INTERVIEW: Sidney Bird
If you are a fan of Maggie Rogers, Kacey Musgraves, or Stella Donnelly, then get ready for Sidney Bird. Originally from the southwest, this Brooklyn based indie-pop artist is making a name for herself with her retro, diaristic music. Dani Miller from Noisescape caught up with Sidney to discuss her new single, Renaissance Man, her songwriting process, and the pressures involved with being an independent artist.
Photo by Benjamin Lieber
Your song “Renaissance Man” dropped on Tuesday, January 11th. Can you talk about the inspiration behind this song?
I started writing this song in the summer of 2020. I was quarantined with my family and found out my sister was pregnant again. Seeing my sister become a mother and spending so much time with my parents caused me to reflect on how grateful I am for my family, how beautiful it is to see my sister turn into a mother and how I may want a family one day. The core of the song is a ‘thank you’ to my parents but also a letter to my future family. I cowrote it with my 2 friends, and when I wrote the chorus I had no idea where to go from there. They really helped me narrow down this idea of talking about both my dad and my future husband. To its core, this song is about tradition, family and growing up.
Were your family the first people you played this song to? What was their reaction to the song?
My sister did not even realize how much of an impact she had made on me until I posted something about it the other day. We finished the song about a year ago, then I played it live this September, my first show in New York, and my parents were there and I saw their faces. They hadn’t heard the song yet and they really loved it.
This song is such a beautiful singer-songwriter country-pop fusion. Who do you look up to musically and are there any artists that have shaped your sound?
For this song in particular, we went for a twangy-country vibe. I’m from Arizona, so it is really important for me to incorporate that without being a pop-country girl; just have a subtle Southwest inspiration. One of my biggest inspirations is Kacey Musgraves. I think she does such a good job of that. There are hints of nostalgic and Western but it doesn’t have to be on country radio. Maggie Rogers also inspires me a lot with that kind of writing and that sound. Her music still sounds pop and indie but there is a very singer-songwriter vibe. Her music is a story, it is all about the lyrics, there is no heavy drop or crazy instrumentals. So those two are definitely my biggest inspirations.
This song, as well as many of your others, are very lyric and storytelling centered. What is the process of writing a song like this, do you go melody or lyrics first? How important are lyrics to your music and songwriting process?
For this song, I wrote four lines (the chorus). I needed these four specific lines as the chorus just because they were so truthful to me. My dad ran for congress and he's super into politics. He always would say “I don’t care who you vote for but you have to vote.” My mom, in quarantine, became very motherly, so those two lines had to ring true. I loved the term “renaissance man.” I met this one guy who was a drummer but he also worked in a corporate job, but he could also cook really well. He was a renaissance man and I realized I wanted my son to be like that. And then for my daughter, “Rock and Roll band” I just love. I can imagine my future daughter being super outspoken and very intelligent. I’m usually not very lyric-picky, but this time around it was like that.
You released a music video to accompany this song as well. It stars yourself and this very adorable little girl. Can you talk about the process of making this video as well as the message behind it?
So that little girl is my neighbor who I babysit sometimes. When I was thinking about this music video, I definitely wanted there to be a performance aspect as well as a storytelling aspect; so me on the piano but also intertwined with a story. We only had the budget to hire one child actor and I hired my neighbor because she was a friend of mine and she trusted me. She was only 4 and had never acted before, so that was really fun too. I love kids because they think adults are so interesting but then we’re just also all the same people. So I really wanted the video to have an “I’m teaching her, but she’s also teaching me” message. It was just really about how fun kids are and how much they look up to us but I also look up to them.
Here at Noisescape, we like to highlight different indie artists that are making great music. What is the biggest challenge that you have encountered as an independent artist?
The fact that everybody in the music industry now takes social media just as seriously as the actual songs. Writing songs makes me happy and it has been a struggle, the past year especially. I am an independent artist, I have my manager and a band but I don’t really have a big team that is helping me fund or market. There is beauty within the power of social media— how I am in control and I create my own narrative— but it is also kind of annoying how seriously I do have to take it. Growing up, it was just fun for me to post on Instagram with my girlfriends, or my boyfriend, or my dog, but now it kind of all matters. It is interesting and I have come to terms with it but it is still probably the most annoying thing about being an independent artist.
Is there anything you can tease about your future plans?
I think I am going to do a single a month this whole year. They are very much like Renaissance Man, very Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour inspired; South-Westy, disco-y pop.