Carmela: A New Stranger in the Music Scene.

By: Kasper Owen

Credit: Carmela.tv on Instagram

Pub Thirty Two is an intimate little venue just off of Via Fabricante, bordering Mission Viejo and Lake Forest. Like many other pubs in Southern California, its obsession with wood doors and Edison Lights all but guarantees overpriced appetizers. That’s not what I’m here for. 

I’m here on a snowballing quest chasing down performances of indie musician Carmela, whose magnetism drew me in when I first saw her playing at Saddleback’s Battle of the Bands the previous week.

Based in Los Angeles, her music style falls somewhere between rock ‘n’ roll, pop punk, and R&B. 

Sometimes she performs with her band, other times she performs solo. The night of February 21st is a solo endeavor. Though the show starts at 7 p.m., I get here early to grab a table close to where Carmela is performing. 

Seeing her up close, I notice that her signature bleach blonde hair has grown back its stark black roots. She’s dressed in a black, lacy top, black pants and a leather jacket. In a seat next to the microphone, she’s slouched over, waiting for her moment to arrive. In contrast to her usual electric guitar, she’s tuning an acoustic one this time. 

Finishing the last of her tuning, Carmela starts the evening with “Listen to the Music” by The Doobie Brothers. 

Unlike at her last gig, a majority of her performances this evening are covers. 

Though it’s a departure from her normal pop punk sound, it’s no less dynamic. She’s clearly having fun with it.

With a chameleon-like ability to adapt her voice, she takes on an easygoing vibe of the venue as though it’s her own. 

A voice reminiscent of Marceline from “Adventure Time,” Carmela’s melisma pierces right through your heart. Even when she’s singing easy pop, her voice never loses its luster. 

That being said, I can’t help but miss the rawness of her usual songs. Her Paramore-esque latest single “Middle Child Syndrome” comes to mind when I dwell on missing her original work. Even still, no one is complaining.

All of her covers are amazing, but my favorite is her rendition of “Island in the Sun” by Weezer.

After this performance, she says “cheers” and sips her glass of white wine before continuing to the next song. 

She will be at the venue until 10 that night. I leave at around eight, just as she starts singing “Tainted Love” by Soft Cell.

Seeing her here at this venue has reinforced what I already believed was true: the music scene in Orange County has needed musicians like Carmela. 

Her presence fills a deficit in high energy female musicians after the drought caused by the trend of whispery voices. Not only is she a talented singer, she’s a confident front woman with an attitude. 

My only complaint is that the venues she’s been playing don’t match her on-stage charisma and vitality. That is, she’s clearly meant for much bigger stages than this one, and it’s only a matter of time before she’s on one.