Betsy Schmeler, as interviewed by Emma Riva
Betsy Schmeler now lives in Los Angeles, but her roots are in Pittsburgh. She describes herself on Instagram as “LA now, pgh forever” and draws a lot of inspiration from her time in the Pittsburgh DIY scene. Schmeler reached out to Petrichor about her new EP, the wonderfully long title “Finish Your Drinks, the Uber’s Here (no you don’t have time to pee.” I got to correspond with her about her new release, her life in Pittsburgh, and the origins of that lengthy title.
Petrichor: Love that you were “Former Diocese of Pittsburgh Catholic Student of the Year.” Could you talk a little bit about your upbringing in Pittsburgh and how it influenced your artistic career?
Betsy Schmeler: Haha! I was the Catholic Student of the year at the end of eighth grade– I really don’t know how it happened, I guess maybe because my mom dragged me to church every sunday, and I would also talk shit with the teachers and lunch ladies during recess. So the bar had to be really low for the catholic student of the year that year. Growing up in catholic school there was a lot of structure and a lot of expectations. I was definitely urged to do well in school and try to do something productive, but I was also definitely a stubborn kid that really only got excited about music or art or hyper specific things. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the nuns at my elementary school– yes they were a little intense, and similar to the stereotypical perceptions of nuns, but I’ve been realizing they were actually super woke. A big introduction to music for me was actually our elementary school music teacher, Sister Rosie, who was an older nun, obsessed with her Martin D-28 and Simon and Garfunkel. Though I was really young, Sister Rosie would let me come play her guitar during recess, and would always have me set up her little pedal board before all-school mass. Even within the annoying context of being dragged to mass, Sister Rosie turned me onto a lot of cool music and just gave me a validating space which was really awesome.
I think that Pittsburgh has so much to offer for young people and teenagers, like people are always trying to get something started, and music and arts are just always going on in the most natural way. Now that I’ve been living in Los Angeles for a few years for college, I’ve been kind of blown away reflecting on how strong the DIY scene in Pittsburgh is. In highschool I casually joined the band Wild Blue Yonder, and from there I just deep dove into that South Oakland scene of like 2018-2020.
There was so much music happening, and the energy and vibes were just so honest and truly passionate, not looking for any outcome other than to just have fun and build a community. It’s a known trope that yinzers are just bizarrely friendly and approachable, and that is hugely present within the music scene. I feel like I had a huge privilege of being surrounded by people that were just honestly hyped on everything you’d make, and that energy just works in such an awesome cycle. Good energy feeds good work, good work gets everyone hyped. I feel like I continuously try to relive this energy and make it a standard in my creation and collaboration in everything I do now.
How did you come up with the name “My Betsy” for your music career?
Betsy Schmeler: This one time I was stumbling on my words in front of an artist that I am a big fan of, my friend was working with her and when I was introducing myself I accidentally said “hi I’m My Betsy” — I have no idea how that happened haha, like what a weird stumble of words. But me and my friend thought it was silly, but then we were also like hey that’s catchyyy and cute. I had a bunch of music sitting and I was just like hey this would be a sick artist name.
With time I’ve kind of been thinking of the name”My Betsy” in a way that the music is me for myself. I own myself, and I make this music for me. I like to think of it as the music is completely mine.
What were some of the inspirations behind “Finish Your Drinks, The Uber’s here (no you don’t have time to pee)”? It has such an evocative title–how did that come about, and what feeling are you trying to get listeners to access with the music?
Betsy Schmeler: Well I’ve been really into annoying albums with really long unnecessary titles – this title is kind of me trolling the music scene. I feel like everyone is really wrapped up in making their music a sell-able product, and so I just wanted to do something silly, but I also think it ended up meaning a lot over time. That feeling of kind of blissful panic when you still have half a beer to finish but your Uber is waiting outside, two of your friends are in the bathroom, and another is out on the back porch, you’re just scrambling to get it together and not miss your unnecessarily priced Uber XL. Though it feels stressful, it is never ever that serious, and the Uber drivers are always mega chillers. I feel like it’s a really beautiful example of everything somehow just working out.
What are you most excited to share with people about with this upcoming new EP?
Betsy Schmeler: Honestly, I think this EP just reflects a lot of my life and my friends. People will be able to tell when moments are about them in these songs, and I think that a lot of these experiences I’ve written about are pretty universally felt. Everyone knows the feeling of almost missing your Uber because you can’t rally your friends up, and everyone knows what it’s like to doom scroll and feel like you’re wasting your life away. I think I’m excited to just emphasize that music and art doesn’t have to be so metaphorical or complex, literally just reflecting everyday life can be really beautiful.
My Betsy is Betsy Schmeler, Meena Aspeytia, Tayler Somerville, Jordan Radnoti and Sergio Rodriguez. “Finish Your Drinks, The Uber’s Here (no you don’t have time to pee)” is available wherever you stream music: Apple Music, Spotify, Bandcamp. Schmeler is on Instagram @mybetsy_.
PETRICHOR 
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