What are you wearing to Coachella?
It’s one of the most important questions you’ll hear or answer in early April as music fans, musicians and celebrities head to the desert for two weekends of unbridled fun. Lucky for us — and you — we spoke to Dizzy Fae, who gave us the ins and outs of what to wear this festival season and even gave us a new phrase — ghost outfit — to define clothing that really makes you embody your most badass energy.
We met up with the singer in the Lower East Side to hear her new single live as she celebrated her fresh music and newest looks from her collab with clothing brand CIDER. “I’m so excited for [my new single] ‘My Baby Loves Me,'” Fae tells PAPER. “I’m so excited because I’m very big on self-care and self-love and unlearning things and learning things again and breaking my foundation down to build it back up. I’m a habit girlie. And that song really represents just me having the most self-care and self-love for myself.”
After suffering the loss of her mother and rebuilding her foundation both emotionally and creatively, she’s confident and ready to share new music again, telling us, “Can’t nobody tell me about myself but me.” Below, check out our interview with Dizzy Fae and get her advice for personal style for this festival season and beyond.
How are you feeling? Are you excited about tonight?
Yeah, I’m so excited. This has been such a breeze.
The timing’s good?
The timing’s great. The timing’s perfect.
I know you’re giving fans a sneak peek of your new song tonight. You mentioned this has been a long time coming — can you tell us a bit about the single?
I’m so excited because I’m very big on self-care and self-love and unlearning things and learning things again and breaking my foundation down to build it back up. I’m a habit girlie. And “My Baby Loves Me” really represents just me having the most self-care and self-love for myself like “I’m a baby and I love me!” It feels almost like a chant and a call out for anyone else who needs that type of love for themselves and feels the same way.
I love that. How do you hope your fans feel when they get to hear it either live tonight or tomorrow when it officially drops?
I hope people feel like it amplifies their aura. I hope people feel like it amplifies their energy. I hope people feel just empowered when they listen to my music in general.
You also mentioned you’d been doing a lot of writing and now you’re ready to be back in front of audiences. What was going on mentally and emotionally from that point up until now?
I mean I was really in a space of rebuilding my foundation, understanding what I stand on. So that when I’m ready to walk, my ground is solid. And so I’m in a space where my ground is extremely solid. I know who I am. You know the trials and tribulations that life brings to you. Grieving has been such a big thing for me, but it has allowed me space and opportunity to, again, build that ground, and it’s so strong. Can’t nobody tell me about myself but me.
For our readers and for me, who would love to hear your thoughts on this, what are some of those practices or habits that helped you build that foundation to get to a place where you’re like, “Ok, sturdy ground, we can walk on this again?”
I think the most important thing was understanding myself from a bird’s eye view. Seeing how I move every day and always making sure that I ask myself, “Is this my most authentic self?” when I’m doing something. Really understanding my energy, really understanding my body and honestly, believe it or not, a lot of it comes from fashion for me. I’m very into being my most authentic self. I have this thing called “ghost outfit.” I wear every outfit as if I were going to die today. If I were to die today, I’m wearing this outfit for eternity. Am I cool with that? So that helps me a lot. It’s really the bird’s eye view. “Am I happy doing this? Or am I not?” I can’t remember her name but she’s like “Does this bring me joy? Does it not?”
The woman that cleans and is like “Does this spark joy?”
Yes! “Does this spark joy or not?” I do that with everything in my life. And it’s allowed me to really figure out my foundation and who I am and who I’m doing this for.
@papermagazine It’s giving renaissance fairytale 🪩 we caught up with @Dizzy Fae <3 on the lower east side about her new single “my baby loves me” and more on the way 💋
Love “ghost outfit.” Let’s talk fashion. Obviously you have immaculate style and taste, what has been the thing that’s inspiring you right now?
I think what inspires me the most is, first and foremost, myself. I love to see how I can bring myself to anything. It doesn’t matter what I’m in, can I bring my authentic self? So right now, I’m wearing a CIDER blazer and then I had them send me a bunch of different jewelry also from the collection. But I put a lot of different jewelry and stuff on the jacket. It really feels authentic to me. I just try to figure out how I can put Dizzy Fae in everything I do.
I love that. So let’s talk about CIDER. You’re clearly instilling your energy into their clothing line. What was it about them that excited you and made you want to be a part of it?
CIDER really allowed me to be my most authentic self, which was so exciting for me. I can be a little edgy and I feel like everything that I do fits with what they’re doing. I’m the face of the festival campaign and I’m an artist, so I’m like ok y’all ate that. CIDER ate that. But honestly, I feel like me and the brand go hand-in-hand when it comes to making sure we can just be our most authentic selves.
Not too long from now, Coachella is happening. It’s gonna be sunny; we’re gonna be in the desert. What are your tips or advice for people, like me, who are getting ready for festival season? How do you find those looks?
That’s a great question. I would say, first and foremost, what can you dance in? Something that’s suitable for whenever the weather changes. Can you bring a bag that you could put a rain jacket in? Or can you bring a bag that can hold something if it starts raining. Usually, it’s pretty hot, so is this going to be sweat-friendly? Sweat friendly is serious! And then, I would say, whatever makes you feel sexy. Whatever makes you feel good and what makes you feel like you can be the best version of yourself. Those are my tips.
I love it. So what are you most excited about next? I know you mentioned that you have a backlog of songs. You’re going to be performing more. What’s the thing that you’re looking forward to the most?
I’m just excited to release music. Release videos. Release more of Dizzy Fae. I’ve been holding on for so long to build that steady walk on the ground. I feel like I’m in the space where the music I’m about to put out is really going to change my life.
Photos courtesy of CIDER/ BFA