By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com
A Note from Jacob: If you or someone you know are experiencing a mental health crisis, please call 988.
It is a pleasure to welcome singer and actress Marla Mase to The Jake’s Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast. A native New Yorker, Marla was born in Brooklyn and raised in Canarsie. At 18, she moved to Tribeca, where she lived for 32 years, raised her two children, and founded PARTYpoopers/partySWANK, one of NYC’s premier event planning companies.
In addition to her entrepreneurial success, Marla is a versatile artist—an accomplished writer, performer, recording artist, and the COO of Brooklyn-based True Groove Records. She recently returned from her third whirlwind tour of the UK this year, promoting her eighth and ninth album releases, The Fine Art of Pissing in the Bushes and Infinite They Went (vinyl). She is touring Being Somebody, a show she co-wrote and performs alongside her 88-year-old father, Dr. Howard Mase, to sold-out audiences across the East Coast. Her other theatrical works have been featured at prestigious venues such as La MaMa ETC, NYC SummerStage, NJPAC, SXSW, and Nuyorican Poets Café.
Marla Mase is also the founder of The Lael Project. Lael, a talented singer and graduate of the University of Southern California’s prestigious Thornton School of Music Popular Music Program, had struggled with depression, anorexia, and suicidal thoughts from a young age. Despite her battles, she chose to help others, working at a treatment center in Los Angeles for individuals suffering from mental illness. Lael’s empathy and understanding profoundly impacted those she worked with, many of whom have shared with Marla how her daughter saved their lives. “After she died, I received numerous emails, texts, and calls from residents who told me that Lael was the reason they were alive today,” Marla recounted. “Lael was not a therapist per se, but they felt she understood what they were going through better than anyone else.”
Marla’s mission now is to honor Lael’s legacy by using her music to help others recognize the signs of suicide and seek help. The Lael Project is a two-volume album featuring both original songs and covers recorded by Lael during her brief but impactful music career. The project features re-mixes, never-before-released material, live recordings dating back to her pre-teen years and remastered versions of her two existing albums, Burden to Bear (2013) and Life in Color (2015). Scheduled for release in 2025 under Brooklyn’s True Groove Records, The Lael Project aims to open conversations about mental illness and break the stigma around suicide.
On this episode of The Jake’s Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast, Marla Mase discussed the stories behind several of her songs, including “Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick,” “Falling Sideways,” and “All Fall Short.” She also discussed how you can get involved with the Lael Project.
For more information about the Lael Project, visit their website.
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