Behind the Scenes of “Sunshine” with Oscar Lindsey
Sunshine album cover via Bandcamp
If you’ve scrolled through TikTok anytime between July and now, you’ve probably seen a video with the lyrics “She puts metal through her lips like a fish that got caught by a fisherman,” playing in the background. Written by Oscar Lindsey, they’re from his song “Metal Through Her Lips”, which is the lead single from his newest album Sunshine. Bouncing around in the alternative, folk, singer/songwriter world, his music has been the soundtrack to the better part of this past year for me. After finishing up touring on and off for four months, I got a chance to speak with him ahead of the release of his fifth record, Sunshine.
We spoke about what it was like to play these songs live, how going viral has impacted him and his music, and discovered more about his life behind the album.
Did you play any of your new songs on tour? What was that response like, getting to see what people's reactions were to this new music?
It was great. I mean we were opening for this band Whitney, so opening can be kind of [hard]. If you go to see an artist and you see another artist that you don't really know opening, there can kind of be a wall there, but it was good. I got some feedback on which songs work better live, which was great.
Are there any songs you're nervous for people to hear?
There were kind of, but not anymore, I think. There's a song on it called “Too Drunk to Dream” that's kind of crazy. I'm less scared or nervous, and more interested of what people are going to think. If somebody was like, “I hate this shit” or something that's kind of cool too. That it got that reaction out of somebody. I'm not worried about it. I think it's definitely the best thing I've made. I think it's great, and I hope people like it too. I've heard good feedback, but I'm really excited for it to come out.
Photograph via Mom + Pop Music
Having grown up in a musical family, the Nashville native has always been around music and instruments. After starting out on the piano at age 14 then shifting to guitar at 16, a lot of his music reflects this by being built on an acoustic foundation. The sound across his projects has grown and evolved with Lindsey, along with his process which changed with this latest album.
From your first album to this one, because this is now your fifth, what would you say are the biggest differences?
I've gotten more serious about it as I've gone on. The first record that I ever put out, I made in like 2 weeks. That's the biggest difference: the first three records I made super quick. I would make a song and just put it on there, I didn't look back– just moved on. I worked on a song for like a day and then wouldn't come back to it. I just was like making shit super quick. And then my last album, Glitter, that was the first album I like, I mean I worked really hard on all the other ones–it was impossible not to–but Glitter was the first one where I was like, “Okay, I want to step everything up”. I got it like professionally mixed, and worked on it a lot harder. Just a lot more time went into that one and you can tell. Then even more time went into Sunshine. Also, on Glitter, and all of the albums except for the one that's about to come out, I played every instrument. On this album, I outsourced a lot. I played drums on one or two of the tracks on this one, but I heavily collaborated with my homie James Eichman, and he plays on like every song. And some other friends too.
Do you think that collaborating made creating the album a little bit easier or was it harder having to work with other people?
Made it easier. It was the same thing where I was still producing and writing everything, but I was able to take some weight off of my back and have other people make it. Basically, I would just be in the studio and telling James [Eichman] or whoever I was working with what I wanted and what they should do and stuff. It just made it easier for me to do what I'm good at and focus on composition and production.
Is there a little detail or something that's your favorite on this album? Like something we should be listening for? A weird little instrument that you added in there somewhere or a lyric? An Easter egg basically.
Yeah, there's a sound effect, in a song that's about to come out called “Knife”. That's one I'm super excited about. It's a little bit more like a pop song kind of vibe, but it has a sound effect from a video game. I'm interested if people will pick up on it. It's very popular video game. I feel like people will clock it, probably. It's pretty obvious, but also maybe not?
While being a young artist, his discography is already full of solid projects that range in genre and sound as he’s expanded his collection. Throughout them all, there is a clear influence by artists like Alex G. and Elliot Smith, but each project’s sound differs through changes in lyrics and instrumentals. There are some that are more rock-leaning, with one song, “Petals” being reminiscent of early Vundabar.
Did you have any major influences going into this album sonically?
Yeah but it totally shifted. It started out like [me] trying to do something, and then it just completely becomes my own thing. I definitely wear a lot of my influences on my sleeve, like Elliot Smith and the Beatles and all that kind of jazz. I like sounding like them, but I was really trying to kind of sound like OK Computer [by Radiohead]. [It] was a huge inspiration for me in the beginning, but this album sounds nothing at all like OK Computer, but that's what I was going for, I guess. Every song has a different kind of inspiration for sure.
What was your reaction to the internet's response to “Metal Through Her Lips”? Were you happy that one blew up? Is there another song you might have preferred to go viral?
I'm so grateful and so happy that that one blew up. Like, is it the one that I thought would have blown up? Probably not. Do I get it? I think. I mean, what, I'm like starting to kind of realize maybe why it happened. The music is definitely a great vibe too, but I feel like it's really carried by the lyrical content. It's [been] an awesome, crazy series of events. I wrote and made the song in like a month and then put it on Instagram, then it blew up. I'm so grateful for it. It's awesome, I mean, it changed my life, so I would never complain about it. I think it's so cool. I don't want it to be, and don't think it will be, my defining hit. I feel like it got the door open. I want to make a bunch of more stuff and I think this album will have other moments like that, hopefully. But if not, that's okay too. There's really nothing bad to say about it. I think it's really, really awesome.
“It makes more sense looking at it retroactively, but I just had no idea that it was gonna happen. I always believed in myself and thought it would happen, but I’m just grateful that it happened now.”
Lindsey walked me through his song writing process, in which he said that when it comes to writing lyrics, he simply gets stuff out onto the page– or his voice memos. It isn’t until after, once it’s all said and done, that he looks at the bigger picture and can make out the meaning from what he’s written. About “Metal Through her Lips” he said, “I literally just sat down and wrote the entire song. In probably 20 minutes and had no idea what it meant.” He reflected on the way it’s been received and how his audience has connected so deeply with it. “These people are coming to the shows and singing along every word, crying and stuff, [they’ve] found so much meaning in it; it's beautiful. I think it's awesome and just goes to show anything can happen.”
I brought up his musical background and what it was like to come from a family, constantly being exposed to this world. We talked about how any mention of having a musical family can sometimes lead to nepo-baby allegations, which Lindsey was open about. “I was very privileged to be able to make as much music as I made, and that's definitely a thing. I don't want to undermine that. But I worked my ass off.” Looking at his discography, this is undeniable. Lindsey consistently was putting out record after record, sometimes two albums in one year. This hard work and dedication is clearly shown and has paid off within his newest endeavor, Sunshine.
If you had to describe this album in three words, what would you pick?
Magic, love, and heartbreak. That's my life, not really, but kind of.