Dead Gowns, The Croaks, and Paper Lady talk Boston DIY, burnout, and turning yellow lights green
- Joy
- Nov 5
- 5 min read
At the end of August, sandwiched between a chain link fence and the back of a flat bed truck-turned-stage, I met with three of Boston’s most beloved DIY bands at the second annual Ratchella. Somerville’s own multimedia fest received a cease and desist from a certain similarly named event just days before. Organizers crossed out signage with tongue-in-cheek REDACTED overlays.
Ratchella was two days of sweaty, ecstatic communal fun, masterminded by Yardwork Productions. Before I enjoyed a few Lone Stars in the sectioned off drink area (which was packed enough to feel like a VIP mosh pit), I had a chance to chat about all things local love, crowd engagement, and life changes with some of the talent.
Dead Gowns
YLM: Is this your first Ratchella?
Dead Gowns: This is my first Rat [redacted], yes. It’s been super nice. We got invited on a couple of months ago and I was like hell yeah.
YLM: what are you the most excited for today?
Dead Gowns: Oh my god, the lineup is just so good. That’s why we’re here at start, we don’t want to miss The Croaks, or Papr Lady at the end.
YLM: Where are you from?
DG: Portland, ME
YLM: How has the Boston DIY community supported you?
DG: It’s so well organized. This is the best organized advanced show that we’ve had all summer and when DG was first starting it was really hard to book in Boston. Then we found friends that believed in the music and they really helped us grow here. So I find it incredibly supportive.
YLM: Do you have a similar community back home?
DG: There is a DIY community, but I don’t think it’s as developed as Boston. Obviously being a music school city I think helps with the caliber of musicians, they just come together here. We tried to throw a DIY festival and it was not nearly as organized as this. So efficient, they have insurance, all the things. They’re so prepared.
YLM: What’s your favorite song to play?
DG: Well I busted my electric guitar in May and I haven’t been able to get it fully back on it’s feet yet, so I’m borrowing an electric. This is our first fully electric show since May, and I love playing our song “Renter Not a Buyer” on electric, so I’m really excited for that.
YLM: What are your hopes for the Boston DIY community?
DG: I hope it keeps surviving and thriving. DIY efforts across the country are getting pushed down, Live Nation venues are coming every which way, make it sustainable. Don’t burn out.
YLM: What’s your yellow light at the moment?
DG: In a similar way to the DIY effort, burn out is so prevalent when you’re pushing music and it can be easy to feel. So I think staying the course and staying true to what I want Dead Gowns to be. I also think there’s a lot of ageism in music for femme presenting people. As I get older I increasingly feel shoves in the industry and out of it to be like, “when are you going to pivot.” So I’m really trying to love myself as I age and as I continue pursuing music because everyone wants you to just remain 19. And we’re not! We’d die if we remained 19.
The Croaks
YLM: Is this your first Ratchella?
TC: First!
YLM: What are you most excited for?
TC: I like playing not at 10PM.
YLM: You’re from around here, what’s your favorite part of the Boston DIY community?
TC: Everybody’s really down to earth. Everyone’s supportive. It doesn’t feel like there’s any competition or anything like that.
YLM: Do you feel like you’ve grown with it?
TC: Yeah, you can just go to a show and talk to someone and you’re friends. I think that’s not the case for other places. It wasn’t too hard. Starting out people were pretty supportive and continue to be. It wasn’t like pulling teeth booking to start. People were down to play.
YLM: What was your favorite track you played tonight?
TC: I like playing our new song, “Crumb.” It’s the heavy, weird one. Well, they’re all like that I guess. It’s about being catfished by a cosplayer.
YLM: What did you take away from this performance?
TC: Corey’s really good at sound. I’m amazed at the production quality. I’m a little scared of climate change. The big rat. The fun time.
YLM: What’s your hope for the Boston DIY community in the future?
TC: I feel like it’ll continue to be fruitful, hopefully there’s more stuff like this. Independent festivals and other music industry things that Boston is always lacking.
YLM: What is your yellow light?
TC: It’s hard to make the jump to go full time with music and art. Debating how much not making money is worth it. It’s really hard to get burnt out working for free, and Boston is so expensive we all have to work a lot. The music industry is so fucked up now, you have to be making social media on top of doing everything yourself. It’s a lot. Finding of what’s worth it.
Paper Lady
YLM: Is this your first Ratchella?
Paper Lady: First.
YLM: How are you feeling about it?
PL: I feel really good, it’s crazy. The stage looks so awesome. Playing on the truck, the truck bed. It’s crazy and awesome. It feels very Boston DIY, the spirit of the fest.
YLM: Where are you from?
PL: I’m from Florida. I moved up here for school. That’s how all of us met in Papr Lady, and I stuck around in Boston the past few years after school.
YLM: How was the Boston DIY community supported you?
PL: In so many ways. It’s a really tight community, I feel like I just have so many friends and supporters here. People in Boston have this specific DIY spirit that’s not found in most other places. Everyone’s always down to make it work and make it happen whether it’s a show or a whole festival. Pretty special in that way. We’ve always been really lucky to be given a platform by friends. I used to run a house show venue also. The first time I went to a house show - there’s no basements in Florida - and someone was like “we’re going to a basement.” and I was like, “what, this is the best thing ever and I want to be a part of this. I wanna be doing this.” Everybody seems to be on the page in the same way. You just gotta make it happen.
YLM: Favorite track for later?
PL: Usually I’m most excited to play “Joe Modern.” Usually I go out into the crowd but I don’t know, I can’t jump off the truck bed. I’m trying to figure something out in my head. So maybe still “Joe Modern.” I’m gonna figure it out.
YLM: What do you hope everyone takes away from today?
PL: I hope everyone feels inspired by their local music scene. I hope everyone thinks, “oh I can put something like this together, I can start a band.”
YLM: What’s your yellow light?
PL: We’re actually moving to NY on Monday. That was a big yellow light for us for a while. Should we stay here and enjoy the community we’ve been in so long, or do we push forward and move to a new place where there’s cool places and we feel comfortable to a degree but it’s obviously not what Boston has been for us? But we’re making it happen. So that’s a yellow light that turned into a green light!
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