Q&A: A pre-show chat with Faye Webster

Just before the kickoff of the Common Cents music festival on Oct. 3, I had the pleasure of interviewing headliner Faye Webster in the corner of a Ryder Hall classroom. With her team and band jovially playing Hangman in the background almost the full duration of our interview, Faye was in great spirits and eager to perform. Despite some distractions (Faye received a call from an Atlanta number and immediately assumed it was someone calling to tell her that her dog had run away), we were able to compile a great introduction to her work for anyone not familiar, and some fascinating facts for the fans.

Archie O’Connell: You performed at the All Things Go music festival two days ago, and had a massive marble bust of your face on stage with you. How was the festival, and what’s the deal with the statue?

Faye Webster: It was very chill. I like smaller festivals. They aren’t so high maintenance, and they form more of a community vibe… You get to see everyone and watch the acts! Major festivals are awesome, but they’re so much more spread out.

The bust is a balloon! it’s inflatable, like a car dealership guy. We don’t have it today, we were scared because it’s so windy, it might fall. When I made this orchestral EP[Car Therapy Sessions], I worked with my brother on the visuals – merch, album artwork, everything involved, and when we finally got to listen to it after we recorded it, it felt very elegant, and we were kind of inspired by a bunch of a Beethoven stuff. So, we designed the marble bust, and made the balloon!

I’m a huge fan of Car Therapy Sessions – what were some parts of the process that stood out to you?

One really cool thing is what the guy who wrote the sheet music and arranged the orchestra for Car Therapy Sessions did: every song is arranged with an intro of another one of my songs. “Kind Of (Type of a Way),” which is my favorite song on the album, is intro’d with “Better Distractions.” The next song is introduced with “Kingston,” for a brilliant disney-esque feel.

Have you watched [HBO Max series] The Rehearsal?

Yes.

Looking at your upcoming tour schedule, it seems to be a solid mix of festivals and headlining shows. Do you have any preference between the two?

I like a good mix – I like going on headlining tours, but I like playing festivals in between; it’s very refreshing to go back and forth between the two. There’s an artist area at most festivals, and it forms a wonderful community of everyone performing, but then it’s so nice to go back to performing just with myself, but then when I go back it’s refreshing again, it’s great.

I feel like when I’m on tour is the only time people have my full attention, which is when I find out about new stuff, which is nice. I’ll find out about new artists when I see them at festivals, and then my boyfriend will be like, “Faye! I’ve tried to show you this dozens of times!”

Last year, we played Mexico and I watched Turnstile, and I was obsessed. My first year at Bonnaroo, I saw the Lemon Twigs, and I was in a trance. Besides that, I don’t really keep up with new music. I do like the Drain Gang— Ecco2k is my favorite. I tour all the time and when I’m on tour I’m pretty much always around music, so when I go home to Atlanta, it’s nice to just sit in silence.

Photo by Lauren Violette for WRBB.

Have you watched Donald Glover’s Atlanta?

Yes! It’s crazy watching the show and recognizing all of the locations. I love it.

Have you ever seen a ghost?

Personally no, but I know someone who’s surrounded by ghosts all the time, and she’ll show me video footage from cameras or pictures from her phone of ghosts, so I guess I have. One time she showed me a video where there were floating orbs. I haven’t seen any myself, but she has.

In an interview you did with Pitchfork, you remarked that you spend more time on video games than music – is this true?

I definitely spend more time playing video games than music. Definitely. I got really into Katamari— I even bought the soundtrack on vinyl, it’s the most beautiful thing ever. Stuff like that inspires me. I’ve been playing Hatsune Miku Project DIVA— all of her songs are on there, and you can sing along to them. She’s my favorite popstar by far. Pokemon, Animal Crossing, all that stuff. Most of my hours are on Rocket League, though. It’s an entirely different world on there, I love it.

Do you have a favorite Pokemon?

I do. I have two, it depends on my mood. My favorite is Mawile, when I feel weak and vulnerable and I need protection, and then my other favorite is Togepi, when I feel very loving and full of affection. Mawile gets no screen time, but I love the design, she reminds me of a Guilty Gear character, it’s really sick. She’s also really pretty!!

Would you consider the people you’ve been playing shows with to be part of the Faye Webster Band, or moreso session musicians?

This is the band!!! Pistol [the steel guitarist] and I have been playing here for eight years. I needed a pedal steel player, and he was the only guy within 200 miles [band erupts into laughter] and we just clicked! Annie [the violinist] has played strings on all of my records – she’s just a music genius. We’ve started taking her on tour, I consume her life now. Jack [the bassist] is my brother, so I can’t get out of that one. Ian [the drummer] and I’s lives just aligned together at a really good time, it was just perfect.

How long have you been yo-yoing?

I started yo-yoing in 2019 – it’s an absolutely incredible community. Remy is the best yo-yoer in the world, that’s how we met. I found him on Instagram and said, “I want to be friends with you!!” And that’s how we met. He’s my favorite yoyo player ever.

Remy was later called onstage by Faye to perform a yo-yo set near the end of her show. It was met with absolute rave reviews from the crowd. More information on Faye’s music can be found here, and Remy’s yo-yoing here.