In a sense, it could all be boiled down to: Rodrigo does what she wants, with little attention paid to how political an artist should be, or what a pop career should look like. Dan Nigro, Rodrigo’s collaborator on all three of her records, says that “the beauty of Olivia, in general, is that she’s always just doing whatever she wants to do, and exactly how she feels.” This stage of her career, he says, is about her trusting her gut and not paying attention to what she thinks people would want from her.
This year she’ll fulfill a long-held dream and launch Daisy Chain Fields—a new festival she’s curated, featuring female performers and female-fronted bands. The day we meet, she’s just locked the incredibly stacked lineup, which includes herself, Chappell Roan, Garbage, Doechii, Katseye, Bikini Kill, Santigold, Mitski, the Breeders, and more. She’s also putting on emerging bands and artists like Die Spitz, Eli, and Quiet Light. (“Love her shit so much,” she says of Quiet Light. “And she’s, like, a cool Texas girl.”)
Daisy Chain Fields was directly inspired by Lilith Fair, the late-’90s music festival cofounded by Sarah McLachlan, which McLachlan created in response to sexist industry claims that said tours wouldn’t sell if they featured more than one woman, and speaks to Rodrigo’s passion for equity for women in music. McLachlan, speaking about the festival years later, said she had “realized early there’s strength in numbers,” and that the sheer market power of having so many famous women on a bill could make a statement. And it did: Brandi Carlile, who attended three Lilith Fairs in her hometown, remembered “walking through the gates and there were all these women.” Rodrigo wants her fans to have that experience too. “I feel really connected to the young girls that come to my concerts, and the fact that I get to be in the fabric of their lives is a real, true honor that I don’t take lightly,” she says.