In advance of her anticipated new album, Songies, the New-Jersey-based artist explores the rollercoaster that is romance.
Lindsey Radice, aka PYNKIE, is one of indie pop's best-kept secrets. With amazing music and an interesting backstory to boot, Radice splits her time between being a musician and a registered nurse — managing to switch between the arts of healing and song-making with ease, excelling at both. Her signature style of dreamy pop bewitches listeners, residing in a realm where dreams and melodies intertwine.
“Plz,” PYNKIE’s latest single off her nearly-out new album, Songies, is a tantalizing taste of the good things to come. Over hazy instrumentals, Radice’s dreamy lyricism transports you to a vast, surreal soundscape.
She addresses romance with a deeper nuance than the simple song title would suggest, dropping lyrics like “You gave me such a heart attack / Don’t scare me like that, no / I just wish you were dull / Wouldn’t that be wonderful.” In essence, Radice says it's about “hoping and believing that a relationship will ultimately work out through the rollercoaster of ups and downs.” PYNKIE’s music has a special way of encapsulating personal experiences and transforming them into comforting melodies. We’ll be all over this new album when it drops August 18th, 2023 — and we highly recommend you are too.
Check out our conversation with Radice below!
Welcome to BuzzMusic, PYNKIE! We can't stop listening to your new single "Plz" — the spacy production, thoughtful lyrics, it's giving us the energy we need! Was there a lot of soul-searching involved in the writing of this song?
Awww, thank ya! And I actually wrote this song starting with a demo drum beat and simple chord progression layered with that main riff, which I originally played on my Casio CA-110! I really liked the riff played with the Casio. Still, it could have sounded better on the album version. So my bf, my keyboardist/synth player/producer, decided to play the riff with an electric guitar instead! (Here's what the demo was like.) Then the vocal melody and lyrics gave me a flow-of-consciousness style (AKA my fav way to write)! Well, the melody came to me that way. Some of the lyrics, but many of the lyrics were made to fit into the melody later (the melody usually comes first when I'm writing a song). And then, the lyrics' content or the song's "theme" came last. It's not a profound theme or anything, haha— I just "got into character," so to speak, and pretended I was a girl at a packed house party with my bf and that our relationship was toxic. However, I still believed in it and wanted to make it work. I do this often when I'm songwriting; I pretend I'm a fictional character and write from their perspective while drawing from my life's themes.
The music video is a perfect match for the music. We love the scenes and the fast cuts. You look adorable! Have you worked with the director Evan Deng before? Where did you two draw inspiration from?
I actually originally wanted to do a party theme for this music video, but ended up using that idea for my first single's video instead (which is playing on the TV in the background of this video as a lil cameo appearance, haha! And then I actually had no idea what to do for this video! Thankfully, Evan Deng contacted me about making a video and came up with the whole theme, etc! He filmed, edited, and directed the entire thing! And I couldn't be happier with how it came out. I'm not sure exactly what made him want to do the motorcycle-centric theme, but I love it, and it's something I never would've come up with! I also never had one of those street rugs when I was little, so it was fun to finally play with one! Haha.
Are there any good stories you can share that took place while filming?
Filming was so fun, and it was my first time meeting Even and his PA, Jade, but it felt like I had been friends with them for years! One cute thing that happened on set was that an ice cream truck guy gave me a free cone while we were shooting by his truck for no reason other than maybe he thought we were famous or something. It really helped with the video since it inspired us to include some ice cream scenes!
What are some of your favorite music videos today and from when you were younger?
Oh man, I honestly don't watch enough music videos these days! But my fav, the most recent one, is Colleen Green's "Posi Vibes" video! It's claymation and has a cool UFO theme going on! And when I was younger (even though she was a lil "before my time"), I always watched Björk music vids! All her videos are super cool. The one for "Human Behavior" sticks out in my mind! Your new record 'Songies' is dropping in August! We love what we've heard so far.
Please tell us the overall message/theme from your point of view.
I've called my songs "songies" since I started making/releasing demos on SoundCloud in college! So I realized it HAD TO be the name of one of my albums, haha, mainly since it has NEVER been used as an album name before as far as I can find (which is ridiculous to me)! But besides that, I've come up with a definition: "songies" are songs that are short, sweet, and to the point; they have an element of weirdness while also being very song-y (i.e., "verse, chorus, verse, maybe bridge"-type structure lol). What I mean by "weirdness" is that the songs have an unpredictable chord change, uncommon time signature, and/or are made in an alternate tuning. Most of the songs on "Songies" fit this bill, but a couple of the tracks (like "Plz" actually) are a little on the longer side! (Most of the songies are under 2-3min) So, in other words, there is no intended "message" in the combined themes of the lyrics of all the songies (at least not intentionally), but that is ultimately up to the listener! On my end, I was more focused on the songwriting motifs and having the songs flow into each other smoothly, creating a more cohesive and album-like experience than I have for my previous albums!
The album is a self-release, right? We're BIG supporters of indie artists.
Yes! I am back to releasing independently. I did that for my first album, "Neoteny." I missed having that much autonomy n stuff after releasing my last album, "#37," with a label! However, it was an expensive ordeal, and I had to borrow money from my mom to make the vinyl and merch! Haha- but it's worth it, in the end, to make this happen on my own terms. I invest a lot in myself, hahaha.
Your story of being a "nurse and song maker" is well-known in the industry, and we absolutely love it. If there was one common misperception about what it's like doing music and being a Registered Nurse, what might be?
Yes, this is how I can afford to invest in myself, haha. I need my day job, that's for sure! But I also genuinely enjoy being a nurse (although the job can be rough at times), and I'm doing something worthwhile. A common misperception might be that I do it just because I "have" to, but I also want to! I don't think I would like to make music "full time" (even if I could somehow) because it would probably suck the fun out of it and make it too stressful! Also, I work 12-hour shifts, which gives me 4 days off per week. So it's different from many other full-time jobs where you must work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. I couldn't do that! I need my free time, especially since I love songwriting, and I need lots of time for that.
Do you have any advice for young artists that would like to be like you?
Being a creator can get pretty discouraging, especially with social media constantly making people compare themselves to others and causing them to feel inferior. It's the worst when you fall into that hole. But my advice for getting out of that hole is to remember that NO ONE could make the songs you create, perform the way you perform, or do whatever you do exactly the way you do it. So own that fact, and keep making from the core of your "self!" (the "self" in itself is a fantastic concept to me, haha).
Tell us about your fans! It looks like you have a close relationship with them. What does their support mean to you?
Omg, I love my fans so much! They're so cool and cute. And while I may have few fans, it's definitely quality over quantity for me! And I love interacting with/talking to fans and getting to know them, especially at live shows! It's my favorite part of playing live, (even more so than the playing part). Their support and genuine enjoyment of my songies make me want to keep making more!
Thanks for taking the time to chat with us! Would you like to shout out to anyone who's helped you along your journey?
Thank YOU for having me! And I must thank my bf, John Messina, for producing the album + playing keys/synth, and making everything SOUND SO GOOD! I also must thank Eric Holsten for mixing/mastering the album, making it sound even BETTER! And thank you to my bassist, Alex Heitzenrater, and my drummer, Josh Bartsch, who helped bring the songies to LIFE! If it weren't for all those peeps, this album would be a bunch of crappy-sounding demos.
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