and gu Stefani, Huge One, Paramore, No Doubt, Garbage,
the Cranberries, like all of thosewomen have made me want to do what
I do now. Yeah, thatwas awesome. Okay, So starting singing
very young, and I grew upin New York and so the trajectory kind
of for New York kids is Broadway. So I started auditioning for Broadway and
(04:27):
doing like castings and all of that, and at that time it just didn't
feel right. I'd love singing,but there was just like something that wasn't
adding up. And I remember findinga piano in a thrift store for three
hundred dollars a winter piano, andI like saved up all my money to
buy this piano. And that's whereI started writing and started playing shows and
open mics, and I would gobusking and I just wanted to play as
(04:50):
much as humanly possible, like literallywould play in the subways, like after
my double shift in the city asa fifteen year old. Yes, we
were. I just was so inagurableabout that. That's a different conversation.
I know you have daughters. She'dbe very supportive. Um. And at
(05:19):
that time, I was working arestaurant gig and I met at m I
served him at a bar um Iwas the bartender, and we started talking
about music and I sent him onmy space. This is how old we
are, this is dating us thatthat's how we shared music was my Space.
And he was in an established band, Emily Warren in the Betters.
(05:40):
Who do you know Emily Warren isthis massive, incredible songwriter artist now,
which is cool that we all kindof grew up at the same time in
the same place. Um and thetwo of us started writing music together and
recording it out of his closet,and uh, we just found all the
right people at that time, youknow, from different restaurant jobs. Oh,
(06:00):
my friend plays with this person andconnected us, and it was just
really serendipitous because I had been inso many projects before this band. So
when you find the people where it'slike natural and you feel like it is
fun and there's no egos and itjust feels like family. That's really what
I always was chasing, was thatfamilial dynamics. So then you know it's
right. Yeah, and clearly itis like we've never looked back since.
(06:20):
So yeah, mister Wise. They'regonna put out their fourth album July fourteenth,
and it's called Nosebleeds. So exciting. We're gonna play Nosebleeds right now.
Why don't you say a few sentences, a few words about this song
and what it means to thank you. Nosebleeds is a response to the punches
(06:42):
that have been these last few years, especially in the music industry, and
a response to all the people whohave not believed in me and have said
I'm not good enough. And there'sa very long list of people who have
said that to me in this world. And it was the first step in
being curious about what if I silencedthe loud voices and start to just believe
in myself and feel embodied and empoweredby my own voice and not needing validation
(07:06):
from other people. Good and Ultraviolet. You just release that song. It
sounds like a really special one.Why don't you talk about that? Thank
you? Yeah, it's a lesstraditional single, and I mean that is
it's not flashy, it's not likebig production. It's really raw and stripped
down, and I thought it wasimportant to have a spotlight on that song,
(07:27):
especially coming after you after these likehigh energy, big songs. I
wanted to show the range of thealbum that hey, it's not all one
dimensional and you're not just getting onething, and also just the lyrical concepts
and emotions, like just needed amoment for people to connect to that.
And sometimes songs like that can getlost in the shuffle because they don't get
highlighted. So I just wanted fansto hear that song and for it to
(07:49):
hopefully connect with something that I thinkis pretty ubiquitous for all of us,
of comparison of feeling like we aren'tgood enough and shining a light on the
dark. And it's been really amazingto see such beautiful feedback on that song,
more than any song we've ever released, Like, I've had friends call
me about the song and just awave of fans feeling like we thank you
(08:11):
for making us feel less alone,which, in John, makes me feel
less alone. And that's the beautyof music. Yeah, connecting us.
You're right, You're right, it'sthe connection. You are going on tour
with Bishop Briggs? Yes, ohmy god, sorry, but don't look
down tour. Yes, so don'tlook down tour with Sarah. Bishop Briggs's
my absolute favorite artist. So it'sso crazy when we like, yeah,
I know, she is unbelievable.So we were just talking about how this
(08:35):
tour is, like you're always excitedfor tour, but this one especially just
feel so serendipitous. Of she's arole model for me. It's funny when
your friends are people you like,really look up to and are inspired by.
And I love her music. Herheart is as big and powerful as
her voice, and yeah, it'sa good match the two of you.
I mean, you're both strong womenand then you're both sweet. It's like
(08:58):
it's a very good good match fora toy. We feel the same way.
We've been like geeking out and hangingout and planning it together and just
feeling like, yes, yeah,yeah, there's baby and my cats.
I'm the crazy yet lady. Yesthe same. Yeah. No, it's
gonna be great and it's gonna beat the Will Turn October tenth. Tickets
(09:20):
are on sale now, Mister Wives, Ambishop Briggs. Something I like to
ask a lot of our guests whocome in is do you have any advice
you would give to younger women,younger females who are trying to get into
the music business, trying to gettheir music heard. And you know,
you guys have been through You've beenthrough some stuff. Yeah. I mean,
(09:41):
it seems like this album represents,like you said with the song Nosebleeds,
of having that confidence in that inneryou know, I don't know,
courage, just the right words yourself. Definitely the word yeah. And you're
not worried about what other people aresaying about you, And I think that
is an important message. But whatwould you offer we actually have a lot
(10:01):
of female artists that listen to theshow. Yes, okay, so let's
see you can get a whole othershow for what you should do. I
think first and foremost right, there'sa million things I could give advice on,
but to make what you want tomake right, to be yourself unabashedly.
That's really hard in this industry thattries so hard to mold people into
(10:24):
things that you aren't. I sendat on that clip of Rick Rubin before
we started the album that was like, make music as if you are the
only audience member, Like what youwant to hear, what you want to
see, and then the rest willfollow. Like if you don't have that,
then you're trying to make something forother people and you're never going to
feel satisfied every time. Yes,that's the big I have goose bumps.
(10:48):
Ever, Really, girl, everywoman I have in here says be authentic.
Yes, make the music you wantto make, because if you're making
it for somebody else, it's nottrue to you, and I'm not gonna
be happy. You're not going tobe happy with it. And it's so
hard to feel proud of for mepersonally, proud of what you're making.
So I can't imagine if I wasmaking stuff through the lens of what's expected
of me, I would wouldn't beable to do that. And this album
(11:09):
was that pivotal moment for me wherethe music is definitely different from what our
last album was, and I hadthat moment of oh, no, people
are going to be disappointed. It'snot this technicolor rainbow that Super Bloom was,
and they've taken kind of ownership ofthis like sound and image that you've
presented, and I had to pivotand say, no, this isn't what
(11:30):
I'm feeling right now, and I'vegot to be honest with myself and show
up for myself. And I'm reallyhappy I did because it's well, people
are responding. Thank you. Icould say a million other things, but
I think that's the starting place ofwhat matters most and venturing out into music
and becoming an artist. Yeah.Perfect, Well, this is a great
note to end on. Thank youso much. Thank you for being on
the show tonight, thank you forhaving me, thank you for all your
(11:52):
sport and what the show is liketruly means the world for someone who's been
doing this for as long as Iam, and to see the stuff start
to change and have different conversations aroundbeing a woman in this industry. So
thank you. She is the voicethe female musicians that are creating tomorrow sound.
She is the voice on All ninetyeighty seven, Ellie's new alternative
You were listening to. She isthe voice the female alternative artist that you
need to know. Eight seven LA'snew alternative and we are so happy to
have our special guest with us tonighton She is the voice Mandy Lee from
Mister Wives. Thank you, thankyou so much for coming in. We
(00:21):
are obsessed with Nosebleeds, one ofour favorite favorite new songs to come out
this year. High eight. Wow, I'm blushing. You can't see it
on the radio, but I amblushing. Okay, well, and it's
funny. Before we get into theinterview part, you were saying you heard
it on the radio for the firsttime. Yes, can you tell that
(00:41):
has never happened in being a bandfor ten years. The only time we've
ever heard our songs on the radiois when it's like told to us,
hey, it'll be on at sixpm, ten pm, which is incredible
as is. But this was totallyorganic. And I was out for dinner
with my friends and we got intothe car after dinner and it was the
first thing that was playing when weturned the car on, and I cried
so much and just screamed. It'sfunny when you have those reactions and things
(01:04):
and you think you're saying things andI wasn't. I was just screaming the
whole time. So thank you forquite literally making our dreams come true,
oh ten years in the making.First of all, it's one of our
favorite things to do here and oneof my favorite things to do in radio
is champion and play songs that welove. And that song, I have
(01:26):
to tell you when you do hearit on the radio, and it's funny,
Caitlin work with me. We allwere talking about like, oh my
god, this song is so freakinggood and it sounds even better on the
radio. That sound good on theradio? It does. I never got
that phrase until I heard it,and I was like, it does sound
better. It does filter. It'sjust like this big, robust at pop
(01:47):
anthem thing. And you know,that's one thing too that I love about
the radio is it's spontaneous. Youdon't know what's coming on, and then
you're sharing that experience. You know, there's you know, thousands, hundreds
of thousands of other people hearing italong with you. So now I'm nervous.
That's the video and that's I love. Thank you. You are such
a champion for us, for otherfemale artists, non binary artists. It's
(02:13):
really incredible to have this platform toofor people like us in a genre that
is particularly so male dominant. Sothank you. It is and you know,
we can get into that a littlebit, so for those listening.
We do this every Friday night onA ninety eight seven from eight to nine
pm, and it's my privilege tohost the show. It's where we dedicate
an hour of space each week toplaying new music and playing trailblazers from the
(02:38):
alternative format like Kareno, Shirley Manson, and you know, I always grew
up loving female artists, so Ilike to expose new artists and then also
play the women that kind of createdthis whole scene. Incredible. You're also
a trailblazer because in radio it's notthat. So thank you for making the
space for all of us to thriveand champion each other and support each other
(03:01):
and have that space. Is reallyincredible, So thank you for saying that.
It's the truth. Thank you.We're talking to Mandy from Mister Wives
and you're going on a decade ofbeing being a band, and i'd love
for you to talk about how theband started, how you got your start,
and this is for people that mademe. Aren't familiar with you guys,
(03:21):
most people have, but thank you, yes that we have an amazing
fan base who has carried us theselast ten years and are like the reason
we have kept going. But uh, oh man, where do I start?
I always loved music and singing,like since I came out of the
womb, like kindergarten talent show,I sang respect by Aretha Franklin and you
(03:43):
Don't Own Me the next year,and like always also gravitated too strong female
voices like who are some of yourfavorites? Oh? My god, so
many? Aretha Franklin obviously, Um, I mean Fleetwood, Max tv Nicks,
There's Edda James and you know Simone. I love so in jazz.
But then I also, as Igot older, fell in love with bands
(04:03):
obviously and gu Stefani, Huge One, Paramore, No Doubt, Garbage,
the Cranberries, like all of thosewomen have made me want to do what
I do now. Yeah, thatwas awesome. Okay, So starting singing
very young, and I grew upin New York and so the trajectory kind
of for New York kids is Broadway. So I started auditioning for Broadway and
(04:27):
doing like castings and all of that, and at that time it just didn't
feel right. I'd love singing,but there was just like something that wasn't
adding up. And I remember findinga piano in a thrift store for three
hundred dollars a winter piano, andI like saved up all my money to
buy this piano. And that's whereI started writing and started playing shows and
open mics, and I would gobusking and I just wanted to play as
(04:50):
much as humanly possible, like literallywould play in the subways, like after
my double shift in the city asa fifteen year old. Yes, we
were. I just was so inagurableabout that. That's a different conversation.
I know you have daughters. She'dbe very supportive. Um. And at
(05:19):
that time, I was working arestaurant gig and I met at m I
served him at a bar um Iwas the bartender, and we started talking
about music and I sent him onmy space. This is how old we
are, this is dating us thatthat's how we shared music was my Space.
And he was in an established band, Emily Warren in the Betters.
(05:40):
Who do you know Emily Warren isthis massive, incredible songwriter artist now,
which is cool that we all kindof grew up at the same time in
the same place. Um and thetwo of us started writing music together and
recording it out of his closet,and uh, we just found all the
right people at that time, youknow, from different restaurant jobs. Oh,
(06:00):
my friend plays with this person andconnected us, and it was just
really serendipitous because I had been inso many projects before this band. So
when you find the people where it'slike natural and you feel like it is
fun and there's no egos and itjust feels like family. That's really what
I always was chasing, was thatfamilial dynamics. So then you know it's
right. Yeah, and clearly itis like we've never looked back since.
(06:20):
So yeah, mister Wise. They'regonna put out their fourth album July fourteenth,
and it's called Nosebleeds. So exciting. We're gonna play Nosebleeds right now.
Why don't you say a few sentences, a few words about this song
and what it means to thank you. Nosebleeds is a response to the punches
(06:42):
that have been these last few years, especially in the music industry, and
a response to all the people whohave not believed in me and have said
I'm not good enough. And there'sa very long list of people who have
said that to me in this world. And it was the first step in
being curious about what if I silencedthe loud voices and start to just believe
in myself and feel embodied and empoweredby my own voice and not needing validation
(07:06):
from other people. Good and Ultraviolet. You just release that song. It
sounds like a really special one.Why don't you talk about that? Thank
you? Yeah, it's a lesstraditional single, and I mean that is
it's not flashy, it's not likebig production. It's really raw and stripped
down, and I thought it wasimportant to have a spotlight on that song,
(07:27):
especially coming after you after these likehigh energy, big songs. I
wanted to show the range of thealbum that hey, it's not all one
dimensional and you're not just getting onething, and also just the lyrical concepts
and emotions, like just needed amoment for people to connect to that.
And sometimes songs like that can getlost in the shuffle because they don't get
highlighted. So I just wanted fansto hear that song and for it to
(07:49):
hopefully connect with something that I thinkis pretty ubiquitous for all of us,
of comparison of feeling like we aren'tgood enough and shining a light on the
dark. And it's been really amazingto see such beautiful feedback on that song,
more than any song we've ever released, Like, I've had friends call
me about the song and just awave of fans feeling like we thank you
(08:11):
for making us feel less alone,which, in John, makes me feel
less alone. And that's the beautyof music. Yeah, connecting us.
You're right, You're right, it'sthe connection. You are going on tour
with Bishop Briggs? Yes, ohmy god, sorry, but don't look
down tour. Yes, so don'tlook down tour with Sarah. Bishop Briggs's
my absolute favorite artist. So it'sso crazy when we like, yeah,
I know, she is unbelievable.So we were just talking about how this
(08:35):
tour is, like you're always excitedfor tour, but this one especially just
feel so serendipitous. Of she's arole model for me. It's funny when
your friends are people you like,really look up to and are inspired by.
And I love her music. Herheart is as big and powerful as
her voice, and yeah, it'sa good match the two of you.
I mean, you're both strong womenand then you're both sweet. It's like
(08:58):
it's a very good good match fora toy. We feel the same way.
We've been like geeking out and hangingout and planning it together and just
feeling like, yes, yeah,yeah, there's baby and my cats.
I'm the crazy yet lady. Yesthe same. Yeah. No, it's
gonna be great and it's gonna beat the Will Turn October tenth. Tickets
(09:20):
are on sale now, Mister Wives, Ambishop Briggs. Something I like to
ask a lot of our guests whocome in is do you have any advice
you would give to younger women,younger females who are trying to get into
the music business, trying to gettheir music heard. And you know,
you guys have been through You've beenthrough some stuff. Yeah. I mean,
(09:41):
it seems like this album represents,like you said with the song Nosebleeds,
of having that confidence in that inneryou know, I don't know,
courage, just the right words yourself. Definitely the word yeah. And you're
not worried about what other people aresaying about you, And I think that
is an important message. But whatwould you offer we actually have a lot
(10:01):
of female artists that listen to theshow. Yes, okay, so let's
see you can get a whole othershow for what you should do. I
think first and foremost right, there'sa million things I could give advice on,
but to make what you want tomake right, to be yourself unabashedly.
That's really hard in this industry thattries so hard to mold people into
(10:24):
things that you aren't. I sendat on that clip of Rick Rubin before
we started the album that was like, make music as if you are the
only audience member, Like what youwant to hear, what you want to
see, and then the rest willfollow. Like if you don't have that,
then you're trying to make something forother people and you're never going to
feel satisfied every time. Yes,that's the big I have goose bumps.
(10:48):
Ever, Really, girl, everywoman I have in here says be authentic.
Yes, make the music you wantto make, because if you're making
it for somebody else, it's nottrue to you, and I'm not gonna
be happy. You're not going tobe happy with it. And it's so
hard to feel proud of for mepersonally, proud of what you're making.
So I can't imagine if I wasmaking stuff through the lens of what's expected
of me, I would wouldn't beable to do that. And this album
(11:09):
was that pivotal moment for me wherethe music is definitely different from what our
last album was, and I hadthat moment of oh, no, people
are going to be disappointed. It'snot this technicolor rainbow that Super Bloom was,
and they've taken kind of ownership ofthis like sound and image that you've
presented, and I had to pivotand say, no, this isn't what
(11:30):
I'm feeling right now, and I'vegot to be honest with myself and show
up for myself. And I'm reallyhappy I did because it's well, people
are responding. Thank you. Icould say a million other things, but
I think that's the starting place ofwhat matters most and venturing out into music
and becoming an artist. Yeah.Perfect, Well, this is a great
note to end on. Thank youso much. Thank you for being on
the show tonight, thank you forhaving me, thank you for all your
(11:52):
sport and what the show is liketruly means the world for someone who's been
doing this for as long as Iam, and to see the stuff start
to change and have different conversations aroundbeing a woman in this industry. So
thank you. She is the voicethe female musicians that are creating tomorrow sound.
She is the voice on All ninetyeighty seven, Ellie's new alternative
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