that time maude latour tried to dig a hole from tribeca to hong kong

Welcome to mixed feelings’ Hyperspecific, a profile series of increasingly intimate questions in which we ask our favorite artists, scientists, musicians, and the like to unveil their innermost selves — their weird existential musings.

Can we all sign a petition to get Maude Latour to record a studio version of “Fuck Fortnite” and release it to the masses? Please? In 2019, when the singer-songwriter was 19 years old writing songs in her bedroom, she uploaded a track to YouTube titled “Fuck Fortnite (a song I wrote)". Surprisingly, it starts off soft and gentle: Maude plucks her guitar, singing of frustration and young love. Then the crescendo:

“You say just ten more minutes babe,”

“You can’t look me in the eye,”

“You say ‘I’m gonna win this for you babe,”

“And just like that…rocket launcher…you DIE.”

It is so fucking funny. Maude, who clearly attended the Taylor Swift school of specificity, made a ballad, a meme, and a diss track, all wrapped in one. It’s genius if you ask me — and it blew up a little in the gamer community to varying degrees of love and hate, according to the artist.

Five years later, Maude is gearing up to release her debut album “Sugar Water” on August 16th. I was lucky enough to preview the album, and I can hear all the same positively chaotic energy in her new work, with a little less anger and a lot more self reflection and heartache. Think: “The difference between loss and love is only letters and the drugs you take,” a line that struck me from her single “Whirlpool,” which comes out tomorrow.

Maude came to our studios and got Hyperspecific with us. Read her answers below. Xo, Mi-Anne

LEVEL I

1. Something you’re always hoping people bring up in conversation when you first meet.

   I love when people tell me a crazy anecdote about a moment that intertwined their life and my music. There's such wild, serendipitous things that happen that I love getting the tea on. Your ex showed you this song and now you haven't spoken in five years? There's always a juicy story there.

2. A positive trait people always tell you you have.
   That when I get focused on a person, I look into their eyes and give them my full attention.

3. One destructive trait you know you possess and wish you didn’t.
   I’ve had a problem with talking to strangers my whole life. I have gotten myself into a lot of bad situations, just befriending random people and following them to new places. I'm always down for an adventure and my friends have had to really intervene because it can get dangerous sometimes. Now we have secret codes to help try to get me [out]. *laughs*

4. If a bodega were to name a dish after you, what would it be? (Be specific.)
   People are not going to like this. It is a cheddar, salami, and tomato grilled cheese. It is my favorite thing. I eat that about three times a week and for some reason people don't support that life. That and a plain sparkling water. No flavor. Fuck the flavors. It’s the Maude-wich.

5. One song that makes you feel understood.
   “Supercut” by Lorde. There's so many from my record, too. I think “Bloom,” the last track of my album. That's where it all comes together for me.

6. Something you think is wildly underrated.
   I love pulp in all fruit juices. Fuck this “just the liquid” stuff. Where's the texture? Pulp is underrated. That's the fruit!

LEVEL II

1. A movie you watch when you want to self-soothe.
   The Devil Wears Prada.

2. What’s the first fandom you lost yourself in.
   Probably Arthur on PBS. I'm deep. I know every episode. If someone comes to pretend that they're an Arthur fan, you have got to talk to me first. Those are my guys, Buster, Binky, Francine. Those are my people. And similarly, Archie Comics. Not this Riverdale stuff. I'm talking comic books, flipping the pages, like the real Archie comic books.

3. Something you bought recently after LOTS of research.

   I got a Prius. It’s my first car, so [I researched it a lot to] make this life decision. But I have a Prius now! Hybrid life. But I didn't even know about cars before that. I didn't know this whole time we're supposed to be looking at the brands of the car. There should not be this many brands of cars. It's all a scam actually…but I learned a lot about it.

4. Who do you main in your favorite video game. 
   I don't really play video games, but I do have a fun fact about video games in my life. Once I was dating someone who was super into Fortnite and I wrote this song called “Fuck Fortnite.” It was on YouTube and it kind of exploded in the video game community and got a lot of hate and love.

5. Dream game night rotation.

   I like Wordle and Connections. I play those every day. [As for game nights?] I need an un-intimidating circle, please. When you're [playing games] in front of someone, you're trying to be cool. That sucks. I want it to be around the homies.

LEVEL III

1. What’s an anecdote you usually tell to describe how you were as a kid?
   I was very much an idealist kid. We need to save the polar bears! Sob. I grew up in Battery Park and after fourth grade I found out I was going to move to Hong Kong. Battery park has this green, beautiful playground — it’s the perfect little utopian spot. I was so heartbroken when I found out I was going to move. I told my best friend and we went to the playground together and we started trying to dig a hole in the sandbox to Hong Kong and we just cried in this little hole we were digging. It turns out [living in Hong Kong] would be awesome.

2. What is your low-key hell and actual heaven?
   Low-key hell is a packed Subway car sweating, AC is broken and you're dizzy. Or…nausea. I would trade so much to never be nauseous again. How high-key heaven is the great lawn in Central Park, though? That is just the chillest, most peaceful vibes to be lying on cold grass. High heaven.

3. One time you laughed so hard you cried. 
   I have been lucky enough to have my friends come with me to all of these cool moments where I get to open for someone or play a cool festival. They're laughing at me, they're laughing with me. They just keep me, me. Just being in a place where you're supposed to care about how you're perceived and everything and then just having them with me…I'm frequently laughing in those moments.

4. Random thing you hate so much for no apparent reason.
   The one food that for some reason I am scared of and can't eat is wild rice. The little specks…I'm actually freaked out by it. I used to not be able to say the words “wild rice.”

5. How you exit a party.
   I tell everyone I'm about to leave and then three hours later I leave.

6. How you wanna go (either un-seriously or seriously).
   I have no intention to die. I'm trying to stick around a couple hundred years, so how do I want to go? I want my brain uploaded to a little blue plasma sphere and then have it sent off into a different dimension where time and space is fucking nothing and our souls just congregate into the giant creator and we get to live eternally and immortally. That's my plan.