Photo Courtesy of the artist
AP: While I was researching to prep for this interview, I stumbled upon a TedxYouth @ Santa Monica Video.
PB: Hahaha wow that’s deep.
AP: Do you remember what the process was for getting that performance opportunity?
PB: Yeah, my high school boyfriend went to Santa Monica High School and I met a bunch of people through that; and someone from the school was doing a Ted Talk and asked me to play a few songs and I did. I had no idea what to expect; it was awesome.
AP: You went to the Los Angeles County High School For The Arts; what was your experience like in high school?
PB: Have you seen the movie ‘Fame?’
AP: Like…I’ve seen enough of it where I get the gist.
PB: So, it’s a less dramatized version of that; although the whole thing with ‘Fame’ is that it’s a musical so people dance in the hallways and that straight up did happen at my high school. There’d be dance competitions during our 10 minute break between 1st and 2nd period; it was pretty insane. You’d also have really annoying people warming up for opera while you’re trying to get shit out of your locker.
But for the most part it was really normal for the first half of the day and then ‘Fame High’ for the 2nd half because arts happened the 2nd half of the day. While I was there, I studied Opera, Jazz and music technology which was basically engineering; it was a crazy 4 years.
AP: Do you think you’ll ever incorporate Opera into future records?
PB: Ya for sure! Actually, have you seen this live k.d. lang video? It’s my favorite live performance ever; but it’s her doing a cover of ‘Johnny Get Angry’ which is this super sexist song.
AP: Oh wow, no I haven’t seen that.
PB: And it’s amazing because it’s k.d.lang and she’s super butch looking and is in a suit with a haircut that’s somewhat similar to a flattop. The song itself is about wanting your boyfriend to be more violent so you know he loves you more and she does this operatic thing towards the end which is insane. I think on a mild level I’d incorporate opera into my music; I’m for sure more inspired to do straight up opera at the end of something because of that performance.
AP: ‘Stranger in the Alps’ is a fantastic record; I noticed that ghosts are used on the album cover as well as the single covers. Is there a specific reason for that?
PB: Well for one I like to keep some sort of through-line. Secondly I just really love the artist that did the covers, her name is Angela Deane and all the covers are childhood photos of me with ghosts painted on them. So basically she made so many cool things and I wanted to use them for more than just the album cover.
AP: ‘Killer’ and ‘Georgia’ were the 2 songs from the ‘Killer’ EP that were re-recorded for your full length album; is there a reason why you chose those two?
PB: I think it was because the ‘Killer’ EP was actually recorded at the same time as the full length album but the turnaround was so fast for the EP because it was just acoustic. So, it just felt like ‘Killer’ held the acoustic versions of those two songs in particular. For ‘Steamroller,’ it always felt like that was the version; it felt like an acoustic love song to me.
AP: From the record’s release up until now, what have been some of the most moving responses you’ve heard from listeners?
PB: My favorite thing is when young women come up to me and tell me they’ve learned a bunch of my songs and/or my songs were the first thing they learned on guitar. Second favorite is having artists that I’m obsessed with tweeting at me and saying that they like my record; it’s very validating. Oh, also my favorite as of late is that in an interview with Pitchfork, a member from The National listed me with a bunch of other women he feels should’ve won Grammys; that was sick.
AP: You recently did a Tiny Desk; was it difficult choosing the songs for such a quick set?
PB: It was kinda difficult! I had already done something for NPR; I had played ‘Smoke Signals’ acoustic for them in a hotel room so that ruled out one of my favorite songs to play. So then I was like ‘what would be kind of weird? Let’s pick a weird one.’ I just wanted it to be dynamic; like a soft one and then one where I don’t play guitar and then ‘Motion Sickness.’ So, it wasn’t that hard but it was stressful because I know that people watch those. It’s weird playing to a room full of people who aren’t really the focus of why you’re doing the Tiny Desk; you’re essentially like ‘oh my god I don’t even know who’s going to watch this later.’
AP: Is there an artist who hasn’t done a Tiny Desk that you’d like to see do one?
PB: Britney Spears. That’d be so tight.
AP: Congrats on being invited to open for a few Bon Iver Shows; I can tell from your Twitter header that you’re a fan. Is there a certain record of his that made you fall in love with his music?
PB: ‘For Emma’ was definitely my introduction; I just love the way it was recorded. It made me want to record to four-track tape and the songwriting is unreal. But I have to say, his self-titled has a big timestamp on it for me; it came out when I was 17 and it was the record where I saw him live so I feel that one is more specific to me. But, I fell in love with ‘For Emma’ forever ago like the rest of the world. And I love this weird electronic record! They actually use an OP-1 synthesizer all over it which is something that I have so I nerded out really hard.
AP: In the ‘Motion Sickeness’ video you do Karaoke; do you have a go-to Karaoke song?
PB: Like…I feel like I do but then I struggle to think of it when I’m at Karaoke. I would say that the one I nail is ‘If It Makes You Happy’ by Sheryl Crow.
AP: Ah, I was just traveling through her discography and that whole record is still so ridiculously good.
PB: Ya, she’s got bangers.
AP: Speaking of albums, I heard that you’re really into collecting vinyl. What’s your most prized vinyl?
PB: It’s the Elliot Smith & Pete Krebs split 7”. There are just none of them that exist; probably 500 were made and I love it so much. I’m not usually a vinyl nerd; I think of vinyl as a nice way to listen to my favorite music so I wear the shit out of all my vinyl but that one is my one rare thing that I love.
AP: Do you currently have a super rare vinyl that you’re looking for?
PB: No, I feel like I’m always just looking for my favorite stuff. Something I’m always looking for are old Sun Kill Moon albums which I could probably just type in on Amazon but they’re never stocked at record stores. There are certain people I want to have everything of.
AP: You’re a TV watcher as well; are you watching anything right now?
PB: I definitely haven’t fallen in love with a show as much as I fell in love with Dexter. I watch Stranger Things but it’s so short. Actually when I’m traveling, I have to comfort myself with familiar material so I’ve been re-watching Gilmore Girls. But yeah, nothing that’s riveting me; I just like comfort. I also listen to Harry Potter audiobooks on tour.
AP: To close, I was inspired by the title of your track ‘Would You Rather’ and picked 3 random ‘Would You Rathers’ that I found on the internet. To start, would you rather have 20 fingers on each hand or 2 faces?
PB: 2 Faces; having 20 fingers would make things difficult.
AP: Would you rather have every movie you watch replace the lead role with Nicolas Cage or every song you hear is performed by Nickelback?
PB: Definitely have Nicolas Cage as the lead in every movie I watch because that’d be interesting for the first couple of days. The Nickelback thing would destroy me.
AP: And lastly, would you rather have 500 tarantulas crawling in your house or 1000 crickets jumping around your room?
PB: Crickets because they’re not poisonous. I love tarantulas but the volume of them like….you’d get hurt. Ya the crickets would be kind of cute for like 2 seconds.
Phoebe Bridgers performs to a SOLD OUT Great Scott with Soccer Mommy on February 24th//gig is 18+
