Tomorrow (Friday 22nd) sees the release of one of the most anticipated debut records of the year from 23 Year old LA resident Phoebe Bridgers. With the release of Stranger in the Alps looming, FFS caught up with Phoebe to ask her a few questions about the record, missing David Bowie and touring with Conor Oberst in the States.
FFS: Hey Phoebe. How are you? How are things going in preparation for the release of Stranger in the Alps?
PB: I’m good! Pretty much doing zero preparation as I am currently on tour, but I’m really excited.
FFS: The singles released from the record (‘Smoke Signals’/’Motion Sickness’) have been well received both online and on the radio, especially here in England on BBC 6 Music. What does it feel like to hear your own tracks on the radio?
PB: I heard my song Killer on the radio once forever ago, and lost signal half way through. Other than that I’ve never heard myself on the radio. I did hear Motion Sickness in a coffee shop on this tour as soon as I walked in with a friend in Saint Paul, and totally pretended it happens all the time.
FFS: Going back to ‘Smoke Signals’, there are references to Lemmy, Bowie and the Smiths. Have these influenced your writing in any way?
PB: Yes. It’s crazy when your heroes die. It always makes me put together a box set of everything they’ve ever done in my head. A conclusive body of work. All those people have great box sets. And I’ll always rock weirdly giant shirts because of Morrissey.
FFS: ‘We’ll watch TV whilst all the lights in the streets/put the stars to death/it’s been on my mind since Bowie died/Just checking out to hide from life.’ This is one of the most beautiful couplets I’ve heard this year. Is the link from the ‘stars’ to Bowie deliberate? Who is ‘hiding from life’ in the track? The protagonist or the aforementioned stars?
PB: It’s hard to remember what was deliberate and what was just a cool coincidence I became aware of after I wrote the song, but I definitely think of the stars lyric relating to Bowie. There’s this awful motel right by my house in LA, and one day I thought about how weird it was that I could just go there, check in, and not go outside for probably months until someone had some sort of an intervention with me. So the lyric is about me disappearing.
FFS: You worked with Ryan Adams. How cool was that?
PB: Very cool. He’s a character for sure. Made me listen to Creed the first night we met.
FFS:You are touring with Conor Oberst right now. Whats that like?
PB: I’m on tour with him right now! I might be having a little too much fun and eating a little too much after show pizza.
FFS: And finally, are there any plans to come over and tour the UK in the near future?
Yes! In October. See you there.
FFS: Thanks Phoebe. All the best with the release of the record.