- yesterday
Miley Cyrus is back continuing to spread the gospel of her epic new effort, ‘Something Beautiful,’ joining us in our Los Angeles studios for an Audacy Check In with Bru.
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MusicTranscript
00:00I'm so passionate about so many different things, even outside of music, but as long as you feel that you can have the focus and attention and intention that every individual piece deserves.
00:13Miley Cyrus, hello.
00:15Hi, thanks for having me.
00:16It's so nice to meet you.
00:17Thank you as well.
00:18It's so good to have you back with new music, a new film on Hulu and Disney Plus.
00:22Thank you so much for sharing some of your time with us.
00:25Thanks.
00:25You're doing so much right now.
00:28What is it you're having the most fun with, though?
00:30You know, I really am very selective about what I choose to do and be a part of.
00:35And so everything that I'm doing is honestly filled with a lot of meaning and joy.
00:38And I always think something has to either be really joyful.
00:41It has to be fun.
00:42It has to be something that I look forward to, or it has to be something that's meaningful.
00:46That might be something that's, you know, whether it's a full circle moment, something that's come to fruition from manifestation.
00:53So I kind of balance those.
00:55And then, again, you know, this project has really been this like love child for me.
00:59And so sometimes there's certain things that I do that are just to maintain and feed the baby.
01:06That's right.
01:07The baby's almost here.
01:08Yeah.
01:08Tomorrow is the big day.
01:10It's released on Hulu and Disney Plus.
01:11Wow.
01:13I mean, what are the feelings before that?
01:15It's like Christmas Eve.
01:16Exactly.
01:16And, you know, with Disney Plus, it was actually the ultimate home for me and having it on Hulu.
01:21I mean, I'm like everybody else where I love watching new shows, new content, getting invested in characters.
01:28But rarely is there something like this where it was very important to me that this wasn't characterized.
01:35Even though there's an identity of kind of fantasy or persona, it's still personal, which doesn't always happen when we're streaming TV shows or, you know, movies.
01:44And music is, you know, something that's, again, I think it's kind of meant to be more than just heard.
01:49I think all of us emotionally, we feel so much when we're listening to songs, but some of us also do create visuals in our mind.
01:56I think there's certain songs that take you back to certain times or memories or nostalgia or places or somewhere you could dream of listening to it.
02:06And so I think music itself is very visual.
02:09Absolutely.
02:10And I'm so excited for everyone to see this.
02:11How is that storyboarded from, like, is it almost like you're doing individual music videos that you put together?
02:17Or how is the through line for all of it?
02:19Well, we created a map of how we were going to get from every, you know, every end being a new beginning, which is, again, kind of symbolic of what the film is really kind of meant to kind of embody anyway, is that when something is over, it's kind of just begun.
02:33And when something is, you know, could be devastating, you never know what blessing could come from that loss, what gain you're going to have.
02:42And so, yes, everything was meant to be individualized and kind of like isolated just to make sure every song was really honored.
02:49And not for me, I didn't want to be thinking about the next one.
02:53Actually, one time I was doing a show and me and Joan Jett were both playing the show and I was shooting a music video at the same time for another song.
03:01And she said, you never do something like that because you're taking away from the audience by not being in the moment with the one song that you're in now.
03:09And I always took that as something that I think anything goes for everything.
03:13So when I was making this movie, I kept thinking, I don't want to think about the next song while I'm in with the song before it.
03:20I wanted to really honor each song for what it was meant to be and then get clever at the end of how we were going to connect everything.
03:26Interesting.
03:27Do you feel that way about making music, too?
03:29Because you would work on other projects during another project, right?
03:32Well, another person that does that really genius is Pharrell.
03:36And one time I had a session with him and he was doing, you know, 10 things at the same day, but not at the same time.
03:42He had like a hot sauce.
03:43He was making sneakers.
03:44He had two other artists in another, you know, another studio.
03:48And he said, you know, I could tell you looked like I wasn't able to focus on you, but whatever I'm doing in that moment is all that I'm doing.
03:56So I may today have 10 things, you know, my hands in 10 different pots, but I'm only cooking with one item at a time.
04:02And so now I've learned you can do, you know, I like to do a lot and I like to be, you know, invested in different projects.
04:10And I'm so passionate about so many different things, even outside of music.
04:14But as long as you feel that you can have the focus and attention and intention that every individual piece deserves.
04:21Compartmentalizing it a little bit.
04:22Yeah, definitely.
04:23I love that.
04:24Well, congrats on Something Beautiful, officially the music side of it as well with album.
04:28What do we need to know from Endless Summer Vacation to Something Beautiful and like that bridge between both of them?
04:33Well, they're actually so uniquely different.
04:35And I think that's because they're at such different kind of pivotal places in my life and can't have one without the other.
04:42ESV was totally a bridge to Something Beautiful.
04:44But ESV was kind of curated and created to be something that I could do and kind of almost have the whole project from at a distance because I needed that vacation so deeply and desperately that I wanted to still put out the album that I made.
05:00But I wasn't actually going to kind of physically go out there and as we spoke about today, kind of carry around this project and do all the things that it takes.
05:10And luckily, Flowers was the gift that did all the work for me.
05:13I had already known I wanted an ESV, but Flowers really made it possible that it could carry the album around the world so I didn't have to.
05:20And with this one, I'm invested in a more kind of personal way of actually going out and sitting at stations and pressing play and seeing the audience and doing shows and just kind of investing in what it takes to really, I think, kind of convey the truth that this is totally, again, a body of work that is just totally built on love and devotion, dedication and passion.
05:47And really, it does feel like it's one of the more purposeful records that I've ever gotten to make.
05:54Yeah.
05:54With it being so purposeful, does it also feel like the most experimental album?
05:58You know, Dead Pets, I was totally off leash.
06:01So that was more experimental because I knew with Dead Pets, I was going to make it for free and I never wanted to sell the record.
06:07I want it to be a gift to my fans.
06:09And for this record, because I have gone all in on every bit of the creation and curation, for this one, it felt like it had more pressure than Dead Pets.
06:20So I experimented, but I gave, I think, each song.
06:24Someone said to me once, you need bumpers, not a bridle.
06:27And that always helped me so much, meaning I kind of need to know what my lanes are and how I can stay in between those lines.
06:35But I never like feeling like creatively I'm kind of being held back or being restrained from something that could go deeper.
06:43And so every song, whether that was with our inspiration and kind of reference or, you know, kind of sonic ideas or lyrics, they always created a really great structural playground for us to have fun in between those lines.
06:57Wow.
06:58Yeah.
06:58How would you describe like the sound of this album?
07:00You know, I think the title in itself, that it's really everything that we created.
07:06It had to be from a foundation of beauty and what beauty can mean kind of individually to all of us.
07:12It could be, again, because music carries so much memory, it could be a range of a spectrum of all the emotions that we feel.
07:22So I would say that it really is, to me, everything was dedicated to being something beautiful.
07:27I love that.
07:28Working on something beautiful during ESV.
07:31Are you always like that?
07:32Like you're always working?
07:33And is that the case like now?
07:34Someone mentioned to me the other day that they think it's a sign of deflection.
07:37And I said no.
07:38But now I'm like, maybe, because you really, it's nice to be, I think sometimes it's loving to kind of detach your own expectation from the project itself.
07:50Because again, if you think of pressure, it just creates a lot of weight.
07:53And I feel like this project is really meant to fly.
07:55And so by putting my ideas or, again, the expectation on it, it actually kind of makes it heavy.
08:00And I think by starting other projects and kind of having somewhere else to put that nervous energy, to put it into more creation, I think it actually is kind of the most loving thing to do.
08:11And I don't know if you talk about yourself very often on your show, but you were talking about kind of like sport and athleticism before we started.
08:17And that's obviously, I mean, for me, that's like a total pillar, a structural pillar within my life of creativity.
08:23And ESV, I mean, pretty much at that time when I was creating In the Summer Vacation, the thing that was giving me my most life and my most joy was my practices and my sports.
08:32So whatever that might look like, whether at that time it was climbing, Viper training, like some military work, because I feel like in my life, you know, parts of my job, it has been in some ways somewhat militant, always been on a schedule.
08:48I've always, and so I never defined it as an athlete.
08:51I never defined it as athleticism until ESV, until finding that outlet of sport and showing artistry and athleticism and harmony together.
09:00And so with Something Beautiful, that's been something that, again, by thinking about my next record, it's these now sport and athleticism and personal care and like this kind of physicality, because music, again, it's something that it's really hard to create, because it's nothing that you can kind of see or feel to manipulate.
09:22You're only doing it on this kind of invisible frequency of what your heart is telling you, what the emotions are.
09:29And I think also by writing lyrics, that's a very heady thing to do, you're a lot up in your, you know, in your mind.
09:36And I think artists in general, we spend a lot of time in our head.
09:40And so having a place to put that to put the fire, because then when I put it into my sport, then it doesn't come into my art.
09:48And, you know, I think when it comes to art being a competition, like with the Grammys or with numbers or charts, I think that's just so much better spent in sport.
10:00I think competition is really fun and exciting when it comes to watching a sport.
10:05But I think in music, it can work as a driver, but I've never found it to be super helpful.
10:10Yeah.
10:11Gosh, it's so interesting to hear about that.
10:12And I want to follow up on the songwriting, but what is Viper training?
10:15I never heard of that.
10:16Oh, well, it's my favorite.
10:18It's so it's all different weights and it's all kind of off balance and it's really functional, full body.
10:26And what I love about it is you can do kind of a range of anything.
10:29It could be as functional and kind of imitate day to day movement.
10:34I mean, I would say invest in a Viper because it's one of my favorite trainings.
10:38And you could make it super primal.
10:40You could make it I mean, I even do like Tai Chi with it when I think about because I like to move energy around and stuff.
10:46But I'm also a pretty I'm an extreme and very intense person.
10:50So adding that Vipers or something.
10:52I was like adding that weight into the Tai Chi.
10:55I think it helps me feel like, you know, I can do my deep breathing.
10:58I can get grounded, move the energy around, but I also need to be challenged.
11:01Um, but again, I just think that to create, you know, songs as a sport, which is kind of the in essence what the radio really is or you're you're looking at things as being numbered.
11:12And and I do think having a scoreboard in sport is important, but I don't think in music it's ultimately very creatively helpful.
11:19Yeah, I tell my boss that.
11:20Yeah.
11:21Rating is not that important.
11:23Yeah, exactly.
11:23Hello.
11:24No one likes the rating conversation because I'd always rather one person say that it meant something to them than thousands of people that are just kind of half-mindedly paying attention.
11:32But that's just me.
11:34You've always made it a point to put emphasis on the songwriting, obviously.
11:37Do you remember like the first song you ever wrote?
11:38Yes, it was called Evil Mother in the Dead of the Night.
11:41And it was about my mom spending way too long at the mall and taking my cell phone away for talking back to her.
11:46And actually, we were doing a little interview back home.
11:49We were going through my childhood house and on camera going, oh, this is our living room and da-da-da-da.
11:55And she goes, oh, and this is where Miley kept all her songwriting notebooks.
11:57And she happened to open the one and turn to the page of Evil Mother in the Dead of the Night.
12:01Wow.
12:01So that was one of my first songs I ever wrote.
12:03And then another one, Pink Isn't a Color, It's an Attitude.
12:06Mm.
12:06Yeah.
12:07That is staying power.
12:08Like that holds up to anyone else laughing.
12:10Yeah.
12:11What was the age for the Evil Mother song?
12:13How old were you?
12:13I believed I was still – this is when my mom could still drag me to the mall.
12:18So I'm guessing maybe I wasn't in school yet if I could be spending like six or seven hours.
12:23So this is probably kindergarten, maybe a little earlier.
12:26And then I revisited it in about third grade once I got some real –
12:29Third two?
12:30Oh, yeah, I got – well, it got more in-depth, the song, you could say.
12:34It got more detailed.
12:35It was about, you know, trying to buy dignity at BB.
12:39But I was born with that.
12:40So it was – the whole song was about you wouldn't need to spend so many hours at the mall if you felt fulfilled.
12:45This was from my third grade mind.
12:47So my mom was very offended when she saw that on camera with, like, Barbara Walters at the house.
12:51Oh, my goodness.
12:52She was like, Miley's just joking.
12:54She didn't – I never took her to the mall for eight hours and let her skip school.
12:58It's like caught in 4K.
12:59There's, like, no way to – I promise I'm a good mom.
13:01It's not –
13:01I've been writing – I realize that moment I've been writing the same song since I was five.
13:05Well, you know, there's a lot of truth in those.
13:07It was about dignity and pride and blah, blah, blah, and being who you are and authenticity and all the things.
13:10That's how you know who you are.
13:12You know who you are.
13:12Do you have an appreciation for those early songs, like, even a little later on, like, The Climb and all these ones that everyone loves so much?
13:20Definitely.
13:20What's the relationship with, like, that early music?
13:23I think they're just – you know, they're a complete portal into all the projects that I'll make in the future.
13:27It's, you know, by having them, they've really opened up all the doors, this kind of, like, infinite opportunity.
13:32And, again, I think it's really about what you kind of do with it and do you hold yourself to the standard of songs from the past?
13:38So even though I can kind of honor and respect each song, not using them as kind of the bar to set for myself because those are some really high expectations.
13:46And I've gotten a couple once-in-a-lifetime songs multiple times in this lifetime.
13:52So I don't know when it caps, but, you know, I don't set my – I don't even use myself as a standard.
13:57Yeah.
13:58And what do you think – what goes to your mind when you hear those songs?
14:01Because, I mean, everyone has different memories around them.
14:03Yeah.
14:03A lot of, like, The Climb is, like, core memories for us.
14:05But what do you have in your mind?
14:06Well, for me, when I think about The Climb, I've done it in so many different, you know, impactful and important settings.
14:13I did the kids' ball at the Obama inauguration.
14:17I sang it for different marches, women's rights movements, LGBTQ rallies.
14:25And so I really always just think about kind of – I think the – you know, because I was so young when I did the song, it didn't have kind of the weight of politics behind it.
14:34It was really from a kid's perspective of kind of how the world should be, which I think usually kids have a way better idea than adults of how it should be.
14:42Yeah.
14:43Absolutely.
14:43If we had an eight-year-old running the world, everything would probably just be like – we wouldn't be talking about some of the things we're talking about right now.
14:48No.
14:48The expectations.
14:50I love the way that even I was.
14:52I think it's why I was – people kind of mark my career as authentic, but I don't know if it was authentic or if it was just because I was so young that I don't know any different, to be honest, or to have those expectations.
15:01It's only in our adulthood do we kind of get trained and alter ourselves for success or bosses or whatever it is.
15:07Yeah.
15:08Some places do that.
15:09They, like, put a dog up for mayor, and things go well.
15:11My dog could run this town.
15:13I'm telling you right now.
15:13Lately.
15:14Yes.
15:14Bring him in.
15:14The golden retriever.
15:15I mean, that is, like, the ultimate kind of mayor dog.
15:18Yeah.
15:18Yeah, absolutely.
15:20So, tours, like a no-go.
15:22We talked about how it's not really, like, on your mind right now in terms of, like, you're not enjoying it.
15:26You kind of feel, like, removed a little bit.
15:27No.
15:27And again, it kind of has to have joy and meaning for me, and I think it's meaningful for the audience, but not as meaningful for me.
15:34And so, Something Beautiful was a way that I could kind of creatively find a way that I could perform these songs, feel like every – you know, you're almost getting a front row ticket by watching the show on your TV.
15:45You know, you're getting a performance right here, and what I've loved about it, too, is I've always said I've never been to my own concert.
15:52This is the closest I've ever been.
15:54I felt like watching the show in theaters, I really got to almost see myself in a way I've never seen myself before.
15:59So, it's been a cool experience.
16:01I love that.
16:02Is there any part of you that misses it and almost, like, tries to think of a way that you can have that happy medium where maybe some of those heavy parts of it aren't there?
16:09I like traveling a lot, so I do miss, you know, waking up in new places, but as I've gotten kind of, you know, older and more ritualistic and more routine, it's become more of a struggle for me to kind of find that structure that gives me so much balance and peace in my time.
16:28So, I think there would have to kind of be a way, which I don't think structurally anything is set up to really help artists succeed to balance both of those things.
16:37So, hopefully at one point by resisting, I can actually be someone that kind of changes the future of what touring looks like because we have to sustain, you know, like an athlete.
16:46When you see athletes, I always think about boxers.
16:49They've got the coach on the side handing them waters and wiping their sweat for them.
16:53And if you do that as an artist, especially as a female, you get written as a diva.
16:57And there's nothing diva about being well-maintained and cared for.
17:00And so, I think as long as they can come up with a way that everyone feels like, you know, the music industry is still a business, but you're doing it in a way that protects and sustains your artist.
17:10That just has to be a bottom line.
17:11Yeah.
17:12I mean, that's why I give someone like Olivia Rodrigo so much credit because she's doing the whole therapy for all her bandmates and crew and everything.
17:17And it's like so admirable.
17:18Not that she should be doing that herself by any means, but like what a good step.
17:21That should be a thing because also all of us are having lies when you're out on the road.
17:26You know, you lose people that you love.
17:28I, you know, we've done shows when I've gone through breakups or, you know, so many things that are happening in your real life and you've got to put a pin in it because the show must go on.
17:36And I do think that there's something to the kind of next generation.
17:40They don't do that so much.
17:42They kind of wear their heart on their sleeve a little bit more.
17:44Yeah.
17:45Does the intimate performances kind of stretch that ish though of like being out on the road?
17:49I see like once a month you're somewhere performing and I'm like, oh my God, how do I get there?
17:53Especially if I can travel.
17:55Like we just did one in France and that was really a kind of cool experience.
17:59I love when I go to other parts of the world and I feel connected, you know, to, to people in that way.
18:05But yes, it does it enough.
18:06Um, but like anything, I'm also someone that likes to kind of, you know, take new steps and do something that I'm makes me uncomfortable and I'm getting pretty comfortable in it.
18:15So I'm looking for something that could expand farther outside of that, but still maintains the integrity that goes into those shows.
18:22Amazing.
18:23Well, you are a Disney legend.
18:25We see.
18:26It's a fact.
18:27I think you have a badge or something.
18:29I do.
18:30Um, and we see characters like Alex Russo revive, you know, for wizards beyond Waverly Place for the adult version of that with Hannah Montana and Miley.
18:38Like what would that look like?
18:40Um, well now in RuPaul drag race culture, I feel like we can lean in a little bit more to the fact that Hannah Montana is a drag queen.
18:46All right.
18:46Yeah.
18:47I feel like she needs to be like death dropping.
18:49She needs to be lip syncing for her life.
18:51All of that.
18:52Yeah.
18:53Yeah.
18:53I can't wait.
18:54Yeah.
18:54I'm the judge.
18:55But I can see it.
18:56But yes.
18:56Yeah.
18:57Um, all right.
18:57So your favorite song right now, obviously that'll change as it goes, but your favorite song right now on Something Beautiful.
19:02Oh, my favorite song right now.
19:04Uh, I'm going to say Walk of Fame because it happened to just serendipitously align.
19:12I was not aware that I was getting the star on the Walk of Fame.
19:17Yeah.
19:17And it happened the day before.
19:19I found out the day before that everyone else found out.
19:22So they just casually sent a text saying that you're getting the star.
19:26And I did not know.
19:27So it was a surprise, which just also magically kind of worked out that the song was releasing a week later.
19:33So that was actually magic.
19:35Um, I wish that we were, there was some sort of, you know, marketing madness over here that we just coordinated this seamlessly.
19:42But that was something beautiful.
19:43God is a gay man.
19:45Perfect.
19:46I always believe it.
19:47And moments like that, I'm like, I told you, that's why I've done so much for the gay community because God's gay.
19:51Wow.
19:51I just thought you were teeing that up for something beautiful.
19:53I was not expecting that.
19:55No, I know Ariana thinks it's a woman, but I think it's a gay man.
19:58Okay.
19:59If you don't believe me, look at the height on this hair.
20:00You're right as anybody else.
20:01Yeah.
20:01Okay.
20:02I mean, congrats, by the way, on that.
20:04That's so cool.
20:05Um, just like being around it so much in LA and the Walk of Fame is such a, like, such a big thing.
20:11Um, what are some memories around the Walk of Fame for you?
20:13Definitely coming out to LA when I was younger and staying at a hotel on Hollywood Boulevard.
20:18Um, I think it's where it all shifted.
20:20Um, for me, I definitely was there and said, this is somewhere that I want to be in my future.
20:26And, um, my dad would take me at night when he wouldn't get recognized to go and walk up and look at all the names.
20:32And we would go into the souvenir shop.
20:33So it really has like a kind of heart first emotional attachment.
20:37Like a lot of people that come out from places like Nashville, Tennessee.
20:40It's like, it's somewhere you can't even believe, you know, you see all the lights and the names and the, the theater.
20:46And it's just mind-blowingly glamorous and definitely exciting and enticing and makes you want to be a part of it.
20:52Of course.
20:53And being famous for so long, does that like, where does that square up on the, not achievements, but, you know, like really cool things that have happened.
20:59And Grammy, Walk of Fame, where's it at?
21:01Oh, the Walk of Fame is definitely in a top tier just because again, it's an emotional, I like that it's not a physical achievement.
21:07Also, it's not something that you just kind of like take home for yourself.
21:10It's something that's shared.
21:12It's communal.
21:12And because music and, you know, today in general, kind of the way we consume is very isolated and it's not as communal as it once was going to a record store, buying the CDs, calling your radio station, requesting a song.
21:25There is something kind of very one of, you know, one of about it.
21:29And so I like the idea that it's going to be something that thousands of people are going to spit their gum on every day.
21:35Can't wait.
21:35You were rolling around on it.
21:37Yeah, I know.
21:37I regret it.
21:38And you're the first person, what, born in the 90s to get one?
21:42That's what they said.
21:43I mean, I think Timothy is getting one, so maybe we're tied.
21:45But I know I'm a little more mature.
21:48Women don't say older.
21:50No.
21:50More mature.
21:51You were announced first, so technically you were the first.
21:53That's right.
21:54I love that.
21:54I was born first.
21:56Don't forget it, Timothy.
21:57So we'll take it.
21:58You only want to be born first in moments like this.
22:01That's right.
22:01That's the only time it's useful.
22:03Walk of Fame.
22:04We'll take it.
22:04Well, it's so fun getting to hear about all the good things that are going on in your life.
22:08Congrats on something beautiful.
22:09Can't wait for everyone to see it.
22:10It's out tomorrow.
22:11By the time you see this, it'll be out.
22:13Any last message for your fans that are so excited to see more from Miley?
22:17Just excited and full of gratitude that they get to finally kind of have this in their own home to digest in their own way and live with it and rewind it and sing along and all the things.
22:28Absolutely.
22:28Miley Cyrus, thank you so much.
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