When the world was at a standstill, the public turned to nature, sleep, and their phones for entertainment. In the depths of TikTok, Frances Forever’s “Space Girl” became a viral sensation and threw the indie-pop star, otherwise known as Frances Garrett, into the limelight. After releasing their debut EP earlier this year with Paranoia party, the Massachusetts artist draws inspiration from her own life to connect with listeners, even if that means some of their words might never reach a crowd.

“When I play my music live, I remember, ‘Oh, I wrote that after I had a panic attack, and now all these people are hearing it,’” the singer admits. “But it feels good when people can resonate with it. I really resonate with the music which is also incredibly personal. It’s heartwarming to know that people find their own comfort in my music.

Joining Mom + Pop Music and reaching the turning point in their careers when the idea of ​​live music wasn’t even unfathomable meant the 22-year-old hadn’t had many opportunities to perform in front of large audiences. before closing. Even now, as the feeds pile up and social media interactions with the artist multiply, Garrett is still adjusting to life in the spotlight.

“When the pandemic started, I was like, ‘I’m going to do the job. And then I didn’t do a lot of music at all, it was too hard to work. Once I sign on the label, it’s like, ‘Okay, that’s going to happen.’ At this point it was easier to figure out how to be a musician during a pandemic, but it was really weird not being able to see everyone who listens to my music besides social media.

“I actually had my first performance in Missouri at Missouri State. A lot of people were there, and they all knew me. It’s so strange to go to places and have people who know me and my music and sing.

For a moment, Garrett was playing an acoustic set to a small band in a basement; now they’re being asked to play at one of Austin’s biggest events. A daunting thought to say the least, the freelance songwriter is prepared and “incredibly excited.”

“I haven’t done a lot of stages yet, it hasn’t really gone down. Once I have [to ACL] I don’t know how I’m going to operate, ”they laugh. “How do you command and control a huge stage? It’ll be fun. Hopefully there will be some basement vibes, but outside.

Saturday, 12:50 p.m., Honda stage