Speaker 1: Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Inside the
Speaker 1: Studio on iHeart Radio. My name is Jordan runt Dog,
Speaker 1: But enough about me. My guest today released but I
Speaker 1: believe to be among the best music. The Recording Academy agrees.
Speaker 1: They've nominated her and her musical collective for a pair
Speaker 1: of Grammys Best New Artist and Best Alternative Record for
Speaker 1: her album Jubilee. I won't even try to describe its beauty.
Speaker 1: Firstly because the intricate, dreamy soundscapes must be heard to
Speaker 1: be believed, but also, as a newly minted New York
Speaker 1: Times bestselling author, she's demonstrably a better writer than I am,
Speaker 1: and I don't want to embarrass myself. The album Jubilee
Speaker 1: is inextricably linked with her recent memoir Crying in h Mart.
Speaker 1: It's an arresting account of her days as a caregiver
Speaker 1: for her Korean mother during the end of her battle
Speaker 1: with cancer. This loss looms large over her first two albums,
Speaker 1: but on Jubilee, she sings a different tune. In short,
Speaker 1: it's an album about joy. That's not to say it's
Speaker 1: an album about being happy, but it's something a little
Speaker 1: more nuanced and a little more ephemeral. It's the choice
Speaker 1: to move towards joy, to search for it, recognize it,
Speaker 1: and preserve it. Jubilee is less about overwhelming technicolor ecstasy
Speaker 1: and more about eking out pleasure in the every day.
Speaker 1: Heard in context with her previous music and book, which
Speaker 1: is currently adapting into a feature film, these little victories
Speaker 1: resonate as major triumphs, and even out of context, Jubilee
Speaker 1: triumphs as a stunning piece of art. I'm so happy
Speaker 1: to welcome the singer, songwriter and guiding force of Japanese
Speaker 1: Breakfast Michelle's honor. I hope you enjoy our conversation. In
Speaker 1: the last year, you've released two absolutely stunning pieces of work,
Speaker 1: the book Crying in h Martin and the album Jubilee,
Speaker 1: and I'm so struck by the juxtaposition of writing a
Speaker 1: book processing grief while making music about moving towards joy.
Speaker 1: Was it difficult to veer between those two, you know,
Speaker 1: extreme emotional landscapes, or was it a nice counterbalance? Um?
Speaker 1: I think that they just go so hand in hand.
Speaker 1: Crying in h Mar was written before turning to this
Speaker 1: album Jubilee, and I think that in a way, writing
Speaker 1: Crying in H Mark made me finally feel like I
Speaker 1: had said everything I wanted to say about this, this
Speaker 1: really intense experience, this this life changing experience, and um,
Speaker 1: I felt really ready to begin a new chapter. And
Speaker 1: I think that writing Jubilee really felt like I was
Speaker 1: starting a new in this in this way. And I
Speaker 1: think maybe there's a kind of like self mythologizing in
Speaker 1: in the process of making that record too, of just like, okay,
Speaker 1: this it's time for you to allow this new emotion
Speaker 1: into your life creatively and personally. It was really cool
Speaker 1: to see moments when the book and the album were
Speaker 1: in conversation with each other and there's a beautiful line
Speaker 1: and crying an h part. It felt like the world
Speaker 1: had divided into two different types of people, those who
Speaker 1: felt pain and those who had yet to. And you
Speaker 1: sing similar words in posing in Bondage, and I thought
Speaker 1: that in many cases the book added a whole dude
Speaker 1: dimension to the lyrics. Thank you for noticing that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think there's a lot of borrowed lines, you know,
Speaker 1: a lot of the times, I mean, there's just so
Speaker 1: much space in a book, and so I think that
Speaker 1: with music, you're looking for lines that really distill a
Speaker 1: certain type of emotion or thought, and it was fun
Speaker 1: to kind of, you know, that was the feeling that
Speaker 1: I had, and it exists on its own and song,
Speaker 1: but then to unpack that and what it looked like
Speaker 1: around it and when that thought came to me and
Speaker 1: how I processed it was a whole new kind of
Speaker 1: freedom that I had in writing this book. And it
Speaker 1: was really fun to get to steal certain lines from
Speaker 1: other songs that I've written a long time ago and
Speaker 1: put them into the book because it was very much wow.
Speaker 1: I felt in that moment I already had this kind
Speaker 1: of archive of that type of processing. Now, the pandemic
Speaker 1: delayed the release of Jubilee by a year, which meant
Speaker 1: Crying and h Mark came out within a few weeks
Speaker 1: of Jubilee, which I know wasn't ideal for you initially,
Speaker 1: but at least from a fan perspective, it really to me.
Speaker 1: It made the song seems so much more important to
Speaker 1: see where you come through, and that made the exuberance
Speaker 1: enjoy seem all the more triumphant. Are you happy with
Speaker 1: the way that the release shook out? Now? Yeah, I
Speaker 1: can't complain. You know, I definitely feel like it was
Speaker 1: both releases were went as great as they could have gone. Um.
Speaker 1: I definitely went into that year thinking one of these
Speaker 1: is going to fail or one of these is all
Speaker 1: short and at least you have the other as like
Speaker 1: a kind of lifeboat. Uh, and then both of that,
Speaker 1: you know what. I really felt like the book was
Speaker 1: like taking off more than the record in a way.
Speaker 1: And then we were nominated for Drew Grammys and it
Speaker 1: kind of just like, oh, I think they're actually like
Speaker 1: really neck and neck here. Um, so yeah, I'm really delighted.
Speaker 1: I honestly was just I had no idea how either
Speaker 1: of them were going to be taken in and so
Speaker 1: I really I was so worried, um that I was
Speaker 1: going to like get captle or something. But it ended
Speaker 1: up only like lifting a figh which was which is nice.
Speaker 1: So now I'm very grateful that had happened with There's
Speaker 1: this kind of common notion among creative people, and I
Speaker 1: don't know, maybe even non creative people. I suppose that
Speaker 1: the best art comes from pain. You need to be
Speaker 1: an anguish in order to be productive as an artist,
Speaker 1: and you've you've spoken about this in the past about
Speaker 1: feeling that way yourself at points I was wondering, has
Speaker 1: the experience of making Jubilee and coming out the other
Speaker 1: side of this Catharsis of writing the book, has that
Speaker 1: changed that that notion for you? Oh yeah, definitely, I
Speaker 1: mean I think that, Um yeah, I think that that
Speaker 1: was part of the challenge. Um that was exciting about
Speaker 1: writing an album about joy was that parts of it
Speaker 1: We're going to have to lean into fiction. And also,
Speaker 1: as you get older, to you like all of the
Speaker 1: real like meat and potatoes of great songwriting, the yearning
Speaker 1: and the jealousy and you know, like heartbreak are not
Speaker 1: really things that I go through in my life anymore.
Speaker 1: And so I was really worried going into it that
Speaker 1: it would lose some like real feeling by not having
Speaker 1: that in song. And so it was really comforting after
Speaker 1: writing this album, and also I wrote a couple of
Speaker 1: songs for this video game soundtrack called Sable, where was
Speaker 1: also having to like write in this very different type
Speaker 1: of way that wasn't so much about like my own
Speaker 1: personal trauma. Um that it was a real relief that
Speaker 1: that I think that some of my most compelling music
Speaker 1: is music that has nothing to do with me personally
Speaker 1: at all. Jubilees your your third album, and you've talked
Speaker 1: a lot about the myth of the third album and
Speaker 1: being sort of a crucial point in an artist discography.
Speaker 1: I want to ask you more about that, that this
Speaker 1: sort of the third album, Uh Ethos, Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: for me, I just think it's the first time as
Speaker 1: an artist you can really start to think about your
Speaker 1: records in context of one another. You know, for the
Speaker 1: first two it's like your debut, and then there's this
Speaker 1: fear of the sophomore slump, and by three, I feel
Speaker 1: like you're kind of thinking, Okay, where does this, how
Speaker 1: do these work with my previous work? When am I
Speaker 1: trying to move away from one? Am I just trying
Speaker 1: to strengthen UM? And for me, I just feel like
Speaker 1: the third album you should really just know who you are, like,
Speaker 1: what your strengths are is as an artist, and and
Speaker 1: and how to put that forward, how to showcase that
Speaker 1: UM And I feel like a lot of times the
Speaker 1: third album is like a real um bombastic, theatrical like
Speaker 1: culmination of all of the work that you've done up
Speaker 1: until that point. And I was thinking a lot about
Speaker 1: records like UM New York's Homogenic and Well Coast Summer
Speaker 1: Teeth and Beach House's Teen Dream. Like, all these third
Speaker 1: albums are just feel like real thesis statements I think
Speaker 1: in an artist's career, and so I was going in
Speaker 1: with that in mind. The arrangements on this record are
Speaker 1: just absolutely stunning. I mean, I love one of my
Speaker 1: favorites of the strings on Tactics. I can totally hear
Speaker 1: like the early Randy Newman vibe on that It's so good.
Speaker 1: Now you've recently started studying music theory, which to me
Speaker 1: is amazing considering how much you've accomplished prior to studying
Speaker 1: music theory. Um. You hear stories of people like Paul
Speaker 1: McCartney saying that they can't read music and they're almost
Speaker 1: reluctant to try because they're worried that that's gonna, you know,
Speaker 1: take some of the spontaneity out of what they do.
Speaker 1: Did did you encounter that? Like what went into your
Speaker 1: decision to start um studying music theory? Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: I just felt like I had sort of plateaued musically, UM,
Speaker 1: and you know, I was worried about writing too many
Speaker 1: songs in the key of D or the same chord
Speaker 1: progression or um the same Yeah. Like I have a
Speaker 1: lot of like chord ships that I, you know, just
Speaker 1: tend to fall too because they're comfortable for me. And
Speaker 1: that was part of it. And their part was Craig Hendricks,
Speaker 1: who was drums in our bands the produced with me
Speaker 1: on Off Sounds from Another Planet and Jubilee like comes
Speaker 1: from Perpolic school music and I've always been like exceptionally
Speaker 1: jealous of him and his talents, and so much of
Speaker 1: that comes from that sort of education. So I've always
Speaker 1: felt a little insecure about that in a good way
Speaker 1: that I just wanting to challenge myself to to learn more.
Speaker 1: And I feel like, especially now, I've just gotten so
Speaker 1: far not really knowing or not writing that way that
Speaker 1: I think that, um, it's a really it's a very
Speaker 1: easy way, um to kind of incorporate more interesting ways
Speaker 1: to write a song and uh, just learning when you
Speaker 1: hear a moment in a song like why why that
Speaker 1: mathematically is like interesting to you? And and and to
Speaker 1: learn that about my own songs and actually start from
Speaker 1: there when I go into writing things I think will
Speaker 1: be really helpful. So I think that Kokomo was an
Speaker 1: example where I was like the first TIMI incorporated like
Speaker 1: a minor fourth chord and was like learning, you know,
Speaker 1: like from Beatles songs, how to how to do do
Speaker 1: things like that and what made it interesting. How do
Speaker 1: you know when a song is done? Is there a
Speaker 1: temptation to tinker for you a lot or or do
Speaker 1: you kind of know immediately when you have it? Um?
Speaker 1: I think it's a little bit of both. I mean,
Speaker 1: so much of making music is rooted in intuition where
Speaker 1: it just feels like you're you're for me. I always
Speaker 1: I always talk about how, Um, I'm always searching for
Speaker 1: a lift in music emotionally, like in a chorus, like
Speaker 1: I want to feel like my heart is like being
Speaker 1: lifted into a new place. Um. I think a song
Speaker 1: always needs to have that for me, and so I'm
Speaker 1: always like trying to support lifts in music sonically. Um.
Speaker 1: And when I feel like that's really there and a
Speaker 1: song travels in that way, it's just a very like
Speaker 1: almost physical feeling that it is done. Um. Sometimes it's
Speaker 1: it's harder than than others finding that, but I do
Speaker 1: think that it is it's like really ingrained in me
Speaker 1: when when it's not there. Yeah, do you find that
Speaker 1: that your favorite songs kind of come the quickest. Um,
Speaker 1: that's a great question. Uh some sometimes, yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: I think that uh yeah, there are certain I'm trying
Speaker 1: to think of, like specific songs that I love. I mean, Boyish,
Speaker 1: like that's off of the last album, Soft Sounds, was
Speaker 1: something that took years to figure out how to get right,
Speaker 1: and I think is one of my favorite songs because
Speaker 1: it took so long to get there in a way
Speaker 1: and I went through so many iterations. But then there
Speaker 1: are songs like you know, Kokomo is one of my
Speaker 1: favorite songs off of this record, and that song did
Speaker 1: come together pretty pretty quickly. Early in your your time
Speaker 1: making music as Japanese Breakfast you uh you involved with
Speaker 1: the project where you a song every day for the
Speaker 1: month of June, and you've talked about how so much
Speaker 1: of the work of being an artist is showing up
Speaker 1: and putting yourself out there, which is so interesting to
Speaker 1: me as a music lover who loves music and plays instruments.
Speaker 1: But I've never been able to write a song my
Speaker 1: entire life, and I just sort of assumed that you
Speaker 1: kind of had it, or you don't, you were touched
Speaker 1: with this fire or you weren't. Um, So it was
Speaker 1: really refreshing to hear you say that. Do you still
Speaker 1: approach songwriting in the same way as it's still like
Speaker 1: a daily practice for you, like some people do yoga
Speaker 1: or jog Yeah, I mean definitely not. I I um,
Speaker 1: it's a very like on and off thing for me.
Speaker 1: I feel like, uh, if I'm entering the song writing,
Speaker 1: like if it's time for me to write a new record, um,
Speaker 1: I like pull, like pull on the tap and then
Speaker 1: and then that's when I start getting regimented about showing
Speaker 1: up every day. But until then, I don't. I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't pick up a guitar. Honestly, I never like
Speaker 1: tried to write unless I'm like setting out to write
Speaker 1: an album. I don't know if that's a good thing
Speaker 1: or bad thing. But yeah, it used to be when
Speaker 1: I was younger, I would like it would inspiration would strike,
Speaker 1: and then you would go and do it. But now
Speaker 1: it's more of just like, if I'm ready to write
Speaker 1: an album, I'll spend I'll turn on the top for
Speaker 1: like a week and write every day for a week,
Speaker 1: and then I have to go and do something else
Speaker 1: and turn it off for a while. You're gonna hang
Speaker 1: up on me for this question, But I was curious
Speaker 1: if there's a flip side to the showing up every day.
Speaker 1: Is there is there a supernatural element to the songwriting
Speaker 1: at all? They believe, I think so, yeah, I do.
Speaker 1: I mean I think that in a way. I think
Speaker 1: you're like chasing a voice in your head, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean there is kind of something magical and uh
Speaker 1: hunting about that feeling like I don't know where that
Speaker 1: sound comes from, what I hear it in my head?
Speaker 1: And you're creating, you know, you're chasing after it. Is
Speaker 1: there an element of superstition for you when you right?
Speaker 1: Is there a certain time of day that you feel
Speaker 1: is better, or a lucky instrument, or a room or
Speaker 1: even just a ritual like okay, I need my cup
Speaker 1: of tea before I begin this or not. Really I
Speaker 1: think for me, it's just creating that space. Um I do,
Speaker 1: Like I think, I just so badly want to be
Speaker 1: this regimented morning person, even though I'm maybe you want
Speaker 1: and and and that is how I kind of right now.
Speaker 1: It's like if I think, if I think about going
Speaker 1: into the to start writing this next record, I probably
Speaker 1: will be like in a room for a week, like
Speaker 1: writing every day, But I really like creating, uh like
Speaker 1: weird guidelines and rules for myself because I find that
Speaker 1: like having those weird restrictions or limitations is actually really
Speaker 1: helpful for me, Like something like June, where it's like
Speaker 1: you have you have to write a song every day.
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter, like if you have three jobs that day,
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter if you have ten minutes, Like you're
Speaker 1: leaving here with a song. And I think that creating
Speaker 1: that opportunity for like Ross unapologetic, like Ross source material
Speaker 1: is really helpful for me to return to edit and
Speaker 1: jump off of when I when I talk to people
Speaker 1: who are are blessed with the ability to to write music,
Speaker 1: I'm always so curious about what what compels them to do.
Speaker 1: So if is it a desire to connect with other
Speaker 1: people and share or is it more of a need
Speaker 1: to just get these feelings out of you and you
Speaker 1: would write just as much if you were in a
Speaker 1: cabin in the woods alone or on a desert island somewhere,
Speaker 1: or is I imagine there's probably an element of both,
Speaker 1: but the one went out over the other. I never
Speaker 1: think about other people, Yeah, I never. I never think
Speaker 1: about other people because I think that I need to
Speaker 1: just write what I'm interested in and hopefully people will
Speaker 1: like it and maybe they won't. But I never have
Speaker 1: thought about anyone else when I'm ready the Have you
Speaker 1: ever learn something about yourself after after writing a song?
Speaker 1: You know? They say like every character and a dream
Speaker 1: is you is when you listen to a song back
Speaker 1: that you've just written. Uh do you is? It almost
Speaker 1: like getting a really good dream reading? That's a great question.
Speaker 1: Um have I learned? Um? I don't. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't know if I mean. I think a lot
Speaker 1: of my songs honestly, and I kind of like caught
Speaker 1: myself because that's like, you can't keep doing this. But
Speaker 1: a lot of my songs will start with something like
Speaker 1: I want uh. And I've noticed that I was doing
Speaker 1: that too often, where it's like I want to be
Speaker 1: a woman of regimen or I wanna be good, I
Speaker 1: wanna do this thing. And I was like, oh, this
Speaker 1: is like a thing that you're doing a lot, And
Speaker 1: so I do think I noticed, like, yeah, I think
Speaker 1: in a way it reveals like where your psyche is
Speaker 1: because there are certain things that are like um, dogging
Speaker 1: you that you can escape from from writing about or
Speaker 1: like is something that you want to impact. Uh yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that that that pattern and looking back at
Speaker 1: like something that you always kind of like are writing
Speaker 1: and grappling with. This is clearly like a reflection of
Speaker 1: your psyche in some way, even if it is a
Speaker 1: song that's like kind of rooted in fiction. I mean,
Speaker 1: I want ambition, forward thinking. Yeah. The visuals I meant
Speaker 1: to mention this earlier for this record are just absolutely stunning.
Speaker 1: I mean from the bright yellow color palette of the
Speaker 1: cover and the promos to the amazing videos. I mean
Speaker 1: that the Spike Jones does X Files be Sweet? I
Speaker 1: mean posing a bondage savage good boy, It's they're so incredible.
Speaker 1: How how are you inspired for the visual components of music?
Speaker 1: Are you're aware of them as you're writing the song.
Speaker 1: Do you get the visuals in your head almost like synesthesia?
Speaker 1: Or you sit down and think about it after the fact. Um,
Speaker 1: I'm not going to be an artist that since, but
Speaker 1: I don't really think about the visuals at all until
Speaker 1: the song is done, because the song changes so much
Speaker 1: in arrangement and production from when it first starts, you know,
Speaker 1: so once the album is done. Um. And also it's
Speaker 1: so frustrating because sometimes you have a really good idea
Speaker 1: and the label or or you even don't want it
Speaker 1: to be a single, and so if you know, you
Speaker 1: have to like if even if you have an idea,
Speaker 1: you have to like kind of get it out of
Speaker 1: your head. Um. But yeah, I think it's become just
Speaker 1: like a delightful part of the process. Um. Adam Clodney
Speaker 1: is the director of photography on on all of my
Speaker 1: music videos and it's such a at this point, it
Speaker 1: doesn't feel complete unless I direct three music videos to
Speaker 1: accompany an album, and it's such a big part of
Speaker 1: the process and and something that I really enjoy. But yeah,
Speaker 1: usually the ideas don't really come until after the song's completely.
Speaker 1: You've you've said in interviews that, Um, making music gave
Speaker 1: you the confidence to write this book. I was wondering,
Speaker 1: what is the book given you confidence to do? Oh? Um, gosh,
Speaker 1: I mean, I guess it's given me confidence to write
Speaker 1: again and know that I it's okay to to work
Speaker 1: in multiple mediums and and you know, it's just done
Speaker 1: so well and so I think it's just encouraged me, um,
Speaker 1: that that that's the path that I can continue to take.
Speaker 1: It as writing albums and writing books. I think it's
Speaker 1: those that taught me. I mean, you know, honestly, the
Speaker 1: book taught me so so much about myself. I think
Speaker 1: I was able to find a lot of forgiveness uh
Speaker 1: in the book for for all of the characters, you know,
Speaker 1: the characters of my life and UM, myself included, UM.
Speaker 1: I had. I used to have so much shame and
Speaker 1: guilt about UM being a difficult teenager, uh and and
Speaker 1: putting my mom through, you know, a difficult time. And
Speaker 1: I think that through writing this book, I came to
Speaker 1: realize that, you know, we were up against um such
Speaker 1: challenging odds. We had no representation in the media, and
Speaker 1: we had no peers that we're going through being a
Speaker 1: mother and daughter raised from different cultures with very different
Speaker 1: upbringings and values that in retrospect, of course, we were
Speaker 1: going to have that type of friction. And I think
Speaker 1: that I didn't really understand that or really even think
Speaker 1: about our relationship in that context until I started writing
Speaker 1: this book. And that was really freeing for me, uh,
Speaker 1: to forgive myself for putting my mom through you know,
Speaker 1: these sort of like rotten teenage moments. Because I think
Speaker 1: I was coming from a place where you know, it
Speaker 1: was just difficult. I had no um, I had no
Speaker 1: reference points. Uh, And I think that, Yeah, that was
Speaker 1: really comforting to me that that wasn't a big moment
Speaker 1: for me to learn from. I imagine the revision process
Speaker 1: of this book must have been so interesting because you know,
Speaker 1: as a narrator, it's your job to be fair to people.
Speaker 1: I imagine that the when that's tough to do when
Speaker 1: these are personal stories with a lot of emotion tied
Speaker 1: into it. First draft, you put it down as you
Speaker 1: remember it, and then I imagine reading it back and
Speaker 1: seeing it, I mean black and white it on the
Speaker 1: page must have almost neutralized it in a way. I
Speaker 1: don't know if that's a word at all or the
Speaker 1: way to use that word, but made it something more
Speaker 1: neutral that you could objectively see and kind of see
Speaker 1: the situation maybe for closer to what it actually was
Speaker 1: and not how you remembered it. Yeah, I mean the
Speaker 1: revision was really where I feel like the the writing
Speaker 1: really began in a way that makes sense. Like I
Speaker 1: think that the first draft of this book was a disaster,
Speaker 1: but it needed to be. It like needed to be
Speaker 1: I think like the real good parts of the book,
Speaker 1: like you know, obviously came in in the revision. The
Speaker 1: most exciting part of writing for me was the revision
Speaker 1: process and watching that come together, because it definitely made
Speaker 1: me realize I was so the first draft was very angry,
Speaker 1: very angry at my dad, very angry, okay, very angry
Speaker 1: at all of my relatives, all of my friends, all
Speaker 1: me mom. And I think that after writing it all
Speaker 1: out there in the rawest form and then taking six
Speaker 1: months you know, maybe like four or five it's away
Speaker 1: from it, and having an editor come in and give
Speaker 1: their take on it, and then read it again for
Speaker 1: the first time, I really realized how angry I was.
Speaker 1: And then to be able to go in and be like, okay,
Speaker 1: now go back in and and be fair. Um, it was.
Speaker 1: It was a real learning experience and I'm in a
Speaker 1: real joy of of that revision process. Or there's a
Speaker 1: part in the book that really stuck with me when
Speaker 1: your your mother tells you to always hold of yourself
Speaker 1: back and I imagine as an artist, where you know,
Speaker 1: being fully transparent in a lot of ways is sort
Speaker 1: of the goal that's probably very hard to do. Uh.
Speaker 1: Is that a struggle for you? To know where to
Speaker 1: draw that line where to keep things back in any medium,
Speaker 1: in in in writing, in in screenwriting, in music, to
Speaker 1: know where that line is for where to keep things
Speaker 1: back for yourself. Yeah, I mean it's less in art
Speaker 1: for me than it is just in my daily life,
Speaker 1: you know. I mean I think that in in at
Speaker 1: least it's more of like in the industry of like
Speaker 1: how to protect yourself and not completely trusting people. Um
Speaker 1: is where that ten percent comes in for me. I mean,
Speaker 1: there's certainly parts of my life that are that are
Speaker 1: private and are not in the book, even though it
Speaker 1: seems like everything is there. Um. But yeah, I think
Speaker 1: that it's I don't know that is it's just I
Speaker 1: guess in an intuition of just like what is what
Speaker 1: is for other people? What is for what is for me?
Speaker 1: And it's now being made into a film, which I
Speaker 1: mean as a as a film studies major and a
Speaker 1: creative writing student, that that just must be the most
Speaker 1: thrilling thing in the world. And congratulations. Uh, but films are,
Speaker 1: you know, probably the ultimate collaborative art form. And this
Speaker 1: is such a personal story. Other people will be playing
Speaker 1: you and people that very important people in your life
Speaker 1: how does that sit with you? Is that an exciting prospect?
Speaker 1: There is that a little unsettling that sort of a
Speaker 1: bunch of these people are going to be playing a
Speaker 1: role in this very personal story for you. Um, honestly,
Speaker 1: it's mostly unsettling. But I mean I think that, um,
Speaker 1: I've I'm also you know, I I think it has
Speaker 1: the potential to be something really special and I'm really
Speaker 1: excited for it, and I think that, um, the people
Speaker 1: involved will help make it something really beautiful. And I
Speaker 1: think that I have a good I tend to have
Speaker 1: a good um feeling about people, and I feel like
Speaker 1: the production company and my producers are people that are
Speaker 1: not going to let this be bad. And then I
Speaker 1: do think that I will have some strong input to
Speaker 1: help it along. But yeah, we'll see. I don't know,
Speaker 1: I'm it's scary. Certainly. Stacy Shard could the Garden State soundtrack, which,
Speaker 1: like I mean, Stare did a lot of incredible things,
Speaker 1: and I feel like so um inspired and protected by her,
Speaker 1: and it just makes complete sense that like someone even
Speaker 1: on her level still works like just so in the trenches,
Speaker 1: Like it's it's incredible. I mean there she is, like
Speaker 1: she's such a punk, like truly um. But then she's like,
Speaker 1: you know, she like produced the Oscars last year, Like
Speaker 1: she's like on such a high level in Hollywood, and
Speaker 1: yet she's still a punk and nuts what makes her
Speaker 1: incredible in her job? I think, like, it's fine. It's
Speaker 1: and I was so nervous about entering Hollywood, and it's
Speaker 1: not really like ever been something that's like interesting or
Speaker 1: or exciting to me the way that it is for
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people. It's It's something I
Speaker 1: was very very skeptical of going into. And I'm really
Speaker 1: glad that similar in music, if you just find your people,
Speaker 1: there are your people in every sphere, you just have to,
Speaker 1: you know, apply that same kind of judgment into into it.
Speaker 1: I'm calling it now Oscars. I mean, you're you're gonna
Speaker 1: be on your way when he got You got Grammys
Speaker 1: this weekend. Oh my gosh, we're speaking just a few
Speaker 1: days before the Grammys and your first time nominee for
Speaker 1: Best New Artist and Best Alternative Album. My question is
Speaker 1: basically a line from Paprika. How does it feel to
Speaker 1: stand at the height of your powers to captivate every heart,
Speaker 1: projecting your visions to strangers who feel it who lives
Speaker 1: some who linger on every word. I don't think I
Speaker 1: can ask the question any better than that. How does
Speaker 1: it feel? How are you feeling? It's rush? I set
Speaker 1: myself up for that. Yeah, yeah, it feels really great.
Speaker 1: I'm like really excited to be going to the Grammys
Speaker 1: with like three are actually like four like d I
Speaker 1: y Philly Bunks I came up with you know, uh,
Speaker 1: my band is going with me and are our man
Speaker 1: one of our managers like actually being a little big big,
Speaker 1: and so it feels like so wild that we've infiltrated
Speaker 1: this world. They're like, actually, just it was my birthday
Speaker 1: yesterday and my um my bass player found this old
Speaker 1: photo of us like years ago staying at this like
Speaker 1: disgusting punk house, like all sleeping on one pull out couch,
Speaker 1: and it's just craziest think of life, how how far
Speaker 1: we've come, and it's it's a real like miracle. Oh
Speaker 1: my gosh. Well, happy belated birthday, by the way, I
Speaker 1: I uh, your your your your present. The Grammy is coming,
Speaker 1: I promise. Yeah, Oh my gosh. I mean that's just
Speaker 1: something so incredibly well deserved. I mean, I just I'm
Speaker 1: so so happy for I mean, I love the fact
Speaker 1: that one of the nominations was announced by BTS. That
Speaker 1: must have just been really special for your aunt and
Speaker 1: family and Korea. That they must have been excited about that.
Speaker 1: It was really cool. I hope that they still play.
Speaker 1: I know that one thing you like got COVID and like,
Speaker 1: maybe they won't be able to perform. Oh my gosh. Well,
Speaker 1: there there was something you you tweeted a ways back
Speaker 1: about where you said that a lot of your joy
Speaker 1: derived from from vengeance, which is amazing because I think
Speaker 1: a lot of us feel that way to a certain extent.
Speaker 1: It's brave to own it. But in the wake of
Speaker 1: this year, with all you've accomplished, I wanted to ask
Speaker 1: you about that. Do you still feel that way or
Speaker 1: what brings you the most joy now? I guess it's
Speaker 1: the question I do you know, I still do feel like,
Speaker 1: really it's a weird thing. Sometimes I wish it wasn't
Speaker 1: that way, but sometimes I also like delight in. I
Speaker 1: think it's just those full circle moment things where it's
Speaker 1: just like, oh, I used to work at this co
Speaker 1: check and now this co check is named after me.
Speaker 1: There's like some kind of vengeance in that you know,
Speaker 1: just like those are the things that um, you know
Speaker 1: you like are really really put it in perspective of
Speaker 1: like where where you came from and where you are now,
Speaker 1: and so those types of moments, UM still bring me great,
Speaker 1: great joy. You are Jimmy Fallon big Yeah, exactly. Yeah, Michelle, congratulations,
Speaker 1: it's been a true joy speaking to you. UM pre up. So,
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, you know, I've done so many
Speaker 1: interviews and this is so thoughtful and very special. Thank
Speaker 1: you so much for putting the time and care into this.
Speaker 1: I really appreciate it. It is the least I can
Speaker 1: do for all I've gotten out of your work. Thank you,
Speaker 1: and Paprika, you have the line I want my offering
Speaker 1: to woo, to calm, to clear, to solve, and I'd
Speaker 1: say you've gone above and beyond. So thank you for
Speaker 1: your time today and thank you for your music. You're
Speaker 1: the best. Thank you so much. We hope you enjoyed
Speaker 1: this episode of Inside the Studio, a production of I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio. For more episodes of Inside the Studio or
Speaker 1: other fantastic shows, check out the I Heart Radio app,
Speaker 1: Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast