We had the good fortune of connecting with Tracy Marcellino Aubert and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tracy, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?
It depends what your end game is. I think if it really matters to you, it’s impossible to give up. I tried to quit music for a decade but it wouldn’t let me. With creative endeavors, you can’t rely on the people around you to validate you. Not everyone is going to understand. Be your own hype man and stay delusional enough to believe it into being.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
After a 10 year hiatus from music, during which I had a kid and built my career as a food designer, I just released the first single from my upcoming debut solo record- We Want Connection under the moniker Witch Cabin. The record explores the chaos of connection in the era of disassociation…. but, also you can dance to it.

The music industry is full of challenges from sad streaming royalties to AI so it would be easy to get discouraged. We are tasked with content creation, algorithm hacking and marketing just to move the needle at all. I try to think of content creation as an extension of my music and part of the art or I’d go postal.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Some of my favorite spots:

Yunomi handroll downtown… the best.
Donna’s or Bacetti- both in Echo Park for Italian food in beautifully designed dining rooms. The focaccia at Bacetti is next level..
The Record Club for monthly album deep dives with an impassioned crowd.
Blind Barber for drinks
The Lodge Room for shows
The Synth Museum in Highland Park
Polly Wales for the most cool + beautiful jewelry

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Shoutouts:

New York, which was my second home while making my record, providing a place away from myself in a way, where I was able to be a musician first

Kimi Recor + Sharlene Durfey for listening to me cry on a trip to Berlin where I realized I was grieving music and they pushed me to start again.

Ryan Martin for production and mixing on my record + Liz Manuscalco for production on We Want Connection

My mom for being the highest achieving instagram commenter.

My son Nico because nothing makes sense without him,

The Witch Cabin for being a place to find myself again and write.

Website: www.witchcabin,com

Instagram: @witchcabinmusic

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61580347194488

Other: Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/artist/6Sro8gUVbA9JwUofhjE7jL?si=ECjKUkhzRJiVqNQlwkr1XQ

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@witch.cabin

Image Credits
photos: Brooke Olsen / Mike Feerick

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.