Pretty Bitter, Pretty Brilliant: A Chat with Em Bleker

As we near the end of the year, we’re filled with gratitude for everything this year has brought. Reflecting on our incredible inaugural This Could Go Boom! Fest and the many other unforgettable events, we’re reminded of just how vibrant, connected, and inspiring our community truly is. Along the way, we’ve had the joy of sitting down with some phenomenal people who make this scene so special — and we couldn’t be more thrilled to catch up with the powerhouse that is Em Bleker of Pretty Bitter!

Their journey of self-discovery is beyond inspirational, and we are pleased to share a little bit of Em’s story here with you all.

Hi Em! So glad to chit-chat! Can you share a bit about your background/story and how you got started in music?

Absolutely! I was really lucky to grow up in Austin, just surrounded by all kinds of music from the start, but more than that I was lucky to have adults in my life that encouraged a relationship with the arts. As early as I can remember, my mom was taking my sister and I to the Broken Spoke, to Antone’s— these different legendary spots in my hometown that held so much history. I was being exposed to Johnny Cash, Stevie Ray Vaughan, & Willie by one guardian, and at the same time Rilo Kiley, Death Cab for Cutie, & The Cranberries by others. My upbringing was just rich with music, so when I was 14, and my best friend and I decided to start our first band, I felt like I was giving myself permission to see if I had a place in the art that had raised me. We had no idea what we were doing, and I was terrified, but it was the most fun I’d ever had and the most energized I’d ever felt.

How has your identity shaped your experiences in the DC music scene?

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that once I came to terms with my own identity, in all the ways that manifests, I found my real community in this scene. It’s not that the experiences I had beforehand didn’t mean something, but looking back they do feel more thin. Finding the queer and trans community within DC music felt like coming home to something I didn’t know had been waiting for me. I know there’s a trope that an artist must be suffering to make good art, but I vehemently believe that the safety I felt surrounded by is what allowed me to keep making art. In another timeline, I don’t think I stayed in DC. In this one, I can’t imagine myself being anywhere else for the past 10 years.

What makes the DC music community special or unique to you?

There’s something really special that can happen when ego comes second to, or is buried under the weight of art and community. I think that’s what DC has. There is a developed culture here of shared resources, and of encouragement that I haven’t experienced anywhere else. You have a community of people dedicated to and invested in to one another’s success, whatever that means to each individual person. There’s also something big to be said about our city being in such close proximity to the political workings of this country. All of the feelings related to that, all the rage and fear and sadness and anxiety, lends to this concentration of desire to be louder, assert our presence harder, and a refusal to go quietly. Activism and art go hand in hand here— it is genuinely difficult to find a single week in DC music where someone is not raising funds or awareness for a cause, a person in need, or an action— and that’s special.

Can you share any words about your newest album, “Pleaser”?  Folks are excited, and I know you are probably sick of being asked about it lol!

I just can’t believe it’s here! We’ve put 2 years of work into one project, and it’s a little wild to look back on how much has changed since we started the whole process. I’m a really sentimental person, & listening to “Pleaser” in its finished form can sometimes make me nostalgic for every step it took to get it here. We were so lucky to work with our friends Evan Weiss & Simon Small again to bring this one to life, and I couldn’t ever give them enough thanks or praise for their care and influence. Working with them is a true masterclass every time, like a very personalized creative boot camp, and I don’t think we would have gotten Pleaser where it is without that trust. At the end of the day, I think that while the record deals a lot with themes of death and the body and anxiety and aging, in my heart, it’s the most hopeful thing I’ve ever been a part of making. I both love and come back to this one quotation from Gary Panter pretty often, & it goes “Being an artist is not a game of self-congratulation. It is an insecure business. I am not showing you stuff I think is great. I am showing you what I am doing.” I’m looking forward to showing y’all what we’ve been doing.

 Are there any grassroots movements, collectives, or spaces in DC that have had a major impact on your journey?

There are a ton, but DCAF immediately comes to mind. They’ve done such a beautiful and thorough job of incorporating DC art and music into their mission, and making fundraising accessible where it otherwise could feel exclusionary to the people it supports. I also don’t think you can talk about DC without talking about how much of a pillar Rediscover Fire is to this scene. They have never once wavered in their support and love of our scene, but more importantly, they have never faltered on prioritizing the safety of the communities we are all a part of.

What advice do you have for others who may identify with your journey/story?

Get to know yourself, figure out what you want for your own journey, reach out to people and artists who seem to have the same mission and moral direction, and then figure out how to incorporate and help others with what you learn. There’s a big beautiful world here for you, and there is no lock on the door.

Interview conducted by Robzie Trulove.