On Tuesday, the day the Grammy nominations were announced, Phoebe Bridgers woke up to an estimated 48 texts from her mom — including a meme of Kamala Harris making her now-viral call to President-elect Joe Biden with the caption changed to: “We did it, Phoebe.”
Bridgers had slept through the big reveal after a night of rewatching Portrait of a Lady on Fire, but once she saw that her phone was blowing up, she “had a feeling” it could be messages of good news. “I wouldn’t have expected it, because there’s no way to do that, but it’s certainly awesome,” says Bridgers. “I wouldn’t have been heartbroken, but it feels f—ing cool.”
Bridgers, who released her acclaimed second album, Punisher, on Dead Oceans in June, earned four nominations: best new artist, best alternative album, and best rock song and best rock performance for the melodic and impassioned single “Kyoto.”
While she asserts “there’s not enough nominations for the amount of very incredible music in the world,” she’s excited to see artists she loves, like Chika and Megan Thee Stallion, also in this year’s best new artist class. “I feel like [Megan] turned positivity into being punk rock, you know?” she says of the latter. “If the intersection of nihilism and optimism is ‘f— everything,’ she’s the optimism side.”
Bridgers also recalls how Conor Oberst’s former tour manager used to say: “Bright Eyes, best new artist 15 years running” (the band was, in fact, never nominated in the category). “I love that so much,” she says with a laugh. “I’m reading [stuff] about myself and it’s like… I’m always rising.”
As for her best rock performance nod — a field entirely dominated by women for the first time ever — Bridgers reveals she went to the same high school as fellow nominee Haim. “We haven’t even discussed it yet, I need to call them, but it’s hilarious,” she says. “I was a freshman when Alana was a senior. I saw Haim when their parents were still in the band.”
With just over two months to go until the ceremony, Bridgers — who typically watches the show from the couch with her mom eating a “Costco bag of Ruffles” and a mayonnaise-based dip — already has her ideal outfit in mind for the occasion. For an artist who’s managed to make a skeleton bodysuit cool, she would love to “level up” the look, citing a 2018 Thom Browne dress that she’s “been trying to pay someone off to get for me.”
“I’ve been looking for it for years,” she says of the Reverse Opening Cardigan Jacket embroidered with a crystal skeleton. “Someone lend me their fucking dress.”
