Artist Selects: Blushh
Photography by Shabnam Ferdowsi
This edition of Artist Selects features the one and only Shabnam Ferdowsi of Blushh, a four-piece fuzzy pop rock/punk band. Blushh was never Shab’s plan. She started writing songs in 2015 as a joke before moving to Ireland for a month. She thought it would be funny if she could make some money busking on the streets of Galway while she was abroad. Well, she didn’t make a lot of money, but she did get into the habit of songwriting every single day. When she came back to LA with those new songs, her friends offered to join her band so she decided to give this a shot. I’m so excited to introduce y’all to this talented hyper-creative who is also a photographer, content creator, and pizza chef! Over the past couple months, Shab has started a thriving “neo-neapolitan” sourdough pizza business, Lingua Fresca on a pre-order and pop-up basis. It’s been a pleasure to catch up with Shab for Trash Mag’s Artist Selects series and hear what she’s been cooking up.
Listen here to “Blushh Selects” while you read the Q&A:
Hi Shab! I believe the last time we talked may have been through email exchanges about booking Blushh for Sleezehog’s unofficial SXSW showcase. What else did Blushh have in store for Austin before SXSW’s cancellation?
Ohhh, it would have been a blast! We had like 7 or so shows planned, which already was a few more shows than last year, so we were so stoked. We were going to head to Idaho for Treefort after it too, which I was really looking forward to as well!
What is your most memorable experience from touring in general?
I will never forget our first show at Treefort 2019. It was a packed room on the first night of the fest, maybe 200-300 people which at that point would have been our biggest show. All I remembered was the whole pit erupting into a mosh once we started the second song, and a row of about 10 kids in the first row singing along to every lyric. It was unreal and truly affirmed the kind of audience I wanted to be playing for!
On social media, I see that you’ve been sharing solo demos during quarantine and even mentioned back in August that you are working on new, different music with friends. How is that process going?
It's been so fun, so wild and so fresh. I'm making music right now mainly with one friend whose style is pretty different from the punk pop I was making before and I LOVE how far it's putting me outside my comfort zone. I love thinking differently about music and I love feeling like I'm expanding the musical part of my being. For everything that's changed and forced the project to pivot (pandemic aside) I'm really grateful I can still be making music at all, especially within a community that is so dedicated to it. I feel like without it, I would have been pretty lost.
How does that compare to the collaborative effort of putting out your debut LP, “R.I.P. Apathy” with your bandmates?
Quite different, of course. For RIP Apathy, I brought a batch of songs to my bandmates. For 2 months, we hunkered down to turn them into full-fledged products. Then we spent 10 straight days recording.
This process now is way more loose, more like we're floating through it than running through! It's a process that just had to happen this way and I'm really glad for it because it's given me something to hold onto for the past 5 or so months.
What was putting out a record amidst the early months of COVID lockdown like?
OH GOD.
I can't even get into it but it was tough. It was terrible timing. I started losing motivation pretty quickly after the album came out. I don't even recognize who I used to be before July, and the album is right there with her.
Another creative outlet you have is photography. I figure this skill must give you a strong artistic vision for your other endeavors. How have you been flexing this muscle during quarantine? At-home photoshoots? Using pizzas as models?
Once lockdown hit in March, I threw myself into the one thing I had at the time: photography. I began shooting self-portraits, shooting my food, shooting my bed lol.. I was still pursuing photography, at the time. But over time, as my eyesight continues to decrease, I became less and less confident that this was something I should blindly (pun intended) pursue.
So I took a second. I wallowed. I started to bake.
Out of that came something totally unexpected. I became obsessed with dough, then pizza. I was pulled back into my infatuation with Italian culture and my times spent living there. I couldn't shake it off, so I leaned in.
Now all I want to do is make pizza, eat pizza, and keep making music.
Within a couple months, we’ve all witnessed you become an absolute pizza connoisseur through Lingua Fresca! How did this hustle begin?
In June my friend gave me some sourdough starter for my birthday. In July I started baking bread.
The last weekend of August I started making pizza and decided to start selling it. It kind of took off in a small way, and since I had nothing else going for me (money-wise) I leaned it. I bought a pizza oven, I watched hours of youtube videos, I cold DM-d other local pizzaioli (pizza chefs), I had calls with other food pop-ups.. and all of a sudden I find myself a part of this whole new community I never knew existed, and I'm so enthralled by all of it!
You’re doing lots of orders every week with lots of menu options as well as pop-up events. How do you handle all of this yourself?!
I keep it manageable! I push myself to my limit, while knowing what I'm able to supply. I'm trying to keep pushing it while keeping it in a place where I know I can handle it. That said, I don't drive, and I'm really only able to do any of this with the help of the friends who seem equally stoked on pizza!! It makes me excited to see other people's enthusiasm, and gets my gears turning for the future of Lingua Fresca.
How much time do you spend concocting yummy recipes and experimenting with flavors versus the nitty gritty parts of running a business like packing and organizing orders for pick up, managing your social media presence, and scheduling time to make all of these damn pizzas?
It ebbs and flows. For pop ups, I want a very simple menu to keep it easy and profitable.
For my own sake, I could spend every day in the kitchen experimenting, but I like fermenting my dough at least 2 days so that also adds to how fast and how much I can work on food.
The rest, I'm kind of always thinking about it. I wake up thinking about how I can expand, how I can market myself better to sell more, what other ways can I bring in a profit for the business etc..
You’ve worked with pretty neat beverage partners like Topo Chico, Wineworks For Everyone, and Nomadica. In your opinion, what’s the best drink to pair with your pizzas?
Definitely something light! I'm going for a feeling that leaves you light but satisfied, and would want the drink to make you feel the same. I'm still figuring it out though!
What are the craziest, most daring toppings you’d put on an adventurous pizza?
Haha. I honestly haven't been too crazy, and I don't feel the need! My focus has been trying to find the best ingredients to coax flavor out of. The toppings are definitely more inspired by Italian style pizzas.. that said, I put edible flowers on some for a couple weeks and loved the extra freshness it provided!
As COVID continues to shift everyone’s goals, plans, and futures, what aspirations do you have for your music, photography, and/or pizza business?
Musically, I'd love to keep improving my musicianship, my songwriting etc. I'd love to keep honing my style but also experimenting and putting myself outside my comfort zone. The rest is in the air.
Pizza wise, I'd love to keep growing the business and improving my skills. I'd to keep collaborating with other chefs, and learning as much as I can to really be able to do this thing in a (financially) sustainable manner.
Lastly, could you explain some of the picks that you've chosen for this playlist?
Lately I've just been wanting to listen to a mixture of feel good tunes and old favorites. Things to lift me up and make me feel at home in my own skin (which I have not felt in months).
You'll see a mixture of songs from 2013/2015 etc, some local indie friends, some pop bops.
This did make me realize something though: My friends' music IS home.
Stream Blushh and follow the band plus Lingua Fresca on Instagram!
