00:00 Holding a pencil for five minutes makes me tired.
00:02 She did three hours of dancing and singing and--
00:04 - Intense cardio.
00:05 - Like that and all that kind of stuff.
00:07 - Thank you for the preview of your own choreography there.
00:09 - Yeah, that's like-- - That was a sneak peek.
00:11 - That's something I'm working on.
00:12 Cut that out, I don't want people seeing that.
00:14 I want it to be a surprise. - It's not ready yet.
00:15 - Yeah, it's not ready yet, I'm ready yet.
00:17 Hi, I'm Noah Kahn and this is Billboard News.
00:19 (upbeat music)
00:28 - Hey, I'm Lindsay Havens for Billboard News
00:30 and we are here with the incredible singer-songwriter,
00:32 Noah Kahn.
00:34 ♪ Hurt for more, but it's the season of the sticks ♪
00:37 ♪ 'Cause it hurts when you hurt somebody ♪
00:41 ♪ Ready for you to come home ♪
00:44 - Did I get that last name right?
00:47 I hear it a lot of different ways.
00:48 - You are one of the first.
00:49 There is only one way to say it, by the way, it's Kahn.
00:51 You did a great job, thank you very much.
00:52 - People overcomplicate it.
00:54 I'm hearing Kahn. - People, well, it's like,
00:55 there's two A's.
00:56 I say one of the A's is silent and you get to pick which one.
00:59 - If you could describe your last 12 months,
01:01 I think it's nuts because obviously you've been
01:03 making music for a really long time and you had success,
01:07 but then suddenly everything changed
01:09 and it hit a next level.
01:10 - It's been an unbelievable few months,
01:13 like a year and a half basically now
01:15 of just like whirlwind of attention
01:18 and this wonderful outpouring of love from fans,
01:22 a lot of like, a lot more commitments that I'm in,
01:25 which has been like the big challenge for me
01:27 as it's been balancing like trying to have my life,
01:31 trying to write music.
01:31 ♪ I ain't proud of all the punches that I've thrown ♪
01:35 ♪ Birds still sing, vultures still bite ♪
01:38 ♪ Yes, I'm young and living dreams ♪
01:40 ♪ In love with being noticed ♪
01:42 It can be creative and be inspired by the world,
01:44 but also being really busy, being on the road all the time.
01:47 - Yeah.
01:48 - I mean, kind of navigating it has been really challenging,
01:49 but really cool and it's an opportunity
01:51 and an experience that not all artists get
01:54 and so I'm very aware of the privilege of this year for me.
01:57 - So as you're getting ready to release this album,
01:59 did you expect all of this would happen?
02:02 Did you kind of know that this was about
02:04 to change everything?
02:04 - I think like there was a feeling in the studio
02:06 of like, whoa, this is something special.
02:08 Like it definitely, I couldn't tell if it was something
02:10 that felt so special to me
02:11 or if it was just gonna be special to everybody.
02:14 ♪ I'm home, shit ♪
02:16 ♪ I'm home, shit ♪
02:19 I was almost okay with it being this amazing experience
02:21 for myself, like selfishly I was like, this is so cool,
02:23 I'm so happy.
02:25 I feel so fulfilled making this music.
02:27 I felt so creatively in control.
02:30 Like everything I did felt right.
02:33 Like there was no second guessing lyrics
02:35 or second guessing production choices.
02:36 It all felt like it was leading to this greater sense
02:39 of justice in my creativity.
02:42 - Yeah.
02:42 - And I think at the time I couldn't see that
02:45 as an indication of success or like relatability
02:48 or something that would connect to a lot of people,
02:50 but it just felt so right for me
02:51 that I was so fine with whatever happened
02:53 and I think listening to the masters in my car,
02:55 I was like, this is actually pretty good, I think.
02:57 - Yeah.
02:58 - And like listening to it, I was like,
02:59 people are gonna connect to this music
03:00 and there was a feeling that people would like it,
03:02 but I guess I didn't care as much
03:03 and I think that actually contributed to its success
03:06 like this feeling of relinquishing the end product
03:09 or the end result and being happy with the process.
03:11 ♪ So I thought that if I had something good ♪
03:14 ♪ In all my bad that I could cancel out the darkness ♪
03:18 - You keep giving us gifts, you got the deluxe
03:20 and then you hit us with this post-molode collaboration.
03:23 ♪ I don't like it when they threw me in the car ♪
03:27 ♪ I gave your name as my emergency phone call ♪
03:31 - I love that man very much.
03:32 - Oh my God, he is so cool.
03:33 - He's one of the best.
03:35 Did you guys get to play beer pong?
03:37 - I gotta watch him play beer pong.
03:39 He was playing beer pong with so many different people,
03:41 I was like a big line and I was like, I don't know,
03:43 he was so cool, I was a little starstruck
03:45 and so I didn't wanna be like, I got a table, dude,
03:47 like get the fuck out of here, call our daddy podcast,
03:49 it's my turn.
03:50 (laughing)
03:52 But I got to hang out with him,
03:54 it was exactly what I wanted an experience
03:57 with Post Malone to be, I got in the room
03:58 and he was sitting cross-legged, drinking Bud Lights
04:02 and smoking cigarettes and I got to sit down
04:03 and smoke a cigarette, drink a Bud Light or two with him
04:06 and we talked about underpants, we talked about Walk Hard,
04:11 which is one of our favorite comedies ever.
04:14 We got a jam on some music and it was just perfect,
04:17 he is so kind, exactly the way that I imagined him to be.
04:22 - When you guys were hanging out, did it come up,
04:23 the idea of maybe just writing something
04:25 from scratch together at some point?
04:27 - Yeah, definitely, he's so busy,
04:29 I'm weirdly so busy right now too,
04:31 but we've definitely, I feel like the hang is not over
04:34 and I would love to get in the room and write music with him
04:36 and what I love about Post Malone is how unchained he is,
04:40 untethered by genre or by, he just does whatever he likes
04:45 and I've always felt the same way
04:47 and I would love to get in and just make some weird shit
04:49 with Post Malone, I think it would be so cool.
04:51 - At some point, not too long ago,
04:52 you said that your two career goals, verified on Instagram
04:56 and to have a Wikipedia page, done.
04:58 - Those are done, there is nothing left.
05:01 There's just nothing left for me, I don't know.
05:03 Maybe I'll get unverified and then try to get it again
05:06 or something like that.
05:07 - Just to give yourself something.
05:08 - Just to give myself another goal.
05:10 - So obviously one of the best things
05:11 that has come with your success
05:12 is you're also using that for good,
05:14 you have the Busy Head Project,
05:16 tell us a little bit about what that means to you
05:18 and why it's so important to give back.
05:20 - Yeah, I was fortunate to grow up in a family
05:23 where mental health was a conversation at the dinner table
05:27 and I had access to therapy and I had access
05:30 to a lot of resources that helped me get through
05:32 a lot of challenges with my mental health,
05:35 which I've struggled with my whole life.
05:37 And when I was a kid and I would hear an artist
05:40 that spoke about their mental health openly,
05:43 it was like religion for me,
05:45 that was the thing that saved my life as a kid.
05:48 As I've gotten older, I've always tried to kind of
05:51 keep mental health as a part of a backbone
05:53 of my songwriting, but I just have a real platform now
05:57 and a lot of opportunity to do good
05:59 in a more meaningful way than writing about it.
06:01 And so my managers and I started the Busy Head Project,
06:05 which is basically an endeavor to raise a million dollars
06:09 for mental health organizations around the country
06:12 and in Canada to provide resources for people
06:15 to get through their challenges.
06:17 - That sounds amazing.
06:18 That's a goal right there.
06:19 - That is, yeah, that is definitely a goal, yeah.
06:21 - Yeah, and a pretty good one.
06:22 Well, Noah, thank you so much and seriously,
06:24 congratulations on all of the success and the amazing music
06:27 and can't wait to hear more of it.
06:28 - Thank you so much, thanks for the questions,
06:30 I appreciate it.
06:31 (upbeat music)
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