Blue screens run hot, like the skirt of a flame – and Astrid Ztar is a sight for flash-burned eyes. Beyond her own online presence and involvement with entertainment collective Sleep Deprived, Astrid is a multidisciplinary artist, with an eclectic catalogue evocative of teeming pastures and saw-toothed electronica; stitch-weaving wildflowers and copper wire to externalise her almost cyborgian machinations. Ztar practices in visual art, writing, programming and, most pertinently, musical composition; with songs under various musical projects including Lilac Boy, Hyperdimensional, and Insect Christmas.
The internet has encoded a mercurial new quality to the way we engage with artists. I spoke with Astrid about that glitchy sliver of cyberspace that she’s made home, and the music suspended within its orbit.
Q. Thank you for taking the time to correspond with me, Astrid! I’m especially excited to hear from you as I am aware of your standing as a prolific internet personality, as well as a multidisciplinary artist with a devout love of music. Tell me more about how your creative endeavours converse and coalesce in your world.
I don’t know how mesmerized I am by the title “prolific internet personality,” but “multidisciplinary artist” makes me sound like a cool entity, so I'll rock with that. I like to make things. It’s sort of the reason to exist. I just want to make things. All day, every day. I like answering questions, so this is Jazz for me. I'm dancing. Thanks!
Q. The democratisation of access to music through the internet has brought about significant aesthetic diversification - often modernising conventional genres, as well as encouraging the creation of completely new notions of genre. How would you describe the internet’s influence upon your own musical aesthetics and tastes?
The internet has had a monumental impact on the way I operate if I'm being honest. Sometimes, it feels like there are two worlds – an internet one and a non-internet one. I grew up with very early, unbridled access to the internet, and it has impacted every facet of how I interact with the world. I am very fascinated by computers. A lot of my art is influenced by cords, wires, electronic boards, knobs, adapters, plugs, screws, computer fans, digital UI design, PCB boards and circuits. I think I've been dipped so deeply in an oil distinctly labelled “INTERNET” for as long as I can remember. I grew up reading forums, watching YouTube videos, playing avatar games, reading Wikipedia articles, accidentally clicking ads leading to a Trojan virus, and unfortunately social media. I wouldn't really be where I am without the internet. I wouldn't be anywhere near the same sort of shape or size. It’s hard to even begin speaking about the internet’s influence on me. I'm unfortunately an internet cyborg at this point. It's a big reason so much of my art and music is sort of speaking about this divide between computers and man. I think it’s an interesting dichotomy. If I could describe my aesthetic, it would be a bunch of electronics sprawled across a desk like Neo’s from The Matrix (1999) covered in bugs, fungus and pretty flowers. I definitely dig that interplay between the cold despair of tech and the warming embrace of green, summer day.
Astrid Ztar at her computer.
Q. I’m a strong advocate for the sustenance of artistic discourse, so to discover that you co-host a music reviewing podcast entitled “Music Posting” in partnership with fellow artist Alex Unknown was super restorative for me. Through work on this podcast or otherwise, have you noticed an impact on musical discourse as enacted by the internet?
Admittedly, we haven’t recorded one of those podcast episodes in a while. I don't think I have too much that is interesting to say about music. I think music sort of speaks for itself, but I also think you need artistic critique. I just don’t think I'm the woman for the job. It was really cool to hear the lead singer and lyricist of Glass Beach publicly state that our review was worth listening to. That was neat!
Musical discourse has definitely evolved over time on the internet. I think nowadays you have huge ad campaigns – marketing strategies baked into algorithms you can’t even keep track of anymore. Music, art and technology move so quickly that discourse is always changing. A lot of people use websites like RateYourMusic to discuss music more “critically”, internet music reviewers like Anthony Fantano build out these eloquent opinion pieces, and music reaction content creators like Path Reacts show a more intimate, personal and emotional side of musical discussion and discourse. Creators, journalists, marketers, and provocateurs push out more and more information in wild ways. I imagine many people critique music on TikTok, or dance about it in their bedroom, at the very least. It's interesting to watch these mediums grow and change. We’ll probably continue to see different ways of interfacing with musical discourse as the internet rapidly alters in state. In which way, who knows…
Q. Music promotion has been impacted by the fickle nature of internet algorithms – a shift in the space that has been indelibly championed by the likes of TikTok, which subsists upon a largely audio-based economy. How do you see this change in promotional protocol affecting the landscape of music production?
Yeah, TikTok is definitely an interesting beast. It's like Vine on steroids. Dancing to Brat songs seemed pretty effective for Charli XCX… Amazing album, by the way. I think, in some ways, reality isn’t that different. An entity gathers some capital, and instead of buying a billboard on a highway to promote its new song on iTunes, it markets to tens of thousands of specific targeted groups on a TikTok ad spread of someone doing the griddy to a new album’s opening track. Apples and oranges, I suppose. Personally, I adopt the easiest methods of disseminating information to the masses, which seems to be TikTok right now, but of course Instagram, Twitter, and the like. I think you probably have a lot of young artists approaching it a lot differently. Making memes, making a song or an album specifically targeting a viral engagement. It definitely sucks the authenticity and fun out of creation when I start to think of it like this. I don't think about any of this when I am producing music. I just want to make cool music and listen to cool music.
Q. And in terms of music consumption, we’ve observed an exponentiated aestheticisation of music, especially through meme culture. Emerging artists are branded more meticulously than ever before, and it appears to be happening retroactively as well. There are Fiona Apple girls, and there are Radiohead guys – public engagement with these artists now has reinforced aesthetic and, in some cases, moralistic implications. As a musician who is also an online personality, what are your thoughts on the compartmentalisation of musical acts in this manner?
Music is definitely aesthetic-brained. Music has always been like that though. In the 90s they tried to label Nirvana and Soundgarden as “grunge”, and everyone started dressing in mismatched clothes from the thrift store. People try to put things into boxes. A box is easier to market than a constantly evolving abstract. That's what music really is, of course. Yeah, meme culture is certainly prominent. 'Brat' memes are so big that young gamers dress in chartreuse on Roblox minigames, editors whip up short videos to spam on YouTube, and jokesters change the Brat cover to say something else in Arial Narrow Regular. It's fun, but sometimes it feels like a lot. I think it’s cool that there are “Fiona Apple girls” and “Radiohead guys”. It's cool to wear your obsessions and interests on your sleeve. I'm definitely a “Machine Girl Girl”, if that’s a thing. It is true that there is sort of a mentality of moralistic implication when consuming art, but I don't think about that. I consume art that speaks to me. I like Death Grips songs, so I will listen to Death Grips regardless of the etiquette of a small vocal minority that shouts unfunny memes in the “mosh pit”. I think the compartmentalisation of musical acts makes sense from the perspective of an archivist, or for information’s sake. I think it can be helpful to put things into boxes, but I also think boxes are far too restraining. I like to think of music as an ever-expanding form, a form of art that cannot possibly be compartmentalised.
Q. There appears to be a sort of creative hierarchy as it relates to traditional vs. internet/new age media. Traditional media such as music, cinema, and the visual arts have a largely uncompromised reputation of being a high cultural creative feat. In stark contrast, internet-based creative ventures like the production of YouTube content are generalised as low culture and low effort. As someone who practices in both avenues of creation, what is your valuative perception of these disciplines?
I think that there’s crap in both sections & beauty in both sections. I could go to an art gallery and look at a boring portrait. I could also go on YouTube and watch some hour-long documentary about Tetris speedrunning and become absolutely enamoured. I think it’s just about recognizing those stereotypes and breaking through them. The internet is still relatively new in the grand scheme of things, but in decades this “stark contrast” might not be as much of a reality. There is definitely a lot of low-effort slop on the internet, though. I often wish there was more authenticity online. Sometimes, it can all feel so vapid and forced due to the rigamarole of catering to algorithmic performance. People, companies and tools can create content so quickly now, too. There are companies that essentially run content farms. Everything online is commodified at this point; centralized to the few social media feeds people are left to graze in.
Q. The processes of creating online content and producing music differ quite drastically, particularly in terms of creative haste. Online content production tends toward an unrelenting, algorithmically paced assertion of presence, whereas music production has traditionally favoured a slower creation of cohesive major works. Have you personally noticed any tension in switching gears between these creative disciplines?
It really depends on what I'm making, what headspace I'm in, or how I feel at the given moment, but there is definitely a difference in pace sometimes. The internet is quick. Art is quick. Culture is quick. I often always move with steadfast haste, regardless of what medium. Sometimes I think to slow down, but it’s too late. Things move too quickly, and it’s as if I'm always sprinting. Making content directly for algorithms is definitely different, though. There are decisions to be made about how things will be framed, and perceived, how a certain thumbnail will perform, and how a person will feel 10 seconds into a video. Everything is heightened for market approval; you think about the consumer. That side of this world is really dark and haunting sometimes. When I'm making art or music, I don't think about that. That would be where the difference lies for me. I make art and music for myself, because I enjoy making it, and it doesn’t really matter how it sputters out into the world. I'll get it out there somehow, and if someone else likes it, that’s cool. Therein lies the difference between the creative disciplines.
Q. The digital space seems to have asserted itself as a new ‘third space’ for music enthusiasts, as the circulation of musical projects occurs more and more primarily over the internet. As not only a performer but an avowed music enthusiast yourself, have you noticed a marked impact on the ‘third space’ cultivated by live music?
In some ways, I think live music feels more alive than ever. I love going to live shows, and I think young people do too. I performed Lilac Boy songs in Chicago at The Fallen Log to about 100 people this past June, and all of those people in that crowd found me on the internet. That ‘third space’, the internet, is where most young people find out about anything.
Astrid’s gig at The Fallen Log (June, 2024).
Q. Have you taken notice of any musical projects that make you hopeful for a more positive symbiosis between new music and the internet?
Personally, I prefer music that stands by itself as music. I like it when music is made for music's sake. I really like Zach Hill's approach to music. I think more artists in this digital age should exist like that. You don’t need a fancy marketing scheme with frills. You just need cool, good music that you love making. I hope that the internet is able to maintain some authentic threads. We’ll see.
Join Astrid in cyberspace at https://insect.christmas
