Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Denitzio.
Lauren, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’m a self-employed artist and musician with a background in illustration, who has spent the majority of their adult life working with other creative professionals, writing music and touring. I grew up in New Jersey where I started drawing and playing music when I was in elementary school. Between majoring in illustration at Rhode Island School of Design and getting my MFA at Parsons, I’ve been lucky to have the opportunity to focus on my creative practice and the discipline it takes to sustain that. I lived in Brooklyn for a decade, where I helped found a feminist collective called For The Birds, went to grad school and became a studio manager and project assistant for my previous professors. I moved to Los Angeles once my band Worriers had a more reliable recording and touring schedule, making it possible for me to explore the creative community here and still maintain that project. We’ve toured internationally and I look forward to getting back to that next year if we can.
Has it been a smooth road?
I have to acknowledge that I’ve had a lot of advantages afforded to me, so I can’t say that it has been an entirely rocky road. But between major health challenges as a child and young adult, combined with navigating self-employment and freelancing during the 2008 financial crisis, it hasn’t always been easy. I feel very fortunate to be able to live in Los Angeles now, tour all over the world and often work with people I’ve admired for a very long time. Being able to do those things has absolutely come with a lot of stress and precarity and tears, but it has been worth it!
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
While a lot of people might know me from my band Worriers, I’m also an artist and illustrator who often works with other artists and creative companies as a project manager. One thing I’ve learned from juggling my own projects for so long is how to keep things organized, how to set goals and what all the variables are along the way. My own work focuses on reimagining women, non-binary, and queer folks in their domestic spaces, often through drawing, painting and zines. I primarily collaborate with women/non-binary/queer-owned businesses and try to offer a look into my process along with other tips and resources through my weekly newsletter Get It Together.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love the sunshine, obviously, but also how friendly a lot of other artists and musicians have been since I moved here. I think the collaborative vibe here has been really encouraging.
I’ve been really disappointed by how the local government has not addressed the housing crisis in a meaningful way. Residents have voted for more affordable housing but it just hasn’t happened.
Contact Info:
- Website: laurendenitzio.com or worriersmusic.com
- Email: worriersmusic@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/lauren_denitzio and instagram.com/worriersmusic
- Facebook: facebook.com/worriersmusic
- Twitter: twitter.com/worriersmusic
- Newsletter: getittogether.substack.com
Image Credit:
Rebecca Lader, Dan Ozzi, Joe DelTufo, Aperture for Destruction
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