Audacy Check In: benny blanco

Audacy Pop

benny blanco is joining us on #AudacyCheckIn to talk about his new song with Selena Gomez and Gracie Abrams + more 🎶

Transcript

00:00I think people will be surprised at maybe some of the stuff we're talking about. I don't know.

00:04You know, it's about everything. It's you know, I really want people to take the journey. I don't

00:08want to like say too much because it's it's it's definitely a journey from the beginning

00:14from how it opens up until how it ends. I am Julia. We're talking to Benny Blanco,

00:21who gave us the happiest, sweetest surprise. You and Selena announced your album. I said,

00:26I love you first. The photo shoot, the pictures for this project. Stunning. Beautiful.

00:32Very sweet. Thank you. Yeah, of course. So walk me through when

00:37and how and why did this idea come for this album? I think we were just both kind of we were just

00:44like a little stuck on what we want to do. Selena was talking about not wanting to make music

00:49anymore. She felt like she already said everything she's ever wanted to say. And I remember I just

00:55had this like aha moment where I was like, well, why don't we just do an album together? It would

00:59be so fun. Like nobody nobody really does. Yeah, I know. Like Jay-Z and Beyonce did it. And like

01:04all our favorite types of people did it. And I remember when Ra Alejandro and Rosalia did a song

01:12together and it was amazing. And I was like, wow, well, why don't we try? And we were just in I

01:18didn't even know if anyone was going to hear this. We just made it in our house together,

01:22like in our room. And I remember saying like, hey, if this is ever weird, we'll just stop right

01:29away. And it all like flowed out so easily and everything just I don't know. I feel like through

01:35this, I realized how good of partners we were together because we it was just we didn't fight.

01:42We didn't there were no argument in the studio. Every we had each other's ideas, just just all

01:48of our ideas came out exactly how we wanted them to. And we had the same intuitions. And it was

01:54like if we didn't like something, we both didn't like it. And I don't know, it was kind of like a

02:00therapeutic and cathartic experience. It was just like we were like our own therapist, she would

02:06wake up in the morning and be like, Oh, my God, I had a dream last night. And I'm like, well, tell

02:11me what it was about. And then we'd walk into the other room and make a song. That's so sweet. I

02:16love that. Well, and I think it's helped you because you guys have obviously worked together

02:19before. What if you notice the differences are obviously when you work together before and now

02:24as a couple, working together to make a project, I get to kiss her and we're in love.

02:31I guess for that, I guess that's the biggest difference. No, and just being able.

02:38I feel like when someone's your partner, you can say things that you might like

02:41a little bit more candidly. Yeah. And you can just talk and we can both talk about things in

02:50our life. And it's like you almost I don't know, you you feel like it's easier, almost easier to

02:57talk through the music sometimes than in real life about something like and I found out so many

03:02things about her and she found out so many things about me through the process. And it was just a

03:06really cool, like, you know, timeline of before we met each other to now we're together to our

03:12future, you know? Oh, I love that. What do you or what can you tell us? Of course, do you think

03:20will surprise people the most about this album? I think there's a few songs that are like a lot

03:25more raw than she's than she's ever been. And like, not not not like she's always raw in what

03:37she's saying, but some of the production is like really pulled back and and and just, you know,

03:44almost almost like acoustic like and or it'll be like one piano and her, you know, and then

03:50there's still like the bops and stuff on there too. But I think I think it was really cool to

03:57try out new things that maybe she's never done before. And I think people like, I think people

04:05will be surprised at maybe some of the stuff we're talking about. I don't know. You know,

04:10it's about everything. It's I you know, I really want people to take the journey. I don't want to

04:14like say too much because it's it's it's it's definitely a journey from the beginning from how

04:20it opens up until how it ends like scared of loving you is the last song on the album.

04:25I noticed that. So why did you choose that to be the first one out?

04:28Because I think I just wanted to start by saying like, here's how we feel right now.

04:35And this is how we feel right now in this moment. And then then let's go backwards.

04:42Okay. So I wanted to I wanted to, you know, it's this song really shows, you know,

04:51Selena's been through so much. And this song is it really showed for us where it's like,

04:58hey, I'm not scared of loving you right now. I am scared of losing you. Because it's like,

05:03you know, she's spent this whole time, you know, and just like everyone else does,

05:08you do a bunch of things in your life. And then you're you're sitting there and you're like,

05:12I'm really scared to jump into this new thing. Because if I do, that means I'm giving myself

05:17to a person again. And like that means the potential for heartbreak again, and potential

05:22for this or that. And, and I think we were both a little hesitant to go into it. And then once

05:29you do, then you're like, Oh, my God, you're like, I have so much to live for now. And you're like,

05:33wait, bullshit, don't leave me. And then it's like, and you know, she's like, just one of the

05:38strongest people in the world. So that's why I love the line that says, I'm not scared of dying

05:43young or anyone. And it's like, you know, because, you know, she's had so many things, you know,

05:49health wise as well. So it's like, she really lives her life, like any day could be her last

05:55and that she wants to live it like the best she possibly can. And I'm just stoked that the best

06:02she thinks she possibly can live it is. It's so sweet. And you know what, sonically, for this

06:08being the first song out, when I first listened to it, it almost felt like a warm hug from Selena,

06:14because it's that I don't know, it's that comfort of her voice that we all love, you know, that she

06:19just does so well. And it felt like a perfect return, because she has been very open about

06:24whether she wants to return to music or not. And it felt like she was very comfortable,

06:29which made like us feel very comfortable. And I felt like it was the perfect like kickoff to this

06:33album. Yeah, and I just wanted to it was like Valentine's Day. And I was like, I want to come

06:38with something that's like, because obviously, the album is all over. There's some songs that

06:42like aren't about love. There's some songs that are about like, you know, about where you came

06:48from and where you are. There's, you know, it's like, she's been doing this for so long. So it's

06:53I just thought it was such an interesting way to start it off and just be like, Hey, guys,

06:57we're back. And we just want to tell you we're putting out an album and we're in love here. Yeah.

07:02And here's a little something. Yeah. And yeah, no, it's I yeah, it's it's it's been a journey.

07:08And I'm so excited for everyone to hear everything. Well, and then your next single is call me when

07:13you break up. And you guys have Gracie Abrams with you. Give me the story behind this song,

07:19how he got involved, what you love about it the most, I want to hear everything.

07:23Some of the first music she ever made, I helped work on. And she and then I put her on, you know,

07:32my album in like 2020 or something. And like to see where she's gone since then is so fucking

07:42insane. And now she's like the biggest thing in the world. And I remember, you know, Selena was

07:46just like a huge fan of her always online, like liking all her stuff. And then one day, Selena

07:51came to me just like, Do you think that Gracie would like ever want to get on one of our songs?

07:56And I was like, I don't know, Alaska. And I remember like texting Gracie and Gracie was like,

08:01she was like, No, no. And be like, and then I sent her a little idea we had. And she lost her mind.

08:08And it almost didn't even happen. Because she was on tour. It was the last song we turned it

08:14in the day before we had to turn our entire album in. And it was it was the last song.

08:20And we almost didn't make the deadline. And we shot a video the day after we record it. Like it

08:25was so last minute. And yet to see like, this is like, I'm so you know, it's one of those moments

08:36where I'm like, Oh my god, I know we're holding something that's so cool. And like, I just can't

08:42wait to see like, kids like vibe into it. And, and I'm so excited. And I think I think it's just

08:52like, yeah, it's just like fun. It's like, it's there. You know, it's a cool moment in the album.

08:59And I'm just Yeah, I'm excited because people music is music is so cool, because it means

09:07something different to everyone, like everyone can be experiencing the same song. But you have

09:12you take it in completely different as the person next to you. And like, you remember that exact

09:16moment, you listen to it for the first time, you remember how it got you through this moment.

09:20Sometimes what you think it's about isn't even what it was about, like, to the person writing

09:24it. And it's just like, I just love those moments. I do, too. Yeah. And I, this is such a cool moment.

09:31And I feel like, you know, it's funny that Selena was like, Do you think she'd want to do something?

09:35Because I feel like you two for that generation of like, Gracie and all those pop girls, you guys

09:40are like the pop parents were like, everybody's like, hell, yeah, of course.

09:45That's crazy. She's Yeah, she's like, people, people really, they really love her.

09:50Yeah, they do for good reason. Well, it was great getting to talk to you. I am so excited to hear

09:55the rest of this project. I love the single that's out now. And congratulations on everything.

10:00Thank you so much. It was lovely to talk.

10:02You too. Have a good rest of your day.

10:04Bye.

10:05Bye.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended