We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ambur Rockell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ambur thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

As a teenager my single, young Mother & Grandmother -otherwise very strict- allowed me artistic freedom in the most outlandish ways. I had murals of chalk on my walls & my clothing style was not limited in any way. If I wanted to wear fishnets, have fuscia colored hair, paint my face, or dawn tiger pants or something risqué- she didn’t prohibit me. Dressing “immodest” was after all what the patriarchal construct considered taboo.

Of course that led to me being homeschooled because high-school had clothing rules. This empowered me in later years, as I flourished, incorporating burlesque into my paintings, photographs & musical life. I embraced my eccentricity at an early age.

Ambur, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a multi-dimensional artist who relays mystic tales through song, prose, illustrations and burlesque theatrics. I have been self-taught, as art schools have repeatedly rejected me for poverty which has made me richer in my pursuits of rising against the system..

I deem myself a rebel, an outlaw enchantress who fearlessly unveils colonization, religious socialization, through my feminism & pagan spirituality. I am evermore trying to awaken souls to their sacred nature.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Artistic expression is for me an outlet, when otherwise I would be paralyzed with the travails of life. During a period of grieving loved ones, one after another, I found my voice. It was the early croaks of a night bird and over the years she has learned to sing.

I find that when I create mythical places, characters & song, I am able to be fully honest in a way that would otherwise put me in a position of vulnerability. The first song I wrote to express my grief was Valley De Muerte, a place that represented death. I put my Father, my Lover & my friend into one single character and mourned him in this place where the moon had not dared to shine. It was a place set in the Wild West, a Bandito lover who had been slayed by a snake. When I would sing this, they wanted more of the story. And so…. I kept spinning the western tales, my life reimagined in a mystical frontier land.

The Midnight Balladera was the novella born of this…we held an art show for the illustrations I inked of the characters and story, as well as a book release of the 8×11” hand bound books I created diy. The album followed…7 years later, which I just completed recording last month. Currently I am preparing for the release of the songs and writing the musical script. The musical will be full of grit, burlesque & of course magic.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Joseph Campbell’s Hero with 1000 faces unlocked the doors to mythology, spirituality and psychology for me. The archetypes of the world, of life, of the feminine & masculine so well broken down to the bones. The soul & flesh of your story is where the magician comes in.

Another staple for me has been Soiled Doves: Prostitution in the Wild West really snapped me out of my romantic view of the frontier times. I loved westerns movies, Honky Tonk & while I still do…I could not ignore the often covered up history of depredations on natives, women & pagans alike while our country was being founded. Again with the taboo territory , I’m unafraid to go there.

Lastly, A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf was a remarkable view during 1929. It’s crazy to me that women have only been allowed college education less than 200 years ago. “Women and fiction remain, so far as I am concerned, unsolved problems.” – Virgina Woolf

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.witchywestern.com
• Instagram: Witchywestern
• Facebook: Themidnightballadera
• Youtube: Witchywestern

Image Credits
Paige Butler Anthony Tran All illustrations by author