Faye Webster Really Loves Games
For evidence that Faye Webster loves a game, look no further than her merch store. A pack of dice, a racket dampener, and tennis towel, all in the 28-year-old singer-songwriter’s signature cobalt blue. Multiple custom yoyos. A bandana decorated with a subtle chessboard — one imagines whipping it off and setting up an impromptu game with, like, acorns.
After a wildly successful ping-pong tournament in 2023, Webster hosted the inaugural Faye Webster YoYo Invitational in Berkeley last year. This year’s event — simply titled the Faye Webster Invitational — expanded to include tennis and chess tournaments, along with musical performances from Webster and Erika de Casier. It took place over two days in late October and was paid for and organized by Webster herself.
When we speak over Zoom a week later (video off, per usual), Webster has just finished soundchecking for a gig in LA. Later that night, she’ll perform introspective songs from her folksy indie rock discography and her 2024 album, Underdressed At the Symphony, alongside a full orchestral arrangement. She mentions that she’s trying to take extra care of her voice. “I'm used to singing every night, but I think having the Invitational right before was a lot,” she says. “It took every bone in my body not to scream at every yoyo trick that night, but I was being responsible.”
All these activities…is she competitive? “Probably,” Webster concedes. “I like playing games and doing stuff, but I like playing games and doing stuff. It's not about winning.”
The Faye Webster Invitational commenced on Saturday with Atlanta’s first-ever LIVEBALL tennis tournament, a fast-paced, round-robin style. People flew in from Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C. to participate, and their ages ranged from teens to ’60s. It was a full-circle moment for Webster: She learned to play tennis on the very same courts during summer camp. “I had my heart set on those,” she says. “Piedmont Park was such a big part of my childhood.”
Webster, low-key an 18-and-under tennis champion, was a finalist in her bracket. She occasionally finds time to play pickup, maybe with Coco Guaff, Blood Orange’s Devonté Hynes, and Brain Dead co-founder Kyle Ng, but she’s more diligent on the road. “My tour manager finds the closest public court to the venue and puts it in the schedule,” she says. “I'm very thankful because every time I do it, I'm like, ‘Today is gonna be the best day.’”
On Sunday, 100 chess players gathered for a Swiss-system tournament with knockout finals. Tyler, The Creator was among the competitors, accompanied by his Odd Future collaborator and “The Bear” actor Lionel Boyce. Webster faced the Chromokopia rapper during the first round, with Tyler emerging victorious. “We play together a bunch. That's definitely somebody who loves chess so much,” she says. “It was really nice that he came to support.”
Webster considers tennis, chess, and yoyo to be therapeutic activities. “They’re all I think about when I’m doing them,” she says. But the communities around these activities keep her engaged, and the Invitational was designed to be inclusive. The public was invited to participate in every event minus the yoyo showcase (though an on-the-ground source assured me that some audience members brought their own yoyos); the tennis match featured a bracket for intermediate players who just wanted to play casually.
“At the chess and tennis events, which had nothing to do with music, people were like, ‘I don’t know you, but thank you for putting this on because I love chess,” Webster says. “It’s just this one core thing that we all have in common.”
In addition to sick merch like a chessboard and carrying case, the Invitational debuted Webster’s fourth custom yoyo. Made with the Czech brand Empathy, The Jonny is a metallic zinger named after the Invitational’s mascot, a yellow creature with red horns and a punky snout.
Jonny is Webster’s first unresponsive yoyo, meaning that it doesn’t naturally return to your hand like a classic up-down toy. “The only way to get it to come up is to do something called a bind. There are 1000 different ways to do it, but it's technically a trick on its own,” Webster explains. “You want to sell beginners a yoyo with a responsive bearing. But with this one, I want to actually push people to learn yoyo.”
“People see a video of me yoyoing, and they're like, ‘Wow, she's so good.’ I'm the most locked in when I’m yoyoing for hours at my house, maybe filming myself, then I can actually hit really difficult tricks,” she says. “But once you actually see these professional yoyo players, like… I'm not good.”
Webster did perform a few tricks at the Invitational, which she says was her first time yoyoing on stage. “My routine was really basic and easy because I knew that I was going to be so scared,” she says. “I messed up so bad, but I still posted because it's not about being good at yoyo. It's just the love for it.”
Webster hopes the Invitational will continue to expand. “I eventually want more music. I want the activities to change, though I think yoyo will always remain, because that was the initial heart of it.” She’s already dreaming big for next year: “My goal is to add Pokémon Trading Card Game.”
