In this episode of our flagship podcast One Take, we sit down with Libby Bentley, a punk musician and live music performer, for a candid 20-minute conversation about live music, performing on stage and the changes in the Miami music scene. No edits. No retakes. Just authentic insight.

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👉 The Scoop – I met Libby in the most fun circumstances, her band, Morbid Opera, was playing at the legendary Churchill’s Pub. I was standing about 3 feet from her, photographing, suddenly, a guy was picked up by the mosh pit and thrown up on stage.

Libby was punk at 17 and continues being punk at 64. She began her storied career after listening to some punk bands in Miami, with her friend Lisa, and thinking “those bands are pretty bad, if they can do it, we can do it”. So they started a punk band.

👉 Decisive Moment #1 – Forming her own band and performing live

👉 Unexpected change or event – The number of women-fronted bands today, a radical change (in punk) from the early days of the industry.

👉 What did she do? – Keep playing. Churchill’s can be overwhelming on a night like this. The mosh pit is rowdy, 300 people crammed into a small room, but Morbid Opera powered through. Life in a punk band is not stable, for sure, so musicians take every opportunity to play.

👉 About older workers – Maturity. Reliability. Libby is currently a professional pet sitter so, the other aspect: “I’m not going to throw a party in their house”. People who hire her can go to their event knowing that the house will be there, intact, when they come back.