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JULYSSA LOPEZ, Rolling Stone

WORK • Tuesday Routine

JULYSSA LOPEZ • deputy music editor • Rolling Stone
Neighborhood you work in: South Slope

It’s Tuesday morning, where are you working?
I usually go into the Rolling Stone/PMC office near Bryant Park about once or twice a week, but on Tuesdays, I’m working from home. After I drop my two-year-old son off at daycare, I might grab coffee on the way back — I love Os Cafe in South Slope and Daytime Cafe in Windsor Terrace (my son's favorite sweet ever is their tahini chocolate chip cookie). If I have extra time, I might go to Elk Cafe, also in Windsor Terrace, which has a really nice patio. (It's also where my husband wrote a lot of his forthcoming book, Custodians of Wonder: Profound Traditions, and the Last People Keeping Them Alive.) 

On my walk, I usually catch up on news and podcasts. One of my main beats is music and culture from Latin America, so I listen to stuff like Radio Ambulante's El Hilo, which I'm a really big fan of; I also love Songmess, Radio Menea, and Alt. Latino. I’m writing a lot about musica Mexicana for an upcoming story, so I’ve also been revisiting Ídolo: The Ballad of Chalino Sánchez, a podcast Sonoro and Futuro Studio did a few years back about beloved King of Corridos/rumored cartel hitman Chalino Sanchez, whose legacy continues to inspire a new generation of artists. 

What’s the Tuesday morning scene at your workplace?
The first thing I do when I log in is check Slack and emails and start getting my editorial calendar ready. We have news and production meetings starting at 10 a.m. every morning, so I try to get my ducks in a row before then, making sure pieces have been assigned, writers have clear deadlines, etc. I think of this as my “admin mode” and typically use the time to catch up on new albums or singles. This week, I've been listening to a few people we've written about recently: Puerto Rican saxophonist/singer RaiNao released an album called Capicú I love, the new Serpentwithfeet record Grip is great, Shygirl's EP Club Shy is super fun, Cuban artist Daymé Arocena‘s Alkemi is really beautiful. 

What’s on the agenda for today?
By 11 a.m., I start diving into assignments — that's usually edits, but I try to write as much as possible. Right now, we’re getting ready to launch the next edition of the Rolling Stone print magazine, so I've been doing a ton of work on a few different stories: I'm editing a piece on a Peruvian artist, which has sent me down a rabbit hole of listening to Los Saicos, considered the first proto-punk band. If I’m not listening to music that’s part of story research, I usually try to focus with a lot of ambient music. I’m a huge Brian Eno fan and also love The Books, William Basinski, and Grouper. I interviewed the artist Ethel Cain a while back, and she shared this great playlist that’s probably my go-to on busy days.

What’s for lunch?
My husband and I both work from home on Tuesdays, so we try to break (if we can) to catch up on each other's day and have a proper meal together. If we grab takeout, we both love a few local places near us, Java for Indonesian and Saiko for Korean-Syrian fusion. If we're cooking, we might try to stop by United Meat Market, a local butcher that’s been in the neighborhood for a long time.

Any plans tonight?
We do a lot of dinners at Crosta, a super kid-friendly restaurant run by the same people who own Piccoli Trattoria in Park Slope and Bella Osteria in Clinton Hill. If we're feeling ambitious and found a babysitter, we're big fans of Epistrophy in Nolita, which has Sardinian-inspired food.

In all likelihood, I'm in bed with a book by 10 p.m. Right now, I'm reading Blackouts by Justin Torres, Every Day Is for the Thief by Teju Cole, and Kathleen Hanna’s memoir Rebel Girl.