“Actually, music is maybe my one un-self-conscious, unselfish act. I just know what I want all the time in a way that I don’t ever in any other context.”
It’s been a weird year: after dropping her globally acclaimed second album, Punisher, last summer, Bridgers rocketed into a new echelon of our collective cultural consciousness that includes four Grammy nominations and her own label, Saddest Factory Records (an imprint of Dead Oceans.) But debuting a major album during an international pandemic meant that until this fall’s upcoming tour, this shift has meant little more than numbers on a screen and some extra PR packages. It was just her birthday—Phoebe’s a Leo, duh—and we’re trying to figure out which present would make for the best unboxing. There’s a tower of mystery boxes and a stroller for her pug, Maxine, which is actually really thoughtful.
Covering our Autumn 2021 issue, singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers sits down with Aiden Arata to chat noughties culture, the struggles of procrastination and what making music means to her.