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Lindsey Jordan, who performs under the name Snail Mail, \u00a0recently announced that her first full-length album will be out on Matador Records on June 8. WTBU DJ Paul Stokes got a preview of what\u2019s to come when he sat down with Jordan at the Great Scott before her show with Lomelda this past January. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Paul Stokes: I know that you started playing music from a really young age and that it\u2019s always been a part of your life. I\u2019ve heard you say that when you started playing music, you were doing it at least partially out of a desire to prove yourself to other people, but now that you\u2019re successfully touring and you\u2019re garnering a lot of attention with your new music, how have your motivations changed and what drives you to improve?<\/b><\/p>\n Lindsey Jordan:<\/span> It\u2019s almost like the complete opposite; I have no sense of how people feel about [my music] because I just don\u2019t read anything online or check my Twitter mentions or anything. I sort of put myself in a bubble because I have no opinion on anything other than making music that I personally enjoy. I just really care about making music that I would listen to, that\u2019s the only motivating force. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n PS: Related to that, you\u2019re coming off a debut EP; have there been any challenges in transitioning stylistically, compositionally, or emotionally from that to a new full-length project? <\/b><\/p>\n LJ: Yeah, definitely; I care a lot more. I mean the EP I made for fun, and I wasn\u2019t really even intending to play the songs live, but now that there\u2019s a platform and the resources to make something with more time and thought put into it, I\u2019ve put more time and thought into it. [laughs] I definitely care a lot more about the composition, which has made things harder, because I\u2019ve been more critical of myself. And while I think the record reflects it, and I think the songs are substantially better, it made it a lot harder to write the record under the circumstances. I took my time more, I cared more, and I really looked at my influences and what I think makes a good record, and just tried to do that. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n PS: Aside from the context of the EP release, do you see your own aging and coming out of high school and finishing all that stuff contributing to change or having an effect on your writing or your aspirations for your writing?<\/b><\/p>\n LJ: Yeah, definitely. I listen to completely different music than I did when I wrote <\/span>Habit<\/span><\/i> and I feel like a completely different person than I was when I was writing it. I feel like I\u2019ve changed a lot emotionally, had more experiences, and developed as a person. I care about different things in music now, I think the lyrics are more mature, I think the music itself is more mature, I think it\u2019s just been a natural incline\u2026I forget what the question is. [laughs]<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n PS: Well if you think that it has been a natural incline, or you think you\u2019re in a totally different place, how do you relate to that older material now? <\/b><\/p>\n LJ:<\/span> It definitely feels like I\u2019m looking back at something I wrote, and not necessarily feeling the same things, even though when I wrote it I thought I would feel like that forever. I sort of have to conjure those moments on stage because I do remember exactly how I felt when I was writing those songs, I just don\u2019t feel anything like I did then. It\u2019s really very dramatic and sad. I really feel different, even from the record that\u2019s about to come out; it\u2019s just always changing. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n PS: That\u2019s probably a good thing right? <\/b><\/p>\n LJ:<\/span> Yeah I would hope I don\u2019t feel the same way I felt when I was 15. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n PS: Talking about the EP specifically, a lot of the instrumentals, and particularly the guitar, stood out to me, in that they felt unique to me without feeling overly obtuse, or they felt unique while still being able fit within the confines of the genre \u2013 indie, rock, whatever you want to call it \u2013 so is there an effort on your end to try and set yourself apart or do you not think about it?<\/b><\/p>\n LJ:<\/span> I can comfortably say I\u2019ve never thought about it while writing. The only thing as far as trying to distinguish myself in my songwriting goes, is that when I\u2019m writing melody, if it sounds like another melody I already know or that I can immediately recognize, I\u2019ll stop writing the song, because I want it to sound completely new. People say to listen to your influences and build off that, but I prefer to work from ground zero and build something new, because whenever I try to work off of my influences I get kind of bored. The only way I can say I\u2019ve tried to sound like my influences is in the studio, referencing different drum sounds or guitar tones, but with writing I try to isolate myself from the things I like the most. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n PS: On the other side of that, I think lyrically a lot of songs like \u201cDirt\u201d<\/b> or especially \u201cStatic Buzz\u201d the writing really blends direct narrative with more sort of impressionistic imagery. So, what inspires you lyrically, and what motivated you to start writing songs from such a young age, and how do you think that affects your style? <\/b><\/p>\n LJ:<\/span> Well, I think my main goal with the EP was just to document exactly how I felt at a given point in time. It\u2019s written how I think I would write a diary. It\u2019s written to express how I felt in the most extreme, dramatic way possible, and it really comes across that way, and it\u2019s really intense. I think everything I felt at the time was intense, but I think it\u2019s changed a lot since then. I think of it more like poetry now, more than a diary entry\u2026 I forget the question again! [laughs]<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n PS: So you would say you\u2019ve moved on or that you\u2019re changing? <\/b><\/p>\n LJ:<\/span> A little. I\u2019m not a totally different artist, but having had more experiences and having more to say, I think my ideas have developed, but also how I represent my ideas has changed. As far as the other part of your question goes, when I was younger I was never interested in songwriting or playing music professionally; I just played guitar to be good at it, and I took it real seriously, but I never intended on doing any writing. I wasn\u2019t interested in it. I guess I started writing at like 11 or 12 as an outlet, and eventually it became more of a hobby than an outlet. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n PS: So you came up in the local scene in Maryland; how do you think that local scene affected you as a musician, or helped you achieve the success you have found, and what advice would you give to other local musicians trying to navigate their way to a similar place? <\/b><\/p>\n LJ:<\/span> It\u2019s hard to say, because a lot of successful bands don\u2019t come out of the DIY scene, and I don\u2019t have much of an idea of what that\u2019s like. I think growing up and doing it for yourself helps you figure out what\u2019s wrong, what\u2019s right, how to do it, how much you should get paid, how much you should pay people; it helps you develop a set of ethics and ideas so that once you start working with business people, you don\u2019t get taken advantage of. And that\u2019s not to say that there aren\u2019t awesome people in the music industry, but if you do things for yourself starting out, you have a better idea in the future of whether or not you\u2019re being taken advantage of. I guess my advice to people in those local scenes is just to make music that you\u2019re proud of and that you care about, and everything else will follow. And if it doesn\u2019t, it\u2019s not that big of a deal. Just make music that you like, that\u2019s what matters, everything else is dumb. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n PS: Speaking of business people, I know you guys were recently signed to Matador and that you\u2019ll be touring soon with Ought and Japanese Breakfast, who are both amazing, so with all that in mind, what do you see as the future of the band? <\/b><\/p>\n LJ:<\/span> I\u2019m really excited just to have the record out. I spent a lot of time, and put in a lot emotional energy and just every resource I have in my body [into the record] and I feel like it\u2019s been a long time coming. We haven\u2019t released anything in a really long time, and I\u2019m just excited for people to hear it. I\u2019m excited for our shows with Belle and Sebastian too. We have a lot of great shows coming up; I\u2019m excited to play and I\u2019m excited for people to hear the songs!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lindsey Jordan, who performs under the name Snail Mail, \u00a0recently announced that her first full-length album will be out on Matador Records on June 8. WTBU DJ Paul Stokes got a preview of what\u2019s to come when he sat down with Jordan at the Great Scott before her show with Lomelda this past January. 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