WEBVTT - ITS Home Edition: Ashe 0:00:01.720 --> 0:00:05.400 I Heart Radio presents Inside the Studio. I'm your host, 0:00:05.559 --> 0:00:18.880 Joe Levy. Now, getting Inside the Studio has been difficult 0:00:19.000 --> 0:00:22.040 due to COVID nineteen, which is why we're launching a 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:26.640 special socially distant version of the show, Inside the Studio, 0:00:27.080 --> 0:00:29.960 the Home Edition. And that's not a chance for you 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:32.360 to play along at home and cut your own version 0:00:32.440 --> 0:00:35.120 of Dark Side of the Moon. Will be bringing you 0:00:35.400 --> 0:00:38.600 into the bedrooms and living rooms of your favorite artists 0:00:38.800 --> 0:00:41.240 to find out how they're coping with lockdown and how 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:44.320 it's impacting the way they make music, and to help 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:48.680 us out. We've been listed a new Quarantine correspondent, Jordan Rontalk. 0:00:49.520 --> 0:00:52.280 Jordan's served as a music editor at People Magazine and 0:00:52.400 --> 0:00:55.400 VH one dot Com. He's contributed to Rolling Stone and 0:00:55.560 --> 0:00:58.440 Entertainment Weekly, and he is also the host of the 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:04.600 I Heart Radio podcast Rivals Music's Greatest Feuds, available wherever 0:01:04.680 --> 0:01:08.560 you listen to your favorite shows. First up on Inside 0:01:08.600 --> 0:01:12.680 the Studio The Home Edition, Ash who just put out 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:15.639 a new remix of her breakout song Moral of the Story, 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:18.040 and it features a guest I had on Inside the 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:22.240 Studio a few months ago, Nile Horde. It's excellent and 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:34.320 so is this episode of the Inside the Studio home edition. Well, hello, everybody, 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:36.560 my name is Jordan run Talk, but enough about me. 0:01:36.920 --> 0:01:40.720 I'm here with an incredible singer, songwriter, musician, performer. You 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:43.039 may know her as the voice behind Moral of the Story, Ok, 0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:45.560 that song that made everyone cry in the Netflix film 0:01:45.600 --> 0:01:47.560 To All the Boys, p S. I Still Love You. 0:01:48.000 --> 0:01:50.520 She's also collaborated with Sean Frank, Lewis, The Child, and 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:53.440 so many more. I'm so thrilled to welcome Ash. How 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:56.080 are you today? Thank you so much for taking the time. Hi, 0:01:56.240 --> 0:01:58.920 thank you so much for having me. I'm doing really good. 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:01.240 How are you doing? I'm good, I'm good. I got 0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:02.520 so many things I want to ask you, but I 0:02:02.520 --> 0:02:07.440 guess first and foremost Quarantine. It's been tough for everybody. 0:02:07.520 --> 0:02:09.520 You know. What's been keeping you grounded and feeling good 0:02:09.560 --> 0:02:13.280 the last couple of months. Oh man, you know, Quarantine 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:18.280 has been just the weirdest time. This has just been 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:21.680 a really strange year. I'll tell you that much. You know, 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:24.840 I feel really privileged during this time. I'm I'm safe, 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:29.600 I'm happy, I'm healthy. I'm in the best healthiest relationship 0:02:29.639 --> 0:02:31.680 I've ever been in my life. And we're just like 0:02:31.800 --> 0:02:35.200 supporting each other, and you know, we work, we both 0:02:35.240 --> 0:02:38.600 work from home, and like, man, the fact that we 0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:42.240 haven't killed each other yet, it's like just so good. 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:45.520 And I live in West Hollywood, California, and it's just 0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:48.600 I'm looking at the window right now and it's absolutely 0:02:48.639 --> 0:02:51.880 beautiful and I just I feel really lucky, you know, 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:55.480 um in all of this so ordinarily, do you feel 0:02:55.480 --> 0:02:57.160 like you're more of a homebody. Do you take your 0:02:57.240 --> 0:03:00.760 writing inspiration from like looking outward or more looking in Oh, 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:05.600 definitely looking inward, because you I mean, I think you 0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:09.519 you take your life experience on the outside and then 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:12.800 you internalize it and you have to kind of dig 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:15.200 in there and go inward. And yeah, I'm kind of 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:18.400 an old lady. I like my I like being home. 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:21.280 I'm dead. I love you know, Touring is one of 0:03:21.280 --> 0:03:24.720 my favorite things to do in this world. But if 0:03:24.760 --> 0:03:27.640 I have to choose between my own bed or a hotel, 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:31.920 I'll choose my own cozy. I mean, it's yeah, it's 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:34.840 just cozy here. Has working from home full time change 0:03:34.880 --> 0:03:37.000 the way that you've approached writing music at all or 0:03:37.080 --> 0:03:39.400 is it pretty much the same? Oh? I think a 0:03:39.440 --> 0:03:43.160 bit and that, you know, I can't just drive over 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:47.760 to my producer's place and track some vocals. It's um. 0:03:47.800 --> 0:03:50.280 I've had a lot of new sessions since Moral of 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:53.080 the Story. I've had the honor of working with you know, 0:03:53.760 --> 0:03:58.320 some really like just the top dogs in the music 0:03:58.360 --> 0:04:01.120 industry and like people on my I should not be 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:04.320 allowed to write a song with you. You are too talented. 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:08.280 And I've met those people and talk to those people 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:11.840 over you know, zoom, So that's been a little weird, 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:17.080 but for them, I'm definitely a much more in person gal. 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:20.320 But it's it's changed the landscape of it. But for 0:04:20.360 --> 0:04:23.440 the most part, we're making it work. Everyone's you know, 0:04:23.680 --> 0:04:25.839 doing the best with what they've got. What are you 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:31.400 working on now that you're really excited about? Can you say? Um, yeah, 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:35.360 there's there's so much coming. Oh, I wish I could 0:04:35.400 --> 0:04:37.839 tell you everything right now. I just got a master 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:41.000 back of the next thing we're going to release, and 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:45.560 it is going people are going to lose their minds. 0:04:46.320 --> 0:04:49.520 I'm going to lose my mind. Um. So yeah, I've 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:52.680 been working on that thing. I can't say I want 0:04:52.680 --> 0:04:56.320 to say, but hopefully soon I can. Oh, I can't wait. 0:04:56.720 --> 0:04:59.800 What is your homework situation, like just like your whole setup, 0:04:59.800 --> 0:05:04.600 I'm kind of a tech narrative to um, Well, behind 0:05:04.600 --> 0:05:08.800 me right now, I'm recording a moral of the story, 0:05:09.440 --> 0:05:12.559 like I have to do um like a live video, 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:19.000 and so behind me is like a shore sm for 0:05:19.279 --> 0:05:22.599 fifty something or other I don't even know. Um and 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:28.680 my nord and um opus, my boyfriend just walking in. Um, 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:34.760 he's in a meeting. This is working from home and quarantine. Yeah, 0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:36.760 do you have to do like setting the ground rules? 0:05:36.800 --> 0:05:38.520 Like Okay, I got a radio thing like please don't 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:40.680 flush the toilet between this time and this time, like 0:05:40.720 --> 0:05:45.280 all that stuff. Luckily the toilet is far enough away 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:48.520 where he can flush it fine. But usually he's working, 0:05:48.640 --> 0:05:52.400 Like back there is like his little desk station, and 0:05:52.440 --> 0:05:57.120 so usually he's like right there while I'm doing interviews. Um, 0:05:57.240 --> 0:05:59.960 but we're we I think we respect each other at 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:03.400 so we've made it. We've made it work. But yeah, 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:05.320 what does a typical writing day look like for you? 0:06:05.400 --> 0:06:07.360 Because and I'm sure you get this question a lot 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:09.839 from people like me who love music but just can't, 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:11.800 for the life of them figure out how you write it. 0:06:11.960 --> 0:06:13.880 Do you hear a song in your head? And then 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:15.960 go to the piano and kind of flesh it out 0:06:16.000 --> 0:06:17.520 and find it. Or do you go to the piano 0:06:17.560 --> 0:06:20.680 every morning almost like exercise and lay down chord structures 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:22.640 and just kind of find your way along and experiment 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:25.880 and see what happens. Oh, I mean, I think it's 0:06:26.040 --> 0:06:31.160 different every time. I I typically go sit down at 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:35.400 the piano. Um. First, that's sort of my home. Um, 0:06:35.440 --> 0:06:39.719 It's like it's like eating a burrito. It's like just comfort, 0:06:39.839 --> 0:06:44.600 you know. So I'm definitely the most um confident and 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:47.200 feel like most myself when I'm just sitting out at 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:50.560 the piano and I'll work through some chords and um, 0:06:50.600 --> 0:06:54.360 digging back into you know that old pet Sounds album 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:58.760 by the Beach Boys. I I'm reimagining chord structure and 0:06:58.760 --> 0:07:03.800 and it's open up like an entirely new songwriting landscape 0:07:03.839 --> 0:07:08.040 for me. And so that's been really fun. Um. But yeah, 0:07:08.120 --> 0:07:11.360 it's always different sometimes though I do wake up every 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:15.440 morning around five am and I journal and um, usually 0:07:15.720 --> 0:07:19.040 I can pull sometimes a song will start from there. 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:21.240 You know. It just happens in a lot of different ways. 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:23.160 That was kind of my next question to at what 0:07:23.240 --> 0:07:26.000 point do you start thinking of the audience. When you're 0:07:26.000 --> 0:07:28.360 writing lyrics, are you writing from a place of I 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:30.080 just want to get something out of me? Are you 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:32.440 always sort of thinking about, here's this thing I want 0:07:32.440 --> 0:07:34.240 to convey to these people, and I want them to 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:39.920 understand it. Most of the time, because I've pre my 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:44.120 headline tour, I didn't. I was very um you know, 0:07:44.120 --> 0:07:45.680 when I sat down to write a song or was 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:48.360 in a songwriting session, it was very me focused. It 0:07:48.520 --> 0:07:52.280 was like, Okay, what exactly do I need to say 0:07:52.680 --> 0:07:56.400 right here? And then I went on tour and then 0:07:56.600 --> 0:08:01.400 people when people start screaming your lyrics back at you, 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:03.840 you start thinking. When you sit down to write a 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:09.040 song and imagine going on another tour and hearing people 0:08:09.080 --> 0:08:11.520 sing it back to you, it makes you think in 0:08:11.560 --> 0:08:15.920 a completely different way. Um. So I've definitely taken that 0:08:16.000 --> 0:08:20.680 into consideration and finding that balance between making sure people 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:23.200 are going to be able to understand you and relate 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:28.440 and you know, actually, sometimes if you get way, way, 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:32.200 way too specific, you're like, people are like, I don't 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:34.880 know what you're talking about, you know. But what I've 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:38.480 found is if you are really honest and vulnerable, usually 0:08:38.480 --> 0:08:42.800 even if you know some middle schoolers line favorite line 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:45.200 is talking with my lawyer. You know, I'm talking about 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:49.600 my divorce attorney in more of the story. And you know, 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:52.920 that's bonkers to me that that would be their favorite line. 0:08:52.960 --> 0:08:56.400 But I think there it's human beings are so you 0:08:56.440 --> 0:08:59.600 can just take take what take a lyric and then 0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:03.680 put your self in that situation or replace lawyer with 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:09.439 you know, father or brother or mom or whatever. So um, 0:09:09.720 --> 0:09:25.920 best friend. Yeah, so wow, that was long winded. I'm sorry. 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:29.480 The moral of the story. It's just such an incredibly 0:09:29.600 --> 0:09:32.760 vulnerable song. Having a hit song must be crazy for 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:35.680 a million different reasons that I can't even imagine. But 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:38.960 having a hit song that's come from such a personal 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:42.240 place for you, what is that like? Is it like nerve? 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:44.280 Is it almost just like having millions of people read 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:46.160 your diary? Like? How does that feel knowing that this 0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:49.200 song that came from such a I imagine, very painful event, 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:53.760 um is now just so public And so, you know, 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:56.240 like you said, just sort of everyone knows and can 0:09:56.280 --> 0:10:00.320 now relate to do I have a hit song? I 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:02.960 feel like you're that that's so crazy. I feel like 0:10:03.000 --> 0:10:05.120 you're the first person who's like, what's it like to 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:07.880 have a hit song and not being like this is 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:10.400 going to be a hit or this is about to 0:10:10.440 --> 0:10:13.000 be a hit, but being like it's a hit, well 0:10:13.240 --> 0:10:18.400 that's crazy. Oh my gosh. Um, I have to process 0:10:18.760 --> 0:10:26.439 that a little bit. Um, what's it like? It's crazy? Um, 0:10:26.480 --> 0:10:31.040 I'm putting a song that is about my life and 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:35.720 a very deep and dark part of my um experience 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:38.680 as a human being that is not, you know, unique 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:42.559 to me. So many people have gone through heartbreak and 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:47.400 divorce it that matter. But um, it feels really cool 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:50.840 it It was never going to be any other song 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:55.839 than this one that had this moment, you know. And 0:10:55.920 --> 0:10:59.400 it makes me think too of you know, getting out 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:02.240 of your relationship ship that is sort of run its 0:11:02.240 --> 0:11:06.720 course incredibly incredibly hard. And I think of a lot 0:11:06.760 --> 0:11:08.439 of people, a lot of women specifically right now, who 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:11.600 are in quarantine, who are literally not only metaphorically trapped 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:13.560 in this relationship and now we're literally trapped in a 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:15.760 home with this partner that they don't want to be with. 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:18.960 What would you say to to those people are really 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:23.280 having struggling with sort of stepping out and being an 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:25.640 individual and getting out of this situation that's not good 0:11:25.679 --> 0:11:29.000 for them. Oh, I mean, I definitely don't want to 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:34.800 take this question or answer lightly because it's this is 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:37.840 a very heavy, you know, a heavy thing, and I 0:11:37.880 --> 0:11:39.640 think at the end of the day, you have to 0:11:39.720 --> 0:11:43.480 decide what's right for for you in your your life. 0:11:43.559 --> 0:11:48.000 But I will say that if you are truly unhappy 0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:51.600 and in something toxic that you know and can imagine, 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:54.560 your life will be better if you get out. UM, 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:59.400 you are not stuck. And I think we convince ourselves 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:03.280 that or we're stuck. UM. I have many a friend 0:12:03.320 --> 0:12:06.960 who have been in abusive relationships. There's that cycle, um 0:12:07.000 --> 0:12:11.560 that you go through and and believe that it's gonna change, 0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:14.880 or you're gonna you know, fall back and love again, 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:18.880 or she's gonna change. He's going to change. And at 0:12:18.920 --> 0:12:22.400 the end of the day, if you, um, if you 0:12:22.440 --> 0:12:25.560 make the decision, especially in quarantine, and it makes us 0:12:25.600 --> 0:12:30.520 feel even more stuck and even more boxed in. I mean, 0:12:30.559 --> 0:12:36.479 I definitely say there's always there's always a way, UM, 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:41.600 And it's so scary, but it's like, man, it's the 0:12:41.640 --> 0:12:44.120 bravest thing you can do, and for a minute, you're 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:47.920 going to blow up your entire life. And I can't 0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:51.040 understand that. I was living in a house that I 0:12:51.160 --> 0:12:55.400 bought off signing my first record deal, and I no 0:12:55.480 --> 0:12:57.959 longer live in that house, and I am no longer 0:12:58.000 --> 0:12:59.800 married to that man that I bought that house with, 0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:02.840 and I blew up my whole life. Um, and I 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:07.480 am immeasurably more happy and a better person for it. 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:10.880 You know, it's incredibly brave, both in life and in 0:13:10.920 --> 0:13:13.439 your music. I gotta ask you this is probably an old, 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:16.040 tired question, but do you find it easier or harder 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:22.440 to write when you're happy? Oh? Um, I I don't know. 0:13:22.600 --> 0:13:25.080 I will say, I'm going to say about the same. 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:28.240 It really depends on I think a lot of the 0:13:28.240 --> 0:13:32.520 typical answer is it's easier to write when you're sad. Um, 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:36.000 And I will say, like, music is therapy, and writing 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:41.000 it is so therapeutic that sometimes we need it more 0:13:41.120 --> 0:13:46.079 when we're sad um to write. But I mean, I 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:48.760 don't know. I'm writing a lot of record I'm very happy, 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:51.720 and I'm like, I'm writing my favorite records I've ever written. 0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:55.119 So yeah, I don't know. I saw you on Instagram 0:13:55.120 --> 0:13:58.120 teasing some of what I assume we're lyrics. Fans are 0:13:58.120 --> 0:14:01.520 getting all excited. The other day we were cocaine playing 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:04.840 milk and Honey cared to elaborate it all on that 0:14:05.000 --> 0:14:10.680 or oh yeah, I mean that. Um, that's a lyric 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:16.440 off my next single. Um, and I started teasing that. Um, 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:20.320 that's all I can really give you. But but there's 0:14:20.360 --> 0:14:23.480 a bunch of different stages to grieving, and I think 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:26.640 we all think that it's happens in like, Okay, once 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:28.880 you're done with denial, you move on to anger, and 0:14:28.920 --> 0:14:31.160 then once you're done with that, you know, and the 0:14:31.200 --> 0:14:35.720 finals acceptance and when you hit acceptance, you're done. And UM, 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:39.320 it so doesn't work like that. And I, um, I still, 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:43.200 you know, go back and forth on old feelings. And 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:45.920 so the next record is Moral of the Story. Is 0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:51.160 such an acceptance record, like fully in the acceptance stage 0:14:51.160 --> 0:14:55.200 of grief. Um, the next single is not I can't 0:14:55.240 --> 0:14:59.040 wait to hear it. When one of my favorite things 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:02.840 that's occurred this quarantine and I'm serious you UM put 0:15:02.880 --> 0:15:06.720 together a livestream concert for the fifty four anniversary of 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:08.920 one of my all time I think it's my favorite 0:15:08.920 --> 0:15:11.280 album of all time, Pet Sounds the Beach Boys Pet Sounds. 0:15:11.320 --> 0:15:13.920 You mentioned it earlier. How did that come to pass? 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:16.520 I loved it so much. So many great performances in 0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:19.440 that concert. Oh well, thank you for saying that. That 0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:23.440 was doing that concert and putting it on was an 0:15:23.520 --> 0:15:27.640 absolute privilege. That was the coolest. That was one of 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:30.320 the coolest things I've ever done. That wasn't you know 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:34.160 my own music. Um, I'm so glad you said that 0:15:34.240 --> 0:15:37.560 it's one of your favorite albums because it's I mean, 0:15:37.640 --> 0:15:41.960 it's just Paul McCartney said something like, um, you're not 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:47.120 musically educated until you listen to pet Sounds, so not 0:15:47.440 --> 0:15:52.760 everyone who wants to be a musician listen. Um, yeah, 0:15:52.800 --> 0:15:55.800 I mean it was the fifty four anniversary was like 0:15:55.880 --> 0:15:58.040 not one of those years probably someone was going to 0:15:58.120 --> 0:16:00.160 do like a big banging thing, and I was like, 0:16:00.240 --> 0:16:03.280 I feel like this is an opportunity in the midst 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:07.160 of Quarantine to honor you know, Brian Wilson and um, 0:16:07.480 --> 0:16:11.240 just the coolest, the coolest album ever made. What is 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:13.640 about about that album that speaks to you so much? 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:21.240 I mean the instrumentation was so um, out of the 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:24.440 out of the box and kind of out of this world. 0:16:24.520 --> 0:16:28.400 And I think that Brian he just took boundaries and 0:16:28.520 --> 0:16:31.800 just like lit a match and was just like there 0:16:31.840 --> 0:16:35.320 are no boundaries, but not in a way like you know, 0:16:35.440 --> 0:16:38.840 God love jazz avant garde music, but at some point, 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:43.000 as a you know, normal average listener, it starts feeling 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:46.440 like noise and just sounds and um, you know, no 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:50.080 shade on avant garde jazz if that's your thing. Um, 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:54.440 But I think what was so cool is Brian took jazz, 0:16:55.040 --> 0:17:01.920 classical orchestral, motown, um pop wheeler, you know, rock and 0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:08.639 roll music and singer songwriter, you know, ballad stuff, and 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:12.680 he threw it all together and and made it accessible 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:16.920 and relatable. And I mean he made a pop album 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:20.760 out of I can talk about this all day. So yeah, 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:24.520 to stop there, Oh your your version of I just 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:27.320 wasn't made for these times. It was absolutely exquisite. I 0:17:27.640 --> 0:17:29.399 love what to read of that song. I have to 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:36.520 say thank you. Oh yes, I mean I just um, 0:17:36.560 --> 0:17:38.880 I mean, I have two minds about it. I'm one. 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:42.200 There's I'm very you know, there's a reason for everything 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:44.520 kind of glass half full girl, So I'm very like, 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:48.640 all right, I was born in this era for a reason, 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:51.920 so I'm going to take that. But you know, I 0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:55.200 just don't feel like I belong that often in this 0:17:55.280 --> 0:17:57.959 era just because they I think this is like, I'm 0:17:57.960 --> 0:17:59.800 gonna get crazy right now. I think this is the 0:17:59.800 --> 0:18:01.560 cool thing about moral of the story because it's the 0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:05.600 first time in my life that people are validating, you know, 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:07.440 what I have to say and the way I want 0:18:07.480 --> 0:18:11.600 to say it. Um, And it's so powerful because in 0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:14.040 so many ways, you know me and my old lady 0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:19.560 tendencies and my turtlenecks, and you know, it's not pop 0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:23.240 It didn't feel very pop culture, or it wasn't um 0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:27.400 glorified or you know, I don't know. I just um 0:18:28.160 --> 0:18:30.320 have always felt like I never fully belonged. So I 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:34.240 was definitely drawn to that song. And when I sat 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:38.479 down to learn the chords to that song, oh my gosh, 0:18:38.520 --> 0:18:41.600 I fell in love with Brian all over again. It 0:18:41.680 --> 0:18:45.720 took me like an hour long to transpose it, like 0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:48.520 to figure out the chords and then to transpose it 0:18:48.560 --> 0:18:51.480 into a key I could sing it, and then to act. 0:18:51.720 --> 0:18:54.080 Then it took me a couple of days of rehearsing 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:56.359 it before I could do it on camera because it 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:59.200 was just well, the bass makes no sense. The bass 0:18:59.320 --> 0:19:03.320 is like totally move and doing its own thing, right, No, exactly, 0:19:03.320 --> 0:19:06.919 I mean, yes, yeah, it's so weird. I mean, and 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:12.119 then he's got like these weird like just these diminished 0:19:12.160 --> 0:19:15.680 chords with these weird based notes. But it's perfect. It's 0:19:15.720 --> 0:19:34.119 a perfect record. You studied sort of similar arrangements at 0:19:34.400 --> 0:19:37.520 at Berkeley School Music and Boston doing big band and 0:19:37.640 --> 0:19:41.120 orchestra arrangements, right, how does that training show up in 0:19:41.119 --> 0:19:44.000 in the kind of work that you're doing now? I 0:19:44.080 --> 0:19:49.199 mean it kind of went dormant post college, um for 0:19:49.240 --> 0:19:54.160 a while there, um, and then working on this debut album. 0:19:54.200 --> 0:19:58.280 It's definitely I've been bringing it back out for sure. 0:19:58.400 --> 0:20:02.520 That's going to be pretty It's very The album is 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:06.679 very well for sure, pet sounds inspired, but um, you 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:13.720 know Queen and Elton John Yellow Brick Road, and there's 0:20:13.760 --> 0:20:19.720 just a massive um orchestral element to the new album 0:20:19.760 --> 0:20:23.520 that I'm working on and in the singles. So yeah, 0:20:23.560 --> 0:20:26.600 it's definitely coming out now, which is really I mean, 0:20:27.560 --> 0:20:30.800 that's pretty awesome to put to use. For sure. I 0:20:30.800 --> 0:20:33.320 hear all the passion in your voice talking about your 0:20:33.400 --> 0:20:35.480 music other people's music. Was there a moment when you 0:20:35.560 --> 0:20:37.199 knew that music was what you wanted to do with 0:20:37.240 --> 0:20:40.440 your life? You know? I am I am so passionate 0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:42.840 about me that I will like we could talk forever. 0:20:43.000 --> 0:20:47.040 But um, I never had that, like you know, people 0:20:47.040 --> 0:20:49.520 were like and then I ran out into the street 0:20:49.640 --> 0:20:51.560 and then so I almost got hit by a car, 0:20:51.640 --> 0:20:56.639 and then I was like, okay, I'm gonna be a blank. Um. 0:20:56.680 --> 0:20:58.720 You know, I don't think life. I think we make 0:20:58.840 --> 0:21:01.400 up stories like that because it is more marketable. But 0:21:01.720 --> 0:21:05.760 I didn't, you know, maybe not maybe I don't know, um, 0:21:05.800 --> 0:21:09.119 but I it was just through a series of small 0:21:10.200 --> 0:21:13.840 which I feel like is more normal. It's a series 0:21:13.920 --> 0:21:18.560 of small choices that lead you to where you need 0:21:18.560 --> 0:21:22.159 to be in life. And you know, Berkeley was a 0:21:22.200 --> 0:21:24.480 piece of that puzzle. I didn't have it figured out. 0:21:24.960 --> 0:21:27.200 I probably would have dropped out if I had had 0:21:27.359 --> 0:21:30.040 figured it out, but I didn't. So I graduated, and 0:21:30.040 --> 0:21:32.000 then I moved to Nashville, and I still didn't know 0:21:32.040 --> 0:21:33.879 what I wanted to do. But it was another piece 0:21:33.920 --> 0:21:37.679 towards us sitting here doing this interview right now, you know, 0:21:38.400 --> 0:21:40.520 just a little by little. Moving to San Diego was 0:21:40.560 --> 0:21:43.760 another piece. Um. Moving to l a by my first house, 0:21:43.880 --> 0:21:47.680 marrying the wrong guy was a piece. Um. So yeah, 0:21:47.960 --> 0:21:50.000 that was a long winded way to say no. There 0:21:50.119 --> 0:21:51.919 wasn't a moment that I was like, this is what 0:21:52.000 --> 0:21:53.760 I have to do with my life. It's just sort 0:21:53.800 --> 0:21:57.560 of been a a long, slow process. I think I 0:21:57.600 --> 0:21:59.560 read that when you were Berkeley you were considering not 0:21:59.640 --> 0:22:02.280 even being a performer. You didn't want to be on 0:22:02.359 --> 0:22:04.520 stage at all. What would you say to somebody who's 0:22:04.520 --> 0:22:06.720 sort of struggling to find their own voice, who does 0:22:06.760 --> 0:22:10.159 have all this creativity and passion but sort of shying 0:22:10.160 --> 0:22:16.040 away from it. I would say, stop wasting time being insecure, 0:22:17.440 --> 0:22:22.760 because the world has enough insecurity and enough people who 0:22:22.800 --> 0:22:27.719 are doubting themselves daily, and I think the world just 0:22:27.760 --> 0:22:30.199 needs a lot more of people who are confident and 0:22:30.280 --> 0:22:33.240 know who they are. And um, that takes a long 0:22:33.320 --> 0:22:38.560 time and a process, Like I was just saying, but um, 0:22:38.720 --> 0:22:42.040 I really believe that. You know, for me in college, 0:22:42.920 --> 0:22:45.880 me not thinking I was good enough to be an artist, 0:22:45.960 --> 0:22:47.960 and that I could only be a writer that came 0:22:48.000 --> 0:22:55.760 out of insecurity and immaturity and imagine the world we're 0:22:55.840 --> 0:22:59.159 moral of the story didn't exist, and if I didn't 0:22:59.320 --> 0:23:04.440 rise to the occasion and just go no, stopp being immature, 0:23:04.560 --> 0:23:10.720 stopping in secure, get old, get over yourself, and pursue 0:23:10.720 --> 0:23:14.040 what you love, you know, and imagine what kind of 0:23:14.080 --> 0:23:16.600 impact you can have. I don't know, encouraging just I 0:23:16.640 --> 0:23:20.080 would encourage people. The world needs your voice, you know, 0:23:20.760 --> 0:23:23.600 not to go back to you know. Another one of those. 0:23:23.760 --> 0:23:25.280 Was there a moment? But was there a moment when 0:23:25.280 --> 0:23:27.880 you knew that the song was taking off? Was there 0:23:27.880 --> 0:23:29.800 like an oh my god moment like this is this 0:23:29.840 --> 0:23:33.520 is getting crazy? Oh yeah, there was a moment for sure. Um, 0:23:33.720 --> 0:23:37.160 when the day we hit two million streams in one 0:23:37.240 --> 0:23:41.159 day and ill the day we hit one million streams, 0:23:41.200 --> 0:23:44.760 I was like, whoa, this is insane. But then when 0:23:44.760 --> 0:23:46.960 I when I got up to two, I was like, 0:23:47.080 --> 0:23:50.359 all right, this is this is different. And then I 0:23:50.400 --> 0:23:53.760 think the next thing was when I heard it on radio. 0:23:54.720 --> 0:23:59.040 I was pretty baffled. I was like, this is this 0:23:59.080 --> 0:24:03.600 is my life on air? Weird. It's so funny because 0:24:03.600 --> 0:24:06.439 I was listening to well the story and then I 0:24:06.480 --> 0:24:08.800 was listening to pet Sounds because you inspired me with 0:24:08.840 --> 0:24:11.600 the with the live stream, and I was almost thinking 0:24:11.600 --> 0:24:13.439 that more of the story is sort of like the 0:24:13.480 --> 0:24:16.080 sequel to wouldn't it be nice? Because wouldn't it be nice? 0:24:16.080 --> 0:24:18.520