I want to make people happy, in good ways. Music is one way of doing that, sharing your art and craft; baking is another.
Where do you live in Philly?
You can say I live in Northern Liberties. You will never go hungry [there].
How important is the sense of place to your art?
I think you can make music all over the world but where you are definitely impacts and affects how your music’s going to sound. When you’re in some place that inspires you, a place that feels like home, that’s going to come out in the music. And here, there are so many sights and sounds and smells and places and people to inspire you that it makes you want to create and there’s an audience, a captive audience that’s willing to listen to your creation, so it’s a beautiful thing.
How would you describe Philly?
I would describe it as culturally very rich. I love the many distinct neighborhoods: there’s Society Hill, restaurant row, Italian Market, Northern Liberties, Germantown, Mount Airy. You have such a vast array of all these neighborhoods that come together. They come together and create one city, one functioning heartbeat city.
What is the city’s best asset?
People. Human resources. The history is beautiful, but the history is all created by the people.
Why do you live here?
Because Philly is home. I have breathing room here. I have my favorite restaurants and favorite people and my favorite places to go, I can come and walk my dog here and spend a leisurely afternoon; I don’t have to drive 20 minutes in traffic to get to anywhere I want to go like in L.A. Here, you can stay in the house and have a yard and know your neighbors. And that’s like the biggest thing to me. The people at the bakeries I go to, they know me; my dentist knows me; all the people that I interact with in my day-to-day life, they know who I am; I’m not a stranger. There might be millions of people in Philly, but I don’t feel like one of the million here. I feel like I’m living my own life.
What is your quintessential Philly food?
The vegan cheese steak at Sabrina’s is awesome, you don’t have to be a vegan to love it. It’s delicious.
