Phoebe Bridgers on first time texting Taylor Swift: “It was just a total high”
Phoebe Bridgers has recalled in a new interview the “total high” of talking to Taylor Swift for the first time in a text exchange.
Last year, the pair collaborated on the song ‘Nothing New’, one of the “From The Vault” bonus tracks that appear on Swift’s re-recording of her 2012 fourth album, ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’.
During an interview on Late Night With Seth Meyers last November, Swift hailed Bridgers as “one of my favourite artists in the world”, adding: “If she sings it, I will listen to it. I just love her voice.” She also explained how her team-up with Bridgers came about, sharing that it started with a text message.
Now, speaking to Billboard, Bridgers has given her side of the story, explaining that at first she thought the text was from The National‘s Aaron Dessner.
“I got this random text from Aaron Dessner that was really weirdly worded for him,” she said. “And I was like, ‘What the f–k is this?’ And as I was reading it, I [realized], ‘Oh, my God, it’s from Taylor Swift.’
She continued: “We started texting about all kinds of stuff. It was just a total high. It felt like when you meet someone at a party and you’re in the corner all night being like, ‘Me too!’”
Bridgers then revealed that she and Swift have still not met in person. “I’m excited for when we hang out for the first time,” she said. “We’ve only been very [COVID-19], online friends.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Bridgers was asked about the future of Boygenius – the indie-rock supergroup she plays in alongside Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus – and whether they plan on releasing a follow-up to their 2018 self-titled EP, which NME called “a record that leaves you yearning for more” in a five-star review.
“Since that band started, our plans have been like, ‘Whenever it’s easy and fun.’ I’m sure we will, but none of us have gotten to tour our own solo [albums], so we’re just meeting up whenever we can,” Bridgers said, adding: “Maybe we’ll try to go on a vacation or something. Maybe the next time we hang out will not be for music.”
Back in November, Boygenius reunited at a San Francisco charity event, marking the first time they’ve performed together since 2018.
The one-off benefit gig took place at Saint Joseph’s Arts Society, with all proceeds from the event going to the Bay Area nonprofit Bread & Roses.
Bridgers has kept incredibly busy in the year-and-a-half following the release of her second album, ‘Punisher’, launching her own record label (Saddest Factory) and dropping the ‘Copycat Killer’ EP of reworks. ‘Punisher’ earned itself a five-star review, and was previewed by the singles ‘Garden Song’, ‘Kyoto’, ‘I See You’ and ‘I Know The End’.