Poppy: Always In Flux
The Grammy-nominated artist has displayed her heart on this new album Flux. As many want to box her sound in as one thing or another, this album touches different genres in the most satisfying way. While everything we may ever do is “in flux,” it’s beautiful to have a piece of work that is intentional and now immortalized as connected, raw, and even catchy as Flux.
Check out our exclusive interview with Poppy below.
How are you doing today?
I'm good. How are you?
I'm good. I got a chance to listen to the new album and it's amazing. I'm so excited. So, I just wanted to see if you wanted to tell me a bit about the background and your thought process going into this one. How do you feel like you changed your sound from past songs?
So, the album was recorded with Justin Meldal-Johnsen. And we recorded it starting in November of last year. So almost a one year. A little bit more about it, it was recorded, live in-studio with my band. And I recorded my vocals after that. And the experience was very warm, it was very fun. And everything, everybody in a room together, especially in the middle of the pandemic, this nice. We were, of course, in the clear, I have to say that because some people would be upset. Everybody was negative, I can report that to you. And I've never had an experience like that recording in the studio. And it was Justin's idea to get the band's all together. And it was one of my favorite things that I've ever done in the process of recording music. It feels more alive because there are real people manning the instruments and there's a feeling of togetherness and unity. It was also even more wonderful because we couldn't play actual shows. So, we were getting that energy out in the studio together. And my cat came by for a couple of days.
What’s the name of your cat?
Pi, like the value.
That’s a great name. I did want to talk a bit about the single “So Mean”, which has already been released and gotten good buzz. I wanted to talk a bit about the background behind it and what being so mean means to you. Do you feel like you have to perform niceness in any type of way?
Yeah, I feel like that's valid. I feel that sometimes when females put their foot down, they're labeled. One might say bitchy, but you're just being stern and standing your ground. And I feel that when I took the stance for myself, invest the trust of myself, which is what you should always do. I might’ve been looked at as being mean by some people that I was unraveling from but truthfully, I was learning self-respect.
What are some of those stances that you've had to make for yourself?
Just drawing those lines, like I cannot be treated this way or spoken to this way and this is not happening. And a lot of that has to do with growing up. And when I first started making music, I was about 14 years old when I got signed, I was 17. And you learn a lot of things during those developmental years, about yourself and about how you operate in the world, and a lot of the lessons learned or lessons that you have to learn for yourself. Somebody verbally telling you, hey, you might experience these kinds of trials and tribulations don't hold as much weight as you experiencing it, learning from it yourself, even if they’re hard lessons.
Having been in the music industry so long, how do you feel that that's shaped who you are now and what role you play in the industry now?
I think now I fall more in love with things that I've always loved. And if I ever feel like I don't want to do this, I will stop. And life is too short to be angry, and I feel very fortunate to be able to make art every day and I’m grateful.
I did want to talk a bit about anger and emotions as well, because I feel like the new album does experiment a lot with expressing different emotions, and has those juxtapositions. One of my favorite songs was “On the Level”, which I feel like has really cutesy pop vocals, and then those harsh musical interludes. How do the different sounds express emotion for you?
Well, "On the Level" in particularis the first love song I've ever written. And I feel that sonically when were recording a song, I have to feel comfortable with the music. I have to feel some kind of personal intensity otherwise, I feel that connection to the recording itself, which I guess to answer your question from earlier, what has changed from them when I first started making music to now is that I have to feel a certain way about it the song or about the works in the moment for it to, in my mind, be a contender for any sort of release or reveal. I feel with all the songs on Flux, they gave me that feeling.
Could you give us a bit of backstory about “On the Level” inspiration?
Yes, I got engaged and inspired by that. And also about the impermanence of living and thinking about who you want to spend time with and finding somebody that you feel is on your level.
You talked a bit about being more particular with the songs that you had on this album. I know it was pretty intentional with just having the nine songs and having a very distinct sound. So could you speak a bit about what you wanted the output to be?
I wanted to have songs that were exciting for us, the band and me, to perform live. And I feel like we've touched upon the emotional pull of all of us in the moment. There's happiness, of course, you know, general go-through all your emotions as a human being. But I feel each song winks an eye and every single one of those emotions. My favorite song on the album, to record, was “Never Find My Place.” I like how I got to have the shade of every part of my voice in the song. It's just very tied close to me and I got goosebumps when we're recording that song in the studio and I cannot wait to perform it live.
So what's that looking like? Do you have plans for a tour or anything like that?
My tour just got postponed, of course, because you know, this thing. So I am going to be doing an album release show in Los Angeles and a few other digital performances. But I hope that things can resume when it's a bit more safe. Because I don't think all of the facts are being communicated to the followers or the fans of the artists but, it is actually very complex. And it's very at your own risk right now and I just don't want it to be a risk. I want everybody to be able to enjoy music again. It's pretty tiring because not only for them but for me, I get my hopes up and then, you know, you’re disappointed. And then you think, wow is disappointment the new way of life? But I think ultimately, things will mellow out but we still are a little ways off from being there. I just can't wait until I get to be in a room with people screaming lyrics and dancing and celebrating again together. The idea of that makes me very happy but for now, we have Flux.
What are your intentions for the album, especially knowing that it's somewhat in place of other experiences you maybe would have had with fans over the past year?
Well, while I'm excited to release the album, of course, I wish that I was kicking off the tour immediately after. But did I mention my game that I've been developing?
No.
Okay, so for the last year and a half, we've been developing a game called PoppySphere, which is like an RPG game, it’s world-building, and you can customize your avatar. And the first version of the game is more of a chat room with your avatar and the world to explore that from there. In the next version, there will be in-app purchases and even more opportunities to customize your room and your space. But my idea with it was I'm repulsed by social media so much right now that I wanted to create a safe space that was custom designed by me for my fans. So, I can speak to them directly because that's what I want to do when I go on Instagram or Twitter anyways, but I feel that I don't want to see all the other everything else in the world that's going on. I just want to talk to them.
What's been difficult about social media for you lately? Is it the oversaturation?
The oversaturation is pretty tiring and it’s too busy. It's too much stuff, it makes me nauseous. And then you could say that I said it makes me nauseous and then I smiled at the end when you transcribe this. Appreciate it. Yeah, I'll need those visual cues that I don't get to have. I definitely missed the in-person on the interviewing end as well.
So, could you tell me a bit more about the game, like the timeline of when you've started working on this, and when you're expecting to release it?
Yeah, within the next couple of weeks, we're in the final testing stages of this version one. So we began working on it about a year and a half ago. And the team behind it is very talented, and I have a lot of goals for them with the build of the app in store. It's something I've always wanted to do and the possibilities are endless to infinity and beyond. I was a really big fan of computer games when I was little, I also really love Animal Crossing and Roblox as well. And I wanted to make copies here because that seemed like the right thing to do. I felt like I was receiving a call in that direction.
So, I wanted to ask if you had any style icons or inspirations?
I always loved Vivian Westwood, I like Miu Miu and Comme de Garcon. I really love Japan and always have. I've been there so many times more times than I can count at this point and haven't been able to go back, of course, because of the world situation currently. Recently, I did a collaboration with a brand based in Harajuku called Q-Pot and we're working on a bunch of other things with them. That's very exciting. And to mention with my cat earlier, one of the designs that we worked on, I think it might have been sold out by now. But this cat, where you lift its ears, and you can see its brain, that was inspired by my cat.
How did you get into music and what’s the evolution as an artist been like for you?
Well, I was a dancer for a couple of years then, I started singing, and I was afraid of my own voice at first but, I kept singing anyways and started writing my own songs. I recorded my own songs in the studio and when they came out, I started to write and record more. And I was living in Tennessee at the time. I posted videos online, barely anybody saw and there was a person that saw the videos, that was nothing happened for a while. Another person flew me back to Los Angeles, as assigned to the first label. And I had no idea what would happen after that.
Do you have any of those songs that you posted online still? Do you revisit them?
The old songs, there are some that have not made their way online. There was somebody that was posing as me online and was able to schmooze with people from years back to get demos of songs. There are demos of songs because I was a songwriter first. So that, but the very first beginning songs that I ever recorded, do not exist. They're just silly, I think. But there was somebody that heard them and thought that there was something there to it.
You've talked a little bit about how the online persona is very difficult to navigate and how much you can share with the world.How have you worked to get to a place where you are now which is a little more open and like creating these safe spaces for yourself?
I would just say, I was honest with myself and let the art speak for itself and I recognize that fans wanted to know more and also because I have been doing the project for a while. A lot of them have been following from the beginning so they do actually know what I've experienced and gone through because they've seen it which is really special. But as far as up until now, I would say just supplying honesty, and letting the art speak for you, and not filling my world with the clutter.
What has the energy of this album felt like to you in comparison to past ones?
It's different because of the world times right now but exciting nonetheless. I feel like I have more choices. And I don't take that lightly because, you always want to be able to make choices, the right one. Things you want to do, things you will want to put out, and things you're passionate about. So I feel that that's really positive. But as far as the difference, maybe more people are just intrigued.
