Claud Is Blasting Lucy Dacus and the Marías on the Road

This is “Add to Queue,” our attempt to sort through the cacophony of music floating in the algorithmic atmosphere by consulting the experts themselves. Our favorite musicians tell us about their favorite music—the sad, the happy, the dinner party-y, the songs they want played at their funeral. In this edition, we speak with bedroom pop singer-songwriter Claud. After signing to Phoebe Bridgers’ label Saddest Factory, the 22-year-old musician got to work on her soaring debut album, this spring’s “Super Monster.”  Next month, Claud will perform their first headline performance of songs from the record at Brooklyn’s Elsewhere venue, before launching their first North American tour as the headlining act for Bleachers. To celebrate this summer of firsts, Claud takes us into their musical universe, from the Toro y Moi ballads that they cry to, to their undying love for Avril Lavigne. 

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JULIA OLNEY: What was the last song you listened to?

CLAUD: Fuck, I don’t wanna say it. It was “Overkill,” by Holly Humberstone.

OLNEY: What artists have you recently discovered who you love?

CLAUD: Oh my god, Pink Pantheress. Do you know them? They have like a big song on Tiktok, they’re really good.

OLNEY: Who was the earliest musician to influence you?

CLAUD: Probably Brandi Carlisle, honestly.

OLNEY: What song always puts you in a good mood without fail?

CLAUD: Any song by The Moldy Peaches puts me in a good mood.

OLNEY: What music did you listen to growing up? What did your parents play?

CLAUD: My dad was really into the Who, the Rolling Stones, the Police, that type of thing.

OLNEY: Do you still listen to that kind of rock?

CLAUD: Not too much. The main one that stuck with me was Tom Petty. I still listen to Tom Petty and James Taylor all the time.

OLNEY: What was the first concert you went to?

CLAUD: My first concert was Hilary Duff.

OLNEY: Respectable. What was your first favorite song?

CLAUD: Oh my god, do you remember that song by Colbie Caillat, “Bubbly”? That was my favorite. 

OLNEY: Yes! Do you have a favorite movie soundtrack?

CLAUD: Yeah, I like the soundtrack of 500 Days of Summer. It gets me so nostalgic. 

OLNEY: That’s a great movie too, I haven’t seen it in a while. Do you have an artist that you listen to that people would be surprised to know about?

CLAUD: I mean, I listen to so much Sheryl Crow. I love Sheryl Crow. She’s so good!

OLNEY: Who is your all time dream collaborator?

CLAUD: I would say the XX.

OLNEY: What’s your go to breakup song? Do you have a breakup playlist? 

CLAUD: Yeah, I have a crying playlist. Don’t you?

OLNEY: Oh, I definitely do. As a musician, do you think you’re particularly good at making playlists? 

CLAUD: I barely have an attention span, so all my playlists are like four songs long and then I forget about them and start a new playlist. My go to breakup song is “Omaha” by Toro y Moi. So sad.

OLNEY: Is there a go-to playlist that you’ve made?

CLAUD: I have one that I made so long ago called “Sleep.” It’s not a public playlist, but it has a lot of Youth Lagoon and some deep cuts like Diana Gordon and Dijon. Any playlist with Dijon on it is a good playlist.

OLNEY: Speaking of playlists, do you have a road trip playlist?

CLAUD: That’s so funny you say that, I’m going on a road trip in a couple weeks!

OLNEY: Where are you going? 

CLAUD: I’m driving to the Midwest. My family is in Chicago and Michigan. I’m gonna see some people, but I don’t have a playlist for that yet! 

OLNEY: What’s going to go on it?

CLAUD: It’ll probably be a lot of albums, I like listening to albums far more than playlists. The new Lucy Dacus album is really good, and also a lot of albums came out a couple of weeks ago. The Marías record just came out, so I’ll definitely listen to that one on repeat.

OLNEY: What would you put on a house party playlist?

CLAUD: Anything from that record by Angele, and maybe some Kim Petras.

OLNEY: Do you have a favorite music video, like of all time?

CLAUD:  Yeah, I love music videos. I watch music videos every day. Favorite music of all time? That’s too hard!

OLNEY: You can give me your top three.

CLAUD: Okay, there’s this old Girlpool music video that I think is so sweet. Tt’s just them running around L.A., it’s really cute. There’s a lot of really good Toro Y Moi videos, the 070 Shake “Guilty Conscience” video is really good, but I don’t think I have one of all time.

OLNEY: Do you have a favorite TV show theme song?

CLAUD: The iCarly theme song.

OLNEY: I’m so glad that you knew that answer immediately.

CLAUD: Yeah, I don’t have to think about that one.

OLNEY: If you were to have dinner with four artists, who would they be?

CLAUD: Are they taking me to dinner? Like, who’s paying?

OLNEY: Oh yeah, you’re not paying for this.

CLAUD: I feel like dinner with Dua Lipa would be really interesting. She was just like the first person I thought of, for some reason, and I want to make it an interesting group of people from different genres, so I think Dua Lipa would cover the pop genre. Then Frank Ocean, I’ve got some questions for him. Also, Adrianne Lenker. Imagine all of us at a table!

OLNEY: I’m trying to think of what restaurant that could happen at.

CLAUD. [Laughs] Yeah right, like, where are we going? Maybe I’ll add a Beatle, doesn’t matter which one. 

OLNEY: Gotta span all the decades. What song would you use to describe yourself?

CLAUD: I thought of that Robyn song, “Dancing On My Own.” That’s a sad answer, but I think it’s funny, so that’s the one.

OLNEY: Do you have a favorite karaoke song?

CLAUD: Yes, at karaoke a couple weeks ago I sang Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated.” The great thing about that one is that usually the whole bar knows it too.

OLNEY: That’s a great one! What’s a song that everybody should know about?

CLAUD: Okay there’s this artist called Kezia she has a song called “Megan Fox” and it’s really good, I think everybody needs to hear that song.

OLNEY: Is there an instrument that you really want to learn how to play?

CLAUD: I want to learn how to play the trumpet.

OLNEY: That would be so cool. Is there a song in particular with a good trumpet part that inspired that?

CLAUD: God yes. There’s this Bakar song, “Hell N Back,” with trumpets in it. When I heard it I was like, “Woah, that takes a song to a whole new level.” But if I have trumpet in my songs, I want to be the one playing it. 

OLNEY: Do you have a favorite song to play live?

CLAUD: I haven’t really played my new album live yet. I did this live stream and playing my song “Jordan” live was great, because there’s this part with a slight chord change in the second chorus, and it’s really fun. It goes really hard… I play bass on that song.

OLNEY: I’m going to have to see that live.

CLAUD: September 25th in Brooklyn baby!

OLNEY: If your life was a TV show, what would your theme song be?

CLAUD: Why have I never thought about this before? I feel like everybody knows the answer to this question. “Complicated” by Avril Lavigne. That would make a lot of sense.

OLNEY: Clearly a very formative song for you. Do you remember the first CD you purchased?

CLAUD: Yeah, I purchased a James Taylor greatest hits CD. There was like this CD store in my town and my mom used to take me there. It was called Rock and Rags or something. And it was, like all vinyl and CDs and we used to go every weekend, so I was probably like eight or nine.

OLNEY: What’s next for you? 

CLAUD: I’m going on tour! First, I’m playing this random one-off show in Iowa in a couple weeks, which is going to be wild. I’m going on tour in September and opening for Bleachers, but I’m also doing some festivals. Keep an eye out for Claud in a city near you.

Listen to Clauds’s playlist below, and follow Interview on Spotify for more.

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