Sidney Bird 2023 “Teasers Tour” Interview Q&A - Photos and Article by Tyler-Ann Bruce
I had the utmost pleasure of being able to interview and shoot with Sidney Bird performing in Phoenix at The Rebel Lounge on her “Teasers Tour”. The Cactus-Pop singer from Arizona lit up the stage alongside her band and opening acts. Her energy was full and equipped making sure everybody was in for a good time. Below is the interview in Q&A format.
Question One: Alright, the first question I have for you is how you first got into music?
Answer: “Well, this is actually really funny. I started doing musical theatre when I was five, here at Desert Stages, My first Musical was Grease, I played a cheerleader and knew I wanted to be an actress then. I knew I could sing but never really thought it would be my real passion. I grew up in theatre a lot and sang in acapella. In college, I got really, really into acting and studied comedic acting, interned at SNL and Jimmy Fallon after going to USC. I started doing Improv and Stand-Up. I needed another creative outlet rather than trying to be funny so I started writing music but didn’t show anyone, because I was really embarrassed by it, which is funny because comedy was much more embarrassing. I was 22 and miserable, just graduating college, and realizing this isn’t what I want to do. A producer who is a really good friend reached out to me and we started working on some things, then COVID-19 happened. This is when I got more courage to write and not care what anyone thought, so I decided to give the singing a shot and it kind of just took off on its own and now I’m here!”
Question Two: Was it hard to create your own persona?
Answer: “Yes, because in the beginning I was like Fuck. What is me? Sidney Bird isn’t my real name, so for the first year of releasing music, I was using my real name. I had no concept of what my brand was, or what I wanted my sound to be like, I was very lost obviously. I took about six months to develop what I really loved, which was the electric guitar and the keyboard, I was really influenced by Kacey Musgraves, and Maggie Rogers when I wrote Bad Timing, My first album, and being in Arizona helped to connect to my desert roots while still having the city and indie influence. I think it took the longest. Maybe like three years, I feel like things just started to click last year.”
Question Three: Do you have a mantra for yourself, something to help you or just remind you who you are and what you believe in?
Answer: “Yeah, I think I wanna get this tattooed on my hand eventually, but just something like Keep Going. It’s on my mirror, I bought a sticker from Etsy that says, The Magic Is In You, Keep Going. And I love, The Magic Is In You but I always just say Keep Going in my head because this takes a very long time, and if you really want something, you can go after it. Every day is a new day, you have no idea. Just gotta keep going! It's simple, but goes a long way!”
Question Four: What was your transition like from Arizona to New York?
Answer: "I Love this question. I went to boarding school on the East Coast and the winters got me and they still rock my world. I already have depression and the seasonal depression was just even harder! I think going and living outside of my parent’s house when I was fourteen definitely helped make me a much stronger and independent person right away. New York is its own beast and is the best city in the world but it drains me. But New York will always be a part of me, The fall and spring are magic, but the summers and winters suck. As I've gotten older I’ve realized, I want a house with a yard, I want to be more with nature and enjoy the quiet, but I also want a piano in my living room. I think being from Arizona it’s really hard to adapt to living just because it’s just so different. I’m excited to explore and move.”
Question five: I Just saw you ran the New York Marathon. How was training for that?
Answer: "I'm recently sober and that was a big influence on starting to run. I’m almost at eleven months of sobriety and in January 2023 I signed up for a half marathon, I did the half marathon in May, and after I was like I gotta do the full one. So I got a charity spot with a non-profit that helps people go to rehab who can’t afford it, and I had to do it. So I trained for four months, doing fourteen miles every weekend. I really loved the consistency and having something to look forward to. Running just releases a different part of your brain that I can’t do with drugs and alcohol anymore, so it’s very therapeutic for me. It was definitely the hardest thing I’ve done in my life and I want to do it again.”
Question six: My last question for you, to anyone out there that you could give any advice to trying to get into music, what would you like to tell them?
Answer: "well, if you could tattoo something on your wrist, tattoo consistency and patience. I made so many mistakes and consistency was not my thing. I was trying to mix genres in every song on albums, and as a new artist every song shouldn’t be different, you really do have to stay consistent with your music, branding, and performance, and I wasn’t which was totally fine, I learned from myself. But now I know exactly what I want Sidney Bird to sound like, and what a Sidney Bird album should be sonically and visually. Also staying true to yourself, yeah there are a ton of opinions out there and I didn’t go to school for this, I didn't study marketing, so hearing the opinions of these older men helped me realize that at the end of the day, I know too. I used to always get my hair and makeup done before shows, and now I do it by myself because I feel more connected to myself. I just thought I had to look like a pop star. Stay true and consistent with yourself and have patience because it doesn’t always happen overnight. Also, use the internet. I was dumb and didn’t use it to help myself and I wish I had before.”
