Life can be endlessly absurd. So it’s better to embrace the absurdity than to deny it. That’s exactly what indie rocker Alex Lahey is doing on her forthcoming album The Answer Is Always Yes, which drops Friday.
Coming off the success of her previous releases, The Best Of Luck Club and Love You Like A Brother, Lahey’s tour plans were put on hold thanks to the pandemic, so she had ample time to contemplate her life. “Living in a world that wasn’t made for you makes you pretty strong and adaptive, and you find the fun in it,” she says in a statement. “It also makes you realize how absurd everything is. With this record, I wanted to get weird because the world is weird, and it’s even weirder when you realize you don’t fit into it all the time.”
Throughout The Answer Is Always Yes, Lahey looks upon uncomfortable situations with humor. Her catchy number “Congratulations” is a tongue-in-cheek reaction to exes getting married in a short span of time, while “They Wouldn’t Let Me In” is a post-punk-leaning track dissects the politics of “coolness” and all the places she didn’t feel accepted as a teen discovering her queerness.
Ahead of the release of The Answer Is Always Yes, Alex Lahey talks surprise birthday parties, Limp Bizkit, and Fleetwood Mac-level TikTok fame in our latest Q&A.
What are four words you would use to describe your music?
Tongue in cheek core.
It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?
Hopefully the teens of 2050 will make one of my songs go viral on whatever the TikTok of the 2050 is so I can have a cushy Fleetwood Mac level retirement.
What’s your favorite city in the world to perform?
I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but Minneapolis has never failed me.
Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?
My old high school big band teacher, Mr Foley, inspired my attitude and approach to playing music with other people.
Where did you eat the best meal of your life?
I had a Ratatouille “life flashed before my eyes” moment when I first tasted the focaccia di recco at Chi Spacca in LA.
What album do you know every word to?
I listened to Young For Eternity by The Subways the other day for the first time in forever and couldn’t believe that I still knew every single word.
What was the best concert you’ve ever attended?
Paramore at Bonnaroo in 2018.
What is the best outfit for performing and why?
I mean, that’s up to the person performing, but my pro tip is a sports bra for ultimate support and avoiding grey because everyone will know you’re schvitzing.
Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?
I do love it when Ben Lee goes on a nostalgia kick on his Instagram.
What’s your most frequently played song in the van on tour?
“Break Stuff” by Limp Bizkit is omnipresent in the van.
What’s the last thing you Googled?
The train route from Heathrow to Shoreditch.
What album makes for the perfect gift?
One that means something to your relationship but isn’t too obvious. Play it coooooool.
Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?
In the loft of a mechanic’s garage in Brisbane where the only other tenant was a man with one leg.
What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?
I feel like I’m the only touring musician on the planet who doesn’t have any tattoos.
What artists keep you from flipping the channel on the radio?
Currently it’s Alvvays, Bully, and Bonnie Raitt. What a holy trinity.
What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?
My mum and my partner threw me a surprise birthday party last year and I had NO idea it was coming and I was MOVED.
What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?
Life is long — let it take its time.
What’s the last show you went to?
I saw Mmeadows at Gold Diggers in LA and they were unreal.
What movie can you not resist watching when it’s on TV?
My gf roasts me for this all the time, but it’s Miss Congeniality.
What’s one of your hidden talents?
I can play the spoons.
The Answer Is Always Yes is out 5/19 via Liberation. Find more information here.
Source: https://uproxx.com/indie/alex-lahey-interview-indie-mixtape-20/