Criterion Channel<\/a> subscriber?\u00a0<\/p>\nYeah, it\u2019s really good. I only found out about it in 2020. It kind of changed my life.<\/p>\n
Have there been any new directors or new-to-you movies that you\u2019ve watched recently that you\u2019ve been really into?<\/p>\n
My God, all I can think of is The Pitt. I\u2019m so obsessed at the moment. Before that, I had been rewatching all the Jim Jarmusch films. Last week I watched Stranger Than Paradise, which is about the idea of the grass being greener, wishing you were somewhere else because you think it\u2019s better and realizing it\u2019s the same, just different. I didn\u2019t always see the point of rewatching things, but now I do \u2014 you pick up something new every time.<\/p>\n
What Oscars movies have you watched recently?<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll always remember One Battle After Another because I saw it in L.A. at the Vista. It\u2019s a one-screen theater. I\u2019m really falling back in love with going to the cinema.<\/p>\n
It was packed, and toward the three-quarter mark, someone walked in and sat in the front row. An usher came, then more ushers, trying to get the person to leave. The person stood up and started yelling. My friends and I looked at each other like, \u201cShould we leave?\u201d Then we turned around and saw the whole theater evacuating. It was really scary \u2014 we thought they had a gun.<\/p>\n
We all went outside, the police showed up, the person ran away. After about 30 minutes, most people went back in to finish the film. I did \u2014 I wanted to know what happened.<\/p>\n
So you went back in and watched the rest?<\/p>\n
Yeah. It was terrifying, though.<\/p>\n
Do you have a favorite cinema in L.A.?<\/p>\n
I love the Vista, the Laemmle in Glendale, and the Alamo Drafthouse downtown. There are some really good cinemas in L.A.<\/p>\n
What matters most to you in a moviegoing experience?<\/p>\n
Probably curation. I can take or leave snacks. Good sound is important. Those cinemas I mentioned have great programming. There\u2019s also a place called Vidiots that I haven\u2019t been to yet, but they do great curation too.<\/p>\n
It seems like The Pitt is really occupying your mind. Tell me about it.<\/p>\n
I never watched ER or Grey\u2019s Anatomy growing up, but I love this show. It\u2019s beautifully done \u2014 each episode covers one hour, which is a great concept. It\u2019s subtle and empathetic, and it touches on real-life issues like health care and gun violence without being over the top. I always get emotional watching it.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also a story line about AI and technology. I won\u2019t spoil anything, but there\u2019s a situation where they have to turn off all the computers, so it becomes a commentary on how they need to rely on their own skills instead of technology. I like that aspect. I go through phases of watching a lot of TV. It can feel like a distraction from work, but I\u2019ve watched some great things. I\u2019m watching Love Is Blind right now.<\/p>\n
How does this relate to your album and your habits while working on it?<\/p>\n
I had a lot of writer\u2019s block, especially with lyrics. I would write every day but not come up with anything I liked. I ended up procrastinating by watching TV, then feeling bad about it and trying to justify it as learning about human behavior.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s even a line in one of my songs about watching too much TV. But I\u2019m trying to embrace the idea that there\u2019s such a thing as healthy procrastination \u2014 that stepping away can give you a new perspective.<\/p>\n
Are there lines on this album that felt especially honest to you?<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a song called \u201cMantis\u201d that feels the most important. It came from a moment where I saw a praying mantis and had a very reflective experience. It felt like a sign, like something meaningful beyond what I could fully explain. It was a kind of turning point.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve mentioned Georgia O\u2019Keeffe \u2014 what about her work inspired you?<\/p>\n
I had a lot of her books with me and found her really inspiring as both a person and an artist. I especially liked a cookbook connected to her life \u2014 it showed small, everyday moments in a more informal way, which I enjoyed. Simple things like growing her own vegetables.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s your relationship to visual art more broadly?<\/p>\n
There are always things I return to. While I was in the desert, I also started drawing, experimenting with ceramics and photography. It was nice to do something without expectations \u2014 just for fun, like a kid. That helped me break out of the pressure of writing.<\/p>\n
I still do photography. I\u2019ve started developing film at home again, which I hadn\u2019t done since art school. It\u2019s fun to experiment. Ceramics and photography feel almost magical \u2014 creating something tangible with your hands or seeing an image appear in the darkroom.<\/p>\n
Did these hobbies feel social or more solitary?<\/p>\n
A bit of both. I met people through classes, which was a challenge for me but also rewarding. I remember overhearing a conversation that really stuck with me.<\/p>\n
The teacher said that perfectionism doesn\u2019t mean you make something perfect \u2014 it means you keep working on it forever trying to make it perfect. That really stayed with me. I can spend an entire day changing a single word. It\u2019s hard to explain that level of focus to someone else, but I don\u2019t want to waste any words \u2014 I want everything to have meaning.<\/p>\n
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.<\/p>\n
Related<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taste Test What is \u201cgood taste\u201d anyway? Allow your favorite actor, musician, celebrity, or comedian to let you…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":361363,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[17807,727,1503,146,85,46,409,3929,47442],"class_list":{"0":"post-361362","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-artists","9":"tag-celebrity","10":"tag-culture","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-il","13":"tag-israel","14":"tag-music","15":"tag-qa","16":"tag-taste-test"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361362\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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