Kevin Bronson on May 11th, 2020

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While working on her third album as Steady Holiday, Dre Babinski is reconnecting with the classical music she grew up on during this COVID-19 shutdown. She’s also taking inventory: “If nothing else, this is an opportunity to sit and think about how we spend our time, our money, our vote,” she says in No. 50 of the Buzz Bands LA series QUARANTUNES.

THE LATEST FROM STEADY HOLIDAY

At first a violinist and backing vocalist who played with such artists as Dusty Rhodes and the River Band, the Elected, Jarrod Gorbel and Hunter Hunted, Dre Babinski launched her solo project Steady Holiday in 2015. Her soft, intricate indie-pop is laced with sharp commentary and extraordinary insights, as exemplified on Steady Holiday’s 2018 sophomore album “Nobody’s Watching.” It offers an exploration of universal themes like greed, fear and self-interest — the ugly and troubling edges of human nature — and represented a natural next step for Steady Holiday, a project that builds worlds we wish to escape to or from. It’s an examination of the inner narratives we all share but keep in the shadows, where the characters may not always be likable, but they do what they can to survive — as we all do.

HOW ARE YOU HOLDING UP AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MANAGE THE ‘STAY AT HOME’ EDICT?

I’m definitely one of the lucky ones right now. Doing my best to appreciate that privilege and make the most of it. I’m finishing a record and have a few other pots cooking, but my general day-to-day is slowing way, way down. It’s nice, but a complicated gift. The gravity isn’t lost on me.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO WHEN THIS IS OVER?

Change! Policy, best practices, leadership. If nothing else, this is an opportunity to sit and think about how we spend our time, our money, our vote.

ANYTHING WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THIS PLAYLIST?

I’ve been reconnecting with a lot of classical music I grew up on, some of that in here as well as contemporary artists and composers. There’s no escaping Blake Mills. Try.