For Boygenius, the indie-rock supergroup with a penchant for ties and introspective songs, this fall had the kind of firsts that prove a rock band has become a phenomenon: its first arena show at Madison Square Garden , packed with fans singing Lyric at the top of their lungs, his first appearance at the Hollywood Bowl and soon his first feature on “Saturday Night Live.”
There was another first – and second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth – on Friday with Boygenius’ debut Grammy nominations as a band, an honor that also included nods for two of the biggest competitions: Record of the Year (for the ethereal and the hymnal song). “Not Strong Enough”) and Album of the Year (for “The Record”).
The recognition capped a tumultuous time for Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus, successful indie artists in their own right who, in 2018, turned an idea for a one-off collaboration into a group that has captured the hearts of Generation Z fans beyond They established a reputation for free-spirited onstage antics and the kind of healthy bond not typically associated with touring rock stars.
On a video call Friday afternoon, the trio discussed their nominations, their songwriting and the future of their music in the basement of a New York hotel where they were preparing for “Saturday Night Live” this weekend, a shelf full of possible costumes behind them. In that hotel basement, they heard the good news and then, as Baker put it, “screamed a little, hugged, jumped up and down” before the lyrics started flowing – including notes from Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish, who…also received six nominations each.
“It’s like when kids cry on Christmas morning because I feel so overwhelmed that I could just go to sleep,” Baker said.
These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
This has been a remarkable year full of firsts for you. Did playing these big arenas change your relationship with the album?
BAKER Not in a cheesy way, folks, but that’s the metric I come back to. My relationship with it has remained static, creating something that we have preserved.
BRIDGES And it’s grown – I now look at “True Blue” as a kind of communal experience, because that’s kind of the first moment in the set where the audience behaves the same way every night. Lucy and I have pretty deep voices and when people sing “True Blue” they sing an octave higher, which is really funny.
DACUS If I did “True Blue” for karaoke, I would do the same thing.
How are your relationships with each other? At this point, you’ve been traveling all over the world together, in high-pressure situations – what’s special about that? your friendship?
BAKER I am proud of us. I think our communication has gotten better. We set out with a clear list of priorities and our passion for the music and our genuine relationship with each other were at the forefront. That stayed because we kept it as a priority. It is brought into the project every day.
BRIDGES When you guys asked me out to dinner the other night before we actually had to go to work, I thought, seeing that you weren’t at work, that’s so nice. We just need to talk about people and hang out.
DACUS I’m not tired of you.
Why do you think “Not Strong Enough” came to the surface at the Grammys? You’ve talked about it being about mental illness, about self-hatred – is it the darkness that resonates with the audience?
DACUS I think the four-on-the-ground kick pattern connected with the audience. For me it’s important to write everything above, but you could swap out the lyrics of the song and I think it would be just as fun.
BRIDGES I thought: We need a song that can be played on the radio. Can we make one that’s actually fun? And you have understood the task.
DACUS But “Not Strong Enough” isn’t a typical radio song, so it fails at the task but strangely succeeds because it’s on the radio. Finneas said this too: It’s like you’re trying to copy your idols and you’re failing. So similar.
BAKER And “fun” is also profound. As if you could, in hindsight, explain in your dissertation what is only implicitly communicated by the fact that we have fun and write texts the way we do. We gave “Not Strong Enough” a breakdown because it rocks; I want to have a good time!
Has the past year made you want to delve deeper into Boygenius or do you feel like it’s time to return to your independent career?
DACUS Before it all started, we decided what the boundaries were, and that has allowed us to dig as deep as possible up to this point. We put all our energy into this project, knowing full well that the era of the boygenie is coming to an end, so to speak. After that we’ll all make our own solo records – that’s fair to say.
BRIDGES Or attempts.
So as a band you have six nominations, but Phoebe has one more (for a collaboration with SZA, “Ghost in the Machine”). Are you overestimating the other two?
BRIDGES All day long. No, but it was the first thing that was announced and Lucy said it would be so funny if we all watched and it was just that. But I’m so proud of SZA.
DACUS [whispers Bridgers’s section of “Ghost in the Machine”] I’ve had it in my head all day.
This year’s nominees are led by women – Did you even notice that when you saw it?
BRIDGES I noticed a lot of music that I love.
DACUS We’re excited for more friends to be recognized, and the fact that we’re women isn’t the cool part – the music is the cool part.
Have you had any ideas for performing at the Grammys yet? Nirvana suits?
DACUS I didn’t think about it at all because I didn’t think it would happen, and now it just opens up a whole world where you have to think about things.