Emily Frembgen On Instant Oatmeal and Stage Fright

Emily Frembgen (credit Adrian Buckmaster)

Photo credit: Adrian Buckmaster

Tell us about your tour vehicle.

I can’t drive! My mom never had a car when I was growing up then we moved to New York when I was fifteen. Very grateful for the folks who have toured with me despite this.

How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?

Soup is always a good bet! And instant oatmeal.

How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?

I can’t remember the last time I broke a string so I definitely don’t practice enough! That reminds me I should probably change my strings before tour. Shamefully, I probably only change them once every couple years if that.

Where do you rehearse?

I’ve just started playing with these guys who rehearse in a basement that one of them lives in. He has a cat which is a big plus. When something crazy happened there you’ll be the first to know.

What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?

There’s a VHS somewhere of five-or-so year old me singing a song called “P for a lot of things” while a cat squirms around in my arms. It was about how a lot of words start with the letter “P”, most notably the word “Pee Pee.”

Describe your first gig.

I think it was at Wax Trax Records in Denver when I was about twenty-three. I had put out a lot of recordings before that but I suffered from pretty severe stage fright. I think it went alright though I’ve only recently really started to enjoy playing in front of people.

What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?

I worked at a vegan doughnut place for eight years until the pandemic hit. I put on shows there after hours. Before that I worked in movie theatres for twelve years. I had been working in the service industry since I was fifteen and haven’t gone back since the Pandemic. Now I just have the occasional pet-sitting job and I’m trying to make the music thing work.

How has your music-related income changed over the past 5-10 years? What do you expect it to look like 5-10 years from now?

I’m spending more than I get, that’s for sure! I’m hoping that changes but all I can do is keep going.

What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?

I let people make me feel inadequate more than I should have. So I guess that one thing is: I don’t suck!

Emily Frembgen released her first proper studio album with producer Hugh Pool (Taj Mahal, Debbie Harry, Michael Pitt) at Excello Studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, in 2021. Irreverently titled It’s Me or the Dog, it was received warmly by critics and radio alike, with New York Music Daily naming it “one of the best records of 2021” and Glide Magazine calling it “a strong study in writing both melodies and powerful lyrics.” In many ways, it looked like her career was just beginning, but it took a long time to get to the beginning.

“Frembgen” comes from the Old German for “little stranger,” and Emily is used to being one. Born in Denver to a single mother, Emily spent her childhood bouncing from Colorado to Baltimore then finally to New York City in 2000. Her first love was musical theatre and she tried her hand at acting as a preteen but as soon as she heard Lou Reed she knew all she wanted to do was write songs. She dropped out of high school and spent most days in her room listening to CDs she bought with her paycheck from Canal Jeans on Broadway. Still restless, she traveled around some more as a young adult but always found her way back to New York. There she slowly started to gain traction in the local music scene largely by way of comedy, producing variety shows at the doughnut shop where she worked. This led to co-writing and performing the theme song to Kate Willett’s popular podcast “Reply Guys,” touring with Ben Kronberg (Last Comic Standing), and having Clare O’Kane (Saturday Night Live, Shrill) direct the music video for her single “Fentanyl.”

Emily also became part of the Antifolk community that originated at the Sidewalk Cafe on the Lower East Side. There, she starred alongside Jason Trachtenburg (Trachtenburg Family Slideshow) in his musical Me & Lee. She became a mainstay at Knitting Factory where she ran a weekly Americana series for several years and opened for Wayne Hancock, John Craigie, Daniel Rodriguez, and Paisley Fields. In 2024, she signed with Don Giovanni Records (Screaming Females, Laura Stevenson, Bad Bad Hats) and made her debut as an official artist at their SXSW showcase.

No Hard Feelings, her latest album, was released on 13 September. Connect with Frembgen online and on the road.