Interview: Joanna Sternberg’s intricate, intimate world of music and art

Joanna Sternberg on making their own artwork and finding their visual voice.

Since their debut album, Then I Try Some More, New York singer-songwriter and artist Joanna Sternberg has been making waves with their independently minded approach to music and art. As well as crafting emotionally raw, lo-fi indie songs that count the likes of Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers among their fans, Sternberg has developed a deep and winding visual language. Creating their own artwork, iconography and music videos, Sternberg has built a self-contained identity where everything feels entirely themselves. 

Ahead of the release of their second album, I’ve Got Me, VF’s Kelly Doherty caught up with Sternberg to discuss their love of art and the relationship it has with their music.

Joanna Sternberg’s relationship with visual art has been a lifelong pursuit. They recall developing a childhood interest that wasn’t always encouraged in school. “When I was home drawing, it was so much fun, and I would just get lost in it. In middle school, I started really wanting to draw all the time and was always drawing something else during class,” they explain. 

That skill developed as Sternberg pulled from their influences–a cartoon T-shirt adorned with The Beatles that they copied “over and over” and their father’s own “cartoony and awesome” style. Before long, they were producing their own unique style. “I would draw comics and patterns and things on clothing in college that people wanted to buy. It evolved from there,” Sternberg says.

Read more: Simon Dunmore & Mark Vessey on showing forty years of influences in one stack of records

The cooperative, interlinked relationship between Sternberg’s music and art stems from both practical and artistic reasons. Art offered Sternberg a way to combat the challenges of being a public-facing figure in the social media age. “To be honest, it started with just me being very self-conscious of how I look. I remember when I started using Instagram to promote shows, I noticed people would get less annoyed if I posted drawings, and I would get less self-conscious.” 

Outside of social media, Sternberg sees their art as a way of elevating and building out the meaning of their music. “It really enables me to align with the music and each amplifies the other. They’re very much one in the same effort and help each other,” they say.

For anyone acquainted with Sternberg’s work, a quick glance carries immediate evidence of the artist responsible. Whether it’s their album artwork or illustrations for gig posters, Sternberg’s drawings carry a joyous, colourful, intimate style, packed with minute details and a clear visual language. This hand-drawn style is prominent on the artist’s upcoming album which posits Sternberg with a guitar sat among piles of personal items–a scribbled-in notebook, strewn pens, a keyboard, a weekly pillbox, a perpetually 4am digital clock, and much more. It’s a busy scene that feels like a glance into Sternberg’s world, through their eyes. “Drawing and making music is my chance to be me fully. I try to draw the world as I see it, and write songs the way I feel the world. So it’s just my way to just be me,” they say.

World-building is an intentional part of Sternberg’s craft, as they draw from their love of the expansive eco-systems contained within comics and cartoons. “I love comics and try to incorporate them. I also love watching cartoons on TV and if I could do whatever I wanted, I could animate my drawings to the songs like a whole music video type. Totally the whole universe of it. I guess I’m trying my best to go for that effect. It’s like a cartoon with music in it,” Steinberg explains.

For Sternberg, their music and art is “one thing” that is “intrinsically linked.” However, both mediums come together to provide an outlet for different parts of their emotional character. “If I want to be less energetic and more self-reflective, I’ll draw and then if I want to really get to get emotional and get my feelings out, I’ll write a song. In the end, they both complement each other perfectly, like dessert and a meal,” they describe.

When creating the art for I’ve Got Me, Sternberg faced an artist’s block of sorts. “I got panicked thinking I couldn’t draw anymore, and it was not very convenient timing,” they laugh. After “drawing the same thing over and over and over again” they ended up using the first illustration of “around 100”. Despite the difficult path, the experience helped them regain their confidence. “It was ironic but also kind of beautiful because it was like, ‘oh, I didn’t forget how to draw because I did that one first’,” they say. 

The result is a beautifully crafted vinyl package that perfectly complements the intimate nature of the music held within. The record comes with a fold-out poster packed with doodles and bags of personality. Sternberg welcomes the visual possibilities of a vinyl release and the platform it gives to their album’s visual language. “I’m actually really very proud of the artwork for the record and how Fat Possum [their record label] made it. The record opens out into a poster and it’s just so cool. I love artwork and vinyl and the cool creative stuff you can do with it”. 

Characteristically, Joanna Sternberg will continue to spend 2023 marrying music with art. With I’ve Got Me about to reach the public and upcoming shows with Kurt Vile and Angel Olsen, Sternberg is thinking about a comic book for the future. “Eventually, a comic book is the works. That’s for sure”. The intimate, intricate world of Joanna Sternberg is set to keep expanding.

Joanna Sternberg’s I’ve Got Me is out on June 30. Pre-order it now.