Off Radar: How do you find new music?
Connie: Well, that’s the million-dollar question. I’m always trying new methods. For a while, I was looking at fashion houses. Lots of them have their own playlists, which is a cool way to discover new tracks. I’ve been using that lately, but eventually, that’ll dry up and I’ll move on to something new.

Off Radar: Who are you, and how did you start Saving Connie?
Connie: My name’s Jett, and I started Saving Connie on January 1, 2019. I was still in high school at the time, scrolling Instagram a lot. There were so many accounts posting about music, mostly hip-hop, and I thought, "I could do this." It started as reviews, even though I wasn’t much of a writer back then. I didn’t always know what I was saying about the albums, but I posted every day, consistently. Over time, it evolved into what it is now.

Off Radar: Where did you grow up?
Connie: I grew up in Napa, California, though technically in Santa Rosa, about an hour north of San Francisco. I graduated in 2020, and it actually worked out in my favor because we were indoors so much during COVID, so I could focus on Instagram. I didn’t tell anyone about it at first, though.

Off Radar: How did you come up with the name “Saving Connie”?
Connie: That’s a secret. **laughs** It’s a mix of different things, kind of a conglomerate. Once I typed it out in Arial Black, I thought, "That’s nice." I wanted a name unrelated to music. You know Pigeons & Planes? I’ve always loved that name because it feels like it could be anything. From the start, I saw Saving Connie as a jumping-off point. In high school, I was into music and the scene, but I realized I wasn’t really a part of it. I thought, “If I can’t be in L.A. or New York, I’ll create my own way in.” The name felt like it could grow into something bigger.

Off Radar: You also post about movies. Are you into film?
Connie: Big time. I recently went to film school, and that’s become a big passion project for me. I’ve directed three or four music videos so far. That’s the path I want to lean into more. I know a lot of artists, so it made sense. I’ve made a few now, and you know, it’s one of those things where you just have to dive in and do it.

Off Radar: What’s your favorite music video?
Connie: Chenayder’s "Colors" is my favorite. Anything Kendrick does gets me excited. I’m also really excited about what Doechii is about to drop. I always do the visual element for my posts. Even if a song doesn’t have an official video, I like pairing it with something visual for Instagram. It just feels better.

Off Radar: I saw you made a music video recently. How did that come together?
Connie: That one was shot on 16mm, which was super cool. It was with my friend, keni can fly. We’ve worked together before, but this time we had friends with a production company, and we decided to shoot on film. We had almost no budget, but they made it work by finding scraps of old, aged film stock. We had a full crew with key grips, cinematographers, producers. It was a 10-hour shoot. Since we were borrowing most of the film, we only had about 15 minutes of film for a 4.5-minute video, so we had to limit ourselves to one or two takes per shot. It was more of a narrative than a standard music video. I also storyboarded everything so the crew knew exactly what we were aiming for. It was a long process. We started in November, but we’ve got another big one coming soon.

Off Radar: That’s sick.
Connie: It’s my favorite thing. While you’re shooting a music video, it’s fun, but you’re so in it that you don’t always realize how cool it is. Then afterward, you’re like, "That was amazing." It was so much more fun than just making Instagram posts.

Off Radar: You’ve also done live events. How was the one last night?
Connie: That was the first one. It was at SOB’s, a 300-400 capacity venue. We had about 300 people there, which was awesome because you never know if the internet stuff will translate. Only about 3% of my followers are in New York. The lineup had 11 artists, all people I really respect and admire. We did a submission process, picked from that, and had PUNCHING BAG as the headliner. They brought a boxing dummy on stage and invited people up to punch it. It was wild. Honestly, the best part was meeting all the artists in person after following their work.

Off Radar: How did you put it together?
Connie: I collaborated with Big.Ass.Kids, run by le’Roy. He’s experienced with live shows, so he handled the venue and logistics. I was more on the promotion side. We picked the artists together and built the lineup.

Image courtesy of @savingconnie on Instagram

Off Radar: Did your account grow during COVID?
Connie: Not exactly. It’s been a steady climb over six years. The biggest jump probably came in 2022 when I started posting songs you can swipe through. Before that, I mostly shared archival videos like old Tyler, The Creator clips. I’ve brought some of that back for Sundays now.

Off Radar: Who are your favorite artists you’re listening to right now?
Connie: Recently, The Beatles. A few years ago, I made a list of major 20th-century figures like Warhol, Picasso, Disney. I decided to deep dive into each one. The Beatles were on that list, and I realized I barely knew anything beyond “Yellow Submarine.” So for the past year and a half, I’ve been listening to their albums one by one. I just finished, which was kind of sad, but now I can watch all the documentaries.

Off Radar: Favorite Beatles album?
Connie: Abbey Road.

Off Radar: What new releases have you been listening to this summer?
Connie: Honestly, I have to check, because it’s hard to remember off the top of my head. I make music too. It’s mostly hip-hop, but I just did a house remix series on YouTube under the name Saving Connie. That means I end up listening to my own stuff a lot while mixing. I was just playing around with house music for the summer, but I realized it’s kind of easy. Set it to 120 BPM and drop in your favorite songs.
I’ve also been listening to SAILORR, who’s from Florida. I just moved recently, and her music became the soundtrack to my move. She reminded me that I do like pop music, it just gets old when you hear it over and over. I moved like 10 minutes away, so I was driving back and forth with tons of stuff. That and The White Album were my go-to.

Off Radar: What makes a good playlist?
Connie: Not too long. Like, 20 songs max. When I listen to a playlist, I usually just want to steal 10 for my own list. So if it's too long, I get overwhelmed: Do I shuffle it? Do I start from the top? You have to be precious about it. The first song is super important, especially on Spotify—it sets the whole vibe. That’s how I feel about my Instagram posts too.

Off Radar: How do you come up with your Instagram music posts?
Connie: Usually it starts with the song. I’ve been doing it for so long that my brain is kind of hardwired to think that way. I’ll hear a song and instantly think of a concept. I just want to share the song, so whatever format makes that the most digestible is the one I go with. I jot down ideas in my Notes app and pick one each morning to make. It’s part of my routine now.

Off Radar: What do you think is the best way to listen to music?
Connie: Live is really great, but my favorite way is in the car with friends. I started doing this when Igor came out. Tyler said you had to listen to the album all the way through, so I told my friends, and we drove into the woods and listened from start to finish. That was life-changing. Even better is when everyone knows the song and the windows are down, singing at the top of your lungs.

Off Radar: That sounds amazing.
Connie: It really is.

Off Radar: Do you collect vinyl?
Connie: Yeah, I recently got into it. I like to try not to use my phone too much, so around five o'clock, I’ll usually put it away. We’ll watch a movie, or just put on a record. It feels kind of old man-ish, but it’s nice to put a record on while we hang out on the porch and play chess or something.

Off Radar: East Coast or West Coast sound?
Connie: It doesn’t feel as split anymore, but just because I love Kendrick so much, I’d have to say West Coast.

Off Radar: Favorite movies?
Connie: Stanley Kubrick is a huge influence on me. Wes Anderson too, I can’t get enough of his films. Actually, my two friends and I have this group chat where we’re always talking about movies. We were all home for the Fourth of July, so we made our individual top 100 favorite movies lists and presented them to each other. It was really fun. My number one was Mid90s.

Off Radar: What got you into movies and music?
Connie: My brothers were really into movies. They’re a lot older than me and had one of those big box TVs with surround sound. I remember watching movies on that. Going to the theater was always a big thing too. I’ll never forget seeing Toy Story 3; it felt like the biggest moment of my life.
As for music, my mom says I was always dancing as a little kid and was just obsessed with it. My brothers were listening to 50 Cent, Lil Wayne, so when I’d go into their room or be around them, I’d hear it. I looked up to them, so I wanted to know everything about that music. My mom’s all about the oldies—Frank Sinatra, Marvin Gaye. My dad likes The Beatles, The Doors. Honestly, I think I just wanted to impress them.

Off Radar: What gets you to do this every day?
Connie: Coffee. I’m usually really good at avoiding things people get addicted to, like TikTok. So, coffee was one of those things. Doing something creative while on coffee is like a cheat code for me. That definitely helps me keep going. Also, doing that show last night made me realize, “Oh, this is why I do it.”

You can follow Saving Connie on Instagram, Spotify, Soundcloud, and LetterBoxd.