For this week's NME In Conversation series, we sat down with Poppy to discuss new album 'Zig', being impatient, working with Ali Payami and what she's most proud if in her career.
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00:00 I would also like to be a guest judge on LEGO Masters.
00:03 -Oh, yeah? -Yeah.
00:04 -Are you a LEGO fan? -I love LEGOs.
00:07 -Really? Do you have some at home? -Yeah.
00:09 Oh, so many. Yeah, I decorate my house with them.
00:12 Hi, I'm Nick, and I'm joined by Poppy
00:22 for the latest in enemies and conversation series.
00:25 -How's it going today? -It's wonderful. How are you?
00:27 Yeah, good, thank you.
00:28 How long have you been in London for?
00:30 Um, about...
00:32 18 hours.
00:34 So we've got you very early on.
00:36 Mm-hmm, yes.
00:37 Yep, it's been a trip.
00:39 The new album is called Zig.
00:43 What made you want to call it that?
00:45 To me, Zig is like a sudden turn
00:48 and a sudden turn in direction.
00:51 So I feel like I do that often.
00:54 And it's also one half of Zag.
00:58 How would you say... You mentioned it's a turn in direction.
01:00 How would you say this sounds different from your previous ones?
01:03 Um, I was describing it as a bit more hi-fi.
01:07 It's very clean,
01:09 um, sonically,
01:12 but also a bit more rhythmic at times.
01:14 And I wanted to make an album
01:18 that I could have dance music videos for.
01:21 And that's what we did.
01:23 Because you come from a dance background.
01:25 Mm-hmm, yeah.
01:26 What made you want to lean into that side of yourself this time around?
01:30 Well, I've always dreamt of the day
01:33 when those two worlds would merge for me.
01:36 And I felt like it was the appropriate time to do so.
01:39 I feel like with the first single release for Church Outfit,
01:43 it was a good introduction for that.
01:46 You're also playing more guitar and bass on this album than in the past.
01:50 Mm-hmm.
01:51 Is that something that kind of happened organically,
01:52 or did you make a conscious decision,
01:53 you know, "I want to play more on this one"?
01:55 Well, live, um,
01:58 I play bass typically on our set on Hard, the song.
02:02 And I start a lot of the ideas on bass,
02:07 or at least I have been recently.
02:09 And, um, it'll just be me alone in my house
02:14 playing with a bunch of different pedals.
02:16 And that's usually the skeleton of the idea,
02:19 the early beginnings.
02:20 It's newer, uncharted territory for me.
02:22 And you have a new collaborator, Ali Payami.
02:26 Yes.
02:27 How did you meet Ali,
02:29 and what made you want to work with him?
02:32 Yeah, Ali, he's so incredibly talented.
02:36 And we met through a mutual friend,
02:40 and we met at a cafe by a lake,
02:46 and we went for a walk.
02:47 And I was telling him what I would like to do for this record.
02:51 And we had a lot of similar interests in music
02:57 and influences.
02:59 And he comes from a heavy, like, electronic music background.
03:04 But he can definitely write a bass line, that guy.
03:09 He takes a very different approach to music.
03:14 I think he really hears things differently.
03:16 And in the creative process,
03:19 writing with him in the room,
03:22 he works so fast,
03:23 so I'm never waiting for him to do something.
03:28 He's, like, lightning quick.
03:30 So before I can even finish communicating my idea,
03:37 sometimes I'll just say, "Oh, we're looking for this,"
03:40 or, "What would it sound like if we did this sound
03:43 or this riff mixed with,"
03:47 and then he's gone and he's off and he's building,
03:50 and I'm just singing melodies and writing lyrics
03:54 as fast as possible.
03:55 It's a very quick process.
03:56 We sometimes, when we're writing,
03:58 we'll do a couple songs in a day
04:00 or at least a couple of ideas.
04:02 - Do you typically work quickly?
04:04 'Cause, I mean, this is your fifth album in six years,
04:05 which is very, very productive.
04:07 - Well, I like to journal a lot.
04:11 I keep many journals,
04:14 and that's a big part of my process.
04:17 But I feel like I'm quite an observer of situations
04:23 and my own emotions,
04:26 and I think in the studio,
04:33 when I'm going in for a session,
04:37 I try to digest as much information
04:40 and films and books as I can,
04:46 and then make sense of it in the process.
04:51 - Can you get an idea for a song pretty much anywhere?
04:53 Can inspiration strike at any time?
04:56 - Yeah, I think you have to just be ready to catch it.
05:00 - Are you someone who makes voice memos
05:01 if something just comes to mind?
05:02 Is that there?
05:03 - Oh, yes, absolutely.
05:04 Yeah, sometimes I can't type as fast as I can.
05:08 Yeah, it's coming into my head.
05:10 I have to put it somewhere quickly, or I'll forget.
05:13 I've found that I'm quite a forgetful person
05:16 if I don't write things down quickly.
05:18 - You need to get it down in the moment before it kind of...
05:21 - Otherwise, what if it was a good idea
05:23 and you just weren't quick enough?
05:25 - One of my favorite songs on the album is "Motorbike,"
05:29 which is like, it's such a banger,
05:30 and it's also got such evocative lyrics.
05:33 What is it about the image of a girl on a motorbike
05:35 that you find so kind of powerful?
05:38 - Well, whenever I see a girl that's on a motorcycle,
05:41 I always stare a little bit longer at her.
05:43 I always have.
05:44 It could be interpreted as a very sensual song.
05:51 It's empowering to me,
05:53 but I like that it's the brightest song on the record.
05:58 It doesn't really take itself too seriously.
06:03 It's a little bit of a chuckle moment.
06:06 - Do you like, I say midway through an interview,
06:09 do you like explaining what your songs are about,
06:11 or do you prefer to kind of let people interpret them
06:14 the way they want to?
06:15 - I prefer to let people interpret them.
06:17 I feel like they change meaning in time,
06:20 and sometimes it's a little bit too personal.
06:24 Not with "Motorbike."
06:25 That one's not as close.
06:27 But I feel like sometimes it gets a little bit washed out
06:31 if you over-explain what song is about to you,
06:34 'cause it becomes theirs once it's out there, you know?
06:37 Them, whoever they are.
06:38 - When you're on tour and performing a song,
06:39 you know, night after night,
06:40 can it change meaning then too?
06:43 - Yeah, definitely.
06:44 Certain songs sometimes, I think, for me,
06:48 I don't play anymore 'cause they're just a little bit too
06:51 of a certain time period.
06:54 - They just remind you too much of a different period of...
06:57 - Mm-hmm.
06:58 - Yeah.
06:59 - Yeah, but if people like them, I'm sorry.
07:02 - I guess it would be a bit like going back
07:05 to like a house you used to live in
07:07 or a town you used to live in
07:08 and that kind of weird feeling
07:09 where you know that you don't quite belong there anymore.
07:13 - Yeah, I think, like, I'm a fan of MGMT.
07:18 I know that they don't play certain songs live anymore.
07:21 I like a lot of their music,
07:25 but it's almost like a punishment to the audience in a way,
07:29 which is fun too.
07:31 (laughing)
07:32 - Do your audience tend to appreciate the punishment?
07:35 - I think they like the punishment.
07:36 That makes them come back.
07:37 (laughing)
07:39 There was, early on, I would loop for Doors' music,
07:44 the same song over and over.
07:47 It was a little bit like sonic waterboarding
07:50 because then when I got to the stage,
07:51 everybody was really excited.
07:54 They were excited 'cause they were at a Poppy show,
07:56 but they were excited because it was over
07:58 and I was about to start.
08:00 - How do you see your purpose as a musician
08:03 and as a songwriter?
08:05 - My purpose?
08:06 - Yeah.
08:07 - To better understand myself.
08:11 Maybe people can understand themselves
08:14 a little bit better in the process,
08:17 but I think I'm just trying to figure it out
08:21 and I'm honest about that.
08:24 But past that, I'm still figuring it out.
08:30 - Has your purpose changed over time, would you say?
08:35 - Yeah, I think it's become a bit more clear.
08:38 Like, you know when you're looking out
08:40 at those little magnifying binoculars at a park
08:45 and then you turn the dial
08:47 and it becomes a little bit more in focus?
08:49 That's how I feel.
08:50 Maybe at the beginning, it was,
08:53 I think from what I was describing it as at that time
08:57 was to just make my friends laugh
09:01 or to make my friends excited by my music
09:06 or what I was doing.
09:08 Then it turned to be more about the greater purpose
09:11 of understanding myself.
09:15 - When more and more people started listening
09:18 and started really loving your music,
09:20 was it something you kind of found hard to process at first
09:23 or were you able to take it in your stride?
09:25 - I think it's really flattering.
09:29 And I think I'm still processing it.
09:31 I feel really fortunate to be able to tour the world
09:34 and play shows.
09:36 And I love touring and I love seeing
09:39 in real time responses from the audience.
09:42 That will never get old, so I feel fortunate,
09:45 especially after the whole C word, you know, that happened.
09:49 I feel happy to be back on the road.
09:54 - Yeah, doing what you're meant to be doing.
09:57 - Yeah, I think it's one of the things
09:59 I'm meant to do for now.
10:01 - On the song "Prove It" you sing,
10:03 "I'm impatient, I hate waiting."
10:05 Have you always been that way?
10:07 - Yes.
10:08 - Have you made peace with the fact that,
10:09 or are you trying to be more patient?
10:11 Or do you just think that's the way I am,
10:13 I'm gonna go with it?
10:13 - I think if I was too patient, I would be passive
10:16 and then nothing would happen and I would be boring.
10:20 So I like to go do things immediately when I think of them.
10:23 - Have you always been quite driven?
10:25 - I would say so, yeah.
10:28 And wielding myself out of situations.
10:32 When I was small and a bit of a drifter type.
10:38 - What made you stop being that way,
10:41 not being like a drifter?
10:42 - I got a house and I have a cat.
10:46 So I do adventure with my cat,
10:52 but I think I have an appreciation
10:55 for having a home base now,
10:57 which is something that I didn't previously.
11:01 And at the beginning of my journey in music,
11:04 one thing that attracted me to the idea
11:07 was the fact that you could never go home.
11:10 You could tour the world and never have to stay
11:12 in one place and never go home again.
11:15 And I was like, that's the job for me.
11:17 So I do like having a home though now.
11:21 It's a different feeling.
11:23 It's like you're gone for months at a time,
11:24 but you come back to one place
11:27 and you have a bed there and it's cozy.
11:30 - It must be quite comforting
11:31 if you're away for months and months
11:32 and then to know that there is somewhere at the end
11:35 where it's just for you.
11:37 - Yeah, it's a newer appreciation though.
11:40 Like I said, it wasn't always that way.
11:41 Now I can sit in my house and in the presence of myself
11:45 and be okay with it.
11:47 - What advice would you give to the Poppy
11:50 who started out in the industry,
11:52 seven, eight years ago?
11:53 - Advice, hmm.
11:56 I don't know.
11:57 I think just my, I had an open mind then
12:01 and I feel like I still do,
12:04 but there are certain parameters
12:08 and boundaries that I set for myself
12:10 and the checklist is shorter nowadays
12:12 and what I'm willing to do or tolerate.
12:16 So I would just say there's a lot of wolves out there
12:22 so watch out.
12:23 (laughing)
12:24 - It's very good advice in all walks of life,
12:26 but I think especially in music.
12:28 - Yeah, and to any young person starting out,
12:32 there's a lot of wolves.
12:33 - When you first kind of broke through,
12:36 we didn't know much about you
12:37 and it seems like you're still quite careful
12:40 about what you put out there in terms of personal stuff.
12:43 Do you have a very clear line
12:44 of the stuff you're willing to talk about
12:46 and the stuff that's just for you?
12:48 - I think it's important to keep secrets
12:52 and I think everybody is very quick
12:58 to put everything out there
13:01 in an effort to maybe force a connection.
13:05 I don't think I have it all figured out,
13:06 but I know it's working for me.
13:08 Right now.
13:11 But we'll see.
13:15 - Do you pay much attention
13:16 to what people online say about you
13:17 and would you fact check your own Wikipedia page
13:20 or is that idea just, no?
13:22 - It's not really a battle that is worth fighting to me.
13:26 I think there's a lot of false information out there,
13:29 about me, also about everyone.
13:32 Anyone has, the unfortunate thing
13:35 that people can say and do whatever they wish
13:40 and it's great that everybody has access to the internet,
13:44 but not everybody should.
13:46 Not everybody should.
13:47 - Yeah, yeah.
13:49 Not everyone can use it responsibly, I guess is the thing.
13:51 - Yeah.
13:52 - What are you most proud of in your career so far?
13:56 - I feel like I'm most proud of my ability
14:01 to be consistent in the things that I value.
14:05 I don't know if that's as shiny of an answer
14:09 as you were expecting.
14:11 - No, but it's an authentic one.
14:14 One of the amazing achievements
14:15 that we can say in a shiny way
14:16 is that, let me get this right,
14:19 you're the first solo female artist
14:21 to be nominated for Best Metal Performance at the Grammys.
14:24 Is that something that you,
14:25 was that a real pinch me moment
14:26 or do you try not to kind of get too caught up
14:28 in the awards thing?
14:29 - It was definitely a moment that was a surprise to me
14:34 and very flattering for sure.
14:37 It wasn't what I expected,
14:39 but I don't think your goal should ever be to get an award.
14:44 I think it's just a byproduct of things
14:47 that you create sometimes, I guess.
14:50 Yeah, it was wonderful,
14:53 but there's more.
14:56 - Yeah.
14:57 - There's more to life than an award.
15:00 - Yeah, it's just a shiny bauble on top of a tree,
15:02 I guess, as opposed to something too meaningful.
15:05 - Yeah, I just wanna make things that didn't exist before,
15:08 so it's cool that people like it.
15:12 - What do you need to be creative?
15:14 Are there certain kind of like,
15:15 is it a set environment, a certain state of mind,
15:18 or do you find that you can be creative in kind of any place?
15:21 - I think nowadays I need to have my own area
15:26 that I feel comfortable in.
15:30 And, you know, collecting a thought that passes
15:35 and writing it down in a journal
15:40 is one thing that's a part of the process,
15:44 but when it comes to recording music or writing,
15:48 I need to have a comfortable place to be
15:51 for a period of time.
15:53 It's difficult to write on the road for me.
15:58 Hats off to the people that are able to record
16:02 on those tour buses.
16:03 I don't know if that's for me.
16:05 - When you are on the road on your tour bus,
16:07 what do you do to unwind?
16:08 How do you spend the time if you're going
16:09 from between city and city?
16:11 - Usually when I get off stage,
16:12 I put my pajamas on immediately.
16:14 And then I'll make tea and get into bed with the cat.
16:20 And we'll watch a movie.
16:24 I like anime.
16:26 And then I'll try to sleep.
16:30 Sometimes it's difficult after a show to sleep right away.
16:34 So maybe I'll just lay there for a couple hours
16:36 until I eventually go to bed.
16:39 But that's kind of my unwind process.
16:43 - I'd always wonder when an artist comes on stage,
16:45 what they do with all that energy,
16:47 because you must be on such a high,
16:48 like you can't, to go to sleep straight away
16:50 must be kind of impossible.
16:52 - Sometimes it's difficult,
16:53 but the pajamas thing has always been my thing.
16:57 - You mentioned that you need a comfortable space to record.
16:58 It's a big part of having the right collaborators.
17:01 Like, did you know when you met Ali quite soon on
17:03 that he was someone you were gonna be able to work with?
17:05 'Cause it's very intimate making music with someone.
17:07 - Yeah, he's a bit of an outsider,
17:09 as I would consider myself to be.
17:11 But I think we're on the outside of the outside.
17:14 Like if there were, if there was a room for the outsiders
17:18 who were sitting in the hallway,
17:19 like they won't let us in there either.
17:21 So I like that about him.
17:23 - Have you always felt that way about yourself?
17:26 - Yeah.
17:27 Yeah, I didn't really come up in a group or a scene
17:31 or anything like that.
17:31 I've always just been Poppy.
17:35 Just floating around on the internet.
17:38 - What do you want people to think
17:39 when they hear the name Poppy?
17:40 What do you want it to kind of stand for?
17:42 - A sense of freedom.
17:43 Freedom of expression and curiosity.
17:47 - That's a good answer.
17:49 What does freedom mean to you?
17:50 - The ability to be outside of the lines
17:56 in whatever capacity that means to you.
18:01 - Do you feel like the music industry's
18:03 always understood you in that way?
18:05 Understood the fact you want to be outside of the lines?
18:08 - Do I feel the music always?
18:09 - The music industry.
18:10 - Oh, the industry.
18:11 - The gatekeepers or, you know.
18:13 - I don't know what they think of me.
18:15 I don't really think about them.
18:20 Who are they nowadays?
18:21 It always changes.
18:23 I think because I released the albums that I did,
18:28 as I do like this, this is more for Zig.
18:32 It's a bit more rhythmic, but pop and high fidelity
18:36 and Flux was kind of a rock record
18:39 and Disagree was whatever you would call that
18:44 in terms of heaviness.
18:46 I don't know, what are the gatekeepers of those areas?
18:50 They always change.
18:51 I think they get bored too.
18:53 It's never the same ones.
18:55 - Music is so kind of multi-genre now.
18:56 It's not like people only listen to one kind of thing.
18:59 I think most people listen to a bit of everything.
19:01 - Yeah, I think it's important in whatever scene
19:04 that you come from to remain open and inspired by others.
19:08 Like if you're only from metalcore
19:12 or if you're only from hardcore,
19:14 if you're only from pop, if you're only from rock,
19:18 like trying to fight the battle
19:21 of who is the most loyal to that scene, it's just,
19:25 it's lame, why would you do that?
19:26 Why don't you try to mix it with
19:31 jazz, mix it with something, noise music,
19:34 industrial, go outside and put it in a blender
19:39 and see what happens?
19:41 - When you start work on a new album,
19:42 do you always have an idea of where you wanna go sonically
19:44 or is it something that kind of evolves over time?
19:46 - For me, I will make sonic mood boards of a sort
19:51 or a visual representation of what I would like
19:56 something to be, but it's always so far off in the end
19:58 from what it actually is.
20:00 Like any of the music that I would be listening to
20:02 at the time of making an album
20:04 is gonna be drastically different
20:06 and almost undetectable when it comes
20:08 to what I'm making in the end.
20:10 - What was on the mood board for Zig?
20:11 - I recall I had Massive Attack,
20:16 I had Venetian Snares, Laowon,
20:20 I had Burial and Cocteau Twins, Portishead.
20:25 - That's interesting 'cause there is some drum and bass
20:27 on the album and a bit of trip-hop.
20:28 Like when did you get into that kind of music?
20:30 Was it something you liked growing up?
20:31 I mean, it's quite a lot of British accent actually,
20:33 like Massive Attack, Portishead.
20:36 - I've been quite into Portishead for a number of years.
20:39 There's actually a guy that I worked with
20:41 when I was in Tennessee and I was first learning
20:44 like how to write songs when I was like 14
20:47 and he gave me Glory Box
20:50 and he said, "This is a very important album.
20:53 "You don't have to give it back, but here you go."
20:57 And it was just a CD.
20:59 And I think it changed a lot for me.
21:03 - Did you respond to it straight away?
21:04 'Cause sometimes when someone tells you something's important
21:06 you need to listen to it, like your instincts to be like,
21:08 "Stop telling me what to listen to."
21:10 - I don't know, it's interesting.
21:11 The people that have felt compelled to share music with me
21:14 throughout my life so far have been very influential people
21:19 and the albums that have been gifted to me,
21:23 I fully ingest them.
21:25 - It's almost like the right kind of people
21:27 are coming into your space and giving you stuff.
21:30 - Yeah, one of my good friends I met actually
21:33 when I first moved to Los Angeles
21:35 and his name is Dave Siddick and he's a producer
21:39 and he is just a wealth of knowledge.
21:42 He's the king of one-liners and he gives the best advice
21:47 and he's a very special person to me and to the world.
21:53 - Something else I wanted to ask about is
21:54 you've been a guest judge on
21:56 the Bully Brothers Dracula a couple of times.
21:58 Is that kind of dark drag something you find inspiring?
22:01 It's like they're looking for the next
22:02 drug super monster on that show.
22:04 - I love it.
22:05 Yeah, I hope they invite me back again.
22:07 I've had so much fun.
22:09 Do I think it's dark?
22:11 - No, is it that kind of dark style of drag
22:14 that you find particularly inspiring or fun?
22:17 - Oh, I love, yeah.
22:18 I think it's really inspiring.
22:20 I love RuPaul as well, but I like the production of Bully.
22:25 I like that it's a bit more about monsters
22:32 in the underworld, you know?
22:33 It is very inspiring and the fact that they make
22:39 the looks themselves and it's so intricate and extravagant.
22:44 It's very poppy.
22:49 - Would you like to be a guest judge
22:51 on RuPaul's Drag Race as well?
22:53 Or is it too--
22:53 - I would love to.
22:54 I would also like to be a guest judge on LEGO Masters.
22:57 (laughing)
22:58 Yeah.
22:59 - Are you a LEGO fan?
23:00 - I love LEGOs.
23:01 - Really?
23:02 Do you have some at home?
23:03 - Oh, so many.
23:04 Yeah, I decorate my house with them.
23:07 - No way.
23:07 What kind of stuff do you build?
23:08 - Well, I do like to build freestyle LEGOs,
23:11 but I love the kits.
23:12 They have the botanical collection.
23:15 I like all the cute animals.
23:19 The pickup truck, Disney-inspired LEGOs.
23:23 I just start and I can't stop.
23:26 - How do you keep your cat away from them though?
23:29 'Cause I feel like a cat could quite easily destroy.
23:32 - He doesn't mind.
23:33 Yeah, I built him a little LEGO house at one point.
23:36 He didn't really like it very much.
23:37 (laughing)
23:38 I get really into it.
23:41 Like, I just, I can't look at anything else.
23:44 Like, my phone, it just doesn't exist to me.
23:47 Anything happening in the background,
23:49 I just zone in.
23:50 - I think it's such a kind of pure form of creativity
23:52 because you have something instant to show for it.
23:54 You're literally building something,
23:55 which is so exciting.
23:57 - Yeah.
23:58 Also, I would love to live in a LEGO castle.
24:01 - One day, that's something to aim for.
24:02 - Yeah.
24:03 - A huge LEGO house.
24:04 - I like it.
24:05 There was a meme I saw about LEGO people living in houses
24:09 made from their own flesh.
24:11 And I felt like that was a good one.
24:14 Okay.
24:15 - But if you have a superpower, what do you think it is?
24:18 - Oh, okay.
24:19 I would either heal the world or destroy it.
24:22 - How would you make the decision
24:23 which way it was gonna go?
24:24 - Depends on how I'm feeling on that day.
24:26 (laughing)
24:28 - Well done that night.
24:29 Thanks so much for your time.
24:30 - Thank you. - It was really fun.
24:31 Thank you.
24:32 (upbeat music)
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