What is indie pop diaries?

a summary of who I am, my music taste and what I do on indie pop diaries <3

There are a lot of new people here who have found me through my article about my thesis on shame in lesbian music, and probably some other articles too since my stuff was boosted by the algorithm. Firstly, I want to start by welcoming everyone and saying THANK YOU. It makes my day each time I get a new comment and I’m so grateful that my writing has found a smart and thoughtful audience. The thesis was of course an academic project, but one born out of personal frustrations and experiences with shame as a lesbian myself. It feels special and validating to see it resonate with so many.

The shame in lesbian music

I realised I’ve never done a proper get to know me post, so what better time than now when there is new people? I find writing a whole post about myself to be a bit daunting and have procrastinated this for a while, but sometimes it's good to go back to basics. This will be about who I am, my music taste and what you can expect on indie pop diaries.

My name is Ida. I’m 23 and live in Malmö, Sweden. I was born in Copenhagen and still have a very close relationship to the city because I have family there and it’s where I attend most of my concerts. I love the small indie scene and the excitement when popular artists visit the city. I also love travelling for concerts, I recently went to London to see Clairo, which meant I got to hear Bags and see one of my favourite artists live; a full circle moment for sure. I also went to Brussels to see Sabrina Carpenter which was a lot of fun, her show is spectacular and I loved getting to explore a new city as well.

a photo of me at the Clairo concert in London <3

I am lucky to have parents who saw it as their duty to introduce me to the music they love early on. My mom is the biggest fangirl I know and my dad too, although there is not a word for it for a man. I have been taken to concerts since I was literally a baby. I can’t say I remember a time in my life where live music was not a constant. In my family, we like to gift concert tickets for birthdays and Christmas instead of things. I have also been attending Roskilde Festival in Denmark with my parents since I was a kid, which has meant I have gotten a wide range of live music experiences that have shaped me. I know how rare and special this is and it’s not something I ever want to take for granted.

I have had many different music phases in my life. Growing up I was obsessed with Justin Bieber. He was my top artist for at least 5 years in a row and I saw him in concert three times. It’s how I first came in contact with fan culture and fan communities. Experiencing the ups and downs of parasocial relationships and growing up on the internet is quite silly to think back on now. I remember the day he got a DUI and I “had to” defend him to everyone in school, even though he probably did not care that a twelve-year-old girl in Sweden was getting into arguments on his behalf. I don’t listen to his music anymore, but it will always hold a special place in my heart.

I was also a big fan of Ariana Grande, Glee and all of the Disney popstars. Hannah Montana was everything to me and I followed the careers of Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato closely. I loved watching their music videos on YouTube with my friends. The pop girls have always been magical to me. I love a big show with dancers, impressive vocals, a full band, extravagant outfits and confetti.

It was not seen as cool to like pop girls when I was a teenager and I was always a little bit embarrassed, so it’s exciting to be able to fully embrace it without really caring what people think anymore. Liking Justin Bieber was not exactly seen as cool either, but somehow it was more socially acceptable. I remember people calling another girl in my class, who was a fan of Lady Gaga gay. I also loved Lady Gaga and many other women in pop music, but I was scared to be loud about it because I was scared people would think I was gay (which I was) and to be looked down upon because liking girly things was not seen as cool and I just wanted to fit in.

It’s something I cared less and less about as I got older, and I was always known as the concert girl. At high school graduation I was voted the “class fangirl” for the superlatives because whenever I was not in class, people assumed I was at a concert and they were right. I remember skipping school to see Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish as some of the highlights of those years.

Being Scandinavian also ties into my love of pop music since so much good pop music comes from and is created here. My mom has always been a big fan of Robyn and growing up I loved her as well as other Scandinavian icons such as Zara Larsson, Tove Lo and MØ. A moment for one of the most iconic moments in Swedish pop:

A bit later I also found a love for indie music. My dad took me to see HAIM in the Days Are Gone era in 2013 and they are still my favourite band to this day. I remember being so fascinated by these women who played the guitar, bass and drums and didn’t care to look pretty while doing it. The raw guitar, drums and catchy melodies drew me in. This was and still is one of my favourite songs to this day.

10 years later, in 2023, I attended 10 year their anniversary show in London, which was incredibly special. They have recently released two new single that I am obsessed with. I still love everything that they create and this single cover referencing Nicole Kidman after her divorce is absolutely iconic.

I was also obsessed with Lorde, Halsey and Troye Sivan in that tumblr era around 2015. This was when I started to understand that pop music could be queer, and to understand my own queerness subconsciously through watching a ton of queer music videos. Some classics include The Blue Neighbourhood Trilogy by Troye Sivan, Ghosts by Halsey and Sleepover by Hayley Kioko. These videos completely altered my brain chemistry as a teenager, especially this one.

Right now, my music taste is mainly pop and indie, my favourite artists often fall somewhere in between. I love a sparkly pop show, but I also love being in a little dark room full of heavy guitars at an indie rock show. I love Lorde, Dua Lipa, Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, MUNA, boygenius, Adrienne Lenker, The Beaches, Racel Chinouriri, Caroline Polachek, Maggie Rogers, Rina Sawayama, CMAT and Charli XCX. The list is endless.

Uplifting queer artists and artists is something I am super passionate about. I love finding artists who push boundaries artistically and politically. Art is political and I care about critically analysing the art that I consume as well as what is popular and what it says about the current cultural moment. This is something I have learned from Gender Studies, or at least gotten better at since I wrote quite a few pop culture essays during my degree.

I started indie pop diaries because I wanted a space where I could express my thoughts on the music that I love and connect with other fangirls. I remember different phases of my life by what album I was listening to, so this works as documentation. Writing also helps me understand the music and my thoughts on it much more deeply, which makes me enjoy the music more. It is super exciting to be at a point where I can interact with people who read my work. Nothing makes me happier than when someone tells me it made them think differently, check out a new album or write something themselves.

I would also love to turn this into a job or side gig. I have been interested in working in music journalism for a long time and see Substack as a smart way to build a portfolio, meet people and create opportunities for myself. I don’t want to wait for someone to magically give me my dream job where I can write the articles I want, so I have just been writing them here myself to see what I can learn in the process. It would be a dream to work as a music journalist, a radio host, for a record label or as a tour manager. I would also love to curate a festival lineup or the lineup for a venue.

Working with initiatives that uplift queer artists would also be a dream. Finding comfort in queer artists has been so crucial in understanding who I am, and I want everyone to be able to see themselves in the music they listen to. It’s also a way to integrate my Gender studies expertise, which is something that sets me apart.

I have a lot of dreams and I’m not sure what the future holds, but I think something will inevitably work out as long as I keep trying. Exciting things are already happening. I recently got my first press pass for a music festival. It's for SPOT Festival in Aarhus which is a festival all about introducing emerging artists in Denmark and the Nordics. I wrote about the festival here last year but at the time just as a guest. It feels super validating that writing here on Substack now gives me press access to a festival. It makes what I do feel real, like I have earned a small place in the music industry.

I <3 SPOT Festival

I have a few ideas for things I want to write in the near future. The new Lucy Dacus album, the Short n’ Sweet Tour and of course SPOT Festival. Subscribe to receive my posts in your email and support my writing. It makes me believe in myself 10 times more to know that people care to read my music diary, so thank you again for being here <3