From her tour stop in Toronto, singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers connects with The Current’s Jill Riley to talk about the single “Sidelines,” which appears on the soundtrack for the Hulu series, “Conversations with Friends.”

Listen to the interview in the audio player above and read a transcript below.

Interview transcript

Edited for time and clarity.

Jill Riley: You're listening to The Current, The Current's Morning Show. I'm Jill Riley. And I've got a special guest on the line, a guest that, you know, we've had in the studio here at The Current. We have had plenty of opportunity to get to know her music through, you know, the two records that she's put out and the collaborations that she's had. I've got Phoebe Bridgers with me, Phoebe, how are you?

Phoebe Bridgers: I'm doing great. How are you?

Jill Riley: Not too bad. You know, this new song "Sidelines," we started playing it here on The Current and, you know, the initial, I guess, reaction is to go, "Is this an indication for a new EP or a new record?" But I know that you've said that, hey, this is you know, probably the only new thing you're gonna release this year, which is understandable, because you're gonna be on the road quite a bit this summer. And into fall. I don't know if you made this song for this new Hulu show "Conversations with Friends," or if it's something that you kind of already had and this was a good opportunity to get it out there in this way? But I wonder if you could tell me about this song "Sidelines." It's really beautiful. I mean, if you could just kind of talk about where it came from, and how it came to be.

Phoebe Bridgers: Yeah, well, my drummer Marshall [Vore], who I write with a lot, had this idea, like at the very beginning of lockdown, and kind of like, set it to the side. And then when the "Conversations with Friends" people reached out to me, he happened to be right next to me. And he was like, "What about 'Sidelines'?" So we kind of like finished it with the show in mind, which was so fun. And I kind of like, I kind of tried to keep it as true to the demo version as possible, because I loved his demo so much.

Jill Riley: I'm talking with Phoebe Bridgers here on The Current talking about this new song "Sidelines," part of the soundtrack for this new show "Conversations with Friends," which you can find by way of Hulu. And I watched the trailer for it, Phoebe, and I'm like, "Oh, now I gotta get Hulu. Now I have to get another streaming service," because the show looks really great.

Phoebe Bridgers: You do. It's great.

Jill Riley: Yeah, I just want to check it out. Because it just it looks like totally like juicy with drama, which I love. But this song "Sidelines," the amount of times I've listened to it now, I think it's one of those songs that I think just about anybody can connect with or to. It just has this idea of, you know, it's like, easy to be fearless when you have nothing to lose. Like that's my takeaway from it. How do you see kind of the concept of like fearlessness and how it applies to the song, and what is a good amount of fear? Is fear a motivator? Is fear a dangerous thing? You know, a little too much fear and you've got the dark side, you know what I mean?

Phoebe Bridgers: Yeah, totally. I think it's kind of like a funny take on, like, this is dark, but like, when you're, when you like don't care if you get hit by a bus in your life. And then, like when you meet someone you really like, you you take more stock in your life, and then you're fearless in kind of like a different way. Yeah, that's that's kind of what it's about.

Jill Riley: Yeah. And so, you know, you had talked about how, you know, Marshall had this idea. I mean, was this a song that, you know, started as a concept from Marshall and then you kind of finished? Or did you, did you really kind of do this one as a collaboration?

Phoebe Bridgers: Yeah, exactly. We finished it together. Like, he started it with his girlfriend. And then I kind of like, took it for several months and was walking around, like, listening to it, and how I could apply those same ideas to myself. It took forever and it had like many different versions. And then just one day, it kind of all came together; like, I was, we were just like taking a walk and and some lyrics kind of bubbled up, which is my favorite way to write, so. 

Jill Riley: This one is connecting with fans. I mean, it certainly connected with me, and I think it could be interpreted as a romantic relationship. It could be interpreted as, you know, an opportunity. For me, when I listened to it, you know, I was thinking about my six-year-old son and how, like, suddenly, there are things that I have to start caring about or that I'm motivated to start like living life in the moment, you know, because there's this thing or this person. What kind of feedback have you heard from fans about the song? Yeah, I think my favorite thing about songwriting is it can be like interpreted correctly, but in many different ways, like you know, just like applying that to your own life. Which is funny because it's like very specific and about like going back to school or all this stuff that that might not apply, but but I think that that feeling is pretty universal either way, just like times in your life where you haven't been invested at all and other times where it just feels like easier to make investments in yourself. Phoebe, have you ever had a situation where you know, a fan or somebody has, you know, said, "Hey, you've got this song and it really connected with me in such in such a way." Are there any songs that that you have been surprised by how it's been interpreted?

Phoebe Bridgers: Yeah, like some people like dig into the lyrics of, of "Smoke Signals," a lot like they are. They're like, pelicans, which I talked about in the chorus are a, like an ancient symbol of death. And I'm like, "I had no idea." So that's, that's always really funny to me. It's like just giving me a lot of credit for something I had no idea was even happening, so.

Jill Riley: Whereas maybe there was a little temptation to say "Yes, exactly! That's exactly, and I didn't think anyone was going to figure it out. Until you did." Phoebe. I know you're gonna be on the road for a while here. I mean, I'm looking at your schedule, you know, this summer and going into fall: North America, Europe. Where are you now? I mean, what sort of point of the tour are you at? I know you just like spent a little time in our neck of the woods in the Midwest. Are you in Canada? Where are you headed next?

Phoebe Bridgers: Uh, yeah, I'm in Toronto. And then I've got some East Coast shows and then Europe. It's pretty full on. Yeah, very fun.

Jill Riley: What are you looking forward to most when you go to Europe? 

Phoebe Bridgers: Just like, I mean, we haven't been to Europe in years now. And that's gonna be interesting. Like the pandemic has been going on, you know, since, you know, we went in the very beginning of November 2019 to play a show. It was like, one of the first times I played "Punisher" songs. And so it'll be nice to go back, you know, so many years later to play the same record and for real this time.

Jill Riley: Yeah, and do you think that there's kind of an advantage to that, that people have had a really good amount of time to take in the record and to really get to know the record instead of like, "Okay, I've released it. And now I'm on the road!"

Phoebe Bridgers: Yeah, I love that. I love that feeling. I think maybe the precedent of like, putting out record and then immediately touring it is getting kind of tiresome, at least to me. Like, I don't know, sometimes I see a band who just put out a new record, and then like, a year later, when I truly like know and love the record, I wish I could go back and see that tour. So I like it.

Jill Riley: Yeah, for sure. Phoebe Bridgers is on the line here on The Current. Yeah, the tour, you've got some openers that I think what's cool about this is, you know, you have a number of different platforms in your life: you know, you've got the stage, and you've got, you know, your public life and social media, and you've got, you know, kind of a cool opportunity to introduce artists, like to amplify new artists, you know, through, whether it's your label or taking people out on the road. Can you talk about some of the folks that are opening on your tour?

Phoebe Bridgers: Yeah, totally. It's everybody, at least on this leg, except for Christian Lee Hutson in August, is on my record label Saddest Factory. So we had Sloppy Jane first. And then we had Charlie Hickey, who just put out a record and Claud is out with us now. And we have MUNA in New York. Like, it's just been fun to like, see everybody, and because the label started over the pandemic, I haven't even gotten to see anybody live since signing them. So it's just been so cool.

Jill Riley: And I know that the label started during the pandemic, but like that aside, what has it felt like to start a label and have such a big hand in helping people just do their art? 

Phoebe Bridgers: Yeah, it feels cool. I mean, the work is all on them. I just have to like, put it out! So yeah, it's been it's been fun to have like a small part in so many of my favorite records.

Jill Riley: And yeah, I mean, of course, the work is on the artists to create the art, but what is kind of like your philosophy behind this label? And I wonder if there's anything that you know, when you first signed with a label, or if there was something that really informed the way you wanted to do it?

Phoebe Bridgers: Um, I think the least, like, steering you can do of an artist I think is the best. Like, I don't know, if somebody has a friend who makes videos, that's probably cooler than like setting them up with someone they've never worked with before. Like, just giving some sort of structure to like what's already there, or like budget or whatever it is. I think that's like one of my favorite parts of it, is just kind of like supporting what the artist wants to do themselves instead of kind of like, putting your hand in and then changing stuff.

Jill Riley: Right. It's like, "I love what you're doing. I've signed you, but let's change it all."

Phoebe Bridgers: Yeah, exacatly. That happens a lot. It's cool to do the opposite. Yeah.

Jill Riley: I couldn't help but notice you're going to open for the Rolling Stones. How did that happen? Like, how did you fall into that?

Phoebe Bridgers: I kind of have no idea, actually. We got asked, and it happened to be on a day off and it'll be great. Yeah, it'll be interesting.

Jill Riley: Yeah. Are you? Are you a Stones fan? Or does that bring up any sort of like nostalgia for you?

Phoebe Bridgers: For sure. I mean, we listened to a lot of the Beatles and The Stones growing up. It's definitely pretty wild. I think it's pretty unique just because they've been touring for so long. Like, there have just been so many eras of the Stones. It'll be cool to be a part of this one.

Jill Riley Yeah, the Phoebe Bridgers era. All right, well, Phoebe, good luck on the road. Stay safe and wish you the best of luck. Give a shout out to Marshall; like, thank you guys for this song. It's really beautiful. So well, you take care of and we'll talk to you soon, okay?

Phoebe Bridgers: Yeah, thanks so much. 

Jill Riley: You are listening to The Current. Again, this new song, part of the soundtrack for a show called "Conversations with Friends" on Hulu, and it's called "Sidelines." Phoebe Bridgers on The Current.

Credits

Hosted by Jill Riley
Produced by Rachel Frances and Derrick Stevens
Web production by Luke Taylor

External Links

Phoebe Bridgers - official site

Conversations with Friends - official Hulu site