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Baby Weight, also known as Cara Eser, is a native of Washington, D.C. and she has burst forth with a distinctive style of melody-rich dance music designed for partying. She has released albums and EPs that have climbed high on the Beatport charts and garnered support from peers such as The Blessed Madonna and Claptone. There is great emotional integrity to her music and she is in the middle of a busy concert series that takes her away from a huge She.She.They. showcase at Coachella until its European debut in August. Now the celebrated trans woman delivers three tracks of freshly squeezed sonic bliss designed "to satiate and revive."
We have had the pleasure of interviewing her and this has been the result
Hey Cara! Welcome to Chromatic Club, how’s life?
I have a lot of things to be excited about. Thanks for asking. And thank you for reaching out!
This month, you’re dropping a brand new EP, ‘Lavender Lemonade’, on Justin Martin’s ‘What To Do’ imprint. Could you give us a deep dive into this release?
Yeah! So, all of these tracks have roots stemming back to the Covid era believe it or not. They were projects I would revisit from time to time whenever I would have writer’s block and, eventually, they began to take on more meaning over time. At this point, it’s no secret that I had a lot of life changes from 2020 onward: I came out as transgender, I went through a breakup, I moved back home, I had to figure out where my place was in a shifting landscape in the music industry, I had friends who had passed away… just a lot to process. These tracks, in some ways, were a result of digesting all of these things. And now this EP represents closure to me.“Lavender Lemonade,” for example, started as a song called “No Tears in Heaven” that I’d come back to whenever I felt alone or unlovable. In a tragic turn of events, it took on a new meaning when a friend from my local scene, Denise, passed in 2022. She just so happened to be a massive fan of Justin’s and had dreamed of working with him someday, so it felt fitting to rename the title track “Lavender Lemonade” as that was her DJ alias.
I feel blessed that Justin understood what I was trying to say with these tracks and I can’t think of a better home than What to Do for this release.
How would you describe your distinctive musical style?
Dance music you can cry to. Feral tunes for feral people. House music for hot girls and heathens.
What sparked your passion for dance music, DJing and producing?
I’ve always had somewhat of an interest in electronic music. I remember being younger and really liking stuff like Moby or Fatboy Slim whenever it would come on the radio. I also really loved rock music that integrated breaks, too… “Tubthumping” by Chumbawamba, for example, was on constant rotation as was stuff like “Jerk It Out” by Caesars. As I got older, I found myself loving a lot of the music from the golden age of indie dance like LCD Soundsystem, Phoenix, The Rapture, or Hot Chip. And once I found out a bunch of those people also DJ’d, I was hooked. I immediately started curating parties in college townhouses. You can actually thank a live performance of LCD in 2010 for finally lighting the fire under my butt.
Congrats on your Coachella debut with He.She.They! How did it go?
Thanks! It was very hot. I almost passed out from heat exhaustion, and there are parts of the day I have difficulty piecing together, but my managers said it was vibe. It’s always a joy to do stuff with the Do Lab, though. They had me at Lightning in a Bottle last summer and I jumped at the chance to party with that crew again. It was also really cool to finally be at Coachella. I made a pact with myself to only go when I was booked, so it felt like a full circle moment.
I also can’t thank He.She.They enough: they took a chance on me when a lot of labels didn’t and, thanks to them, I had one of the biggest hits of my career to date, “Slay 4 Me.” We actually have a new remix of that track coming out later this year from Felix Jaehn who is just iconic. I can’t wait for you to hear it!
What’s the best decade of music for you and why?
That’s like asking me to pick between french fries or tater tots. There’s great music in every decade. I do think there was a really wonderful moment happening between 2005 and 2010, though. So many amazing albums from that time period like “Plans” by Death Cab for Cutie or the first XX record. 2008 and 2009 are just incredible front to back.
But like I can’t discount the music I grew up on as a small kid: 90’s pop music just glistened in a way that’s fucking magical. “I Love You Always Forever” by Donna Lewis. “Crush” by Jennifer Paige. “Breathless” by The Corrs. Anything by the Spice Girls. The Cranberries. Republica. The Cardigans. Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn.” I was a spoiled rotten brat of a child when it came to music to be quite honest.
With summer finally here, where can we expect to see you performing?
I just wrapped up a series of shows for Pride month including a headline at Superior Ingredients in Brooklyn with Femme House. Next up, I’ll be in Reno for Bass Camp Festival and then after that I make my European debut in Amsterdam at Paradiso with the Poof Doof crew and I’m doing a summer series in Buffalo, New York and have a bunch more exciting stuff in the pipeline I cant wait to share.
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