rlyblonde Reclaims Crybaby Narrative Through Glitz, Glam and Campiness
The typical “crybaby” is seen as a sensitive soul who cries over spilt milk and the smallest obstacles in life. After making her explosive debut with her first single, “Fantasy,” rlyblonde – the project of Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary artist Carina Allen – returns with “Spiltmilk,” the second single off her forthcoming debut EP. Rlyblonde presents a campy performance that touches on giving herself more credit after navigating life’s challenges. She once and for all releases the harmful associations with being a crybaby and listening to ex-partners call her one. Rlyblonde reclaims the word by acknowledging her sensitivities and learning it’s okay to be a crybaby and be dramatic.
“This was me writing a song to acknowledge the ways that it’s hard to be out here and the little things can get you down. It’s okay to be a crybaby and cry and be dramatic,” rlyblonde says. “This was an outlet for accepting myself for the crybaby I am and saying it’s okay to be upset and I will move on. Now that's sweet because anytime my friends and I are having a bad day, we'll just be like it’s a spilt milk day. It's just the code where now we're like okay, it's gonna be fine.”
With her new track, “Spiltmilk,” rlyblonde seamlessly combines alt-rock instrumentation, catchy pop melodies and tongue-in-cheek lyrics, “Wait why the fuck is there a line? / I’m freezing in this dress / My makeup is a mess / I need a drink before I lose my mind.”
She elaborates on the inspiration behind her newest single: “I’ve always been quite sensitive, even though I put on a tough face most of the time. Writing ‘Spiltmilk’ also let me laugh at myself in a way that was really comforting.”
“Spiltmilk” is accompanied with a new music video, which was directed by rlyblonde herself via her new creative production company, HOT CREATIVE. In contrast to the more narrative-driven “Fantasy” video, she took on a more campy and freeform approach when it came to the “Spiltmilk” visual. She pokes fun at the song’s subject matter with various little easter eggs like a child’s prop car, white clown-inspired make-up, and her selfie on the side of a milk carton with the words ‘CRYBABY WANTED.’
[UNPUBLISHED]: Welcome back and thank you for talking to Unpublished Magazine again. It's super exciting to have you back since the last time we talked about your single “Fantasy.” I would love to catch up and see how life has been treating you and what have you been up to since the last time we talked.
[RLYBLONDE]: We've had a few live shows and we had a big release party. I have been having quiet moments to myself before shows where I'm genuinely happy to be doing all of this and really grateful that I have the opportunity to be proud of myself for following through on the whole project and pushing through. It's been a really big period of transition in my life, still figuring out how to juggle doing my own work as an artist and the labor of time and money that music is in general, then also finding other ways to support myself and keep photography going. It’s concert season and I love shooting concerts, so I’m at a show every week. Then my day job is being a wedding photographer, so I’m all over the place and wearing many hats as usual. I'm really looking forward to putting the EP out soon and having a bunch of shows over the summer and having a summer rock n’ roll, baby.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What is the inspiration behind “SpiltMilk” and what did the creative process look like?
[RLYBLONDE]: I think a lot of my music is quite silly, but it does have a real meaning to it. Life is hard in New York like everything's just difficult and expensive and I think we don't give ourselves enough credit for making it in a big city or whatever. I'm doing a million things and am a very sensitive person. Ex-partners in the past have given me a hard time because I'm a crybaby or that I let little things get me down and it used to be this thing I was insecure about him saying I had no backbone and can’t handle minor conflicts. This was me writing a song to acknowledge the ways that it’s hard to be out here and the little things can get you down. It’s okay to be a crybaby and cry and be dramatic. This was an outlet for accepting myself for the crybaby I am and saying it’s okay to be upset and I will move on. Now that's sweet because anytime my friends and I are having a bad day, we'll just be like a spilt milk baby, it's just the code where now we're like okay, it's gonna be fine.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Did you direct the cover art for “SpiltMilk?”
[RLYBLONDE]: I've been doing basically all the visuals for my own stuff. I've had the concept for that video for a while. I have this very specific makeup look that I wanted to do with a pasty white clown face with the trail of tears falling down. I wanted to keep the cover a little similar in style to the “Fantasy” one, so I chose a close-up portrait and shot it with flash on film. We made it happen in a DIY way which was very different from the “Fantasy” video. We had a lot of fun with the milk in the car and it was a silly day.
[UNPUBLISHED]: All the hot girls are doing clown-core makeup now and I’m so here for it.
[RLYBLONDE]: I did a clown on myself for Halloween, and I literally just did it with white eyeshadow. If you know me, you know I love drag and I love to present myself in theatrical ways and this was a beautiful opportunity to do so. I think it just makes everything so much more fun and it gives the art of a separate persona.
[UNPUBLISHED]: “SpiltMilk” also has a campy music video and I love the eccentricity behind it and it's definitely different from “Fantasy.” What is the inspiration behind the video and your experience filming that?
[RLYBLONDE]: I wanted it to be something a little bit more tongue-in-cheek since “Fantasy” was so over the top and I wanted to do it so that I could show my capability as an artist, director and a producer. I’m almost making fun of myself in the song. Aesthetically, I wanted the milk and the extravagant makeup and for it to feel cohesive. Then the car fell into my possession. It’s hilarious for me to be a full adult in this clown car. I thought it was funny to have me on set as the ridiculous, annoying director talking out of their ass.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Have you taken any creative risks or experimented more with “SpiltMilk” than your debut release “Fantasy?”
[RLYBLONDE]: Obviously it was a bit more lowkey so it didn't feel so daring to me. I guess to some, pouring milk all over your body on camera might be quite risque, but I'm used to modeling and I’m quite comfortable in my body and on camera. I definitely feel the same thing that a lot of musicians do where I'm self conscious about how I look and I want it to be very specific, but that's also why I do everything myself, that I can have control over the final cut and everything. I think this one was more of a fun video that I visualized and wanted to do. I'm already dreaming up huge videos for the next project, so we'll see what happens.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You also have your own production company called HOT CREATIVE. I would love to know more about it and its role in your music.
[RLYBLONDE]: It's very much in the works to get it up and running, but it's a mechanism for me at this point in my career to just have different channels for the work that I'm doing. I'm pivoting a lot of my creative work as a director and as a photographer to this company. I'm working with a couple other people that also work in the music industry, and we're teaming together to offer the services that I have been offering to other musicians in the area. I've been doing it for years, but now there's more of a formality to it. Hopefully it means we can be working on larger scale projects. These two videos have been really important to me in order to showcase what we are capable of. I think doing a lot of the work for these to myself, I feel pretty proud of what we're able to accomplish. As our roster and our team gets bigger and as we work with more clients, I think the sky's the limit of what we're able to do, because I just want to keep creating.
[UNPUBLISHED]: “Fantasy” and “SpiltMilk” are both going to be on your upcoming debut EP release. I would love to hear anything you’re willing to share about it.
[RLYBLONDE]: I get so emotional talking about this EP, it's so silly because it is pop music, but also making the shift from doing only photography and offering a service to people and being behind the scenes, it's been very different and hard on my nervous system to step into this and doing what I really want to do in such a loud way. I feel like the EP really encompasses the past two years of my life where I'm having this identity crisis and being like, I want to do music and I'm queer. It’s a lot of reflecting on my life and thinking about what I want, and I think that translates to the EP and my journey of being mad about my life and following through on the whole thing. It ends on a positive note of being like, if you follow your dreams, maybe you can have the life that you want.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What can listeners expect from this new era of music?
[RLYBLONDE]: I've always said that I'm planning to be in my pop-punk era, then I’m planning on moving in a more rock direction and coming back full circle and doing country. As far as this EP, it's a mix of pop-punk and it ends on a more indie-rock singer-songwriter vibe, maybe hinting at the sound of the future. I think that being malleable as an artist is a privilege and an exciting part of being a creative, and I'd like to be able to maintain whatever agency I have to explore different sounds and mediums as long as I can. She's my baby for sure.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What is your favorite song off the EP and why do you love this song? Is there like a specific lyric or message that stands out to you the most?
[RLYBLONDE]: I think “Fantasy” is always gonna be like my baby just because to me, the whole project and video is super special to me. I do think my favorite right now might be the last song on the EP because I am so vulnerable and it sums up the emotional journey of making this whole project.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What has been one of your most rewarding moments in your career so far?
[RLYBLONDE]: I think the “Fantasy” video is definitely top-tier. The “Fantasy” video and having the release party and seeing all my friends and family there coming out to celebrate, and I feel like I had so much fear leading up to this release, but having a positive response and people genuinely being happy for me that I did a thing has been really cool. Every show has been really special for me. It's hard to sum up. I do try to stay grateful for all the amazing opportunities I've had. I've been able to meet so many cool artists through just doing photography alone. That has been so inspiring and therefore, fueled me to keep doing my own thing. It's hard to put a name on one.
[UNPUBLISHED]: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like for you that you would love to share with Unpublished?
[RLYBLONDE]: This month is the busiest month of my life, stressed out at the moment, but all kinds of good things. I think once we get over the hump of the EP being 100% done and just having the release show, I think then I'll be able to take a big exhale. I'm really excited for the summer to be playing shows and it has been my dream for a long time. I just want to enjoy it. I want to enjoy time with my friends. Someone else has said this before, so I won't take ownership over this concept, but I resonate deeply with music, you get to live it the first time and then you get to relive it when you're finally putting the music out and performing it. I'm getting to relive this era of my life from two years ago. Right now, I'm living in the next era already and writing music and I'm already looking forward to probably what a year from now and getting to relive that too.
