Beauty Queen Plays The Echo in LA
By JOHN DALY
Beauty Queen has released the dreamy analog-style alt-pop song “Sweet Memory,” produced by Tennis duo Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley.
Beauty Queen AKA Katie Iannitello, is a Maui-born, LA-based singer-songwriter who makes a mark with her music and the accompanying video depicting a seductress luring a poor victim into a bizarre love trap.
“Sweet Memory” reflects on the sadness of a one-way love, but in the video, Beauty Queen goes the distance to put that behind her.
“I wrote the first line of ‘Sweet Memory’ during one of my 2.2-mile walking commutes from the ramen restaurant I worked at to the eight-bedroom house I lived in during my time in San Francisco,” Beauty Queen said. “I couldn’t take the bus because I get motion sickness … So needless to say I got a lot of exercise when I lived there.
“Walking at night was so peaceful, yet, I did find there to be moments when someone would be striding towards me and I’d wonder … ‘Who is this person?'” she said. “‘Why are they walking? To where? From where?’ I liked living in a walking city because I got to see a lot of people in their day to day.”
Taylor Thompson directs the throwback-style video with cinematography by Bethany Michalski. The unfortunate fellow in the short film is Owen Barrett (Love Fiend, Hoover iii) and Coral Cataldo (VHYES) is also featured.
“The video was inspired by those thoughts as well, as someone who you might meet and go out with…go home with, and be trapped on a terrible date,” Beauty Queen said. “I’ve been on many dates where someone pulls out an acoustic guitar to sing their songs at me which is where the inspiration originated.”
Iannitello grew up with a disregard for pop culture, but she was raised with an appreciation for doo-wop and 1950s pop. She started writing songs in her 20s. Her debut EP Out of Touch (produced by Henry Nowhere of Day Wave) was released in 2019 via pronoun’s (Alyse Vellturo) Brooklyn-based label Sleep Well Records.
“Sweet Memory,” was produced in three days at Tennis’ Denver, Colorado home studio.
She performs at The Echo tonight.
Beauty Queen Live:
2/20: Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo
4/1: Salt Lake City, UT @ Gold Blood Coll
4/2: Denver, CO @ Broadway Roxy
4/3: Wichita, KS @ Kirby’s
4/4: Norman, OK @ Opolis
4/5: Tulsa, OK @ Soundpony
4/7: Houston, TX @ Wonky Power
4/8: Corpus Christi, TX @ Nasa
4/9: San Antonio, TX @ Limelight
4/10: Austin, TX @ Mohawk
4/11: El Paso, TX @ Love Buzz
4/12: Albuquerque, NM @ Moonlight Lounge
4/13: Bisbee, AZ @ The Quarry
4/14: Phoenix, AZ @ Lunchbox
4/15: Las Vegas, NV @ Groundswell Coffee
4/16: San Diego, CA @ Good Friday
4/17: Tijuana, MX @ Moustache
4/18: Santa Ana, CA @ FTG Warehouse