While we were at Firefly Music Festival, we sat down with some of our favorite artists on the lineup to chat with them about their past year and what’s to come. Claud, the Chicago-based wunderkind that made waves in 2020 by being the first signee to Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records, recently jumped on a massive tour opening for Bleachers in support of their fantastic 2021 debut Super Monster. The record is one that hits the sweet spot between nostalgic and forward-thinking, with the singer-songwriter authoring tales of young love and growing up on top of a dreamy blend of bedroom pop. Before the festival, we hopped on a Zoom call with Claud to talk about their big 2021, what’s to come, and their new remix featuring Jesse Rutherford of The Neighbourhood and The Marías:
Melodic Mag: How’s the tour been going? After a year away, I imagine it’s a little odd.
Claud: Yeah, it’s been great! It’s really been a sweet ride back into the normal world. The Bleachers crew is so incredibly kind, and this is the first tour I’ve ever done of this size where we’re playing festivals and huge rooms. It’s been exhausting but really good; it feels like a time warp when I have to fly back and forth between dates — I forget where I am.
Your album Super Monster carries the distinction of being the first album on Phoebe Bridgers’s label. How did that partnership happen? Was it an organic “I think you’re cool” type of vibe?
Honestly, it was kind of like that! She sort of just reached out and said “I’m starting a label and really love your music” and I was like “what”. (laughs) I had a radio show in college where I pretty much only played her and Stranger in the Alps, so it was actually kind of insane. It took forever for everything to actually come together because of how the pandemic affected labels and whatnot, but she was always supportive and interested in what I was doing throughout the entire process; you can tell she really cares about what I’m doing and what other bands on the label are doing, and that’s really rad to have that support.
Your remix of “In or In-Between” is really cool to me, because I see it less of a remix and more of a “modified duet”. It’s kind of like that remix that The XX did for Florence + The Machine a long time ago — what was that-
“You’ve Got the Love”! Wow, that’s an honor to hear that – I was obsessed with The XX.
Ha, that’s the one! Yeah, I always appreciate when artists’ remixes trend in that direction rather than just, flipping stems. How did you get Jesse and María on the track?
I actually have toured with both of them before! The Marias took me on their very first tour in 2018, and then I went on tour with The Neighbourhood for a few weeks pre-pandemic, and I just kept in touch with both of them. I was working on this remix and I wanted someone to feature on it, and I really love those two people. I reached out to ask what they thought of it and both of them said it was their favorite on the album — they both sent really amazing verses and I kept it on one song. I found that the lyrics in the song are really specific and they say a lot, and I thought it’d be really fun to just hear my favorite artists take on something I was singing about, and see if they could put themselves in that situation.
You mentioned how this was your first time playing festivals of this size — have you ever been to Delaware?
(laughs) No, it’s my first time. I’m super stoked to be here. I always forget that people play on different days just because of how rushed the process is. I’m only going to be there on Sunday, which is kind of funny because every festival we’ve hit on this tour, I’ve only played on Sunday. (laughs) But I’m stoked to see Kim Petras and Orion Sun on that day.
I hate to ask because there’s so much tour ahead, but what’s next?
After the tour, there’s more tour, and then after that more tour, and then more tour after that. We’re just really stoked to put this record on the road, and I’ve never had a headline tour for myself so I’m stoked to bring that to the table in the near future. It’s just incredible to finally play these songs live and have people interested.
