- 6 months ago
Conan Gray is here to talk about his new album dropping this summer + more on #AudacyCheckIn! 🌟
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00:00But I think with the response that I've gotten to like a very, very true version of myself,
00:06it feels very, um, satisfying. I feel.
00:13Conan Gray. Hello.
00:15Hi, bro.
00:16Hi. What is like your, um, your favorite compliment someone could ever give you?
00:20Oh, um, well, I feel very flattered when someone says that I smell good.
00:26Wow.
00:26Because I think when somebody smells good, it's a very, it's a very rare, beautiful thing.
00:32Yeah, absolutely. Well, I'm so excited to welcome the best smelling man in music to the show right now.
00:37Yeah, you said that. So true.
00:39I wanted to start it on a good note. Um, you do smell great by the way.
00:42Absolutely. And it, I was going to say it goes with the music. I don't know what that means though.
00:47If your music was a scratch and sniff, what smell would it be? That's where we're going with it.
00:51Right. Okay. Let's think.
00:53For wishbone.
00:53Oh, wow. Um, the smell of wishbone, I think is, um, Texas in the summer.
01:00Oh man. I thought when you started saying Texas, I was like, if he says roadhouse after this,
01:04I'm going to be like, Texas roadhouse, um, the cinnamon biscuit butter rolls.
01:10Woo. Nostalgia is off the charts with that one. Um, you know,
01:13they don't allow peanuts on the floor anymore.
01:16What in general? What are you talking about?
01:17No, at Texas roadhouse, they don't allow peanuts on the peanut.
01:20I thought that was just a completely different thing.
01:25Who's they? The government? Oh, sorry. That took me so off guard. Um, yeah. So you can eat
01:31peanuts there because of the allergies, right?
01:35Probably.
01:35It's like not. They're just pissed about shells.
01:37Yeah. I don't know.
01:38Yeah. That's so good to know. Well, anyways, enough about nuts. Uh, wishbone is coming to
01:44August 15th, dude. It is so, um, fun to see like your journey to where it is now with music. And you
01:48had such a heartfelt, like, um, response to about this album and the feelings around it and how,
01:53you know, doing it scared and just being a hundred percent you, what do you think led to
01:57that vulnerability of being able to do that now?
01:59Rejection. Oh my God. Being rejected is the most freeing, incredible thing ever. Like
02:07continual rejection in life. Like as you get older, you start to realize that like every
02:12rejection ever, whether it's like a person or like something you wanted to do that didn't
02:17happen or anything. It's like, it's so scary to be rejected. It's so scary to fail. And then you do
02:24it a bunch of times and you're like, wait, this is awesome. And it's always pushing you to the
02:29right place in life. Yeah. Cause you always learn it from something from each rejection.
02:33Yeah. It's always pushing you to like a place that you're supposed to be that you don't even
02:36know you're in the wrong place, but then you end up in the right place.
02:39Do you think that's just the experiences that you've been through? Or is it almost like an age
02:43thing? Like we're, you're, we're at a point now where like that stuff doesn't even bother you.
02:47Yeah. I think it's just growing up. Right. Hopefully, hopefully you get to a point in life where you
02:52get rejected enough times to know that it's not scary anymore. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. So this song
02:57and Vodka Cranberry is out. What makes it those two songs like put out first? And was there any
03:02like internal battle, like which songs you wanted to put out first? There was no battle about the
03:06first single with this song. It was like, I knew it needed to be the first song because that song
03:11is a love song. It's a crush song. It's a song that felt like the first, like the beginning of spring.
03:19Like it sounds like you're like jumping into freezing cold water or something. And that's what I needed.
03:25I needed like a fresh slate. Yeah. Um, and then from there, the second single was so hard for me to
03:30pick because I didn't know what to do. I didn't know if I wanted to keep people happy or if I wanted
03:35to break people's hearts. I didn't know what I wanted to do. Um, but ultimately Vodka Cranberry was
03:40the last song that I finished for the album. And once I finished it, I was like, I feel like this song
03:44captures the whole album in one song. And that's why it felt like the right second single.
03:48Yeah. That's amazing. And has the response kind of surprised you with how like everyone loves it.
03:53I mean, it's like one of my favorite songs on my playlist right now. Um, I'm like really,
03:57really happy. Yeah. It's been really, really special. And I think, you know, this album is so
04:03me and the most me I've ever been, which is a kind of strange statement because you're always
04:09you. But I think with the response that I've gotten to like a very, very true version of
04:16myself, it feels very, um, yeah. Satisfying. I feel seen. My ego is big and fat. It's fine.
04:24Everything's good. Yeah. And you're right about falling in love for the first time. That's real.
04:28Like this is the first time falling in love. Does that make it easier to write songs or almost
04:32more complex? So much easier. Oh my gosh. When you have something to write about, um, because you
04:38know, I I've made, uh, this is my fourth album now. And I think with my first album, I had
04:43my whole life to like figure out what to say. Second and third album, I was like, what is
04:48going on? I'm so confused. What's going on? I'm like trying to date. I'm trying to learn.
04:53And so I think those two albums are very much like me, like experimenting and learning and
04:57growing. And then with this album, it feels like I'm on the other end of some kind of life
05:03lesson that really changed my life. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. Well, it's out August 15th. Um,
05:08did anything on this album surprise you when you were making it? Oh, it was, it's, it ended
05:14up being weirdly optimistic. Oh, despite I was so depressed when I wrote it, but like
05:22oddly, I think when people listen, there are a few takeaways that are weirdly optimistic.
05:25Yeah. Wow. I can't wait. But also I'm sorry that you were, you know, I'm glad, you know,
05:30you took some, you felt good about it. Um, what is your relationship with like the album
05:34making process? Is it like something you love doing is compiling those stories and making
05:39it one collective piece of art?
05:40I found my first three albums incredibly hard to make. Um, and very, um, yeah, confusing.
05:48But then with this album, I literally was like kicking my feet and giggling the whole time
05:53I was writing. I was never had a better time laughing, loving every sentence I'm writing.
05:59Like I was so depressed and writing the album was what made me happy. Like was what changed
06:06my life at that time? Yeah. That's incredible. If you could listen to one album though, for
06:11the rest of your life, you know, sorry to lay a broad one on you, but, um, yeah, if you
06:16had one, what would that be? It would have to be Pure Heroine by Lorde, I think forever.
06:23Yeah. What if there's a letterbox for music like that? You know, the top four.
06:26And she would win. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Um, you're known for writing music from your bedroom
06:32and I feel like obviously it's worked. Like it's, you found the, the, um, whatever the process or
06:38the algorithm is for that. But is there any, not downside, but I think of people going to school,
06:44like in the rooms during COVID and everything and getting distracted. Is there any downfalls
06:47of that, of writing it all in your room? Like a hundred percent. You've actually the only person
06:51that's ever asked me that because it is true. When I lay down in bed at night, I literally start
06:58writing songs while I'm falling asleep and it's so annoying because I can't like a song is like a
07:04fleeting memory. Like if you don't capture it, it's gone. It's gone forever. So there are some
07:09nights where I'll put my little head down to sleep and then it's like, there's a chorus in my brain.
07:15I'm like, if I don't get up and record this right now, then it might leave me. And what if it's the
07:18best song I've ever written? So, um, yeah, it actually does propose some, some challenges like that
07:24work rest mind. Yeah. But I just love doing it. So it doesn't matter. Yeah. Have you ever had it
07:29in your dreams and you're like, you woke up from it? Yeah. I'd have songs in my dreams all the time.
07:33That's so wild, man. They're never really very good though. Oh, okay. They're always a bit like
07:38obscure. Like they almost are a song, but not quite. Yeah. You're like, you have random features
07:43in the dream. Oh, that's really interesting. You're the only person to ever be the apple dancer and
07:48Sally. Oh yeah. My biggest accomplishment in life. Right? Yeah. When we think about Grammys,
07:54you know, like getting married, like no apple dance and Sally was on top. Yeah. Yeah. Um,
08:01no, it was very fun. Um, I'm trying to think of anything at your shows that you could introduce
08:05like that. If you had a version of that, I need something. If you have any ideas, let me know.
08:10I'll definitely try my best because I need to have something to, I have to pass on the torch.
08:15Yeah. Yeah. Uh, give back to the fans that want to, uh, be part of the show. We do that so well
08:20already with like signs and bracelets and all sorts of different stuff to tie them
08:24into it. Um, is it true? Your parents almost named you Butch? Is that real?
08:28Yes, bro. That is true. How different would your vibe be if that was your name?
08:32Like imagine if you were interviewing me Butch right now, my name was almost Butch.
08:37You'd be a country singer. Butch Gray. My male name is Lee. Butch Lee Gray would be my name.
08:45Well, I forgot. It's a beautiful name.
08:47No, any Butches out there, love your name. Like Conan fits you so well.
08:51Thank you. So, but Butch, man, would be wild. Butch, yeah. Um, but it's a great pet name too.
08:56If you ever had like a dog, I think it'd be cute to give an ode to a dog or a hamster or something like that.
09:00That's a good idea. You know?
09:01Yeah, some, I needed some Butch in my life. Just not, it doesn't need to be me.
09:06We all just need a little bit. Um, like I said, Vodka Cranberry has been like one of the most
09:10played songs on my playlist since it's come out. What do you think is the song of summer to you though?
09:13Ooh. Uh, Illegal by Pink Pantherists.
09:17Oh, yeah. That's the one that makes you just feel like, you know, you're feeling yourself.
09:20Yeah, me and my, me and my friend group, we have like a group chat that's like several
09:24friend groups mushed into one. And right now the name of it is, Hey, ooh. That's what,
09:31that's what the name of the group chat is.
09:33How many people can you have at a group chat until it's too many?
09:35In that one, there's 12 people.
09:37Is that too many?
09:38Yeah, I need less friends. Oh, so annoying having friends. Oh, sucks for me.
09:42It's way too many. Oh gosh. Well, I can't wait to see what's to come with this album. I'm so
09:47excited for your fans to get it. Um, what's on your bucket list though for 2025? Like what,
09:51what are you looking forward to the most for this year? Um, I'm most looking forward to tour at the
09:56end of the year. I'm really excited to sing these songs with people. Yeah. You can try anything else
10:00new. Obviously we're working on the, what the Sally's going to be side note, but, um, we'll see.
10:05I, I really do need to ruminate on that though. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. We'll have a talk after
10:10this. Okay. Perfect. Have you gone anywhere new that you haven't been before? Well, I'm playing a
10:15lot of cities that I didn't get to play last year when I was on tour. Um, I mean, there's cities that
10:20I would love to, I, I'm like, I'm not playing an LA show this year, which is sad, but, um, but I,
10:25I really want to see some, I'm playing Red Rocks, which is going to be really for the first time.
10:30Yeah. I'm really excited for that. That's gonna be amazing. And you're getting new tires in your
10:34car and I'm getting new tires on my car. Big. Tell me how that's influenced your life. Um,
10:38it's influenced my life by the fact that I have to get out of here really quickly. Perfect.
10:44No, uh, anything else that we need to know about this album before it comes out to the world or
10:48any last message for your fans? Um, just thank you for caring at all that I exist. And I hope that
10:54the album makes you feel like I'm watching you while you sleep. Yeah, no, it's so good to
11:00meet you finally in person. Congrats on all the success and can't wait to, uh, see what's to
11:04come in 2025 from you. Thank you very much. Great. Best smelling man in music right here.
11:08Give it a whiff. Texas Roadhouse. No more nuts. No more nuts. Okay. Perfect.
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