We’re All Obsessed With American Girlfriend
Written by Leah (Bunny) Overstreet
All images courtesy of Nicole Schwarze
American Girlfriend is the sinisterly cute and delightfully unhinged persona and musical project created by musician Janai Freer. Her hauntingly girlish sound and ironically boy obsessed lyricism have us hooked and eager for more. Below is our exclusive interview with the mind, voice, and bleeding heart behind American Girlfriend.
Q1: How did American Girlfriend come to be?
A: As far as recording music, I started out on Bandlab about a year and a half ago and worked my way up from posting demos to studio sessions. I’ve been building up a pretty big catalog since then, getting experimental with genre and technique. It’s been such a cool new medium to explore. All of this songwriting has also allowed me to grow exponentially in skill, with the new opportunity to start a band around what I’ve been making.
But, [the American Girlfriend] character [has been around] for a longer time than there’s been a public presence. In my collages and writing, the name was showing up all of the time. It sounded really perfect — correct cadence when said out loud, simple yet full of gravity, and with a poetic grunginess I couldn’t let go of. It served it as an alter ego when I was writing reflectively, [and] from the perspective of others, so I started to take it on.
Q2: How would you describe your music?
A: This [current] project, Cute World, is definitely girly pop. I make demos and sort them into playlists. So when I was putting together the tracks, I added whatever sounded pink to me and made sure they fit the world I was trying to build. So lately, I’m dropping things that are dreamy, sweet, twinkly and giggly— like a trap fairy.
Q3: Your songs often explore creepy and obsessive yet soft and feminine energy, what is it about this vibe that appeals to you so much as an artist?
A: Honestly, it’s just an exaggeration of who I am already. I can be really intense, I have a Scorpio Mars, if that helps you understand at all. I think a more [traditionally] fem presentation—all pink and frilly lace—matches so well with what I know I really am. I’m not nonchalant or easy to be with or to get rid of. As American Girlfriend, I’m aggressively romantic, incredibly spoiled, stubbornly attached, a total brat. I can’t think of a better way to dress a character like that than in precocious doll clothing.
“As American Girlfriend, I’m aggressively romantic, incredibly spoiled, stubbornly attached, a total brat. I can’t think of a better way to dress a character like that than in precocious doll clothing.”
Q4: Who are your greatest inspirations for your sound and visuals?
A: Melanie Martinez will always be at the top of my Cute World inspo list. She’s so wonderful at thematic expression, and her visuals were mesmerizing when I discovered them— I’ll never forget Crybaby. I love Lana Del Rey’s storytelling and her commitment to aesthetics, even from her Lizzy Grant days. I really love the NY drill scene [too], like Jenn Carter and Kyle Rich— I’m always obsessing over the drums and bass in their tracks. I also have been looking to the aesthetics of Alexa Chung and American Apparel in the 2010s for direction.
Q5: So much of your lyricism plays with the nostalgia of childhood meshed with the eroticism of toxic, obsessive love. DWG's upcoming print issue is all about OBSESSION, could you please speak to your own relationship with obsession as both an inspiration for your art and how it relates to your experience with girlhood?
A: It’s so funny–I spent so much time when I was a teenager being terrified that my crush was going to find out how much I liked them. I almost always kept it secret, just ranting to my friends and writing endless pages about them in my journal. I think most young girls are like that— I mean, liking someone is so embarrassing.
After I had my first boyfriend, I got over that habit, or at least culled it. I began to understand how replaceable a crush could be, and how seeing it through to the end would reveal that no one is worth obsessing over. I started seeing someone casually and found a new obsession: great, consistent hookups with a very attractive person. I loved [it], but the guy was a total egomaniac, so he thought that meant I loved him.
That would’ve been fine, except his imagination ran wild after we parted ways. He dove deep into my playlists, found one that seemed just heart-rending enough, and declared to his friends that it was about him. In reality, he watched my socials like a hawk, ranted to loose-lipped [buddies], and even once skated circles around me [while I was] on a date with a new guy.
I thought it was insulting, and then I found it hilarious; his ego had him obsessed…with my obsession! He wanted so badly to have my eye, along with whoever else he could trick into loving him through his fuckboy phase, that he created a new character for me— clingy, desperate, crazy for him. In fact, he created a totally compelling place for me to write from.
I’ve been poking fun at this with Love Notes and Creepy Doll, sarcastically obsessing over someone faceless, whose identity doesn’t matter at all. With this art, I put him in his role as a random placeholder, and seat myself on the throne of a spoiled princess who always gets what she wants, even if she has to restrain him to get it.
Q6: I’m in love with the live covers you do of your own songs where they take on a grungier sound. Do you see yourself exploring the pop punk vibe more officially or even releasing these alternative versions of your more dreamy sounding songs at some point?
It would be a good idea, but there’s so much in the works with that sound already. I have fresh songs for it that I know people will really connect with. But, as I said before, I’ve been dividing everything up into projects. Cute World will be fully out soon, and then I’ll be able to show more of the studio versatility I have to offer. I’m excited to drop songs that leave people guessing what they’re going to hear next, while [still committing] to the same mission of building a world around whatever project I’m [working] on.
Live music is much easier to vibe switch–the vibe of a song can change drastically based on the venue, the lineup, or who’s playing in my band. It’s one of my favorite things about playing shows; I find it so fun to explore all the different ways we can be musical chameleons.
Q7: The visual art you’ve made to accompany your musical projects features blonde Barbie doll heads with their eyes scratched out, decapitated Ken dolls, etc. Would you say your experience as a Black girl and artist informs your relationship to this femininity you’ve crafted around yourself and your artist persona? If so, how?
A: Definitely, yes. I love the way I look, but it’s sometimes hard to accept that some people are treated better for being the American“ standard”. It’s something that feels important for me to express. At the same time, no one’s really debating whether I’m attractive, or whether Black women are in general. We have our own ways of being beautiful, and people just deny it when they feel threatened.
Actually, when I made that graphic, some white women were attempting to bully me over a guy. I felt so isolated, and then so ashamed, and then angry. That same aggression that had me writing curses on my crush had me cutting every blonde head I could find out of a 1970s Playboy and gouging their eyes out with glee. I could’ve made it more diverse, but there were hardly any Black faces in the pages. In fact, I cut the Black girl out of an entirely different magazine.
It’s all a system that I can and do fight. I try hard to challenge people’s biases. But sometimes, you don’t want to make any statement beyond rage. The blondes could be anyone, the decapitated Ken could be anyone. The destruction scratches the same itch. I could just cry, but that’s not resisting. I’d rather just cut off the Barbie heads.
Q8: Anime seems to be a big inspiration for your artistic persona, who are your favorite creepy, obsessive anime girls?
I really love Misa Amane from Death Note. I think she’s such a romantic, powerful character. Her admiration for Kira as a god translates into a misplaced obsession with Light which I find really interesting, yet almost painful to watch. He treats her so terribly that she can’t see her own divinity.
Yumeko Jabami of Kakegurui is another favorite of mine. The show is about these girls with gambling addictions. They get intense and erotic about risk and pain. Yumeko is the new girl, and she’s terrifying. Her love of the game and lack of inhibition make her insanely compelling. I’m inspired by how she can be so beautiful and bubbly but utterly evil at the same time.
Finally, both main characters of Nana inspire me in contrasting ways. Nana keeps her emotions tightly under wraps, while Hachi falls apart [at least two times per] episode. One is cool and collected, pouring her soul into poems and lyrics. Her stoic exterior doesn’t stop her from being hurt, not any more than unconditional loyalty would. The other is completely male-centered, and it hurts her again and again as she lets obsession run her life. I think the spectrum between them is a really relatable one. It serves as great inspiration for writing about a struggle against one’s strongest feelings.
I really love anime because of how exaggerated it all is— the movements, dialogue, character traits. The intensity and depth are things I try to replicate when I’m telling stories, because I think hyperbole drives home a point better than moodiness or obscurity ever could.
Q9: Finally, what do you wish more people understood about you and your music?
I want them to see it all in context. With every lyric, I want them to know American Girlfriend as a character. I want them to pair it with my artwork, and all of the visuals I’ve worked on, and see what world I want them to enter when they press play. Mostly, though, I wish they understood that they’re supposed to be dancing.
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