Speaker 1: Hello everyone, and welcome the inside of the studio on
Speaker 1: iHeart Radio. My name is Jordan runt Dog, but enough
Speaker 1: about me, my guest today is a multi talented singer
Speaker 1: songwriter in DJ and one of the biggest names in
Speaker 1: the dance music scene today. She first gained attention with
Speaker 1: her collaborations with the electronic house group Hot Natured, in
Speaker 1: which yielded floor fillers like Reverse Skydiving and Mercury Rising.
Speaker 1: Since then, her career is soared. In the last year,
Speaker 1: she scored three dance chart number ones, so Hot, Picture Us,
Speaker 1: and Underwater. All of these can be found under debut
Speaker 1: LP Messing with Magic, an instant dance party that was
Speaker 1: released last December. Now a deluxe edition is set to
Speaker 1: hit shelves on May one, with five new tracks, including
Speaker 1: her new single Waiting for You. There's also reimagined acoustic
Speaker 1: versions of Picture Us and Underwater, plus I hastened to
Speaker 1: add she's also nominated for Dance Artists of the Year
Speaker 1: at the I Heart Radio Music a War. It's I'm
Speaker 1: so happy to welcome Annabelle England. Hi, Hey guys, how
Speaker 1: are you well. Thank you so much for taking the
Speaker 1: time today. Your your new record is incredible. It's called
Speaker 1: Messing with Magic, which I think, just right off the
Speaker 1: bat is an incredible title. What does that mean to you?
Speaker 1: How do you do you you define the magic? Well? To me,
Speaker 1: Messing with Magic is about kind of going against the grain,
Speaker 1: and you know, because I feel like in society it's
Speaker 1: it's so often easier to accept that we dislike ourselves
Speaker 1: versus bagging ourselves up or or being our number one fan,
Speaker 1: and I kind of want to change the narrative. And
Speaker 1: to me, Messing with Magic is about like cutting out
Speaker 1: the bullshit, finding yourself love and like saying like I
Speaker 1: love myself and I care about myself and I did
Speaker 1: this thing and it's amazing, and being proud of yourself
Speaker 1: for that too. So it's kind of a journey of
Speaker 1: self love and you know, love with for other people
Speaker 1: and know all that, all that stuff, we definitely need
Speaker 1: more of that. I believe you said that this record
Speaker 1: is the debut of the beginning of me. How do
Speaker 1: you feel that you've grown and change from all the
Speaker 1: incredible work and songs that that's come before this? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean before I was assigned to Ultra Records, I
Speaker 1: was just making music to get it out and you know,
Speaker 1: have a continuation of songs. I mean, they all are
Speaker 1: still so important to me, but this debut album is
Speaker 1: the first cohesive unit that I was able to put out,
Speaker 1: and it has some older songs I've written, but also
Speaker 1: some newer songs that I had just written with songwriters
Speaker 1: and producers that Ultra had teamed me up with. So
Speaker 1: it was kind of like, like I kind of say,
Speaker 1: it was just kind of like chiseling away at all
Speaker 1: the pieces, and then I ended up having this album.
Speaker 1: And before people would say what's your sound, like what
Speaker 1: would be your ideal song that you would make? And
Speaker 1: you know, so I would have to like go into
Speaker 1: meetings prepared to say, well, I would cut up this
Speaker 1: song from the XX and take this song from Robin,
Speaker 1: but then like have this bridge from Madonna. And really
Speaker 1: it's like I can only figure out what my sound
Speaker 1: is by making music and seeing like I like that song,
Speaker 1: but it's it's not my favorite. And the more songs
Speaker 1: I write, the more I'm able to figure out what
Speaker 1: I like and what my sound is. And that's why
Speaker 1: I feel like this album is the debut of me,
Speaker 1: because by making it, I've been able to see what
Speaker 1: I love and what I'm proud of in making that's
Speaker 1: got to be such a great feeling because before that,
Speaker 1: it's it's got to be stressful. Think like you just said,
Speaker 1: I'm this, but I'm also this, but I'm also this.
Speaker 1: And now you have a document you can point to
Speaker 1: and say, this is me, this is my sound, this
Speaker 1: is who I am. Take it or leave it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I think like going into label meetings to like
Speaker 1: prove yourself and you know, management meetings at the time,
Speaker 1: and and you know, I have to come with my homework,
Speaker 1: but really it's like you just have to give me
Speaker 1: a chance so I can show you and give me
Speaker 1: room to grow and to evolve. And then this is
Speaker 1: what happens when when you do. And I think, like
Speaker 1: as an artist that that's starting out like years ago,
Speaker 1: it's kind of like, you know, people ask these questions,
Speaker 1: but you don't really know until you try and you do. Now.
Speaker 1: You mentioned that some of these songs have been around
Speaker 1: for a while and some of them are written during lockdown.
Speaker 1: What was the breakdown like for that? How much of
Speaker 1: the songs are from like the last year. Two of
Speaker 1: the songs from the deluxe album were written in Quarantine
Speaker 1: over Zoom, and all the other songs were written previously
Speaker 1: before COVID. Actually there are two of my favorite songs.
Speaker 1: And I at first was like, I just I'm always
Speaker 1: open to try anything. Once It's like I'm very open
Speaker 1: minded with things, and I'm just like, okay, like let's try.
Speaker 1: And I did these Zoom sessions, and to me, it's
Speaker 1: almost it's kind of nice because we all have an
Speaker 1: open Google doc. The co writer and I are like
Speaker 1: writing our ideas down. We can see it in real time.
Speaker 1: And all I did was like send voice memos on
Speaker 1: my phone own and then email them to the producer
Speaker 1: to have them put it in the track that the
Speaker 1: producer was making at the time, and and then within
Speaker 1: three hours we had a demo and all I had
Speaker 1: to do was go record the vocals and and then
Speaker 1: it's done. And a lot of the time, I you know,
Speaker 1: one of the songs called Don't Say Goodbye is about
Speaker 1: my grandma and my dog, who I had seen their
Speaker 1: declining health. And I was in a really sad mood
Speaker 1: and I was like, I don't want to do this
Speaker 1: session today, but I went in. I mean, I went
Speaker 1: on Zoom and then I just kind of started writing
Speaker 1: about that like that that I'm going to have to
Speaker 1: say goodbye to these people that I love so much
Speaker 1: and there's nothing stopping it. And and it's a way
Speaker 1: that I was able to be so much more vulnerable
Speaker 1: almost because it's like literally just walking from my living
Speaker 1: room to my to my music area and all my
Speaker 1: emotions are still with me. And it's not like I
Speaker 1: shut the car door and I walk into a session
Speaker 1: and I just leave everything be hind it was. It
Speaker 1: was really personal and beautiful. So it's been I actually
Speaker 1: haven't minded it at all. I've kind of loved it.
Speaker 1: I mean, you mentioned the song don't say Goodbye, I'm
Speaker 1: not ready. I mean just that song obviously comes up
Speaker 1: such a personal place for you. I know, your grandmother
Speaker 1: really was instrumental in a lot of ways in starting
Speaker 1: you on your musical journey. Is that is that fair
Speaker 1: to say? Yeah? I mean, it wasn't until she was
Speaker 1: gone that I realized how much of a inspiration she
Speaker 1: has been throughout my entire life, because to me, she
Speaker 1: had always been my grandma who was famous, and you know,
Speaker 1: it was cool and all that, but she was always
Speaker 1: my grandma. But when she passed, it was like Wow.
Speaker 1: I realized I would not be I wouldn't be where
Speaker 1: I am today without her. I wouldn't be the human
Speaker 1: being I am today without her in every aspect of
Speaker 1: my life. And so it was really I don't know,
Speaker 1: I still miss her a lot, even though you know,
Speaker 1: she was older and she just had her time. And
Speaker 1: it's not like I wish that she was still alive
Speaker 1: in the state she was in before she died, But
Speaker 1: I just I miss her essence on this planet, I guess.
Speaker 1: So the song is really important to me, and I
Speaker 1: hope that many people can resonate with it too. It's
Speaker 1: such a powerful back For those of you who don't
Speaker 1: know your grandmother was Cloris Leachman, absolute legendary actress, went
Speaker 1: an Academy Award for the Last Picture Show, Amazing Comedian
Speaker 1: in mel Brooks Movies, Young Frankenstein, Oh my gosh, Mary
Speaker 1: Tyler Moore. The list goes on and on and on.
Speaker 1: So I mean, just what an incredible inspiration. I mean,
Speaker 1: did having someone in your life who had that degree
Speaker 1: of fame, did that sort of make it feel possible
Speaker 1: from an early age that like, yeah, this is something
Speaker 1: because I feel like so many people it's like yeah,
Speaker 1: I sing, but I don't even know the first thing
Speaker 1: about how to actually follow my dream. But you have
Speaker 1: someone who's just such an influence right in front of you. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean I think having her and growing up going
Speaker 1: to movie premieres and just like meeting with famous people
Speaker 1: and it just being really common for me and not
Speaker 1: you know, I've seen some people who aren't from l A,
Speaker 1: who are just from like the Midwest or something, and
Speaker 1: then they see a famous person. It's like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: that's that's Tom Cruise over there. You know, they just
Speaker 1: don't know how to act because it's a famous person
Speaker 1: and they think that they're not a person. And so
Speaker 1: for me, because I grew up with it, it felt
Speaker 1: just very normal, like I know that, Okay, that's a
Speaker 1: person and I'm a person, and we can just have
Speaker 1: a casual conversation. It doesn't need to be this big thing.
Speaker 1: And I think just growing up in that scene, I
Speaker 1: felt like it only made sense, like I already knew
Speaker 1: that it was okay, Like I don't know, my scene
Speaker 1: is completely different than her scene, and she didn't, you know,
Speaker 1: pull any strings for me, Like I did everything on
Speaker 1: my own, and people only found out she was my
Speaker 1: grandmother until after we had started working together. So but
Speaker 1: I do feel like because I saw it in my
Speaker 1: mind and I had already lived it in a sense
Speaker 1: that it was it was easier to achieve potentially. How
Speaker 1: did you when you were first starting out, how did
Speaker 1: you make the jump from from singing to writing your
Speaker 1: own music. I mean, I've always written my own music.
Speaker 1: I started by writing songs for ABC Family. They found
Speaker 1: me on YouTube and they asked me to come in
Speaker 1: and play some songs on my guitar. And I self
Speaker 1: taught on guitar. I knew like a few chords, so
Speaker 1: I had written songs on my guitar. I mean, I
Speaker 1: don't know how good they were, but with just two chords,
Speaker 1: but um, they I went in and then they hired
Speaker 1: me for a contract to write and sing five songs
Speaker 1: for their network, and then I mean the rest is history.
Speaker 1: I just kind of fell in love with the dance
Speaker 1: scene in Hollywood in l A. And I just kind
Speaker 1: of like became infatuated with that. And I always wrote
Speaker 1: my own music. Wow. So even when you when you
Speaker 1: first started singing, that was that one hand in hand
Speaker 1: with with when you were you know, a kid, and
Speaker 1: just just beginning to make your own music that just
Speaker 1: came from you. Yeah, I mean I don't. I'm not
Speaker 1: opposed to singing another song that's written by someone else
Speaker 1: if I really love it and I feel like it's
Speaker 1: super it's spoken to me. But I feel like it's
Speaker 1: just I have to write my own music. I just
Speaker 1: feel like I narrate so much of my life and
Speaker 1: I feel like it just it has to be. Would
Speaker 1: you do write? I'm so curious about your process. Do
Speaker 1: you start with the beat and go from that or
Speaker 1: do you go to a piano and work out the
Speaker 1: melody and kind of put the beat to to the melody. UM.
Speaker 1: A lot of the time, I it helps me to
Speaker 1: write UM when I hear a producer, when I have
Speaker 1: a producer playing a few chords, because I'm able to
Speaker 1: hear melodies from chords. I mean, with a beat. It's
Speaker 1: kind of harder for me because it's literally just just
Speaker 1: the drums, and I've already written music to just rounds
Speaker 1: for so long. Like I just i feel like I've
Speaker 1: exhausted all my melodies with just the drums. So for me,
Speaker 1: I love hearing someone play chords and then I can
Speaker 1: just go from there and like the words just start
Speaker 1: coming out. And then a lot of the times I
Speaker 1: just kind of say a story that I'm I start
Speaker 1: singing a story and then I realized how it attaches
Speaker 1: to my current life situation, and then I either write
Speaker 1: about that or I write it from someone else's point
Speaker 1: of view, and I just kind of go from there.
Speaker 1: One of my favorite songs on on your new record
Speaker 1: is that Picture Us. It's just such an amazing song.
Speaker 1: The song and the video are both so powerful. It's
Speaker 1: about love of all kinds. Can you tell me a
Speaker 1: little more about about that track. Yeah, So Picture Us
Speaker 1: I'm so proud of too, because, um, I pretty much
Speaker 1: wrote that all the melodies myself. So to know that
Speaker 1: something I wrote basically all on my own made it
Speaker 1: to Billboard number one. It was my first ever Billboard
Speaker 1: number one was a big comblishment for me. But that
Speaker 1: song is definitely it's just about love and it's about
Speaker 1: having that one person that you know has your back
Speaker 1: through thick and thin, and you know, finding that light
Speaker 1: in the world. An amazing song. I also loved burn It,
Speaker 1: which I just think it's such as the album Closer,
Speaker 1: it's a stripped down ballad. I loved how just like
Speaker 1: it's it's very there, but you can just the bones
Speaker 1: of the song are just so great and so strong.
Speaker 1: It really shows up your your songwriting. I think it's
Speaker 1: it's an amazing track. And tell me a little about
Speaker 1: that one. Yeah, so burn, it is really important to me.
Speaker 1: I wrote it years ago actually, and I started with
Speaker 1: the chords and I just kind of started describing my
Speaker 1: situation and I ended up writing it about my relationship
Speaker 1: with my mother and my relationship with an X, and
Speaker 1: then about a few dreams I had and like the
Speaker 1: swimming Far from Shore a part was was about a dream.
Speaker 1: And so it's really about like holding on to someone
Speaker 1: or something for so long, and its just like, at
Speaker 1: a certain point for me, it was just so painful
Speaker 1: to keep holding onto it and I didn't know how
Speaker 1: to let it go. It's like I would rather die
Speaker 1: than let this go, but I have to, and so
Speaker 1: I will. And yeah, that's what it's about. And I
Speaker 1: hope I know, like it hadn't gotten playlisted really because
Speaker 1: it's most of my songs are dance tracks, and this
Speaker 1: is one of the only ones I have out right
Speaker 1: now on Spotify that is just me and piano, so
Speaker 1: I definitely want people to listen to it more or
Speaker 1: get in their ears somehow. That's one of my favorite
Speaker 1: tracks on the whole album, and on the deluxe edition
Speaker 1: that that's coming out one there are acoustic versions of
Speaker 1: Underwater and Picture Us. I believe what made you decide
Speaker 1: to to revisit those songs in that style. Well, picture
Speaker 1: Us is a fan Phaise and so is Underwater, and
Speaker 1: I love both of them. I mean, I love Underwater
Speaker 1: so much. And you know, I in a sense because
Speaker 1: of Burnett and wanting to showcase more of the dynamic
Speaker 1: that I have, which is that I play acoustic instruments.
Speaker 1: I sing like I'm not just a dance artist, and
Speaker 1: so I think what we're trying to show is that
Speaker 1: I'm not just here to sing and dance, but I'm
Speaker 1: also here to you know, sing you to sleep, or
Speaker 1: you know. I want to start doing I want to
Speaker 1: start doing like acoustic strip backsets, so you know, maybe
Speaker 1: one day I can do a show where it's like
Speaker 1: me and a guitar and some drums, and then later
Speaker 1: that night I d J in after hours at like
Speaker 1: two to four am, to show that there can be
Speaker 1: multiple facets to me. Yeah, I feel a though that
Speaker 1: that for so often in in the dance music realm,
Speaker 1: it seems to be such a producer's medium and a
Speaker 1: lot of times the producer's mail and they kind of
Speaker 1: get their name out front and the center. And how
Speaker 1: how have you combat at that? Because on yours, your
Speaker 1: your name is is front and center right there. I mean,
Speaker 1: has that been something that was a challenge to kind
Speaker 1: of push past? I mean, at first, I was so
Speaker 1: happy being a featured artist when I was younger, and
Speaker 1: I was like just starting out, like the fact that
Speaker 1: my name was going to be on something that all
Speaker 1: these famous DJs names were on, Like I was in
Speaker 1: love with that. But then I started making my own
Speaker 1: music and I was like, well, I don't have to
Speaker 1: have my career dependent on them. And it happened slowly.
Speaker 1: But now that I'm signed to this label, it's my
Speaker 1: project and I am a dance artist, and it is
Speaker 1: It is frustrating because a lot of these producers tracks
Speaker 1: like get really big, but the big thing about them
Speaker 1: is the vocals, and the vocalist isn't even credited. But
Speaker 1: a lot of the time sometimes these women don't even
Speaker 1: want to be credited. So we can't say that, you know,
Speaker 1: we don't know the backstory. But all I know is
Speaker 1: that I want to make a stand with who I
Speaker 1: am as an artist, and I'm not just here to
Speaker 1: sing on people's tracks. I'm here to be an artist
Speaker 1: and have my own music, that dance music. When you
Speaker 1: when you first started out releasing songs about about ten
Speaker 1: years ago, what did success look like to you back then? What?
Speaker 1: What did what did you you really want more than anything?
Speaker 1: I mean, honestly, back in the day, I was like
Speaker 1: this little tumbleweed that was just gaining so much success,
Speaker 1: and all I knew was who I wanted to work with,
Speaker 1: and I just made it happen. And I don't know
Speaker 1: exactly how. I just put myself in the places, in
Speaker 1: the situations where I would end up meeting the people
Speaker 1: I wanted to work with, and I ended up just
Speaker 1: traveling literally around the whole globe performing just these amazing songs.
Speaker 1: And I think it was all happening so fast, and
Speaker 1: I was so young that I didn't have the opportunity
Speaker 1: to sit back and be like, WHOA, this is happening,
Speaker 1: And no one really kind of took me under their
Speaker 1: wing either. It was kind of just like, come on,
Speaker 1: let's go, and and so I went, and I didn't know,
Speaker 1: like I it all happened so fast, and now like
Speaker 1: I've really I think it was really important. But um,
Speaker 1: but now I have a different outlook on my life
Speaker 1: and a different trajectory for sure. I mean, you've worked
Speaker 1: with so many great artists, even just on this record,
Speaker 1: I mean Jamie Jones, Leefoss and of course MK. What
Speaker 1: are you looking for in a collaborator? Is there is
Speaker 1: there a common thread between all these names or is
Speaker 1: it just just a spark that you you just know
Speaker 1: when you when you're in a room together. It's it's
Speaker 1: a lot of the time just a spark. Because like
Speaker 1: I said, I'm really open minded and I'm down to
Speaker 1: work with anyone honestly. As if someone says from my
Speaker 1: label or my management team or my lawyer or whatever,
Speaker 1: if they're like, I really think you should work with
Speaker 1: this person, then I'll say, Okay, I don't even really
Speaker 1: look into the specs of who they are, what they
Speaker 1: put out, if I haven't heard their name, I'm down
Speaker 1: to make something. Because if someone who I know and
Speaker 1: trust in my tight circle, like UM offers and things
Speaker 1: that I should work with someone, then then I say yes,
Speaker 1: because you never know what can happen from that. So yeah,
Speaker 1: it's just it's more just a spark. And then if
Speaker 1: I make something great, no, and sometimes you know, I've
Speaker 1: made plenty of songs with Lee Foss and some of
Speaker 1: them just aren't up to the up to the cut,
Speaker 1: you know, and he and I just choose not to
Speaker 1: release them. So there's a lot of other songs that
Speaker 1: just haven't been released. Are there any wishless collaborators that
Speaker 1: that you really want to work with? Yes, I really
Speaker 1: want to work with Black Coffee, and I mean like
Speaker 1: in the dance scene or anywhere. I really would love
Speaker 1: to sing a song with Scissa. And oh, Kate Ronata.
Speaker 1: I really love Kate Nada's album So good. Yeah, put
Speaker 1: Madonna on that list too. Oh yeah, obviously the Don's
Speaker 1: she's the easy go to. But yeah, I mean, of course,
Speaker 1: I I definitely want to work with her to some degree.
Speaker 1: I even messaged her and was like, you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: yeah she did. I was just like because we were
Speaker 1: messaging because she follows me on Instagram. She's been following
Speaker 1: me for years. So I almost had a heart attack
Speaker 1: when when I saw that, but what did she say? Well,
Speaker 1: so we were kind of dm ng back and forth,
Speaker 1: just kind of because she has a face line, like
Speaker 1: a face line of like lotions and stuff like that,
Speaker 1: and they sent me stuff and then I tagged the
Speaker 1: face line and then I also tagged her, and so
Speaker 1: she was like giving me tips on how to use
Speaker 1: the products. And at the same time, I was like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, like I was breaking out, but I
Speaker 1: was trying to play it cool. She's the only person
Speaker 1: ever who I don't know, like I think I would
Speaker 1: legitimate lee just like freeze and act like a fool
Speaker 1: for real, you know, because we had been dm ng
Speaker 1: back and forth. I was just like, you know, she
Speaker 1: says it herself, if you don't ask what for what
Speaker 1: you want, you're not going to get what you want.
Speaker 1: So following her advice, I just said, um, I basically
Speaker 1: I don't remember exactly what the words were, but it
Speaker 1: was just like, you know, I would love to work
Speaker 1: with you, whether it be music or video or whatever,
Speaker 1: like I have to say. And she was like, oh,
Speaker 1: thank you so much. That's amazing. I mean, you are
Speaker 1: a true Madonna fan. I think I read that American
Speaker 1: life is like one of your one of your go
Speaker 1: to Yeah, that's that's that's a how should I put this?
Speaker 1: That is an unusual choice for a go to album,
Speaker 1: which I think makes you a true fan. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean I know, honestly, I know most of her songs
Speaker 1: by heart, like every single one of them, which is
Speaker 1: a little cray cray, But I literally do absolutely not
Speaker 1: is that they go to andy go to karaoke tracks.
Speaker 1: I mean, I haven't done karaoke since I was in
Speaker 1: Tokyo like three years ago, but I don't know. I mean,
Speaker 1: I've been listening to the music album recently, which is
Speaker 1: just an amazing one. So yeah, She's I just people
Speaker 1: don't understand, like, for instance, people born in two thousands
Speaker 1: or whatever, like my cousin who's sixteen, Like she just
Speaker 1: doesn't understand that Madonna is like so important to society.
Speaker 1: She's literally been the soundtrack to my entire life, and
Speaker 1: like what artists you know, consistently puts out music that
Speaker 1: you can listen to your whole lifespan. It's just kind
Speaker 1: of amazing. Aside from d m NG with Madonna, which
Speaker 1: is like, oh you need really, But aside from that,
Speaker 1: have you had what would have been some more like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, moments from from your music career. I
Speaker 1: know Elton John is a big fan. Oh yeah, that
Speaker 1: was crazy. Yeah, Elton John gave me a shout out,
Speaker 1: which was amazing. That was so unexpected. Um and oh
Speaker 1: my god for me was getting three number three US
Speaker 1: dance number ones in a year where we've had a
Speaker 1: freaking global pandemic. I mean that was insane. I just
Speaker 1: people would be like, how do you feel? Like this
Speaker 1: is so amazing, and I'm like, I don't know. I'm
Speaker 1: at home my couch, like nothing's really changed, Like how
Speaker 1: do I know? I know. I just I was just like,
Speaker 1: I don't really know how I feel because nothing in
Speaker 1: my life has really changed other than you're telling me
Speaker 1: that I have a number one. You know, I don't
Speaker 1: know how to process that. Um But honestly, off the
Speaker 1: top of my head, I don't know because I don't
Speaker 1: like collect my like things. So thank you for the
Speaker 1: reminder of that, Elton John, because I like totally forgot
Speaker 1: about that. But um, I think I think just seeing
Speaker 1: I guess for me what's been really cool is to
Speaker 1: just see, um how well my music is taking off
Speaker 1: and like putting out my music and seeing just huge
Speaker 1: platforms support me is just it's so amazing to see
Speaker 1: and it's so like it makes me feel validated because
Speaker 1: I've been working so hard for so long and I
Speaker 1: finally have a team and a label and all of
Speaker 1: these people like, you know, lifting me up and I'm
Speaker 1: like leading the way, but they're lifting me up, and
Speaker 1: it's just I feel so supported and so loved and
Speaker 1: like that in itself is just so powerful. Last year,
Speaker 1: I mean, even if it's professionally great, I'm sure on
Speaker 1: a lot of levels has been hard. I mean not
Speaker 1: only just being able to not go out on the
Speaker 1: road and tour, but just you know the way it's
Speaker 1: hard on all of us. Like it's just an uncertain,
Speaker 1: freaky time. Have there been any silver linings for you?
Speaker 1: Just this time to sort of be still, kind of
Speaker 1: be at home maybe reflect Is is there anything good
Speaker 1: from you come from that? Yeah? I mean I needed
Speaker 1: this time to stop everything, like, and I think the
Speaker 1: whole world did. I mean, so many people were like,
Speaker 1: I can't wait for this year to be over, you know,
Speaker 1: fuck or whatever. And for me, it was like this
Speaker 1: year was so transformative for me. It was like I
Speaker 1: went into it and as a caterpillar, and I like
Speaker 1: cocoon myself and it was weird. I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 1: There was some like roller coaster up and down moments
Speaker 1: with like the no food, no dry canned goods at
Speaker 1: the grocery store moments, but like coming out of it,
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm someone completely different, and I feel
Speaker 1: like if people didn't use this time in quarantine, then
Speaker 1: it's it's a shame because I feel like this was
Speaker 1: really meant for all of us to grow and evolve
Speaker 1: and learn. And it it breaks my heart to see
Speaker 1: how many people have you know, taken their lives or
Speaker 1: things like that. It's been a really dark time for
Speaker 1: so many and it just it breaks my heart to
Speaker 1: think that people feel like there's no options for help.
Speaker 1: But this year for me has been really important. And
Speaker 1: I've had a time to release music and see who
Speaker 1: likes what and see what my brand is just with
Speaker 1: photo shoots and clothes and makeup and you know whatever.
Speaker 1: So I I've loved and it's its own sentence if
Speaker 1: I don't know if that makes sense, But absolutely a
Speaker 1: lot more in the Oh, yeah, how's that been going.
Speaker 1: That's been going freaking great? I mean I have a
Speaker 1: gig every month, every weekend in this month, um, except
Speaker 1: for Mother's Day weekend, but I have at least one
Speaker 1: gig every weekend this month. And um, I mean, it's
Speaker 1: going to be a lot of djaying and I'm so
Speaker 1: used to playing. I'm so used to djaying for live streams.
Speaker 1: Like I didn't really consider myself a DJ before Quarantine,
Speaker 1: and now I would consider myself a DJ because you know,
Speaker 1: I've been playing so much and doing so many live
Speaker 1: streams and festivals, virtual festivals. But I feel like, Okay, well,
Speaker 1: what's it going to be like when I start like
Speaker 1: playing to festivals, Like there's gonna be hundreds of people
Speaker 1: there and it's going to be all different. And I hope,
Speaker 1: you know, I think it might be better, but I
Speaker 1: don't know, we'll see. I hope so well. Playing off
Speaker 1: that theme, my my last question. You're throwing a No
Speaker 1: More COVID party. What's on the playlist? Definitely some disco,
Speaker 1: I would say, like I would say, like a b
Speaker 1: GS album. That's kind of the first thing that comes
Speaker 1: to mind in like some Dauna summer get some chic
Speaker 1: in there. Yeah, I would play some of my music
Speaker 1: to just see like everyone dancing and to like see
Speaker 1: how everyone reacts to it um in person. And I've
Speaker 1: been listening to like a lot of salons recently and
Speaker 1: just kind of hanging out and vibing and like this
Speaker 1: kind of like fun, groovy, sexy. Wait, I have one
Speaker 1: more thing to say. What's that? It's that I forgot
Speaker 1: to tell you that a big moment for me is
Speaker 1: getting nominated for the Hurt Music Award for Best Dance Artists.
Speaker 1: That is right, Oh my god. So yeah. I mean
Speaker 1: that's freaking incredible and I hope I win, but if not,
Speaker 1: it's okay. I'll forgive the people who didn't vote for me.
Speaker 1: Well you got my vote, a cross, my fingers, my hands. Annabell,
Speaker 1: thank you so so much for your time to day.
Speaker 1: It's been such a pleasure. Yeah, thank you too. It
Speaker 1: was really nice. We hope you enjoyed this episode of
Speaker 1: Inside the Studio, a production of I Heart Radio. For
Speaker 1: more episodes of Inside the Studio or other fantastic shows,
Speaker 1: check out the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or
Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.