Creative Roots Run Deep with Leslie Rodriguez
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[00:00:00]
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Leslie, we are finally after,
Leslie Rodriguez: it. It
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: a hundred, a hundred months of, of trying to do this.
Leslie Rodriguez: sure feels that way.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: it sure does. It sure does. And I'm really excited because I had no idea that you were, that you had a music background. Not only that, I had no idea that you fronted a band.
Leslie Rodriguez: Yeah!
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: So it's, it's oftentimes, like [00:01:00] Fair Hristi, most people don't realize that he is a drummer, Right
Leslie Rodriguez: Right
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: it's oftentimes when photographer who has a music background is not often in front.
Leslie Rodriguez: Right
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: and so it is really fun that you were extremely visible,
Leslie Rodriguez: Yes
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: when you were at the, the height of your music.
Leslie Rodriguez: Yes.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: so,
Leslie Rodriguez: Yeah, on stage with my camera. I would, I would come on stage and I would bring, at the time I was shooting Nikon, now I'm a Sony girl, but at the time I would come out on stage with my Nikon and I would sit it right next to me on the, with my, you know, microphone.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Mm-hmm
Leslie Rodriguez: so it was right at the microphone stand, and then I would be able to like pick it up and take pictures of the crowd
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah.
Leslie Rodriguez: from the stage
Stage POV Content Dreams
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Scott Wyden Kivowitz: you know what's funny about that is, like, let's say it was 2026 when you were still fronting this band,
Leslie Rodriguez: I think about this all the time
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: And with the technology that exists today, you could have taken a little, one of the little, what is it? The, the, Insta 36- I-
Leslie Rodriguez: Yes.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: brand Go, the
Leslie Rodriguez: I have one of those. [00:02:00] I love
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: you
Leslie Rodriguez: it
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: have, you could have done a POV from the microphone
Leslie Rodriguez: think about this all the time. I'm telling you, if it had been now, like, and even then we had all kinds of ways to reach people that, that people 10 years prior didn't, right? But if I knew then what I know now about how to make content, like not just taking photos, but making content out of it, oh my gosh, the-- we could have reached so many, so many more people.
The POV videos, the backstage videos. I mean, we were around when it was like Vine was a thing, and we had a Snapchat, and
like when, when Instagram Stories became a thing, we-- it just like blew our minds. We-- I remember when Instagram switched, we were in, we were on tour in Little Rock, Arkansas, and it was that night that Instagram switched over from, like time-based photos like that you would see people in your like timeline based on when they posted something, [00:03:00] and they switched it over to like algorithm based.
And so our whole strategy around when we posted and how we posted and what we posted just changed, and like everything just, it was just blew our minds that like, "Oh my gosh, people are never gonna see our stuff anymore." Like when did we post? It was, oh yeah, things were different back in the day.
MySpace To Algorithm Shock
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Scott Wyden Kivowitz: when I was, when I was in band, there was, like, nothing. There was no social media,
Leslie Rodriguez: No, ja
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: it was very... It was... MySpace was around, and that was
Leslie Rodriguez: Yes.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: There,
Leslie Rodriguez: Oh, yeah
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: was still, Facebook was still college only.
Leslie Rodriguez: Yep.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: We had
Leslie Rodriguez: Yep.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: So
Leslie Rodriguez: I remember those days too.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: was no streaming.
Leslie Rodriguez: Nope.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: It was, it was nothing.
Leslie Rodriguez: No, I remember. There was a time on MySpace that you could, when you could, put a song on your MySpace, like, homepage, and I, I was in a different band back then. I was in a bluegrass band, and I remember, like our lead guy... I was-- I've always been, like, the lead girl [00:04:00] singer in a band, but usually side by side with a lead male vocalist as well.
And so, like, the, the lead male vocalist of that particular band, who was also with us in Humming House, he was the, he was the, mandolin player, but we were in this bluegrass band together before that, and he was like, "Okay, I'm gonna show you how to do this," 'cause he didn't have a MySpace. He's like, "I'm gonna show you how to make your primary song so when people go to your page, they hear our song."
And so he, like, configured the whole thing for me and, and set it up. I was like, "This is amazing. Now everybody can hear it," you know?
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: It was like, it's like the single before there was
Leslie Rodriguez: Yes.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: digital
Leslie Rodriguez: Oh, that's wild. Yeah, social media changed.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: yeah, it sure did.
Doomscrolling For Laughs
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Scott Wyden Kivowitz: yeah, and, and now I hate social media completely. I wish there was... I wish it didn't exist.
Leslie Rodriguez: Gosh. It's, it's a love-hate for me. It's a love-hate. I'm over here, like, and I'll complain about it, but I don't even know how many accounts I have at this point. I have an account for everything. Like, I'm, I'm so sucked in, but I also, like, [00:05:00] I'm all the time like, "Oh, this is why the world is terrible." But there's so many funny creators on there too.
It's bad
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: true. Unfortunately, it's, for me, it's typically, I'm, if I'm cooking or if I'm in the bathroom, I'm scrolling.
Leslie Rodriguez: Yep. It's, it's a, it's a late night thing for me. Like, before I go to bed, I'm just scrolling. And that's terr- that's the worst too, 'cause that's when I had told you before that I doom scroll and I'm like, I need, I have to find funny things. So I'm trying to train my algorithm to just send me the funny stuff.
that's That's, what I'm working on.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: That
Leslie Rodriguez: 'Cause there's some funny people out there.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I just finished the audiobook of Matt Rife.
Leslie Rodriguez: I don't know
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Matt Rife is such a good comedian,
Leslie Rodriguez: Ó
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: really hate him because of, he told one joke that people didn't think was a joke even though it literally opened up his show,
Leslie Rodriguez: Oh no.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: it got him canceled, but at the
Leslie Rodriguez: Wow
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: it was a joke and it opened up his comedy show, so it's...
People, anyway. So
Leslie Rodriguez: I spya
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: l- I just today finished his [00:06:00] audiobook and I'm hoping that, that the TikTok and Facebook and Instagram gods were like listening to me listen to the audiobook so I get more of com-
Leslie Rodriguez: They, that's how it works.
They they know. See, and it's never, like, real comedians that I, that I, that pop into my feed. I, I don't know people. Like, people ask me if I've seen so-and-so. I, the, my one comedian that I know and love is John Early, and he's so funny. but all the other ones are just, like, the random content creators that are just hilarious.
Yeah.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: yeah, there's a lot, there's a lot of funny ones
Leslie Rodriguez: But you're not a c- real comedian if you haven't been canceled, like, at least once, right? It's like a, it's like a hazard of the job.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah, it is.
Music Runs In The Family
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Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I wanna s- I wanna take a step back. you've, you, you mentioned that you were in Humming House, but
Leslie Rodriguez: Yes.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: a band before this.
Leslie Rodriguez: Yeah
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: from what I understand, you also come from a family
Leslie Rodriguez: Yes
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: musically creative humans.
Leslie Rodriguez: Yes. So I have basically been in a band my whole [00:07:00] life with my dad. my-- on both sides of my family, we have a ton of musicians. So on my dad's side, he grew up, he, his brother plays bass. My dad plays a little bit of everything. he, his mom and dad played piano and sang, and there was a tuba that I always remember seeing when I would go to my grandparents' house growing up.
I don't know who played that, but just like everybody was multi-instrumentalists,
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Ja
Leslie Rodriguez: could do all the things. I think my dad might have played trombone at one point. and, and, so I grew up playing music with my dad. But then on my mom's side of the family, which is the, the video that you saw where we were at our family reunion, and we have this, like, giant family jam.
And everybody, we have multiple sets throughout the day. Everybody gets a chance to, like, get up and play some, some form of music, whatever it is that you're-- We've got, like, a sea shanty singer. We've got, you know, duos who, you know, guitar and, and harmony, and we've got all kinds of stuff. We got the kids version of, you know, they come up and do [00:08:00] karaoke.
and so that's on my mom's side of the family. And so she has... My mom is not a musician. She's a, she's what we always say, every musician needs a supporter.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yes.
Leslie Rodriguez: she's, she's the
supporter. Yes, she's the groupie. And, but the, but her side of the family, there's a lot of, of musicians as well, singers and, songwriters, and so it's a lot of fun, you know.
So I-- it comes from both sides.
Louisville Bars To Nashville
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Leslie Rodriguez: but growing up, my dad and I played, I-- So I live in Louisville, Kentucky, and that's where I grew up. And we would play in bars and open mic nights all over town. We had to, There was a place that we played every Thursday night. It was an open mic night. And they, at one point, lost their food license, so all they had was a liquor license.
And there had to be, like, a cop there to make sure that, you know, I was not drinking anything 'cause it wasn't technically a restaurant anymore. It was, like, a 15-year-old hanging out in a bar. but we, we would play in restaurants and bars all [00:09:00] over town. And then we moved to Nashville, and he also moved.
He, he got a, a job at Vanderbilt as a professor. and then I was going, I went to college at Belmont University. So my whole family moved to Nashville, so we continued to play around town until I started joining other bands. and I mean, we always still played together. So it's, it's sort of been going on since I was maybe eight years old, and I told my dad in a parking lot in Target that I wanted to be famous.
And he was like, "All right." He signed us up for a, open mic the next day. So, it's been since then. Yeah.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: incredible that you, not only did- do you have this music in your blood, but, you also grew up in two different cities that are extremely musical.
Leslie Rodriguez: Yes
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: one, one even more musical than the
Leslie Rodriguez: Yes.
Right
Yeah
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: really, really interesting that, I actually wonder even if y- your family was not, were still as musical, [00:10:00] but you did not grow up in a musical area,
Leslie Rodriguez: Right
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: different?
Leslie Rodriguez: Yeah. I, I, you know what? I bet I would've felt like a much bigger fish in a, you know, small pond type situation because I, like, we, there, I don't think there's any way that my dad and I ever would not have played, you know? So, like, if we had grown u- if I had grown up in an area that wasn't as musically inclined, we would have made that, like, our, we would've just t- tried to take over the whole scene, I guess.
Like, it, like, it, there's no way that we wouldn't have played. We would've found a way. so, in a way, I, you know, I've been so lucky to grow up in Louisville and then also spend, you know, almost 15 years in Nashville, and just being able to, like, meet so many amazing musicians. My, my problem is, you know, here's the thing.
If I had grown up somewhere that didn't have so many amazing musicians, I bet I'd be a better instrumentalist
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Ö
Leslie Rodriguez: [00:11:00] I have always relied on other people because I've always been surrounded by incredible musicians. I've always been lazy and relied on other people to play the instruments. And I can play a guitar, you know, I can strum around on it, and, and maybe accompany myself through a couple of songs.
But, like, because I've always had so many opportunities to play with talented people, I've always just relied on them to, to provide the instruments.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: That's, yeah, that's really interesting because at the same time, let's say, let's say you, were playing guitar at the same time as singing all the time.
Leslie Rodriguez: Right
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: of the downsides of being in Nashville, for example, is you're surrounded by some of the best guitar players, and it,
Leslie Rodriguez: Oh my gosh, yeah. For sure
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: could be a little discouraging to, like, not play guitar,
Leslie Rodriguez: Ja
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: and to just focus on the singing because, there's far more [00:12:00] better instrumentalists in Nashville than there are singers in
Leslie Rodriguez: It's
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: of people sing, but far more people play
Leslie Rodriguez: Oh, it's intense. Like,
I,
I think my, I think at a certain point my husband was just over it in Nashville because he's, he doesn't play anything, he doesn't sing, and he was just like, "Everybody plays something." And he's, "Can I just meet a normal person who doesn't have any, who doesn't do anything musical?"
Our, our plumber was in a band. Our, hi- you know, his barber was in a band. Like e- everybody plays something.
Annual Garage Jam Tradition
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Scott Wyden Kivowitz: so the, these family reunions you do, is it a once a year thing with the
Leslie Rodriguez: Yeah.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Is it multiple times?
Leslie Rodriguez: Every, every year in July. It's usually the third weekend of July out in California. It's gotten to a point where we have to get, like, a noise ordinance permit.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: That's
Leslie Rodriguez: The whole neighborhood knows. They all come.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: that's great
Leslie Rodriguez: Yeah. Ooh, sorry about that. I don't [00:13:00] know if you heard that noise, but anyway. Oh, okay.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: But that's, that's, that's hilarious that,
Leslie Rodriguez: Yeah. It's, we, we, it's, we've been doing it for years, decades. So this has been, this is my aunt and uncle's house where we do it every year in their garage, and it has been in this garage since, I would say, 1990.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah
Leslie Rodriguez: and it started even before then, but we would, we used to do it at a park, and then it got bigger and bigger and bigger, and so we moved it into the garage.
And it started out as just like, we're gonna sit around in chairs and, and jam for a little bit while, like, the adults drink some beer and we just have a good time. And as it got noisier, well, we started adding... So, like, my uncle, it started out with just acoustic guitars, then my uncle plays keys, so he started bringing his keyboard.
And if you have a keyboard, then we gotta start adding a bass. And if you start adding a bass, well, then we need the rhythm [00:14:00] section, so we're gonna bring in the drums. And it just turned into this rock band. my, my cousin plays drums. He actually, I don't know if you've ever heard of Mini KISS.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Mm-hmm.
Leslie Rodriguez: so it, my, it's a, it's a group.
and they, they do all KISS covers, but they're all,they all play all a- all around. They, they were in, like, a Super Bowl ad this year with KISS.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Wow
Leslie Rodriguez: so he's, he's a drummer in Mini KISS, and he's fantas- super talented. but so he doesn't, he can't play with us anymore because he's always on tour.
So he, for the last several years, we've had a hard time finding a drummer because he's not there. but anyway, so, so as it got louder, we started having to invite the whole neighborhood, you know, because they wa- wanted to know what the hell was going on.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah
Leslie Rodriguez: so the neighborhood started coming, and then we, it started going late into the night, so then we started having to add a permit.
And then the food trucks now come, and [00:15:00] so it's this huge, like, thi- it's, it's spiraled into this enormous, really fun party. And so I've started documenting it every year because people are so fascinated.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: It is. It's something to document.
Leslie Rodriguez: Yeah. It's-
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: like something that, you know, in, in 20, 30 years from now, you could literally have a documentary about your family's musical,
Leslie Rodriguez: Yeah.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: you
Leslie Rodriguez: I would I would
love that too. Like it was, it's, they're all, and it's just so fun. Like we recently added, my cousins who live in, And, and this gets into like second and third cousins, right? Like we are all... The other thing about our family that's like a little bit unique is that it's a giant family, and we all love each other.
Like there's no family drama. We're all crazy about each other. We love being around each other. this is like something that we all look forward to every year. And so again, it's like extended cousins, third cousins, twice removed, all of this. So we all come in. So I've got a couple of second cousins I think.
[00:16:00] I, I'm trying to think of how that works. and they are, yeah, they're second cousins of mine, and they are, used to live in Florida, and now they've moved out to the West. So now they've joined in, and one of them is Finn, and he comes in with his like accordion, and he's playing these sea shanties, and it's so cool.
He's in like a sea shanty group in college, and like it's, it's just, it's all these different genres. It's great.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: That is great.
Leslie Rodriguez: Yeah
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I think, it's, it's only a matter of time until you have to do what Jason Mraz did and buy an avocado farm and just have these jam sessions on a big farm where nobody can hear you. Like, you know, that you don't have to get the police involved or
Leslie Rodriguez: Yes. That's exactly right. That's exactly right. Yeah, we, we just need our own space where we can just ha- have the party as long as we want.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah.
Leslie Rodriguez: gosh. I know, and it's such a blast. We, we have a good time. We've even added, like this year, they have a pool in the backyard, so we added a lifeguard so that the adults don't have to think about that anymore.
'Cause I [00:17:00] used to only be able to do a couple of songs 'cause I would have to watch my kids in the pool. But now it's like, "Oh, there's a lifeguard now, so Leslie can sing for an entire set." It's great.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: We, all of our friends, so I mean, I'm in New Jersey, and all of our friends that, that have pools, at birthday parties or big whatever events, when they have pool parties, it's now a thing where you just, you hire a lifeguard
Leslie Rodriguez: Yeah, it's-- yeah, it makes sense. Yes. The-- yeah
Opera Kid Not Musical Theater
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Scott Wyden Kivowitz: so correct me if I'm wrong, did you do musicals growing up?
Leslie Rodriguez: I, so I was obsessed with musicals.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Okay
Leslie Rodriguez: I was in several operas.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Operas.
Leslie Rodriguez: Operas,
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: but
Leslie Rodriguez: not musicals. Yeah, so I don't think I did any actual musicals because I didn't know how to dance, and so I thought that, like, y- if you were in musical theater, you had to dance. and so I was in a, a youth [00:18:00] chorus that was in, like, Carmina Burana and Tosca as a kid, but I never did any musicals.
Even though I loved singing them, I was afraid of trying out because I wasn't, like, a drama kid.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Right, right
Leslie Rodriguez: I, I never knew how to dance, and so I was like, well, obviously, you know, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Oklahoma, they're dancing all over the stage, so that, I'm just... It's not gonna work for me.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: So opera. So you've got the pipes for opera as well as the pipes for folk and rock
Leslie Rodriguez: in the ensemble for opera, you know. So we're like in the background providing the, the, the support for the r- main people on the stage. But, you know, I did get to do Tosca and Carmina Burana. It was quite fun
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: That is, that is. When, during the musicals growing up in, in, in middle school and high school, et cetera, I was in the band.
Leslie Rodriguez: Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I was,
Leslie Rodriguez: Yeah. yes.
Photography Major Origins
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Leslie Rodriguez: I just like, I, I wasn't... We, I even went to a, I went to a really unique high school where they have [00:19:00] majors, so you can be a youth performing arts major, so they call it YPAS, you- youth performing arts school. You could do a communications major, so like journalism, bl- darkroom photography.
Guess where I wound up. and then you could do MST, which is math, science, technology, or you could do HSU, high school university. So those were the, our four majors. Oh, no, and there's a visual arts one where you could, you know, paint and stuff. and I-- everybody thought like, "Oh, of course she's gonna go into YPAS."
Like, "You're a singer." but again, like I didn't know how to dance, and all those kids could sing and dance, and so I was just like, I had never done dance classes as a kid. It wasn't my thing. And so I was like, "Well, I'm gonna play music with my dad around town. That's where I'm gonna have my musical fun, and I wanna learn how to do photography."
And so I was in the communications major, so I worked yearbook. I learned how to, you know, develop film in the darkroom. I, was, you know, very much into-- I was our documentary... Like, I was the one [00:20:00] at all the high school parties with my, you know, camcorder and my camera, and I have, I was the one who just documented, my entire photogra- like my entire high school
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah. Yeah, yeah
Leslie Rodriguez: so that's kind of where... And I, I actually had a, an internship at Kentucky Bride Magazine my senior year. And so I was able to like work in their photo department, for, for that. So that's kind of also like how I got into photography originally. but yeah, did not, did not do the school musicals, although I do wish that I had done that
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: can you dance now? 'Cause I can't
Leslie Rodriguez: No.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: still
Leslie Rodriguez: No. No. No.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I
Leslie Rodriguez: Absolutely not, no. That's why I, that's why I'm taking the pictures, Scott. That's why I've got my camera. I go to the, to the, you know, wedding receptions, and I'm like, "I don't need to dance. I'm taking the pictures." It's great.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: yeah.
Dance Anxiety And Creator Stress
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Scott Wyden Kivowitz: We, we're, just starting the process. It's, it's two years out, but we're just starting the process [00:21:00] of planning our daughter's bat mitzvah,
Leslie Rodriguez: So fun!
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: gonna make me dance." My
Leslie Rodriguez: Mmhmm
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: a-- my daughter wants to do the musicals in
Leslie Rodriguez: Oh yeah
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: she, she goes and takes dance classes and stuff, and
Leslie Rodriguez: Mhm
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: in elementary school, she was in the chorus.
There's like, she's ready for the musicals, and I'm like, "She's gonna make me dance," and I
Leslie Rodriguez: Oh, yeah.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: So,
Leslie Rodriguez: It's
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: y- now it's time for you to start taking those adult dance classes
that's right.
Leslie Rodriguez: you don't embarrass your daughter.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah.
Leslie Rodriguez: I, I cannot... No, thank you
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: yeah. we as creators, we get anxiety naturally from the pressure that comes with the tasks. We get, syndrome. You
Leslie Rodriguez: Ach Gott
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: no matter how much anybody denies it, it's there. We
Leslie Rodriguez: Oh gosh, yeah. Oh yeah
Singing Versus Shooting
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Scott Wyden Kivowitz: How would you compare the, any anxiety or imposter syndrome, whatever it might be, that you get from singing in front of people to picking up the camera and photographing an important moment for somebody?[00:22:00]
Leslie Rodriguez: Oh, it's so much worse for, with photography. because I, my ego is like way up here with singing. Can't touch me. Like, I've been told my whole life that I'm a great singer, so I'm like, "Y'all, y'all can't bring me back down at this point. It's too late for me." But with photography, it's so subjective. Like, music, music is
I- if y- if people are so much more likely to agree on, if they are hearing something that they enjoy. Like, if, if somebody is objectively a good singer, most people can agree like, "Yes, this person can do that. Like, I'm gonna let you keep singing because that, that sounds good to me." And it's like more of a, more people are gonna agree on that.
But photography is so much more, contextual. People have so many more opinions about it [00:23:00] because truly anybody can pick up a camera and call themselves a photographer. Like, whether or not they're actually good, whether or not they bother to learn how to do different things. So many people have that feeling of like I know what I'm talking about.
I- when I'm on TikTok-- So I have more of a following on TikTok for my photography than I do on Instagram.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Mhm
Leslie Rodriguez: like, around 18,000 followers on, on TikTok because I post a lot of tutorials there. And the number of opinions I get from people who think they know what they're talking about, and it is, it's wild.
Somebody thinks that they can pick up their iPhone and take some good pictures, and suddenly they have opinions about what's a good photo. And so I-- the imposter syndrome comes out deeply with photography.
Confidence Transfer Tricks
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Leslie Rodriguez: and I, I actually take a lot of the lessons that I've learned in the musical world, and I, i- in confidence, like, i- in how to, you know, get [00:24:00] over i- imposter syndrome and how to present yourself as a professional.
I've taken those lessons that I've learned in the musical world, because there's a lot of imposter syndrome when you're showing up to, it's a little different. Like, when you're showing up to soundcheck, and you've got the sound guy trying to mansplain to you what inputs go where and you're... and, you know, all these things.
And so
that's the, that's the imposter syndrome there, and I'm like, "My dude, I know what I'm doing here. I've been doing this for years," you know? And so I've taken the confidence levels that I have in photo- in singing, and I have found a way to, like, transfer those over to photography so that even when I feel like an imposter, I know how to show up like a professional so that ev- it is a little bit of, like, fake it till you make it.
Like, I learned in, in the musical world that if you're backstage and you act like you're supposed to be there, nobody's gonna question you. So when I'm at a, at a, at an event and I feel like I don't know what I'm doing, if I pretend like I know what I'm doing, people believe me. [00:25:00] And, and then I believe myself m-more, you know?
And, and that's how it builds up
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I, I think that's, also one trait of being a professional is being able to either, "I made a mistake and nobody knows it," or, "I'm not sure and nobody knows it." You
Leslie Rodriguez: Right
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: that is a ... Being able to navigate those situations, and nobody know that you're navigating a situation, and that's a, that's a sign of being a professional
Perfectionism And Clients
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Leslie Rodriguez: And you're so much more in tune to mistakes than people who aren't in the field are. You know, like,
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah
Leslie Rodriguez: there are things that I see with my photos and I'm like, "Oh my God, I cannot believe..." Like, "I can't believe I did this. I can't believe I sent this in a gallery." Like, this is just so, you know, something in the editing or th- something will be s- will bother me so deeply, and whoever gets the photo, they're like, "Oh my gosh, I love it."
And you're like, "Really?" Or they'll, they'll pick photos to share that I'm like, "I would never have shared that. Like, I almost deleted that, and you,
and and you're sharing that one?" [00:26:00] And, and, you know, it's, you're so much harder on yourself as a professional than I think, well, sometimes, than, than other people are in- inclined to be
Band Songwriting Process
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Scott Wyden Kivowitz: did you write your own lyrics or did, somebody on, in the band write the lyrics and you sang them? Like, w- how'd that go?
Leslie Rodriguez: So it, it, sometimes it was a joint effort. our, all of us are writers, in the band, so, several of the songs we would just sit down and have writing sessions together. several of the songs, Justin, who is our lead singer and, and the, you know, founder of the band, he would come in and sh- show us what...
He's a brilliant songwriter, so he would have, so many of the songs are, are Justin creations. and then Bobby and, and Ben, who are the, bass and the, fiddle player, they would help with all the composition and the writing as well.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah
Leslie Rodriguez: and, but the, you know, so much of the composition and, and then same with our, our mandolin player, who's a brilliant songwriter.
and he, he also wrote all of the songs from the bluegrass [00:27:00] band that we were in back in the day, and just a hilarious writer. So we would all, contribute to that.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah.
Leslie Rodriguez: and
Photography As Collaboration
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Scott Wyden Kivowitz: look at, your photography as also a collaborative type effort like writing lyrics and writing songs, or do you look at it "I made it, it's mine"?
Leslie Rodriguez: Oh, interesting. I guess it would really depend on the situation. when I'm writing- when I- when I'm writing. When I'm photographing, for example, a wedding where you have so many vendors coming together contributing to something, I would never take all the credit for that kind of thing because there's nothing beautiful for me to photograph without all of those incredible people bringing, you know, their talents to bear on the image.
So like, I could never pass off a, a beautiful published photo, that had all of these other elements to it. You know, otherwise, I'm just photographing nothing. You [00:28:00] know, they're, they are giving me what, what I need to make a cool photo. So
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah
Leslie Rodriguez: that, in that sense, I would definitely say that it is a collaborative effort.
We are all writing this, this image together and, and that's why it's so important to make sure that all of those vendors get the credit that they deserve when things are published or when you share online. be- and it's also funny because I've noticed like I have a hard time knowing if I should say thank you when somebody like comments that a photo is beautiful because I'm like, are you telling me that the photo's beautiful or are you telling the person who made this cake that it's beautiful or are You
You
know, it's like what are you complimenting
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Right,
Leslie Rodriguez: because I just took it. You know, I wouldn't have anything to photograph without this amazing situation that was orchestrated by other talented people
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I think it's okay for you to take credit from the compliment because yes, there's a lot of things that were involved in making that photograph, right? But
Leslie Rodriguez: Right
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: for all [00:29:00] they know, maybe, And we've all been in the situation as photographers where you're going to photograph the cake, but the lighting sucks in that
Leslie Rodriguez: Right
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: spot
Leslie Rodriguez: for sure. Yeah.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: you've gotta, you've gotta make it work.
So
Leslie Rodriguez: Yes
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: that photo of the cake is all on you. Sure,
Leslie Rodriguez: Yeah
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: cake's beautiful in itself, the light would've s- the light in the
Leslie Rodriguez: Yes
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: so, so the damn venue screwed you and
Leslie Rodriguez: Yes.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: know? So
Leslie Rodriguez: Yeah, no, you're right.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: it's okay.
Leslie Rodriguez: Yeah.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I think it's okay.
Leslie Rodriguez: Yeah, no, yeah, that's, that's 100%. But if it's like a photo that I take that, like, I did the composition, I did the editing, there's nobody really else involved, and, and it's something that, like, in those situations I'm like, "Yeah, that's my work, baby."
Like,
Vendor Credit Networking
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Scott Wyden Kivowitz: But like, let's say, let's say it was, let's say it was an outdoor wedding in a vineyard, right?
Leslie Rodriguez: Right
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: the, the, the portrait itself is fantastic. the way you lit the couple was fantastic, but the scene in the [00:30:00] background is this gorgeous, you know, gorgeous field with the, with the vines and
Leslie Rodriguez: Yeah
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: growing and everything.
If somebody gives you a compliment, you can, and you can respond, say, "Thank you. I, you know, couldn't have done it without this gorgeous scene from blah, blah, blah, blah."
Leslie Rodriguez: Right.
Yeah. Yeah
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: And, you know, that, that from a networking standpoint's gonna make the venue love you
Leslie Rodriguez: Oh, 100%. Y'all wanna, you- it's always make the other vendors happy, for sure. Like, I, I have found that I've gotten more work from florists, and makeup artists, and, you know, stationers than I ever would've anticipated. So I always tell photographers who are just starting out, I'm like, "It's not just the planners."
I
mean, absolutely, you know, hobnob with the planners, but it's the other vendors too. Keep everybody happy.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah. so I was gonna ask you, three more questions. I
Leslie Rodriguez: Yeah
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: do two more questions
Leslie Rodriguez: Sounds good
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: up... I'm gonna bring up the third 'cause I,
Leslie Rodriguez: Okay
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I can't have this conversation with, with you without bringing up the third.
Leslie Rodriguez: Okay.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: so I wanna bring [00:31:00] up, and I'm not g- I don't want you to explain it, but I wanna mention the fact that I'm going to link this in the show notes.
Leslie Rodriguez: Okay
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: so if you wanna quickly summarize and then let everybody go watch your video,
Leslie Rodriguez: ÖOF
TATATÁ
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: with the creative black
Leslie Rodriguez: ÖOF TATATÁ
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I just thought, like, talk about the perfect Lenses, Lenses & Lyrics, like, full circle,
Leslie Rodriguez: 100%.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: th- so can you quickly summarize it? And then don't dig too much into it 'cause I want everybody to go and watch your video
Leslie Rodriguez: Okay.
Superfan Clients Loop
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Leslie Rodriguez: Well, I'll give you just a quick, a c- a quick, insight into, like, who hires me, right? So I actually had-- I worked with somebody who helped me bring out, all of the different, like, avatars of my brand, so the, the types of people that would hire me, and I have this one avatar, and it is, it sounds weird, but these, these are my, like, super fan Sarahs, which is a that's just, it sounds ridiculous.
But these are people who have stuck with me since my Humming House days, and they [00:32:00] continue to hire me for, to photograph their weddings. And so this situation with, with, with Charlie, I have known Charlie for so long because he would come to my shows in Humming House, when I was in Humming House, and then I was able and lucky enough to photograph his wedding, and then went on to photograph his sister's wedding.
And so, and we keep in touch online and, like, it, And we're friends now, you know? It's a-- We're, we're good buddies. And, and I, I love his family. I love his friends. And, and this is how I have another one of these weddings this November. It's a, it's a family, it's a, it's a woman who ca- she actually supported our Kickstarter in two, in tw- 2013, in 2013, to help us release our album, Revelries, and she contributed to our Kickstarter, and here she is how many years later hiring me to photograph her wedding, and it's so cool.
So
I, I have this, like, [00:33:00] demographic that... A- and I keep thinking, like, at some point, the, this is gonna dry up, you know? And I continue to get inquiries from people who have known me since my Humming House days. So that was such a fun full circle moment because, I got to kind of, like, delve into the history of my relationship with Charlie and Lauren, and, and g- from start to finish, you know, here's how we met, and then I
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah
Leslie Rodriguez: been able to photograph him along the way.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I'm gonna predict that it will not end until you retire from photography
Leslie Rodriguez: Yeah.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: because these things have a way of keep paying it forward.
Leslie Rodriguez: Yeah
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: it, there's that, that branching that just keeps, keeps going and going. It's
Leslie Rodriguez: Music fans are so loyal. And like, and Charlie started out as a friend because he was such good friends with our, with our fiddle player. So, but m- music fans, like fans of, of our band from back in the day are just so dedicated to the success of the people making [00:34:00] the music, and they are so loyal long after the band is done.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: It's true
Leslie Rodriguez: and it's like I have a wedding next year that... So I have this one that's coming up in November, and I have another one next year that was a connection from Humming House Days. So it's, it's wild.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah, it really is.
Leslie Rodriguez: Yeah
Singing During Sessions
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Scott Wyden Kivowitz: so when I talk to a singer, I like to ask this one particular question. and I've had mixed, mixed answers on this.
Leslie Rodriguez: Okay
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: a lot of times as photographers, when we are done with a job, we gift our clients something, right? Stereotypically, with wedding photography, it's champagne, right?
Or something like
Leslie Rodriguez: Sure. Yeah
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: maybe with a box of some 10 photos in there or something like that.
Leslie Rodriguez: Right
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: sometimes singers gift their clients with a song during a wedding, and I'm curious if you ever do something like that, or if you're-- Let's say you're not doing a wedding. Let's say you're just doing a portrait session. Do you ever [00:35:00] calm and comfort your clients with a song,
Leslie Rodriguez: Oh gosh, all the time.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah
Leslie Rodriguez: yes. Yeah. I mean, a lot of times it's kids, right? A lot of times I'm-- if, if I'm doing a family session, I will sing to kids, and I can get them to stop and smile at me, and I have, like, half a second, and it, and it's like, it is my secret sauce with kids.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: What,
Leslie Rodriguez: but
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: go-to song for the kids?
Leslie Rodriguez: whatever. So I actually send out a questionnaire
before
I before I, meet with families, and I'm like, "What's their favorite song?
What's their fav..." And I know all of them, right? 'Cause I have two daughters, and I'm, and I love kids music anyway. I think it's cute. So I, I know all of it. And so whenever they come back and tell me, like, "Oh, we love the Bluey," you know,
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah
Leslie Rodriguez: can, like, sing along to the Bluey instrumental whatever. Or if it's Elsa, it's a lot of Elsa, or Descendants or, you know, whatever it is, and I can-- I'll just break it out.
Or Wheels on the Bus, man. With little kids, Wheels on the Bus, they're just like, "What?" Their [00:36:00] eyes get all big. so that happens a lot. Yeah, I know. They're like, "Wait a minute, this woman is magical."
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: That song's like 500
Leslie Rodriguez: yeah.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: kid.
Leslie Rodriguez: So I do that a lot. And then I also, with these people from my Humming House Days who hire me, I often wind up singing at those weddings, like, with the band.
So I've done that several times, where I will hop up and sing one, one song or, you know, I will sing during the ceremony if they ask me to. It's happened a lot, more often than
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah
Leslie Rodriguez: would ever have expected. but I've never, like... I've-- It is. It's, it is a lot of fun. It's a lot of extra, like, stress, but it's fun.
then, but I-- There's never been, like, a situation where I'm with adults and I just start singing at them. Like, that's never, I don't think that's ever happened. I mean, I do sing all the time. Sometimes I don't even notice that I'm doing it.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: And yeah,
comes out.
Leslie Rodriguez: yeah.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Yeah.
Leslie Rodriguez: all the time, and my husband's like, "You've been singing that same line over and over [00:37:00] again.
That's enough."
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Oh, my wife hates it when I, like, get something stuck in my head and I just keep singing that one
Leslie Rodriguez: Yes.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: She
Leslie Rodriguez: All day. And now my oldest does it.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: makes it even worse.
Leslie Rodriguez: My, my oldest daughter does it now, and I'm like, and, and so now I'm realizing how annoying it is. I'm like, "Oh, gosh, has that been me my whole life?"
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: My, my son who's eight, he sings only in the shower,
Leslie Rodriguez: Aww.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: right now it's, it's either Geronimo, like, "Hey, Geronimo," over and over again in the shower.
Leslie Rodriguez: so cute.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: screaming it out at the top of his
Leslie Rodriguez: Oh my gosh, I love it
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: yeah. Or, or an Andy Grammer song. He, for some reason, which we were just on vacation in August.
We're, we're recording this in s- in September. We were just on vacation in, at the end of August, and while we were away, Andy Grammer was performing in town at a new outdoor venue,
Leslie Rodriguez: Oh
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: and, we were
Leslie Rodriguez: nooo.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: them.
Leslie Rodriguez: He missed it. He missed it
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: around, my wife and I got to see [00:38:00] him a couple years ago, and it was amazing, so
Leslie Rodriguez: Oh, that's awesome.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: But,
Leslie Rodriguez: Next time.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: yeah.
Photography As Pop
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Scott Wyden Kivowitz: My last question to you
Leslie Rodriguez: Okay
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: every single person on the show.
Leslie Rodriguez: Oh gosh. Okay
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: If you need to take a moment to really think about it, feel free.
Leslie Rodriguez: But now I'm nervous.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: photography
Leslie Rodriguez: Uh-huh
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: was a genre of music, what would it be and why?
Leslie Rodriguez: Hmm. That's a very good question. You know, I would say
that's a really good question. I mean
I kind of feel like it would be pop because I do try to, I have fun kind of moving through the trends. I don't [00:39:00] like latch on to trends and go crazy with it, but I do try to like play around with whatever's fun in the moment. but I also have like my classic... I feel like you have your classic song structure, you know, the three and a half minutes, and so I definitely have like my, my like classic fallback look, but then I can also play around with whatever, 'cause I always like to experiment.
So having fun with whatever trends are going on in the moment, but knowing that I can kind of fall back on whatever has always worked for me. I'm think- I'm, I'm like digging into this. And I also like to appeal to a wider, group of people, so I'm not trying to like, you know, have a super niche type of photography.
I don't, I don't have any... Like I wouldn't say mine is emo, for example. We're not dark and moody. we're not appealing to a very specific audience. I feel like I'm trying to make as many people happy with my photography as possible. so
I, I would say...
What, what, what?
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: No, I'll wait till [00:40:00] you're done and then I'm gonna, and then I'll comment
Leslie Rodriguez: So I, so I think it would be something along those lines, but then also I think there's a little bit of, like some Dolly Parton sparkle to it. So like maybe some, maybe some like late '80s, early '90s country. You know, we got a little bit of that Shania Twain, you know, s- a little bit of sparkle and flair to it.
So I, I definitely... I think that would probably be my, my, my definition of what I do with my photography.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: You're gonna love my response to this, I think. So every time I ask somebody this question, pull up photos on,
Leslie Rodriguez: Okay.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: on my other screen, I have your photos. And
Leslie Rodriguez: Okay
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I have an idea of what I would answer the question with of your photos before
Leslie Rodriguez: Okay.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: it.
Leslie Rodriguez: Oh gosh, okay
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: time ever, I 100% was on the same page as you.
Leslie Rodriguez: Oh really?
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: yeah, so in my head, I'm thinking pop with, with, with some experimentation [00:41:00] because, kind of like, and what was going on in my head was you've got Taylor Swift pop, right?
Leslie Rodriguez: Sure.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: like, right? Everybody
Leslie Rodriguez: Yep.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: pop.
Leslie Rodriguez: Absolutely
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: when Taylor Swift partners with Jack Antonoff from Bleachers to
Leslie Rodriguez: Mhm
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: of her songs or co-write one of, one of her songs, it's a different Taylor Swift.
Leslie Rodriguez: Yes.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Taylor Swift, but it's different.
Leslie Rodriguez: Yes
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: That's what I'm seeing with your photos. And, that different is, like, the band music photography that you were doing when you
Leslie Rodriguez: Ja.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: actively in bands,
Leslie Rodriguez: Yep
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: is what also comes out in your work. You're
Leslie Rodriguez: Ja
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: photography at the same time as seeing the, the pop,
Leslie Rodriguez: For sure
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: know, the appeal to the general audience photography.
Leslie Rodriguez: yeah, yeah. Absolutely.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: the same page with you.
Leslie Rodriguez: Oh, good. I'm so glad. Well, and I was thinking about it and, like, kind of what you were saying along the lines of, like, when Taylor partners with other people. Like, I mean, first of all, I love being, my photography being compared to Taylor Swift. I'll totally take that. [00:42:00] but no, I'm just kidding.
Experimental Pop Wrapup
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Leslie Rodriguez: But, but, but, but, you know, when I'm... So going back to the Baltimore wedding and working with Charlie and Lauren, when I photographed their wedding and, like, the, the, creative black tie thing that they had going, it was like they- he specifically was asking me for, like, cool, creative photos. He wanted- he did not want anything to look like what you always see in, like, the classic, you know, flying...
He, h- he did not want flying V photos. And I was like, "Okay, great. We're on the same page there." You know, he, he didn't want it to look like what everybody else had, which I think that pop can often devolve into. Like, it all just sounds the same, and you don't want that. but you do want it to appeal to the masses, right?
And so, so with him, we had some really cool, fun, creative things. Like, I, like, he just let me experiment all day, which was a total blast. And then his sister, when she hired me, she was like, "We want you to be our photographer. We do not want creative black tie." She was very clear, like, that they were not [00:43:00] going for, like, the, the darker industrial look that they had in Baltimore.
Theirs was in DC. It was, you know, blue hydrangeas, blue and white hydrangeas and this, like, English garden party. And so it's like my- I take my photography and I match it to the vibe of the people who are hiring me. And I feel like that has served me really well over the years because I've been able to, to work with some really cool people in a variety of situations, and I'm not pigeonholed into...
And I think that that's a mistake that a lot of photographers make when they hear people that are saying like, "You got to niche. You got to find your niche." And I just think that for some people that works really well, and for other people, I think it can be really boring. and pop gives you that, like, you can experiment and do a lot of different things with it.
and I, I think that that's, I think that that's a lot of fun. You know, don't, don't get into the, you know, rote, I can do this over and over again, and then it just gets boring. But, like, experimental pop. There we go.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: I dig
Leslie Rodriguez: We'll go with it.
Final Thanks And Farewell
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Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Leslie, thank you so much for, for taking the time, hopping on here with me [00:44:00] and
Leslie Rodriguez: Yeah
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: all the music and photo stuff. It's... I
Leslie Rodriguez: This was fun. Oh, I know. Me too. This was a blast. I'm glad it finally worked out. Thank you for having me
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: and hopefully one day in the near future, I'll be able to actually hear you sing in person rather
Leslie Rodriguez: Yeah.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: just listening to recordings.
So
Leslie Rodriguez: that would be fun. That would be fun.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: Maybe I'll have a guitar on me. Who
Leslie Rodriguez: Yes, I-- we c- we should play some music together.
Scott Wyden Kivowitz: We should, we
Leslie Rodriguez: There we go