Lindsey Jordan, known more commonly as Snail Mail, has risen to be one of the most interesting indie artists of 2018. At only 19 years old, her debut album Lush wowed critics and listeners alike with introspective lyricism, emphatic vocals and beautiful guitar lines. So as her appearance at the Brunswick Music Festival and Farmer & The Owl Festival (and subsequent Australian tour) draws near, I was given the pleasure of talking to her about end-of-year celebrations, her influences not being so prominent, and not wanting to tarnish Television.

You made plenty of end of year lists; #2 on Stereogum, #5 at Pitchfork; so what have your celebrations been like to round out the year?

Well, we all took a two or three-week break, and that was definitely a celebration in of itself. Got to party on New Year’s Eve. Just relaxing a lot, and now we’ve been gearing up for the next tour. Lots of practising and just figuring out how we’re changing things to be more dynamic for the upcoming Australian and American tour.

Speaking of touring, I wanted to ask; does performing ever stop getting intimidating?

Some days I can definitely feel intimidated but most days I’m usually fine. It can depend on how the room sounds when I’m performing or if the soundcheck goes poorly. If we’re performing in a huge room or for someone we admire it can definitely get to that point, but most of the time it just sort of feels routine for us.

I saw your performance on KEXP and you talked about influences and you had two that were very different; The Velvet Underground and Paramore; and I was just wondering if these artists play into your sound directly at all, or if you’re just inspired by them?

I really don’t think of any bands I like being influential in my songwriting other than all the music you listen to going to your brain, but it definitely helps you just become a better music fan or music artist I guess. But yeah, it’s not something I consciously think about when I’m writing, it can help with certain things, but it isn’t something I incorporate often.

Speaking of performances, did you have a memorable one from 2018?

Singapore. It was crazy because a lot of people there had been waiting a long time to come see us and everybody knew all the words to every single song. There was a lot of young people that went and we hung out afterwards. Everyone was really sweet and it was just a really cool experience all round.



Lo-fi is a sound that artists like Soccer Mommy, you and even Car Seat Headrest have risen to prominence with last year. What do you think makes this sound so appealing to listen to or write?

I don’t really think we’re lo-fi. Lush is a pretty hi-fi, high production album. I guess Habit [our first EP] was lo-fi incidentally because we didn’t have any resources, but I don’t know. I know a lot of people really like it but I’ve always been appreciative of clear-sounding music. I think sometimes it definitely destroys the final product, especially when you’re playing a lot of clear, beautiful chords and open notes and have all of these really great sounding instruments. I kind of personally have a vendetta against lo-fi because I feel like it just crushes the beautiful sounds and just makes them all sound like crap. Just shreds all of the intention. I get why people like it, and I like it for other people, but so much goes into a record and the tones and individual sounds and gear and I feel like if you have the resources to not make a lo-fi record, you should, but maybe that’s just me.



If you could perform one song from another artist at your live shows, what would it be?

Maybe ‘Venus’ by Television? It’s definitely a favourite of mine. We’re not planning to cover any Television songs or anything, but we practice them a lot. It’s probably something I wouldn’t even consider in real life because I wouldn’t want to tarnish it, but I think Marquee Moon is an incredible record and I grew up learning those songs on guitar and it could be rewarding covering those songs but ‘Venus’ is definitely my favourite.



Lush came out just last year and contains a lot of very personal and introspective lyricism. Did your songwriting sort of expand and develop as you grew bigger?

I probably spent the last year and a half writing it, and I think it would be insane if you weren’t developing as an artist as you become more experienced and grow as a writer, but I think specifically I found myself trying to take something away every time when I gave up on writing a song. I find myself going through phases but always changing the ways I write.

Does it feel any different being a female artist in Indie or do you just see yourself as an Indie artist rather than a female Indie artist? Do you feel it ever subtracts from your music?

Well, I see myself as an indie artist, but it’s hard getting away from being a woman when that’s all that is being focused on. I think some people listen to music and just put all the bands with female members in a category and then compare them, which is weird to me, but also all these bands deserve their moment in the sun just for being good songwriters rather than because they’re female. It just takes away from the individuality of each artist.



Do you have any goals for this year?

Yeah, I’d love to book myself a vacation. (laughs) That’s my new year’s resolution.



Did you have any last words for Australian fans eagerly awaiting your arrival?

Yeah, I guess I’ll close it out by saying I’m really excited to come to Australia and honoured that people are coming to see us there. It’s going to be a great time.