Annie Clark, better known as St. Vincent, doesn’t just ride the line between mainstream acceptance and avant-garde eccentricity—she obliterates it. With five albums under her belt and a Grammy nod in hand, Clark’s journey has been a masterclass in balancing art, commerce, and the joy of freaking people out. Not that she’d call it that. “I don’t get specific pleasure from being ‘weird,’” she insists. “I just want to make art that I’m proud of and put on shows that are fun for me.”
Still, the “fun” she describes can make casual viewers squirm, as evidenced by her Saturday Night Live performance. “Some reactions were like, ‘Who the hell is this person? Why were my eyes so polluted by this?’” she laughs. But for St. Vincent, alienating a few isn’t a bug—it’s a feature. “Find me one person who’s beloved by all,” she says. “If they exist, they’re probably milk toast.”
Clark’s self-titled album, often referred to as her magnum opus, feels like the culmination of years spent honing her craft. “It’s about fun and imagination,” she explains, while acknowledging the weight of her myth-making. “We live in very Dada times,” she says, poking at the social media culture that blurs the lines between authenticity and artifice. For St. Vincent, the line between Annie Clark the person and St. Vincent the persona is not only blurry—it’s irrelevant. “I am my job,” she states simply. “I am my life’s work.”
She doesn’t see this as a burden but as a responsibility. “We don’t have a whole lot of time on planet Earth,” she says. “You might as well make as much art as you can in the interim.” And make art she does. Even the songs that don’t make the cut on her albums, like “Sparrow” and “Pieta,” find their way into the world through special releases. “If they’re special, you still try to get them out there,” she says, eschewing the cynical “deluxe edition” cash grab.
The conversation meanders—gravitating toward quantum physics, the complexity of modern systems, and, for some reason, ants. “Ants aren’t really creative,” Clark muses, before pivoting to the boundless creativity she sees in humanity. Whether it’s outsider artists overcoming immense challenges or fans engaging with her music, she marvels at the “irrepressible urge to create” that defines us.
And what about the state of the world? It’s complicated, much like St. Vincent herself. “Human nature is violent and insidious and beautiful and brilliant,” she says. “I don’t think we’re getting worse—our problems are just getting more complicated.”
By the end of the interview, it’s clear that St. Vincent’s art isn’t about solving problems but reflecting the chaos and beauty of existence. “It’s special,” she says of her theatrical performances. “You’re supposed to do something that’s bigger than you.” And bigger than her, it most certainly is.
Watch the interview above and then check out the video below.
