Ambur Rockell shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Good morning Ambur , we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: When was the last time you felt true joy?
The last time I felt joy was watching a dream take form in front of me. At purple dusk, with a crescent moon rising over the lake, I was directing for the first time for my music video “Huntress”. We were aimed at finishing before dusk, but then the skies went smoky lavender- midnight hues in my work. The symphony of crickets, frogs and cicadas among the shore. My cast of friends there. It was magical.
What had only lived in my book, The Midnight Balladera, was suddenly alive. A dark fairy tale I had invoked in only bones, stones, sticks and feathers came alive. In flesh and fabric: costumes I had stitched together, props I had imagined, friends stepping into roles shaped from my heart. My sidekick Beth became the Jackalope Maiden, a character based on her spirit. A daughter of a friend from dance class embodied the Balladera’s younger self. Another friend stood in as the Father.
I’ve always seen life play out like a movie from the point of view of my feet’s path. From city sidewalks, airport escalators, stone steps through a forest…So, I wanted to start the journey with Angel’s tiny boots trekking the forest.
To see this story unfold in song and friendship come to a a wrap against the purple sky, I felt joy as if I were watching my inner world breathe for the first time.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am an author, illustrator, singer and filmmaker. My current body of work is invoked by seance in character of The Midnight Balladera. I tease a wicked, wild western dream through dance, singing, theatre and film. I call on vintage burlesque themes, American gothic, pagan and cowboy folklore to spin my artistry.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who taught you the most about work?
My muses in film, music and literature endlessly inspire me. Whenever I’m feeling artistic paralysis, I have an electric source I plug into- my idols! I will read their autobiographies, become immersed in their work, watch interviews and then rise up to create again.
In music, it’s French singer Edith Piaf; rock and roll enchantress Stevie Nicks- and the cinematic Italian drama of Ennio Morricone that are my main fascinations.
In Literature, Clarissa Pinkola Estes – a cantadora for the divine feminine lights up my soul.
The Cinema list goes on forever- but I’m most drawn to Spaghetti Westerns, Fiction and Fantasy. The minds of the directors in these films are as intriguing as their work! It’s Lore overload.
When I’m in between projects- like waiting for funds, studio time, or any hold up- I speak of my inspirations on a podcast. And if I’m not doing that- I’m creating- something – anything; to stay in my wildness.
Is there something you miss that no one else knows about?
Call me out- ha! I miss the Latino culture I grew up around. My band members I record and tour with are all Southern California based out of San Diego, Orange County and Los Angeles.
I had to escape the rat race though and find freedom to create independently. Living in nature has been this sort of nest to my creativity, where as the city grid drained me.
Where I am in Arkansas, they are diverse but mostly in a misfits and artistic sense- I don’t witness as much culture as I did in the melting pot of Southern California.
—And don’t even get me started on food. I think I will go to my deathbed dreaming of Café De Olla in sugar coated mugs and Juevos Divorciados.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What’s a cultural value you protect at all costs?
This is where we unveil the wicked Wild West. It’s treacherous ground- but I’m gunna say it anyway…I think American colonization stamped out a lot of culture in its foundation. Like I said, I lived in a melting pot and it was the Hispanic culture that seemed to hold on to tradition and include me in theirs- when I had none.
Dia De Los Muertos gave me a beautiful expression of grief – but it was not my own culture- rather, lent to me by an old lover.
My own traditions stem in spirituality from my Cosmic Grandmother- I use her tarot deck that I played with as a child. I have Lemurian crystals she blessed and meditated upon that I heal myself and others with; I joke these crystals are our “Family Gems”.
To know my culture, I had to take a DNA test- I found that I often resonated with the cultures in my blood, almost as a pulse memory; whether visiting my old countries, making their food as if by magic, and attracting certain friends who share my ethnicities.
I am Italian, Middle Eastern, Turkish, French & European – a pinch of Spanish. It’s just easier for me to say I have “Gypsy blood” and sometimes that strikes up political correctness, but whatever. I always joke that “I’m outlawed in 33 states of consciousness”- meaning, I live by my own laws.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. If you laid down your name, role, and possessions—what would remain?
My kitty Fortuna, a guitar, some gear and my altar items can make our home anywhere. I do feel as if I’ve remained in my escape town for too long. It’s a safe place within the forest, no stoplights, no traffic (except for parade days), the peace of the forest…I don’t have a vehicle and I always walk to town like a village gal in some Italian movie. A life I’ve always dreamt of….
As a story teller though, I know this kind of serenity doesn’t spin a tale. I sense the unknown calling me. A new place, the birth of a project, a rebirth. Something bright is luring me on the horizon- and I will meet it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.witchywestern.com
- Instagram: Witchywestern
- Youtube: Witchywestern
- Soundcloud: Ambur Rockell
Image Credits
My porch is in Arkansas but my spirit is on the Navajo Trail. Examples of my own photography and artistic rendering.
