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Photo by Cole Silberman

Predestination is a complex thing, but speaking with the rising talent Oscar Lindsey outside a motel beneath the trees and sunshine, some artists feel fated to be who they are. If you are a collector of vinyl records, nostalgic for a time when song construction was a voice over guitar, than Oscar Lindsey’s latest album Sunshine is a blissful, melodic cure for your concerns. Celebrated for his lyrics and peaceful, almost lazy deliver (the standout single ‘Metal Through Her Lips’ is example A), the album is rife with fun, whimsical, ironic songwriting that feels unbound by trends or what decade we are in. Oscar is clearly being shined upon, a young man with a journey unfurling that feels like a holy mission to deliver art in waves of sound and light. We were spoiled to have a great conversation on a bright sunny day while on tour, here’s the illuminated evidence: 

OnesToWatch: Why are you an artist? Why do you do what you do? 

Oscar Lindsey: I love music, specifically, a lot. When I grew up, music was always around. I didn't necessarily like it until I got a little bit older, but I just appreciate it so much now and I'm really motivated. Everybody's motivated by money or whatever it might be, but I'm definitely the most motivated by trying to better my music and make the best music I can. And making a great song is the best feeling in the world. Sometimes, you'll listen to it 10 times you'll be like, this is so good, then you'll listen to it the next day and think this is terrible, but the highs are so high. 

If you weren't a touring musician, do you have an alternate career path?

Well before my music stuff started catching some traction, I was making YouTube videos and I was making a living from it. So I would probably continue doing YouTube. I still love making YouTube videos but I don't really have much time anymore. 

What was your speciality or niche? 

YouTube videos about liminal spaces.

Let's get into your writing process. Do you have a process? Is there a way you attack a song generally? 

Man, sometimes I can force myself to write a song and it's good, but most of the time my tactic is just sitting and waiting until I play something that's interesting or I feel inspired. I hate writing a song that feels like I'm just making shit up, I want it to feel real. A lot of my songs, I’ll reach a breaking point with some kind of emotion and I have to just get it out and say something about it, and then that's the song. I tend to write songs in my bed at night for some reason, and then I always record pretty early in the morning and I never go into the studio without having a plan or structure. I have to finish the song before I go in the studio or it's just gonna be a shit show.

Let's get into your newest project. Your album Sunshine is out now. What made you put this together? What's the thematic narrative behind it all? 

I released an album in June or July last year, and immediately was like, oh, I want to make another album. I tried to just start it immediately, and that didn’t feel right. So I waited till around like January of this year to start this record. Sunshine was the first song that I made for the album. I really liked the direction.

It was the first song I recorded in Logic instead of GarageBand because I was using GarageBand forever, so that was pretty inspiring. I think the reason that sunshine is the name of the record is because when I was recording and writing the project, I was so down and sad, and it was so cold, but when you feel sunshine or go outside and see a blue sky, it lightens up a bit. That's a little bit of a theme with the songs because a lot of them talk about melancholy subject matter, but in a lens that's pretty optimistic. But also, when I was writing Sunshine, I looked down at my desk –I'm addicted to La Croix– and I was drinking the Sunshine flavor. So that definitely has something to do with it as well. 

So this was all a branded sponsorship pitch. You're looking for some LaCroix money. 

Exactly. My lawyers have been in contact. 

I'm always curious what an artist leaves out and what they include. When you're putting together an album, how do you decide what makes the cut? 

It just either feels right or it doesn’t. I'll put anything in the album as long as it feels good – anything I make in this window of creating the album is thematically relevant to me. Some songs on the album are completely different from some of the other songs. I don't really pay attention to that, there's a lot of things I do accidentally that I just leave up to fate. I can also make sense of things retrospectively, like I'll just sit down and write a song stream of consciousness, and then come back and it makes complete sense as a narrative. 

When you put out a record, do you have ambitions for it? Do you just release it like a wild bird into the sky and let it do its thing or do you hope people take something from it specifically? 

I like to not even think about it and just let people run with it. “Metal through her lips,” for example, I have an idea of what I was trying to make that song about, but I feel like people kind of took it and made their own explanations and that's probably so much cooler than what even I was trying to say. As far as the album goes, I do have ambitions, and I feel like I've manifested a lot of the stuff so far in my career. I think that all that junk is true. I just hope as many people here as possible take it and it can be theirs. 

If you were to create a dream festival lineup, who would you love to have perform with you? 

Probably Mac DeMarco, get Ween to do a reunion. Maybe like David Blaine or some shit. Maybe some sort of orchestra. And then Paul McCartney, maybe. 

I love it. That was quite the hemisphere of taste. If your friends ambush you at your house, can you whip up a meal with what's in your refrigerator right now? 

Bro, like, no. I don't think I could literally make anything. So, dude, if I had friends over, I'd probably Uber Eats. Just get a 12 pack. I'm also terrible at cooking, I can follow directions to an extent, but I just fuck shit up when I cook. 

If you were at your most peaceful state, your most Zen, where are you? What are you doing? 

Anything with my hands, painting pottery or putting together a cabinet. We did that the other day. I was a little anxious that day, and then we started putting together this cabinet for my friend's mom, and dude, anxiety just gone. It's such a weird thing for me, whenever I get to focus on something like that or use my hands or I just don't think about the world for a second. So anything like that. Helps me be really calm. I love the beach too. 

Last couple of questions. I would love a non-music recommendation. So it can be a place to visit, something to read, something to watch. 

Go to the Grand Teton Mountain range. I did that this summer. I went for very cheap and we just camped and stuff. It was really fun. Also LaCroix. It's fucking awesome, dude. If you drink soda, bro, you might as well just stop and drink LaCroix is what I think. I don't drink soda. I also don't drink caffeine, but not on some fucking elitist shit. Also the movie 12 Monkeys with Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt. Absolute banger of a movie. Extremely underrated. 

I’d also love a music rec!

My homies band Finger Foods, they put out this album called Detroit that’s great. And then my friend James Eichman, of course, he's been killing it. He just released a record a month ago that's fantastic. He's on the road right now too. Renny Conti. He just released a record. Fucking sick. 

Lastly, we want to end on your words. Any advice, antidotes, wisdom to pass on? 

I don't know if I should be given advice low-key. 

I think in a weird way you've already given one, which is drop a soda, pick up a La Croix. How’s this: what's a good caffeine substitute? 

Fucking suck it up and just get on. If you're gonna get rid of caffeine, you just got to accept you're gonna be pretty tired. Like, I wake up and I wake up and it's fucking terrible. But once you get out of bed and you take a shower, you ease into the morning in a lot more naturally without caffeine. I can also give some hangover remedies. 

Oh, that's always needed. 

LaCroix is goated for hangovers. And then also if you can put ice into a fucking thing of water and dunk your head into it, that'll shave off a couple hours of your hangover. This is this is true musician stuff. 

I love it. Well, Oscar, continued success. 

Thank you!

Listen to Sunshine below: