Today we’d like to introduce you to Adrienne Lavey

Hi Adrienne, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

I’m someone who has always been attracted to things that are misunderstood. Having had intellectual curiosity from a young age, I have a drive to not only understand the thing that is misunderstood, but by making it more accessible to others by educating them about it.

Around the same time in my formative years, I became part of the gothic subculture, became fascinated with absinthe, and began pursuing study in operatic voice. These are all things that are misunderstood, mischaracterized, and misconstrued to push an agenda. Demystifying these things to my audience has been a great joy of mine for more than a decade.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?

It absolutely has not been a smooth road. Something that affects my involvement in all three of my passions was growing up in a small town.

As a goth, growing up in a small town with no goth scene near you can be incredibly isolating, fighting the constant bullying from other students, at times teachers, and other members of your community. I was lucky enough to have a best friend that was also a goth, but it was still us two against a conservative small town of seven thousand people in the middle of the desert.

Being in a small town also drastically affected my pursuit of being an opera singer. If you’re from a small town that values giant posters of the star athletes over getting a new piano for our neglected music program, your only hope of “making it” was getting noticed in voice competitions. However, those voice competitions force you into a box in order to even be considered worthy of recognition. If you’re not white, don’t have a Disney princess-sounding voice (that really has nothing to do with real opera) and don’t believe in standing as still and inanimate as a statue while you’re singing, you can forget about winning those competitions and your future as an opera singer. I fit into none of those categories. I’m mixed race, I have a bigger and heavier voice, and I don’t believe in statue-still performances. Thankfully by moving closer to the Seattle area, I’ve overcome this obstacle by finding an incredible voice teacher who believed in bringing out the natural, unique quality of my mezzo-soprano voice as well as expressing myself fully when I perform. I’ve taken great joy in producing my own shows and garnering my own following.
Hopefully I’ll get to join an opera company eventually, but I’m too busy having fun with my performances, unbound.

As far as absinthe is concerned, growing up in a small town makes it even more difficult to properly educate people about absinthe. The only thing small town folk “know” and regurgitate are the stigma and the myths: it’s hallucinogenic, poisonous, addictive, toxic. It’s not easy to find a good quality absinthe in a small town, let alone an acceptable mid-shelf brand. Another thing that made getting into the world of absinthe difficult is the unspoken truth that the alcohol industry is very much dominated by men. Being a young woman of mixed race definitely sets me apart from a lot of alcohol content creators. Misogyny does play a huge part in some of the challenges I’ve faced as an absinthe content creator. Your gender should not lessen your credibility or standing in the world of absinthe.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?

I love featuring new and neglected goth artists that fall under the umbrella of goth music on my YouTube channel. New bands and bands that were circulating in the 90’s and early 2000’s are often overshadowed by the post-punk bands from the 80’s most often cited as goth. I love showing other aesthetics and sounds to people. I also enjoy featuring neglected pieces of gothic literature other than “the staples” of gothic literature, such as “Dracula”, “Frankenstein”, and the works of Edgar Allan Poe. I love Poe as much as the next goth girl, but I love sharing the hidden gems that are off the beaten path that don’t get as much love.

As an opera singer, my purpose isn’t just to become an opera singer. It’s to make opera more accessible and more fun. Many have remarked that “opera is boring” and what they’re seeing are singers that win voice competitions that are only there to regurgitate the music that is written on the page. The gatekeepers in the opera world unfortunately want perfect technique and no expression. My approach is to go back to opera used to be in the 19th century, as well as how it should be now: loved by all classes of people (not just the rich), making opera larger than life, dramatic, and exciting again, being true to the vision the composer wanted (and not just regurgitating the music written on the page) and celebrating voices of all ethnicities, voice types, and self-expression.

As an absinthe content creator, I believe I have a unique approach. There was more than a decade of written reviews on the Wormwood Society’s website for many different absinthe brands. Using their format of grading absinthe, I was the first creator to make absinthe reviews in video format, allowing my honest first impressions to be observed in real time. I also educate people about absinthe by dispelling the myths and misconceptions. I’ve also had an absinthe distiller on my platform to help in dispelling those myths as well. In the spirit (pardon the pun) of making things more approachable, I also offer different cocktails with absinthe that my viewers can enjoy to get introduced to absinthe if they feel intimidated by it.

What’s next?

Toward the end of September, I’ll be celebrating my 30th birthday. My husband and I will be going to France for ten days to not only celebrate my 30th birthday, but also our third wedding anniversary. We’ll be spending a few days in Paris, and then visiting my friend Ted Breaux at the Combier Distillery where he makes his absinthe products. After that, it will be my first time attending the Absintheaides, which is an absinthe festival in Pontarlier. I’m sure this trip will be very motivating and inspiring for my future endeavors!

I’ve started planning another perfume collaboration with Séance Perfumes that will be in the works in a couple months. I did an absinthe perfume collaboration with them and Jade Liqueurs in 2023, so I know this future collaboration will be incredible! I can’t wait to get everything going!

I’m also planning my next operatic concert in spring or summer of 2025 in Seattle, which will be a showcase of the work of my favorite composer, Gaetano Donizetti. The venue is secured, it’s just a matter of finding the right date. It’s my way of showing my love and appreciation for Donizetti’s work, since it was his work that made me want to be an opera singer.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ligeias-curious-shoppe.creator-spring.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adriennelavey
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LigeiaResurrectedFanPage
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/adriennelavey
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@adriennelavey
• Other: https://www.threads.net/@adriennelavey

Image Credits

Photos by Rowan and Elle Studios and Priya Alahan Photography