Tag: bubble bottles
Pinkerton Raid Loves Birch Beer and a Bonus Episode

Pinkerton Raid Loves Birch Beer and a Bonus Episode

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When I think about [Squamscot Birch Beer] I’m so full of nostalgia from my childhood growing up in New Hampshire.

Music conjures up memories from the past, but it’s certainly not the only thing that bubbles up such recollections. On the latest episode of Bubble Bottles, Jesse James DeConto from the band Pinkerton Raid shares the sense of nostalgia connected to birch beer from Squamscot. This non-alcoholic specialty soda is a mix between cream soda and root beer. DeConto recounts feeling a sense of freedom and independence while heading off to the corner store with his own money to buy baseball cards and a Squamscot.

It came in glass bottles, which made it feel antique.

When DeConto and host, Sloane Spencer, finish talking about specialty sodas, they dip over to partner podcast, One Hit History to talk about his favorite one hit wonder, “Somebody That I Used To Know,” a 2011 hit for Gotye that features Kimbra on guest vocals. Two podcasts for the price of one!

I was fascinated by the production of it…The way Gotye and his team interwove acoustic instruments with samples and synthesizers was fascinating.

Thank you for your 5 Star ratings and hilarious reviews of our podcasts in your favorite podcast app. They make a huge difference in spreading the word.  You can leave reviews for both Bubble Bottles and One Hit History with this double feature episode. We appreciate you.

Links

Playlists

Thanks to Charles Hale for this episode’s show notes. You can follow his radio show Ajax Diner Book Club and look forward to his upcoming episode of One Hit History.

AI Transcript

Sloane Spencer  0:07  Well hey y’all, let’s learn Spencer and you found us here at our new podcast called bubble bottles where we talk with music people about their favorite carbonated beverages. Thanks so much to everyone who has joined us in our launch. It’s only been a couple of weeks and y’all are digging what we’re doing. We also have a partner podcast called one hit history where we talk with music people about their favorite one hit wonders. We’re gonna give you a double shot episode today starting with our bubble bottles conversation with Jesse James DeConto of Pinkerton raid. And at the end, we’ll add on our conversation about his favorite one hit wonder stick around. One of my favorite things to talk about backstage with musicians and music people is about their favorite beverages. Often when folks travel, they’re looking for something new and different in those regional brands. And regional beverages can be quite special or memorable, not always in a good way. So we’re talking today with Jesse James DeConto of Pinkerton raid and when I first saw at my favorite music festival albino skunk Music Festival in Greer, South Carolina, they can be found at Pinkerton red.com. They’ve got a new single called magical flying rowan tree with an amazing animated video as well. Jesse James DeConto. Welcome.

Jesse James DeConto  1:22  Excellent. Yes. Really good to talk with you.

Sloane Spencer  1:25  My pleasure. So we were talking a little bit about favorite beverages. So I’ll just hit you with the big question. What’s your favorite carbonated beverage?

Jesse James DeConto  1:34  There’s a small soda company, I’m going to use the word soda, which is going to tell you already that I’m from the northeast,

Sloane Spencer  1:41  you’re not from Atlanta.

Jesse James DeConto  1:43  There’s a small soda company called Swampscott in New Hampshire, and I love their birch beer, which is you know, kind of a take on root beer and cream soda somewhere in between. I love I should say I loved it really in the past tense because it’s been a long time since I actually had it but it’s just so when I think about it so full of nostalgia from my childhood growing up in New Hampshire. Now I’m down in Durham, North Carolina. But that was the first thing it’s funny. You know, I like I don’t even really think about beer being carbonated. When you ask What’s your favorite carbonated beverage? It’s like, okay, it’s got to be some kind of soda. And you know, immediately swamp Scott, you know, I knew it was local, which just even back then to me made it cooler than Coke or Pepsi or whatever was coming in plastic bottles, it came in these glass bottles, which, you know, felt like antiques. To me, it has a lot to do with where I would find it because it represented some level of growing independence for me, like a preteen, maybe 1011 1213, when like, I remember this little convenience store called Lundy’s kind of general store that had been in my little town in Brentwood and Hampshire for decades, you know, I could walk to it from where I would play Little League, they and they had Swampscott. And they you know, I could also like buy baseball cards there or buy something sweet. It just represented this time when I like maybe I had a little bit of birthday money. Or maybe my parents gave me a little money. Maybe I babysat or something like that. It was something I could buy for myself in some settings. And I wasn’t dependent on anyone. And I was just like, with my friends and just walking around. And I think that combined with the uniqueness of coming in a glass bottle and being made in New Hampshire, all of that sort of made it seem really cool to me.

Sloane Spencer  3:38  What a great story behind the beverage and what it means to you just sort of the memories associated with that.

Jesse James DeConto  3:46  Yeah, I guess I just had to pick a flavor for you. Because you asked, you know, they probably made like 50 different flavors. And you know, I’d try them all. I just loved that flavor, root beer. And, you know, that was their kind of special take on it. And, and that was another thing about a birch beer it was so there. It was so specific. I always loved birch trees the way they look. And so I just associated with that. And so that’s the one I I sort of lean toward.

Sloane Spencer  4:13  The localization of it, of course, is always important to a story. My personal like flavor preference has always been weird ginger ale and weird root beers, regional, local, whatever. And so I mean, I’ve been obsessed with this since I was like in early high school. So I’ve been researching this forever. And birch beer is an interesting one because it’s primarily like Pennsylvania, north to New Hampshire. It follows that northern Appalachian region, you know, all the way up essentially in it’s truly made from distilling from Birch trees. And because birch trees have different species, and I’m not a science person, different versions of trees like darker and lighter birches, you get different brews from the distilling of it and gives very different flavor profiles and so the is still very much a hyperlocal decision where there are different places that have dark birch beer or lighter birch beer. And this is still a thing that’s made. So cool.

Jesse James DeConto  5:09  Yeah, very interesting. There are different local companies that make this. And they’re

Sloane Spencer  5:15  very different from one another because the trees themselves are different based on where you are so awesome, they can still make it this way. So because there are not enormous amounts of birch trees available for distilling for birch beer, it’s still very localized. It’s not something that’s been commodified on a national level. And that alone is interesting to me. But one of the things I learned researching this program that was shocking to me is that root beer is no longer made from SAS, Birla and or SassaFrass, because they learned that both of those are toxic. This has happened in my lifetime. So we used to make root beer from real sassafras or from sarsaparilla. We will make tea from that until they know it causes liver toxicity. And that’s so all root beer that you get now is a safe chemical invention flavor, which is stunning to me.

Jesse James DeConto  6:07  It doesn’t surprise me that the big companies but you know, putting it in two liter bottles at the grocery store are doing that, but I pretty sure Swampscott made a sarsaparilla Yeah, you know, flavor, which just sounded way cooler to me that.

Sloane Spencer  6:24  Oh, I totally bought it because of the name. You know? Right. That’s how I got into all of this. Right. And swamp Scott’s a great example of that the the spelling for someone. I’m from Georgia originally, you know, I look at the word and I’m like, How do you even say that words like SQUAM?

Jesse James DeConto  6:40  Cot right?

Sloane Spencer  6:41  Yeah, yeah. I looked up a recipe of how to make birch beer. Not that I’m ever going to do that. But I was just curious what else went into it? If anything, because I really am not super familiar with birch beer. I’ve heard of it. But I don’t believe I’ve ever had it and goes back, like all the way back to the 1600s. There are documented recipes of it in the Northeast of the United States. I guess we weren’t the United States yet at that point. But documented recipes. Of course, it was fermented at the time and they produced an alcoholic version of it. And frankly, I’m surprised that it hasn’t taken off again.

Jesse James DeConto  7:10  Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. People are making alcoholic root beers.

Sloane Spencer  7:15  They are and I’m really disappointed about it. Because now I have to really read labels carefully know what I’m getting. Yeah.

Jesse James DeConto  7:21  That’s right. I love a local This

Sloane Spencer  7:23  is for you and just the time of life. And you know that instant memory things sort of like scent can bring you back to a very specific time and place in your life. Certain products can as well.

Jesse James DeConto  7:34  Yeah, that’s right. That’s right. There was just so much joy, I think in going to these little corner stores, especially where I could buy baseball cards. Right. A lot of times you know that the swamps got what I get with the baseball cards.

Sloane Spencer  7:48  Absolutely. Well, Jesse James to Konto of Pinkerton raid. We’re looking forward to your new single magical flying row intrigued by that more about the band at Pinkerton raid.com. Thanks so much for joining us on bubble bottles and talking about this swamp Scott birch beer, y’all. If you’re living up in New Hampshire area, you should definitely check that out. Thanks so much for listening and leaving those hilarious reviews and five star ratings in your favorite podcast app. Believe it or not, it makes a huge difference. If you love what you hear, share the episode with a friend. And Y’all come back now you hear one hit history is a comedy podcast. We’ve done slightly less research than your average Wikipedia contributor are loose with the facts and your mileage may vary. Hey y’all, it’s Sloane Spencer, you found us at our new podcast one hit histories where we’re talking with music people about their favorite one hit wonders. And we have been all over the place in what favorite means, but also in what one hit wonder means a lot of these folks have very interesting careers in other areas or other parts of music sometimes it’s like wow, how did you have such a big hit and then I’ve never heard from you again. Today we got someone fun that I first saw at my absolute favorite music festival on the planet albinos current music festival in Greer, South Carolina. It happens twice a year and I absolutely adore it. Part of a group called the Pinkerton raid. It’s Jesse James decanter. You can find them at Pinkerton radio.com, I got a new single on the way what happened? Tell you a little bit about it. Hello.

Jesse James DeConto  9:17  Hey, slow thanks for having me. The magical flying round tree is our single but I’ve been just playing around with fantasy or very non literal storytelling and song, you know settings in a different universe. It’s a very personal song. A lot of my recent songs are very much grounded in family experiences. But a lot of times I just use that as a jumping off place and then go somewhere very distant. It’s kind of a superhero story, but it’s set in the age of when people believed in magic and witchcraft wasn’t witchcraft. It was like medicine, just being human and being alive and so are there’s a legend myth about this tree, the Rowan tree, it only grows in very cold climates. So like here in the south to find a comparable plant, and we call it down here a mountain ash, to find it, you know, you have to go up to the very highest peaks in Appalachia of any grows all over Canada. But a lot of these myths come from Scandinavia, the British Isles. And the idea with this row and tree is that it creates a window into the magic world fairy world, it’s supposed to be protective. So people would plant them outside their cottages that sort of ward off evil spirits. And then there’s an extra powerful type of row and tree that when it grows on the side of a cliff, or it grows literally in the crook of a branch of another tree, then it’s even that more powerful. So the song imagines a child as the embodiment of this magical power of the row and tree. The video is an animation of that idea of a child protecting his family with his magical joy. The animator is a woman named Lainey Chandra oh two she’s Greek. We she and I sort of bonded over the animation in the Book of Kells feature length movie. And when I was telling her about the kind of nature spirituality behind the song, she said, Oh, you know, I’ve always wanted to do animation in that style. And so that was sort of a jumping off point.

Sloane Spencer  11:29  Wow, that’s very exciting art. So you’ll definitely can find out more about the band at Pinkerton radio.com. So you’ll be definitely in the know about magical flying row entry, you don’t want to miss out on all of that, for sure. So this podcast talks with music, people about their favorite one hit wonders. And most of the time, the styles of music are very different than the style of music the person works in. That’s not always true. But that’s most of the time true. So we’ve talked a little bit offline about this particular song hit us with it, what’s your favorite one hit wonder,

Jesse James DeConto  12:02  Somebody That I Used to Know by go ta It really blew me away when it first came out. You know, I was in the middle of making my first record around that, too. So I was just fascinated by the production of it, because it just felt like this very groovy pop song. But the instrumentation is just so interesting and unexpected. I feel like it’s sort of set the stage for the move toward electronic music that followed. That’s almost become cliche at this point, the way that that goes Jay and his team interwove acoustic instruments with samples and synthesizers. It sounds very, very organic to my ear. But yeah, a lot of it’s not and and that’s I think what I love about it,

Sloane Spencer  12:49  the song was released 2011 2012. So the the release, and then when people actually get their hands on it, the album was called making mirrors. And so the thing that I’m particularly interested in because I’ve worked in radio for so many years is often folks release, like a radio version and an album version of songs that’s been common for decades. But in this particular case, it’s not just the length that is different. The production of the radio version that people know, and the album version that people know are significantly different. It’s still completely recognizable. But those layers are like a whole different song.

Jesse James DeConto  13:23  Oh, wow. You’re you’re educating me here. I didn’t even know that.

Sloane Spencer  13:26  It’s really interesting in there, maybe 30 seconds different in length. And then there’s also the vocal play with Kimbra as well.

Jesse James DeConto  13:35  I didn’t talk about that. But I love the vocal production on that song. That’s more than anything. What gives it this really big pop sound? You know, it’s gorgeous.

Sloane Spencer  13:44  The very first time I heard this song, I was fascinated with how they produced it. He mostly did all the work himself. The interesting guy to talk about briefly, he was born in Belgium to a Belgian family who then moved to Australia when he was two. And he’s known by a variety of names. So his given name was a Belgian version of Walter so Walter de Bakker. And then when they moved to Australia, his parents anglicised it to actual Walter and then he was called Wally as a kid, but the Go da or go Shea, depending on who you talk to. He’s used both publicly as well is where the French origin of the Belgian version of his name comes from, like, super confusing.

Jesse James DeConto  14:33  Wow. So it’s related to Walter in some way, similar to

Sloane Spencer  14:36  Mary go Shea’s last name except that it’s ga u L. th, er, and hers does not have the L. So it’s part of that same origin, but through the various different languages, the pronunciation changes, and I love the fact that he has both official pronunciations out there. Right. These are the kinds of things that radio people obsess about, because we try to get it right and then Like, okay, there’s not a right there’s both

Jesse James DeConto  15:02  and then you will have someone call you out or go down that rabbit

Sloane Spencer  15:05  trail every time. So how did you first stumble upon the song?

Jesse James DeConto  15:09  I must have just heard it. Come on commercial radio. I can’t really remember. But it seems like it was everywhere back then. I mean, that xylophone melody, just the very beginning really grabbed me. Yeah.

Sloane Spencer  15:22  So go da slash go Shay, Somebody That I Used to Know, you have to have the vocal version with Kimbra in there, because that contrast is just essential to it. But the song was a huge international hit like 11 international awards, three Grammys here in the US just a massive, massive song worldwide, which is not always the case with wildly popular tunes, especially one hit wonders. They often have a geographic region where they’re wildly popular, but rarely internationally like this.

Jesse James DeConto  15:50  I was just looking it up because I was curious, and it’s almost hit a billion streams on Spotify. Unbelievable.

Sloane Spencer  15:55  Lyrically, it’s an interesting song to me as well, mainly because it reminds me of a 1980s one hit wonder song, lyrically and Okay, so if you are a Gen fellow Gen X, or you’re going to know exactly what I mean, everyone else is going to be rolling their eyes so hard, they hit the back of their head. Lyrically. It’s sending the same message as Don’t you want me baby? Yeah, it’s a presentation is so much more glamorous.

Jesse James DeConto  16:21  Yeah, right. Right. Yeah, it’s like much more indirect, which is a function of the 30 years younger,

Sloane Spencer  16:29  human interactions. And how folks then deal with seeing one another when they are no longer in a relationship is the essence of the song. And pretty straightforward when you read the lyrics. But when you’re listening, you can get wrapped up in the sound and not even catch that. That’s what’s going on so much.

Jesse James DeConto  16:46  Yeah, yeah, that’s right. I came to this song, just fascinated by the music. And, you know, Somebody That I Used to Know, just as a conceit is just so understated. You could sort of fill a lot of gaps if you want to in your mind. You write the lyrics, you know, if you read them all, but then it becomes pretty clear, but it’s dense enough lyrically, that and because the music so interesting, you don’t necessarily pick that up on Listen,

Sloane Spencer  17:14  you really don’t I probably heard it 20 or 30 times before I really paid attention to what he was saying other than the hook. And it was like, oh, wait a minute here. And really, when I first paid attention to it was when cameras vocal comes in. I was like, Oh, I didn’t even realize that’s what this song was about. Wait a minute here. We ought to mention Kimber quickly. Kimberly Johnson is mostly kind of an avant garde jazz vocalist based down in New Zealand, well known in the Australian music scene. Not so much here in the states however, but has a vibrant career there. You can find it cameras music camera music.com easily there. Go da or go Shay is available@gotye.com geo tye.com Don’t you? It’s a weird one. It’s all good. I got a weird name. We live with these things. So Jesse James to conto of Pinkerton raid. Thank you so much for sharing with us about this one hit wonder that you enjoy. Oh, thanks. Stick around. Yeah, you can find out more about other folks we’ve talked with in there fantastic one hit wonder songs at one hit history.com You can support us at patreon.com/one Hit history. Thanks so much for listening. Take it easy. Thanks to Jacob for our theme music you can find his catalogue at Jacob for.bandcamp.com That’s jcobfurr.bandcamp.com Thanks so much for our graphic design and logo from Keith Brandon. You can find his work at thinking out loud design.com

 
LadyCouch Loves It Cold and Fruity

LadyCouch Loves It Cold and Fruity

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If it’s cold and fruity. We’re happy with it. — Allen Thompson and Keshia Bailey of the 12-person jam band, LadyCouch

How does a band of 12 people travel around and perform shows? With lots of snacks and bubbly water, at least if the band is LadyCouch. Keshia Bailey and Allen Thompson, two of the band members, discuss their favorite carbonated beverages — of which they have a lot. 

That’s what makes us work with the crew of humans we have as well as we do. We have 12 stars in the band but they are in the same band and no one is the star of the band — we’re a constellation… a galaxy, if you will.

What are the dream bubbly water flavors of these two, plus host Sloane Spencer? Find out more by giving this episode a listen, and prepare to be extra thirsty thanks to these musicians’ passionate opinions on drinks and life in Nashville. 

80 percent of our group text thread is about a new flavor of bubblies:  LaCroix or Wild Basin or Pickers.  There’s no real good grape ones of any kind. Everybody f**** up a grape flavor, and the watermelon flavor too!

List of links

Beverage Mentions

Don’t forget to give Bubble Bottles a five star rating!  

AI Transcript

SLOANE SPENCER  Well, hey, y’all, this is Sloane Spencer. And you have found us at bubble bottles at the brainy podcast where we ask music people, what’s your favorite carbonated beverage one of my favorite backstage conversations to have with folks. And these answers have been all over the place. I have a couple of folks with a band I have seen twice spread out pre pandemic. And then just recently as well, we haven’t checked out lady couch yet you need to catch their brand new record. And they’re on the road quite a bit as well. But have them introduce themselves. So you get a little bit of background. Hello.

KESHIA BAILEY Hello, I’m Keshia Bailey here.

ALLEN THOMPSON And I’m Allen.

SS tell us real briefly what’s been going on with LadyCouch.

KB Oh Lord,

AT we just put out our first full length record on September 10. With Blackbird record label out of Los Angeles, it’s called the future looks fine. And we’ve really just kind of been spending the last few months working on that and doing all the necessary things you’re apparently supposed to be doing when you put out a record album.

SS Well, if y’all have not had a chance to see Lady couch, live, there are a number of folks on stage. And the core of the band is Alan and Keshia and their voices together are absolutely mesmerizing and memorable. And each amplifies the others like it, it will be a touch your heart kind of show. And that’s not something I say very often like I really mean that truly, like I saw y’all recently, as we were saying, and it was like, Wow, this was really just an emotionally powerful moving experience. And so I think a lot of us are seeking that these days.

KB Oh my god. Well, thanks. I don’t even know what to say for that. I mean, genuinely, it’s a powerful and moving experience for me every time but I think I really got to feel it through Americana fest here in town for my first one this year, and it was nutty. So to hear anyone else feel the way that I feel is I’m pretty nutty but yes, it’s strange. We cry a lot and we cry a lot sometimes in happiness and sometimes in what the hell do I do?

AT Well, so sometimes, you know, we’re not exactly doing tear in our beer kind of songs these days. However, beverages are an important part of daily life.

SS So hit me what is your favorite carbonated beverage?

KB Well, we’ve got a couple you know, I love a good look for it right? But I also love a good vodka soda. So I have kind of by the grace of God, I’ve been blessed and funding tickers, banca who also has a brand called pickers unplugged, they became cocktails and took basically a canned vodka soda. So if you were thinking of a truly or a canned vodka soda, but its essence was fresh fruit from like, grandma’s the grapefruit, tangerine. They were my kayaking drink of purpose and preference all summer and last summer as well.

AT I definitely prefer them to some of the other the other ones of those on the market. I wish that they would make a cucumber lime, because that’s definitely my favorite Of course. I would like to kind of have that box of tea. Plum I’m more of a peach pretty damn

KB hot biscuits. This is the Yeah, I can’t I can’t get enough of that. There’s something about it tall and skinny carbonated beverage. I don’t really care what it is delicious.

AT Yeah. There Yeah, we’re we’re not super discriminatory on the on the entire wave of alcoholic and non alcoholic carbonated beverages. If it’s cold and fruity. We’re happy with it. Some are a little bit differently essence than others. A little too much to take.

KB Our number one right now would be pickers unplugged.

AT I would say the pickers cranberry lime and then the cucumber. BlackBerry Lacroix. Those are probably

KB the shit. Yeah. What’s your favorite?

SS I gotta quit live right here. Alright, so I don’t like any of this. Oh, no, you don’t like me. So I’m like a tangerine Lacroix.

KB Sloane, please send me your address. And let me send you some let me send you a little goodie packet.

AT So this is absolutely hilarious because one of my favorite parts about it is, you know, anytime you’re packing the van for a tour with a band, it’s like everybody has to have their own flavor. Not so much because they need their own flavor, but you need to know who’s Candice who’s so like, okay, no, you’re pumping by the store and you’re gonna live with that.

KB Well, I’m gonna go ahead and tell you what this lady couch crew, no one can belong to anyone. No snack that belongs to one or the other. I make it a point. Every time that we leave, I bring a little mini cooler of lots of bubble water. I think the last round of trips we went on or shared zoom in on. I brought some lemon cello Lacroix. Yeah. And I think that it made it halfway to Roanoke, Virginia, from Nashville before it was gone.

AT I was about to say like, what 12 of us the only way that anyone gets their own flavor is if one of us gets some Costco card access. Yeah. And we’re able to get the five variety case otherwise, like, Alright, guys, everybody’s getting a pop on this.

KB And maybe my sleeves, the guitar at home. So we have room for someone else to bring a cooler with different writers at this point. We’re running out of room.

SS Yeah, if y’all missed that 12 people in the band, like I said, it’s an experience.

AT Yeah, it’s an experience for sure.

SS There are not a lot of newer bands that are out there with this many people and who bring that kind of show on the road. And it’s really exciting to get to see y’all when Lady couch hits the stage.

AT You know, it’s really it’s really exciting to do it. Obviously, when we started three years ago, like we didn’t really see 2020 Come in. Yeah, the way it did. And so, but even then, like in 2018, we first started whenever someone would come and see us and be like, Oh my god, this is so great. How do you guys do it? And we’re like, Well, we, you know, we just kind of show up and perform, you know, what do you mean? And but now after 2020 hours, Keshia and I were talking about this the other day, and it’s like sometimes I feel like the two of us are at an appointment for like adopted child like returned to explain why we think this is a financially feasible.

KB Yeah, our spouses definitely feel the same way too. Like, are you guys doing? What is it that you’re doing? But then they are also totally supportive and see it and understand. But I can see how the naked eye would be like, What the hell the dogs in society we’re gonna do and how is this working?

SS That’s a really great statement, because the two of you come from very similar, but also very different, both musical personal and professional backgrounds.

AT Yeah, yeah, we, we both grew up in Appalachia, I grew up in Roanoke, Virginia, and Keshia  grew up in Kingston, Tennessee. So we do have a lot of that common Blue Ridge mountain upbringing. But we were raised in very different environments as well, different bestessay Not not as different ideas, I think we would have thought years ago for sure. But that’s sort of what brick, you know, what makes us work as well together as we do. And what makes us work with a crew of humans that we have, as well as we do is, there’s a lot of common threads in what we do. And there’s a lot of differences in what we do. But ultimately, family is one of the most important things to all of us. And so having that ability to compromise and have some diplomacy, and figure out what is for the good of the family as a whole as opposed to just a couple of individual. We have 12 stars in the band. Yeah. But they’re all in the same band to nobody is the star of that band, which is a cool place to be

KB constellation, if you will. Yeah,

AT yeah, Galaxy. Yeah, I mean, the closest thing I can even maybe even compare it to is Wu Tang Clan, we all kind of had a little bit of difficulty trying to do it by ourselves. And what started out I think is more of a support group became just a group, you know, we’re able to do a lot more and get our point across a lot better as this unit than we any of us had been as individual.

KB I will also say that a fizzy water dish does not taste nearly as good as it does with these boys and girls. And there’s something about knowing that like we created our own family, you know, it’s not traditional, and then we’ll never be but how we’re not traditional what is a tradition until you make one like exactly so? Yeah, from soda water to snack, to sing in tune to switch an instrument to fill in our thoughts like we are One big gathering of weird Hamon. And this is how we found each other. We all really did kind of find each other over fizzy water

AT 80% of our group tech threads or whenever a new flavor from somebody, whether it be whether it be bubblies or Lacroix, or wild basins or pickers or white claws or what if a new one comes out, one of us has to make sure that the other 11 of us know about it. It’s nothing like bonding a modern day version of the big houses in the family and seasonal flavors of bubble water.  

KB We get so excited if I have not seen it. I don’t even care if I need them. Even if I know I have like my water was there my not to mention brands. I will say though I’m more of a Chico kind of lady with Chico Santa lady. I love the the original really?

SS Not the flavors. Not really

AT the flavors, man. I don’t Yeah, no, just give me a straight up bubbly water. But you’re I remember being a kid and me. I’m like, Why did people drink a shit? Here I am a 33 year old woman and I’m like, I can’t get enough of every flavor. I want to try everything of anything. Now I just like plain Topo Chico and I never thought I’d be that woman that like plain soda water.

AT When I was younger. My mom had a big New York Seltzer and clearly Canadian affinity bordering on problems. And I think I got burnout on the sugars Cobell Perrier or, or Topo Chico, Harry, to me, but then in recent recent months and years, I’ve definitely I keep going back to that cucumber, lime, that BlackBerry cucumber.

KB So good. Well, if anyone’s listening at Topo Chico, I think they’re missing a great branding experience.

AT We could definitely, we could definitely use one of those coolers at the at the purple building.

SS Yeah, yeah, by the way. So for folks who don’t know, tell them about the purple building.

AT So purple building, or big purple is a rehearsal space slash studio in five points neighborhood in East Nashville. It’s owned by Todd Snider. And that’s kind of been his practice area office space studio for a good long while, He’s been kind enough to sort of let us and a few other folks judge at her widespread panic and Hayes Carll and two other neighborhood people really Wynwood as well. It’s become all of our clubhouse. That’s where we recorded our record future looks fine. And that’s where Todd did his record, the first agnostic church Oh, from wonder. And so that’s sort of, it’s all of our little spot. Definitely, we’re super thankful to have had that spot in our lives. Over the course of this last few years. That’s where we started. And that’s where we just left there today working on stuff. And it’s nice to have that office in the neighborhood. And it’s nice to have a team and like Todd in our lives, who lets us use it regardless of whether or not we can financially assist them with a play. If you wouldn’t told me at any point in time that I could just go into the space and play judges, piano knowing that they have been so many other beautiful pianists and keys and humans to play in him to play this instrument. And we just sit there and try to pluck out the little things that I can pluck out. more helpful than using the Casio in my, in my guest bedroom.

KB Or the Casio in my living room, which is also in bad shape. Yeah, a real dream come true in that building is very, very important to us and probably will always be like I don’t I can’t imagine no matter what that space or that corner of a blog could ever turn into. It will always be a thing to us. And that’s

AT it was as much as this city in this neighborhood are are changing and growing exponentially. You know, every day and every year. It is nice to have that little piece of old weird East Nashville that you know, not going anywhere. That’s our little home.

SS Definitely, definitely. Yeah, boy, if you all haven’t traveled to Nashville, and specifically East Nashville over the last 10 years. I mean, every six months ago, it’s like portions are unrecognizable. It’s stunning. Oh, yeah.

AT Yeah. I get lost on a regular basis, just driving around to the places that I’ve been familiar with, you know, for the last 15 years.

KB You know, now we’re looking at my 11th year in town, and I’ll grab like three hours out of the way, but my three hours out of the ways The country country like, you know, traveling 20 to 30 minutes to get to a grocery store or Walmart, you know. So to go come here and for it to It felt as big as it did 10 years ago and see what this must feel like, or be like for a kid that left town like I did, I would be overwhelmed and I’d be you know, it would take me off guard. It would make me feel weird. You know, we don’t build towns for how people are going to feel in generations anymore. And then, you know, the people make this we will make the pound not the town. We’re trying to keep in that in that spirit. But it’s a lot different. I did fizzy water then. Now we’re here talking about fizzy water.

 
Texas Tamarindo: BettySoo Loves Tehuacan

Texas Tamarindo: BettySoo Loves Tehuacan

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For those of us who are obsessed with bubble water, the same water in a different delivery is different. It totally changes the character of the bubbles, like how long it stays fizzy, like all of that stuff changes.  —BettySoo, Texas songwriter who loves Tehuacan Tamarindo mineral water

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Traveling as a musician means going places and experiencing a lot of things at once. Texas-based BettySoo and Sloane Spencer discuss what it means to travel on the road, tamarind candy and its uniqueness, plus BettySoo’s favorite carbonated beverage, Tehuacan Tamarindo, which derives from her love of tamarind candy.

There’s kind of a unique cultural phenomenon to the Austin residency, and I think part of it, honestly, is that we have so many venues.

Beyond a shared love for carbonated water, they talk about the Austin music scene and what makes it special to be a musician there, how hard it is to get even nonalcoholic drinks shipped across state lines, and beloved Jewish deli sodas.

I love the connection like that, something that seems so simple as a flavored bubble water, is part of that whole experience.

List of links

Beverage mentions

Don’t forget to give Bubble Bottles a five star rating! 

DISCLAIMER:  These comedy episodes are for fun and are based solely on personal opinions of the host and/or guest, and do not claim to be fully factual or anything other than a belching good time.

AI Transcript, Good for a Few Laughs

Sloane Spencer: [00:00:08] Hey, y’all, this is Sloane Spencer, and you found us here at Bubble Bottles, one of our two new podcasts. This is where we chat with music folks about their favorite carbonated beverages. I’ve got a special guest with me today, somebody who I have been following — literally following — at shows around the country for several years now and have actually gotten to catch several times. And I guess the plus and the minus of the pandemic is that BettySoo has done a pretty cool online event that bubbled up during all of this experience as well. But it is a Texas songwriter involved in a lot of different projects, not only her solo career but also her trio Nobody’s Girl who has a new album coming, by the way. I’m sure we’ll talk about some of that and happens to be a designer of planners, so I am obsessed with planners and full disclosure: I purchased the planner and I use it regularly, so I know that’s not really what we were planning to talk about, but I felt like I should put that out there. So BettySoo, welcome to Bubble Bottles. [00:01:07][59.1]

BettySoo: [00:01:08] Thank you so much. It’s great to be here. [00:01:10][1.8]

Sloane Spencer: [00:01:11] Oh my pleasure. So give us a rundown on what you’ve been doing musically. [00:01:15][3.9]

BettySoo: [00:01:15] Well, you know, Nobody’s Girl. We released our record a year after we thought we were going to release it because we had planned to go on a big tour in 2020, like so many other people. And of course, that didn’t happen. In fact, our 2021 plans got kind of kiboshed by the Delta Surge and everything. But but we still got to do our CD release and, you know, got to celebrate it in some cool ways. So that’s kind of been the focus for the last few years. I’ve got some cool projects coming up for 2022 and beyond. I’m talking about making a solo record with Will Sexton maybe doing a duets record with Michael Fracasso and touring again. So lots of cool stuff to come. [00:01:57][41.5]

Sloane Spencer: [00:01:57] That is super exciting. So I’ve had the pleasure of seeing you as the side player for a number of folks and as solo as well as with the trio. So really, you’re an incredibly versatile, not just songwriter, but player and performer as well. [00:02:13][15.1]

BettySoo: [00:02:13] Well, thanks so much. You know, honestly, my very favorite part about making music is collaborating. Singing harmony is really my favorite musical task, so. So it’s been fun to kind of scratch that. It’s a lot over the years, and I feel really, really lucky to have been able to do it. It did make the past year and a half for almost two years now extra hard because harmony was like one of the few things we really couldn’t do. But I guess it’s like absence makes the heart grow fonder. I’m looking forward to doing it even more. And you know, at least I got to do a lot of harmonies on albums because you can always record separately from me. [00:02:49][36.0]

Sloane Spencer: [00:02:50] So you also have been doing a pretty cool online series on your Tuesday evenings. [00:02:55][5.2]

BettySoo: [00:02:56] Yeah, yeah. I have a show that was it wasn’t intended to be a livestream. It was intended to be an in-person residency show in Austin called Nobody’s Happy Hour, and it was supposed to kick off March of 2020. Oh my goodness. Yeah. So I had a ton of guests lined up to come and do the show with me in person, and I was really grateful every single one was willing to switch to being an online guest instead. And, you know, I think I took like one month off this summer. And other than that, we’ve gone every single Tuesday since last March and have so many different guests. And it’s just been so cool because it’s kind of a half song swap show and half kind of an improv show with all these songwriters tasks. And so I really love it because I feel like I get to show off these like super magical skills that my friends have, and the audience is always blown away by all of these talented people. So, you know, it’s fun to be the person who gets to share them. [00:03:55][58.9]

Sloane Spencer: [00:03:55] Absolutely. So I definitely recommend checking it out. It is called Nobody’s happier if you’re not familiar with that very specific Austin experience of a residency. When things are good for you to personally make some travel and venues are ready for you, residencies are really special experience in that Texas music scene. In particular, it’s not the same as it is in other places. Even though other places say they have residencies, there’s something special about it. [00:04:20][25.0]

BettySoo: [00:04:21] I think you’re right. I think you’re right. There’s kind of a unique cultural phenomenon to the Austin residency, and I think part of it, honestly, is that we have so many venues. And so, you know, in other markets, you might have a few venues. And so when you have the residency, it’s kind of like filler between traveling shows. You know, just saying that because we’re not saying they’re not special shows. But in Austin, where you are a music destination for people from other places, it’s like people are really going there, not just to experience, Oh, I just want to see some live music or, Oh, I want to see this person playing. I mean, those are part of it. But it’s also I want to experience what this whole Austin life music thing is. And so I think in all the residencies, you get kind of that flavor in there. [00:05:05][43.9]

Sloane Spencer: [00:05:06] That is a perfect segue. Way into something, also a Texas theme that I didn’t really anticipate with bubble bottles. I want to steal the thunder too much. So Betty Sue. What’s your favorite carbonated beverage? [00:05:17][11.9]

BettySoo: [00:05:18] I’m a fan of almost every carbonated. I’m a big bubbles person. But you know, this past year and a half, I’ve fallen in love with this mineral water from Mexico. The brand is telecon and they have unflavored version. They’ve got a lime. They’ve got a grapefruit. All three of those are delicious, but they also have this tamarind flavor like tamarind, though bubble water. And it is amazing. It’s so good, which I don’t know if anybody else like me grew up with tamarind candy, which is it’s just the seed of the tamarind fruit coated in like a giant glob of sugar. And I like to say [00:06:03][44.4]

Sloane Spencer: [00:06:03] it’s one of my favorite candies, and I’m not a candy person, so that’s hilarious. [00:06:06][3.1]

BettySoo: [00:06:07] Yeah, it’s it’s super sour, tangy, but obviously sweet because it’s this glob of sugar, but I grew up just loving that. And the amazing thing about this bubble water is that it doesn’t have any sweeteners in it, but it somehow conveys both that sweet and sour tanginess of tamarind candy for me, and I cannot get enough of it. It’s so good. [00:06:30][23.7]

Sloane Spencer: [00:06:31] I did do some research and see if I could get this where I currently live and I’m in South Carolina and in rural South Carolina. This is not readily available. I can’t get the unflavored one, however, but it’s magical because to me. So for me, tamarind candy specifically comes from my favorite Indian restaurant locally, and that’s you always get it there. And so I associate those two things together. So when you mentioned tamarind bubble water, I was like, Whoa! Mind blown from some. Well, wait a minute here. So now it’s like the mission of as soon as I feel comfortable traveling and am able to make that happen, I am driving to Texas. So so that’s why I it’s the one and kind of the peachy gold bottle. I did do my homework for you all. [00:07:15][43.5]

BettySoo: [00:07:15] Yeah, yeah. It’s got this like kind of mustard yellow label. And I know in Austin you can get it at Central Market, which is a specialty shop of H-E-B, which is a big grocery chain in Texas. But you can also get it at like there’s a Mexican food meat market like really close to my house called La Michoacan. And I can get it there too, so I feel extra lucky. So brag, brag, brag about Texas. I’m so obnoxious. [00:07:41][26.2]

Sloane Spencer: [00:07:43] There is something about bubble water for my Texas musician friends. They’re the first folks that told me about Typekit Chico before we could get it here. And then when we couldn’t get it here, I was like, Oh, what is this magic? Because I know that we basically have, you know, grocery store off brand non flavored seltzer, and we didn’t have other options, right? [00:08:02][18.8]

BettySoo: [00:08:02] Well, and you know, I will say in New England, I’m a big fan of Poller, and part of it is that Topo Chico Polar take on their super carbonated. Yes. Yes. You can’t go very far into the bottle before, like the deep burps start threatening to go. [00:08:17][15.1]

Sloane Spencer: [00:08:18] And let’s be honest, it’s really satisfying. [00:08:20][1.7]

BettySoo: [00:08:21] It’s super satisfying. Like any of those three, you could probably leave uncapped on your bed stand, and when you wake up, they’d still have bubbles like it would still have that like crisp, dry. I mean, to be honest, they’re probably not the greatest thing for singing because of that super dry feeling in the mouth, but you just deal with it because it’s so delicious, so funny. [00:08:43][22.7]

Sloane Spencer: [00:08:44] So you said that you’re kind of the connoisseur of a variety of carbonated beverages? I’m the what got me into this was when I was in high school, I did my first cross-country tour. That was our whole thing was finding all the weird local carbonated whatevers at the gas station, and I’ve pretty much been obsessed with this concept ever since. Oh my gosh. So you all are perfectly located to get a lot of things that maybe are not distributed further because there’s enough of a market right there in Texas. [00:09:09][25.5]

BettySoo: [00:09:10] Yeah, yeah, that’s true. I mean, Togo Chico before it was bought by Coca-Cola and stuff. I mean, we in Austin, I mean, I’ve lived in Austin for about twenty five years. And I want say most of that time, we’ve been pretty familiar with Topo Chico and and it’s been popular. It’s true. It’s like people would come in from out of town and they’d be like, What is that? And you’re like, Oh, are you ready for this? I don’t know if you’re ready for this, [00:09:34][24.0]

Sloane Spencer: [00:09:35] so I’ll use that one as an example because I’m more familiar with it, but I want to use it as comparison’s sake. So like the bubbles in turbo Chico are teeny tiny, and there’s a zillion of them so compared to like Polar, where the bubbles are bigger. [00:09:46][11.4]

BettySoo: [00:09:48] Yes, I think that’s true. So Polar has that same zingy ness on the tongue, but the bubbles feel bigger and topo it does have those super tiny bubble feel. I think telecon is kind of closer to TOPO, but a little bit in between. A-ha. Is it all has that kind of tongue attack, but it’s not as sharp, but it is. No carbonated, [00:10:07][19.5]

Sloane Spencer: [00:10:08] you know, try to describe a taste with words here is probably a little bit outside of my vocabulary skill set because I’m not a food and beverage person, but less. But it comes from a glacier peak in Mexico, and that’s where they bottle it. So is it more mineral or is does the tamarind flavor buffer that? [00:10:25][17.4]

BettySoo: [00:10:26] Yeah, I would say in the unflavored one, you get more of that mineral flavor and I think in the lime, grapefruit and tamarind, though, it’s there, but it’s because it has flavoring. You don’t it’s not as promised. It’s not as forward. Now I will say, I have heard tell that to a gun is available in cans and plastic bottles. I have never had it like that. I’ve only had it in glass bottles. [00:10:51][25.3]

Sloane Spencer: [00:10:52] Oh, OK, so I am here for the glass bottles, for all beverages, folks. [00:10:56][4.2]

BettySoo: [00:10:57] And as we know, for those of us who are obsessed with bubble water, the same water in a different delivery is not is different. It’s different. It totally changes the character of the bubbles, like how long it stays fizzy, like all of that stuff changes. [00:11:12][15.4]

Sloane Spencer: [00:11:13] So, yeah, so if you’re not an expert yet, trust us on this one. That is absolute fact. You have to go with the glass bottles and it needs to be really cold. [00:11:22][9.1]

BettySoo: [00:11:23] Yeah, yeah. Speaking of really cold, I have not had it to work on so cold like you’ve probably had with the TOPO when it’s partially frozen. It looks like it’s not frozen and then you open it and it slowly starts to freeze. [00:11:36][13.1]

Sloane Spencer: [00:11:37] I didn’t even know that could happen until I experienced it. [00:11:40][2.8]

BettySoo: [00:11:40] It’s the coolest thing. It’s a little bit scary to me. When it’s perfect, it’s like you’re several sips in and then you start to notice there’s a tiny bit of like ice in there, but I haven’t had that with the token yet, but that’s just because I’ve been drinking it like I think I discovered telecon or, you know, actually, you know who told me about it. Now I’m remembering, is Rosie Flores. Flores told me about Tolkien. She had the unflavored kind at her place, and we did like a porch hanging early in the pandemic. And that was that was my introduction to it. Now I’m remembering that. Yeah, so but since since I learned about it, like at the beginning of the pandemic, I’ve only had it at home. So I haven’t had that like freeze or anything. [00:12:23][42.5]

Sloane Spencer: [00:12:24] So Rosie Flores, for those who don’t know, is an absolutely legendary songwriter and performer who if you get a chance to see, you must must go to the show, of course, check out all the online music that’s available. Rosa Flores is. [00:12:37][13.1]

BettySoo: [00:12:37] Yeah. She’s like a guitar goddess hot pick in early. I mean, she was part of that whole like California Americana rockabilly ish movement with like the Palomino club and, you know, just like that whole thing. And she was the girl who could hang with all the guitar guys. [00:12:51][14.5]

Sloane Spencer: [00:12:52] So, oh yeah, yeah, she’s really cool. I don’t know her personally, but I have met her in a professional setting. She’s also just super cool, so she’s super nice. [00:12:59][7.5]

BettySoo: [00:13:00] Yeah, she’s the sweetest. [00:13:01][1.0]

Sloane Spencer: [00:13:02] That is the best. I love the connection like that of how, you know, something that seems so simple of a flavored bubble water, you know, as part of that whole experience, especially as our experiences have been so strange in the last couple of years. You know, it’s like, Oh, here’s this little memory to have. [00:13:18][15.5]

BettySoo: [00:13:18] Yeah, yeah. So thank you, Rosie. Thank you. [00:13:21][2.7]

Sloane Spencer: [00:13:23] So, so this is super fun. I’m enjoying learning about a new beverage that I am looking into seeing how I can have it shipped to me because apparently there’s even with nonalcoholic beverages, there are weird rules about what can be shipped and what can’t be, which I did not know. I thought that it only applied to alcohol across state lines. [00:13:39][16.2]

BettySoo: [00:13:39] Oh my gosh, beverage distribution is like one of the most confusing has ever had. No idea there must just be like crazy lobby money spent by the few distributors, because think about how many, like restaurants are whole lives that were like, Why can’t you serve this kind of soda? And it’s like all because we get our soda from this company and the distribution is all locked up and it’s like, it’s stupid. It’s stupid. [00:14:04][24.8]

Sloane Spencer: [00:14:05] Yeah, it’s really, really weird. And I had no idea until I really, truly started looking into all of this, and I was like, Wow, so like, I can’t get water, OK? [00:14:13][8.4]

BettySoo: [00:14:15] Yeah. You know, what’s so funny is I was actually just my partner, Charlie, and I were talking last night. He was we were reading these articles about celery soda. Do you know about this? [00:14:24][9.5]

Sloane Spencer: [00:14:25] And so I do. But but I don’t know where you’re going with this story because I got obsessed with this over the pandemic as well. [00:14:31][5.8]

BettySoo: [00:14:33] And so we were trying to figure out why backgrounds are different. Yeah. Dr. Brown, it’s a Dr. Brown’s drink and why he totally associated it with Jewish delis in New York. Yes, we read last night that until the 80s, that was the exclusive distribution point for celery soda. [00:14:49][16.2]

Sloane Spencer: [00:14:50] Oh, no, I didn’t know that. So I also associated with that with Jewish delis in Atlanta, where I’m from. In fact, that was the only place we could get Dr. Brown’s right. [00:14:57][7.6]

BettySoo: [00:14:58] Dr. Brown’s. I mean, Dr. Brown’s in general, like they had an exclusive distribution deal with like Jewish delis basically until the 80s. [00:15:05][7.7]

Sloane Spencer: [00:15:06] So that would be my era. So, yeah, that’s crazy, I did not know that that was part of it. But that is one hundred percent. My experience, how I’m now, I have to go. Read more about it. [00:15:16][9.8]

BettySoo: [00:15:16] I know we were like, Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, we were just like freaking out. So you’re not the only bubbles nerd. And oh my [00:15:24][7.5]

Sloane Spencer: [00:15:24] god, this just makes my day. This is fantastic. I took French in school, which is my biggest regret because it’s not nearly as useful as Spanish would have been. So I don’t want to butcher the name of this particular beverage. Would you say it for me again? [00:15:38][14.0]

BettySoo: [00:15:38] Sure. [00:15:38][0.0]

Sloane Spencer: [00:15:39] Token Joaquin Moreno look for it. If you were able to get it wherever you are, you can find them online. They have a super cute website and great Instagram and just makes me want to be there and enjoying a wonderful, nice ice cold beverage. [00:15:51][12.8]

BettySoo: [00:15:53] Totally. And you know, if you can’t find out where you are, just come visit us in Austin. [00:15:57][4.6]

Sloane Spencer: [00:15:58] That’s right, there is still plenty of fantastic live music to catch, and you absolutely don’t want to miss out on that experience. So Betty Sue, not only of your solo work under the name Betty Sue, Betty y se o dot com, you can also be found with your trio at Nobody’s Girl. That website is We are nobody’s girl dot com. All right, sweet. Thanks so much for joining us on mobile bottles, y’all. Check out all of it. If you want to support us, that’d be super cool. You can find us on Patreon. A patron uncommon slash bubble bottles. Take it easy. All Bubble Bottles is a comedy podcast. We’ve done slightly less research than your average Wikipedia contributor or loose with the facts, and your mileage may vary. Thanks to Jacob for our theme music. You can find his catalog at Jacob Fur Dot, Bandcamp CNN.com. That’s Jacob. If you are not Bandcamp NJ.com, thanks so much for our graphic design and logo from Keith Brogdon. You can find his work and thinking out loud design dot com. Our show notes are crafted by freelance writer April Blake, who you can find at the April Blake Bukom. [00:15:58][0.0]

[910.9]

 
Cold War Conspiracies in Your Kitchen: Lizzie No Tells All About Yoo-Hoo

Cold War Conspiracies in Your Kitchen: Lizzie No Tells All About Yoo-Hoo

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Being denied sodas and sugary drinks as a child gave Sloane a particular affinity for unusual beverages, so a backstage conversation with Lizzie No inspired this conversation about 90s beverages from around the world. From New York to France, to somewhere in Eastern Europe, this week’s podcast is a trip down memory lane and the globe. 

A few highlights include a debate on if Yoo-Hoo was ever fizzy, and a conspiracy theory about Yoo-Hoo and the Cold War — it’s not what you’d think! Plus, what is the perfect shade of chocolate milk, and what makes the better real chocolate milk: Nestle Quik powder or Hershey’s syrup?

Beyond the milk, Lizzie No and Sloane travel in their memories to England, France, and Queens, NY before returning to chat about Lizzie No’s recent musical projects including a release of her EP Holidays, the Basic Folk podcast, and her upcoming work on the Black Opry Revue at the legendary Exit/In in Nashville, Tennessee in December.  

List of links

Beverage mentions

Don’t forget to give Bubble Bottles a five star rating! 

Sneak peeks, outtakes, and bonus episodes available on Patreon.com/BubbleBottles.

DISCLAIMER:  These comedy episodes are for fun and are based solely on personal opinions of the host and/or guest, and do not claim to be fully factual or anything other than a belching good time.

AI Transcript

Lizzie No  0:09  This topic is hilarious and great to me.

Sloane Spencer  0:12  I’m obsessed with weird stuff and I didn’t even know about your Instagram when I asked you this question.

Lizzie No  0:18  Oh my god yeah, I was just thinking of you a moment ago because I made carat and collagen smoothie for drinks that I chose to actually talk about when you asked me is like the actual opposite of what like in a beverage and that’s the you know, the space between that’s interesting. It’s a hot mess Express

Sloane Spencer  0:40  Well, hey y’all Aslan Spencer here and you found us it is a bubble bottles and one of our fun new podcast where I asked music people what’s your favorite carbonated beverage now a little loose on it here and favorite can sometimes have some serious air quotes around it. Today I’m talking with someone who I just recently saw at an amazing music festival if you can imagine an entire music festival full of well partied folks silently listening to every word a musician saying that’s what happened when Lizzie no took the stage. So as you know, has a great EP that came out in 2020 called holidays. You should definitely check it out Lizzy no.com, also the co host of a great podcast called Basic folk. Welcome.

Lizzie No  1:22  Thank you so much for having me Sloane. I’m just pumped to kind of continue our backstage conversation from albinos gunk.

Sloane Spencer  1:29  Totally. So for those of y’all who don’t know, I am obsessed with weird beverages. I like regional beverages, ones that like maybe aren’t made anymore international beverages all kinds of someone’s like, really, you drank that? But I see out when I travel. And I’ve discovered I’m not the only one.

Lizzie No  1:47  Oh no, I consider myself a bed clean. But I tend to like focus on the smoothie, kombucha health side of things. But I can also be known to dabble in like a weird, awful corn syrup concoction.

Sloane Spencer  2:02  So if you want to see some of the range of this you should definitely check out Lizzy knows Instagram. There’s a whole segment dedicated to beverages.

Lizzie No  2:10  Yes, I do a highlight on like my different smoothie creations and then weird sodas I come across in New York.

Sloane Spencer  2:16  I’m a fan of the weird soda. I did my first cross country bus tour when I was a teenager. And that was when I first discovered Sasebo Marilla. So I’ve been obsessed with Rubio my whole life. I grew up in a family where I wasn’t allowed to have carbonated beverages. So once I was like finally on tour on my own, I could like drink whatever I wanted. So there I was looking for the weird root beer and like random gas stations across Texas.

Lizzie No  2:39  No, I can relate. I remember when I was 12, one of my church friends came over for a playdate and she had never had root beer because she thought it was beer like she thought, gall. And so like that was the first time I got to experience the exhilaration of like watching a friend enjoy a tasty soda beverage that I already knew and loved. Like he was like, Wow, I feel like I’m introducing you to this amazing new world. Welcome.

Sloane Spencer  3:04  So weird little side note about root beer that I learned only when I was researching some of these conversations that I’ve had with folks recently for bubble bottles. And that is that both SassaFrass and SAS Warilla are no longer allowed to be in root beer. Apparently they cause liver toxicity over time, which I did not know. You’re kidding. No true story. And I was like, really? I’m devastated. I’ve been drinking like chemical Root Beer coffees last year, like like it’s not chemical enough as is. So they’re like amazing beverages that you try as you’re on tour or in a place like New York where you have everything in the planet available to you. But they’re also there’s an amazing world of horrible beverages as well. Oh, yeah. So when asked the question, what’s your favorite? Sometimes this is like, Oh, this is my favorite. And sometimes it’s like, Yes, this is my favorite. So what’s your favorite carbonated beverage?

Lizzie No  3:57  It’s a hot mess Express. Oh my gosh. Yoo hoo. As a child I was a yoo hoo enthusiast. Can anyone actually say what is in there? Like I thought of it. It’s just like another fun chocolate milk. But it’s so much weirder than that.

Sloane Spencer  4:13  So it’s a super weird one. And so I’ll give my personal story with you who I wasn’t allowed to drink yoo hoo because it did not actually have milk in it. And my mom was the generation that you know like everyone should have milk with every meal because it builds strong bones so like we were not allowed to have you who and I was crushed because my cousin’s could have you who?

Lizzie No  4:33  Oh, my God, you so sad.

Sloane Spencer  4:37  Tell me about your memories of you who I have a wrong memory about it that I want to talk about.

Lizzie No  4:42  I just remember this busyness of it and like thinking it was similar to milk and like also being in the Oval team family like I feel like like growing up there was this whole category of drinks that were like chocolate milk alternatives nobody asked for that was like always available, you know, but Now that I’m actually reading about you, who did you know that they had Yogi Berra in their app? And he was a it’s a me he for you.

Sloane Spencer  5:08  So here’s the weird thing that I and my husband I actually had a whole conversation about this because okay, you said this. You remember you who being fizzy? Mm hmm. So do I. The website says it was never carbonated. Stop it. Everyone I know who’s even I was like calling my cousin’s going. You remember when your mom and have you who we were allowed to have it when we came to visit? And don’t you remember that? You had to pop the bottle off in that it was busy. And they all said yes, you website.

Lizzie No  5:33  We did like a Mandela effect where like, We’re old. Remember, fizzy group false memory.

Sloane Spencer  5:37  It’s crazy. Wait, what

Lizzie No  5:39  is going? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, it was busy. No,

Sloane Spencer  5:42  I don’t think we’re wrong. There are I think you who is wrong record.

Lizzie No  5:45  Yeah, I think you who’s wrong?

Sloane Spencer  5:47  Thank you who’s wrong? And like, I’m fixing to have like a Twitter campaign with them about this. Because it’s still around. They’ve got a strawberry flavor. Now,

Lizzie No  5:53  before you know what question comes up? Based on that? What do they have to gain by hiding the obvious business of this beverage?

Sloane Spencer  6:03  Well, right. So I’m thinking that this is an admission in the you who’s autobiography?

Lizzie No  6:09  I feel like this probably goes all the way to the top. And it’s probably a really dark conspiracy.

Sloane Spencer  6:13  Yeah, I mean, to be right. I mean, come on. So really, it’s funny, though, when you do when you go to their website, and they give their own bio, there’s this massive gap from the 1950s to the 1980s. Like you wasn’t the thing that I can tell you as a product. It was very much a thing. Do you think that that

Lizzie No  6:29  you who was like pulling the string of the Cold War? Why, and that’s why they are hiding their fizziness and their activities from the 50s to the 80s. Think about that,

Sloane Spencer  6:42  you know, as a product of the Cold War, I can say that the one big benefit I got from being a child of that era is I am highly suspicious of propaganda and fascism and I can spot it a mile away.

Lizzie No  6:56  Good as you should be.

Sloane Spencer  6:59  And that that’s why this massive gap in their history that they choose to tell about themselves is really weird. Yeah,

Lizzie No  7:05  it’s super suspicious. I think we need to dig deep into this and then like circle back

Sloane Spencer  7:10  I do I think that there is like some sort of socio geopolitical conspiracy going on here with you too. And it happened before the transition to strawberry ah, grabbers the key

Lizzie No  7:21  to everything hoping that someone is like a secret agent works at the State Department, someone who like has high security clearance that can totally into this for us, right and I’m a Scorpio which means I’m a steel trap. I never reveal a secret I just want to know

Sloane Spencer  7:37  I’m that person in the grocery line that looks really like pleasant and not scary and so people sit and tell me their life stories even when I really really really don’t want to hear it.

Lizzie No  7:44  I wouldn’t wish that crate on my worst enemy.

Sloane Spencer  7:48  So you know, it’s interesting as I’m looking at their stuff the thing that is also interesting to me about this very glaring gap from the 1950s to the 1980s is that when they do tell their own story in the 1980s which is the story of moving to juice boxes and adding strawberry it suddenly really really really resembles strawberry quick coloring everything Oh

Lizzie No  8:07  yeah. The quick of it all I actually forgot about quick

Sloane Spencer  8:11  strawberry quick you know with the rabbit and everything it really looks like it the branding is very very similar.

Lizzie No  8:17  Oh gosh, what story I’m sure I’m sure there’s like a story behind that

Sloane Spencer  8:23  has to be and they started like the coloring the font the layout everything that they were like, suddenly hiding the dash between you and who I mean, there’s an identity crisis going on here the pails

Lizzie No  8:33  that that font could tell because like I feel like kids are not drinking flavored milk like they used to

Sloane Spencer  8:41  what was your favorite flavored milk flavor? Strawberry. Same.

Lizzie No  8:45  I used to get strawberry milk at the bagel shop and the big yellow bottle.

Sloane Spencer  8:49  Oh, you were so lucky. So I think we’re gonna double down on this potential conspiracy theory behind you

Lizzie No  8:56  who I’m ready to chase this down wherever it leads. So I’m gonna get back to you once I have more info.

Sloane Spencer  9:02  Have you ever seen the various yoohoo products like frozen non dairy treats? I’m not familiar with them at all you frozen I’ve never I’m not familiar with them in the slightest. Wait like popsicles? Yeah, like in the 2000s they launched a line of frozen non dairy treats and for a while they were marketing them to vegans poor vegan

Lizzie No  9:23  they really short and this thick on so many thing probably tell I’m like on my phone trying to find frozen Yufu oh my gosh, there’s some truly disgusting looking like homemade recipes on this. How to Make Your Own yoo hoo ice cream?

Sloane Spencer  9:40  No. Oh, don’t do it.

Lizzie No  9:43  You know there are some things best left in the past and I think I just found a yoo hoo candy bar. Do you want me to buy that and

Sloane Spencer  9:54  so you who is basically water, high fructose corn syrup and some cheese Chocolate adjacent flavoring.

Lizzie No  10:01  It’s not good. Not good. But there was something so enticing about it when I was little

Sloane Spencer  10:07  I desperately wanted Yoo hoo, like deep desire, like this is something that I as a child should aim for. Yeah,

Lizzie No  10:15  I think it was sort of that like Nickelodeon marketing dominance. There were just like so many kids products being shoved in your face at all times on TV. And I think you who was among them, do you have

Sloane Spencer  10:26  any like beverages specifically from that time of your life that have stuck with you is something like this is still actually appealing in like a positive way

Lizzie No  10:33  chocolate milk flap, I feel like I kind of am undecided on whether it’s better to do the Hershey’s syrup or the quick powder, I can really get down with both. I feel like you cannot dial in your chocolate level a little bit more precisely with the syrup, some rye blean I like like a pretty light cappuccino colored chocolate milk. Like that’s still my jam.

Sloane Spencer  10:57  I get it. I like it where it’s like when I’m using the quick powder. I like it where it’s got a little bit where it’s kind of a little bit gray colored when when you stir it all. And you you can’t achieve that with the liquid. So with the liquid. I definitely want it looking more like my cafe LA. Okay, yeah,

Lizzie No  11:13  same page. If you want another drink from that time that I stand by orange Gina, which I called Orange, orange, Gina and Gina,

Sloane Spencer  11:20  the original one that actually had the little pulp in

Lizzie No  11:22  Yeah. really satisfying pear shaped bottle.

Sloane Spencer  11:27  You could hold it a certain way.

Lizzie No  11:28  I could actually still feel that bottle right now like the glass was. So

Sloane Spencer  11:33  I actually know the very first time I had that. That’s so odd. There’s everything. So I’m sure you can tell from my accent that I was born in London, England. Yeah, I was going to visit my relatives for the first time as like a sentient child. So I went back with my dad and we did a whole visit of all the various extended cousins in one night. I don’t remember what happened. But we did not eat supper. So we went down to the little market and I even know where we’re staying. This is so crazy. Sloane square, which is where I’m named for. So we stayed in a little hotel that was attached to the flat my parents used to live in it’s none of us is there anymore. And it was called the Wilbraham and so there was a little grocery store down below it. When my parents live there. It was called Oak shots, I believe. So when we went there, we went down to the little market and they had orange Gina and oh, what were the crackers. I think they were called tab crackers. They were really buttery, like rectangular with the corners cut off. I’m gonna I’m gonna look them up, but they were called. Anyway, that’s what we had for supper. I had never had a carbonated drink that actually was made from real fruit. I’d have like, yeah, Santa at that point. What’s your orange Gina experience?

Lizzie No  12:49  It’s next level. I have feel like it has a lot of big felt memories of like being in the backseat of a car drinking an orange Gina or orange Gina? Alright, orange, Gina, those in the know, call it sort of thing I would order at the hoagie Haven, Princeton, New Jersey where I grew up. I mean, it’s the huggy spot amazing sandwiches, salt and pepper fries and an orange gene on the side. Like that was my idea of like, true luxury. I mean, to this day, I don’t feel like there’s a better meal than that.

Sloane Spencer  13:18  I have a friend with a podcast. It’s about mental health. But one of the questions it’s called crashing rod Gilson, check it out. One of the things that he asks folks regularly is what’s your favorite meal you’ve ever had? And almost all the time. It’s not the food. It’s the feeling

Lizzie No  13:32  Oh, yeah. For me, that’s the hoagie and orange Sina feeling is like I’ve made it through hours of church services, right? I’ve stepped free into the sunlight. And now I get a meal that’s going to make me take a nap. It’s that emotional roller coaster of like, if I can just make it through church, I get fries and right. Oh,

Sloane Spencer  13:54  my goodness. So you do have this whole Instagram about beverages that y’all definitely need to check out. It’s in the I guess it’s in the real, the real the highlight reel, you highlight some great ones that you discover. And what I really like is like the brief review,

Lizzie No  14:08  thank you. There I voice is needed in this conversation. So I do not shy away from saying what I really think

Sloane Spencer  14:14  what have been some gems you’ve come across. There’s some just really sort of

Lizzie No  14:17  hard to find European sodas that are sold in the grocery stores in Queens. I’m going to be cancelled because I can’t remember or correctly pronounce the names of some of these eastern European like cherry sodas that I’ve tried. But if you’re ever in Astoria, go to the little Greek grocery store and like go down the soda aisle and you will not be disappointed. I actually once went on a second date just to the grocery store to like look at the various sodas.

Sloane Spencer  14:43  What a great

Lizzie No  14:44  idea if my passion. I get it so it looks like

Sloane Spencer  14:48  a soda flight. So I call weird little investigations like that adventures. So I go on these little adventures and I usually drag a friend belong but I’m all about going on an adventure. by myself if somebody doesn’t appreciate my deep love for weird beverages, I’ll just go do it on my own so

Lizzie No  15:05  oh yeah a one woman so the flight is a very good night to have what I’ve been drinking lately and they were kind enough to actually send me a crate of this seltzer which is just how I know I’ve made it. There’s this company called free rein that makes like herbal seltzer. Oh, one for focus. There’s one to like, make you feel sexy. There’s one to make you feel calm. They’re all very good stuff to me. That’s like my like, Oh, I’m having a like a heightened something special without going drinking. You know?

Sloane Spencer  15:38  So it’s like bubbly herbal tea.

Lizzie No  15:41  Yeah, cool, really good.

Sloane Spencer  15:44  I will have to check that out. And thanks to them for hooking you up with that.

Lizzie No  15:47  Thank you for your rain very much.

Sloane Spencer  15:52  It’s very cool. So this has been a super fun conversation. I want to be sure folks get a chance to find out what you’re doing musically. You have not only some gorgeous recorded music available to folks you are doing some really powerful musical events as well.

Lizzie No  16:07  Yes, I’m wearing my producer hat a bit these days and if people are in or around Nashville on December 18 I am going to be performing with the black opera your review which is just a collective of a bunch of different black artists in country and Americana. We are going to be at the exit in and Frankie Stayton is going to be our special guests so I’m so excited for that and people can of course find me on Spotify and Instagram and all the places where you find music. Yeah, I’m working on new music but I also put out an EP last year called holidays

Sloane Spencer  16:40  Lizzy no last name in Lizzy no died like no

Lizzie No  16:48  I’ve been no thank you

Sloane Spencer  16:53  so Lizzy no definitely check out her work the most recent EP again his holidays also the co host of the basic folk podcast for grab those tickets now the legendary exit in in Nashville and amazing music club hanging in there and in an area of town that is rapidly changing. The event is the black Opry review it’s happening December 18. Tickets are available guaranteed to sell out don’t sleep on it definitely a thing you might want to travel for if you’re not in the Nashville area, from Four Loko to Yoo hoo Orangina to Seltzer and cherry soda from Eastern Europe y’all we have in place today on this episode of bubble bottles. You want to find out more about the crazy beverages that we have talked about in the past you can find them at bubble bottles.com You can support us at patreon.com/bubble bottles but the important part is that you find your new favorite musician and you can do that with Lizzy know when it was you know.com Thank

Lizzie No  17:48  you so much. Well, this has been the most fun. Thank you so much. My pleasure.

Sloane Spencer  17:54  Take it easy and thanks everybody for listening. Thanks to Jacob for for our theme music you can find his catalogue at Jacob farrar.bandcamp.com That’s JCOBF you are are not bandcamp.com Thanks so much for our graphic design and logo from Keith Brogdon you can find his work thinking out loud design.com our show notes are crafted by freelance writer April Blake for you can find at the April Blake .com.
Bubble Bottles Podcast Trailer

Bubble Bottles Podcast Trailer

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What’s your favorite carbonated beverage?

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We ask music people that very question in each episode of Bubble Bottles podcast. From electric harp players pondering Cold War conspiracy theories behind Yoo-Hoo to jam bands with eleven different favorite flavors of LaCroix crammed in the van on tour, Bubble Bottles explores the fun, flavorful, and foul in our favorite — or “favorite” — carbonated beverages.  Whether you love the drink or can’t even look at the bottle because of broken hearts and bad decisions, we hope you find some new music to check out and have a good time.

New episodes launching late January 2022.

Sneak peeks, outtakes, and bonus episodes available now on Patreon.com/BubbleBottles.

DISCLAIMER:  These comedy episodes are for fun and are based solely on personal opinions of the host and/or guest, and do not claim to be fully factual or anything other than a belching good time.

TRANSCRIPT:

Sloane Spencer: 

Well, hey, welcome to Bubble Bottles, where we talk with music people about their favorite carbonated beverages. I’m Sloane Spencer.

You might know me as the host of the long form conversation podcast called Country Fried Rock or the many decades of radio. In our new podcast, Bubble Bottles is here to achieve my secret life mission of turning you on to your new favorite band by asking the question, “What’s your favorite carbonated beverage?”

I have a personal deep abiding love for weird hyperlocal ginger ale and root beer, and I’ve had this conversation backstage with many, many musicians over the years, and the chats have actually been so fascinating, I felt like y’all should get in on it.

You can find us over on Patreon, we are Patreon dot com slash bubble bottles or our brand spanking new website, Bubble Bottles dot com. It’s fun to say, isn’t it?

I’ve got another brand new podcast, where I talk with music people about their favorite one hit wonder songs. It’s called One Hit History, you can find it in all the good places, including Patreon and One Hit History dot com. You want to find out my vibe? I suggest checking out some of our hundreds of past episodes of Country Fried Rock.

Go ahead and hit that subscribe button for Bubble Bottles. Lots more coming your way. Y’all come back now you hear?