January 9, 2025 • 9 mins
Nelly Joy (Jane Dear Girls, Gone West, High Dive Heart) called in to share her story of being just outside of the fires that have devastated so much of the area around Los Angeles. She and her husband, Jason Reeves, were on their way to their home in Malibu when everything started.
Their story is wild. I can't imagine being so close to everything that happened.
You can find more from Nelly on her instagram @nellyjoymusic
Their story is wild. I can't imagine being so close to everything that happened.
You can find more from Nelly on her instagram @nellyjoymusic
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Join me right now? Is Nellie Joy. She is out
there in California. You might know her from the Janedeer Girls,
or from Gone West, High Dive Hard, or any of
her solo material as well. She's a very busy woman,
but she is out there in California right now. At Nellie,
what has your experience been like?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
It has been devastating to just be out here and
feel the heartbreak. We're not in Los Angeles right now,
but we were actually in Malibu when the fire started,
which is completely insane. We were driving down pch preemptively.
We had kind of decided to leave Malibu for the
night and go stay with some friends because the winds
(00:38):
were predicted to go up to one hundred miles per hour,
which is completely crazy, and we just didn't feel safe
and wanted to make our way on out of town.
So about ten am, the wind started pickup and we
got in our car started headed south. As we were
driving out of Malibu, we saw smoke and my heart
just sank, because you know, when you see smoke and
(01:00):
it's a windy day, you know that's just set up
for a catastrophe to unveil. And unfortunately, the smoke got
bigger and bigger and bigger, and the next thing, you know,
firefighters or speeding down pch trying to get to the fire,
which we knew was kind of in the areas of Palisades.
We weren't one hundred percent sure, but just kind of
(01:20):
based on where it was coming from. That was our
initial thought with, Oh, my goodness, this is in the Palisades,
and that's where so many people that work in the
music industry and the TV and film industry lived there
because it's a really great location to kind of like hop,
skip and jump if you want to go to the
beach at Malibu, or if you want to go into
town and experience, you know, work at Hollywood or anything
(01:43):
like that. It's it's one of the best locations to
live in my opinion. And so I started texting a
few friends and just checking on them, and at that
point they said, it looks like it's spreading and we're
going to evacuate. And that's when Jason and I pulled
car over and just took a photo and a video.
(02:04):
Jason hasn't edited his picture yet, but when he does,
I'm sure he'll post it. It's just heartbreaking because you
just see the clouds, this cloud of smoke coming from
the Palisades, and we continued to get out of town
at that point, and as we were driving away, you
could see the smoke in the rear view and I
(02:25):
just could not believe how big this cloud of smoke
got so fast, And so of course I pull up
the fire app which is called watch Firewatch or something
like that, and it had gone from like twenty acres
to two hundred acres within like minutes, and you know,
the rest is history from there. It just like we
(02:46):
went to stay with our friends, and what we thought
was going to be a one night excursion with our friends,
we've been there hunkered down all week because we can't
really safely get back to our home. And also we
don't even know, you know, in zero percent containment right now.
So even though the winds have died down temporarily and
(03:09):
it seems like the firefighters are making headway, the truth
of it is like new fires. I'm sure you've seen,
like yesterday, there were so many new fires that have
popped up, which is terrifying because when you zoom out
from an aerial wind and you look down at the city,
the map of the city, there was literally last night
there were like five to six legit fires in different
(03:31):
areas of Los Angeles County in Malibu, and it's it's apocalyptic. Yeah, literally.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
I think it's so wild about it, like from the
East coast side of things, because we hear about fires
out west whenever they happen, but a lot of times
what we see is the fires ripping through the forest,
and that's still devastating, but a lot of times that's
where they start. But this one, seeing it rip through
towns and communities in a way that we've never really
witnessed before is just why, Like it's hard to even
(04:01):
put it into words.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
It really is worst case scenario because the direction of
the winds at that time when the fire first came about. Unfortunately,
neighborhoods were in the past, and you know, I'm sure
you've seen all the news. People had to abandon their
cars and just straight up run to the beach to
be near the water, and I think a lot of
people couldn't get out. That's why they had to leave
(04:25):
their cars. And it's just I wish I had something
better to say other than I'm just praying for all
of the people that lost their homes that lost their memories,
that lost their you know, place to come back to,
and I'm praying that they can find a strength to
(04:45):
rebuild and have the finances to do that, because you know,
California is one of the most beautiful and special places
in the world, and we want to see it come
back to life. But I know it's going to take
a long time to be honest, I don't know if
it will or be the same because this is so
devastating and the kind of destruction. I've never seen this
(05:08):
kind of destruction.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
You know, I don't think I have.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
No no, I don't you know, And I just I'm
interested to see how this affects the music industry particularly.
Just give me a lot of artists and executives and
beautiful humans that are either working behind the scenes or
are in you know, famous people. You would probably know
(05:33):
a lot of people have homes there, and so my
hopes are that a lot of those people that do
have platforms, I'm sure they're going to step up and
they're probably going to do a lot to raise money
and help the communities rebuild. Obviously, anything we can do,
I'm down to help too. I just right now, I
(05:55):
think We're still in a state of shock, so it's
kind of like, where do you even begin?
Speaker 1 (05:59):
You know, yeah, do you know if your place is
still standing in Malibu?
Speaker 2 (06:04):
It is for now, but the winds are blowing in
the wrong direction though, you know. We're just hoping that
the winds can die down, and oddly enough, I don't
know if you remember, three weeks ago, there was another
fire in Malibu and it was kind of near Pepperdine,
so that created somewhat of a fire break that we're
(06:24):
hoping will stop the fire from continuing to go through
Malibu because parts of it have already burned. And I
don't think anyone is truly safe until this is completely
done and finished because it's too dry. We haven't had
enough moisture in California this year, and it's the perfect
(06:47):
storm of high winds, lack of humidity, no rain, and
then the fire starts and they can't get a hold
of it. So I'll keep you guys posted. But I mean,
more than anything, I'm just I'm heartbroken for the people
that we that we know that already have lost their homes,
(07:08):
and I just hope that we can help our friends,
you know, get their feet back on the ground.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Yeah, as you hear about people, you know, obviously, right
now it's just about making sure people are safe and
trying to stop the fire. But as you hear about
rebuilding efforts and all that, keep me posted. I mean,
anything I can share through my own or through the
station social media, I'm happy to push it out there
because I know there's going to be a lot of
people that need a lot of support.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Thank you for saying that, and thank you for everything
that you did well for both Janedeer Girls and Gon West.
You know, I discovered Malibu when I was in Janeer Girls.
I took a car trip out there, I think after
we had played Jimmy Kimmel and the next day I
went out and I was like, oh, my goodness, Malibu
is the most amazing place I've ever seen in my
entire life. And then later ended up you know, living there,
(07:56):
and I just it holds such a special place in
our heart. I can't describe the amount of peace and
tranquility and beauty that Malibu give so many people. So
I just hope that they can get it back up
and running. I don't know if you remember the Gone
West album cover, but it was taken in Malibou under
(08:21):
like this beautiful famous palm tree that a lot of
people see when they go hiking in that area, so
gone with it was a really really important place to us.
That's where we shot a lot of our music videos,
we did our first books. I feel like a lot
of our music was very much also inspired by the
(08:42):
West Coast and the ocean and just the freedom that
California kind of brings. So anyway, just be praying that
everyone is safe and the ones that have lost their
homes can somehow be able to rebuild.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Yeah, well, seriously, we're thinking about you, guys, and I
hope that you stay safe down there, and I hope
your house makes it through. You're the first people that
I thought about when all this stuff started happening. I
have a lot of friends that live out that way
where they live more south, so it hasn't quite gotten
in their region yet. I'm hoping that it doesn't go
any further. But but yeah, thinking about you guys, and hope,
hope for the best for you. That's all I can
(09:20):
say right now.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
I guess, well, thank you so much. We love what
you your heart and what you do for musicians, not
just uh was spreading great music, so also caring about
humans on a human level. It's a it's a rare
thing to find, so thank you for reaching out and
for curing it. It means a lot. Thank you,
Join me right now? Is Nellie Joy. She is out
there in California. You might know her from the Janedeer Girls,
or from Gone West, High Dive Hard, or any of
her solo material as well. She's a very busy woman,
but she is out there in California right now. At Nellie,
what has your experience been like?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
It has been devastating to just be out here and
feel the heartbreak. We're not in Los Angeles right now,
but we were actually in Malibu when the fire started,
which is completely insane. We were driving down pch preemptively.
We had kind of decided to leave Malibu for the
night and go stay with some friends because the winds
(00:38):
were predicted to go up to one hundred miles per hour,
which is completely crazy, and we just didn't feel safe
and wanted to make our way on out of town.
So about ten am, the wind started pickup and we
got in our car started headed south. As we were
driving out of Malibu, we saw smoke and my heart
just sank, because you know, when you see smoke and
(01:00):
it's a windy day, you know that's just set up
for a catastrophe to unveil. And unfortunately, the smoke got
bigger and bigger and bigger, and the next thing, you know,
firefighters or speeding down pch trying to get to the fire,
which we knew was kind of in the areas of Palisades.
We weren't one hundred percent sure, but just kind of
(01:20):
based on where it was coming from. That was our
initial thought with, Oh, my goodness, this is in the Palisades,
and that's where so many people that work in the
music industry and the TV and film industry lived there
because it's a really great location to kind of like hop,
skip and jump if you want to go to the
beach at Malibu, or if you want to go into
town and experience, you know, work at Hollywood or anything
(01:43):
like that. It's it's one of the best locations to
live in my opinion. And so I started texting a
few friends and just checking on them, and at that
point they said, it looks like it's spreading and we're
going to evacuate. And that's when Jason and I pulled
car over and just took a photo and a video.
(02:04):
Jason hasn't edited his picture yet, but when he does,
I'm sure he'll post it. It's just heartbreaking because you
just see the clouds, this cloud of smoke coming from
the Palisades, and we continued to get out of town
at that point, and as we were driving away, you
could see the smoke in the rear view and I
(02:25):
just could not believe how big this cloud of smoke
got so fast, And so of course I pull up
the fire app which is called watch Firewatch or something
like that, and it had gone from like twenty acres
to two hundred acres within like minutes, and you know,
the rest is history from there. It just like we
(02:46):
went to stay with our friends, and what we thought
was going to be a one night excursion with our friends,
we've been there hunkered down all week because we can't
really safely get back to our home. And also we
don't even know, you know, in zero percent containment right now.
So even though the winds have died down temporarily and
(03:09):
it seems like the firefighters are making headway, the truth
of it is like new fires. I'm sure you've seen,
like yesterday, there were so many new fires that have
popped up, which is terrifying because when you zoom out
from an aerial wind and you look down at the city,
the map of the city, there was literally last night
there were like five to six legit fires in different
(03:31):
areas of Los Angeles County in Malibu, and it's it's apocalyptic. Yeah, literally.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
I think it's so wild about it, like from the
East coast side of things, because we hear about fires
out west whenever they happen, but a lot of times
what we see is the fires ripping through the forest,
and that's still devastating, but a lot of times that's
where they start. But this one, seeing it rip through
towns and communities in a way that we've never really
witnessed before is just why, Like it's hard to even
(04:01):
put it into words.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
It really is worst case scenario because the direction of
the winds at that time when the fire first came about. Unfortunately,
neighborhoods were in the past, and you know, I'm sure
you've seen all the news. People had to abandon their
cars and just straight up run to the beach to
be near the water, and I think a lot of
people couldn't get out. That's why they had to leave
(04:25):
their cars. And it's just I wish I had something
better to say other than I'm just praying for all
of the people that lost their homes that lost their memories,
that lost their you know, place to come back to,
and I'm praying that they can find a strength to
(04:45):
rebuild and have the finances to do that, because you know,
California is one of the most beautiful and special places
in the world, and we want to see it come
back to life. But I know it's going to take
a long time to be honest, I don't know if
it will or be the same because this is so
devastating and the kind of destruction. I've never seen this
(05:08):
kind of destruction.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
You know, I don't think I have.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
No no, I don't you know, And I just I'm
interested to see how this affects the music industry particularly.
Just give me a lot of artists and executives and
beautiful humans that are either working behind the scenes or
are in you know, famous people. You would probably know
(05:33):
a lot of people have homes there, and so my
hopes are that a lot of those people that do
have platforms, I'm sure they're going to step up and
they're probably going to do a lot to raise money
and help the communities rebuild. Obviously, anything we can do,
I'm down to help too. I just right now, I
(05:55):
think We're still in a state of shock, so it's
kind of like, where do you even begin?
Speaker 1 (05:59):
You know, yeah, do you know if your place is
still standing in Malibu?
Speaker 2 (06:04):
It is for now, but the winds are blowing in
the wrong direction though, you know. We're just hoping that
the winds can die down, and oddly enough, I don't
know if you remember, three weeks ago, there was another
fire in Malibu and it was kind of near Pepperdine,
so that created somewhat of a fire break that we're
(06:24):
hoping will stop the fire from continuing to go through
Malibu because parts of it have already burned. And I
don't think anyone is truly safe until this is completely
done and finished because it's too dry. We haven't had
enough moisture in California this year, and it's the perfect
(06:47):
storm of high winds, lack of humidity, no rain, and
then the fire starts and they can't get a hold
of it. So I'll keep you guys posted. But I mean,
more than anything, I'm just I'm heartbroken for the people
that we that we know that already have lost their homes,
(07:08):
and I just hope that we can help our friends,
you know, get their feet back on the ground.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Yeah, as you hear about people, you know, obviously, right
now it's just about making sure people are safe and
trying to stop the fire. But as you hear about
rebuilding efforts and all that, keep me posted. I mean,
anything I can share through my own or through the
station social media, I'm happy to push it out there
because I know there's going to be a lot of
people that need a lot of support.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Thank you for saying that, and thank you for everything
that you did well for both Janedeer Girls and Gon West.
You know, I discovered Malibu when I was in Janeer Girls.
I took a car trip out there, I think after
we had played Jimmy Kimmel and the next day I
went out and I was like, oh, my goodness, Malibu
is the most amazing place I've ever seen in my
entire life. And then later ended up you know, living there,
(07:56):
and I just it holds such a special place in
our heart. I can't describe the amount of peace and
tranquility and beauty that Malibu give so many people. So
I just hope that they can get it back up
and running. I don't know if you remember the Gone
West album cover, but it was taken in Malibou under
(08:21):
like this beautiful famous palm tree that a lot of
people see when they go hiking in that area, so
gone with it was a really really important place to us.
That's where we shot a lot of our music videos,
we did our first books. I feel like a lot
of our music was very much also inspired by the
(08:42):
West Coast and the ocean and just the freedom that
California kind of brings. So anyway, just be praying that
everyone is safe and the ones that have lost their
homes can somehow be able to rebuild.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Yeah, well, seriously, we're thinking about you, guys, and I
hope that you stay safe down there, and I hope
your house makes it through. You're the first people that
I thought about when all this stuff started happening. I
have a lot of friends that live out that way
where they live more south, so it hasn't quite gotten
in their region yet. I'm hoping that it doesn't go
any further. But but yeah, thinking about you guys, and hope,
hope for the best for you. That's all I can
(09:20):
say right now.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
I guess, well, thank you so much. We love what
you your heart and what you do for musicians, not
just uh was spreading great music, so also caring about
humans on a human level. It's a it's a rare
thing to find, so thank you for reaching out and
for curing it. It means a lot. Thank you,
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