Father John Misty says response to his Taylor Swift cover was “kind of disgusting”

In DIY’s new November issue (out Friday 6th November), Father John Misty speaks about the “persona” he’s “cultivated” through social media.

Talking through his Instagram game and the tongue-in-cheek actions that’ve defined his past twelve months, he speaks about the Taylor Swift covers he made that were soon swiftly deleted.

“I did kind of know what I was doing; I did know that it would resonate. But I didn’t expect it to be as resonant as it was… which I found to be kind of disgusting.”

True to his word, the covers lasted a grand total of “a couple of hours” before Josh pulled them offline. When he was approached for comment on why they’d disappeared, he made up a lie about Lou Reed visiting him in a dream.

“Here’s the deal,” he continues. “The entertainment landscape, in order for it to be the kind of entertainment that people want, it can’t be timeless. The fact that that [Ryan Adams] thing came out that day, and turned the thing into an event, that’s what made it take off. The MIDI version of the album, that’s a far more timeless idea – and maybe it’s timely in that it’s addressing this far more drawn out conversation, but the Ryan Adams Taylor Swift thing was timely in that ‘this is the white-hot’ moment, and that’s what gets people off these days. It’s the same mentality as a tabloid.”

Read the full interview in DIY’s new issue, out Friday 6th November. Pre-order a copy below.