• Courtesy
• Christina Schneider

A few months ago, I was down in Brattleboro talking with some local musicians and artists near the Estey Organ Museum. (No, it's not a museum full of livers and kidneys floating in jars. But yes, my brain went there as well.) The former factory for reed, pump, pipe and melodeon organs is something of a hangout, as area bands such as THUS LOVE live and rehearse in the apartments nearby.

As happens often in my job, I found myself in a conversation about Vermont music, listing off new bands I was into or had heard buzz about. Someone (hell if I can recall who — there was cannabis involved) blurted out, "Locate S,1 is incredible!"

Within seconds, "Heart Attack" was playing on a Bluetooth speaker, washing over me with synths, indie-disco beats and a velvet-smooth voice. I was instantly enamored of the track's vitality, its originality and the shifting genres blurring together into one weird, alternate-universe version of pop music.

Having never heard of Locate S,1, I was gripped with that specific sort of excitement that happens whenever I'm on the cusp of a new musical obsession. I googled the band, already shaking my head at the realization that a record this good was from a Vermont artist. How had I missed this?

My heart sank as soon as I found the info: Locate S,1 is the project of Christina Schneider, an Athens, Ga.-based musician who previously lived in Seattle and New York City. As I read about her being the partner of Kevin Barnes, the mastermind behind indie-rock staple Of Montreal, and signing to Captured Tracks, I felt a twinge of annoyance that I'd been given false hope. I thought I was listening to one of the best local records I had ever laid ears on.

"She's from Athens, dude," I said, putting my phone away with a sigh of disappointment.

"Nope," one of the artists replied. "She moved to Vermont this summer!"

Some internet sleuthing quickly revealed that, indeed, Schneider and Barnes had departed Athens for southern Vermont. That alone wasn't so strange: It's become something of a trend lately for indie artists to relocate quietly to the Green Mountains, where solitude is abundant. Between Neko Case, Adrianne Lenker, Ryley Walker and half of Guster, we could stage a "We Are the World"-type benefit for maple syrup shortages at this point.

But I was still curious about the reasons for Schneider's move, because Wicked Jaw, her latest LP as Locate S,1, had me reeling. Blending a pleasing, almost smirking sense of experimental music with candy-coated pop, the record presents a strikingly original sound. From the neon-lit, savage takedown of modern American society in "Go Back to Disnee" to the jazzy indie-pop number "You Were Right About One Thing," Schneider dazzles with sonics while slaying with lyrics.

As someone who simply can't abide a musical mystery, I reached out to Schneider, who was lovely enough to hop on the phone from her new digs in Marlboro.

I tried to phrase "What the hell are you doing here?" as politely as I could. Turns out, she's making a return of sorts. Schneider lived in Poultney as a kid and even came up playing in the Brattleboro scene.

"I got so inspired to write music after seeing Chris Weisman play," Schneider said, referring to the Brattleboro composer who, when she saw him, was also in the band Happy Birthday with future King Tuff front man Kyle Thomas. "Those guys were like rock stars to me."

Schneider eventually left Vermont for New York City. She began releasing music as S,1, debuting in 2018 with the album Healing Contest, which was produced by Barnes. Personalia followed in 2020. Then she moved to Athens, where Barnes was based, but she found the scene challenging.

"I wanted to go somewhere where the scene wasn't full of paranoia or suspicion," she said. "Where musicians wanted to see each other succeed and make art, and that's what we have here now. Music scenes in big cities can be great, but they carry their own challenges. There's no sense of competing here, and people seem to just have a natural reverence for people trying to make cool shit."

Nonmusical concerns spurred the move — Barnes' daughter recently enrolled in a New York college, and the couple wanted to be closer. But Schneider said she knew southern Vermont was the right choice for her, both personally and as an artist.

"I love our little street where we live now in Marlboro," she said. "There's other artists around. And being this close to Brattleboro, I can work with Chris!"

Weisman appears on Wicked Jaw, as does former Vermonter Ryan Power, giving the album a hint of the Green Mountains. Schneider said she's proud of the 2023 record and finds it easier to revisit than some of her earlier work.

"Past albums are so hard to listen to," she admitted. "It's like you threw a tantrum and you don't really want to think about what you did."

She sees Wicked Jaw as having reshaped her perception of success.

"My partner is an indie artist that found success in the '90s, so they were sort of grandfathered into this thing that doesn't really exist anymore," Schneider said, referring to the notion of "making it" as an indie artist. "I spent a lot of time comparing myself to them before I realized that all I really need to do is make an album that I'm proud of. And I feel like I did that."

Schneider hopes to delve further into her new scene and assemble a local crew with which to play shows.

"I always wanted to come back to Vermont and live here until I died," she said, laughing. "Hopefully that doesn't happen anytime soon, but still — I'm here, and I feel like I'm in this new upward spiral of creativity. I'm truly happy to be here."