Mozzy Dee, winner of the Ameripolitan Award for Best Rockabilly Female in 2024, is on a roll after her star appearances at this year’s Viva Las Vegas weekender. “It’s always a blast finally seeing friends I haven’t seen in a couple of years- my last Viva visit was back in 2024!  I had a fantastic time performing as well during my set; it featured all new music plus some popular hits from my last album. Dave Stuckey was a guest for a duet that I wrote, also appearing on the next record!  I also had the honour and privilege to sing at the Vicky Tafoya tribute this year and sang a song of hers called ‘Love That Man of Mine’.  She passed away last year, a great loss to our rockin’ community.  I am so honoured that her band asked me to be a part of it.”

Community is what drives Dee’s music, and inspired her to realise the what sound she wanted to create. “Well, I have grown up with all kinds of music because of my family; we all hold music very dear to our hearts, especially because my grandparents used to sing at our family gatherings.  I started appreciating Motown, lowrider oldies, and classics because of the lowrider community.  My Dad used to take me to the cruise night at Ascarate Park, along with car shows in my hometown of El Paso, Texas.  I also grew up loving country music because of my cousins and Tio; we would go to family nights at the local honky-tonk “Denim & Diamonds”, where I learned to two-step and line dance.  Those two genres mixed together helped me to really appreciate rockabilly music because of its amalgamation of the two genres.”

From that start, her 2023 debut album, ‘Orale’ makes perfect sense. It’s a stunning record, rich in Dee’s heritage, and one that she feels passionately about. “I am proud of that album considering that it was my debut album and had all original music!  Don’t get me wrong- I love the occasional cover song, but it was important for me to have an album full of original music that spoke for me as a Chicana and a woman that went through a tough breakup.  I am happy with the songs we created, especially the title track.  Eddie Clendening helped me figure out the melody and it was decided then and there it would be the anthem of the album.  I wish I had caught certain things that the songs needed, like levels of certain instruments, but overall, the fans love it and so do I!”

It’s a gorgeous record that deserves a re-listen, inhabiting a timeless, raw space between genres.“My favourite song will have to be the title track of the album,” says Dee. “It speaks to me as a proponent of being proud of my heritage and dedicating a song to a word that I head everyday of my life in my hometown.  El Paso is a plethora of Chicano culture that has certain slang words that I grew up saying and knowing, and ‘Orale’ is one of them.  Like the song describes, it means various things and can be used in many ways.  The song helps explain that while emphasising Latin beats and rhythms along with rock n’ roll!  That is essentially the person I am, a rock n roll artist with Latina heritage.” Between the beats to set your heart skipping and a chorus that comes from deep inside, ‘Orale’ is a brilliantly evocative song.

The whole record, in fact, feels like a portrait of an artist who’s willing to share every corner of her character. The righteous anger that burns from ‘Stray Paper’ and the midnight longing that blossoms from ‘Tall, Dark and Handsome’ are just two moments which make ‘Orale’ so fascinating, but it’s the upbeat, dust-yourself-off spirit of ‘Love Loves To Hurt Me’ that feels the most like a striking pep talk from a friend.

‘Love Loves To Hurt Me’ is a song that I wrote going through a breakup, something that I bet anyone can relate to.  When you’re just done and tired of being mistreated, it’s like an expression of those feelings in a sort of anthem to all who have been jaded by love.  Love really does know how to hurt people, sometimes making us wonder if it really IS better to have love and lost than to never have loved at all.  This song screams I can’t take it anymore and I would rather be alone than have to go through heartache again.  A tale as old as time.”

Winning an Ameripolitan Award in 2024 on the back of ‘Orale’ doesn’t seem surprising to us, looking back, but it was a shock for Dee. “It really came as a surprise when I won the award- so much in fact, that I didn’t have a speech prepared and rambled on during my acceptance speech!  I wish I had remembered to thank my friends that helped me develop my debut album which essentially won me the award.  I really appreciate all who contributed- Eddie Clendening wrote some of the songs with me as well as playing all the guitar parts, Luke Metz also helped play bass and pen some tunes, as well as Guido Tries on drums.  I also wanted to mention how much I appreciated Little Rachel for being a great best friend in music and life, helping me along the way while navigating the trials and tribulations of being a female artist in the scene. 

I really had such a wonderful time at every Ameripolitan Awards weekender I’ve attended; they really do emphasise supporting indie artists in honky-tonk, western swing, rockabilly, and outlaw music.  I’ve made some great friends from being a part of the Ameripolitan family, and not just rockabilly aficionados.  To know that both my peers and fans thought I deserved the award is also a moment that I cherish. I will always consider it an honour being the Rockabilly Female of the Year 2024!”

Next came her first tour across Europe, which included a place in the eclectic lineup of Belgium’s SJOCK Festival, alongside Melissa Etheridge, The Bouncing Souls, and The Undertones. “SJOCK Festival was definitely a ‘shock’ to me as a performer because it was the biggest crowd I’ve ever performed for!  It had to be in the thousands, and it was so much fun!  I had a blast, it being my first time ever performing or visiting Belgium while being with friends and making new ones. I do plan on going back to Europe this year!  I will be performing at the Rockabilly Bombardment in Austria this November, another first!  The Booze Bombs will be backing me while I’m at the festival.  I am also trying to organise a visit to Finland to perform while I’m over yonder as well, and I’m hoping it will come to fruition.”

We got a hint at Dee’s next plans at this year’s Viva Las Vegas when Dee shared her new single, ‘I’m So Restless’. “Like any other artist, one tends to write about one’s experiences in life.  I wrote “I’m So Restless” when I had a crush on a guy.  It’s an expression of frustration, wanting the unattainable, and unrequited love.  The person you can’t have but want more of is one of the most frustrating inner battles of life.” Rumours have been spreading about a release date for her next album, so we were dying to ask: what spoilers can we get? “The biggest spoiler of them all- it will be coming out on Swelltune Records!  I am so happy that Beck asked me to be a part of the label!   I have been a huge fan of the music they put out and really loved the way she supports all her artists.   And these artists are amazing, a testament to the label and their taste in really good music!  I consider it such an honour to be on Swelltune, and I’m so excited for what the future holds on this wonderful label.My next full-length album is still in production, being mixed and needing more overdubs recorded.  My GoFundMe for the production of this album is still going, and I would appreciate any help to pay the musicians and Deke Dickerson (who is mixing the album for me as we recorded in his studio). Anyone who donates gets a free digital copy of the full-length album when it is finished!  I want to thank everyone who has contributed to the album so far in any donations or fundraising, you have helped this indie artist so much in getting new music out there and I really appreciate the support!”

If you can’t wait for the next album, and you’re in the US, then you can catch Mozzy Dee this summer on tour: “Along with a local show with Emi Pop this May, I will be touring this June.  This year is definitely a year of ‘firsts’ because I will be coming to the Northeastern part of the US to perform in New York City and Pennsylvania for the first time this coming June!  I will be backed by Jared Petteys and The Headliners along with Laura Palmer of the Screaming Rebel Angels on vocals and rhythm guitar!  It’s a tiny little tour with some great musicians, so if you are in the NE area at the beginning of June, come on out!”

Mozzy Dee’s done the hard work in creating the follow-up to the magnificent ‘Orale’, and now it’s up to us to bring it from the studio to the stereo.

Kate Allvey

Buy a copy of ‘Orale’ here or via Bandcamp

Donate via GoFundMe towards Mozzy Dee’s new album here