Paranoia of Change

Singer-songwriter Maggie Lindemann has changed her sound dramatically. Since starting her career in music at age 16, she’s found remarkable success as a pop artist with singles like “Couple of Kids,” “Pretty Girl,” and “Obsessed.” Now, she has done something (a.k.a. her upcoming EP, PARANOIA, due out January 22nd) for the rock- and punk-loving patrons, a path that feels truer to herself and that can no longer be pushed off. “I’d ask myself, ‘Are people going to get it?’ But if you’re not doing what you love, why would you even do it? This is the type of music I loved and actually listened to in high school, so making it now feels so different. And, like, I know what I’m talking about,” she says. “This feels more authentic, more like myself, and it’s also more fun.”

Her music has taken on deep personal meaning – and even more specifically, she finds that this is where she can be vulnerable enough to put herself out there. “I don’t like to give a lot of myself away,” Lindemann contends. “On social media, I keep it surface-level. I like to express myself only in my music, that’s where I’m able to say what I want to say, the way I want to say it. It feels like the only place where I’m able to have that connection.” 

The sole means of communication between Lindemann and her fans aptly celebrates the creative process. “I always say, my sessions are like therapy sessions. I’d go in and talk my head off about what I would be struggling with in that week, or that month, and then we’d make a song,” she explains. “I listen to that song, and then I heal through that. When the songs are actually out, I feel like I’m healed.” When asked to choose a song that exemplifies this point, she immediately picks “Different” from the new EP. “‘Different’ is definitely the most emotional song on the EP, the rawest emotion, and the one I connect to the most. It was my way of healing from a terrible situation that had happened. I was in such a bad place, I was so anxious, so on edge, and the session really helped me get out what I needed to say,” she adds. “At this point, I’m very comfortable with being in my emotions.”

While being extremely powerful and universally relevant, creativity has been known to be a healing force to ground a person in a time of adversity. Having openly struggled with mental-health issues through much of her career, Lindemann is no stranger to coping with difficult emotional states. “When I was really depressed, I didn’t know how to handle it, I just wanted to be happy. I was always thinking, ‘I wish I didn’t feel like this,’” she shares. “Now, I feel like I’ve been through so many different things that I’m just more comfortable with being in my sadness – I know it’s going to pass now. So it’s about sitting with it and not getting mad at yourself, and just letting it be until it’s not.”

Reflecting on 2020 and plenty of lessons learned along the way, she points a finger at both sides of the coin: “This year, we’ve had so much time to think, and that can be really bad and really good. I feel like I’ve been going crazy, but at the same time, I’m having to deal with things that maybe I wouldn’t have dealt with, ever,” she affirms.

Writer: Jacqueline Kirk

Photographer & Videographer: Haldane Morris

Editor: Eiko Watanabe

Special thanks to EPK Media (@myepk & @epkmedia - epkmedia.com)