The FKA twigs Interview with Throwing Fits

Summary

Podcast Summary: "The FKA twigs Interview with Throwing Fits"

Episode Release Date: January 22, 2025

Introduction

In this special episode of Throwing Fits, hosts Aaron Manke and his co-host delve deep into an insightful and candid conversation with the multifaceted artist, FKA twigs. Known for her seamless blend of music, dance, and visual artistry, FKA twigs discusses her latest project, personal growth, and the intricate balance between maintaining authenticity and navigating the evolving landscape of the music industry.

---

First Impressions and Album Release

The episode kicks off with the hosts sharing their enthusiasm about FKA twigs' new album, "Use Sexual", set to release on January 24th. The abrupt and genuine reactions from both sides highlight the mutual respect and anticipation surrounding the album.

• Aaron Manke [02:00]: "We're not expecting to be speechless."
• FKA twigs [02:06]: "That was truly incredible."

Defining "Use Sexual"

FKA twigs introduces her concept of "Use Sexual," clarifying that it's a personal and artistic pinnacle rather than a commercial endeavor. She emphasizes the album's authenticity and her commitment to staying true to her artistic vision.

• FKA twigs [05:41]: "Use sexual is the pinnacle of human experience."

The Creation Process

Delving into her creative process, FKA twigs shares how she conceptualized "Use Sexual," drawing parallels between moments of artistic epiphany and profound personal experiences.

• FKA twigs [06:18]: "She ate these beets. Okay, so like..."
• Aaron Manke [06:37]: "Okay, so it's like right on the epiphany or right on the cusp of, like, Epiphany."

Movement Method: The 11

FKA twigs unveils "The 11," a somatic healing movement method designed to enhance focus and personal growth. This method integrates conscious physical movements to embody emotional and spiritual intentions, fostering a deeper connection with one's self and surroundings.

• FKA twigs [07:45]: "It's called the 11. So when you keychain..."
• Aaron Manke [10:24]: "Don't consume the bad stuff coming at me. Right. Now."

Keychaining: Prioritizing Relationships

One of the standout aspects of her movement method is "Keychaining," a practice of consciously selecting and nurturing the most meaningful relationships in one's life. This analogy compares unnecessary keys on a keychain to superficial or draining relationships, advocating for deeper connections.

• FKA twigs [09:21]: "Keychaining would be going through your life and looking at who makes you feel good..."
• Aaron Manke [09:42]: "It's kind of like MySpace top eight."

Rave Culture and personal Experiences in Prague

FKA twigs recounts her transformative experience immersing herself in Prague's underground rave scene. She describes the unique etiquette and communal spirit of these gatherings, highlighting how they foster a sense of belonging and collective release.

• FKA twigs [20:12]: "There's like a really beautiful etiquette. It's like the etiquette of a mosh pit..."
• FKA twigs [21:06]: "That's why I find it a very spiritual experience."

Balancing Public Persona and Personal Life

Navigating fame while maintaining a grounded personal life is a recurring theme. FKA twigs discusses her strategies for staying authentic, such as modular dressing and limiting screen time, ensuring she remains connected to her true self amidst the pressures of the public eye.

• FKA twigs [62:33]: "I have, like, a wardrobe or something I call my blues, which I have, like, a small part of my closet..."
• FKA twigs [28:31]: "I exist in the real world. And I actually..."

Creative Control and Industry Challenges

FKA twigs emphasizes the importance of creative control, often reinvesting her resources back into her craft to ensure the highest quality of her work. She shares anecdotes about handling album releases and maintaining artistic integrity despite industry pressures.

• FKA twigs [35:17]: "I've just never really had marketing or branding or creative director in a traditional sense..."
• FKA twigs [38:28]: "It's not about good. Or something's honest. It doesn't matter to me what other people think."

Personal Anecdotes and Reflections

Throughout the interview, FKA twigs shares personal stories that shed light on her resilience and dedication to her art. From challenging jobs like silver service to her experiences performing live, she illustrates the journey that has shaped her into the artist she is today.

• FKA twigs [81:32]: "I kept on doing it wrong. And there was this one old guy..."
• FKA twigs [84:08]: "I'm gonna DM match. Hey, guys."

Closing Thoughts and Future Aspirations

In the concluding segments, FKA twigs reflects on the significance of her work and her aspirations for the future. She underscores the importance of honesty in art and her desire to continue evolving both personally and professionally.

• FKA twigs [80:56]: "It's not about good. Or something's honest. It doesn't matter to me."
• FKA twigs [81:01]: "Honesty is if I know I'm telling the truth, then it doesn't matter."

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• FKA twigs [05:55]: "Use sexual. This is my."
• FKA twigs [07:35]: "If you have a friend that calls you once a month and...you don't have to, like, ingest that into your nervous system."
• FKA twigs [11:16]: "Being themselves. I'm not."
• FKA twigs [27:23]: "It hits a lot of different tones, but it's like gelled."
• FKA twigs [40:24]: "It's a balance because I didn't want it to be cynical and this, like, rage..."
• FKA twigs [60:47]: "She didn't know that she could do that."
• FKA twigs [73:24]: "Imagine if I've, like, gone down to a two."

---

Conclusion

This episode of Throwing Fits offers a profound exploration of FKA twigs' artistic journey, personal philosophies, and the meticulous craftsmanship behind her latest project, "Use Sexual." Her insights into movement, authenticity, and the music industry's dynamics provide listeners with a deeper understanding of the woman behind the art. FKA twigs' commitment to evolving her craft while staying true to her essence serves as an inspiration for artists and enthusiasts alike.

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Connect with FKA twigs:

• Website: www.throwingfits.com
• Email: [e-mail]

For more insightful interviews and discussions, subscribe to Throwing Fits on Substack.

Transcript

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[Aaron Manke]

Are you a lover of all things dark and creepy? Of graveyards and monsters, haunted houses and spooky legends? Then welcome to Lore. I'm Aaron Manke. For close to 10 years now, I've been sharing history's darkest stories with millions of listeners around the world. Tune in each week as we explore the folklore, ghost tales and local legends that delivered the chills you're looking for. Learn more and subscribe. Today [e-mail] Throw Gang, we are joined by the choreography queen, her highness of the hooks the macho madam your opps erratic, she operatic she rose from the rubble color Bam bam cuz she be clubbing Never quit on the beat but she put in her two weeks Must be a decathlon cuz the race is mixed oh, you're not with an artist that's multifaceted how about you multifacet sit on these nuts Not a rave mom she a rave mother Ain't no cap with this Capricorn the production must be vegan how she ate those beads the raja, the rave the BPM MVP the Prague princess she don't play but give her a Tony how the soprano murders on the dance floor Not a statement but she's running up those streams she got the sick motion that's why I'm gagged Must be the G chain cringe she only works with kings and queens Singer, songwriter, dancer, producer, actor, director and new album use Sexia is out on January 24th. FKA Twigs. Twigs. How the hell are you?

[FKA Twigs]

Speechless. Wow.

[Aaron Manke]

Did that wake you up more than a matcha could?

[FKA Twigs]

No, it did.

[Aaron Manke]

Okay.

[Podcast Host]

Were you prepared for that?

[FKA Twigs]

No, we didn't.

[Aaron Manke]

We weren't expecting to be speechless.

[FKA Twigs]

That was amazing.

[Aaron Manke]

Thank you. Thank you so much.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Aaron Manke]

We. We had. We had to pull out all the stops. We knew that you're coming on to the only podcast that matters. Thank you for being here.

[FKA Twigs]

That was truly incredible.

[Aaron Manke]

Thank you.

[FKA Twigs]

I don't even know what to say.

[Aaron Manke]

That's huge. Huge praise coming from.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

This is the reaction of yours.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. This is the desired reaction, I would say.

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah. Oh, how you doing?

[FKA Twigs]

Wait, how long did it take you to write that?

[Aaron Manke]

All day yesterday. But I've kind of been like, tinkering with it ever since we got the news that we were going to, like, you know, get. Get you kind of last minute while you're here in New York.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

Honestly, it took me. How old am I? It took me 38 years to write that.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[FKA Twigs]

Okay, so do you do it in one place or do you kind of like, is it okay? Do you write it on a piece of paper or is it on your phone?

[Aaron Manke]

I wrote it around the lakes and Hackney and bathroom stalls in Prague.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[FKA Twigs]

This is really like, life's work.

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

His whole life has been building to this singular moment.

[Aaron Manke]

Where did you write this album? I mean, I feel like it's similar, you know?

[FKA Twigs]

Um, I mean, everywhere from Ibiza to Big Sur to London, Louisiana, New York, Berlin.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

Is it like a woman. Like a. Do you just have, like a chaotic notes app going? Is that kind of how it is?

[FKA Twigs]

I mean, actually, this phone, this. This album, I did actually do a lot of writing on my phone, which I don't usually do, but with Magdalene, I wrote everything in a notebook and then someone stole the notebook.

[Podcast Host]

What, did it ever pop up on, like, ebay or something?

[FKA Twigs]

I've never seen it, but it kind of broke my heart so much. I had this. I had this whole, like, notebook full of all my Magdalene songs. It just disappeared. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Do you have any idea who took it or where?

[FKA Twigs]

No. It was under my bed. And it was the only thing under my bed. I used to sleep on top of it.

[Aaron Manke]

Well, if we find you, if you're out there.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, you're.

[FKA Twigs]

And then it just disappeared one day.

[Podcast Host]

God damn.

[Aaron Manke]

Well, thank God it didn't happen with his nom because we've gotten an early listen to it and it is fantastic.

[Podcast Host]

Absolutely smashing, man.

[FKA Twigs]

Thank you.

[Podcast Host]

You're welcome, Twigs. The first thing we'd like to do quickly is a little fit check. We'd love to know everything that you wore to POD with us today.

[FKA Twigs]

Okay, well, my jacket is for Cohen's dress, for Cohen's little scarf number, and Ameliemeister glasses, Acne Studios Jewelry parts. Four shoes. Zealous.

[Aaron Manke]

All the jewelry is parts for it. Because you have like. Oh, I have about nine pounds of metal in your body.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah. I mean, it's actually a lot less than I Used to have, I don't know, these little sparkles and they're like Strovsky.

[Aaron Manke]

How many septum pieces do you have?

[FKA Twigs]

So many.

[Aaron Manke]

Do you keep them separate or like, do you sometimes wear them as rings?

[FKA Twigs]

You can't wear them as rings. And I'm. Tiny fingers.

[Aaron Manke]

Okay. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

I was gonna say it's probably not.

[FKA Twigs]

Sanitary, like tiny Sylvanian family fingers, like.

[Aaron Manke]

On your little toe or something. Little toe ring.

[FKA Twigs]

No.

[Aaron Manke]

All right.

[FKA Twigs]

I tend to keep them for my nose.

[Aaron Manke]

What about these boots?

[FKA Twigs]

They're zealous. It's a new designer actually. I just discovered them.

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah. You do any shopping while you're here in New York?

[FKA Twigs]

No, I've only been here for two days.

[Podcast Host]

Do you normally, like, a lot time to shop when you travel?

[FKA Twigs]

I'm a collector. I love like vintage shops. I don't know, I kind of. I'm not a big shopper. No, I kind of collect. And they just come to you like, you know, you're just sort of walking past somewhere and you're like, oh, that's interesting shopping. Yeah, yeah. And then you sort of like have.

[Aaron Manke]

A little look and you're sipping on your first of how many matches today?

[FKA Twigs]

This is my first one. Thank God. Cuz this. This was about to be really bad if I had not. You actually saved me by getting.

[Aaron Manke]

Well, it took about an hour and a half to get here, so I hope that hot match is still hot and sipping on water out of a glass bottle.

[Podcast Host]

Right.

[Aaron Manke]

No microplastics in his bloodstream.

[Podcast Host]

Thank you for saving the planet.

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah, truly. All right, let's get into the meat and potatoes. The only podcast matters. FK Twigs, you wrote that use sexual is the pinnacle of human experience.

[FKA Twigs]

Yes.

[Aaron Manke]

Does that mean on January 24th, when the album's released, we have all peaked?

[FKA Twigs]

Well, you sexual. Here's the thing. You sexual. This is my. You sexual. But you can have your usexual too. Perhaps you experience you sexual writing that lovely rap for me?

[Aaron Manke]

Yes, I might have. What do you. Can you define you sexual for us?

[FKA Twigs]

Okay, so I can describe it in instances. So one instance could be when you are writing, you kind of lose yourself to the words and you get that good idea. Like maybe when you were trying to. What is it like? Must be vegan because she's chewing up the beat.

[Aaron Manke]

She ate these beets.

[FKA Twigs]

She ate these beets. Okay, so like.

[Aaron Manke]

Although you're not vegan anymore.

[FKA Twigs]

No, I'm not vegan.

[Aaron Manke]

Welcome to the dark side.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, welcome, sister.

[FKA Twigs]

So you know the moment when you thought of, oh, she Must be vegan. And then you're thinking, what do I put next? Because she ate these beets. That moment in between, the idea, that's you. Sexuality.

[Aaron Manke]

Okay, so it's like right on the epiphany or right on the cusp of, like. Epiphany.

[FKA Twigs]

Exactly. Realization, Pure presence. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Edging to eureka.

[FKA Twigs]

Well, it's actually true because I also describe it as the moment before an orgasm as well.

[Podcast Host]

There you go.

[FKA Twigs]

There's a moment of nothingness. You can't orgasm. If you're thinking.

[Podcast Host]

I've heard that.

[Aaron Manke]

I. I've tried, certainly tried. Many, many times. Is it a portmanteau of euphorian sexuality or.

[FKA Twigs]

It's actually not. No, actually, I started thinking about art. Sexual. And then I didn't actually like the sexual part of it because it's not. It's not about.

[Podcast Host]

Right.

[FKA Twigs]

Sex, per se. So then I just kept on riffing on the word in my kitchen for an evening. And then you. Sexual came to me.

[Podcast Host]

Is the kitchen the best place to riff? A lot of people riff in the shower, as an example.

[Aaron Manke]

A lot of people orgasm in the shower, too. And in the kitchen.

[FKA Twigs]

Okay.

[Aaron Manke]

Do you make up other words or language for around this project?

[FKA Twigs]

Oh, so many.

[Aaron Manke]

What else? What else we got?

[FKA Twigs]

Well, I came up with a whole somatic healing movement method to go with you sexual. It's called. It's called the 11.

[Aaron Manke]

The 11.

[Podcast Host]

Okay.

[Aaron Manke]

How does one practice the 11?

[Podcast Host]

Tell us more.

[FKA Twigs]

Really. We're going to go in. You ready?

[Aaron Manke]

We got four hours before your flight.

[FKA Twigs]

Right. So I came up with a movement method to basically. Well, it was to help me essentially really focus on you. Sexual. And also get my life back together a bit because it spiraled. And So I identified 11 aspects of my life that I felt if I concentrated on them and if I put in a little bit of love and time and creation into these 11 aspects of my life, then I could be either ready for you. Sexual, or in a constant state of usexua. So I'll go through them. Yeah, well, I won't go through them all. I'll go through some.

[Podcast Host]

The highlights, if you will. The most important ones.

[FKA Twigs]

Okay, so one is called keychaining. So when you keychain. So say, for example, if you have a keychain and there's loads of keys on it, it's really hard to fit in your pocket. It's heavy in your bag. It's really annoying and it's clunky. So if you look at those keys and you think, okay, I don't need my bike shed key on there. I don't need, like, my mum's, like, house key on there all the time. I don't need this on there. So you take it off and then you have, like, five main keys on your keychain. Then all of a sudden you can put it in your pocket, you can clip it on your jeans, and it's easier. That's the way I see friends, and that's the way I see my family.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, wow.

[FKA Twigs]

So rather than trying to carry all of these keys around with me all the time, keychaining is when you actively decide who are the key players in your life and you make a conscious decision to interact with them more. Be a better friend, a better daughter, a better sister, brother, whatever it is.

[Podcast Host]

We're cutting off and ghosting all the unnecessary keys.

[FKA Twigs]

No, you don't. But I think it's just like, with love, you. You know where your priorities lie. And it doesn't mean, like, don't talk to other people. It just means that if you've got a friend that calls you once a month and, like, really stresses you out, you don't necessarily have to, like, ingest that into your nervous system. You can kind of be like, okay, like, you know, I don't need to, like, take that in.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

If you will.

[Aaron Manke]

It's kind of like MySpace top eight. Or the T mobile five circle five.

[Podcast Host]

Right.

[Aaron Manke]

It's like, this is. This is my. These are my people. This is my circle.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, exactly, exactly. So key chaining would be going through your life and looking at who makes you feel good, who you make feel good, like, the relationships that really mean something to you. It's kind of hard. I've got to hold on to this microphone. But the. I came up with movement cues. So basically, level one is like a cue that you can do for yourself. So say, for example, if I was talking to you and you were doing my head in, I would link my fingers because it's basically a physical cue to remind. Remind myself, like, not to ingest it. It doesn't. It's not really that serious if you're being annoying, because you're not part of my keychain.

[Podcast Host]

Right. Okay.

[Aaron Manke]

So it's like a. Yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

So you can do this. You can put it behind your head or, you know, like behind your back. And it's just a physical embodiment for you so that, you know, like, I'm practicing this as it's happening to me in the real world.

[Aaron Manke]

Don't consume the bad stuff coming at me. Right. Now.

[FKA Twigs]

Exactly. And then, and then level, Level two of the movement is a movement meditation that you can do at home. I advise doing it for 11. You do it in the morning. Say if you know that you want to work on keychaining, like in with your morning stretch or your sit ups or your yoga, whatever it is. You do this movement that I've invented. And it's just a way to embody like conscious action on repeat. So it's like you're embodying physically the thing that, you know, you want to work on practically, emotionally, spiritually, physically in your day.

[Podcast Host]

Damn. We only deal with people that invent shit.

[Aaron Manke]

We're out here, you're out here literally moving different.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

And like, it's one thing to say like, oh, I invented this movement, but it is like we're talking to where you watch like, like the Drums of Death video and you are like, how does the human body move?

[Podcast Host]

Like, right?

[Aaron Manke]

Never. I've literally never seen that happen before. How. It's okay. Besides inventing movements and inventing movement practices, how else is this album different from any other project you've put out?

[FKA Twigs]

I think in this album it's the first time I feel I've been able to really consolidate all of my skills. And I feel that I've been doing it long enough to know what my strengths are, to be able to make sure I get them all into one project. You know, some projects have been really experimental and really indicative of the scene that I'm in or the community I have around me or my imagination or Some projects have been very focused on what I'm feeling at the time or maybe exploring different styles of songwriting. Some projects are really based around movement. I think, like Magdalene was a very movement based album, like with the wushu and the.

[Aaron Manke]

Oh, yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

Pole dancing. But on this project I've been able to shove them all into the box, which I think comes with maturity.

[Aaron Manke]

No sword fighting on this album.

[FKA Twigs]

Maybe on tour, um, if somebody tries.

[Aaron Manke]

To bum rush the stages, it's over.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

Bust out the wushu sword and it's a rap, right?

[FKA Twigs]

Exactly.

[Aaron Manke]

Have you ever sword fought someone? Or is that not what wushu's about?

[FKA Twigs]

Only in like, Sad Day, you don't.

[Podcast Host]

Seem like a very aggressive person.

[Aaron Manke]

Have you. Besides, like leaning into your strengths, have you developed any like. Or tapped into maybe schools of like, vocal practice that like, that maybe weren't appearing necessarily as much as in previous albums?

[FKA Twigs]

Well, I think I've been able to consolidate them okay. You know, because I'm operatically trained so I've always had, like, that range and then. But not necessarily wanted to make opera, but I feel like I've been able to. You know, I think for me, part of me maturing as an artist is, like, embracing the things that are strange about me and highlighting them rather than trying to hide them or obscure them or, you know, do something that doesn't come naturally. So I don't know. I. I think it's just a maturity thing, honestly, and I think it's a lot to do with decision making, you know, like, for me, being a strong artist is about making strong decisions for yourself.

[Podcast Host]

Or do you consider, like, the perception that other people have when you make those decisions?

[FKA Twigs]

Oh, for the work.

[Podcast Host]

Okay.

[FKA Twigs]

You know, some of my, like, projects that I feel like, have needed more practice. It's not because they weren't great. It's because of a lack of strong decision making. Cutting tracks.

[Podcast Host]

Decisive.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, Cutting tracks. Cutting. Yeah. Power and restraint. Exactly, exactly, exactly. So I feel like there's been a lot of restraint and decision making and, like, beautiful but ruthless. You know, that's a.

[Podcast Host]

For her business card. Beautiful but ruthless.

[FKA Twigs]

Well, nature.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, true.

[FKA Twigs]

Nature's beautiful but ruthless. Like, art is beautiful.

[Aaron Manke]

Lioness will eat her cubs or something. I don't know, maybe. Oh, a shark. A shark will eat her fish.

[FKA Twigs]

Well, I think all species eat their babies if they're not healthy or, like, can be known to.

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah, nature.

[FKA Twigs]

Survival of the fittest.

[Aaron Manke]

But beautiful. When did you fire up the Notes app? Like, when did the first inklings of the Usexual project start swirling around your brain?

[FKA Twigs]

So I. I lived in Prague for a few months, and I discovered dance music in a way. I mean, obviously, I've always been around dance music, but it's never really impacted me. Impacted me in a spiritual way. But I felt that going out in Prague and dancing and moving and just experiencing the club culture there in a city which is like. I mean, Prague's very beautiful, but it's very. No, I think it's like Prague's really unaware of how great it is, which is really amazing. You don't get that kind of fashionista, hipster kind of humble city. It's not humble. I feel like it's got a lot of pride, actually. It knows what it is, but I don't think it realizes, like, it's super fly. Like, it's like the way that people dress and they're not dressing that way to pull a look. They dress that way because that's just what was in their wardrobe, you know, it's like very like utilitarian in a way. Impractical. And, And Prague.

[Aaron Manke]

Or did you just kind of end up there? Or like, what, how did you end up there?

[FKA Twigs]

I was working on a project there.

[Aaron Manke]

Okay.

[FKA Twigs]

So I ended up being there for four months and just every weekend I was out exploring the nightlife and meeting people and just kind of finding what city life looks like when it's not contrived, when it's unaware, when it's. It felt almost like a secret in a way. Like if you know, you know, which I mean, I love culture, I love subcultures. And now because of the Internet, it's like everything just gets put on blast so much that it's hard to create a sacred environment around an expression or, you know, it's hard because I think we're all so weird. Like, humans are like so bizarre, but we're like forced into these like nine to fives or, you know, even with my job, sometimes I'm like, I'm just way more weird even than like my job even can allow, allow, you know, like the mania of what it is to be human. And then there's these incredible outlets and outlets can be skating or surfing or a type of music and. And the incredible thing, at least where I, when I grew up, is to kind of earn your stripes in the thing that you're excited about. You have to kind of put in the time and do the research. Like, you know, skating's not like an aesthetic. It's like a very difficult skill that you have to absolutely your body up a lot to get good at. And now it's. That thing has kind of gone. I mean, even being a goth, for example, like the music that you're into and like your emotions and the way that you see things and the alchemy that like goes into being a goth and what you have to go through at school or in the workplace to like be a goth.

[Podcast Host]

You have to be bullied.

[FKA Twigs]

Well, yeah, kind of.

[Aaron Manke]

You have to be marginalized.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, yeah, you have to be marginalized and you have to be okay with that and know that the music that you're listening to, that when you put in the headphones, it's wor worth it. It's worth the. That you get at school because when you go home, you play the music and that is bigger than what's happening to you because of like where you are, where you're at emotionally, or when.

[Aaron Manke]

You find a like minded spirit in like a space that has been created by you guys before you guys.

[FKA Twigs]

Well, exactly. And that's what a subculture is. And it's really hard to find that now because we're so much online.

[Aaron Manke]

So you just buy the goth kit on Amazon?

[FKA Twigs]

Well, they know, literally.

[Podcast Host]

Starter kit.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That is what it's like.

[Aaron Manke]

But. And so did you find, like, that outlet and these untapped more. I don't know if this is the right word. Like, pure subcultures in Prague?

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, I did. Yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

And you're like, I have to stay here and tap into that.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah. And I lived it. Like, I fully just went there and I just lived it.

[Aaron Manke]

And did you feel like a. Do you feel like a noob the first time you went to, like, a Prague rave where you're like, oh, I got to earn my stripes.

[FKA Twigs]

No, she's still fk.

[Podcast Host]

Twix, let's be real.

[FKA Twigs]

No, I just felt like. I felt. I felt, like, without sounding cheesy, if I got healed in a lot of ways, you know, I felt like, how amazing to be, like, in this place and for my body to feel this way and to be dancing in this music and to be so inspired. I felt lucky.

[Podcast Host]

Did Prague embrace you as much as you embraced it?

[FKA Twigs]

I don't think Prague gives a fuck about me.

[Podcast Host]

Is that, like, one of the benefits of being in Prague, where they're like, they don't give a. I don't know.

[FKA Twigs]

Like, I just move about, like, I don't really listen.

[Aaron Manke]

I just get your macho.

[FKA Twigs]

No, no. Like, I just, like. I move about, like, very. Like a civilian. I am a very normal person. I walk my dogs, I go to the shop, I get my groceries. You know, it's. It's something that I've really made sure that I've always held onto. And I've been doing this now for 10 years, and I've been at times, like, blasted into the spotlight. And I've had times where I've, like, been able to be very low key. But I can honestly say I've always moved the same, whether it's New York, London, pr. I don't find it that difficult. Like, I. I feel like I've had friends or I've, like, dated people where maybe it is more difficult, but I just always encourage, I guess, people in the public eyes. You just put on this, like, invisibility jacket, and you don't even have to dress down or anything.

[Aaron Manke]

Well, I don't think the invisibility cloak is not.

[FKA Twigs]

I'm chilled. This is a very chill outfit.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, you're gonna fly in that.

[Aaron Manke]

It feels very regular. What about, like, what is. What about the raves and the club scene in Prague is like, unique to you? Like, what do you find new and exciting?

[FKA Twigs]

There's like a really beautiful etiquette. It's like the etiquette of a mosh pit, you know, or like the etiquette of surfing a wave in the sense that you can like dance really hard and you can swear and go absolutely crazy, but no one's gonna like, bang into you or like rub up on you too much unless you want it. And it's kind of. There's just this amazing etiquette that we're all there to let something go. We're all there to be in this experience together, to. To have this release from the week, to have this moment of just forgetting that you're human and being there together. It's like, I describe it, you just become this like, amoeba and it's this understanding of no judgment and being able to like, dance in really, like, weird and like, awkward ways and just let the rhythm rattle around your body and, and let the drums tell you and the beat tell you what you're going to do rather than being, you know, like. It's not like bottles and models cloud, where you've got to like. Right.

[Podcast Host]

It's a true corn experience.

[Aaron Manke]

You're not pouring out bottles of Dom.

[FKA Twigs]

No.

[Aaron Manke]

Does it feel good, especially for someone who's been in the Spotlight for over 10 years now, to kind of like be a smaller part of a bigger thing, which is just like the energy in the space.

[FKA Twigs]

I don't understand the question.

[Aaron Manke]

Like, you just let go and the drums are telling you how to move. You're not necessarily. You're not FK Twigs anymore. You're just kind of like a microorganism in the larger club ecosystem.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, for sure. But I've always felt like that. Okay, I've always felt like that even like within the ballroom scene or cramping or I'm always just like. Just feel lucky to be there.

[Aaron Manke]

Okay, so then, for a rave, as a rave vet, dance scene vet, what are some tips from FK Twigs for a first time raver?

[FKA Twigs]

Oh, okay. Well, actually, like, I feel like one of my makeup artists, Lauren Reynolds, like, she does it so well. She's another like Capricorn sister and it's just kind of like, you know, like bags you don't have to hold. Like, I don't know, she has this like, thing about comfort when you're raving, where she has like this fanny pack and then it'll have like A lip balm in it, you know, some, like, toilet roll. Cause, like, the better the rave, like, the less likely there is to be toilet roll.

[Aaron Manke]

Right? Or it's like single ply, probably.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, you like, you know, mints, chewing. I think it's kind of like camping, you know, supplies.

[Podcast Host]

Especially if you go long enough.

[FKA Twigs]

No, it's like. It is literally, like, supplies survival kit. It's like a survival blisters for your boots or whatever. Comfortable shoes. No, it is kind of like that. And I always was so happy when we were out together because I'd be like, Lauren, like, I need this. And she'd be like, okay, like a mum. And then I said to her one time, I was like, how do you do this? And she just said to me, I just like to be comfortable when I'm out. And I was like, yes, that's a rave mom. A rave mom. Like, I just want to be comfortable. Like, just good shoes.

[Podcast Host]

So James and I, when we go to Array, we should wear Athleisure, some, like, Lululemon, maybe some aloe and a survival kit.

[Aaron Manke]

Gotta bring some deodorant.

[Podcast Host]

We're not gonna stick out sweatbands.

[FKA Twigs]

Have you.

[Aaron Manke]

Have you ever been to Berghain?

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

What was the. Okay. What advice do you have for someone to try to get in there? Because the whole thing is like, oh, you gotta, like, not dress, but dress well. But dress a certain way. Or not dress a certain way.

[FKA Twigs]

I. I don't know what was.

[Aaron Manke]

What. What are, like, the fits you wear when you go to Berghain?

[FKA Twigs]

Was anything?

[Aaron Manke]

Anything?

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Or nothing?

[FKA Twigs]

Anything, I think. I don't know.

[Podcast Host]

Do you have a favorite room?

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, but I'm not going to say.

[Podcast Host]

Okay.

[FKA Twigs]

Okay.

[Aaron Manke]

Is it subterranean? No, no, no. Back to the back.

[FKA Twigs]

Actually, talking of Bergheim, Drums of Death was actually mixed in Bergheim.

[Aaron Manke]

Really? Yeah, it was. Sound system is like.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah. So Corliss, the producer of Drums of Death, he made the song I Believe on the way to Berlin. And then he was playing a set and he had some time, like, before or after his set, and he mixed Drums of Death and finished the track in the main room in Berkeley.

[Podcast Host]

Kind of hear that? Now that you mentioned it, yeah. You got bangs.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, bangs.

[Aaron Manke]

Do you give your music, like, the club the rave test? Like, you get. You got to get the whip test. Right? Play it in the car. Do you also got to play it in the. In the club to make sure it goes crazy on the speakers on that level. Sound system.

[FKA Twigs]

Did I? Yeah, I guess we did, but not really. Did we not. Yes, we did play in a couple clubs, but not like the type of clubs where maybe it's supposed to be heard. Do you know what I mean?

[Aaron Manke]

We definitely. At the Polo club.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Country club.

[FKA Twigs]

I don't know. I mean, I think that Lewis and I, more than playing it in clubs, whenever we felt like we were lost, we did go and have a good night out just to focus, you know? Because sometimes, you know, you're going out, you're raving, you're having all these incredible experiences, and then you. You're in the studio and you sort of, like, wearing sweatpants for six months.

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

Sort of like ordering food on, like, Uber Eats or delivery or whatever. It's kind of like the antithesis of, like, from once the idea came with.

[Aaron Manke]

The music should be living.

[Podcast Host]

Yes.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, exactly. So we did definitely make sure that we touched back in. And even on the track, like, at the end of a song, perfectly, there's wave sounds, and that's the actual. The ocean in a beaver. And we were kind of out and recording nature where we were, and sounds from the environments of, you know, either places that have really inspired rave culture or clubs.

[Aaron Manke]

Do you have a favorite song on the album?

[FKA Twigs]

Oh, it's so hard. It just changes all the time.

[Aaron Manke]

What is it today?

[Podcast Host]

We told you some of our favorites.

[Aaron Manke]

So my favorite is Sticky, I think.

[FKA Twigs]

I think, honestly. Yeah, it's so. I always hope people will say Sticky, actually.

[Aaron Manke]

I didn't know that.

[Podcast Host]

This guy's like.

[FKA Twigs]

It's very, like, intimate.

[Aaron Manke]

No, really? Because it's like. It's also like a kind of like a. It's like halfway through the album. Ish. So it's like a demarcation where it's, like, starts really hard. The album.

[FKA Twigs]

Right.

[Aaron Manke]

It's going crazy.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

Fucking feel like I'm John Wick in the club. And then it, like, slows down. It's like a moment, like, levity and clarity, but then it kind of builds back up again.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, exactly. Well, sticky for me, that lyric, it says, like, I'm tired of messing up my life with over complicated moments and sticky situations. That's really how I was feeling before I made you sexual. I just felt like everything was a mess.

[Podcast Host]

It's like a thesis.

[FKA Twigs]

Well, it's just kind of like, you know, like loads of, like, interpersonal, like, weird sticky stuff. And I feel, you know, those things are really important, I think, to grow as a human. But sometimes it's just like, damn, like, shut up. You know, Sometimes, like. Well, at least with my life, I found Sometimes you can soar and, like, all your relationships are good and everything's, like, amazing. And other times, just you get these, like, niggles with so many people. And if you ever had that, we have, like, tiny little interpersonal rubs with either at work or your partner or like, this or that, and you're, like, fighting for your life.

[Podcast Host]

Well, that's why I practice keychaining, honestly.

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah. You know, Sticky Situation, otherwise known as the Basement Berghain. Do you get nervous in the run up to a project, or at this point, are you just, like, all right, Like, I know it's good.

[Podcast Host]

No Skips.

[FKA Twigs]

I do feel that you Sexual is a no Skips album, I have to say.

[Podcast Host]

I mean, we can attest to that.

[FKA Twigs]

I do. I feel very proud of that. That's kind of something for everybody on that or every mood. That's why I feel like my favorite changes a lot. Okay. But it's a lot.

[Aaron Manke]

It hits a lot of different tones, but it's, like, cohesive still. Like, it's a little bit of everything, but it all feels gelled.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah. Which I. I feel like that's when I'm really, like, on my game. I thought that's what I'm good at as an artist. Like LP1 or like Magdalene, you know, it's like. Well, Madeline actually was very, like, one vibe, but LP1 actually skitted around a lot, but it somehow was all the same. So it's kind of nice to be able to bring that skill back into usexua from LP1. No, I don't really get nervous making it, but I. It's just, you know, sometimes you put it out, it's. The culture changes so much, and it's like all of the opinions and everything exists online. Whereas I'm a real world artist.

[Podcast Host]

Right.

[FKA Twigs]

I exist in the real world. And I actually. I've recently got new management and I'm trying to, like, really, really explain to them why I think, like, what works about me. And I keep on saying, you know, I have to exist in the real world. It's so important that people feel me in the real world, because I am in the real world, like, doing things. I'm. I'm in the clubs, I'm at the dance classes, I'm in the communities. Like, that's just who I am as a human. And so I want people to feel that from me. But everything when you put on an album is, like, online.

[Aaron Manke]

So I'm gonna say twigs. What's your screen time?

[FKA Twigs]

Oh, terrible at the moment.

[Aaron Manke]

It's really bad.

[FKA Twigs]

Probably at the moment, it's really bad.

[Aaron Manke]

Is it mostly Instagram?

[Podcast Host]

Oh, what's the app of choice? Where do you do scroll?

[FKA Twigs]

Honestly, like, duolingo for me is a big one.

[Aaron Manke]

Really? What language are you learning?

[FKA Twigs]

French.

[Podcast Host]

How's it going?

[FKA Twigs]

It's. I almost wanted to say something in French, but then I got shy, literally. It's going pretty well, I think, because I don't like being touched a lot. And so sometimes when I'm in hair and makeup, I really was getting into the habit of doom scrolling a lot. So then I got duolingo. So when I'm in hair and makeup, which is obviously a lot, I can learn something and do something productive with my time. And then I'm gonna go back on. I had this piano app a while ago where you, like, press the notes. You know, it helps with your pitch that you can kind of. Oh, I'm gonna do that as well. So probably at the moment, my screen time is a lot of duolingo. And I try. I mean, I. I'm not gonna say I don't do it, actually. It's one of the 11 kroning. Oh, yeah, yeah. One of the 11 is croning, which is about your relationship with technology. And to krone is basically when you lose your own opinion to the algorithm, it's kind of a step further from doom scrolling.

[Aaron Manke]

I've been there.

[Podcast Host]

That is too real.

[FKA Twigs]

It's kind of like when you get an opinion, but you don't know if that opinion is just being given to you from the Internet, whether you thought of it yourself, like, what came first, the chicken or the egg.

[Aaron Manke]

We're trying to battle against that every day of our lives and educate people to, like, recognize and think critically. Like, do I actually like this thing, or am I just being told I want to like this?

[FKA Twigs]

It's literally so confusing. But actually croning the movement for that, I can't do it because I. You've told me I have to hold this microphone, but it's to rub your hands.

[Aaron Manke]

So when you do this, you're like, oh, I need to put my phone down.

[FKA Twigs]

Well, yeah, to put your phone down. Or if you are in a social situation, if you're out at dinner, for example, and you find that you want to. If you've ever been out, and you just find you want to get out your phone, like, the conversation lulls and.

[Podcast Host]

You just think, yeah, or like, it's a reflex.

[Aaron Manke]

The more standard thing is, is people put their phones on the table and it's like, well, aren't we supposed to be, like, eating and chilling and hanging out?

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, exactly. It's like that thing. I don't know. Do you ever get this thing where you, like, pick up your phone? I use your phone. Pick up your phone. And then you're just like, yeah. You know, you have to, like, quickly put it down because you're like, yeah, it does feel like that. You're like, no, like, I wasn't. You know. So in those moments, level one is when you rub your hands together and then you think of three things in the room.

[Aaron Manke]

So please don't name the mess.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

So what's working?

[FKA Twigs]

That's a lot of stuff over there.

[Podcast Host]

It's work.

[FKA Twigs]

There's a lot of junk in there.

[Aaron Manke]

Hey, those are.

[FKA Twigs]

Those are samples.

[Podcast Host]

Twigs.

[Aaron Manke]

What the hell? If it's ever a problem at dinner, one thing is everyone puts their phone in a pile and the first person to reach their phone has to pay for everyone's dinner. Oh, yeah, yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

That is.

[Aaron Manke]

We're leveraging capitalism. We're leveraging capitalism against you.

[FKA Twigs]

No, I love that.

[Podcast Host]

Feel free to take that one.

[FKA Twigs]

I'm gonna take that one for your next dinner party.

[Aaron Manke]

The most, like, addicted person. And then some people are like, fuck it, I just need to get my.

[Podcast Host]

It's the tax. It's a screen time tax.

[FKA Twigs]

So you rub your hands and you think of three things in the room. So what am I thinking of? I'm thinking of, like, the lights are creating a glow off this wall here. You see that, like, glow that red? Yeah, yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

That's a clock. That's your. That's your glam team's aura right there. That's what that is.

[FKA Twigs]

And then the temperature is, like, slightly below room temperature in here.

[Podcast Host]

We told you would make it warmer for you.

[FKA Twigs]

No, it's fine. I like it in case, honestly, I need it to stay awake.

[Aaron Manke]

And then things you see, it's like.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, it's like sensory. And then I feel like. Because it's a bit cold. No, it doesn't smell, but like, the air. The air is like, a bit, like, minty because it's a bit cold. It's like crisp. It's a bit crisp in the room. So I think of those three things.

[Podcast Host]

To chew five gum.

[FKA Twigs]

And then. Exactly. And then all of a sudden I am, like, very present. Like, I'm back here and I find a way. I actually don't want that anymore.

[Podcast Host]

It's tether back.

[Aaron Manke]

Get my phone away from you.

[FKA Twigs]

Yes.

[Aaron Manke]

As an artist who is constantly pushing the boundaries of multiple mediums and like learning new skills. Whether it's a new language, a new dance practice, or movement practice, what aspect of your work do you think is most underappreciated for how difficult it actually is?

[FKA Twigs]

Oh, wow.

[Aaron Manke]

Talk your.

[FKA Twigs]

Oh, I don't even want to get into that question.

[Aaron Manke]

Is it the dance?

[Podcast Host]

You get your flowers for the. For the skills there.

[Aaron Manke]

Is it the songwriting?

[Podcast Host]

Is your rapping?

[Aaron Manke]

She's got spit, dude.

[Podcast Host]

Let's be real. She's got it like that.

[FKA Twigs]

What part is most underrated?

[Aaron Manke]

Under for help for the difficulty.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

Because you make it look so easy.

[Podcast Host]

Ah, there it is.

[FKA Twigs]

I think it's probably that I just really conceive of all the ideas myself, and. And I really, truly have a hand in everything. And I feel like such a world builder in, like, an old, traditional sense.

[Aaron Manke]

You're not having the label marketing to me, like, hey, this is what's gonna pop on the algo.

[FKA Twigs]

No, like, even. I mean, even. For example, if we talk about my Yousexua matcha. Matchiful. You know, I was. I had a long period of not having management. Like, maybe almost a year. I didn't have a manager. And so I was thinking. I also didn't have. I haven't. Didn't have any team. Basically, for the whole time I was making you sexual. I mean, I had Atlantic and, like, a few key players, but I was very, very. I just shut down. I was like, no, I just need to change them. I keychain everything hard. No. After lockdown, I literally was just like.

[Podcast Host]

The juice is loose, dude.

[FKA Twigs]

I was very like that. So I started to think I didn't have a publicist either. And I was like, oh, I'm not gonna, like, do a magazine cover on top of the album, because I just don't have a publicist.

[Aaron Manke]

Until you ended up on a podcast.

[Podcast Host]

That's why you're here. You up?

[FKA Twigs]

But no, then I was thinking about, I want people to feel me. I want people to taste me in the real world. So I. I do really love Matcha. For whenever I come to New York, I'm always like, yeah, I get to go have my favorite matcha.

[Aaron Manke]

You're literally feeding for it. When you walked in the room, she.

[Podcast Host]

Was so mean about it. I was like, damn, diva. What the hell?

[FKA Twigs]

No, I wasn't. I was very nice. And. And so then I just thought, oh, I'll just DM them.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, wow, you just floated.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah. So I just, like, I'm just gonna, like, DM and just say, like, hey, do you want to make a You sexual matcha. And, like, what?

[Aaron Manke]

They're like. That sounds unsafe. What do you tell us more? It's like, no, no, no, no, no.

[Podcast Host]

The FDA is gonna be on our house tahini.

[Aaron Manke]

It has spirulina.

[FKA Twigs]

Exactly. So. So, yeah, then we started building this amazing relationship together and. And I. I guess my point is, is I've just never really had marketing or branding or creative director in a traditional sense. You know, I just think of things myself and. And do them for the listeners at home.

[Aaron Manke]

Is there a code they can use to maybe drop a matcha and matcha full and get a free FK twig macho?

[FKA Twigs]

I mean, we can. We can.

[Podcast Host]

We'll set that up.

[FKA Twigs]

Think about it. I'm gonna DM match. Hey, guys. Me again.

[Aaron Manke]

So everything does come from a singular source, which is yourself.

[FKA Twigs]

No, it really does.

[Aaron Manke]

Visuals, the song, the world building, like you said.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, exactly. And I think that it's kind of. I feel like I'm be very honest here. I feel like for the past 10 years, I've often been used as, like, a mood board for a lot of artists and. Yeah, and. And I feel that I'm at a point in my career where, like, the creative industry really knows who I am. But maybe, like, your grandma doesn't or your auntie doesn't or.

[Aaron Manke]

But in a way, they do.

[Podcast Host]

Don't underestimate the women in my family.

[Aaron Manke]

Their taste level.

[FKA Twigs]

Twigs, please. What? They, like banging. They're, like, listening to what? Like. But in a way, the deep cuts of, like, EP too. Like, like, how's that? That's my jam.

[Aaron Manke]

But in a way, they have seen, like, twigs just filtered and diluted. And they've seen diet twigs.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And I'm not even, like. I mean, I keep it very classy. Like, obviously some things have really hurt. If it's super, if it's really something that I've poured my, like, guts into. So say, for example, for me, like, the Cellophane video, when I made that, honestly, like, it took me a year and I learned I couldn't pole dance. So I wrote Cellophane, I could not pole dance. And I was like, the video is pole dancing, and the video is breaking down. Like, the sensuality of a woman and the sexual strength of a woman, which, for me, the pinnacle of that would be like, a beautiful woman on a pole in a strip club. Like, that, to me is like, wow, that's so incredible. And I'm going to, like, distort. I'm going to distill all the layers of that. And I wanted to show, you know, the journey that I'd been through in my body because I'd had to have this crazy operation and. And build myself back up. And I went through all of this thing, and then to see, like, other artists just literally, like, take it, you know, like, scene for scene, and Nora just.

[Aaron Manke]

Just. Just kidding.

[FKA Twigs]

And. And, you know, like, when I saw that, it really hit me. But then sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes I'm like, oh, you know, it's kind of. It's part of being an artist. And, yeah, it is flattering.

[Aaron Manke]

Does that. Does that compel you to just, like, continue building new world? And, like, not to gas you up, but Lawrence and I, when we were talking about yo, it kind of is like, Prince or Bowie, where, like, every project does have, like, a new character and world to it. Does that compel you to keep iterating, keep evolving? Because you know that everyone just rips you off.

[FKA Twigs]

Not because of that. No, that doesn't come into it. But I am evolving because I am a human, and, like, my desire is to evolve.

[Podcast Host]

You're a real artist.

[Aaron Manke]

You're like a Pokemon.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. To get a signature matcha and learn French.

[Aaron Manke]

This version of Twigs knows French.

[Podcast Host]

Check, check.

[Aaron Manke]

What about. So, like, when you are embarking on your project with you, you know, you sexually, in this case, like, besides creating the music, creating the world, what is the component specifically that gets you the most excited? Is it the music videos and the visuals? Is it the live performing? Is it having income again or.

[FKA Twigs]

Ah. I think it is maybe that moment that I know what the album's about, because sometimes I'm just writing, and then I'm writing. And I remember even, like, with Magdalene, for example, when I realized it was like this heartbreak album, I was like, no. I called my old manager in tears. He's like, what's wrong? What's wrong? I'm like, I'm making a heartbreak album. I was like, I don't want to. I just want to be fab. Because off the back of it, I just wanted to be, like, iconic and fab and, like, Like, I had, you know, after LP1 and after two weeks, I was like, oh, my gosh. I want to make these, like, emotional, like, bangers and. And. But, like, hard and sexy and tough. And I wanted to pick up the pace and do this kind of. I don't know, like, I was very inspired by Aaliyah or, like, Janet Jackson and the way that they would perform with us. And I was like, oh, I want to find My own way of doing that. And then I was writing home with you, and.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

And no matter how hard I tried to kind of reach for this thing, it just kept on coming back to like Mirrored Heart or like Daybed. And I was like, no, you know, those were the things.

[Podcast Host]

Yes, that was catharsis. Right by. That's like what.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Was telling your art. The art was dictating that you deal with that.

[FKA Twigs]

That thing. Exactly. And then you can't deny it. Then you've just got to go with it. So there is this beautiful moment where you realize what your soul is actually saying. Rather than what. Rather than what, like the mood board dictates or what you're like, list of songs that you really like are. It's kind of. No, it has to be honest. And that's the work that really resonates for me. And that's the work that I think stands the test of time for my fans and for culture and society. These are the things that will be rediscovered. And we've seen that with a lot of artists, even like Imogen Heap and Kate Bush and younger generations coming back to artists and being like, oh, wow, that's incredible. And it's. It was. Because it was real.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

You know, it's because that's a real expression. And we. We can't deny that you're so into that skid.

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah. Your soul right now is like, you gotta go out, just dance all night with your friends.

[FKA Twigs]

No, we actually have to go. No, because the world's weird. And so.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah. So I think the only option right now is to find moments. It. It's kind of. Well, it's selfish and it's. It's like being selfish and also having a community, I think, because at the moment, I feel like, at least for me, I need to have everything at home, very ordered. Because like, politics, everything is like so chaotic. The world, Instagram online, like the most famous people in the world are like, super chaotic. And so it really helps me to have less things. I mean, I've been doing these pop ups. I've been like, selling all of my stuff to my fans. It's been amazing. So I like, sell all my clothes, like my archive costumes, because I feel that in a way, by giving things to my fans, it's archived.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

Does that sound weird?

[Podcast Host]

Because unless they're going to resell it.

[FKA Twigs]

Well, yeah, but they can resell it. But. But at least if someone likes the costume that I wore, then it's like, oh, this is FK Twigs costume. I'm not going to screw it up and put it like I'm going to a good home, it's going to a good home and so it can be like collected again one day if it had to be. Anyway, my point is, is that I'm digressing, but my point is. Well, my point is, is that it's helpful for me to have all of my things right really ordered at home and to have less things and to really like know where everything is in my life. Because it means that when I go out or when I'm in a moment of artistic expression or even with friends and having a good time, I can actually let loose a bit more without the anxiety.

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[FKA Twigs]

Early ct mobile.com hi there podcast lover. If you have a dark sense of humor and like your true crime stories paired with a glass of wine, then you need to check out our true crime comedy podcast, Wine and Crime, hosted by two Minnesotan childhood besties, me Amanda and me Lucy.

[Aaron Manke]

Each week we dive into a bizarre true crime topic. Pair that topic with a wine and get into all the dirty details.

[FKA Twigs]

Wine and Crime is dark, fun, feminist and perfect for satisfying your morbid curiosities with a healthy dose of humor. Join us as we chug wine, chat true crime, and unleash our worst Minnesotan accents. Check us [e-mail] and listen now.

[Aaron Manke]

Wherever you get your podcasts, are you familiar with the meme where there's a guy at a club being interviewed and I feel like it kind of encapsulates a lot of you said not to boil down your incredible to a meme life's work to a single image, but it's a guy being interviewed and goes, you know I have it right here. I live in constant fear of the Westerner descent towards fascism. But I digress. The club Is bumping. The ladies look good. The alcohol is flowing. There's much pain in the world, but not in this room. I feel like that's kind of like what you're. What you're trying to put out there.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, I'm okay with it being distilled to that.

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah, exactly.

[Podcast Host]

I was Twigs approved.

[FKA Twigs]

I was worried. But maybe, maybe.

[Aaron Manke]

Is it too late to swap out the album cover to just that meme?

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, I mean, I, I think I keep on coming back to this. This lyric that I wrote in a bathroom in Prague, and it said this. This room of fools we make something together with open wounds we're bleeding out the pressure. Because I thought individually, this is so bizarre. But when we're all together, this is amazing. Like, it feels so important for us to be together right now. But, you know, I, I'm not very. How can I explain it? Like, I'm not a very, like, cynical person or I don't do things kind of ironically, you know. So for me, you, sexual is very heartfelt. And as much as, like, the club is this kind of absolute rage, I find it a very spiritual experience. And I'm hoping that through listening to the album and then through going out and ex and experiencing, like, techno clubs, as I hope people will start exploring. Because I have to be clear, like, this is not a techno album. This is a response to me going out.

[Podcast Host]

Right.

[FKA Twigs]

Does that make sense? It's not like this. The songs can work in a club, but it's not.

[Aaron Manke]

I'm pretty sure they're going to work at the club.

[FKA Twigs]

They do work in the club, but I feel that also the melodies and, and I've wanted it to be like, my spiritual response to having this. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

You found sincerity in the club?

[FKA Twigs]

Well, no, because I also will. Well, we'll know because it's loving it. We found some love in a hopeless place but no, we. I think for me, it's a balance because I, I didn't want it to be cynical and this, like, rage and this, like, it, like, thing.

[Aaron Manke]

Right.

[FKA Twigs]

But also, I really don't like being earnest. I have also a problem with, like, earnestness. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Really?

[Aaron Manke]

Lyrics are so the problem with being earnest.

[FKA Twigs]

I, I, I don't like too much, like, earnestness in art. Like, I like it to be like a bit of a. I still need to be a bit, like, cunty.

[Aaron Manke]

Okay. Yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

Like a bit of purse still, you know, a bit.

[Podcast Host]

So sincerity is a little weak. A dab of puss.

[FKA Twigs]

No, it's not weak. I just, like, it just doesn't always connect with me when something's like, super that's too sincere.

[Aaron Manke]

It is art that is to be consumed. Like, it can't be. It still has to be like. Like relatable.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, exactly.

[Aaron Manke]

And if you're completely earnest, I might not. It might not just miss me because, like, we're not exactly synced up.

[FKA Twigs]

Well, maybe, like, if it's too honest, like, for me, it would feel like self indulgent, I guess.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, that's fair.

[Aaron Manke]

Have you gotten any feedback on the album so far? That has really felt special and really stuck with you. Besides. Yeah, Besides from us being like, yo, bangs.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, no skips.

[FKA Twigs]

I mean, not many people have had it, honestly.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, really? Oh, I feel.

[Aaron Manke]

Wow.

[Podcast Host]

Feel very special.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah. Hardly anyone's had.

[Aaron Manke]

You know, the link that Nick keeps sending, sends me, keeps getting expired.

[Podcast Host]

Yes.

[Aaron Manke]

For a new one. What the is up with that?

[FKA Twigs]

Really? Maybe that's why.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

Not many people have heard it up until this point.

[Aaron Manke]

Well, thanks. Well, look, people, I think, like, project. Project people are always so impressed by the commitment to evolving experimentation, whether that's music, the visuals, the Twigs character for that, you know, specific to that time and everything you touch. And it does feel like going back a little bit. Like. It does feel like that. Stand in stark contrast to most of cultural art, pop culture art these days, which feels like, disposable, driven by the algos, formulaic. Do you ever feel like you want to just say, fuck it, I'm a drop a catchy fucking sugary hook, do a viral dance on TikTok, just call it day.

[FKA Twigs]

No.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

It wouldn't. It's not easy for me.

[Podcast Host]

Really.

[FKA Twigs]

No.

[Podcast Host]

You couldn't just bang out. So I'm like, okay, this will. This will go viral.

[Aaron Manke]

No getting Twiggy with it. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[Podcast Host]

Everybody do the Twiggy.

[FKA Twigs]

What's the Twiggy?

[Aaron Manke]

But you're doing it. It's a 12th movie. How would it.

[FKA Twigs]

Just a little doggy might be, like, a lot of, like, shaking and, like, guttural sounds. Yeah, exactly like. But it, like, calms your polyvagal nerve.

[Aaron Manke]

But, like, you have to get one of these chairs. Actually, I feel like these chairs are exactly what they're giving.

[FKA Twigs]

Like, drums of drums. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

But right as culture, to James's point, like, is becoming way more superficial. Is that like, the consumer, you think? Becoming lazier? Because discovery is so easy and attention spans are shorter. So, like, long form, in depth stuff. Is it just, like, not in vote, like, who's to blame?

[Aaron Manke]

Literally?

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

I Actually think we're on the reverse.

[Podcast Host]

Really.

[FKA Twigs]

I really do. Yeah. We're on the upswing. I actually think that people are really searching for talent. They're searching for amazing dancers within the music industry, singers. I think that the things that are starting to go viral now are less kind of like the silly dance, but more kind of somebody doing something incredible with their craft. Yeah. I think it's slow, but I can really see it. It's happening and I think. I know it's happening because people are starting to like with me again. So I. I think, you know. And also people stop with you in.

[Podcast Host]

Your opinion or something like.

[FKA Twigs]

No, I think like.

[Aaron Manke]

Like, where's. Where's Twig? She's in some. Some dark. She's in Dog. Where'd she.

[Podcast Host]

Dracula's.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, I've just been like. I've just been like under the radar, I feel like for years really. I've just been kind of like visceral.

[Aaron Manke]

Reaction to like, especially. I think it was Drums of Death was at the beginning of you sexy video. And then people are like, yo, what the is this? We need. We need this.

[FKA Twigs]

Was I surprised?

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

No, it's amazing.

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

Like, it's sick.

[Aaron Manke]

But it is like a nine minute.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

Video. Right. With the two.

[FKA Twigs]

But that song normal. But think about like Prince or like Bowie, like they do like a five minute intro or something like that is for me the great.

[Aaron Manke]

For you. That's. You want to bring that back because Otherwise it's like 15 second tick tock.

[FKA Twigs]

Honestly, like bring music videos back, bring long form musical content back. Bring rock operas. I mean, look at like Bohemian Rhapsody, you know, like even some incredible pop songs. Like amazing. Michael Jackson songs are like four or five minutes long. Even if you look at Sade, like some of her songs are four or five minutes long.

[Aaron Manke]

Freebird, 14 minutes.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

Leonard Skinner.

[FKA Twigs]

Okay.

[Podcast Host]

Meatless. Yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

Okay.

[Podcast Host]

I would do anything for love.

[FKA Twigs]

Oh, exactly.

[Podcast Host]

But.

[Aaron Manke]

But okay. Yes. I think you think that we are swinging back towards that 100.

[FKA Twigs]

Music is such a gift to music artists. It's like to be a music artist. It's so incredible because you. It's not a film. It's not so long, but. But it's just enough time where you can really change people's perception of an idea of their heart, of a lover, of a feeling of anger, of hope. And I think it's been really hard to encapsulate that in like 7.7seconds on TikTok. You know, I don't.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

But we try, but it's tough.

[FKA Twigs]

It's tough, but I don't think I'm ever going to fit into that. And I think the biggest relief for me is really drilling down on the fact that that's not necessarily going to work for me. And I think also, I mean, I've been signed to Atlantic now for a couple of years and this is my first project putting out with them. And they're really amazing, actually. And I think they see that with me now. When I was with them yesterday and we were kind of saying, yeah, like, what works is just me being weird and experimental and expressive and honest, and that's what really works.

[Aaron Manke]

And that's honestly both surprising and refreshing here because normally would be like, oh, the. You know, I met with the label and like, yeah, what's the tick tock trend we're gonna do?

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, right.

[Aaron Manke]

Like, what's the meme?

[Podcast Host]

Are we going viral?

[FKA Twigs]

Twigs, obviously. Yeah, sure, a little bit. But with me, they.

[Podcast Host]

They're smarter than that.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah. I think maybe when I first joined and I put out Capri songs and stuff, I was like flirting a bit more of that. And it was also new. I think all artists were, but I don't know, it's just not me, honestly, like, that time that it takes to do a tick tock, which it actually takes quite a long time. It can take like two hours, you know, like editing and trying to do. Get dressed, put on your makeup, like, do all that stuff. I would literally rather learn French, and I am. And I'd rather get on the pole and I'd rather learn a new sword move, or I'd rather read a book, or I'd rather actually do something that. That is gonna help me with my art in a very practical, real world. Something tangible. Yes, exactly. It's like in. In Figure 8. And sometimes I have to remind myself of my younger self because honestly, sometimes she was smarter than me. But in Figure 8, I said, can you touch it? Is it real? And that was a figure 8 came out of the big boom of Instagram. And that's what I was talking about. Like, can you touch it? No. Is it. You touch it? Yes. Is it real? Yes. You know, and so I can touch craft, I can understand it, I can live it, I can be it. The algorithm. Like, I don't know. I'm not. Like, I just don't.

[Aaron Manke]

We're so counter to it that it's like, you're. You're gonna beat it.

[FKA Twigs]

What do you mean?

[Aaron Manke]

Like, I don't know. The algorithm is just feeding us the same slop and Then like, oh, well, actually, there's also this offering over here.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, exactly.

[Podcast Host]

Via Twigs, you might be our last hope in the battle against the algorithm Terminator.

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

For the good one, not the bad one.

[FKA Twigs]

I think there are actually. I think, like, there's. There's a few artists right now that have really. Either having the same epiphany as me or beating it with their craft and with that.

[Aaron Manke]

Oh, who are you listening to?

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, who do you.

[FKA Twigs]

I wanna. I wanna say her name. Right? Dochi.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, yeah, we saw her live. Yeah, she was incredible.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah. And you see someone like Dochi that, you know, she's been bubbling and doing her thing for a few years and. And then she does a few performances and that's just talent. Like, how funny that if you're really talented, people love it. What a concept. What a concept. You know, that if you just rap and sing really well live and it's sick, and you rehearse your performance and then you do it. That people think that that's amazing.

[Podcast Host]

She was amazing live. We were blown away.

[FKA Twigs]

But that is talent. Someone that can sing, someone that can rap, someone that can dance, someone that can look good, someone has a. Who has a point of view. Like, that is. It's so crazy that we actually lost that for a few years. We genuinely lost the idea that if you practice something and you get ready. But you know why? It's because now we can't practice anything without putting it on the Internet.

[Podcast Host]

Right.

[FKA Twigs]

You get a tiny bit good on the guitar. Oh, I'm going to film it. Something.

[Podcast Host]

Love this.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, exactly. But it's amazing just to do something for yourself. It's amazing to get good. It's like when I came through with pole dancing for Cellophane, you know, it's like, I kept it pretty quiet and you just come through with the video, like, bam. Like, yeah, yeah. You know, but you know that you've been doing it for years, but no one else put in the 10,000 hours.

[Aaron Manke]

Everyone's like, wait, Twigs is a master. Twigs is a master Wushu sword fighter.

[FKA Twigs]

But I worked so hard.

[Aaron Manke]

Is that the. What's been the hardest skill that you pick. Picked up in, like, adulthood? We can. We keep mentioning the pole dancing, the sword fighting, which are unreal.

[Podcast Host]

But.

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah, I don't know. But again, you might be working on something where it's like.

[Podcast Host]

But don't tell us yet, because if.

[Aaron Manke]

It'S not perfected, I'm actually a classically trained architect or something.

[FKA Twigs]

No, I think, honestly. Honestly, the truth is, like, probably Gaining the tools just to exist in this industry and, like, the emotional regulation just to, like, do my job is probably. That's probably, like, the biggest.

[Aaron Manke]

A lot of people don't have.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah. But that's probably the biggest skill that I've honestly learned.

[Aaron Manke]

We ask a question about. We've mentioned the Drums of Death video and, like, the unreal dancing. That was the aesthetics or concept at all. Inspired by the TV show industry and the protagonist, Harper Stern. No, no. Okay, okay. We saw. We were with the homies over, like. Oh, God.

[Podcast Host]

Okay.

[Aaron Manke]

People were like, maybe trying to connect.

[FKA Twigs]

Everyone loves industry, though. But I should watch it.

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

It's phenomenal.

[FKA Twigs]

Oh, okay. I need a new show.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, three seasons. That's the one.

[FKA Twigs]

Okay. They're.

[Aaron Manke]

They're like 30 minutes long. Super great characters and plot and everything.

[FKA Twigs]

Okay. Yeah. I've been looking for.

[Aaron Manke]

You're welcome.

[Podcast Host]

Highly recommended.

[FKA Twigs]

Okay. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

We want to put you onto something.

[Aaron Manke]

Can we actually tap into your brain a little bit with pop culture? Like, as 2025 kicks off with. So many are saying. Many people in this room are saying many people in the year. We want to know what your best and worst of 2024 was. Looking back, who. What was, like, your favorite album of 2024?

[FKA Twigs]

Oh, gosh.

[Aaron Manke]

Mentioned Dochi.

[Podcast Host]

Was her swamp princess, I.

[FKA Twigs]

Believe, was the album, I think. Did it have to come out in 2024? Just what I was listening to.

[Aaron Manke]

What, you. Your. It's your fear. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

It's just you. You can name some old obscure.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, I was. I was.

[Podcast Host]

That's fine.

[FKA Twigs]

Sorry. Annoying.

[Aaron Manke]

No, it's fine.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

Like, what was your Spotify wrapped?

[FKA Twigs]

My Spotify wrapped was.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, here we go.

[FKA Twigs]

It's Nina Simone.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, I mean, come on.

[FKA Twigs]

It was four songs of Nina Simone, and then it was one song of a very new artist who has about, like, a hundred plays on Spotify called Balzac 30.

[Podcast Host]

Okay.

[Aaron Manke]

Ball sack 30.

[FKA Twigs]

B, A, L, Z, A, A, C. Like the author. Balzac B, A, L, Z, A, a, C. Okay. Balzac 30. Okay. And then genre is that.

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

Say that again.

[Podcast Host]

What's the genre of ball? Zach 30?

[FKA Twigs]

I think it's quite like a new genre. I don't know. I'm not very good at genres, as you can probably tell from my music. But like. But like, it's kind of. It's. It's sexy, a tiny bit trappy, a little bit like Euro trash, Dancy. Like, kind of, you know, music makes you feel a bit like you're on drugs, but. So the Prague National Anthem but it's not, like, hard. It's kind of, like, light and sexy and. Yeah, it's really marking it down.

[Aaron Manke]

Is Nina Simone about to have, like, our kids gonna rediscover Nina Simone, you think? I feel like I. One of my most recently, like, added two library songs is a live rendition for Nina Simone of who Knows where the Time Goes. But it. I feel like that's, like, something that could be, like, tapped into by younger generations. Like, who is this goddess?

[FKA Twigs]

Oh, I hope so.

[Aaron Manke]

I hope so.

[Podcast Host]

Fingers crossed.

[Aaron Manke]

What about a TV show? Yeah. 2025, your favorite TV show is gonna be industry, right?

[Podcast Host]

What did you watch?

[FKA Twigs]

What did I watch last year that I loved? I'm really bad at stuff like this. What did I watch?

[Aaron Manke]

We can skip it.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, no, no. I really want to think of something. You know, when you get asked a question, everything just goes blank. I always get that.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, it happens to us a lot.

[Aaron Manke]

Do you only consume prestige TV or do you watch, like, trashy reality like Love island and.

[FKA Twigs]

No, I can watch. Watch trashy stuff for sure, I think. I mean, I love documentaries as well. I'm a big documentary person.

[Podcast Host]

The best doc you watched last year.

[FKA Twigs]

I can't remember what it's called, but I watched this documentary about a woman who. It's really beautiful and sad, actually. She had, like, mental health issues, and she was in a mental health hospital, and then they let her go, and then she went and lived in a house alone because she had nowhere to go. And she lived in this house and in her head, she was in love with a man who never wrote her. She'd had a chance encounter with a man, and because she had mental health issues, she thought that they were together. And so she got released from mental health hospital. She went into this house and she thought. Thought that he was coming for her. Don't make me want to cry. He thought that she. That she thought he was coming for her. And so she stayed in the house through a winter, and she, like, collected apples at the very end of autumn, and she ate one apple a day. And she lived in the house.

[Aaron Manke]

Did keep the doctor through.

[FKA Twigs]

No, she died.

[Aaron Manke]

Oh, wow. She needed a doctor.

[Podcast Host]

I was thinking the same thing.

[FKA Twigs]

No, no. She died because she was waiting for her lover, because she thought that he was going to give her a sh.

[Aaron Manke]

Experience.

[FKA Twigs]

Honestly, don't you?

[Aaron Manke]

Like, when did this happen?

[FKA Twigs]

Like, when it's, like, in recent times? I don't know the year, but yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

American health care system.

[Podcast Host]

Was it in America?

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, it was in America. But the worst thing about it is, is she wrote everything down. Like, she wrote like, I'm waiting for this person, he's gonna come. Like, I have three apples left. Like, and then she was like, I'm so weak. There's snow outside. But I know that, like, we're meant to be together. And he's gonna come and he's gonna help me.

[Podcast Host]

Killing the vibe.

[FKA Twigs]

Sorry. Yeah. And then crushed. I know. And then he didn't come.

[Podcast Host]

But the most hard because he didn't know she existed. Right?

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, he didn't know. And I think even when there was like 9 11, because she was homeless and she went to, like, help with 911 and she was like, helping everyone. She was like such an angel. And everyone thought that she was working, like, with a thing, but she just was there by herself, like, trying to help people around the scene.

[Aaron Manke]

Yikes.

[FKA Twigs]

But then she basically wrote these letters and then she ran out of food, and then she just wrote until she was weaker and weaker and weaker. And then she died. But the sad thing was. No, the really sad thing was, is that if you read her letters, you think that she's in the wilderness. But they looked. They filmed from outside the window of this house. And there's people all around her, so there's like houses all around. But she was writing as if she was on the top of like a mountain somewhere. Crazy. But if you look, looked out of the house, you could just see into another person's living room. So at any point, she could have walked up to someone's house and said, like, I need help.

[Aaron Manke]

Help. I need food. Thanks, George Bush.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah. And she. She didn't know that she could do that.

[Podcast Host]

Damn. Okay.

[FKA Twigs]

Sorry. That's really pretty.

[Aaron Manke]

Yikes.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, but that's something kind of. I don't know.

[Podcast Host]

But you enjoyed that.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, no, I didn't enjoy it, but I thought there was something kind of sometimes like when you. Well, even to bring it back to you, sexual. It's like, do you feel alone? You're not alone. You know, like that idea of you think you're alone in your anxieties, your weirdness, your human things. But, like, no, you're not alone. There are groups of people that feel the same as you. You just have to find them.

[Aaron Manke]

Well, this woman needed some help. We all could use some help. And sometimes it's best if we even help ourselves. Right? Self care, very important. It does from the outside, twigs kind of feel like you're a workaholic. Do you ever just pamper yourself?

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, I do. I did a face mask Before I came here.

[Aaron Manke]

What's that?

[FKA Twigs]

I did a face mask before I came here.

[Aaron Manke]

Like, that's how you, like, treat yourself.

[FKA Twigs]

Like a sheet mask. Go off, go crazy.

[Aaron Manke]

I mean, you. You do as a dancer, someone very in touch with their physicality. Like, you treat your body like a temple. When was last time you had some maccas?

[FKA Twigs]

What's Macca?

[Aaron Manke]

McDonald's. That's what the British people call it. No, no.

[FKA Twigs]

Mackie D's.

[Aaron Manke]

We call it Macy D's.

[Podcast Host]

Mackie D's.

[Aaron Manke]

What about. Do you have, like, a naughty food that you indulge in guilty pleasure?

[FKA Twigs]

Pasta.

[Aaron Manke]

Pasta.

[Podcast Host]

Like quinoa pasta or, like, real pasta?

[FKA Twigs]

Like real pasta. I had some last night.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, how was it?

[FKA Twigs]

It was delicious.

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah, but what was in it?

[FKA Twigs]

What?

[Aaron Manke]

What was in it?

[FKA Twigs]

Like, it was. How do you say it? The one. It's like the one with, like, the tomato vodka sauce. Is it something pepe?

[Aaron Manke]

Cacio Pepe. But that's with, like, a white. That's with pepper and like, it kind of like a white. It's egg yolks and parmesan.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, I think it was that.

[Aaron Manke]

Delicious. Okay, let's talk about your clothes real quick.

[FKA Twigs]

Okay.

[Aaron Manke]

Your wardrobe, always so out there, right? What do you wear if you're just grabbing a bite at the chip shop or going to the cafe for a cuppa?

[FKA Twigs]

Okay. Well, again, it comes back to the 11. So I have, like, a wardrobe or something I call my blues, which I have, like, a small part of my closet which is just for this color that I wear. And it's all the same color, and it's different. Hoodies, tops, shorts, tracksuit bottoms, trousers, all in the same color. So then I can close my eyes and put anything on. And it's modular dressing so I don't have to worry about how it looks.

[Aaron Manke]

You literally close your eyes and pull something out.

[FKA Twigs]

No. And it all looks good. That's crazy, because I've, like, found things where the silhouettes really work.

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

And I've actually been trying to develop it so I can make my own modular dressing system for other people. Because it looks really. It looks really cute. It's like this amazing, like, steely blue. Like, it's this amazing, like, Japanese steely blue color.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, like indigo. Ish.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, but like a bit more muted. Like, slight. It's kind of like a non color. It's quite gray. But I call it the blues. And I wore the blues. And I wore it the whole time I was making you sexual so I wouldn't have to worry about What I was wearing, but it always looks really cute. Like people are always like, oh, you look nice, but it kind of looks like you've sort of. It looks like you're like in a mode of something because it's all one color.

[Aaron Manke]

You have clothing. You have clothing design aspirations.

[FKA Twigs]

I mean, I design clothes for on running.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, right, right.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

Like the activewear collaborator.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah. Yeah. I'm a creative party on them.

[Aaron Manke]

Is that how that happened?

[FKA Twigs]

No.

[Aaron Manke]

Shout out on. They're family. They always a check. But whatever. I'm sure by the time. I'm sure by the time it's. By the time this podcast comes out, the check will have hit.

[Podcast Host]

Airing them out in front of collaborative partners.

[Aaron Manke]

Totally fine. Does your. What about, like who your favorite design is right now or who do you find yourself wearing the most often besides the blues?

[FKA Twigs]

I love Rick.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

Do you. Have you ever chilled with him?

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

Is he a fun hang?

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

Do you go to the gym with him?

[FKA Twigs]

No.

[Aaron Manke]

Okay, that'd be. What do you think could. Who do you think stronger, you or Rick Owens?

[Podcast Host]

Me, but he's pretty buff.

[FKA Twigs]

Me.

[Podcast Host]

Okay.

[Aaron Manke]

He skips leg day, though. He only works on the gland muscles.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

Curls for the girls.

[Podcast Host]

So Rick and you mentioned you're wearing and Demil meester, so Anne for sure.

[FKA Twigs]

Right?

[Podcast Host]

She's got to be up there. Legend.

[FKA Twigs]

I mean, I wear a lot of.

[Podcast Host]

There's a new design.

[FKA Twigs]

I watched a lot of non branded stuff. Honestly, I love finding things, particularly from Japan, actually. Like amazing sort of old sportswear silhouettes. Like, I wear a lot of cotton. I'm not a big person for not wearing cotton. Actually. I live in cotton. I'm also like a rash queen.

[Aaron Manke]

A rash queen?

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

Like you have sensitive skin.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, I just like travel a lot and like, you know, rash queen.

[Aaron Manke]

Your tummy ache queen. Queen. A rat queen.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

You're the queen of just malaise.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Wait, so is your body a temple or dude?

[FKA Twigs]

No, it really is. I think it's. I actually have like a theory around this. It's quite funny. I think there's like basically two types of mixed race people. Like, there's one type of mixed race people that like has the perfect skin, like long, thick hair, like everything, like genetic. Like the strongest parts of like the. No, I'm the other one.

[Aaron Manke]

I'm the other one.

[FKA Twigs]

You're the other one.

[Aaron Manke]

I'm the. Yeah, yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

And then there's like the other skin.

[Aaron Manke]

Good hair. I'm the fucking podcast and I'm white.

[FKA Twigs]

No. I feel like I'm the other one. I'm the one that, like, I have to just really, that's why I have to look after myself so well.

[Podcast Host]

Because you would fall apart instantly if you didn't.

[FKA Twigs]

So. Yeah, I think I would now.

[Podcast Host]

You're stronger than that.

[FKA Twigs]

No, I. I just like to look after myself because there's just a lot of toxins everywhere now. Like in the air and in food and in water. Yeah, all these different things. So I just find that the small decisions I make every single day.

[Aaron Manke]

That's why in the club, ask. Asking your homie Lauren for some. For some lotion, because, like, yo, you.

[FKA Twigs]

Got any, like, Calendula lotion?

[Podcast Host]

She's got preparation. Preparation H in there.

[Aaron Manke]

What do we got?

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, so a lot of recommends.

[Aaron Manke]

Like, like vintage Japanese or just kind of like unknown Vintage.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, like.

[Aaron Manke]

Like what? Like, like calm and Rey Kawakuba.

[FKA Twigs]

No, just like unbranded stuff.

[Podcast Host]

Cotton.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, like cotton fabrics, linens, natural fabrics.

[Aaron Manke]

No synthetics. None of whatever the.

[Podcast Host]

I'm wearing no polyester.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, I tend not if I own it. I tend not to. If I'm wearing it for a shoe or red carpet, then, you know, professional, then it's like, we'll do it.

[Aaron Manke]

But what's the one piece of clothing besides the blues you find yourself wearing over and over the most?

[FKA Twigs]

Probably Rick Owens. Like lilies. So comfy.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, you can't do much better than Mr. Dick Ovens himself.

[Aaron Manke]

If you're having a good time, could you ask for coins to come on the podcast?

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, I can do.

[Aaron Manke]

Okay, great.

[FKA Twigs]

Also, like, ballet warm up wear. I wear. So like dancers warm up wear.

[Aaron Manke]

Oh, like the. Like the. Oh, like the socks he wears. Are you wearing them?

[Podcast Host]

No, I'm not wearing my dance.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, like those, like, socks and kind of like that warm up, like. Yeah, nice.

[Podcast Host]

I'm with you.

[FKA Twigs]

Jerseys.

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah, yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

Tied to the body, like cropped.

[Aaron Manke]

Cropped sweatshirts.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, yeah, that kind of thing.

[Aaron Manke]

Aerobic wear. Does your mom still make costumes for you?

[Podcast Host]

No, she's retired.

[Aaron Manke]

I'm good.

[FKA Twigs]

I try it sometimes.

[Aaron Manke]

I got Rick now.

[FKA Twigs]

No, I do try it sometimes, but she's just like.

[Podcast Host]

She's like, go fuck yourself. Yeah, nice try.

[FKA Twigs]

No, she always tells me what she thinks of my work, though.

[Aaron Manke]

Oh, really?

[Podcast Host]

Oh, what's. Yeah, what's the current situation in terms of reviews from Mom?

[FKA Twigs]

The review from mom, the last time I spoke to my mum a week ago, she said to me, she said, you know Talia, that's my real name? She said, when you dance, it's so special. And she said. She said, when you dance, it's always been the way that if you're on a stage, like, I always, like, look at you. And she said, I think you should do your next music video or your next performance where it's just you. She was like, you know, the other dancers are really lovely, but she said, I just want to see you by yourself. So I did.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, wow. Yeah, that sounds like some mom advice where she just loves her daughter so much that.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

She's like. So your mom talking about all these other people?

[Aaron Manke]

My mom put a bunch of dancers out of work is what I'm hearing.

[Podcast Host]

She's a job eliminator.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah. But she says other things to me as well. Like, she says, like. Like, don't forget to, like, use my hands when I'm performing. And what else?

[Aaron Manke]

She is a musician. Her.

[FKA Twigs]

She's a dancer. And your father was a musician and a dancer? Yeah, I have two dads. I have, like, my biological dad and a stepdad, but the culminate, culmination of all three of them is, like, exactly who I am. It's so funny.

[Podcast Host]

That's a lot of stage parents.

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah. I mean, like, my mom was kind of like the anti stage parent, like, anti dance mom. She was, but she also wasn't as well.

[Aaron Manke]

Well, whoever got your rash gene from them.

[FKA Twigs]

I don't. I feel like. I feel like that's my biological dad. Sorry.

[Aaron Manke]

Back. Back to UK culture that subs with twigs. Do you eat beans for breakfast?

[FKA Twigs]

Do I. No.

[Podcast Host]

No. No. Okay.

[Aaron Manke]

What? You get a full fry up.

[FKA Twigs]

No English. No, I don't.

[Podcast Host]

Okay.

[Aaron Manke]

Do you split the G?

[FKA Twigs]

What's that?

[Aaron Manke]

You. Why don't you explain this?

[Podcast Host]

Do you drink a Guinness?

[FKA Twigs]

No.

[Podcast Host]

Okay, well, if you have a Guinness branded mug. Not a mug. What am I thinking? Class.

[FKA Twigs]

Okay.

[Podcast Host]

You know, and they have the logo. People will, like, try to sip it and, like, get the line of the beer exactly to, like, where the G is.

[FKA Twigs]

Okay.

[Podcast Host]

Called splitting the G. It's a. It's a fun way of being a.

[Aaron Manke]

Fun game to drink one third of your beer in two cups.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

Okay.

[Podcast Host]

Okay. So you don't do that. What about.

[Aaron Manke]

It's a craze taking over the nation.

[Podcast Host]

Okay.

[FKA Twigs]

No, I mean, I'm from the Midlands. We have, like, cider or scrumpy.

[Podcast Host]

Okay.

[Aaron Manke]

What's grumpy? What's grumpy?

[FKA Twigs]

Scrumpy is. It's kind of like a little bit like cider, but it's different. It's from, like, I think all my family from Birmingham. It's like a kind of Midlands drink and pubs.

[Aaron Manke]

Do you. What's your favorite crisp?

[FKA Twigs]

Shrimp?

[Aaron Manke]

Prawns, rather.

[FKA Twigs]

Oh, I don't eat. Chris.

[Aaron Manke]

Cheese, Cheese and onion.

[Podcast Host]

Was that monster onion? What's that?

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah, Monster paws.

[Podcast Host]

Monster munchy. Onion.

[FKA Twigs]

No, no. I think probably, if I had to say, my favorite crisp would probably be like. Oh. Like, I'd be partial maybe to like, a salt and vinegar hula hoop.

[Aaron Manke]

What's a hula hoop?

[FKA Twigs]

It's like little, like potato. Like round.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. British Funyuns.

[Aaron Manke]

Love Assault and vin. Did you get Oasis reunion tickets for 2025?

[FKA Twigs]

No.

[Aaron Manke]

I guess you could just show up with Brit pop.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Okay, so it's a big. So maybe you'll get free Oasis tickets then.

[FKA Twigs]

Maybe.

[Podcast Host]

Fingers crossed. Some of us had to buy them, like peasants. But.

[FKA Twigs]

Well, it's actually quite funny because, remember, did you ever see my performance that I did on Jules Holland where I had the sword for Mary Magdalene? I did, like, sword dancing on Jules Holland.

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

And I had this vision that I wanted to, like, walk from behind the camera, but so my stage was here. So when you perform on Jules Holland, it's like you're all facing each other, like the different bands. And I was here, but I wanted to, like, walk at the beginning of the song into the space. But Noel Gallagher was. That was his face. And I had, like, barefoot and this kind of, like, wet look. Dress on and like, a sword and, like, wet, like Renaissance ringlets. And then I had to ask him, I was like, can I stand, like, in your bit? And he was just like, why the. Has she got a sword? And I remember, like, scared.

[Aaron Manke]

Was he?

[FKA Twigs]

No, I think he was a bit perplexed. I think it was. He was just like, what's this girl doing? But I was like, walking on. I was just like, why not?

[Podcast Host]

Have you since then interfaced with either of the galaxies? Your brothers?

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, they're lovely. Oh, yeah, Yeah. I always. I'm quite, like, nervous around them.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, really?

[FKA Twigs]

Cool.

[Podcast Host]

Because they're, like the biggest rock stars anywhere.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah. I think, especially for my generation, like, they scored every single, like, six form. What's it called? Like, Green Room or whatever. They scored every sixth form Green Room, which is like. I don't know. Do you have that where, like, when you're older, you get like, a space to kind of hang out at school?

[Aaron Manke]

Like a.

[Podcast Host]

A.

[Aaron Manke]

Like a student lounge?

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, student lounge. Yeah. Like, that was like this. That was the score of every six form student lounge, like, in the uk.

[Podcast Host]

Just the soundtrack of that yeah, whatever. Champagne supernova.

[FKA Twigs]

Totally.

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah. Let's talk about the crow for a second. When it comes to scratching your itch as an actor, which it sounds like that's like a realm you're really leaning into, is there a dream director or fellow actor you'd love to work with one day? Let's manifest right now for 20, 25.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

There's got to be somebody maybe like Quentin Tarantino.

[Podcast Host]

Quentin Tarantino.

[Aaron Manke]

You better hurry up. He's about to retire. Right?

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

He's making one last picture, he said.

[FKA Twigs]

Oh, okay. Well, miss that boat, probably.

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah. Maybe he'll come back just for you.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, we'll see you. Love. Are you Tarantino?

[Aaron Manke]

You would have to show feet, though. That's the thing.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Gotta show feet.

[FKA Twigs]

It's okay. I've got nice feet.

[Aaron Manke]

Okay.

[Podcast Host]

I'm not.

[Aaron Manke]

Quentin, if you're listening, you might just.

[Podcast Host]

Book the gig, dude. Off of that alone. He loves feet.

[FKA Twigs]

Really? I think I'm a five on wiki feet.

[Podcast Host]

Five out of five? Five or five out of five? I'll check while we.

[FKA Twigs]

Let's have a look.

[Podcast Host]

Okay. Hold on.

[FKA Twigs]

Imagine if I've, like, gone down to a two.

[Aaron Manke]

You've got. Wait, you fluctuated that much?

[FKA Twigs]

No, I said imagine if I had gone down to a 2.

[Aaron Manke]

I gotta book a pedicure right now.

[Podcast Host]

FKA twigs. Wiki Feet score is a 5 out of 5, which means beautiful feet. And there are so many pictures of your feet here. Holy.

[Aaron Manke]

Which has got to be tougher dancer to have beautiful feet. Right?

[FKA Twigs]

Well, it's funny because I just did this. This film. Stop looking at my feet.

[Podcast Host]

No, no, I'm looking at it because 13 people said, you have ugly feet.

[Aaron Manke]

Oh, bastards.

[Podcast Host]

But 293 said, those dogs are beautiful.

[FKA Twigs]

Thank you.

[Podcast Host]

Don't thank me, thank the people.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, it is. It is difficult. Yeah. But I just did this film and I played the Virgin Mary, and it was set in biblical times, and I had to have my feet painted with fake dirt every single day. And it was crazy because my makeup artist literally had to get under my toenails with, like, a brush to put like. Like, like. But paint dirt.

[Podcast Host]

Anti pedicure.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, because it was like biblical times. We were like, you know, street clawing about.

[Aaron Manke]

You're living in a fucking stable.

[FKA Twigs]

Literally. And I was joking because then the director wanted a shot of my feet walking up, and I was like, you're going to ruin my wiki. You're going to ruin my wiki feet score.

[Aaron Manke]

Oh, man. Did he get the shot?

[FKA Twigs]

He did.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, no, Tarantino's off the. Off the board now.

[Aaron Manke]

Twigs, I got to ask you a question. We ask every musical artist. We talked about how you listen to your music in the car.

[FKA Twigs]

Right.

[Aaron Manke]

You listen to it in the club. Do you listen to your own music when you're being intimate?

[FKA Twigs]

Okay, that'd be crazy.

[Podcast Host]

Is it? We ask a lot of. Well, I guess we normally ask rappers is typically who we have on. And a lot of them. Not a lot of them. A few of them do like 2, 50%.

[FKA Twigs]

They listen to their own music.

[Aaron Manke]

Well, they're like, you know what? Like, it's on my recently played. I'm just putting on the playlist. Like, it kind of comes up and then.

[Podcast Host]

Then, yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

And then, like me. Yeah. I feel even though it's weird, it's weird to my own voice while I'm, you know, you know, making back shots sound like Vietnam, that they say that. They say that so totally fine and admissible.

[FKA Twigs]

No.

[Podcast Host]

So you're a rapper who does not.

[Aaron Manke]

Right. Is there anything a guy that, like, would wear, like, what's like an absolute clothing sartorial red flag or turn off for guys?

[Podcast Host]

The audience is taking notes.

[FKA Twigs]

I really struggle with, like, Havana flip flop.

[Aaron Manke]

Really?

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

You spent a lot of time in Brazil, like.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I guess it feels like a kind of staple of, like, British culture. Soon it gets a tiny bit warm. Like, it's not even warm, but then everyone, like, puts on like, flip flops and walks around.

[Aaron Manke]

Go have a stag. Do it. Magalof or whatever.

[FKA Twigs]

Magaluf.

[Aaron Manke]

Magaluf.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, yeah. Maybe like flip flops I struggle with, but I really like, you know, sliders and socks, I think are always like, a good option.

[Podcast Host]

More of a roadman thing.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, yeah, well, yeah, exactly. Like, that's like. It's not like a. I like sliders, but I don't know. Flip flops for me, I struggle with. Even on myself.

[Podcast Host]

It's the thong thing, right? Like the. Versus the slide. Right.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Javianas are off the board as well.

[Aaron Manke]

Speaking of feet, there this past year, I feel like there are a few men's republications trying to make flip flops a thing. And we're just like, what are we doing? Like, we don't have to do this. You don't have to make a thing. A thing.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah. I find it difficult because maybe like, non pedicured feet is not nice, but then also, like, really over pedicured feet, like, that's a lot as well.

[Podcast Host]

You know, your feet look like they were AI generated.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

There's a six toe.

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah. Paint some dirt on those bad boys. What about, like, what do you like guys to be wearing in 20, 25? What's. What's set? Fellas on the right course?

[FKA Twigs]

Oh, anything. I just. Being themselves. I'm not. Honestly, I really don't care.

[Aaron Manke]

Okay.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, really?

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah. No, no.

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah.

[FKA Twigs]

No, I think it's just like, if someone's confident and like, like, for sure, then it doesn't really matter.

[Podcast Host]

You don't want someone, like, looking bad with you in a picture. Whether it's a romance or not. I don't, I don't know, make, you know, drag down.

[FKA Twigs]

No, I don't care about stuff like that.

[Aaron Manke]

Do you prefer a guy that's more on the jeans and T shirt side of the spectrum or more like in the Savile Row tailored?

[FKA Twigs]

My mind doesn't work like this.

[Aaron Manke]

Okay.

[Podcast Host]

She doesn't think about men ever. You're not linear.

[FKA Twigs]

No, I just. I don't know. Like, I think if someone's confident and they're funny and they're kind, then that's amazing, right?

[Aaron Manke]

That's so true.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. It's too confident.

[FKA Twigs]

If someone's funny. Yeah. If someone makes me laugh, like, oh, my gosh. If someone's like, really kind or someone's really attentive. I love, like, men. If they just really listen to you. If they really got her and she.

[Podcast Host]

Laughed, there it is.

[FKA Twigs]

But like, you know, if you just. If somebody, like, listens to what you're saying, remembers stuff, then I find that. That's so sweet.

[Aaron Manke]

And how rare is that? How rare with men these days? Incredibly.

[FKA Twigs]

I don't know. My boyfriend now really listens to me. Yeah, he doesn't. He really remembers, like, little things.

[Aaron Manke]

Do you give him sartorial advice?

[FKA Twigs]

Do I give him what, like, clothing advice? Oh, he doesn't need it. He's better dressed than I am.

[Aaron Manke]

Really?

[Podcast Host]

Really?

[Aaron Manke]

Like Rick?

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, he wears a lot of Rick, but he's kind of. He's a goth, you know, so he kind of has, you know, extreme styles. Either way.

[Podcast Host]

Okay.

[FKA Twigs]

But he's kind of always been like, that is cute.

[Aaron Manke]

Good twigs. How much money do you make? Okay, you'll see.

[FKA Twigs]

Funny.

[Aaron Manke]

Thank you.

[FKA Twigs]

How much money do you make? Joking. Don't tell me.

[Podcast Host]

I mean, we just talked to our accountant. Yeah, let's not say, let's move on. It's actually not as much as you, I would imagine.

[Aaron Manke]

New York City taxes, city tax. Yeah. What do you like to spend your hard earned money on. And I know we talked about, like.

[FKA Twigs]

Not things, but like, oh, my God, my work. Yeah, it's unreal.

[Aaron Manke]

Mean, like, like.

[FKA Twigs]

No, it's like investing in yourself, like, studio time. No, my craft has me in a chokehold. Like.

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah, but what is that? Like, like dance instruction, choreographers, sword lessons.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, like, all of the classes. And, you know, I also put a lot of my own music money into my music videos, and I just paid to make everything just a little bit better, you know, so if it's just like, I just really want the dancers to be wearing a certain thing or I need extra something or, you know, it's budgets, I think famously in music are not that great anymore. And so I'm always just reinvesting back into my craft.

[Podcast Host]

Not afraid to come out of pocket to get it dialed.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, exact. Exactly. Always.

[Aaron Manke]

Is that rare for musicians, like, pay a little bit of their own way?

[FKA Twigs]

I don't know. I always have. Like, even when I did my EP2 videos, I paid for a lot of them myself. And I had four jobs, so I was actually already FK Twigs. And I was not giving up my other jobs because I needed money for the music videos to pay for my FK Twix music videos whilst I was just doing a normal job. But I've always been like that.

[Podcast Host]

But you can write all this off on your taxes.

[FKA Twigs]

A certain amount. You can. I think it's 30%. Not all of it. I wish you could do all of it same. But no, I pay for a lot of extra things myself. I just want the work to be good. I really want the work to be so good and so that often.

[Podcast Host]

How refreshing.

[Aaron Manke]

Do you. Do you think the work is good?

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah.

[Aaron Manke]

Okay, Good. Good.

[FKA Twigs]

Do you think the work is good?

[Aaron Manke]

Yes, absolutely.

[Podcast Host]

That's why you're here.

[Aaron Manke]

But I want you to be assured in that. Or like, I want to know if you're assured in that.

[FKA Twigs]

I never want to be 100 assured because then if I'm 100 assured, I feel like it will stop being good.

[Aaron Manke]

You get lazy.

[FKA Twigs]

Not lazy, but I don't know. I don't want to rest on my laurels. Like, I always want to think that. That it could be like this amazing life can be taken away from me at any point and. And I have to keep on working for it and keep on exploring things and learning things. And in a certain way, like, be really confident, but on this other level, be very humble. And in terms of. Be very humble in terms of that. It's not a given. Like, I think it's this. What was it like, hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard, like that kind of thing.

[Podcast Host]

That's.

[Aaron Manke]

That's definitely the size of the dog and the foot. No, no, that's not it either.

[Podcast Host]

Well, but real quick. So you said, like, you know, your work is good. Let's say someone was like, they think. Think they somehow would tell you your work is not good? Like, does that even matter to you what other people think? If you were like, this is good.

[FKA Twigs]

It's not about good. Or something's honest. It doesn't matter to me.

[Podcast Host]

Okay.

[FKA Twigs]

Like, if something's honest and it's like, this is good. This. If someone said, like, this isn't good, and then I was like, but it's honest.

[Podcast Host]

Right? Because that's subject. The other part is subjective.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah. Whereas, like, honesty is if I know I'm telling the truth, then it doesn't matter.

[Aaron Manke]

You mentioned the. That you're paying. You're still working your previous jobs in order to pay for music videos. What's the worst job you've ever had? When you were young and broke? Pre. When you're just fk twig Pre fk twigs.

[FKA Twigs]

I used to do silver service. Like, what is that? It's like, oh, so stressful. It's like waitering, but it's like, with all these rules. So it's like what you'd have if you were in, like, an English manor or like, the queen or something would have silver service.

[Aaron Manke]

You're like a butler butler or like, Downton Abbey type.

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, exactly. So you have to do things like. I mean, I can't remember. I'm going to get it wrong again. I'm gonna get triggered. But, like, serve from the left, clear from the right. Or like, the way that you have to hold the dish and the way.

[Aaron Manke]

You hold fish fork, salad fork, even.

[FKA Twigs]

Like, the way you, like, hold the. The, like, fork and spoon to, like, dish potatoes. And I once did it at this. I feel like I'm gonna get in trouble by saying it. I once did it like a freemason dinner. I was like, Illuminati. I was like a waiter.

[Aaron Manke]

Oh, my God.

[FKA Twigs]

I was a waiter, waited for the Illuminati.

[Aaron Manke]

And was Jay Z there?

[Podcast Host]

Well, clearly you did a good job because you have this amazing career, so you didn't fuck that up.

[FKA Twigs]

And. And I. I kept on doing it wrong. And there was this one old guy, and then he was like, I cleared from the wrong side. And he got his knife and fork, and he was like, young lady is clear from the left serve from the right. And then they all started, like, banging on the tape. And they were like, clear from the left serve. And I was like.

[Aaron Manke]

So they psychologically tortured you?

[Podcast Host]

Jesus Christ.

[FKA Twigs]

That was really.

[Aaron Manke]

The masters of the universe were chanting at you.

[FKA Twigs]

I was. I was also once, like, a shotgirl at Tiger Tiger in Piccadilly.

[Aaron Manke]

Like, handing out shots at the bar?

[FKA Twigs]

No, like when you have, like, the thing on your waist. Yeah, yeah, for the thing. But it was at Tiger Tiger and Piccadilly, which anyone that's from London knows that's so hectic. And I survived. And I deserve a medal just for that, actually. But it was so hectic because it was in the days of Facebook.

[Aaron Manke]

Oh, God.

[FKA Twigs]

And on a Facebook group, the lead girl would basically say what? You had to wear that. That Saturday when you were doing it. And it would be like, okay, this week, it's like the holiday season. So it'd be like sexy Santa. And then it would be like a. Like a Valentine's Day cupid. And you had to buy the outfit. Well, not off her, but you have. We'd have to find the outfit to wear.

[Podcast Host]

Your mom might have to make it for you.

[FKA Twigs]

Well, actually, yeah, she did sometimes. She actually did. But I had four other jobs, so I just remember running around London trying to find, like, a set sexy elf costume at like, 10 o'clock at night in Piccadilly.

[Aaron Manke]

And did you?

[FKA Twigs]

Yeah, I did, but it was just. It was really stressful and awful.

[Aaron Manke]

See this. But this is. This is that honestly trained you for, like, who you are and where you are now, where you got to be. Actually, we got to get you back to London, Twigs. So last question. Last question. The only podcast that matters.

[FKA Twigs]

Okay.

[Aaron Manke]

You know, you just have a medal for hanging with us for an hour and a half. Do you have any construct criticism you'd like to give us?

[Podcast Host]

Us laying on us?

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah. How can we be better at what we do?

[FKA Twigs]

In your jobs?

[Aaron Manke]

Yeah, yeah. Just generally speaking, as humans, I know you're lovely.

[FKA Twigs]

Oh, thank you so much.

[Podcast Host]

That's the perfect note to end it on before she says anything, too.

[Aaron Manke]

Hearing that in a British accent. He's always, always makes your day. Where can the kids follow you? What would you like to plug? Is the. When is the album coming out?

[FKA Twigs]

What would I like to plug? I don't know. Just use sexual.

[Podcast Host]

Go listen, stream that.

[Aaron Manke]

Run it up, the numbers, no skips.

[FKA Twigs]

But also just fine. I want everyone to find their own. You sexual.

[Aaron Manke]

Ye. Yeah. Fk Twigs, thank you for coming on to you. We appreciate only podcast that matters.

[FKA Twigs]

Thank you so much Chef.

[Aaron Manke]

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