Our Wicked Lady
Music, Friendships, and a Place To Belong
Photographs and Interviews by Michelle LoBianco
Our Wicked Lady (OWL) is a bar and event space that has been lovingly serving North Brooklyn’s art community for the past 5 years. With hosting live music, parties, rehearsal spaces, and having the the most down-to-earth bartenders, Our Wicked Lady is not just a bar, but a home to many of it’s regulars.
Since it’s recent closure due to the effects of Covid-19, the community has rallied together to raise funds to keep this beloved space open and running. Loyal patron and Reckless Creative Michelle LoBianco photographed and interviewed the owners, bartenders, and others in the OWL family to help boost awareness. They discuss their favorite memories at OWL, working during the pandemic, and how grateful they are to be supported by a loving community.
To Help Our Wicked Lady, You Can Donate To Their GoFundMe Here
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Keith Hamilton
Q: How long have you worked at OWL? In which capacity?
A:I (Keith Hamilton) am an Owner and Managing Member of Our Wicked Lady. While O.W.L. has been open for over 5 and a half years, my partner Zach Glass and I began working on this project over eight years ago.
Q:What is a favorite memory at OWL
A:I've made so many wonderful memories at OWL over the years, it's difficult to pin-point just one. Our Summer Sunday Soul Scream parties with DJ Jonathan Toubin and guest bands/DJ's were always a blast. My favorite one might be the night The King Khan & BBQ Show performed and King Khan was wearing assless chaps. It was incredible!
Q:Our wicked lady has always supported the community, how do you find support from the community now? Other workers? The music community?
A:The outpouring of love and support we've received from our community since the pandemic began has been incredibly inspiring. My main motivation in opening OWL was to create a safe space that supported local artists while giving them a place to inspire and uplift one another. It feels really good to be reminded that we have achieved just that.
Q:How is the bar closing affecting your life
A:I miss all of our wonderful employees and regulars everyday. I miss shows. I miss helping to bring smiles to peoples faces. I worry about my own current financial situation of course, but I have been enjoying the extra time I've had with my wife Sarah and my beautiful two-year-old daughter, Ruby.
Q:How has it been working at a bar like OWL during pandemic? What are some things you’d want to change or let people know?
A:Working at OWL during the pandemic has been incredibly difficult. The state is constantly changing the rules on us and using our industry as a scapegoat (Restaurants, Bars and Venues only account for about 1.5 percent of the spread in NY). Every time we got into any kind of groove, the rules would change and we'd be forced to spend money we didn't have and make major changes to how we were executing things. The salt in the wound is reaching your covid-compliant capacity at 8 or 9pm, only to be forced to clear your struggling bar out each night by 10pm. OWL was built to be a music venue and events space and we haven't had a show in almost a year now. It's sad. I grew up in Brooklyn and love it with all of my heart. Our industry is dying. We are not getting the support we desperately need from our state, so it is up to us (the community) to stand together and support the places we love in any way we can.
Zach Glass
Q: How long have you worked at OWL? In which capacity?
A:I am one of the founders/owners of Owl. I’ve been here since day one and have probably worked in every capacity!
Q:What is a favorite memory at OWL
A:It’s really difficult to pick a favorite because there’s been so many. Opening night which was packed and incredible, the first time The Mystery Lights played and there were people standing on the bar to see (almost touching the ceiling), the first Makossa BBQ Hip-Hop party which drew a line around the block, etc. In the first year OWL hosted my brother’s wedding and his memorial (which had so many people to pay respects it stopped traffic). I am so deeply connected to the place.
Q:Our wicked lady has always supported the community, how do you find support from the community now? Other workers? The music community?
A:Simply put Our Wicked Lady would not have survived this past year without our community. When covid hit and we were shut down it was devastating. We were so close to really turning the corner and realizing the Our Wicked Lady we had envisioned. To be honest we were close to giving up. We started asking musicians who had played to send us videos playing a song and saying what OWL meant to them to promote our fundraising. The response was overwhelming. The way the community rallied around us and the things they said...it got us up off the mat. It reminded us why we do the things we do, work so hard, sacrifice so much, and why we couldn’t give up without a fight. Our community is a well of inspiration and strength that we go back to again and again.
Q:How is the bar closing affecting your life?
A:It really puts things in perspective. How family, friends and happiness are ultimately the reasons why we do this but also how quickly things can change; how you can’t take things for granted. Sometimes crises can put the world in such a stark relief you can see more easily what is worth fighting for.
Q:How has it been working at a bar like OWL during pandemic? What are some things you’d want to change or let people know?
A:Anyone who has worked in a bar for a decent amount of time knows how much a staff can become a family, a tribe. That has all been amplified during the pandemic. We really know we can all count on each other. The main thing I’d want people to know is how hard we’re all working, how thankless it can be and how much we’re getting scapegoated as an industry.
Sarah Hamilton
Q:How long have you worked at OWL? In which capacity?
A:I’m Director of Social Media and Private Events at OWL. My husband Keith is an owner; it was clear early on what a tremendous undertaking OWL would be. I started out simply helping in any way I could - building our first website, our social media presence and writing the occasional press release for example, and it grew from there.
Q:What is a favorite memory at OWL
A:We celebrated our daughter Ruby’s 1st birthday party at OWL, December 16th 2019, with our closest family and friends and it was an absolutely perfect, joy-filled day that I’ll never forget. Little did we know a pandemic was right around the corner and this was one of the last large gatherings we would have for a long time.
Q: Our wicked lady has always supported the community, how do you find support from the community now? Other workers? The music community?
A:Our community is truly a dream come true. The outpouring of love and support this past year has been incredibly affirming and humbling and a great source of strength in the hardest times.
Q:How is the bar closing affecting your life
A:It’s devastating to be honest, but we’re fighters. OWL has just been such a huge part of our lives for so long. We love it almost like a child, and it is Keith’s and my sole source of income. We also now have a human child, so being closed down is a huge blow, emotionally and financially.
Q:How has it been working at a bar like OWL during pandemic? What are some things you’d want to change or let people know?
A:I see firsthand how hard Keith and Zach work every single day, how tirelessly they’ve always worked to follow and keep up with every rule and regulation. The state makes it so incredibly hard. Businesses like ours are being held to impossible standards and being shut down in the name of health and safety while others are not. We are an honest family business that cares deeply for its community. I have to believe we will survive this.
Rich Crescenti
Q:How long have you worked at OWL? In which capacity?
A:I've worked at OWL since before it opened, and helped build the place! But since it has opened, I have run sound there for a majority of the shows, and helped with build and maintenance of the system.
Q:What is a favorite memory at OWL
A:So many! A giant birthday party, and meeting my partner there top the list though.
Q:Our wicked lady has always supported the community, how do you find support from the community now? Other workers? The music community?
A:It's been hard for all of us. Keeping in contact via social media has helped, but it's no substitute for the real thing.
Q:How is the bar closing affecting your life
A:Many of the close connections I have through OWL have helped me maintain sanity over the years, and their absence is palpable. Being in and amongst the music scene is why I moved here in the first place. Working with so many amazing bands,artists, and supporters of the scene is something that I miss every day.
Q:How has it been working at a bar like OWL during pandemic? What are some things you’d want to change or let people know?
A:I have been lucky that some other opportunities have flourished a bit during the pandemic which has allowed me to work from home. I hope that people can maintain positivity, health, and support for one another. I would give anything to be at a show and support this one-of-a-kind community. I want everyone to believe and know that we'll be back soon, and that I can't wait to see them!
Leslie Hong
Q:How long have you worked at OWL? In which capacity?
A:I've worked at OWL for about six months before we closed as a floor manager. But about 4 years ago, Zach reached out to me to ask me to start booking "Thursdays for the Cause," a benefit series where 10% of bar sales and all of the door goes to monthly rotating organizations.
Q:What is a favorite memory at OWL
A:I love all the late night conversations we used to have after Thursdays for the Cause. I've also played some great shows up on the roof.
Q:Our wicked lady has always supported the community, how do you find support from the community now? Other workers? The music community?
A:We all definitely support each other as staff. The music community has given us an outpouring of support with their donations and OWL stories and that's been great to see.
Q:How is the bar closing affecting your life
A:I'm now completely unemployed. It was a long process of having our hours cut and shifts cut as a result, but it's still a pretty big surprise to actually be closed. We worked so hard to stay open. I'm so sad for Zach and Keith and their families and everyone else who had been working there for years. It really is a place built on, by, and with love and it would be devastating to lose one of the last remaining venues in Bushwick permanently.
Q:How has it been working at a bar like OWL during pandemic? What are some things you’d want to change or let people know?
A:Working at a bar during a pandemic has been incredibly stressful. I have the unique experience of having only worked at OWL during the pandemic, so the entire time has just felt like treading water in a vast body of water while rapidly losing energy surrounded by sharks. It's been difficult to see hundreds of people milling about shopping centers for retail while bearing the brunt of the more severe COVID restrictions. Bars and venues were hit especially hard, and nightlife is what gives NYC character. We need help.
Christiana Bartolini
Q:How long have you worked at OWL? In which capacity?
A:Since before we opened to the public, over 5 years ago (May 2015) as Owl's resident booker.
Q:What is a favorite memory at OWL?
A:Booking baby bands that deserved recognition but were still under the radar and then watching their journey and recognition grow over the years to the point of them being too big of an act to play at Owl!
Q:Our wicked lady has always supported the community, how do you find support from the community now? Other workers? The music community?
A: I've met some of my closest friends through working at Owl. So presently, those deep friendships have been a wonderful source of support and familiarity while we can't gather in person.
Q:How is the bar closing affecting your life?
A:I definitely feel a void around a lack of coming together and uniting and bonding the music community through live music and art. It's forced me to find other ways to occupy my time but I always find myself watching videos from past shows at Owl, and daydreaming of the day when we can pick up where we left off.
Q:How has it been working at a bar like OWL during pandemic? What are some things you’d want to change or let people know?
A:There hasn't been a need for me to be physically at Owl during the pandemic, so I miss it immensely because I spent most of my social time there. Something I'd want people to know is that we're all in this together and we appreciate all of the support and donations that have been given to Owl during the pandemic. We can't get through this without you. As far as what I'd want to change, it would be great to see more transparency, communication, and critical thinking from the city and state around the ever-changing regulations that are placed on bars and restaurants.
Mitchell Leonard
Q:How long have you worked at OWL? In which capacity?
A:I started at OWL a year and half ago as a manager, although I was there way back when K & Z & co. first broke ground on the place. I even did some recording in the empty space where the bar is now, before the bar was even there.
Q:What is a favorite memory at OWL
A:I don't have any specific favorites. I feel very connected to the rooftop, however, especially when I'm the only one up there. There's a halcyon magic to that space. If it's true that on the path leading you away from this life you make stops to revisit places you've already been, the rooftop at OWL will undoubtedly be one of those for me.
Q:Our wicked lady has always supported the community, how do you find support from the community now? Other workers? The music community?
A:It seems to be pouring in. It's good to see it, too, because the owners are such avuncular figures to the local scene. They've given away so much over the years, it's good to see it coming back around.
Q:How is the bar closing affecting your life
A:I don't see people anymore, except on screens. And in my dreams, I suppose, but I don't ever remember their faces. Oh, and that guy at the laundry.
Q:How has it been working at a bar like OWL during pandemic? What are some things you’d want to change or let people know?
A:It's been different. There's less shouting. People rarely step on your feet now, or back into you. I'd like to change the whole pandemic situation, I suppose, and get back to business.
I want to let people know that OWLTV is the future of the past.
MG Stillwaggon
Q:How long have you worked at OWL? In which capacity?
A:I've been a bartender at OWL for almost 3 years.
Q:What is a favorite memory at OWL
A:What is a favorite memory at OWL God, there's so many. I booked a show for my 29th birthday there, probably my best birthday ever. There was the Soul Scream that King Khan & BBQ Show played where me and two of my bandmates all went crowdsurfing at the same time. Eating tacos at dawn on the sidewalk out front with Jonathan and friends after the last Soul Scream for the summer a couple years ago. Charmaine and Del's legendary karaoke duets.
Q:Our wicked lady has always supported the community, how do you find support from the community now? Other workers? The music community?
A:People have really reached out to promote the bar, donated "tips" to us bartenders on venmo, booking their birthdays and other important events at the bar when we were still open. The music community especially has been promoting hard, donating to the bar fund, playing livestreams, etc. As for the bar and nightlife community, it's been, like, a stone soup of love and support from so many people and places that are all on their last dollars, their last nerves, their last shred of energy - yet bartenders will come out and overtip their last 20, or owners will buyback a drink at their bar when they're also struggling, or DJs who've been out of work for months will spin for free to get people out.
Q:How is the bar closing affecting your life
A:Well, obviously I'm screwed on my rent and bills, ha. But also it's depressing to lose one of the last threads of connection to "normal" life, and one of the only relatively safe ways to see other people. I've been feeling even more isolated than before because the only way to socialize for a lot of people now is indoors in their apartments, and I don't feel comfortable doing that with people outside my pod.
OWL was also trying to creatively and safely keep live music alive, thru their projected and livestreamed shows, and I know for myself and others in the music community that was like a beacon of hope to sustain us; now it feels like that's been dashed.
Q: How has it been working at a bar like OWL during pandemic? What are some things you’d want to change or let people know?
A: Oof.... Exhausting. Suddenly, you're not just a bartender, you're a bartender/server/food prep/busser/host/safety officer - but for less than half of what you used to make. And the regulations change at a moment's notice, often in ways that don't really make safety sense, but always in ways that make your job harder (the food rule and the 10pm rule are the most egregious examples in my opinion; the latter is dangerous even, as I've watched many more people choose to socialize indoors at private residences when they would've preferred to meet at a bar, where we could've been enforcing safety guidelines.) And as a person with severe respiratory issues, it has definitely been scary to take the risks of working so closely with the public when catching COVID would almost definitely be a death sentence (but without rent relief or meaningful pandemic assistance from the govt, it really wasn't a choice.)
To the public: please, put pressure on your local, state, and national government to give REAL relief to local businesses and workers, and to enact long-reaching protections for the future (such as commercial rent control, paid sick leave for workers, improved unemployment benefits for tipped workers, etc). There are merits to both sides of the stay home/go-out-and-support-your-fave spots, but at the end of the day we've been failed by our government.
Also, for those who *have* been going out, please be safe and be kind. Tip more than usual, knowing we're working extra hard for less money (and risking our safety to do it). Understand that space and selection might be limited, or drinks might take longer to come out. And please, please, wear your masks.
Charmaine Querol
Q:How long have you worked at OWL? In which capacity?
A:I’ve been bartending at OWL for almost 3 years.
Q:What is a favorite memory at OWL?
A:Probably one of the first karaoke nights. It’s amazing watching a ton of people sing and wear customers and getting really into it. I feel like it was everyone’s time to unwind after work. They would let loose and sing their hearts out.
Q:Our wicked lady has always supported the community, how do you find support from the community now? Other workers? The music community?
A:Right now we are all trying to find opportunities to showcase what we’ve been working on and collaborate in the safest ways possible as far as art/music goes. Livestreams are being put on here and there which is great. Social media is a huge factor as well. It’s an outlet for everyone. We are trying to survive and express ourselves. Also finding creative ways to make money and using social media to promote has been helping others. We really need support financially and emotionally during this.
Q:How is the bar closing affecting your life
A:I miss the bar fam, the homies, the regulars. I miss serving them, sharing stories and meeting people. However, it’s been wonderful sleeping early and waking up at 8am.
Q: How has it been working at a bar like OWL during pandemic? What are some things you’d want to change or let people know?
A:It’s been weird. We became a restaurant pretty much & you can’t chill and shoot the shit. It’s just taking orders and peering out at the tables making sure customers are abiding to the rules.
However, because we were one of the handful outdoor bars open, we attracted a bunch of new faces from all over the city which was great. I don’t know what I’d change but I hope those who just discovered OWL can soon experience it the way it should be with live bands, DJs, cookouts, dancing, comedy performances & everlasting good vibes. Until then, please stay safe!
Zach Inkley
Q:How long have you worked at OWL? In which capacity?
A:I’ve been bartending at OWL for almost two years now.
Q:What is a favorite memory at OWL
A:My favorite memory was the night I ate too many mushrooms and climbed onto the upper roof only to be propped up and carried down the ladder like a toddler by Keith. Also the Sunday Soul Scream on my birthday two summers ago was Top 5 nights of my life.
Q:Our wicked lady has always supported the community, how do you find support from the community now? Other workers? The music community?
A:The music community here is the most supportive community I’ve ever been a part of. I know a number of musicians and artists who are currently reaching out to help OWL in a bunch of different ways that I’m really excited for, like what you’re doing now!
Q:How is the bar closing affecting your life
A:I mean, my landlord doesn’t like me as much as he used to. Honestly though money aside, I miss playing crazy shows and dancing my ass off on the roof. And I also really miss being behind the bar and slinging drinks to all you hooligans.
Q:How has it been working at a bar like OWL during pandemic? What are some things you’d want to change or let people know?
A:It’s been equally frustrating and inspiring. On the one hand, a lot of the new rules are really frustrating, and privileged customers who can’t listen to simple rules don't make it any easier. On the other hand, it’s really nice to see that all the homies still made it out to my shifts and put up with the annoying stuff because this bar means that much to them. If I could let people know one thing, it’s BE NICE. We’re risking our well being so you can catch a buzz, so be kind or stay home.
Amanda Hurley
Q: How long have you worked at OWL? In which capacity?
A:I've worked at OWL for only about two years. I was a regular at the bar. Honestly, I was there constantly because I loved the staff and they created an atmosphere where all are welcome, which I think is rare. One day, they asked me if I'd like to be paid to work there. I had zero bartending experience. But OWL is about people and they brought me into the fold and taught me everything I know about bartending.
Q: What is a favorite memory at OWL
A:My first day bartending, we were at least three deep at the bar. We were slammed. I had never once bar tended in my entire life and I'm not sure if I had made that fully clear, if you know what I mean. Who doesn't fudge their resume, right? Anyway, I was behind the bar with one of the owners and someone ordered a draft beer. Fun fact: I did not know how to pour a beer. I kept pouring completely just foam. Keith (the owner) literally had to teach me how to pour a goddamn beer in the middle of a manic rush. The fact that I still have my job and am a fairly decent bartender now is just an example of how lovely these people are.
Q: Our wicked lady has always supported the community, how do you find support from the community now? Other workers? The music community?
A:So many people have reached out. Bands that got their first gig at OWL, comedians who were welcomed in for monthly or weekly comedy shows, regulars who streamed in for our crazy karaoke night, people who have LITERALLY gotten married in this bar. Everyone has been so lovely and generous because I think they know how big the collective OWL heart is and how it has always been about community.
Q: How is the bar closing affecting your life
I'm heartbroken for them. They do so much for the local music scene, and the comedy scene and charity. All of it. They have put everything into this bar which is why I know we will all fight for it.
Q: How has it been working at a bar like OWL during pandemic? What are some things you’d want to change or let people know?
A:If I'm completely honest, it has been hell. I know it is ugly to complain about being able to work when so many people couldn't. At the bar, I think we've all tried to keep our heads down and power through. But it has been really exhausting work. We have had to fill the role of 6 different positions because of all the regulations in place. We are the host, the server, the bartender, the bar back, the chef and the cleaning staff. But we all stayed. No one quit. No one gave up. Everyone pitched in. Because this is our home. I like to joke that quarantine bartending has made me "farm strong".
Brandon McHugh // Brain Don
Q: How long have you worked at OWL? In which capacity?
A: 2 1/2 years. I started as a barback and door person and moved up as a bartender this year.
Q:What is a favorite memory at OWL
A:My birthday party with Max Pain and the Groovies, Smock, and DJ Jonathan Toubin was a banger. The Mystery Lights 45 record release 2 day festival in 2018 too. Miranda and the Beat played their first show there while visiting and then decided to move here and have remained close friends since. Other notable memories were seeing King Khan and the BBQ show, Hank Wood and the Hammerheads, Kid Congo featuring The Mystery Lights as the backing band.
Q:Our wicked lady has always supported the community, how do you find support from the community now? Other workers? The music community?
A:Regular updates and general constant communication with my coworkers has been supportive during this time
Q:How is the bar closing affecting your life
A:I’m 100% more bored
Q:How has it been working at a bar like OWL during pandemic? What are some things you’d want to change or let people know?
A: It's strange to entirely change the business into something else. We’re basically a table service restaurant on the rooftop now, but I still enjoy it. I want people to understand that we’re trying our best to accommodate and to wear masks.
Sanie Whalen A/k/a: @doorgirlnyc
Q:How long have you worked at OWL? In which capacity?
A:A year, off and on due to the pandemic. I was the door person for live shows and events until the initial shutdowns last March, then they brought me back in a hostess role when they reopened last summer as an entirely seated establishment under the strict state reopen guidelines.
Q:What is a favorite memory at OWL?
A:Ha! Probably can't remember it! The day they gave me keys was really special to me, and its not a big deal there, but looking at them in my hand I felt touched and like "Honey, I'm home!" The most fun I've had though was definitely February 2020 when we had the OWL Winter Madness Battle of The Bands for the whole month, I worked the door for every show and it was so exciting and so much fun, the whole community really showed up and showed out and the bands were incredible, we crowned the winner just 3 weeks before bars were shuttered, so in retrospect it has become even more legendary in my memory
Q:Our wicked lady has always supported the community, how do you find support from the community now? Other workers? The music community?
A:From my perspective the community has rallied around the bar, I have worked in & around nyc nightlife for over 2 decades & OWL is by far the best experience I've ever had, before and since the pandemic, hands down. Usually owners get bored and forget why they got into the biz, but OWLs owners really believe that "it's supposed to be fun" and therefore always try to create that atmosphere, even with all the regulations last summer, people would say "Thanks for a fun safe time" on their way out the door. Before the 10pm curfew placed on all bars & restaurants last November, because OWL was a roof it was one of the few places open after the street bars had to close at 11pm, so all the service industry folks would come show love by hanging with us when they got off work & the outpouring of support from bands and music & media industry folks of all kinds has been huge and beautiful and a testament to how dope & beloved OWL is.
Q:How is the bar closing affecting your life:
A: I'm also a tax preparer, so I have plenty of work for now thankfully, but since its the dead of winter most bars have opted to close for the rest of the winter and indoor dining is still not allowed right now, so with OWL closed there's literally NOWHERE for me to go out to see friends or even just grab a drink and some bar snacks to break up the monotony of staring at a screen all day and night, or to take my computer to sit and work in a change of scenery which just makes me sad
Q:How has it been working at a bar like OWL during pandemic? What are some things you’d want to change or let people know?
A:It's honestly the most insane experience working in the service industry through a pandemic. When we first reopened, people had been home for 3 months straight and were just so excited to be allowed out and so gracious, kind and generous with us, which made it almost worth it that we had to work twice as hard for less money due to all the new sanitation guidelines and reduced/seated capacity, I actually found it rewarding, like we were bringing some happiness to a corner of a sad world. I had never worked as a hostess before or even seen Open Table, but I'm a quick study & after being home isolating it was fun to have something to learn and somewhere to be, kind of exhilarating but it's also probably one of the hardest jobs I've ever had. It requires me to be confident and fearless while being really sweet and conveying that there's a big fat smile under my mask, but what makes OWL special is that I always know that my bosses, the entire staff and all the regulars have my back, it's a safe space.
Zach Butler aka Buttz
Q:How long have you worked at OWL? In which capacity?
A:It’s complicated..
Q:What is a favorite memory at OWL?
A: Blacking out with the homies when I would play with The Mystery Lights
Q:Our wicked lady has always supported the community, how do you find support from the community now? Other workers? The music community?
A: Our Wicked Lady is one big community so we always stick together. And luckily OWL has practice spaces still open so I can keep playing music
Q:How is the bar closing affecting your life:
A: I lost my job and it's my favorite place to go so that sucks
Q:How has it been working at a bar like OWL during pandemic? What are some things you’d want to change or let people know?
A:It was actually pretty dope working during all of this. It gave me something to do. I just want Our Wicked Lady to be a venue bar again because those times were wild.
James Roden
Q:How long have you worked at OWL? In which capacity?
A: These guys brought me on about 3 years ago to tend bar. I’d been renting a music room and had played a few shows at OWL so was definitely a regular. I had quit my old job and was unemployed for a few weeks. I was pretty desperate for work and they gave me a shot.
Q:What is a favorite memory at OWL?
A: My favorite memory at OWL is when Wreckless Eric played the roof a few summers ago. Great crowd, beautiful weather. Just a great vibe. If I recall, we hadn’t really promoted the show in hopes of keeping it low key. You could tell you were seeing something really special. He threw his guitar pick into the crowd at the and my friend caught it.
Q:Our wicked lady has always supported the community, how do you find support from the community now? Other workers? The music community?
A: When shit started getting crazy last year, I found myself spending more and more time at OWL, either playing music in my room or helping the dudes with day-to-day stuff like taking deliveries or dealing with the exterminator. When I wasn’t working, I began spending more and more time with a small group of coworkers and OWL regulars you could consider my covid “pod.” Without these folks, I can’t imagine getting through 2020 without losing my fucking mind. So much of my life if tied up in OWL. It’s not just a job or a bar to me. I’ve met so many incredible people because of this joint. It’s home base.
Q:How is the bar closing affecting your life:
A: The bar closing sucks. I miss the community, the regulars, the music! It’s great to still be able to practice in the band room but sad when you realize you can’t pop upstairs for a beer afterwards.
Q:How has it been working at a bar like OWL during pandemic? What are some things you’d want to change or let people know?
A: Working during the pandemic was surreal at first since we were only doing walk-ups and deliveries. I was stoked when we opened the roof, mainly because I missed so many people. It was frustrating having to dance around the wildly changing regulations when we knew we were taking every precaution to keep the bar safe and making our customers feel safe. At this point i’d follow any rule they throw at us in order to re-open.
To Help Our Wicked Lady, You Can Donate To Their GoFundMe Here
