This Past Weekend: #651 w/ Ella Langley (Transcript)

Oh gosh, really small church. It started in a barn. The house that I also grew up in, my dad grew up in, and there’s an old barn across the street, and it started in hay bales on that barn, and then they moved it to a church. And I mean, every Sunday and Wednesday you went there until I was 18 years old. Yeah.

THEO VON: Was it a big part of your social life too?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, yeah. I was homeschooled for some years, so pretty much all we did was go to church.

Homeschooled in Alabama

THEO VON: In what state were you homeschooled in? Alabama?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, South Alabama, Montgomery.

THEO VON: That’s one place I don’t know if I would accept homeschooling in, to be honest.

ELLA LANGLEY: We didn’t do much school, you know. Yeah, just played outside.

THEO VON: Oh yeah, but that’s sometimes the best school.

ELLA LANGLEY: It really was. Oh, I feel like my imagination got to live longer than most.

THEO VON: Yeah, that’s a good point, because you kind of take kids and you put them in like this— it’s almost like being in a laboratory at a school. Like, you’re sitting under there on those lights or whatever, some kids eating paste or whatever, and you’re supposed to not say something?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, I got in trouble a lot. I went to kindergarten and first grade and I was always in trouble.

THEO VON: Like, what was the crime you were guilty of?

ELLA LANGLEY: Talking, distracting others.

THEO VON: Yeah, dude, bro, how great was that in school when you got back on your thing? “Distracting others.”

ELLA LANGLEY: Distracting others. I had like a designated seat in the corner. It was like this little green metal desk and it was facing the corner and I just like sit over there.

THEO VON: Distracting us. And what do you think you were distracting them from?

ELLA LANGLEY: Probably, I don’t know, anything, just talking.

THEO VON: And were you trying to get people to see you, you think, or you were just— you had something to say? What was going on there, Ella Langley?

ELLA LANGLEY: I just think that school was boring for me. I did not like that. God, I did not like it at all. The whole time, naps, hated it. What do you mean you have to sit still?

THEO VON: Dude, we had this lady named Miss Robin. She kind of had hair like yours a little bit, and she would, on nap time when everybody’s asleep, she’d come over and kind of kick me a little bit, and she let me go out with her and watch her smoke cigarettes and sh.

ELLA LANGLEY: So, I mean, she’s pretty good. Yeah, mine’s cool.

THEO VON: And her husband was apparently— he had some domestic charges or whatever. But anyway, she let me spend time with her and watch her smoke.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, like you’re a confidant at a young age.

THEO VON: Yeah, dude, I was just sitting there.

ELLA LANGLEY: That makes sense.

THEO VON: Just leaning on this tire of this car.

ELLA LANGLEY: Life lessons, this lady, you know? You’re like, “Well, you know what I would do is like—”

THEO VON: Yeah, “Carl is a piece of sh.” You know, just helping her out. But she would smoke, and she had this kind of like this kind of country, you know, sometimes that when they get that feathered, real country feathered look, you know, when it has a little Farrah Fawcett, a lot of feathers.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, a lot of feathers going on.

THEO VON: Just a damn mallard of a woman, you know. Yeah, but I remember that, that was a good time. I remember. But yeah, when you got “distracting others” was just like, gosh.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

THEO VON: And you were guilty of it too.

Eye Surgeries

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, yeah. I had a bunch of eye surgeries when I was young, for the muscles in my eyes.

THEO VON: And what happened? You had bad eye muscles?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, sometimes I’d just be a little cross-eyed. Oh God. You know, well, you know.

THEO VON: And you were in the choir too? Was you just that cross-eyed girl just singing in the choir?

ELLA LANGLEY: Everywhere I was, yeah. Everywhere, singing my heart out. But then I had some surgeries and then the teacher’s like, “She just is not paying attention in here,” so. Homeschooled until 6th grade, and then 7th grade went back to the same high school my dad went to. Graduated with 32 kids.

THEO VON: But how could you pay attention if your eyes weren’t even team— like buddies or whatever?

ELLA LANGLEY: No, the doctor described it to me. I just had another one like 2, maybe 3 years ago, and it’s kind of brutal, honestly. Like, they have to take your eyeballs out.

THEO VON: You’re lying.

ELLA LANGLEY: I swear, dude.

THEO VON: My God.

ELLA LANGLEY: Get in there. It’s crazy.

THEO VON: And they go inside?

ELLA LANGLEY: They get it. Yeah, get in there.

THEO VON: What’s it called?

ELLA LANGLEY: I don’t know.

THEO VON: Damn.

ELLA LANGLEY: I just called it eye surgeries. Yes. Yeah.

THEO VON: Yeah, that’s fair.

ELLA LANGLEY: But she described it to me like a horse and carriage. You know, when you have two horses and one can’t be going this way and one can’t be going this way, that is not going to work, you know? So they got to learn to work together and mine just never did.

THEO VON: And now you got them trusty steeds in your face, huh?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah. Sometimes they slip up, but that’s just good character.

THEO VON: You can just go like that.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah. I just look at everybody like this, you know what I mean? Yeah. Get them in line. Wink, keep winking a lot.

School Dances & Growing Up

THEO VON: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s wild. Did y’all have, did y’all have school dances at— well, I guess if you was homeschooled, but if you got in— once you went to your dad’s school, the same school he went to, did you guys have dances at school?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, it was like normal school.

THEO VON: Did y’all have like Sadie Hawkins and stuff like that? Was like kind of Southern style, or what was the—

ELLA LANGLEY: No, we— it wasn’t like a rich private school. Like, this is— well, Sadie Hawkins, out in the country, Sadie Hawkins, I guess.

THEO VON: You had to buy a t-shirt or something. Like, the girl had to ask—

Growing Up in a Small Town

ELLA LANGLEY: Just like a homecoming dance?

THEO VON: No, the girl had to ask the guy, and he had to get him a shirt that matched. You had to do matching shirts or whatever. You didn’t have it? But if y’all had a dance, what did y’all do with only that many students in the class?

ELLA LANGLEY: I would just dance. I don’t know, we just danced around. Usually we didn’t stay that long. We’d go to like a bonfire or something afterwards.

THEO VON: But was it hard to date in a school that small? Was it hard to fall— like, what was the energy like?

ELLA LANGLEY: I mean, you’ve known all these people your whole life. You know what they’re driving, you know what their parents drive.

THEO VON: I mean, yeah.

ELLA LANGLEY: I mean, you know how it is. Yeah. That’s why I really— this town and this job is very similar to a small town. You get used to it. I kind of look at the fame thing like that now, because when you’re in a small town, I would hear shit about me all the time. I’m like, I did what? You know?

THEO VON: Yeah.

ELLA LANGLEY: And you— I don’t know, you just get used to that.

Coming to Nashville from the Outside

THEO VON: So do you think not being from Nashville is better coming into this kind of place? Is the music scene— for lack of a better term— is it some type of way if you’re from Nashville? Do you think it feels different?

ELLA LANGLEY: Probably. I mean, Aaron’s from Nashville. He’s been here the whole time.

THEO VON: But I guess I was like, does he feel more of a pressure or more of a responsibility? I wonder if— I guess I just wonder if anything is different. Like, if you come from an outside group, does it feel tougher? Does it feel easier maybe?

ELLA LANGLEY: I think people probably in your town that you’re from look at you a little crazier. I was 16 years old playing in weddings, 18 years old. I went to Auburn University for 2 years, but I was playing shows the whole time.

THEO VON: Was that your first shows down there?

ELLA LANGLEY: No, actually, my first show was at this tiny little bar called Beslow’s. It’s at this lake in Alabama called Lake Martin. But there’s all these little—

THEO VON: Dude, I’ve been on Lake Martin.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

THEO VON: Bring up Lake Martin, dude. I can’t even believe you said Lake Martin.

Lake Martin Memories

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, this is the lake I grew up going to every summer. It’s one of the— actually the biggest man-made lakes, I believe, in— I want to say the world. It’s not the world, but it’s, I think, North America at least.

THEO VON: It could be the world. If you’re from Alabama, that is the damn world.

ELLA LANGLEY: Exactly.

THEO VON: I remember when going to Florida would seem like— God, somebody had went to the damn mall. Like, they’d done it. Like, if somebody came back from summertime and they’d gone to Florida, they had just done it. They had won the world. Or they had a shirt on that said Florida or Hard Rock— one of those Hard Rock, whatever.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yes, whatever they do with the little air gun.

THEO VON: What is it? Yeah, that shit.

ELLA LANGLEY: Airbrush.

THEO VON: Yeah, Ricky’s in Destin or whatever.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, sick sunglasses.

THEO VON: God, and just a fist jumping across the back.

ELLA LANGLEY: Everyone has like a tan line from the weird little band you have to wear. Pulled your hair the whole time.

THEO VON: God. Lake Martin in Alabama is considered the world’s largest man-made lake. Upon its completion in 1926, created by the Martin Dam on the Tallapoosa River, it covers approximately 40,000 to 44,000 acres. Yeah, I had a girlfriend when I was a child and we went out there and her family had a lake house out there. We’d go out there and do— what’s it called when you’re kind of like jet skis? Oh no, no, when you’re behind the— you’re on the board and you’re behind the—

ELLA LANGLEY: Oh, a kneeboard?

THEO VON: Yeah, yeah, kneeboard and legboard and all of it. Yeah, full bodyboard and footboard— yeah, we was just boarding. You’d see somebody out there on a f*ing piece of plywood just managing that bitch along the wake. It was beautiful out there.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, that’s what we did all summer.

THEO VON: Yeah, I loved it. Lake life is different, dude. Strange shit happens out there, especially lake life in the country.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

THEO VON: There’s some real perverts out there too, I will say that. Some damp perverts or whatever.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, rednecks everywhere.

Easter Traditions and Church Life

THEO VON: Yeah. Easter just happened. Did y’all do eggs for Easter?

ELLA LANGLEY: Deviled eggs.

THEO VON: Really?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

THEO VON: Y’all never painted eggs growing up?

ELLA LANGLEY: No. Yeah, of course we did. Yeah, dyed them, painted them with that little kit or whatever. Yeah, so fun.

THEO VON: Yeah, dude, that was really nice.

ELLA LANGLEY: But what do you do with them afterwards?

THEO VON: I don’t know, I think your grandpa would eat them or something. A lot of times we would drop them at like a senior center or something, because regular people were not having like hard-boiled eggs. That was more like a senior dessert kind of, or senior delicacy, I think.

ELLA LANGLEY: Deviled eggs are amazing. Do you like them?

THEO VON: I’ve had them once or twice, but I haven’t really had them when I cared.

ELLA LANGLEY: I think they had a rule at church that you could only have 2 deviled eggs on your first go because people would fight over them. They really would. We’d have potluck every Wednesday, so like the best Southern food you can think of. All these old women in there— I mean, cobblers and casseroles.

THEO VON: Were people gambling at the— did they have that kind of thing too? Sometimes there’s like a potluck where they gamble at a church for fun.

ELLA LANGLEY: No, they try not to gamble. That’s the thing. Southern Baptist, they try, dude.

THEO VON: The church bus. Yeah, I don’t know what was going on with it. I do remember the church bus. It might have been like Seventh Day Baptist, or Seventh Day Adventist. But they would put those circus peanuts in wine and the kids could have those during communion. You know those orange circus peanuts that your grandparents had? They would put those—

ELLA LANGLEY: Disgusting.

THEO VON: But they’re not— if you soak them in a wine, like a religious wine, they’re pretty good when you’re a kid.

ELLA LANGLEY: I’ve never seen that before.

THEO VON: Yeah, they would have a wine glass and you’d get one out of there and that was just for the children.

The Judgment House Experience

ELLA LANGLEY: Did y’all ever go to Judgment Houses?

THEO VON: No. What was it?

ELLA LANGLEY: It’s like they do it around Halloween.

THEO VON: Okay.

ELLA LANGLEY: It’s like a haunted house for Christians, I guess.

THEO VON: Ooh.

ELLA LANGLEY: Very scary. Our youth group took us. You get in there and it’s like this car crash scene, and it’s pretty much convincing you that you could die the second you walk out of here. So you better settle up.

THEO VON: You better get saved, huh?

ELLA LANGLEY: You better get saved. And I had already been saved, but going through this affected me so bad that at the end they were like, “Does anyone— if you’re not sure— want to sit down and talk?” And so I raised my hand and I sat down with the guy at the table, in the booth, and we had the whole conversation.

I’ll never forget coming home and my dad was laying on the couch watching Titanic. I said, “Dad, I need to talk to you about something.” And I was like, “I got saved again tonight.” And he— my dad pauses the TV. He’s pissed off about something, you know what I mean? He’s like, that’s how you know. He said, “You did what?” I was like, “Dad, I just got so scared of this thing.” He’s like, “Baby,” and then immediately just like, “Well, you are kind of a dumbass, because that’s the whole point of being saved.”

THEO VON: You had to get saved twice.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, so scared. It was so scary.

Fearlessness and Taking Risks

THEO VON: But you sound like a little bit of that danger baby. I mean, I don’t know you very well, but you, to me, you’ve seemed like kind of like that danger baby. Just seemed like a dang Hell’s Angel that got took over a damn Guitar City. Like, just went haywire in a Gibson store. You just seem like that— yeah, maybe you needed it two times.

ELLA LANGLEY: I was maybe fearless, I think, is what it is. I don’t know. I’m not—

THEO VON: You feel that a lot?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

THEO VON: You feel risky or you feel fearless?

ELLA LANGLEY: I definitely take a lot of risks, and I do have a lot of fears, which is funny. But I don’t necessarily view myself the same as I think everyone views me, which is funny. But yeah, I’d say fearless would be the word. I’m just not afraid to take a chance on something. If I want to do it, then I just know I’m going to do it, even if part of me doesn’t want to.

I remember thinking as a kid with this music thing, “That seems like a lot. Are we sure that’s really what we want to do?” And it’s like there’s this thing inside of me that’s like, “If you don’t do it, you’re going to hate your life for your whole entire life.” And so I was like, “Okay, but that still seems like a lot.” But I just know when I make my mind up— it seems like that.

THEO VON: I mean, just from an outsider’s perspective, you just seem like you know what’s going on. Dang it.

ELLA LANGLEY: I try to act like it.

THEO VON: Yeah, but sometimes that’s part of it.

ELLA LANGLEY: I think sometimes that’s part of it. It’s really the whole thing.

THEO VON: Yeah, it’s like sometimes it’s like pretend until the rescue shows up and joins you.

ELLA LANGLEY: I’ve never lived life before. Not one person has lived life before. I mean, this is my first attempt at life as a human being. And so it’s yours and everyone else’s. And it’s funny, I think people forget that.

THEO VON: Yeah, there’s never a lot of credit for that.

ELLA LANGLEY: It’s never like— it’s our first go.

THEO VON: We hold people to a lot of serious stuff and we’re never like, “Yeah, you know what? Just first time.”

ELLA LANGLEY: Just first time. Maybe we need a nap.

Naps and Volatility

THEO VON: Yeah, dude. And first of all, if they had naps for adults, for everybody, it would all be so nice.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, but a nap goes one of two ways for me. I either wake up and I’m like, “I’m so glad that I got that,” or I wake up and I’m hell on earth.

THEO VON: Really?

ELLA LANGLEY: Mad, upset. My day’s kind of ruined. I don’t know. I just am like, I just wish I’d go back to sleep. It’s one of those things you either power through or you don’t.

THEO VON: Well, you just sound damn volatile, Ella.

ELLA LANGLEY: I’m not.

THEO VON: You’re not?

ELLA LANGLEY: You sure? I think you’re the only one saying that.

Early Gigs and Growing Up

THEO VON: I could be true. You might be right. You might be right. Maybe this is that people have a perception of you that’s not exact, or rarely. But yeah, maybe people have that perception of you. Did, whenever you were first doing shows, did they ever have like some fights at your shows or anything like that? Like, were you in some real honky-tonks?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah. I’ve played every kind of show you can possibly imagine.

THEO VON: Same, same.

ELLA LANGLEY: Like, restaurants, weird little wing sports bar things, funerals. Oh yeah, funerals. So many funerals. Weddings. I started out with weddings. It was my first gig ever. Who would ever hire a 15-year-old to play while you’re walking down the aisle? I don’t know.

THEO VON: If they’re decent, maybe. Or if they’re cheap.

ELLA LANGLEY: I don’t know. Yeah, well, $200, baby.

THEO VON: Hey.

ELLA LANGLEY: And I was like, I am rich.

THEO VON: “Decent and Cheap.” That’d be my first album if I ever had one.

ELLA LANGLEY: But I don’t know, it was always just—

THEO VON: But do they have fights in here? They ever have a good—

ELLA LANGLEY: All the time.

THEO VON: Yeah.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah. I watched one guy get arrested in Tuscaloosa selling coke right in front of me on the floor. And here I am just still playing.

THEO VON: No way.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah. Random. I played a lot before Alabama.

THEO VON: Prison, I can tell, huh?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

THEO VON: That’s crazy.

ELLA LANGLEY: I played one of my last gigs— I fell through the stage. Like my last cover gigs, I did that for a while and I did—

THEO VON: What, like a finishing act or something? Was it like a finishing—

ELLA LANGLEY: No, I just— the stage was terrible. It was low.

THEO VON: Oh, you just on some bad wood or something?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, just— they put a rug over it thinking if she can’t see this whole thing, you know.

THEO VON: Yeah.

ELLA LANGLEY: But yeah, play pretty much any and everything.

Family Reunion and Childhood Memories

THEO VON: And what is this? Oh, that’s you right there.

ELLA LANGLEY: Oh, wow. Yeah, it is, I guess. Oh, that’s at my family reunion. I think I was like 4 or 5.

THEO VON: Is that on Lake Martin?

ELLA LANGLEY: No, that’s in Brantley, Alabama. That’s way out in the country. Funny about this is when we— I remember when we pulled up here and my dad was like, “We got the family reunion down here at the Whale.” A buried whale out here.

THEO VON: Mm-hmm.

ELLA LANGLEY: And as a kid, I was like, a buried whale? Like, why would they bury a whale all the way out here?

THEO VON: Yeah.

ELLA LANGLEY: And I asked my dad about that. He said, “Well, well, so buried whale out there, dude.”

THEO VON: Yeah, I remember I used to have to clean out wishing wells in our area. They had this thing where they was trying to make money for the area or something, or like get a tourist thing. And so they had, they installed like a lot of wishing wells and stuff. And I got a job one summer cleaning them out. So you get down there and have to get down in them. Yeah.

ELLA LANGLEY: I’ve never seen that happen.

THEO VON: Yeah. Somebody gets in there and I had very small kind of lean wrists and everything at the time and said, “Let me get down in there.” And you’d bring up all the stuff and put it on the side and you got to keep some of the change, but then some of it you had to give to the city. But you find a lot of people just throw a lot of junk down— the recyclables, kind of a lot of to-go orders, to-go barbecue, kind of seem like anyway.

ELLA LANGLEY: You got to keep some of the change. Yeah, you just got to pick out which ones you kept.

THEO VON: No, they kind of— you gave it to them and then they let you— they kind of gave you some back.

ELLA LANGLEY: All right, well, that’s kind of nice. That’s a good gig, I guess.

THEO VON: I liked it. Yeah, I really enjoyed it. And I found a sword in there too, like a— I don’t want to say a what. Yeah. I found like a— I think it was—

ELLA LANGLEY: What kind of sword?

THEO VON: I think it was a dang— I don’t want to say like a murder weapon or something, but I think it was a murder weapon sword. I think it was a weapon. It looked like it had been used.

ELLA LANGLEY: Can you imagine you murder someone and then you throw— your place to throw it in is a wishing well?

THEO VON: Yeah, I think so.

ELLA LANGLEY: What?

THEO VON: “I wish I hadn’t killed him.” Maybe just throw that bastard in there, hit the reverse on that. Well, I think that’s how wishing wells got their name. It’s like you dropped your money in a hole and you just wish you hadn’t. Probably.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, maybe.

THEO VON: That’s what I think. Maybe.

Fights at Shows and College Bars

THEO VON: Did you ever get in a fight at any of your spots or no?

ELLA LANGLEY: Nope.

THEO VON: Anybody ever try you from the audience or anything like that?

ELLA LANGLEY: No. A lot of drunks just, spilling their drinks all over the place, bumping into my microphone stand. I’ve had that happen a lot. Oh, that’s the worst. When I hit the end of it, it just pops you right in the mouth.

THEO VON: Oh yeah, because you’re not really expecting that.

ELLA LANGLEY: Well, they’re just so close to the stage, and you’re playing college bars.

THEO VON: Yeah. So a lot of college activity over there.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yep.

Family, Football, and Roots

THEO VON: And was your family an Auburn fan growing up then?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, my mom’s from Michigan, like I said, so she just kind of never really cared about that stuff. My dad was an Auburn fan, but yeah, that’s kind of our football thing. It’s Alabama or Auburn. There’s no NFL team in Alabama, so yeah.

THEO VON: And does your folks— your folks are still together?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah. Yes, they are.

THEO VON: And do you think, like, what makes you laugh about that?

ELLA LANGLEY: It’s been a wild ride, but they haven’t given up. Nope. Perseverance.

THEO VON: Pretty cool.

ELLA LANGLEY: It is really cool. It’s really cool to see how they are now, because I think there were a lot of years we were all like, “Y’all sure you like each other?” But they did. They really stuck it out.

A Musical Upbringing

THEO VON: God. Was there a time when your parents were like— they always say like, “Oh well, we knew when this happened that she was going to be a—” do they have that kind of thing? Like, “We knew when she—”

ELLA LANGLEY: My grandparents on my dad’s side pretty much raised me at their house. I lived over there. My grandpa could play anything by ear. They were a lot older. My grandma was 45 when she had my dad.

THEO VON: Oh, wow.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah. But I was like the first girl in the family and I started to match pitch with her as a baby. And so she figured out I could sing and she just— singing was her thing. And my grandpa could, like I said, play any instrument by ear. And so at their house, that’s all we did.

THEO VON: Like, you was a little baby bird.

ELLA LANGLEY: Oh, yeah, that’s all we did. And they were like, “This is what she’s going to do.” And so they— yeah, that’s my grandpa right there.

THEO VON: And they just put you out on the windowsill out there.

ELLA LANGLEY: I sang at church a lot. I learned how to read from singing hymnals. But yeah, all I did— and I really just, the whole time, like, my whole family, we all just were like, “This is what she’s going to do.”

Determination and Self-Doubt

THEO VON: They just knew it the whole time. Was there a scary point for you, like, when you kind of got a little bit spooked? I remember whenever I met you, one thing I do remember you saying is that you just knew that this is what you were doing, right? You were so determined. And I’ve talked to like Trey Lewis. I know you and him are friends, and he mentioned that, right? Whenever I ran into him one night, we were watching your show at the Knitting Factory, maybe? Someplace, I can’t remember. It might’ve been the Bluebird or Three’s.

ELLA LANGLEY: I don’t know. I’m terrible at remembering these things.

THEO VON: It was a musical place. And he said, “She’s just always been so determined,” right? Was there a part though, when you, even your own determination came up against this just feels like it’s going to be tougher than I thought? I don’t know if this is the way, or did it never get to that point for you?

ELLA LANGLEY: I think I always knew it was going to be tough. I mean, how many people move to this town in a day to do this job? I don’t know. There’s just— it’s scary all the time because I love it. It’s truly a part of who I am. Like, my whole life I’ve done it and wanted to do it and thought about it every day, like daydreamed every time I’m in the car. I mean, hours and hours alone driving from gigs.

THEO VON: Like dreaming about what?

ELLA LANGLEY: Just doing this, literally doing what I’m doing, like playing on stages and writing songs and getting to do this craft for a living. And I just feel like not everything always works out for me in my life. And so I like to leave very little room for error. And so I think just keeping my head down— and I’m definitely my toughest critic. When I watch something, I’m never like, “Oh yeah, I crushed that.” Never ever, very rarely do I walk off stage and I’m like, “I was amazing out there.” I’m always just like, “Dude, what was that s that I just said? That was so— what the f is wrong with me? Like, why would I say that?”

THEO VON: Well, it must be crazy then, because you seem like such a— like, almost like you’ll say whatever. You kind of save your—

ELLA LANGLEY: I do. That’s the thing.

On Music, Love, and Independence

THEO VON: And then to be such a tough critic of that person is a— that’s a lot of— that’s a lot of extra stress. Feels like.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, yeah, I’m getting better at it for sure. It’s weird, and I’m sure you understand this, looking at yourself through the eyes of others. No one should know this many thoughts about themselves. When everyone’s like, “What superpower do you want?” I’ve never understood when people were like, “I want to be able to read minds.” I’m like, f* that.

THEO VON: I do not want to know what somebody’s thinking, because half these people I wouldn’t either, dude. Especially if you’re at someplace and everybody’s just a damn pervert or something, you know? And that would be most of them.

ELLA LANGLEY: No way, man. No way.

THEO VON: Even if you’re just at a dang Golden Corral, no matter where you are, everybody just— I bet you would read mine, you’d be like, “My dad loves a Golden Corral or a Shoney’s.” Dude, my stepdad, he was in one of the wars, and one of them, he would— dude, after they would go to like the Golden Corral, whatever was like Chinese Corral or something, or the Yellow Bin or whatever it was called, he would sit my mom in the car and then he would go back in and apologize for fighting these who we thought were the same ethnicity people when he was in Iwo Jima or something like that.

ELLA LANGLEY: He’d go back in and apologize every time?

THEO VON: Yeah. He would go back in and just kind of say, give his peace. And it was like this moment that he kind of had where— and I think it’s probably like that for some people. They probably went and fought in a war and then the only people they ever saw from that culture again was at a small restaurant that popped up in their town 40 years later. That’s got to be crazy.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, I can’t imagine that. That’s one of my favorite things to read about is historical fiction.

THEO VON: Yeah. You watch any of those war movies?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, my dad loves a war movie. Jarhead. I don’t know how many times that’s been on in our living room.

THEO VON: Oh yeah. Dude, my uncle even has the soundtrack to Jarhead. I’m like, who has the soundtrack to this s*?

ELLA LANGLEY: On CD or what?

THEO VON: I think it might be. He said it was Blu-ray. He went all in on Blu-ray.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

THEO VON: And he lost a lot.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

THEO VON: But yeah, dude, I like some of those war movies. I think because they just make you feel something, you know?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah. Feels like you’re learning a little.

THEO VON: Feels like you’re learning a little, but also yeah, it makes you feel something. I like something if there— I’ll say this— if there’s a little bit of loss in something, I like that s*.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, keeps your attention going.

THEO VON: I like something that’s got a little bit of loss in it. Some of your music, and probably a decent amount of it, to me seems like it’s about kind of like wanting love or hoping for love, but not kind of being able to make it work. I’m trying to think what I’m trying to say.

ELLA LANGLEY: I think you’re doing great. That was a good question so far.

THEO VON: They are?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

THEO VON: Thanks, dude. Yeah, I think I just— sometimes I get worried, or not, I don’t know. I mean, I get nervous.

ELLA LANGLEY: I was so nervous before I came in here today. Were you? Yes. Why?

THEO VON: What do you mean? You’re the most confident person there is.

ELLA LANGLEY: I don’t know.

THEO VON: Well, you are, you know.

ELLA LANGLEY: Well, I mean, you got to put on the suit.

THEO VON: That’s true. And the rest of you will show up.

ELLA LANGLEY: That’s some— told you, I learned, you know, Southern Baptist in a small town is you learn to put on a face a little bit, you know what I mean? You can’t let everyone know everything that’s going on all the time. But also, it’s like I run out of the ability to do that.

THEO VON: So we get burned out of it.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah. And I just— that’s been something I’ve had to work really hard on is the mental of this game. And I knew the whole time that would be the toughest thing for me.

THEO VON: Really?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

Comparing Yourself to Others

THEO VON: Well, you can’t pin yourself to the way somebody else operates. That’s something that I’ve done over the years. Like, “If they can do it, I can do it.” I’m not the same person as them, right? And our paths aren’t the same.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

THEO VON: And I mean, I’ve floored it for 200 miles when I had nothing in the tank.

ELLA LANGLEY: Well, I think it’s because you are similar in the way where you’re like, you kind of fly through life by the seat of your pants, you know what I mean? And it’s like you’re just following your gut on what you should do with your life. Instead of, you know, if you go to school to be a doctor, you do this many years of school and you’re going to do this and this. We have no idea how this is going to— every single day is different. Every single day something could happen that could change our lives for the best or the worst, and you just never know.

THEO VON: Yeah.

ELLA LANGLEY: And so I think you learn this skill to watch others in the way where you learn. And I think in the beginning it pushed me. I would always compare my work ethic to— Lainey was a great one for me. But I don’t know how— she’s superhuman.

THEO VON: She is.

ELLA LANGLEY: I don’t know how she does what she does. But yeah, I’m different than that. You know, like I have to go be in my house and—

THEO VON: Recharge.

ELLA LANGLEY: Recharge.

THEO VON: Rest.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

THEO VON: Take time. Same. I gotta do— I mean, I’m getting dang IVs. I’m petting animals for peace or whatever. They have this—

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, IVs are good.

THEO VON: They got a peace petting place that’s out there and you go pet those horses for peace or whatever.

ELLA LANGLEY: I just got some horses.

THEO VON: Did you?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

THEO VON: God, I’m thinking about getting a Doberman. It’s big, but—

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

THEO VON: It’s nothing like that.

ELLA LANGLEY: If you came in riding a Doberman and it was big enough to do that, it’s just like you found Clifford, but he’s a Doberman this time.

THEO VON: And Ernest is on the other one, dude.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, yeah, but he’s actually on Clifford. Yeah, he’s dressed like a grillin’ for sure.

THEO VON: There’s like a hundred shades of Ernest. That’s the crazy— and there’s nobody who is such a chameleon, I think, in humanity as Ernest, you know.

Commitment, Love, and Music

THEO VON: Oh, my question. So I feel like a lot of your songs are about like wanting to find a love or connect with love, but also about wanting independence, you know. Do you feel like you have commitment issues when it comes to that kind of stuff, or do you feel like some of your songs stem from that sort of thing? Or do you find a common root for some of your purpose in your music?

ELLA LANGLEY: You know, I think that’s the thing that sometimes people think about too much, honestly, where it’s like, “What is the purpose to everything? What is the finished product?”

THEO VON: I don’t know.

ELLA LANGLEY: I’m only 26. It’s like I’m just writing about— I’m not going in the room thinking, “Okay, I need an uptempo song today and I need it to be perfect for radio,” or “I need to write this type of acoustic thing.” I’m going in there and just writing songs. Whatever comes out that day comes out, you know.

And I’m really big on not forcing it. Just if I feel like I’m in there and I’m not having fun, I’m like, “Why are we doing this?” I somehow got to do the job I’ve always wanted to do. No way I’m not going to let it be fun when we’re sitting in here writing these songs, you know.

So yeah, I don’t know, just sometimes I’ll have a title that I really want to write, or someone in the room will say something, and then it’s just like, if all of you click on that title, you gotta chase it. And obviously, I mean, me being 26 and not married, I’ve been dating. I’ve been trying to figure that portion of my life out too. Which is complicated when you have pretty much given your everything to this one thing.

THEO VON: Oh yeah. I mean, that’s— yeah, I can relate to that. I spent so much time working that, yeah, it’s like this was my first love. I liked work the most. And because work was reliable, it’s like I knew what I got in, what I put into this, I’m going to get out of this one way or the other. And I’ll know if it’s fair or not. I’ll know if it’s a fair amount because I’ll know how much I put in. That part of myself I can’t lie to. So it’s like, I’ll know. And it’ll be even. It may not be exactly what I want, but it will be fair.

ELLA LANGLEY: Like, you know, you gave it your all.

THEO VON: Yes. And to me, I know. And so I know I will expect a certain return. And there’s not somebody else there that— when it’s a human, for me it’s like, that’s just too— it’s like whenever you first learn to ride that bike and you’re doing that or whatever, you know what I’m saying? And then you just, you forget that, like, the—

ELLA LANGLEY: You’re like turning the handlebars like this, you think they’re the pedals, and “Oh, if this starts happening, you’re going down. You’re going down.” That’s the scariest feeling ever.

THEO VON: Just the worst.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah. Oh, so many scars from asphalt.

THEO VON: And then you hit the neighbor’s gate or whatever, and somebody just calls you like a queer or something like that, you know.

ELLA LANGLEY: That’s the worst. I hate when that used to happen.

THEO VON: Yeah. And it’s your dad driving by.

ELLA LANGLEY: It’s definitely your dad. It would definitely be my dad.

THEO VON: And you haven’t even seen him in like 2 years, and you’re like, “This is how he shows up.”

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

Crossing the Threshold of Fame

THEO VON: But yeah, that’s something I think about— knowing what you’re going to get out of what you put in. Do you feel like because now you’ve kind of hit this level of popularity that’s a little bit different and that’s kind of scary, right?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

THEO VON: I mean, it’s cool. There’s a lot of great things, but that to me feels interesting because you kind of almost can’t put it back in the tube in a way. It’s like, once you kind of cross over a certain threshold of people knowing you, you kind of can’t— your life can change and maybe people come and go in popularity, but you kind of can’t go back to not being someone that was known.

Fame, Fan Encounters, and Life on the Road

ELLA LANGLEY: I think that’s another one of the hardest parts for me. And it’s, I think it’s just people treating you differently. I just— it’s weird when somebody comes up and they’re just like— it makes sense to me because if I were to see Stevie Nicks in the grocery store, like, I would be a little like, you know. Yeah, but it’s weird when it’s yourself, you know.

Like, someone’s coming up to you and they’re like, “Oh my God, I’m going to throw up on your shoes.” You’re like, whoa. Like, yeah, I am so weird. Like, just, you know, immediately try to level myself in a way. But yeah, that’s an odd part, but it is cool. I’m starting to— I’m getting past the stage of like, what? Because it was so in the beginning, so new. Like, it was weird when somebody knew who I was, or when I’m sitting at the table out to eat with friends or family and somebody’s like, “Hey, can I get 7 selfies with you?” And I’m like, have like a half a meatball in my mouth. I’m like, bro, that’s crazy.

THEO VON: Or you haven’t even washed up, or you just don’t even feel like a—

ELLA LANGLEY: In the bathroom. Have you ever had one to ask you?

THEO VON: Is somebody in the bathroom?

ELLA LANGLEY: You’re like, bro, no, no. And then if you say no, I’ve had a girl, I was making my whole band do this ab workout routine. We were in Planet Fitness somewhere around the world. And this girl comes up to me mid-crunch. She’s like, “Can I have a picture?” And then I like, it was in the beginning and now I would be like, probably not right now. I’ll sign whatever. You know what I mean? Just pick a better time. But.

THEO VON: Oh yeah. In the beginning you’ll give it all. You’ll give abs.

ELLA LANGLEY: But then I get up to take the picture with her and she just like, “No, no, no. I just want to take one of you.” You ever get that when they’re like, want to take one of you and stay with you? And you’re like— I was like, no, no, no, if I’m sweaty in this, you are too.

THEO VON: Yeah, so you’re just what, some kind of pervert or whatever? Or you’re just making a time capsule or something? You don’t say you’re just capturing me to keep me.

ELLA LANGLEY: “No, I just want to take one of you.”

THEO VON: Yeah, I’m not doing all that.

ELLA LANGLEY: What’s your pose if someone wants to take one of you? You know, it’s—

THEO VON: I’ll tell you a funny story. I can’t— oh, I’ll tell them no. If somebody’s like, “I just want to take one of you.”

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, you’re like, no.

THEO VON: I’m like, get— you get over here, you little urchin. You’re getting in this b with me. If I have to stand here and look like s*, you do too.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

Meet and Greets and Smile Fatigue

THEO VON: Dude, a couple, probably like a year and a half ago, I started to have like— because we would do meet and greets after every show. And maybe some of this sounds like kind of woe is me, like I’m about popularity talk. And I’m not meaning that. I’m grateful that people come out to shows and I’ve been to a couple of your shows and I’m excited to go to more of them. I’m excited to come to that one in Tuscaloosa where you and Morgan are playing together. And then I know you’re on your own tour and your new album that’s going to come out. But yeah, I couldn’t smile anymore. The smile— the muscles in my mouth.

ELLA LANGLEY: Oh yes, doing that fidget thing.

THEO VON: Yes, terrible. And then it got to the point where I just didn’t even believe it anymore. My mouth had just— there was some disconnection between like my true feelings and a smile because these were all like kind of put-on smiles, and some of them are real, but you know, you’re just like, smile, you know, it is smile, cheese, that type of thing. So I had to start doing this. So in all my—

ELLA LANGLEY: That started—

THEO VON: Yes. So in all my pictures, I was like, I have to make another face. And this on me, like, it looks a little too— like, people are going to get scared, or the kids are going to kind of be scared a little bit.

ELLA LANGLEY: So I think it’s kind of nice.

THEO VON: So I’ll do like, you know, like just anything. Yeah, because this just started.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, that.

THEO VON: See?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah. But just the closed mouth smile was nice. Well, no, no, that was different. You didn’t do it the same that time.

THEO VON: Let me try one more time.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah. Well, no.

THEO VON: Kind of close.

ELLA LANGLEY: Try one more time, but don’t squinch your lips so much. Let them loose. Leave them loose a little. Start from the side how you came in.

THEO VON: Okay. Oh, what’s happening? Nothing much.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, that right there.

THEO VON: Thank you.

ELLA LANGLEY: Take a picture of that. Practice.

THEO VON: You’re an artist. You’re a conductor.

ELLA LANGLEY: Well, thank you.

Lainey Wilson and Stage Presence

THEO VON: She’s a conductor. Yeah, I remember the first time I saw— I was like, because I didn’t know, like, as your popularity really, I guess, the first time that I met you. And I remember I said something like, “Man, Lainey really does such a great job of controlling the stage.” Because I was kind of complimenting her because she really does. And you were— I can’t remember what you said, but it was something like, I don’t know if I said like something like—

ELLA LANGLEY: No, you were like, “You should try running, you should try running around the stage like that,” or something.

THEO VON: Oh yeah, that’s what I said.

ELLA LANGLEY: And I was like, you, first of all, you ain’t never ever been to a show, so you know.

THEO VON: I know, to show up and be judgmental like that.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah. And then that— yeah, I think I was just nervous. I kind of move around a little bit. Well, I’ve thought about that moment multiple times because I’m like, should I move around more? Like, is that it? Like, has he seen things that I should do? Like, no, I thought you should come to rehearsals and let me know.

THEO VON: I think I was just nervous and I probably didn’t know what to say, and it was a woman, and so I was just trying to say something, and maybe it wasn’t— yeah, I just didn’t do the best supportive job, probably. Well, it panned out, but yeah, I’ve seen it since, and I’m not even going to weigh in anymore. You’re obviously—

ELLA LANGLEY: I really like it. No, it really made me think extra hard about that. I was like, “Damn, Theo thinks I’m lazy on stage.”

THEO VON: Oh, I didn’t think lazy. I didn’t know. I had no idea.

ELLA LANGLEY: Lazy?

THEO VON: No, I just can’t—

ELLA LANGLEY: She runs— I don’t know how she does it. She does the whole spin thing.

THEO VON: She does a lot.

ELLA LANGLEY: I told you, she is—

THEO VON: She does a whole like Fantasia, almost like that. Like, yeah, yeah, she does.

ELLA LANGLEY: When she does that spin thing, oh yeah, fall down 100%.

THEO VON: Just swinging that donkey around. I’m like, what is even going on out here? She has got it.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, that’s probably what it is. I ain’t got no balance like that, you know what I mean? I ain’t evened out, you know.

THEO VON: She’s got them ballast tanks on her.

ELLA LANGLEY: She’s like set up to go.

THEO VON: Oh, she’s a pontoon, I’ll tell you that.

ELLA LANGLEY: She’s locked in.

THEO VON: Yes, she’s locked in. But no, what a great person to learn from and be around, and even just to watch like the things that she does and just to notice all those things, like how is she able to engage with people so much, you know? I don’t know how Jelly Roll did it. Jelly Roll got burnt out though.

ELLA LANGLEY: Jelly Roll, he’s the same way.

THEO VON: But he got burnt out.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, I think it happens to everybody.

THEO VON: It’ll get you.

ELLA LANGLEY: I mean, no one’s actually doing it all. I mean, everyone gets burned out.

Burnout and Scheduling

THEO VON: Yeah. Was there a moment you kind of had to take a step back? You take a vacation? What do you do for that sort of thing? Have you learned to incorporate that into things? Because you’re already back out here, you’re going to go on tour again.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, I don’t— I’m still figuring it out. I think my team’s figuring out a little better how to schedule in the time that’s needed. But when you’re in this boom moment, it’s hard to say no. I mean, you’re saying no to stuff that I’m like, I do kind of want to do that. But it’s like, I’m thinking of things 6 months down the road. I’m like, I’ll be able to do that. And then I get there, I’m like, “Oh my gosh, I’m dying. Why did I do that?”

THEO VON: What am I doing in this lemonade drink?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah. But then I’m like, if I turn it down, sometimes I’m like, come on, what’s wrong with you? Why you can’t do that? You’re going to be— some people would kill to be playing that. And then I have that whole thing. So last year, I think the mental game for me is definitely the hardest part of this job. Like, I can do the gigs, I can do the shows, I can do that. And the burnout, I guess.

THEO VON: Like thinking you can work through it, I’ll fight through it, I’ll figure it out.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah. And I mean, Lord, we toured pretty much minus a couple weeks here and there from 2022 to 2025. And I mean, hot and heavy, most of that was in a van and then one bus and we’re all packed on there. And it was still like, it just happened so fast. So it’s like we’re still doing these things, but these things are happening. And so everyone from the outside is like, “Man, that’s pretty nice.” And you’re like, well, we’re still getting there. We’re still doing our best.

Life in the Van

THEO VON: Yeah. And a van, people don’t get even enough credit for even being in a damn van.

ELLA LANGLEY: Somebody asked me the other day, they’re like, “Do you miss that?” I’m like, hell no, I don’t miss that.

THEO VON: I think people should get a tax credit for being in a damn van, dude.

ELLA LANGLEY: Years of that.

THEO VON: If I see a van pull up, any van, and somebody gets out of the back of it, yeah, I start clapping immediately.

ELLA LANGLEY: Immediately.

THEO VON: I don’t care what they’re doing.

ELLA LANGLEY: I don’t care if they are, you know, very religious and that’s, you know, and the side door’s broken or whatever, or they are just a big family. I always wondered what people thought we were traveling around when they’d see us get out at a gas station and it was just like me, my photographer, Kaylee, and a whole bunch of tattooed guys just crawling out of a van looking disheveled, smelling like Doritos, probably.

THEO VON: Oh yeah.

ELLA LANGLEY: And whiskey.

THEO VON: Doritos are good at over 50 miles an hour in a damn van.

ELLA LANGLEY: Oh yeah. I lived off some gas station food for years. Taquitos from the gas station. Oh my goodness, man.

Country Hoodlums

THEO VON: That’s the kind of s* we need more of, I think. But yeah, this is just the kind of voice— have you ever seen them Country Hoodlums?

ELLA LANGLEY: Oh man, this is like a whole thing.

THEO VON: They have probably like 200 or 300 clips now. They put up clips every day and it’s just them. It’s just like people living their lives.

ELLA LANGLEY: Oh, like it’s real life people.

THEO VON: It’s not like— and this is the one Earn— people always say this guy, or him and Earn, seem like each other. No, go hit that top left one.

ELLA LANGLEY: What you doing? Keep them coming.

Growing Up: Food, Family, and Small-Town Life

THEO VON: Did y’all have like a most popular restaurant in your town growing up?

ELLA LANGLEY: Not really. I mean, a lot of chains, like I said, the Shoney’s. My dad loves a buffet.

THEO VON: Oh yeah.

ELLA LANGLEY: Oh, any buffet, the soft serve ice cream you got to get at the end.

THEO VON: At the end.

ELLA LANGLEY: How big can you make your own ice cream cone?

THEO VON: Make it tall, baby. Make it long. Shoney’s was something else, dude. And they would give away these stuffed animals up front.

ELLA LANGLEY: Mhm.

THEO VON: And the sewing on them was real bad. By the time you got them bitches to the car, they was more of a— they looked— they was starting to give out a little.

ELLA LANGLEY: Did you go to IHOP?

Waffle House Stories

THEO VON: We went to IHOP, but Waffle House? We went to Waffle House. Yeah, dude, at our Waffle House they had like— it was like our town was like at the end of like the longest bridge in the world. For a while anyway, and then they built a different one, but then that one got tore down, and so we were back.

Anyway, the people that would get DUIs on there at night, or DWIs at night, the police officers would just drop them off at the Waffle House. They wouldn’t arrest them, they just take them down there and drop them off. Yeah, it’s really cool. Just like, hey, stay here and sober up. So when you was a kid, you was running around, you could just pop in there and just hang. You’d be hanging out with the drunks and eating with all these cool drunks and shit.

ELLA LANGLEY: I think that’s a lot of Waffle Houses late at night. Yeah, ours was too.

THEO VON: It’s kind of like a little mini rehab.

ELLA LANGLEY: Come and smoke a cig outside, one of the cooks, you know. Oh, definitely, baby.

THEO VON: Yeah, yeah. Or dude, the best is the white guy that can’t even blink his eyes, he’s so geeked up and he’s just f*ing making eggs, boy.

ELLA LANGLEY: So many things.

THEO VON: Oh, he’ll just rip an omelet out of a chicken’s ass. That dude’s ready.

ELLA LANGLEY: They’re all yelling at him.

THEO VON: Yes.

ELLA LANGLEY: The best are the fights in there when they start fighting. It’s such a closed environment in there when they do the fights.

THEO VON: I don’t like being in the cage.

ELLA LANGLEY: They do the fight?

THEO VON: So you’ve seen them? Yeah, it’s like I don’t like being in the cage. I want to be outside of the cage. If they lock the door—

ELLA LANGLEY: You sit on this side of the bar and they are on that side.

THEO VON: Oh, that’s— yeah. Oh, you mean the employees fighting? Yeah, I don’t like—

ELLA LANGLEY: Just random ones. I like to go to Waffle House and watch fights.

THEO VON: Yeah, yeah. Well, dude, the one in Baton Rouge used to do a— look up Valentine’s Day Waffle House Baton Rouge. They did a special thing. Did they do it at other ones you know about?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, they like the decorations.

THEO VON: Yeah, they would decorate it and you could make a reservation.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yes, where they put like a white tablecloth. Yes, that— it’s romantic. I would really like that.

THEO VON: Waffle House for Valentine’s Day 2026, romantic and affordable. Let me read up on that a touch, because I know my sister’s fiancé took her to this. On every Valentine’s date needs candles, tuxedos, and stress. Many couples now choose Waffle House for Valentine’s Day because it feels real, relaxed, and easy on the wallet. If you’ve been wondering whether it’s actually worth trying, you’re not alone. Let’s walk through what the experience is like and how to make it special.

ELLA LANGLEY: I like that.

THEO VON: Heart-shaped hash browns? You kidding me? You know they have that? Steak and eggs with extra sides to share.

ELLA LANGLEY: I think I’ve been to Waffle House on New Year’s Day for the past like 5 years. Oh gosh, even 6.

THEO VON: Yeah, yeah, that’s beautiful. They used to have like a badge or like a recurring partner system. Chocolate pie slices and strawberry milkshakes served as a simple date night drink.

ELLA LANGLEY: A steak from a Waffle House. Hell yeah, just doing it up.

THEO VON: Dude, I met a woman off the internet once and she was from another country. She’d never been to a Waffle House and I took her to one and she loved it.

ELLA LANGLEY: That’s one of my red flags. If a guy’s like, let’s go— I’m like, let’s go to Waffle House early in the morning. He’s like, no.

THEO VON: He says no.

ELLA LANGLEY: Let’s go to Cracker Barrel. I feel like Waffle House over Cracker Barrel. I don’t know. I don’t know. Depends on the— if I want pancakes.

Pancakes, Flapjacks, and Condiments

THEO VON: I don’t know. A lot of these pancakes these days are too hot. They’re too fluffy and fat for me. I like that bitch like it’s like somebody already tried to eat it and it said, “Hell no.” I like that thing tough.

ELLA LANGLEY: What does that look like?

THEO VON: Just a pancake. I like that. Yeah, flat, kind of burnt. Yeah, I don’t like that big fluffy— it looks like part of a piece of, like, an actual part of a layer.

ELLA LANGLEY: I think that’s a flapjack.

THEO VON: Yeah, it could be. What is a flapjack? Bring it up, because yeah, people are wandering around. People are eating hotcakes.

ELLA LANGLEY: What is the difference between pancake and flapjack?

THEO VON: People were eating all of them, Ella. I don’t know. A British flapjack is a simple, chewy, and only baked bar made by melting butter. No, don’t even pull up with that shit. I’ll burn your damn golf clubs if you pull that shit up again.

ELLA LANGLEY: It’s not that bar thing.

THEO VON: No, it’s not. I like that. Now, some people came out with something. Here we go. A flapjack is a baked oat bar. This isn’t it, man.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, I think it is the oat bar.

THEO VON: Well then, I’ve been getting something else. I call it a flapjack. I like that thing. It’s real, just kind of a little more flimsy, kind of looks like it’ll f*ing slap your ass if you walking by. You know what I’m talking about?

ELLA LANGLEY: It would make the sound.

THEO VON: Yeah, finally your brother made a sound, so he’s having a good time. And I’ll tell you something, I don’t love a ton of syrup. I like a fair amount, but I don’t like too much.

ELLA LANGLEY: I love it.

THEO VON: You do? Do you like condiments and stuff like that? Are you a condiment person?

ELLA LANGLEY: Sauce? Yeah, anything. I love it.

THEO VON: You ever had that tzatziki sauce? Bring it up. Yeah, you’ve had it.

ELLA LANGLEY: That Greek sauce?

THEO VON: No, tzatziki. Bring it up.

ELLA LANGLEY: No, I’ve never heard of that yet. Tzatziki.

THEO VON: Don’t even f*ing tell me that’s how y’all spell it. That is—

ELLA LANGLEY: What did you just say? Zachariah sauce?

THEO VON: I said Levithian 4:13. That’s what I said, dude. I said Copernicus 12:6.

ELLA LANGLEY: I’ve had that sauce before.

THEO VON: Yeah, people say it again. Is it, uh, is that ziki? I want that ziki, baby. Yeah, people love that ziki. Now what I will say is this, I do like it.

ELLA LANGLEY: How do you prefer it?

THEO VON: That ziki? Yeah, just straight up in the little— oh, the little bread thing, or— oh, I’ll take it with a pea to use these. I’ll have it, but I’ll have a little— I mean, I’ve never taken one and drinking one or whatever.

Like, my sister used to steal all those little coffee creamers from the freaking place my stepdad would take us, and she would drink them in her bed at night. All those little— dude, the little ones, the hazelnut one, that cannot be good. That’s sleepy. That’s sleepy. Little bitch would f*ing finish off 6 of those. And wondering why she’s having nightmares because you’re drinking damn stolen milk. Okay.

ELLA LANGLEY: I don’t understand how those stay good out for so long. I don’t ever understand. And why can condiments stay on the tables at restaurants for so long but they can’t at the house? Yeah, I got a lot of questions.

THEO VON: But no, they used to put them— they used to put the creamers on a thing of ice in some places that I think still ever—

ELLA LANGLEY: They still do.

THEO VON: Yeah, but some of them, those hazelnut ones, those are bad for you.

ELLA LANGLEY: They’ll just give it to you in a coffee mug. Yeah, it’s like piling them in a coffee mug and hand it to you.

THEO VON: Oh yeah, somebody was stacking them like that. But my sister would have 6 or 11 of them bitches in there complaining she’s got an upset stomach. Bitch, of course you do.

ELLA LANGLEY: She’s probably going to have the upset stomach for the rest of her life due to that.

THEO VON: And she already had a damn liver transplant. You ain’t getting nothing else. Mom got her that when we were kids.

ELLA LANGLEY: What’d you get?

Childhood Memories

THEO VON: I didn’t get shit, dude. I remember I got roller skates that were way too big for me.

ELLA LANGLEY: What were you like? What did you do?

THEO VON: Me? I was pretty good, I guess. I don’t know. I was kind of a— I like to do my own thing. I just like to hitchhike and just have angry thoughts, I think, a lot as a kid. Yeah.

ELLA LANGLEY: What did you do? Did you like play sports or—

THEO VON: Yeah, I played basketball. What did I like to do? I liked to be on my bike when I was a kid. My dad was super old, so we was always like messing with him and shit. My dad was like— my dad was 70 when I was born, so he was an old guy. Yeah, he was old.

And my brother used to come in the room. I’ve told this before, my brother would come in the room and he’d be like, “Dad’s dead.” And I’d be like, “What?” He’d be like, “Yep, go in there, go in there, he’s dead.” And I’d go in there and he wouldn’t be dead.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah. How many times did that happen?

THEO VON: Oh, well then this is how weird it started to flip after a while, because he’d be like, “Dad’s dead.” And I’d be like, “He freaking better be dead, or you’re dead, or I’mma whip your ass.”

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

THEO VON: So it got to the point where you like hope, like if Dad’s alive, somebody’s getting their ass beat. Which is a crazy concept to have.

ELLA LANGLEY: You have to go in there and check one more time.

THEO VON: Yeah, when your dad is barely alive.

ELLA LANGLEY: So you just go in there kind of pissed off like this.

THEO VON: There’s 3 pictures. I mean, look at the top, like top 4 actually are all me. Zoom in on all of those. God, that looks good. That one’s me.

ELLA LANGLEY: No, it ain’t.

THEO VON: Yep.

ELLA LANGLEY: No, it’s not. Well, is it really?

THEO VON: We had some tough years. Yeah, I mean, obviously bring that kid back up.

ELLA LANGLEY: Dude, dude, that is not you.

THEO VON: We had some damn tough—

ELLA LANGLEY: What’s going on with that little thing on the side?

THEO VON: Oh honey, that’s a fade, girl.

ELLA LANGLEY: Is it?

THEO VON: That’s a 1 into a 19. Haven’t you ever seen that cut?

ELLA LANGLEY: That’s crazy. It’s like a bowl cut with like a weird-shaped bowl.

THEO VON: That’s a Christian cut right there.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

THEO VON: Who cut your hair growing up, Ella Langley?

ELLA LANGLEY: All kinds of people. I have a bad tendency to cut my own hair.

Bangs, Billboards, and Mistaken Identity

THEO VON: Yep. Yeah, I like that best. I really— there’s something about it. Why do you do that, and why have you enjoyed that?

ELLA LANGLEY: I don’t know, because it doesn’t always go— most of the time it goes bad. That’s how I got bangs in the first place. I stopped— I was wearing a cowboy hat for a while, and then I took it off because it was windy one show and it was pissing me off. And I decided, you know what, I’m going to take it off. And I liked how my bangs were kind of around my face.

And like 20 minutes before I walked out on stage, I decided to cut my fringe a little bit. And it was so bad. There was like one piece right here. And I was shooting the cover art for my first record that next week. And Kaylee was like, I hate you.

THEO VON: At least she was honest with you.

ELLA LANGLEY: So I just told her full send it with the bangs.

THEO VON: Mm.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yep.

THEO VON: And now you’re in.

ELLA LANGLEY: I don’t think I can ever change it.

THEO VON: Yeah, you love it that much, huh?

ELLA LANGLEY: It changed my life a little bit.

THEO VON: Really?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, I would say. I mean, I don’t know, the bang thing is like—

THEO VON: I think it’s the music. Well, yeah, but yeah, I mean, I think—

ELLA LANGLEY: Well, maybe a little bit the music, but mainly the bangs.

THEO VON: The bangs are nice. You know what’s funny is there’s a— I think there’s a billboard over on Hillsboro Pike and I thought it was you on it.

ELLA LANGLEY: I think I know what board you’re talking about.

THEO VON: Dude, here’s a funny thing. I’d go by it sometimes and I’d always just rattle off something or sing a couple of your lyrics to it. And then somebody told me it’s not you.

ELLA LANGLEY: It’s not. I know what you’re talking about. And what do you mean you’d sing a couple lyrics?

THEO VON: I would just rattle off something, you know.

ELLA LANGLEY: I was like, oh, they’d be like, what’s up?

THEO VON: Yeah, there’s Ella, just seeing how she’s doing. Oh, she’s still high and mighty up on that billboard up there with the— and I think it’s for an earring company. I said, with her fancy earrings or whatever. Big earrings too. I mean, this lady had damn bird cages hanging off her head over there.

ELLA LANGLEY: Nope, wasn’t me.

THEO VON: It wasn’t you though.

ELLA LANGLEY: Wish it was.

Valentine’s Day and Childhood Memories

THEO VON: God. Yeah, I’d have gotten to spend more time with you. So me too, it would have been nice, I think. At school, sometimes we ask about Valentine’s Day. Did you have a thing at school where you had Valentine’s at school, or was your school too small to even give a Valentine? Because other people’s feelings could really get hurt in that sort of closed environment.

ELLA LANGLEY: No, we still had Valentine’s Day. God, yeah, we still did. Every feeling did get hurt.

THEO VON: Feelings. If there’s 9 kids in my class and there’s Valentine’s Day, dude, I couldn’t cut that.

ELLA LANGLEY: That was— I’ll never forget this kid. He was in our class. His name was Freddy. And he brought in this little bear and he gave it to me and he was like, “For you to have this bear, you got to be my girlfriend.” I was like, “Sorry, buddy, can’t do it. I’m a horse girl.” But then he went over to Shelley and gave her the bear.

THEO VON: No, he didn’t.

ELLA LANGLEY: Then I was like, “Hey, Freddy, come back over here. I will be your girlfriend.”

THEO VON: Oh, damn.

ELLA LANGLEY: Give me that bear back.

THEO VON: So you saw that competition and Ella said, I ain’t losing out. Yeah.

ELLA LANGLEY: And Freddy was willing to get a woman an animal.

THEO VON: Dude, I remember we had a guy by us, he was a taxidermist, and I remember he had all these hard stuffed animals. I didn’t know hard ones. Yeah, yeah. I was like, that dude has the hardest stuffed animals ever. And he gave me like a squirrel because my mother said I’d love it over there all the time. She’d find me over there and he gave me like a squirrel and I slept with that thing while I was there for like 4 years. This big taxidermy-ass squirrel.

ELLA LANGLEY: No, you didn’t.

THEO VON: With a hard tail. Yeah.

ELLA LANGLEY: What do you mean a hard tail?

THEO VON: Look at that bitch. Yeah, look at the one— yeah, that’s a stripper.

ELLA LANGLEY: I’ve never seen one done like that before.

THEO VON: Look at the one that’s a stripper right there.

ELLA LANGLEY: That’s the one that you had for sure.

THEO VON: I think— I mean, I don’t know, I was young, but I was happy to have it. Yeah, look at the one canoeing in its own tail. That’s pretty great actually. Did it have a name? Huh? Did you name this squirrel? Yeah, Mr. Tucker. Mr. Tucker. So he could have been trans, I have no idea.

ELLA LANGLEY: Who knows?

Creative Control and Trusting Your Instincts

THEO VON: Okay, a couple questions about your album and then your new— what’d you say? Say real quick, Ella, could you move your mic to the right just a little bit? She doesn’t need any help. Sorry, that’s perfect. This is Ella.

ELLA LANGLEY: Why’d you say that?

THEO VON: Just because I’m thinking if there’s one lady that doesn’t need any help, it’s probably you.

ELLA LANGLEY: I think sometimes I need help.

THEO VON: You do?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

THEO VON: Yeah, I know, sometimes I do too. I think that’s one tough thing about when things start— like, I think if you’re a person that’s kind of controlling, or you like to have a say in everything you do— do you feel like you’re that kind of person? That’s one thing that I love about Morgan is Morgan knows exactly what he’s doing. He is dialed in to a T, I feel like, on what is him and what represents him.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, I’m very much that way. I mean, every bit of what I do, I have my hand in it. Co-producing the record. I’m writing stuff for the music video, co-directing that. I’m making the set list for the show and kind of creating that set. I literally drew out our set in my journal and was like, gave it to the set designer, and I was like, “This is what I want.” And they literally made that for me.

THEO VON: So it’s all you? So when people come to see this next tour, it’s all you?

ELLA LANGLEY: No, I mean, I have an incredible team.

THEO VON: Right, but it all comes from you originally?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah. And it’s interesting. It’s hard to find people that— sometimes people get stingy with your art in a way. And it’s funny, it’s like a pride thing. And I care so much about the people that I work with, it being a collaborative experience. And so everyone on my team, it really is that, whether it be my stylist or my makeup artist or Kaylee over here, who’s my photographer and also creative director of my management. My band.

It’s kind of like I don’t tell my band to get up there and play this thing lick for lick. I want us to get up there and have fun and play music. And obviously there’s a way a show should go. But I just think that sometimes people put these weird parameters around such a creative thing.

And something that “I Think You Look Like You Love Me” did for me was like everyone told me that song was not going to work. My label tried to get me to sing— they were all like, what do you—

THEO VON: After y’all had cut it or before?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yes, after we had cut it, they were like, “We really think you need to go back in and sing these verses.” I was like, “I’m not singing it.” And they’re like, “You need to sing it.” And I just fought them really hard on it.

THEO VON: And they thought you need to go back in and sing Riley’s verses? Is Riley the one that sings on that?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, but no, like the talking part. And I was all but 22, I think, at the time.

THEO VON: Yeah.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, no, they wanted me to go back in and sing that. They’re like, “This is going to be the worst performing song on the record.”

THEO VON: No.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah. And so I think with that one, I mean, it was just different.

THEO VON: You knew it wasn’t?

ELLA LANGLEY: I mean, I didn’t know what it was going to do, but I believed that.

THEO VON: You believed in what it was, though.

ELLA LANGLEY: I believed that it was different. I believed that it was something that made me smile and I enjoyed singing it. And once I put my mind to something, like if I go in and cut something, it’s because I believe in it.

THEO VON: And it feels like you get to know you some in that song a little bit too. I mean, there’s just something about when somebody’s talking to you, you know, when they’re talking as well. I think there’s—

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, tells a story in a different way.

THEO VON: Yeah, yeah, I think so. Dang, who’s out there telling Ella Langley no?

ELLA LANGLEY: I don’t know.

Learning to Lead on Your Own Terms

THEO VON: But have there been parts where, as things got busier, you’re learning how to be like a leader? Not necessarily a boss, but like a leader.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

THEO VON: And then those roles that you have to step into, I think, if you want to be exactly how you want to be. Because otherwise there’s— especially in music and Hollywood type of stuff— it’ll make something for you and serve it out there. But if you want to be on top of it, it takes a lot.

ELLA LANGLEY: It does. I think that’s one of the harder parts of this job and kind of what I’ve watched from watching other artists my whole life, obviously wanting to do this, paid attention in a way. Like, you really do have to get up and fight to do it the way you want to do it every day.

THEO VON: Isn’t that crazy?

Navigating Label Pressures and Staying True to Yourself

ELLA LANGLEY: You do. It’s exhausting. And people all day— and the more success, the more people care about what you’re doing. You know what I mean? In the beginning, in a label, you know, when I was first signed, it wasn’t a competitive deal. You know, I didn’t really have that much going on, and it was more of like a banking-on-me type of a situation.

THEO VON: Right.

ELLA LANGLEY: So now, you know, everyone is paying a little closer attention to what’s happening, obviously, you know, and everyone has an opinion. And it’s like that across the board, and that’s just because it’s working and everyone wants it to stay working.

You know yourself the best and your artistry. And at the end of the day, I’m the one that’s going to have to do that interview. I’m the one that’s going to have to sing that song every night. I’m the one that’s going to have to go take those pictures. I’m the one that’s going to have to work with these people.

And I think it’s just constantly reminding them of that and not compromising who you are as a human being because, “well, this is how it’s usually done.” I hate that phrase. I hate, “well, this is what you would usually do.” I was like, well, I don’t give a rat’s ass what you’d usually do. I do not want to do it like that. I really don’t. And I’m going to stick my heels in the mud.

THEO VON: I don’t even have any heels and I’m just going to put my feet in there.

ELLA LANGLEY: You do have heels. That’s the bottom of your foot.

THEO VON: Oh yeah, you’re right. And I’mma put them in the bag. I’ve always— I don’t want to do it how you want it. That’s— dude, that’s been the pilot light of my entire existence.

ELLA LANGLEY: Oh yeah, “do it like this.” That’s the worst thing you could tell me if you don’t want me to do it.

THEO VON: Dude, I don’t want to do any— I never want— dude, I couldn’t even— my eyes wasn’t even open and I was like, I ain’t doing sh like you want me to.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, keep your eyes straight.

THEO VON: F* you.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, how about that, b?

The Morgan Wallen Tour and Bryant-Denny Stadium

THEO VON: I’m coming with a remix right out the gate. Yeah, damn, that’s hilarious. Oh, congratulations, you guys. Your tour with Morgan starts April 18th in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Bryant-Denny Stadium.

ELLA LANGLEY: I know, home state.

THEO VON: That’s so crazy.

ELLA LANGLEY: It’s cool. I think it’s the first concert to be in there since like, what, 19-something?

THEO VON: Bring it up.

ELLA LANGLEY: 1970-something. I think Alabama was the last thing. Oh, hey, bring it up.

THEO VON: Oh my God.

ELLA LANGLEY: Kaylee took that over there.

THEO VON: Did she? God, take some of me, Kaylee. I need to live like that. I need to get a damn brooch.

ELLA LANGLEY: A brooch?

THEO VON: Or— I don’t know. Sorry. Nice. I mean, a nice necktie. I’m just joking. I’m trying to make your brother laugh. The only joy I’m having is when you guys laugh.

ELLA LANGLEY: That’s the gig, huh?

THEO VON: Well, yeah, it’s just nice when people laugh. I feel okay.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

THEO VON: Alabama Stadium show right there at Bryant-Denny. When was the last one? That’s what we’re asking. Honestly, this guy’s just looking at pictures of men online. That’s the dang football team. We just want to know when was the last— ChatGPT. Just ask somebody. Ask, who’s that Roll Tide guy? Oh, ask Roll Tide Willie. Yeah, he’s actually from near our hometown, dude. He was in the military with my buddy’s dad. He used to be pretty— not normal, but better. That’s where he’s from.

ELLA LANGLEY: What?

THEO VON: Yep. God bless him. The last concert held at Bryant-Denny Stadium was a performance by the band Alabama in 1992, which followed a series of Bama Blast concerts in the early 1980s. The 2008 concert with Alan Jackson was scheduled but canceled. Dang, so that’s been 30, 33 years.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, I’m pretty excited about that one.

THEO VON: That’s crazy.

ELLA LANGLEY: And we’re direct support this year. We’ve really worked our way up on this tour. First tour, we were first of 4 we did with him. Last year, we were second of 4. This year we’re direct.

THEO VON: Congratulations.

ELLA LANGLEY: Just climb your way, you know what I mean?

THEO VON: He says— I mean, I’ve spoken with him about you, and he’s like, “she’s got it, she has got it.”

ELLA LANGLEY: He’s been really cool.

THEO VON: He’s a unique dude, man.

ELLA LANGLEY: Well, you know, him and Earn and Hardy and that whole crew has just been super kind to me.

THEO VON: Yeah, yeah. Oh, that whole group’s so much fun. I remember right whenever I moved in town, we had a podcast studio. I was living over in Wedgewood, Houston. I just was renting a house and putting a podcast studio, and the guy was always stopping by. He’s like, “you have a podcast studio in here?” I was like, no. And just like, what? He’s like, for some reason this guy hated podcasting or whatever. And one day we got to have Morgan, and then we had like— it kind of just snuck out Hardy and Earn, and we had a blast over there. But that was fun. That was like an early episode that we had here in town.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, those shows are going to be cool.

Stagecoach, Diplo, and Cheese Talk

THEO VON: It’s going to be so great. Oh, there was something else I was going to ask you about. Oh, and then you’re doing Stagecoach too. Yeah, me and my buddy are DJing there.

ELLA LANGLEY: Really?

THEO VON: Yeah.

ELLA LANGLEY: You DJed before?

THEO VON: No, but it looks so dang easy. Yeah, I’m just joking, Diplo, but it looks pretty damn easy. So yeah, that’s it.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, I don’t know, I’ve never tried that.

THEO VON: But yeah, me and my friend Caleb Presley are going to play at Diplo’s Honky Tonk.

ELLA LANGLEY: Stuart met him.

THEO VON: You did? Oh, they’re great, aren’t they? Yeah, I love that. Diplo is a character, man. He is. Yeah, he loves a nice cheese too. If you know of a restaurant in the area, he’ll tell you about cheeses in any area. He almost has like a—

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, he will. You know that? Like he already knew that. Yeah, yeah, he loves them cheeses.

THEO VON: You know, I met him over a Havarti. Listening to Hardy. And sorry, I’m just dropping a horrible cheese country music lyric here.

ELLA LANGLEY: I thought it was great.

THEO VON: I thought it wasn’t too bad.

ELLA LANGLEY: That’s how easy it is.

THEO VON: But no, that’s going to be cool. I’m excited. I’m excited to get to see you play out there. And thanks so much for spending time with us today.

ELLA LANGLEY: Thanks for having me.

The Cystinosis Girl and the New Album Dandelion

THEO VON: Appreciate it. We’re happy to have you. We had this girl in yesterday. Have you ever seen that girl? She’s on TikTok. She has cystinosis. She keeps changing the name of it. But yeah, this is her. Have you seen her? She talks about the spice.

ELLA LANGLEY: A little bit of spice, a little spiciness, like a little hint of soy sauce, a little hint of the tomato, you know, a little hint of the spice.

THEO VON: Tomato and ramen.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, it actually has like a hint, little hint of tomato. Oh yeah?

THEO VON: Yeah. What is a hint?

ELLA LANGLEY: I don’t even know. It just sounds like a little word. That’s me all the time.

THEO VON: Is it?

ELLA LANGLEY: What even— what is even there? I don’t know.

THEO VON: Just sounds like a real word. Just say it first and figure it out later.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

THEO VON: You have your new album, Dandelion.

ELLA LANGLEY: Mhm.

THEO VON: Or Dandelion. That’s how some people were saying it.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

THEO VON: Congratulations.

ELLA LANGLEY: Thank you.

THEO VON: Did you feel like you had to hurry up and get this out? Because I think sometimes coming off of, you know, like you said earlier, your career starts getting bigger and things start to feel like you don’t want to lose the momentum, right? You work so hard to build a flame. Did it feel like any pressures? What were some pressures that were involved with this, or was it just completely smooth? And is that a ridiculous question?

ELLA LANGLEY: Nothing is ever completely smooth, I don’t think, for real. I don’t know. Well, maybe some things. Yeah, some things.

THEO VON: Some things, maybe. Yeah.

Co-Producing Dandelion and Miranda Lambert’s Influence

ELLA LANGLEY: But this record, I mean, I worked on it for like a year and a half, so it still took a while. But I keep saying the big word for this record is synchronicity. It did just feel like a lot of things— while I’m co-producing for the first time, while I’m full-time touring two different tours, just trying to balance everything at the same time, get the vocals done, you know. And it taught me a lot.

And that’s what was so cool about having Miranda to be a part of it, because she’s just so honest. You’ve met her and hung out with her. She’s just so real.

THEO VON: Yeah, she’s great. She likes barrel racing too.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, she does. But she just, you know, she was just honest about days where I was like— she’s like, “you’re burnt. Take a step back.” But also, you know, some things I wanted to go in there, I’m like, “can I say that?” She’s like, “hell yeah, you can say that. You can say whatever the hell you want to.” So that confidence of someone that has done it and that you look up to their career so much— you’re like, “you know what? Hell yeah. Yes. Actually, I do want the cymbals to be louder right there. I do.”

And no, it was really cool. This whole record, I’m so excited about it. I’ve never been more excited about music in my life.

THEO VON: Really?

ELLA LANGLEY: I think I’ve clicked in my artistry.

THEO VON: Let’s go, Ella.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, yeah. I think I really have.

THEO VON: That’s a pretty badass thing to say.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, I think—

THEO VON: Especially if you’re somebody— you mentioned earlier that you’re such a judge of yourself, you know, that you get off stage and you’re like, “oh, that was fine, but it wasn’t as exact as I could possibly have been.”

Wrapping Up

THEO VON: Thank you, sir. I like to vine, but we’ll go fungus. We’ll go fungus. No, but I love listening to your music. It’s great. I mean, who am I to judge? It’s great, dude. One time I said to Morgan, I was like, “man, that song is good.” And he looked at me and he goes, “that song’s great.” And I was like, he’s right. And he was right.

ELLA LANGLEY: You just kind of sat there in silence for a minute.

THEO VON: I was just trying to be cool a little bit, you know? And he’s like, no. And he was right.

ELLA LANGLEY: Got kind of sweaty right when he said that.

THEO VON: Yeah, I think we were actually working out somewhere, so it was extra. I don’t know what was going on. But I remember him saying, “that song’s great.” I respected his confidence about it. But no, I love listening to your music. It’s great. F, quit saying that, dude. You sound like a fing weirdo. I like listening to your music.

Ella Langley Performs Live

ELLA LANGLEY: There’s that smile again.

THEO VON: But here’s what happens is I’ll be talking to dudes and I’ll be walking up and singing, or I’m at the dang market and some guy’s walking by singing it, you know, singing it. Yeah, just singing all of it.

ELLA LANGLEY: Be her.

THEO VON: Yeah, just— yeah, yeah. Oh dude, yeah, my friend Alan the other day, he said, “I can’t get this out of my head.” And I was like, well dang, go look at some porno or something, you know, or go get a dang one of them nudie mags or something, bucko, you know.

ELLA LANGLEY: That usually— yeah.

THEO VON: But anyway, I was just saying, because that song is more of like a women-focused song. That’s all.

ELLA LANGLEY: I wrote it with 3 guys.

THEO VON: Did you?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, Hardy’s one.

THEO VON: He does have long hair.

ELLA LANGLEY: He does.

THEO VON: And he has nice hair too. Well, tell me, like, so when it comes down to making the final songs, like, or did you want to play one?

ELLA LANGLEY: You want to pick one out to play?

THEO VON: Yeah, play a song. Really?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

THEO VON: Yeah, of course.

ELLA LANGLEY: I’ll give you all the titles.

THEO VON: All right.

ELLA LANGLEY: And then you can just pick—

THEO VON: Let me see about one.

ELLA LANGLEY: Just pick one that’s not out yet.

THEO VON: All right.

ELLA LANGLEY: If you— well, how would you know? How would you know?

THEO VON: I think I will know.

ELLA LANGLEY: Okay. Where was that sent to me at? Thank you. Okay.

THEO VON: All right, let me see that. Just put my number in here. Sorry, I’m just watching this. Sorry, I’m sorry, taken over by the devil. The dang devil is swiping around in there.

ELLA LANGLEY: It’s like you hand it to your dad and he just keeps swiping, you know, and you’re like, bro, if some—

THEO VON: If you give somebody your phone and they swipe one picture— is there anything scarier? You have no idea what that could be.

ELLA LANGLEY: You just swallow. It’s so hard immediately.

THEO VON: It could be casserole. It could be a damn somebody getting a tummy tuck.

ELLA LANGLEY: What is this, something you meant to take to show your doctor later?

THEO VON: Yeah. You’re like, “That’s for my doctor.” You’re like, you’re going to show that young lady to your doc?

ELLA LANGLEY: I don’t know. Me and my doctor, I need to go to a meeting.

Choosing a Song to Play

THEO VON: What about Last Call for Us?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, you could play that one.

THEO VON: Is it a fun one?

ELLA LANGLEY: It’s not as much fun, but it isn’t— if you want fun, not that one.

THEO VON: Oh, that’s true, huh?

ELLA LANGLEY: But it’s— I mean, I like this song. Oh my God.

THEO VON: I’ll just listen and enjoy it.

ELLA LANGLEY: Thank you.

Of me and I’ll let go of you.

THEO VON: Here we go.

ELLA LANGLEY: We ain’t ever going to make this work. Let’s close it out and go our separate ways. Soon as we go walking out that door, we ain’t ever going to, ain’t ever going to be the same. It’s last call for us.

THEO VON: Here we go, boy.

ELLA LANGLEY: Might crack a bone.

THEO VON: Get a picture of Chuck tapping in there.

ELLA LANGLEY: He’s my ultimate hype man. We’ll both have—

THEO VON: I can edit that in right there.

ELLA LANGLEY: This time alone, we won’t come back here. It’s last call for us.

THEO VON: You can fade it out some.

ELLA LANGLEY: I think we could play one more. We can, and then we can just pick which one.

THEO VON: Let’s do that. That’s good, because that might be sad, because what if somebody just put their animal down or something?

ELLA LANGLEY: Then that’s a song they want to cry to.

THEO VON: Actually, it’s a good point.

ELLA LANGLEY: That’s why we put it out there.

THEO VON: Yeah, and thank you for that.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

Crying at Concerts and Performing with Morgan Wallen

THEO VON: And I’ll say this, I went and saw Dermot Kennedy one time. You ever heard of him, dude? And I didn’t know people cried together in a big group at the Ryman, right? And so there was a woman crying on my back because she’d lost a pet.

ELLA LANGLEY: You just let her?

THEO VON: I couldn’t do— what am I going to do?

ELLA LANGLEY: Just let her.

THEO VON: She said, “Just push my legs back if they get up against you,” and I was like, all right. But it was special.

ELLA LANGLEY: That’s a crazy Ryman show.

THEO VON: It was. And I saw you at the Ryman. Remember you asked me to sing that part and I got scared?

ELLA LANGLEY: Why did you get so scared?

THEO VON: Because I couldn’t remember it all.

ELLA LANGLEY: There were words. There’s a teleprompter out there with the words on it.

THEO VON: I didn’t know that. Nobody told me that part.

ELLA LANGLEY: I did. Yes, I did.

THEO VON: I would have known. A teleprompter, I know about that. I know about words moving at slow speed in front of me.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, there was one with the words on it and everything.

THEO VON: I didn’t know any of that.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, they were like— everyone was like, “He was upset.” And I was like, well, why?

THEO VON: I think I was bummed because I wanted to—

ELLA LANGLEY: I like—

THEO VON: Because I like this. I like the music and so wanted to be helpful, and everybody else was helping out. And then I think I just got too nervous. I didn’t want to mess it up.

ELLA LANGLEY: You would not. You could have come out there and said anything and it would have been good.

THEO VON: I don’t know.

ELLA LANGLEY: That’s the fun part about that song. I mess up the words all the time. Yeah, all the time.

THEO VON: You do seem pretty much like you just kind of— you’re willing to just roll with it no matter what.

ELLA LANGLEY: Hey, this is a special show for y’all. I’ve never done it like this before. I can’t help it. I’m human. I think, in a world where you don’t know what’s real or not, I just think going out there and not being afraid to be humble a little bit in that way— I don’t want to mess up the words.

When I did “What I Want” with Morgan, I mess up words almost every single time. I’ve never been so nervous to go out and do something.

THEO VON: Really?

ELLA LANGLEY: I just feel like I could throw up before I walked out there every time. I was like, I just cannot— I could not remember those words. Like, here’s me, like, “There ain’t no hard feelings if you only want to act like lovers do for days.”

THEO VON: Like lovers do.

ELLA LANGLEY: And I literally just— I don’t know. And I would have it, but then, all right, POV, you go through this tunnel, you know what I mean? And you’re playing in the stadium. It’s the most people you’ve ever been in front of. You’re walking out with Morgan Wallen. Everything gets dark and there’s smoke everywhere and you gotta walk out and I’m in pointy heels and there’s grates out there. So you gotta make sure you’re not falling down in those. You get up and then here you go. You get one shot at it. There’s no practice too. You get like one rehearsal, you go out there and it’s like, okay. But doing it in front of 80,000 people is different than at 2 PM in the middle of the day.

But what was awesome is the last time we did it, he came out and messed up the words. And when he did that, I just started to laugh so hard because he was giving me so much sh about messing up the words. He was just like, “You can’t come out here and mess this up again.” I was like, “I might. I really am scared that I might.” And so the last night he did, and it was like he just immediately could never say another thing to me about messing up the words, you know.

THEO VON: I love that.

ELLA LANGLEY: So that was nice of him if he did that on purpose or not. He’s like— that’s what he says now. He’s like, “That’s why I did it, to make you feel better about all the time.” Like, yeah.

THEO VON: And he may have, who knows?

ELLA LANGLEY: Nah, because when he looked back at me, it was pure frustration that he could no longer talk sh about me messing up the words.

THEO VON: But it was even. That’s hilarious.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yes. Thank you.

“Bottom of Your Boots”

THEO VON: Y’all do a great job on that one. Yeah, let’s play one more then. Let’s play something mellow— well, let me think about one more. Let me try and pick one more.

ELLA LANGLEY: Okay, can I just say yes or no if I think it’s a good one?

THEO VON: Yeah, well, we’ll take that part out.

ELLA LANGLEY: Okay, why?

THEO VON: Because if people— if you say no, it’s not a good one, that might—

ELLA LANGLEY: They are, but maybe not for this setting.

THEO VON: Yes, for this setting. That’s what I’m thinking about. Bottom of Your Boots.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yes.

THEO VON: Bang, bro! That was my freaking one that I wanted.

ELLA LANGLEY: My dad gave me that title, actually. Yeah, I was like having a freak out one night. It’s actually kind of a sweet story, but he—

THEO VON: Tell me about it then.

ELLA LANGLEY: Well, I mean, he was just giving me one of his, like, “Baby, you know, you’re fine.” He’s like, “But you know, I love you from the bottom of my boots to the top of my hat.”

THEO VON: Oh, that’s a great title. Anyways, that’s as much of a dad as there is.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, you know, pep talks.

THEO VON: That’s bottom to top.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yep, bottom of your boots. Yeah, yeah, heck yeah.

Boy, if your heart’s a revolving door, yeah, that’s all right, but I’m looking for more. If you don’t love me, lay it on the table. Tell me how you really feel, give it a label. If you’re going to hold me, don’t just hold me all night. Better hold me like you want to—

Yeah, they got them shoulders.

THEO VON: Yeah. Oh man.

ELLA LANGLEY: Getting closer to a love song. Let’s go! Hold me like you want to hold me for the rest of your life. If you’re going to love me, better love me too.

THEO VON: And back from the bottom of your boots to the top of your hat. Love me. I love that. That little Langley. That’s good.

ELLA LANGLEY: That’s good. That’s good in there.

THEO VON: That’s good.

ELLA LANGLEY: Enough slices.

THEO VON: Dude, your brother is a great dancer. That’s a beautiful song, dude.

ELLA LANGLEY: But he is dancing though.

THEO VON: Pretty good, buddy. Heck yeah, I told you he’s my—

ELLA LANGLEY: He’s my hype man.

THEO VON: Yeah, no, I would get him out there and have him do it. Do you ever do that?

ELLA LANGLEY: No, but maybe we should. He’s been streaming.

THEO VON: Has he? Yeah, he’s a streamer.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yep.

“Broken” Performance & Closing Conversation

THEO VON: No, I haven’t streamed. Mustache Stew. Mustache Stew. Okay. Yeah, I like that, man. There’s not a lot of Southern streamers really, I don’t feel like. I know, I’m getting a lot of exposure, dude. It’s been awesome. Mustache Stew, I got the brand, I got the stew. I like it, dude. And is that a real hat from your sister’s album? It is. Oh yeah, I gotta get that.

ELLA LANGLEY: We brought you some.

THEO VON: Yeah, unreleased. Are they? Did you really bring one? Let’s go! I can’t even wait to freaking put it on whenever I get home. That’s a great song. Thanks for letting us play it. And what a great story to go with it, that it came from your dad saying that to you. Yeah, that’s awesome. That’s a nice reminder.

ELLA LANGLEY: Should we do one more?

THEO VON: I mean, I will definitely be here for that. He picked out a good one.

ELLA LANGLEY: I think we should do Broken.

THEO VON: I’ll do it.

ELLA LANGLEY: All right, just first chorus.

THEO VON: And is it about— well, never mind. I’ll just be quiet.

ELLA LANGLEY: You’re figuring this town out one day at a time, ain’t you?

THEO VON: Yeah.

ELLA LANGLEY: “If I’m doing all right, can we skip all the talking, baby? And don’t try to find the right thing to say, ’cause the words ain’t working on me lately. Tears just fall on a hardwood floor. Going to wonder why, going to wonder what for. Don’t ask. If I’m doing all right, can we skip all the talking, baby? Just let me, just let me, just let me be broken. Just let me, just let me, just let me be broken. One night, baby, just one night, let me feel everything crying that I’m feeling. And if it’s all right, I’mma let it all out. I’mma let it all out tonight. So just let me, just let me, just let me be broken. Just let me, just let me, just let me be broken. You and me in the dark, just keep holding me.”

Can you hear this live with the crowd, you know?

THEO VON: Oh yeah, with their lighters.

ELLA LANGLEY: Lighters.

THEO VON: People holding up pictures of people they’ve lost. Look at them. There we go.

ELLA LANGLEY: Literally.

THEO VON: Let me get one shot of you with that lighter, dude. That’s pretty clutch.

ELLA LANGLEY: “Just keep holding me tight while I’m falling apart, baby, just for tonight.”

THEO VON: Awesome. Let me be broken.

Songwriting & Singalong Choruses

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, a lot of singing choruses on this record. I thought a lot about wanting people to sing along to the songs. You thought about that a lot, you know? Sometimes there’s so many words in songs that I’m just like, I cannot remember, but I can remember the melody. So with a lot of these songs, I wanted them to be kind of easy to remember. Big singing choruses — you hear that chorus once and you already knew how to sing it.

THEO VON: Yeah, because you want to feel a part of it. As a listener, you want to feel a part of it as quick as you can sometimes, especially if you’re a fan of somebody. Certain songs fit certain people better than others.

ELLA LANGLEY: Well, maybe you haven’t heard all the songs and you just know like one or two, and then you come to the show, but you can still catch on to songs throughout the show. Because I hate just standing there. I have too much ADHD to just stand there.

THEO VON: And you have to keep getting snacks because you don’t know the song. You’re like, well, I’ll get another snack or whatever.

ELLA LANGLEY: Another pretzel, I guess.

THEO VON: Yeah, I’ll get another pretzel.

ELLA LANGLEY: Maybe make it cinnamon this time.

THEO VON: Yeah, maybe I’ll change things up and get a damn Diet Gatorade or whatever, which they never came out with, which I have written them about.

“Choosing Texas” Memes

THEO VON: Choosing Texas is probably the biggest song everywhere. Apparently somebody called it— they found an alien or something, he was singing it. Like, there was a family of aliens they saw somewhere that were singing it. It’s number one on everything. It’s like the biggest song that’s ever happened. Some guy — you see that guy in a coma who kind of wakes up and mumbles one of the lyrics and then goes back into a coma? He just zooms right back off.

ELLA LANGLEY: No, I haven’t seen that one.

THEO VON: There’s so many memes to it though. Have you seen a lot of those?

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah.

THEO VON: Can we bring some up? What do you think about all these?

ELLA LANGLEY: I think it’s whatever people want to do with the song. Once I put it out there, it’s like, who knows what could happen. This is what’s going to keep songs alive. Yeah, this does sound too— it does sound real close to that.

THEO VON: “Drinking Jack off by myself.”

ELLA LANGLEY: Yep. Yeah, I think it does. I’ll get songs stuck in my head and parts to it, and I just have that right there stuck in my head, on repeat over and over again now.

THEO VON: “Just drinking Jack off by myself.”

ELLA LANGLEY: It goes like, “drinking Jack off.”

THEO VON: And have you ever accidentally sung it like that on stage?

ELLA LANGLEY: I feared that a lot. I really do, because I have the thing about me where it’s like I have one specific thing I should not say, and then I’m accidentally going to probably say it.

THEO VON: Damn, Satan’s tickling you from the inside. That’s why.

ELLA LANGLEY: Here’s one right here.

THEO VON: Oh yeah, it’s “Jews in Texas.”

ELLA LANGLEY: See, new one all the time.

THEO VON: “Drinking Jack up by myself. There’s Jews in Texas, I can tell.” And it’s just a mixed guy, at least possibly a Black man, fishing in a suburban man-made pond.

ELLA LANGLEY: There’s no way that there are fish in that pond right now.

THEO VON: You don’t think?

ELLA LANGLEY: No way.

THEO VON: I don’t know. I bet there’s some damn missing women in that. Pull up one more.

ELLA LANGLEY: My dad loves that one.

THEO VON: It says, some people can’t see because they’re listening. “Well, I’m eastbound and down, I can’t help but cry because I farted,” it says on the screen. So that’s what they’re saying she said. That’s hilarious. Yeah, the only ones I’ve seen is the Jews in Texas one, and then drinking Jack off by myself.

ELLA LANGLEY: It’s like that “You Can Be My Green Bean.” You remember that thing? “You can be my queen bee.” Remember that song? Oh, and everyone was like, “you could be my queen.”

THEO VON: Yeah, I used to do that.

ELLA LANGLEY: “You could be my queen.”

THEO VON: “You could be my queen bee.”

ELLA LANGLEY: But everyone thought you said “green bean.”

THEO VON: Oh, “you could be my green bean.” Okay, I gotta stop before some real man shows up and chokes me out.

ELLA LANGLEY: Okay, moving on.

Ella’s Upcoming Tour

THEO VON: Ella Langley, you have your own tour. Is it kicking off after, or is it in between the one with direct support from Morgan?

ELLA LANGLEY: Kind of back and forth some. We start in May. May 7th. Toledo, Ohio. Yep, Toledo, Ohio.

THEO VON: That’s when Vietnam was. Was that where Vietnam was? No, I know it wasn’t. Sorry. I know Vietnam was not in Toledo. I think Vietnam started May 7th.

ELLA LANGLEY: Oh, that’s the day. I should not—

THEO VON: It doesn’t matter either way at this point. Let’s pretend that’s not part of this. Well, you got double Marlowes on it. You got Dylan Marlowe and Cameron Marlowe — not related, two totally different singers, both great.

ELLA LANGLEY: Mhm. Caitlin Butts is on there.

THEO VON: Trying to think if I’ve heard her before. Can you bring up Caitlin Butts?

ELLA LANGLEY: “You ain’t got to die to be dead to me, man.” She has an incredible cover of “I Went Down to Tulsa.” Oh yeah, she’s incredible. Her voice is incredible. She’s so fun. Her songs are fun. “You know you’re doing better on your own, so don’t buy it.” She’s also really funny.

THEO VON: She’s funny? Oh, it’s the best. That’s good. One thing about funny girls being on tour — there’s nothing better than funny girls. A lot of funny girls I noticed, and this is something I noticed, is that a lot of them are from the Philadelphia area.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah. What made you notice that?

THEO VON: I just noticed it and I believed it.

ELLA LANGLEY: Well, that’s all you got to do.

THEO VON: When I noticed it, I believed it.

ELLA LANGLEY: And then that’s what it is. Yeah.

THEO VON: Sometimes you meet some funny girls from outside the Philadelphia area. But anyway, also Caitlin Butts — I look forward to getting to meet her sometime.

ELLA LANGLEY: She’s really good. And then Gabriella Rose is first of three for almost the whole thing. She’s incredible.

THEO VON: Diplo was telling me something about her.

ELLA LANGLEY: She’s so good. I believe in her a lot. She’s young and she’s still finding herself in her artistry and doing the whole damn thing. But she’s so good. The way she writes, it’s like you can tell she means what she says. And then Lacey Kay Booth is another one.

THEO VON: My God, there are just some good women out there. Yep. And we are glad they’re doing it. Well, yep, we are glad. Um, Ella, thanks so much for hanging out with us.

ELLA LANGLEY: Thank you for having me.

Closing Thoughts

THEO VON: I appreciate it. Congratulations on all of your success, on everything that’s going on, and just learning to figure it out, because I think that’s one thing that everybody’s trying to do. I think sometimes people think that people in some sort of limelight or going through some sort of popularity or exposure or fame—

ELLA LANGLEY: —there’s like a conductor backstage that’s like telling you what to do every second of the day. Yeah. No. Sadly, that one’s in there. Can you imagine what our conductors look like too in there?

THEO VON: It’s a mess. If they pulled out whoever lives in my head from behind a building, and they’re like, “look what we found back there,” I would like f*ing hang him from the nearest rope, bro.

ELLA LANGLEY: Did you ever watch the Inside Out movie?

THEO VON: And he wouldn’t have pants on, I bet. Probably. You’re like, wait, you’re telling me the guy in my head has never had pants? He’s never had pants. The officer’s like, “he doesn’t own pants.” You’re like, what? We can’t afford pants.

ELLA LANGLEY: Oh God, have I ever watched the Inside Out movie? Yeah, it was like the characters that live in your brain, the cartoons. Oh, you would love this movie. I actually think that you would. It’s incredible. You should see it with your eyes. It’s very good. It’s like about all these characters — they all are like, it’s like Sad, Mad. There’s like one main girl, and then there’s like a— I don’t know what the other one is.

THEO VON: Joy. Yeah, there’s Anger, Disgust.

ELLA LANGLEY: Oh, I see it. I see all of them. They’re all labeled up there. Oh wow. Anyways, it’s always made me think about that. I appreciate that. You’re welcome. Just something for later on the plane, whenever you’re on a plane.

THEO VON: Yeah, after I get done listening to Dandelion, then yeah, I’ll put on Inside Out.

ELLA LANGLEY: I’m sure the people sitting next to you like, “This guy’s going through a lot.” No, no, if someone came up on you watching that, they’d be like, yeah. Yeah, for sure.

THEO VON: Probably. It’s kind of crazy that that’s where we’re at now. If an adult came up on another adult watching a f*ing cartoon, they’d be like, “Yeah, man, everything’s fine.”

ELLA LANGLEY: You must be having a hard day.

Wrapping Up

THEO VON: It’s a crazy world. So you’re going to be on tour for a bit, then you won’t get to go back home for a while, or do you have a set date where you’re going to go back home? Will you be home for Easter? Will you be home for—

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, I’m going to go home for Easter. Will you go back to the church that you grew up in? No, no. I kind of— well, we moved to a different place. My parents just sold that house, actually. They closed on it like a week or two ago. Oh, nice. Yeah. But yeah, I just bought a house back there on the lake and don’t want to say where because people already come up on their boats and stuff playing my music. It’s kind of funny.

THEO VON: People are perverts. People are seafaring perverts.

ELLA LANGLEY: But it’s not— it’s a small town, you know what I mean? They’re like, yeah, they’re cool. There’s like the closest, just like a Piggly Wiggly and a DG there. You know.

THEO VON: Oh yeah, I mean, people used to pull up our apartments and steal all the ditch onions that were out there.

ELLA LANGLEY: What? I have never.

THEO VON: Oh, they got ditch onions out there. And congratulations on choosing Texas as a number one. It’s a number one for— this is so many, I don’t even—

ELLA LANGLEY: It’s too many slices, too many things. It’s actually crazy.

THEO VON: It’s a number one for everything. I think it just came out on the Moon. It’s the first number one on the moon, I think.

ELLA LANGLEY: Yeah, I don’t really know. That would be nuts. No, yeah, I don’t know. It’s just so weird to believe that that’s like a song that’s my song.

THEO VON: Yeah. I know it’s hard to feel attached to things that you do sometimes. Yeah, I think that makes good sense. Maybe that’s one of the things that makes you you, but whatever the things are that make you you, they’re enjoyable to witness. So thank you for spending time with us. Thank you for your music. There’s so many people I know that love it and that it brings joy to their life. And I’m glad I got to meet Mustache Stu. And yeah, when I need some photos and my conditioner sets, I’m going to call you and get something swell going on. Something swell. Yeah, something swell. Ella Langley, thank you.

ELLA LANGLEY: Thank you for having me on here. Yes, ma’am.

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