WEBVTT - UPSAHL 0:00:01.280 --> 0:00:04.760 Hello, everyone, Welcome to inside the Studio on iHeart Radio. 0:00:04.920 --> 0:00:16.640 My name is Jordan Runtalg But enough about me. My 0:00:16.720 --> 0:00:19.080 guest today laid it all out there with her new EP, 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:22.759 Young Life Crisis. It's her musical journey of self discovery 0:00:22.760 --> 0:00:25.800 and self acceptance over the course of six songs, steeped 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:29.720 in an intoxicating blend of vulnerability and swagger. When you're 0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:32.360 not streaming her music, you can also find your on YouTube, 0:00:32.479 --> 0:00:35.000 where she dissects her songs piece by piece in an 0:00:35.000 --> 0:00:38.400 amazing series called Stripped, and of course, like so many 0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:41.040 of us during lockdown, she's on TikTok, where her clips 0:00:41.040 --> 0:00:43.880 have earned the attention of millions, including a special shout 0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:47.360 out from Lizzo. I'm so happy to welcome ups. Thanks 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:50.120 for having me. I's to be here. So you just 0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:52.920 released an EP called Young Life Crisis, which is probably 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:56.080 the most perfect title I can imagine. You said that 0:00:56.120 --> 0:00:58.680 the first song you wrote for this EP was Fake Bitch, 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:01.120 and the last song you wrote was Young Life Crisis, 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:02.800 the title track. That seems like a hell of a 0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:05.600 journey between those two songs just from the titles alone. 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:07.279 Can you tell me a little bit about the journey 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:09.679 of the CP and where it came from. Yeah, it 0:01:09.800 --> 0:01:13.479 was quite the emotional roller coaster for sure. I started 0:01:13.680 --> 0:01:16.800 writing the EP in Quarantine pretty much like I was 0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:19.160 on I was on tour in March at the beginning 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:22.920 of and then got sent home from tour and just 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:25.240 kind of like went back home to like hang with 0:01:25.280 --> 0:01:27.120 my parents. I was like, oh, this will take like 0:01:27.240 --> 0:01:30.399 two weeks for this COVID ship to die down, Like 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:33.000 I'm just gonna just like make music care for a 0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:35.880 few and then, however, many months later, like five six 0:01:35.920 --> 0:01:38.760 months later, I'm still in Arizona with an EP now. 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:41.559 So it's like I kind of just started doing writing 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:45.960 sessions over zoom, and without really realizing it, I was 0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:49.520 accidentally like narrating the young life crisis that I had 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:53.560 in because songwriting was very just like therapeutic for me. 0:01:53.640 --> 0:01:56.120 So I just just kind of writing about how I 0:01:56.160 --> 0:01:58.080 was feeling so out of control and like I was 0:01:58.080 --> 0:02:00.720 such a mess, and um, yeah, I don't know. The 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:03.560 whole EP was pretty much just like what was going 0:02:03.600 --> 0:02:05.920 on in my head. When you write from such a 0:02:05.920 --> 0:02:08.440 personal place like you do, did the lyrics come after 0:02:08.480 --> 0:02:10.440 the facts sort of after you figured it all out 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:12.959 in your mind or is it almost like free associating 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:14.640 You write it all down and then you make sense 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:16.480 of it later and think, oh my gosh, this is 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:19.399 this is where I'm at right now. That's a cool question. Yeah, 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:22.480 I think I think it goes hand in hand. I 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:25.960 feel like I use songwriting as a way to work 0:02:26.000 --> 0:02:28.519 through my issues, which probably isn't healthy. I should probably 0:02:28.600 --> 0:02:33.400 like go to therapy instead. But yeah, yeah right, I'm 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:35.880 like it's for it's good for the content. But yeah no, 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:38.360 I'll definitely like step out of writing a song and 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:40.840 be like, oh, so, like that's what I'm feeling. Like 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:44.240 with the title track Young Life Crisis, I remember it 0:02:44.320 --> 0:02:46.440 was the last song that I was writing for the EP, 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:48.760 and I had all the other four songs picked and 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:51.080 I was kind of trying to find like what is 0:02:51.240 --> 0:02:55.920 the consistency, like what is the over arching thing? Yeah, 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:58.840 and um, I remember like I was in a session 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:01.800 with this producer Duilly on Zoom and I was talking 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:04.440 about I was just kind of listing off all my 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:06.240 life issues and I was like, I think it'd be 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:08.040 cool if we had a verse that was like listing 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:10.280 off all my problems. And then he just was like 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:12.840 it sounds like you're having a young life crisis. And 0:03:12.880 --> 0:03:14.799 then I that was kind of just like like the 0:03:14.880 --> 0:03:17.760 light bulb moment where I realized that I in fact 0:03:17.840 --> 0:03:20.080 was having in a life crisis, and that was the 0:03:20.120 --> 0:03:22.720 title of my AP. It was just this big moment 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:25.680 for me. So, yeah, songwriting definitely helps me like process 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:28.760 my feelings for sure. What is the Zoom songwriting session 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:30.160 has been like for you? Is that Has that been 0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:33.119 a weird adjustment or has it been pretty easy? It's 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:36.800 been weird. At the beginning of Quarantine for a solid 0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:38.680 few days, I was like, you will never catch me 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:40.920 on a Zoom. That's so weird. A'll only right in 0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:44.800 the studio. Then, once I realized that I would really 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:46.560 only have the option to work on Zoom for much 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:49.640 longer than I expected, I just started working with the 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:53.240 producers that I already loved and know um from working 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:55.560 with in the past, and kind of fell in love 0:03:55.600 --> 0:03:58.320 with it. Like it's very it's totally different. Um. I 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:02.280 feel like it's an added layer of like communication skills 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:04.200 because you're not like in the room to like feel 0:04:04.240 --> 0:04:07.400 each other's energy, and songwriting is so much about energy, 0:04:07.640 --> 0:04:10.560 So that's been interesting. But I feel like, I don't know, 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:12.280 I've gone into a fun group with that. I've gotten 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:14.360 to write for other artists on Zoom. I wrote the 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:16.680 whole ep on Zoom, So I don't know, I kind 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:18.440 of I kind of dig it. Now, How has it 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:20.960 been from a creative standpoint being back home with your 0:04:20.960 --> 0:04:23.320 parents in Arizona? I went home and stayed with with 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:25.279 my folks for a while too. It just being back 0:04:25.279 --> 0:04:27.760 in my childhood space and just around my parents. It 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:30.120 puts you in a weird mindset? Did that sort of 0:04:30.160 --> 0:04:31.800 come through it all? How was that for you? Was 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:34.720 it nostalgic? Was it getting back to your musical basics 0:04:34.720 --> 0:04:36.839 in a way or I think it was a little 0:04:36.839 --> 0:04:40.680 bit of everything, like positive and negative. For sure, it 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:43.479 is so weird being in your your childhood bedroom as 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:46.960 an adult because you're like, what is It's so strange 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:50.839 and like my childhood bedroom is now like a guest room, 0:04:50.880 --> 0:04:54.360 so it's not even like it doesn't have like from 0:04:54.400 --> 0:04:56.480 when I was a kid. Um, Yeah, it was cool. 0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:59.120 I think it definitely brought me back to my musical roots. 0:04:59.120 --> 0:05:00.920 We had a band room and the house, so getting 0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:04.320 to like jam with my dad now during quarantine and 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:06.520 that was like something I did growing up with him, 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:09.160 so that was really cool. I think getting to like 0:05:09.320 --> 0:05:11.960 really like record all my own vocals for the e 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:14.400 P in my childhood bedroom was just something that was 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:16.880 kind of like a full circle moment for me, which 0:05:16.920 --> 0:05:18.839 I thought was fun, but it is a weird energy. 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:21.839 I think being home was amazing, and I think a 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:23.800 lot of people got to spend way more time with 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:26.800 their families than they were expecting to last year, and 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:29.280 I loved it, but it also kind of sent me 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:31.960 into a spiral some days. You know, you wrote the 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:34.560 song people, I Don't Like, one of my favorite tracks 0:05:34.680 --> 0:05:37.080 during Grammy's Week in l A last year. I wanted 0:05:37.120 --> 0:05:39.920 to know, is there a correlation between Grammy's Week in 0:05:40.040 --> 0:05:44.799 l A and and that song? Of course? Yes. Yeah. 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:48.240 That was kind of my first a proper Grammy Week 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:52.280 experience of you know, hopping around to all the industry parties, 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:55.880 and I just quickly realized I was just kind of observing, 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:57.960 and I was also a little tipsy because like, what 0:05:58.000 --> 0:05:59.599 else are you going to do with these things? And 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:03.120 realized I was reintroducing myself to the same people like 0:06:03.360 --> 0:06:05.920 every day, and we would all just be like, yeah, 0:06:05.960 --> 0:06:08.360 we should all totally get drinks, like knowing, damn well, 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:11.040 that was never going to really happen with half these people. 0:06:11.160 --> 0:06:14.800 And I was coming from one of the parties into 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:19.039 a session a little drunk, ranting about like why does 0:06:19.120 --> 0:06:21.960 everyone go to these things? Like no one wants to 0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:23.719 be there, like you can tell, like everyone's just like 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:25.960 going through the motions, And I was like, everyone at 0:06:26.000 --> 0:06:29.160 these parties are so fake. Then my co writers will 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:31.440 Giants Johnny Short like Taylor you went to the parties 0:06:31.480 --> 0:06:33.960 to like you're part of the problem, and so then 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:35.640 we just turned it into a song about the people 0:06:35.640 --> 0:06:38.320 I don't like, including myself. It was very fun. So 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:40.520 this would have been around early and you said that 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:42.719 around that time you were going through, I think, to 0:06:42.800 --> 0:06:46.320 use your words, like a musical identity crisis in a way. 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:48.680 Why was that? Where did that come from? I don't know. 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:51.240 I think I'm still so young. I mean I just 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:56.120 turned twenty two, so I feel like November December. Oh, 0:06:56.200 --> 0:06:59.520 let's go, wait, what's your son? Then you're not a Sagittarius, right, 0:06:59.600 --> 0:07:02.960 I'm a sadge cap cuss. I'm on the day. But 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:07.359 I just had an astrology reading recently, and I have 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:10.600 never been into astrology until now. I'm like, it's I'm 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:14.480 such a sad just from this like one hour of reading. Um, yeah, 0:07:14.520 --> 0:07:18.320 it's great. Sorry. What was the question? So this musical 0:07:18.320 --> 0:07:20.880 identity crisis at the at the beginning of last year, 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:22.880 where did where did that come from? For you? How 0:07:22.880 --> 0:07:25.360 did you get out of it? Yeah? I think being 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:28.880 so young, Yeah, being so young and making music every 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:32.400 single day, My life emotionally is such a roller coaster. 0:07:32.560 --> 0:07:36.080 So my music is changing on the daily, and some 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:38.480 days I'll write a song that is produced in a 0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:40.560 way that I won't like a week from now, you know. 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:44.240 So it's like when I just started putting out some 0:07:44.280 --> 0:07:46.240 songs that I was really hype about in the moment, 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:48.400 and then once they came out, I was like, this 0:07:48.440 --> 0:07:50.600 isn't who I am now, Like I need to figure 0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:53.080 out how to like meet in the middle with my 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:55.680 writing and like what I'm releasing. And it wasn't even 0:07:55.720 --> 0:07:58.480 a super negative experience. It was actually like pretty dope. 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:00.080 I was just kind of like, oh, I just me 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:03.520 to figure myself out, and now I feel like honestly, 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:05.400 it kind of started with writing people I don't like 0:08:05.520 --> 0:08:07.640 and starting to work with Johnny Shore and will J 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:09.880 all these people I work with a bunch that kind 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:14.080 of established this like sound that later on became the 0:08:14.120 --> 0:08:16.560 Young Life Crisis CP. And I think getting to work 0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:19.920 over Zoom honestly and being more involved in production has 0:08:19.960 --> 0:08:22.200 been something that's been really exciting for me and like 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:25.320 helped me get out of that identity crisis. For sure. 0:08:34.679 --> 0:08:36.439 It must be hard because on one hand, you want 0:08:36.480 --> 0:08:39.160 to keep some level of consistency in your music for 0:08:39.240 --> 0:08:40.880 you know, for the sake of the brand, you want 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:42.520 to carve out your lane. But you also want to 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:45.520 give yourself freedom to explore and not not have yourself 0:08:45.559 --> 0:08:48.160 in Is that Is that a challenge kind of rationalizing 0:08:48.160 --> 0:08:51.280 those two. Yeah, I think for a while I was 0:08:51.320 --> 0:08:54.800 always stressing about that, and then now I feel like 0:08:54.960 --> 0:08:57.640 the way that music is, and especially pop music, like 0:08:57.679 --> 0:09:00.520 you listen to the radio and there's no sound them anymore. 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:03.040 Like everyone is just making cool music and that's such 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:05.400 a cool place to to be in right now. It's 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:08.000 like everyone is just genre bending left and right, which 0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:09.960 I love. So yeah, I don't know. I feel like 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:12.199 as long as the song or the sound or the 0:09:12.280 --> 0:09:15.440 lyrics just feel authentic to you as an artist, you 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:17.360 can do whatever you want and people are going to 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:19.200 buy it. I feel like people can tell when your 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:21.920 stuff is like inauthentic, you know, so as long as 0:09:22.000 --> 0:09:24.000 you love it, I feel like other people will love it. 0:09:24.080 --> 0:09:25.920 You know. Things that I hear artists say is one 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:27.720 of the most important things is is just you know, 0:09:27.760 --> 0:09:30.200 listening to your gut and and and trying to just 0:09:30.240 --> 0:09:32.079 tune everything else out and listen to what you really 0:09:32.440 --> 0:09:34.120 really think is the way to go. Is that is 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:36.560 that hard to do? How do you find sort of 0:09:36.559 --> 0:09:41.200 the bravery and and single bidedness to to follow that voice? Sometimes? Yeah, 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:45.720 it's hard to do, especially because I'm still so young, 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:48.400 and I still like question myself. I'm like, well, I 0:09:48.440 --> 0:09:50.160 love is right now, but like is that the right 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:52.800 thing to to do or to believe in? Like I 0:09:52.840 --> 0:09:55.840 don't know, but I think yeah, just especially doing music, 0:09:55.920 --> 0:10:00.000 I have to remind myself, like fans and people who 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:02.160 listen to your music and like live and breathe it, 0:10:02.240 --> 0:10:05.320 like they want that kind of like fearlessness, you know, 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:07.240 And it's like, I don't know, I feel like that's 0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:10.280 kind of what inspires me to just do whatever the 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:13.000 funk I want, which is really fun. It's cool. I 0:10:13.040 --> 0:10:16.040 love the music video for Money on my mind and 0:10:16.080 --> 0:10:18.840 it had that that fight Club edge. How was it 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:22.040 acting with yourself? It was very fun. It was weird, 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:24.800 just like having to stare at an empty chair and 0:10:24.880 --> 0:10:27.120 pretend it was me. That video was very fun. We 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:28.840 filmed it in the middle of the night in this 0:10:28.920 --> 0:10:31.640 warehouse in l A. So I was very delirious and 0:10:31.679 --> 0:10:35.000 I feel like that energy was very Tyler dirt in 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:38.000 for me. Um. It was very fun that music video. 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:39.480 I was really stop to tell that. How did you 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:42.880 land on the fight Club angle? It was funny because 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:46.280 I've been working with this music video director, like on 0:10:46.320 --> 0:10:50.520 all the Young Life Crisis visuals, George, and in a 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:53.840 couple of weeks before he sent in a treatment with 0:10:53.880 --> 0:10:55.760 his idea for the music video, I had seen Fight 0:10:55.760 --> 0:10:58.280 Club for the first time ever, which is so embarrassing 0:10:58.320 --> 0:11:00.600 that I hadn't seen until. I was funny but whatever, 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:02.360 it was obsessed with it. I watched it like four 0:11:02.400 --> 0:11:04.520 times in a row, in like the span of a 0:11:04.520 --> 0:11:06.280 couple of days because I was obsessed with it. And 0:11:06.280 --> 0:11:08.440 then George hits me and and he's like, Okay, I don't know, 0:11:08.559 --> 0:11:11.520 this is crazy, but what about like a Fight Club vibe, 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:13.840 and I was like, you just read my mind, like 0:11:13.880 --> 0:11:16.240 I just saw it him obsessed with it. Let's do it, 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:19.000 and so yeah, we just kind of tag team did 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:22.360 and made it happen. Yeah, it was fun. Aside from 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:25.439 watching Fight Club multiple times and writing this TP, what 0:11:25.520 --> 0:11:28.400 else has been helping you through the last nine months 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:31.560 or so? I quickly realized in Quarantine, I was like, 0:11:31.640 --> 0:11:34.000 I need to find other hobbies that aren't music or 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:37.240 going out to restaurants, because I'm gonna be miserable if 0:11:37.240 --> 0:11:40.719 i don't. So I started like painting. I've been I've 0:11:40.720 --> 0:11:46.720 been trying to to try some new hobbies. I tried surfing, skateboard, yeah, 0:11:46.720 --> 0:11:49.600 some skydiving. I don't know. I'm just trying to like 0:11:49.800 --> 0:11:55.040 try new exciting, you know, casual. Yeah, I don't know. 0:11:55.080 --> 0:11:56.920 I've been just trying to do whatever to just kind 0:11:56.920 --> 0:11:59.720 of escape from music. You know, now that it's my job, 0:11:59.800 --> 0:12:02.360 I'm times it's nice to take a break from it. First, 0:12:02.360 --> 0:12:05.360 how did you wind up skydiving that? I can't even imagine, Like, 0:12:05.400 --> 0:12:07.240 you know, when you're so afraid that you can hear 0:12:07.280 --> 0:12:10.280 your own heartbeat, just like that's just even thinking about 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:12.079 doing that right now is where I'm at. So how 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:15.200 how was that? Like? It was pretty rad. Yeah, I 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:18.679 think there's a there's a moment where you're in like 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:23.079 the really long, horrible, stressful plane ride up before you 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:25.559 even jump, which is horrible. But then this once you're 0:12:25.640 --> 0:12:27.360 up there and they're like we're going to jump in 0:12:27.559 --> 0:12:30.400 a couple of minutes, you reach this moment of peace 0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:33.240 where you're like, sick, either will live or die. I 0:12:33.240 --> 0:12:35.160 have no control over it, so I'm just going to 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:37.600 enjoy jumping out of this plane right now, and it's 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:41.600 the most like inspiring thing. I also am so cheesy 0:12:41.679 --> 0:12:43.839 and like spiritual with it where I'm like I'm leaving 0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:46.360 all my negative energy like when I jump out of 0:12:46.440 --> 0:12:49.480 this plane and it's really rad. I'm I really want 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:54.280 to get my skydiver's license. So you're serious about it. 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:56.680 But yeah, it's very fun. I've only done in a 0:12:56.679 --> 0:12:59.280 couple of times, but I highly recommend trying it. The 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:01.920 ultimate case of just letting go. I mean, somebody if 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:05.560 is just especially I imagine being an artist too, and 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:08.200 you really want to like have some level of control 0:13:08.240 --> 0:13:10.120 over over your art, what you're doing and everything. Just 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:12.240 the moment of finally it's like, no, I'm letting go. 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:17.920 I release has got to be really really liberating. It's powerful. Yeah, 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:20.600 it's it's cool for sure. What have you been listening 0:13:20.640 --> 0:13:23.480 to during lockdown during quarantine? Because I don't know about you, 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:25.280 but I've been returning the songs that I haven't been 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:27.760 listening to since I was a teenager, just like musical 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:30.559 comfort food. Have you been feeling that way same? That's funny. 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:32.840 I thought I was crazy and boring for listening to 0:13:32.880 --> 0:13:34.920 like all this stuff I grew up listening to. Yeah, 0:13:35.080 --> 0:13:36.719 I mean, I've been listening to a lot of like 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:40.880 Frank Ocean and Sissa and like all this sad girl 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:44.320 stuff like Boni Ver and all that. But I've also 0:13:44.400 --> 0:13:46.720 been getting back to a bunch of No Doubt, which 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:51.959 I grew up listening to, like Wheezer, the Shin Spoon, Outcast. 0:13:52.200 --> 0:13:53.720 I don't know, I've just been kind of like going 0:13:53.760 --> 0:13:55.080 back to what I listened to when I grew up, 0:13:55.120 --> 0:13:57.320 which has been fine. You mentioned you're playing music with 0:13:57.360 --> 0:13:59.800 your father. You grew up in a very musical household. 0:14:00.040 --> 0:14:01.520 Was it always a given that music was going to 0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:03.960 be kind of your direction in life? Yeah? Yeah, my 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:06.880 dad was in punk bands like all throughout me growing up, 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:11.440 so as a kid just observing that whole culture, Like 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:13.720 I would wake up and there would be a band 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:16.520 who was touring sur Phoenix, like crashing in my living 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:18.360 room and I would like be like five years old 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:20.560 having my cereal in the morning with these like punk 0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:23.560 rockers whatever like on tour. So I was obsessed with 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:25.440 the vibe of it all, and we had a band 0:14:25.520 --> 0:14:29.160 room in the house, so I naturally just gravitated towards 0:14:29.360 --> 0:14:32.880 piano and guitar and my friend on the drums, and like, yeah, 0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:35.640 I don't think there was ever really another option for me, 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:38.800 Like since before I could remember, music and singing was 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:41.080 the only thing I've ever wanted to do and the 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:44.040 only thing I was like good at at all. So yeah, 0:14:44.080 --> 0:14:46.080 I mean, like my parents put me in this dope 0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:48.560 performing art school when I was ten, and I graduated 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:51.600 high school from there and then fulls into too l a, 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:54.760 like there was never another option for me besides music, 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:57.160 which is cool, but well, there's some who were some 0:14:57.200 --> 0:15:02.280 of your early songwriting influences Deaf Really, Weezer and the 0:15:02.360 --> 0:15:06.040 Shins from like a songwriting perspective, like Weezer, to me, 0:15:06.160 --> 0:15:09.560 is like iconic as far as like pop writing goes, 0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:11.680 and as far as just like looking up to artists, 0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:14.680 like when Stefani was kind of that person for me, 0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:16.880 I think it was so rad to have just this 0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:20.480 badass woman front leading a band like it was amazing. 0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:22.440 It was really inspiring as a kid to like watch it. 0:15:22.560 --> 0:15:25.200 Do you remember the first song you ever wrote? Yes, 0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:28.920 and it's probably somewhere out on the internet still. It's 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:32.560 called Disturbance and so emo. I think I was like 0:15:32.680 --> 0:15:37.920 twelve and wrote this very disturbing, like really sad, depressing song. 0:15:37.960 --> 0:15:39.720 But I was a very happy kid, so my parents 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:43.360 were like, what's going on? And then um I yeah, 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:46.520 like went and recorded it in the studio and made 0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:49.040 an album when I was thirteen and like dropped it 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:50.920 and did the whole thing. It was so fun. But 0:15:50.960 --> 0:15:52.960 I look back and I'm like, this is so cringe e. 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:55.120 But it was a part of part of me growing up, 0:15:55.200 --> 0:15:57.880 so it's still very close to me. Yeah, you've spoken 0:15:58.000 --> 0:16:00.760 very highly about drugs. The song was song, not the 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:06.160 substance drugs. Tell me about that. The song you've written drugs, uh, 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:08.960 which wrote with with Shawn Kennedy's one of your favorite 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:10.760 songs you've ever put out. What is it about that 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:13.360 song that really makes it special to you? Um, I 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:16.560 honestly don't know. I just remember the day we were 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:18.960 making it in the studio, which is now like over 0:16:19.040 --> 0:16:21.600 two years ago now, which is crazy. There was just 0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:24.840 this moment where we were like, this song is so special, 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:29.040 this is dope, and that energy was so exciting. Like 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:31.600 I actually the other day was going back into my 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:33.920 voice notes from the day we wrote it, hearing us 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:37.160 like come up in real time with the just came 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:39.800 into the body for the drugs, and that like made 0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:42.280 me so excited, just like watching the idea kind of 0:16:42.320 --> 0:16:46.320 like get Burst was really exciting. And I think it's true, 0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:48.880 like the song has been out for two years, and 0:16:48.920 --> 0:16:51.960 I think because it's so special to me, it continues 0:16:52.000 --> 0:16:55.040 to have these like second and third little lives over 0:16:55.120 --> 0:16:58.240 the years, which is is it's been dope because the 0:16:58.240 --> 0:16:59.840 song means so much to me, So it's been cool 0:16:59.880 --> 0:17:02.560 to More people are are getting to hear it, for sure. 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:04.320 And I got to ask you about one to three 0:17:04.359 --> 0:17:08.639 or four five sex amazing song, amazing title. You were 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:11.080 saying that that you worked a long time on getting 0:17:11.080 --> 0:17:13.320 that song writer. I went through a bunch of different incarnations, 0:17:13.359 --> 0:17:15.320 is that right. Yeah. I one day came up with 0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:18.359 the title and I was like, that's clever, that's funny, 0:17:18.520 --> 0:17:20.920 and so I just started bringing it into a bunch 0:17:20.960 --> 0:17:24.040 of sessions with people, and I think for a while 0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:26.520 I was overthinking it and trying to make the rest 0:17:26.560 --> 0:17:29.720 of the song too clever and like songwrity, And then 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:31.840 I honestly was about to give up on it. I 0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:33.800 was like, it's maybe it's just not meant to be. 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:36.360 I've tried it so many times, it's not working. Then 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:38.520 I was in a session with Rick Knowles, who is 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:42.639 like an iconic legendary producer and writer that I was 0:17:42.720 --> 0:17:44.400 just like so honored to even be in the room 0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:46.040 with him, and I was like, I'll try this again, 0:17:46.160 --> 0:17:49.240 like maybe this this title will work. And we wrote 0:17:49.240 --> 0:17:51.639 the song in like thirty minutes, recorded the song in 0:17:51.680 --> 0:17:54.240 those thirty minutes, and like that's the version that we 0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:56.639 put out. Like it just was so natural and it 0:17:56.760 --> 0:17:59.359 happened so easily, which I think is how both songs 0:17:59.440 --> 0:18:01.600 should have been. Um. But yeah, I was just this 0:18:01.640 --> 0:18:03.600 moment that just kind of clicked and makes made happen 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:14.720 as fun and This is a question coming from someone 0:18:14.800 --> 0:18:16.280 who if you you put a gun to my head, 0:18:16.280 --> 0:18:18.119 I would not be able to write a song. I 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:20.760 wish I could. To me, it's it's still like magic. 0:18:20.840 --> 0:18:22.720 I don't understand how people do it. You've been doing 0:18:22.720 --> 0:18:25.919 it since you were a kid, you know, almost ten 0:18:26.000 --> 0:18:29.080 years now. How does one improve as a songwriter? What? 0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:31.159 What do you get better at? Is it learning the 0:18:31.200 --> 0:18:34.439 craft of Okay, maybe this bridge should be a little shorter. 0:18:34.800 --> 0:18:37.000 Is it learning how how to write a better craft, 0:18:37.000 --> 0:18:38.879 a better hook. I'm always just curious, like, how does 0:18:38.920 --> 0:18:40.879 one improve as a songwriter? What does that mean to you? 0:18:40.960 --> 0:18:44.920 Improving as a songwriter. I think it happens for me. 0:18:45.200 --> 0:18:48.960 I feel like it has happened naturally, just through working 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:52.400 with other other songwriters and just kind of observing and 0:18:52.600 --> 0:18:55.800 learning from them. And I think like when I started 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:58.199 doing sessions three years ago and moved to l A, 0:18:58.440 --> 0:19:00.280