Maggie Lindemann

She's traded the electro pop of prior work for fuzzed out electric guitar and heavy drums, which matched the gritty mood of tracks like Knife under My Pillow, Scissor Hands, and Loner. She's a horror movie fan in case you haven't guessed, but the songs also come from a deeply personal place. She says that the tracks are more authentically her than anything she's released to date. With Paranoia, she's revealed her true self as one of the most exciting

alternative artists out there. I'm so happy to welcome Maggie Lindeman. Thank you, thanks so much of taking the time. I really appreciate it. Yeah, of course, no, thank you. Before we start, I gotta ask, how are you gotta do the quarantine chicken feeling good, happy, healthy. Yeah, I'm doing good. I'm I'm definitely very over quarantine, but I'm doing good. I'm good. You recently released your first DP, Paranoia as a high strung guy who just lived through. This title

resonates with me immensely. I wanted to know what does it mean for you? Where did that title come from? Um? So I started writing this cpnto those nineteen and in two thousand eighteen two nineteen, I lived in this house and I was always so paranoid. I don't know why. I just like in big spaces where there's a lot of rooms or just like a lot of spaces, I get really paranoid, and like Knife under my pillows obviously about like my paranoia that I was feeling at the time.

And I don't know, I just felt like it was like a really recurring theme in my life. So, um, I actually had a different title at first, and I just never felt like it was correct. Um. And then after writing knife, when I heard the word paranoia, I was like, yeah, that's perfect it. I mean, I also read your big horror movie fans, so may maybe the way maybe that probably doesn't help. Yeah, No, it definitely

doesn't help. In one interview, you summed up the sound of the EP as in three words, pop, rock, and crazy, which I love all of that. I was wondering if you could elaborate more on on the sounds. Yeah, I mean it's like, I don't know, it's like alternative rock, but it's also pop and um, I don't know, it's just like crazy because I don't know. It's like nothing I've done before, and it's just super different and I

don't know. It's like the lyrics are really some of the lyrics are like sad or you know, darker, but then the sound around it is like exciting and fun and upbeat. So it's cool because it's like even the sad songs aren't like sad songs. Yeah, I was gonna ask you. The sound is so different from some of the more dance pop stuff from a few years back,

like Pretty Girl and Obsessed. Like what made you sort of decide to switch it up and go down this root was sort of the heavier drums and electric guitars and stuff like that. Well, when I first started making music, well when i've very first started making music, I was making like alternative pop music and I wanted to go

in an even more alternative lane with my music. But you know, being so young in an industry and not really knowing anything about yourself yet or like who you are, like what you want to do, and only knowing you want to make music. You know, when someone's like, no, you should do this, you're kind of just like, okay, cool, Like I'm down. Um. So I was kind of just

down to do it. And I felt like at the time it was fun, but it very quickly got to a point where I just wasn't enjoying singing the songs, and I just wasn't enjoying like performing, and it just always felt like there was like a disconnect between me

and my music. So I grew up listening to rock and pop punk, and my whole family is a rock family, and I don't know, there's just something about rock music that is just so different for me and listening and performing now, it's just there's just like a clear nine and day difference of how I feel now the music I'm making. Do you feel that women entering the USIC industry sort of automatically get shoved in the more of a pop laying off the bat, It's like it's almost

a given, which I always found really strange. I mean, was it sort of hard to be like, no, I want to rock, I want to scream, like the track Gaslight, for example, which has those those screams you or was that because I know it's a collaboration with Sick Brain. Those are sick that Sick Brain. Oh my god, that's an amazing song. I mean, just the passion in it is so great. Tell me more about that song. It's a kiss off song, it's a breakup song. Tell me

more about that track. So Man, Sick Brain are best friends in real life. So I one day it was just like, dude, like I love your music. I've always wanted to scream on a song, but like I don't know if I ever want to scream, or like if I'm ready to do that at least. So I was just like, do you want to make a song? And she was like, dude, yeah, let's do it. And so we went to the studio and like finished the song

in like two hours. It was really quick. I don't know, she's just really talented, and just because we know each other so well in real life, I felt like it was just like a very natural thing too. Is that normal for you to work that quick? Not always I feel like lately actually though, Yeah, like I've been working really quickly. Um, but other songs like Different took like two days to finish, which is like, I think, the

longest one, but still pretty fast. Yeah it is. I mean Different took like two writing days to finish, and then like Scissor Hands took like so many days because we just kept switching it up so many times. But I think, like, in general, yeah, I feel like I do write songs pretty fast. I don't know. I feel like the teams I work with are always just like they know me so well, so we just usually get stuffed done really quick. I want to ask you about

Scissor Hands, I mean just classic movie. I want to know, do you relate to that character, this guy taken from his home and dropped into this like e really perfect place for In my mind, I thought about you leaving Texas for for l a like maybe I'm reading too much into it, but no, Yeah, I love the story behind the movie and I always felt like I related to him, just like doing everything for someone that you love and then it kind of like sucks you over and you like are in this place that you don't

even want to be. We're kind of like take again from and You're like, now you're here, so you've got to make the best of it kind of thing. I don't know. I always felt like I kind of related to him in a lot of ways. And I also just like love that movie, and I love aesthetics and everything, and I just love the movie. So it's like kind of a theme on the album to me was Scissor Hands. You also a Loner, which is a song that has

a message. I feel like we've been hearing a lot in the past year with Quarantine and Lockdown with the whole like it's okay to not be okay right now, you can you can live with those feelings for a moment. I want to ask you more about about where that song came from for you. Yeah, so I actually wrote that song before Quarantine, And it's funny because now it

makes even more sense. But I actually wrote that song like I think December of Seals in nineteen and I don't know, I was just feeling I get really bad seasonal depression, and I was just feeling really really lonely and like, even though I have so many people around me that loved me. I was still feeling this like loneliness, so I don't know, I wanted to turn it into something that wasn't so negative and more of just like this positive thing of yeah, I'm a loner, but I

like it that way. Like I don't know, I feel like if you're a loner and you can be by yourself and like spend time by yourself, that's actually really cool because a lot of people can't spend time with themselves. So I know, I just wanted to make it a positive What do you get out of songwriting? Is it therapeutic for you? How does it How does it make you feel better? I'm always curious about pople who are sort of blessed with the ability to write, like what

what it does for them? Yeah, it's really therapeutic. I definitely get like relief out of out of sessions. And also it's cool because it's like it's like therapy, but then you get something cool out of it, and then you get to live with it until you're no longer like feeling that feeling, which is really cool. But yeah, it always makes me feel better when I'm having bad days, just to like get it out have you been feeling

in in Lockdown if you've been feeling creative. Yeah, So in the beginning of Lockdown, I was like really not creative, Like I really wasn't feeling it, because in the beginning I kind of was like, oh, it's not gonna last. Like I know, everyone was kind of like, oh, this is just going to you know, be like a couple of weeks and then we're going to get back to normal.

So I was kind of on that wave too, And in the first couple of weeks, I was just kind of vibing because I was like, cool, this is like a break and I just get to like stay at home with my boyfriend like watch movies all the time, which was really cool at first. But then I realized very quickly that it was gonna last and that I'm really bored and like I needed to do something. So I think like later on I started getting inspired again, and now I'm still like I'm still in the wave

of it being inspired. So I've been just making so much music and Quarantine, Oh that is great too. That was always going to ask you too, Are you more inspired by looking inward at yourself and your emotions or looking outward and more observational or both or a mix of both. Definitely looking inward. I write everything about stuff that's going on with me. Sometimes I'll try to write stuff that's like I always ask like when I don't have something to talk about it into session, I'll be like, oh,

what do you guys going through right now? But I don't know. I always feel like writing about myself. It's just more I don't know, I feel like more of a connection. Obviously. What is your your recording process been like in the last year or so in Lockdown, has been a home studio set up or like a Zoom situation or Yeah, So at the beginning of Quarantine, I had my home studio set up, so I was like

recording everything and then sending it. But then I would start to like I was, I'm still doing Zoom sessions, like I've only been really doing Zoom sessions. But then like I have my one producer, like I'll go to and record something with him if we want to get it, like you know, crisp and something good but it's not your fault and crash and burn where songs I did on Zoom sessions, And then I went in and recorded them, but it's kind of different with everyone like obviously like

still respecting COVID and people. It's like, you know, boundaries and everything with everything going on. And on the CP you started co producing I think Different, the track Different you co produced. How how's that experience been for you having more more control over over the sound and just in all of that, it was cool. I was really involved in the production process of this EP because I

was so obviously coming from like pop music. I really wanted to make it perfect and like make sense, and I don't know, I just had so many influences that I wanted to bring in, so it's different. Different was actually the first song we made on the EP, and I don't know, I was just like so on top of that production because that was like the first song, so that was going to set the tone for everything

else that I was doing. So me and Cody just worked on that production for like so long, and he just helped me and taught me like certain words and like what to do, and yeah, he's really helpful. And that's track was written if I'm wrong, like after a pretty freaky experience when you were in Malaysia during a concert and the concert was like shut down midway through.

How much of that experience was played a role in the creation of Yeah, definitely when I when I got back, like I was just really experiencing a lot of emotions and feelings and so different was the first song I wrote.

And I wrote it like a week after I got back, I think, And I don't know it was it was just is really helpful for me to like get in the studio and release everything I was feeling and talk about it with people that, like, you know, we're helping me and just like helping me also be creative, because they really did stump me for a while, so it

was cool to get back in and do that. What do you like to do when you're not making music to stay to stay grounded in this last year thanks to watch or yoga or meditation or what's your favorite way to onlines when it's not music. I've been playing a lot of video games lately, Like I always played video games, but over Quarantine, I've definitely been playing more, Like I got a monitor and everything, So video games

for sure, What are you playing? I play Call of Duty and then I play like Yes, and then I play games like Stranded Deep and like weird games like survival games. Oh my god, that's so funny. I just got into my old and sixty four that I haven't played in you know what, fifteen years or something like that, which is like doing like well Mario Karts. It's funny the things that we like grab onto in times of stress,

like which is this year is undoubtedly band. I mean, I've been listening to music I haven't listened to since high nineties and stuff. Yeah, what have you been listening to? I've been listening to so much I feel like, Yeah, I definitely got back into a lot of music that I forgot about, like songs I just completely forgot about. And also I've been listening to like new people to like war Orgasm. I found over Quarantine and I love war Orgasm like they're so sick. Don't listen to a

lot of them. I want to ask you more about horror movies, like are you like what are some of your favorites of those? Um, I wish I love like early two thousand's horror movies like I know what you did last summer, But I also love like I don't know why, but I'm this is probably like why I'm paranoid. But I'm really into like gory horror movies because I feel like sometimes just scary like pop ups and stuff

don't scare me. Like I need to watch like Green infer Now and like that's and like then I'll be scared. You know, did you ever watch a Stir of Echoes? It's like kind of a weird I don't think so. I think it's from like it's like a late nineties, like in that era, like late nineties, earliest two thousand's golden era of horror movie stuff. I think it was with Kevin Bacon. I remember seeing it. I haven't seen it a long time, but I remember seeing it as

a kid. And then I get in high school and it scared me just as much when I was in high school as it did when I was a little kid. It was like truly terrifying. I need to watch it. I recommend it. I have a goofy question for you, what is a paranoia that you have that you can laugh at? Like for me? For whatever reason, I have no idea why I am petrified of dead fish like fish, I'm fine with dead fish for some reason, like absolutely terrified of dead fish. I was wondering what what you're

sort of funny fear is. I'm absolutely terrified at the ocean in general. So I feel you. But what is something I'm weirdly paranoid about. I don't know. I'm like always, I mean, this is like a rational fear, but I'm always scared there's like someone in my car. I like when I'm driving, like I'll always check in my back before I even get in the car, Like as i'm

getting in, like I'll just peek in there. But like while I'm driving, I like like I'll like throw my arm back there and just like make sure no one's back there, even though I've already checked, like where they going to come from, you know, But I always do that.

I don't know why. I totally feel that. I got I've been living in New York for many, many, many years since college, and I just now, in the past couple of months, got my first car, and so I'm just I'm not used to parking a car on the street, used to it, and so every time I get in, I'm like, you know, I feel the same way. I totally feel. Yeah, I do, like the car sweep might make sure no one's in there. You've been obviously keeping incredibly busy during quarantine me not only making music, but

you also started a podcast. I wanted to ask you more about about that and how that's going. It's good. I love doing it just because I like to talk, Like if it's not me talking to myself, like I just face time people and I like need to talk to someone. Just have so much energy. So it's cool because with the podcast, like I'm just talking and then like people will listen. So it's been really cool. I need to people always tell me, like I need to be more on it because I just get so sidetracked.

But I just made a new one and I'm going to do like a series about my EP so that'll be really cool. That's coming up at some point. Keep an ear up for that. I've also read the ear in the midst of working on an LP. What's What's were you in the process with that? Um, I don't I'm just I don't know. I'm just like I already started it, but we're just kind of in the beginning processes of it. But yeah, I don't know. It's just something that I really want to do. I don't know,

I don't want to get into it. How do you feel that you've changed as an artist and a creative since since since starting your music career in I don't know, I felt really different obviously, Like I'm older. That was crazy, that was how many years ago? Like six years ago

at this point. So I started when I was sixteen and I'm twenty two now, and I don't know, I just feel like as an artist and just like as a person, I've just grown so much, and there's so many things that I've learned and experienced and and like my artistry and just who I am as a person. I feel like there's just such a dramatic change, like

a positive change. But I don't know, I feel like everything is just better now for me, Like I'm way more confident in what I'm doing, and like I love the music I'm making and I'm excited about it, and like, I don't know, I'm like genuinely happy doing it now. So it's cool. What else does one look like for you? What can fans look forward to? Well, I hope that we're able to tour again, but I mean, obviously I don't that's not you know, we don't know, but I

really want to tour. I really want to do like live shows, even if that's like over a live stream. I really want to do some more stuff with slicks, like some more drops um, which I'm going to do, but I don't know. I want to do some giveaway stuff. I want to just do some stuff that I can interact with fans more. It's so hard right now because we can't go anywhere, but I really want to do more stuffs. Was gonna say, what is filling that space

that that touring had? You mean, how are you you Staying in touch with fans is mostly live streams and through social media for you, Yeah, through social media, and then I'm like streaming on Twitch now, so like I get to talk to people on there because I hate streaming on Instagram live, so I do it on Twitch. I don't know, just like keeping up on my Instagram and like interacting with people and doing it that way, which is it's so cool. But touring is just like

a different experience. Hopefully get you back out there soon, Mike. My last question has been my last question for everybody I've talked to in the last year, and it's been really interesting to hear everybody's very different answers. If you can snap your fingers and if everything go back to normal, whatever your definition of normal is, say this time in what would be the first thing that you would do? Either places you'd go to, eat people, you'd hug, trips,

you'd take. What would be the first thing that you would do? Um, I would definitely go to a club, like a packed club, disgusting club. And then after that club or before that club, I would go to a concert in the pit and be next to sweaty people. And I just want to be around people, and I want to be at concerts and I just want to be out. So about it. I'm such like social, like I love to be out. So quarantine is definitely like getting to me. I gotta ask, you're at the club,

what song comes on? What are you dancing too? Oh my god? The club I used to go to, they're always playing like some throwback music. I know they will always play like open Oh yeah, honestly anything. I'll dance absolutely anything. They can play anything right now, and I'll dance to it as long as I can be at the club. Well, throw a little dance party in your living room for now, and hopefully we'll get you back. Thanky, Thank you so much for your time today. It's been

such a pleasure. Yeah, of course, thank you so much for having me. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Inside the Studio, a production of I Heart Radio. For more episodes of Inside the Studio or other fantastic shows, check out the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.