Coining her genre as “cactus pop,” Sidney Bird is an up-and-coming artist from Arizona who is making a name for herself in New York City. Bird explains what “cactus pop” means to her: “It is very LA pop meets southwest country.” The goal of her atmospheric music is to make you feel like you are listening to it in a desert. With steel guitars mixed with strings, Sidney successfully transports listeners to this southwest setting. “I am evolving with the term; it just feels “desert poppy,” like a pool party with your friends!”

Sidney Bird has wanted to be an actress since she was little; she was obsessed with Hannah Montana and wanted to be her because she had her own show. Consequently, Bird went to college at University of Southern California for comedy, interning at some big-name places in the comedic industry such as Saturday Night Live and The Late Night Show starring Jimmy Fallon. Six years ago, post-graduating, Sidney moved to New York with aspirations of becoming a comedic actress. She found herself feeling lost and the only thing that kept her calm after countless auditions was music. In high school and college she wrote a few songs but never played them for anyone; “I remember during those times it was like therapy. It made me feel okay, it made me feel calm again,” Bird recalled. This time, though, she posted some of her music on the internet. Sidney realized that she wanted to make music for work when she would receive messages from listeners saying that they have had the same feelings she wrote about in her songs. When people tell Sidney that they feel the same way, she thinks, “I wrote those lyrics and you’re relating to them; you make me feel less alone because you relate to it.” When Covid-19 hit, Sidney spent the year writing song after song, learning how to play the guitar and piano, changing her name, and making a fresh Instagram account to promote her music.

Bird has had great success these past four years in the music industry. She has opened for big name artists such as Natasha Beddingfield and Hans Williams, as well as performing a duet with Dierks Bentley in front of a crowd of ten thousand people – the largest audience Sidney has ever played for. She has also gone on two mini tours, and is working on feeling more comfortable talking to people after shows. In an effort to conquer this fear, Sidney plans to play in four different cities this fall, describing these concerts as “album release shows”. She is hoping people will stick around after each show so she can meet her fans and work on getting out of her comfort zone. 

Sidney loves listening to music that creates a setting. Artists that inspire her sonically highlight the setting in their music, “When I listen to Kacey Musgraves I’m in a field, when I listen to Maggie Rogers I’m by the lake, when I’m listening to Noah Kahan I’m in the forest.” Bird’s writing process typically begins with a chord progression or an audio clip of her humming in the Voice Memos app. After she figures out the sound of the song, this sound will inspire the lyrics she will then write. Her favorite song she has ever written is titled “Butterflying Conflict” and is the focus track on her upcoming album, Desert Person. The song is about learning how to say “no” to others and getting more comfortable with conflict, rather than letting people walk all over you. Bird remembers the day she wrote it fondly, saying that it was the most fun writing process she has ever experienced. To explain the mood of this new song, Sidney adds, “It’s a ‘riding in the car with your friends’ type of singsong.”

When it comes to Sidney’s bright future in music, she is already writing for her next project and is hoping to collaborate with more artists soon. She wants to learn how to produce music as well as travel a lot and be inspired, perhaps even go on tour and open for a larger artist. Sidney Bird’s album Desert Person, releasing September 6th, is definitely worth a listen. Sidney explains, “I’m really excited for this album to come out because it feels like a collective piece of work. It’s really fun and dramatic.” The album will transport you to a southwestern desert filled with cactuses and all of your best friends, promising a joyful listening experience.