The Sailor Jerry Podcast

69 - Karen Dió

• Hosted by Matt Caughthran • Season 1 • Episode 69

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From the vibrant streets of Brazil to the charming coast near Brighton, UK, Karen Dió brings a fusion of cultures to our latest episode with stories that resonate with the soul.  As an artist who's ridden the waves from metalcore bands to punk rock anthems, Karen's journey is a testament to the heart's resilience and music's power to bridge continents.

Striking a chord with music aficionados and dreamers alike, Karen reveals the behind-the-scenes of her viral success with "Sick Ride" and the punk rock essence that fuels her craft. She's candid about the challenges of starting afresh in the UK after leaving a mark in Brazil, and her vision of bringing her melodies to American audiences. Her story is one of relentless passion, reflecting the grind and glory of independent artistry and the cultural transitions that shape an artist's voice.

Rounding off our time together, we raise a toast to the inspiring female figures in the music industry, with Karen sharing her admiration for icons like Madonna. But it's not just about looking up to the stars; it's also about dreaming big ourselves. Karen muses on time-travel wishes, health and happiness over wealth, and the deep-seated yearning to appreciate every note in life's grand symphony.  As always, brought to you by Sailor Jerry!

https://www.instagram.com/karendioxx/
https://sailorjerry.com
https://brazilfoundation.org

Speaker 1:

Hey yo Karen Dio. What's up, how are you?

Speaker 2:

I'm okay. How are you?

Speaker 1:

I'm good. I'm good. It is awesome and a pleasure to have you as a guest here on the Sailor Jerry podcast. So thank you very much for taking the time.

Speaker 2:

Of course I'm very happy to be here. Actually, it's an honor for me.

Speaker 1:

Well, I appreciate that. I appreciate that. Are you in? You're in England right now, right?

Speaker 2:

Yes, I'm in the UK, not in London. I'm in St Denis, which is a bit close to Brighton, very close to the beach. I feel a bit more home when I have a nature environment around me.

Speaker 1:

I miss Brazil but yeah, I'm in the UK now. Well, I kind of wanted to start because you are the first Brazilian that we've had on the podcast.

Speaker 2:

Wow.

Speaker 1:

I know it's awesome and you know what's not awesome is the flooding that's going on right now in southern Brazil. And you know I wanted to start the episode off with just a little bit of you know love for Brazil, a little background on Brazilian culture, and to kind of give our of you know love for Brazil, a little background on Brazilian culture and to kind of give our audience you know the kinds of ins and outs of what makes it such a special place. You know, as a musician fortunate enough to travel mostly everywhere never been to South America, never been to Brazil and it's such a historically incredible place for music. What is it about Brazilian culture that is so unique and so cool and so special?

Speaker 2:

Well, first of all, thank you so much for mentioning about what's happening in Rio Grande do Sul. Actually, that makes me a bit emotional about it. I'm not from that area in specific, but I do have friends over there about it. I'm not from that area any specific, but I do have friends over there and you know I there's so many um, if you see the situation right now, it's it's very sad. So I appreciate it mentioned that and if anyone can stop and have a look and also donate because, like, just like basic things like fresh water, you know, clean water, we, we don't have that right now, and so also, people can understand the dimension, like, oh, like the size of Rio Grande do Sul is kind of the same size as um UK in like more than 350 cities were affected by that. So it's like it's it's a huge thing that's going on. So, yeah, I appreciate you mentioning and anyone could who can donate um to Brazil right now is going to be very important. And about culture, yes, I guess, like Brazil is such like an amazing place. It's very kind of hard for people to go to South America and that's why it's such a huge thing when we say, like, come to Brazil because, like we love music and we are very passionate about it, all the bands, like we really want them to come because, like, we're ready and once you're there and I hope, like one day, you can go really soon, hopefully you will see, like how passionate we are Because, like, who knows, like when the band will come back again.

Speaker 2:

You know, I remember when I saw Foo Fighters for the first time and that was like 2011. And it took them like 2011 and it took them like 10 years, um for them to come back. Like they came 2001 and then took them 10 years and they went back 2011. That was my first shows um scene and I was like, oh my god, the whole crowd in sao paulo was just like was I think it was lola palooza, the first lola palooza as well like it was such a massive thing, was so special. And you know, for me that was a quite like teenager, like getting young, um, still very young as a such a huge thing.

Speaker 2:

Brazil is a very multi-diverse. You have like um cultures, like from everywhere in in the whole world, like we have like Asian um families, families, we have italians families and the north and the south um, as um hugo grande do so is like german and and I think from netherland as well like it's so culturally diverse and you know, and music is one thing that kind of connects all of us and the whole world, and even more in bra, and it's just like how we communicate, I feel like, maybe because we also like I guess I can say like third world country, you know, and music is kind of what makes us keep going and keep working and pushing hard, how we connect in the end of the day after working. So much you know.

Speaker 1:

So yeah, art in general is a huge thing for us yeah, I, I hope to one day be able to come down there and and play some shows and for people listening, uh, brazilfoundationorg is a spot that you can donate. Um, you can go there and donate. Uh, you know, like karen's saying, anything helps, anything helps. And you mentioned Come to Brazil and that's one of the greatest things. It's like a little I don't know how inside of a joke it is at this point in the music world, but for our listeners out there, come to Brazil. Is this kind of universal comment that Brazilians make. Is this kind of universal comment that Brazilians make? And especially now, in the days of social media, where an artist can post about anything and everything, there's always a comment that says come to Brazil. It could be you know the artist posting, you know what they're making for dinner. They could be saying, hey guys, I just want to let you know my dog died. And the comments will say come to Brazil.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think it was a person that I can't remember right now, who I saw post. That was basically like that. Someone posted something very random and not a Brazilian, like an American person said come to Brazil. And he wasn't even like in Brazil. It's a huge thing and I love it. I love the fact that people, um and I think I feel like it's the word adopted this from themselves. You know, like the fact that it's still like people mention it. It's just so cool, like it's our now we are we as a brazilian, we have a such a great sense of humor and it's just fun to see like now the whole world has this as well, like it's a our inside joke with the whole world. You know what I mean. I just love that.

Speaker 1:

That's awesome, yeah, and I know you know for for our music listeners out there. You know you know, like Iron Maiden, for example, rock in Rio, all these huge, a lot of these. You know a lot of it's. You know it's stuff that'll give you chills over your whole body, some of the moments that you can watch on YouTube. Or you know bands have put out live records and that whole thing, so it's definitely a super special place. What about? You know, I know you've done your time in in the local scenes there. What's it like on a local level? How's, like you know, the the punk scene, indie scene, like from the street level, club level type stuff? What's the music scene like in brazil?

Speaker 2:

um, well, I've been a lot in punk and hardcore scene and you know, like, rock is not. If you're not big unfortunately it's not it's not like people don't give much attention. They. They will basically, um, you know, I mean like the mainstream right, the, the whole crowd they will give you more attention when you start to get like big and get other other people attention.

Speaker 2:

So it's I really like give a lot of value to all the the small bands in the country because they're doing this, because they love you know, like financially it's really heartbreaking and if someone just can't do it and they have to quit, I can't even say like no, keep going, because sometimes it's just too hard. You know, like, but, um, fan base, like those people that go go, they are always in the shows. I remember in my previous band I would have the same fans going and supporting us and it's just amazing when they're there they're so supportive, they appreciate so much, you know, because it is hard. So those people that make the scene actually happen, they like they're very connected really together. So it is a very strong scene, for example, like the punk scene, and there is like the very strong crowd and those who are there like really appreciate it yeah, it's really cool that you know brazil champions punk and hardcore the way they do, especially like you're saying.

Speaker 1:

You know it's it's not just uh, the huge bands that go over there and get uh get a great response. You know there's there's smaller punk bands. You know hardcore bands that I know personally uh, go over to Brazil and it's a very grassroots, diy type of operation. It's not like they're going over there, you know, and to you know, like when you, when you tour Japan, for example, like it's super everything's done already for you, it's super organized and laid out.

Speaker 1:

And, like you know, I from what I've yeah, from from what I've heard of my friends going, going and playing in Brazil, it's much more kind of you know, it's much more loose, you know, but it's incredible. You know, but it's incredible and I can imagine, you know that it's dope. So, you know, shout out to Brazil. You know. Again, if you want to donate to brazilfoundationorg to help what's going on down there in Southern Brazil with the floods, that would be amazing. You know, hang in there.

Speaker 1:

All the people in Brazil we love you and you know, right on, I wanted to kind of move on from that now and get into your musical background and everything, because it's kind of crazy, it really is. You know, like I, I didn't know how deep it went. You know, I didn't really know how long you've been playing music and I was so stoked to find that out because it's really cool when you see someone who has dedicated their life to music and you know all the ebbs and flows and ups and downs that come along with that. And if you want to get a little bit of insight for people watching listening out there, the so Funny video which is out, right, that's out.

Speaker 2:

Yes, it's out.

Speaker 1:

It's got a pretty rad. You know little kind of video montage of basically your whole musical life. And you're very much on to this new, awesome, incredible solo phase of your career. And we're not going to live in the past here in the podcast, but I do kind of want to just brush through it so people understand. I mean, you grew up basically was it a musical family or was just everyone into music?

Speaker 2:

everyone was very into music in my family. Like my grandpa, he used to like be like little like dj not professional dj in like I don't know 1940s or 1950s, but like he was like he really liked music and he would like have make parties and play music and be the DJ of the party and like, if we do make a party, um, he would probably put his vinyls on and play some Frank Sinatra and Beatles and all this stuff. Like he's he loved music and my whole family really liked music. Yeah, so if I can like go a little bit back and tell a bit of my story, I've been making music since I was 13 years old.

Speaker 2:

I know I look people say I look like I'm 20, but I'm 33 years old. I'm going to be 34 at the end of the year, so I'm basically more than 20 years now making music. You know, professionally I could say a bit less, but like I've been in band since I'm basically more than 20 years now making music. You know, professionally I could say a bit less, but like I've been in bands since I'm 13 years old. So I've been in like school bands and like bands like that play around pop punk, and then I went to like hard rock, which is like I don't know Scorpios and shit like that, and then I crossed it and I went to.

Speaker 2:

Popstar the whole, you know the whole. When you're growing you don't know exactly what you actually want to play, you know, and you're kind of like exploring. And I did that while I was having all these bands and while I was growing up, I played everything that I was liking at the time. So, oh, I like Ozzy Osbourne, let's play some Ozzy Osbourne. And you know, I like metalcore and I played metalcore, you know. But punk rock was kind of always there, you know, and I always really loved it. And so I was growing up I had all these bands and in 2017, I was like you know, I'm tired. I think you know all bands work a little bit, and then it's like it's a very strong relationship, it's like you're married to like loads of people and it's a lot of commitment and sometimes it doesn't work. So I was like I'm tired, like of having been, so I'm gonna go with my solo career.

Speaker 2:

I moved to Sao Paulo. I said to my dad dad, I'm going to Sao Paulo to study. And I was actually lying. I was going to just find a job and like record my like songs and stuff like that. I moved to to Sao Paulo. I fired the first job, which was like in a shopping mall and I saved money enough to record my first single, which was Stuart, as a solo artist. But then the person I was writing the song with, which is Murilo, you know like it was. We were kind of writing loads of really nice songs. I would show some songs for him and he was like this is great, but you could change this and that and vice versa. So he was like, why don't we make a band? I was like, ah, that's the last. I literally just released my solo career. Why would I make a band? But you know, um, in the end I was like you know what, let's try. It was literally my last breath, like, let would I make a band. But you know, um, in the end I was like you know what, let's try. It was literally my last breath, like, let's try, make a band. And I'm really glad that I did, because if I didn't have Violet Soto, wouldn't, you know, I wouldn't be here right now. I wouldn't even met my husband, you know.

Speaker 2:

So it was an awesome four years. It was very intense, very intense. As you know, like I was mentioning, brazil in a rock scene is very like. It's really hard work and we worked a lot. Um, we were doing everything ourselves, like literally everything social media, because I'm a designer as well and he's like, basically, he's um, how do you say that? Um word, he's a journalist, so he would write stuff and I would make the assets, and we were doing like almost like a factory, you know, like just doing like he's very organized and stuff like that. And we did great For years. We grew a lot. I saw us playing to literally no one for the like to the band that played previously, you know, like four people on stage and us to like playing to a thousand people and being hand in lining shows, and that was super cool.

Speaker 2:

But then the pandemic happened and that changed our whole course. I had to move to the UK. My husband has a health condition that he was hospitalized in 2021. And I was like, if anything happened while I'm in Brazil, I would never forgive myself. So I said to the guys I have to move to the UK and that was it. They were okay. I said, let's try. They didn't want to try and that was it. That was fine.

Speaker 2:

I moved to the UK. I, you know, I had to start it all over again. So I took my first year to organize, you know, find a job, have money, settle in the country, you know, get used to everything. It's so crazy, like when you're in a different country, like even how people think, especially Portuguese, to English we say the sentence like all the way around. So we would say just in the opposite way. So it's so many things that you kind of have to get used to, you know. So that was it.

Speaker 2:

I took a whole year to settle down and just figure out myself, figure out my shit, and after that, so, like you know, let's do music again. I my intention was just to go slow, like no one knows me in uk, no one knows me anywhere. So let's you know, break by break, just release a song and go for it, and that's what I did. But my first song was sick ride and then went viral and the whole shit happened and I was like holy moly, that was crazy and very exciting. And here we are. So I released sick ride and I really it's so funny. And now I have a bit um other songs that I'm gonna drop very soon, but this is where I am now that's so cool and and thank you for sharing that it's.

Speaker 1:

It's rad, it's rad to hear it from you and you know there's. You know, like you said, being in a band is super, super tough. There's so many things that go into it and you know, having to choose between your creative heart and your human heart is, you know, I mean, that's that's. That's a tough choice. You're obviously going to go human heart every time, normally, I think, but still that's a tough thing and I know COVID played a big part in all that too. And it's just one thing you said in one of your reels that really struck with me was that being an independent artist is exhausting, oh my God. And, like you're saying, you know you've had a lot of different kind of goes at it throughout and it's all. It's all just your story.

Speaker 1:

But you know there's moments where you know if you have a certain project or a band, you release music, you get excited and if that doesn't take off or do what it wants to do, it hurts you.

Speaker 1:

I mean, it takes a toll, you know.

Speaker 1:

And then having to start all over and finding the creative energy, finding the creative direction you know finding, like you're saying, moving to a place, a new place getting settled, because you know there's people who can create in all sorts of circumstances. For me personally, I kind of need to have, you know, like, at least like a base, like you know, like, okay, I got, you know, I'm not living on the street, I know what I'm doing. I have, like you know, in order for my kind of mind to be able to kind of function properly and clearly creatively, I need to kind of have some sort of like base, of structure, you know. So you know, you establishing that for yourself first makes a lot of sense to me and it had to feel so rad, you know, to get back on your feet slowly but surely, and Sick Ride comes out and it's just this super cool, catchy fucking song and it just takes off because, you know, one, the song's great. Two, the video and everything that came along with it was just super cool.

Speaker 2:

That was the most cheapest thing in the world. Like, bless him. Like Tom who helped me to do the music video the lowest budget as possible, bless him. He was so nice. Shout out to Tom. I was like Tom Brooker, he nailed it. It was so good.

Speaker 1:

It's rad and for people who haven't heard it yet, you can obviously check it out on Spotify and all the streaming platforms. And then so funny came after and congrats on your deal with Hopeless.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, you know that's incredible.

Speaker 1:

So let's kind of step into the present here. What is you know what's going on with your writing process right now? What's your goal? Are you writing a record? Are you just going to do singles? Where's your head at right now?

Speaker 2:

Everything is quite uncertain. So like, thank you so much. I just signed Hopeless and there is a lot that we're chatting seeing how it's going to be the best next step, you know. So I feel like we will release more singles, not like a whole record I'm pretty sure that will turn into a whole record, you know but like. So there's still like two singles that I it's already recorded and everything and I can show you later. Uh, there's two songs that is already recorded and everything. So I'm definitely gonna drop that.

Speaker 2:

And I'm also organizing myself to play gigs, which is like I have already. This is like no one knows that, only you and now, who is watching as well. I have already one show booked, not gonna tell anything more than that, and but I'm pitching loads of other gigs as well. So it's really exciting and I don't think I'm gonna uh play gigs like in a in the summer might be like the end of summer, but I'm so looking forward to. We're already talking about america, which is gonna be really awesome, but like, still more like focusing the uk and here in europe.

Speaker 2:

But this is super cool, like I'm very exciting organizing myself, like figuring out how it's gonna be the band, and, yeah, I can't wait some, some like I'm also writing loads and loads of song so I can also have, you know, a really cool half an hour gig. The problem is like I'm making songs that last like 49 seconds. People are so mad like I love this song but it's too short. But, like man, it's punk rock music. What are you expecting? Like you know what I mean. Yeah, I'm like, I'm trying. I probably have to probably make like 50 songs so I can have a half an hour gig. But it's very, very exciting.

Speaker 1:

Like, yes, I'm organizing myself like gigs are coming, making loads of music singles coming really soon punk record I heard was uh, was the crew by seven seconds and I was so surprised like it because I grew up on metal, you know. So, like you know, like records, you know songs were like three to five minutes. You know, sometimes the epics were, you know, into like seven, eight minute type shit yeah, and so when I heard a song and it was like 14 seconds long, it was like it blew my whole mind.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

I was like you can do that. I had no idea. You know, and I love when a song is short, to the point and gives you everything you want. You know it's got good lyrics and melody. You know, even if it's like just an outro instead of a chorus or however you do it song, structurally it's just about what it makes you feel, rather than how long it is. And sometimes, sometimes I find myself like going listening to a song and being like like this song is too long.

Speaker 2:

I agree, I completely agree, I completely agree, and you said everything like I don't. We don't need exactly three minutes to express what we want to say. You have to feel the vibe of the song, and sometimes 49 seconds is literally all you need. It's like enough to make you pump like fuck Maxi, you know, like that's all you need.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely, Absolutely. So let's talk about songwriting real quick. You know what? What makes a good song to you?

Speaker 2:

Oh man, there's a thing that I always say I like to add a little bit of anger and danger in my songs and I call it poison, and I stole that idea from a friend of mine called Chucky Polito.

Speaker 2:

He always said like you, you need poison in a song, and I don't even know what that means, but for me, the poison of a song when you have a little bit of like danger and anger, it's that thing that you're like, mmm, you know like it's the spice, you know it's the spiciness in the song. So I always feel like I can't say like I'm a very angry woman. I feel like probably like when you say there's something with a cause.

Speaker 1:

Rebel with a cause? Yes, exactly.

Speaker 2:

I always have that and I always bring that to my songs. I'm kind of like you see, I'm always angry. Even if I'm being sarcastic or I'm being ironic, I always have this element of angriness and danger. I feel like that's what brings the poison and what makes you listen to it. That's one of the things that I do. I think I also do very catchy chorus when I'm writing the songs. I don't know, maybe it's because I grew up listening to a lot of pop music, you know, and that's include, like Spice Girls and, I don't know, avril Lavigne, you know, and all this stuff. So I feel like my, my chorus when I'm writing is always like very hook and get you, you know, like sometimes it's very repetitive, which makes it even more exciting. So, yeah, so those are the things that sometimes, when I'm writing songs, that I'm always, but you know, when I'm writing songs, that's what can also make a bit different when I'm writing my songs.

Speaker 2:

I'm writing my songs in a Brazilian perspective.

Speaker 2:

I know I'm still writing in English, but sometimes the way that I think in Portuguese is what makes it different when I'm writing the song, and then I think that's also what makes it even a bit more special, like my husband, also called Matt, and sometimes I'm speaking with him and I do say something that is actually more Portuguese, even in English, and he was like this is so awesome, like can we write it down?

Speaker 2:

Just save it? Like I have like a whole note, like we've just random ideas of me saying things in English, portuguese, you know, and that's why it's also very cool, I think, if, depending like it doesn't matter if you're like American or not, who you are and where it came from, you don't have to change and adapt for as necessary, that language you like me. Right now I'm pretty sure I'm not speaking 100 english, but you can understand, you know and that's what. Or you can use it and what can be special when you're writing a song if you're like asian person, if you're south american person, you know if you're from um other countries in Europe. So yeah, Awesome, awesome.

Speaker 1:

Have you played in the States yet?

Speaker 2:

No, I've never been like anywhere else but like UK and Brazil now, so I'm really excited to play in the US, really excited. Yes, it's my biggest fan base now, at least on Instagram it's my biggest fan base, so I'm like really looking forward to it.

Speaker 1:

That's cool, okay. Fan base now, at least on instagram, is my biggest fan base. I'm like really looking forward to that's cool, okay. So we're gonna move on to, uh, some pickems now, which is I'm gonna basically, you know, name some artists, some bands, some places, some things, and you're gonna tell me which one you like the best okay uh, so we're gonna start out with with Madonna or Gwen Stefani.

Speaker 2:

Madonna.

Speaker 1:

Nice, nice, did you see the crowd she just had?

Speaker 2:

That was insane, Honestly. People from different countries were going to Rio de Janeiro and that's like nuts, Like honestly amazing shows. You nail it and it's so cool to see that she's very active and doing her thing. It's so cool. But that blew my mind the amount of people that I would be like I wouldn't go. I was so scared.

Speaker 1:

So many people, it's crazy yeah, absolutely crazy, uh, green day or blink 182 green day nice courtney love or brody doll oh, that's a tricky one.

Speaker 2:

I will go with Brody.

Speaker 1:

Nice Uh lyrics or melody.

Speaker 2:

Lyrics.

Speaker 1:

Nice, uh, debbie, harry or Blondie or Joan Jett.

Speaker 2:

Joan Jett.

Speaker 1:

Badass. All right, uh, friends or followers.

Speaker 2:

Friends.

Speaker 1:

A hundred percent. Some people. Some people are like hey, I got enough friends, Give me the followers, Weezer or the Pixies.

Speaker 2:

Oh man, you come with the hard ones now Weezer.

Speaker 1:

Nice, hayley Williams or Lana Del Rey.

Speaker 2:

Oh, Hayley Williams.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, she's such a badass. Uh, okay, this is, uh, this is a classic battle. The karens, here we're going. Karen o from the yayayas, or karen carpenter, the drummer and singer of the carpenters yes, oh my god, k's not fair, by the way, I would go.

Speaker 2:

Oh my god, I would go with Cario Maps is just one of the most beautiful songs In the whole world.

Speaker 1:

So it really is. It really is Guitar or vocals.

Speaker 2:

Vocals, then Vocals.

Speaker 1:

That's what I'm talking about. And last question here Brazil or the UK?

Speaker 2:

Brazil A hundred percent Brazil, a hundred percent Brazil. Gosh, living here, I love the UK, don't get me wrong. I love the UK, I love the people and it's crazy to see the difference between those countries, but your home is your home. You know what I mean. Like it's, it's I am who I am because of my country. So yeah, brazil, come to Brazil guys.

Speaker 1:

Awesome, all right, uh, a couple of questions from the internet. Here we got it. We got a lot of questions from the internet, so it was. It was really cool. What was the first guitar that you owned, and do you still have it?

Speaker 2:

My first guitar. I think it's a Brazilian band called. Is it Tajima? I think it's Tajima, I can't remember. It's a Supersonic Tajima and I still own. I gave to my friend in Brazil when I moved to the UK. Didn't bring the guitar. I gave to him and he's taking care of her and, yeah, I, I so, but I basically still own the guitar.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, Nice, nice. What is the definitive sick ride? Any car, any era. You know what do you think it is? Or it didn't have to be a car, it could be a motorcycle, it could be a goddamn scooter.

Speaker 2:

Exactly Whatever you think is right. If you want to stay away, just go for it. If you want a scooter, just go for it. It's so nice because I see loads of people using sick ride as a background of their videos and it's everything like people is skating, um, like, skating, um, like um, bikers and cars and everything. So I feel like whatever transport you want to go, even if it is a bus, and you want to have a sick ride because you're going to that gig or you know you're going to that interview, a sick ride is, you know, empowerment while you're going to somewhere is the way is when you go into that place and you have to pump yourself. Sick ride is basically that just have like, be yourself. Get the inside the car, get your skate and have your freedom.

Speaker 1:

Just be yourself hell, yeah, I like that. Um, do you still find yourself fighting? Uh, you know some of the same battles as a female in the music industry, or have things gotten better?

Speaker 2:

um, I feel like things got better, but I'm still finding it definitely big, big time. Uh, I don't want to say shit about men, so sorry, but sometimes the flag, you know, even like trying to get um, our, you know, the feminist flag as a covering up, but they still in a lot of the same way, in a shit way, we now have to be twice as clever as we should be. I'm definitely getting better, but it's still not there. It's a progress, it's a sick ride. It's a sick ride.

Speaker 1:

Who, in your opinion, is the greatest female artist of all time?

Speaker 2:

oh, my god, that's a big question. Um, there's so many amazing women out there, but we mentioned one very important and and I'm pretty sure she's and not just like a rock artist like everybody else, like Madonna, you know, she's so important, just like, not the woman, but like the queer community, you know, and she was so supportive and very supportive to the black community. I feel like Madonna right now is one of the biggest, for sure. Yeah, I kind of think you is one of the biggest, for sure.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I kind of think you got to give the goat to Madonna. I I really do. I was fortunate enough to, you know, to grow up. You know I was still a little young when she was first coming on, but I saw the majority of her career and what she was fighting against, you know, when, like the like a prayer video came out and her music is so good, it's so good. I have like a. I have a bunch of Madonna vinyl singles and it's just you can just sit there.

Speaker 1:

you can sit there all night and just play Madonna songs and it's so it's so much fun.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, she's a hero.

Speaker 1:

It's weird too, because and that's why I was so hyped on that Rio thing because I feel like she's old now and, granted, she's still just 100% her and a lot of people like to harp on that and I feel like the totality of her career is kind of not getting the respect it deserves right now.

Speaker 1:

I think more people are like, more like, look at, you know, she's got like a bbl or whatever, and they're like it's like dude, just let her do her thing. Like her, you know, like her, her career, like she is such a badass yes, she is completely, and you said everything like.

Speaker 2:

It's so amazing the fact that, like, like you said, she's still like going through a lot now, like she's older, like people commenting about that, about her body or about what she's doing, or she do in the stage, you know, and like a lot of conservatives especially like going like and send some comments. So, yeah, she's still fighting, you know, as a, as a woman for sure, shout out, madonna, we love you, yes um a couple, a couple hypotheticals here.

Speaker 1:

I won't take up too much more of your time but uh have you seen bill and ted's excellent adventure? Have you seen? You ever seen that movie?

Speaker 2:

they have like a time machine that comes down oh yeah, I don't think I have to watch it, but I know which one it is.

Speaker 1:

yes, Okay, so let's just basically I'm talking about time travel here, karen okay.

Speaker 2:

No problem, yes.

Speaker 1:

Say, a time machine shows up right outside your doorstep. You can open it up. You can go anywhere anytime in the history of the world. Where would you go first and why?

Speaker 2:

Oh my God, I guess where would I go. I guess I would see the probably loads of people probably talk about that, but I would see, um, uh, nirvana playing in brazil. Not necessarily people mention about go to brazil and see nirvana, but that apparently was such a huge thing, like when they play like I can't remember exactly but it was a whole confusion and they stopped, but like just seeing them live, you know, that would be a huge thing. So, yeah, I think I would go there and I think it was 1992 something, so I was two years old at the time, so I would definitely go back and see them playing live.

Speaker 1:

Awesome, awesome and okay. You come back from your time machine journey, you walk into your apartment, you grab yourself a drink and out of the drink comes the genie. Okay, the genie comes out of the bottle and it says what's up, karen, I'm here. You got one wish and it'll come true. What's your wish?

Speaker 2:

My wish. It would sound silly and I just kind of like it's just one wish. So I just want to have a really be a very healthy life. I don't need much money, I just want to, like, make sure my healthy. You know it's okay, Cause if my body is okay, everything is going to be okay, and not just me. If I can ask for my husband as well, include him in the list.

Speaker 1:

I would ask We'll allow it, we'll allow it. We'll allow it, yeah.

Speaker 2:

I, we'll allow it, we'll allow it, we'll allow it. Yeah, I guess my family should be healthy, and that's the only thing that I actually wish. That's the only thing.

Speaker 1:

Awesome, awesome. Yeah, it seems like you're in a spot right now, creatively and just in life in general, where you know you feel revitalized, music is fun again and life is good, you know. So congrats to you, because you definitely deserve that.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, man, that's really sweet. Thank you Appreciate it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, no problem, no problem. Okay, so this is the Sailor Jerry podcast, and Norman Collins was one of the pioneers of traditional tattooing. I know you've got some tattoos on you. What was your first tattoo?

Speaker 2:

on you. What was your first tattoo? My first tattoo is actually an axe, because that was when I moved to santos, which is where I used to live in brazil. Uh, it's like a. Is that a greek number? Is that how you say greek number? An axe like means 10 yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

Roman numeral yeah, exactly so I made an axe on my uncle and just because that means that I was living for 10 years and centers in, that was like a lot of meaning for me. That city basically like shaped me also, especially musically, like that's when I went more into like hardcore scene and punk stuff. So that was very meaningful so I decided to make an axe.

Speaker 1:

Awesome. What was the? What was your last tattoo that you got? I think it make an X.

Speaker 2:

Awesome. What was the uh? What was your last tattoo that you got? I think it was this one.

Speaker 1:

I nice how long ago was that? Have you gotten one recently or are you done getting tattoos? No, I'm not done.

Speaker 2:

I'm actually desperate to make more tattoos. I'm like man, I need to find a time. Like me, and Matt has so many tattoos ideas, yeah it just needed a little money, but I think that was like five, six years ago, so I do need to make some more tattoos, definitely, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Awesome. Well, uh, Karen, it's been a pleasure talking with you here on the Sailor Jerry podcast.

Speaker 2:

Oh, thank you so much.

Speaker 1:

Of course. Of course, I got one last question for you. It's a little bit of a doozy, but I think you got it. What to you is the meaning of life?

Speaker 2:

The meaning of life is enjoy the journey, is the sick ride. Like so many times I've been, especially with music, I ignored and I was negligent to myself because I want to succeed in music and I was doing, I was pushing myself so hard and I didn't watch what was going around me, you know. So now, especially with COVID, I really slowed down and I, you know, and I actually started to pay attention in life and was around me and I appreciate every day, like my life and my little family, my husband and my two cats. I think the meaning of life is actually live, you know, day by day, which is sometimes it's very hard, but you know there is always the next day. If today is too hard, just carry on. The day after is definitely going to be better and I feel like that's the meaning Just enjoy your sick ride.

Speaker 1:

Hell yeah, Karen. Thank you so much for being a guest on the podcast.

Speaker 2:

Thank you.