- 2 weeks ago
YUNGBLUD joins us for an Audacy Check In to talk about his latest album, working beside Rock legends, and more.
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MusicTranscript
00:00It's Abe Cannon. I'm so excited to talk to Youngblood, the new Aerosmith, the first Aerosmith
00:07album in 12 years. You're on it. You sold out your U.S. tour in one minute, which is amazing.
00:14But the first thing I want to talk to you about is the song Hello Heaven Hello. I know it came
00:20out a while ago now, but when I first heard that song, I sent that video to everyone I know.
00:26I haven't been this excited about a new rock song in so many years. Tell me about the
00:32song Hello Heaven Hello, because I always loved your music, but there was some kind of switch
00:37with that song. The only thing I can compare it to is when, I don't know, Michael Jackson
00:43was with the Jackson 5, and then one day he came out doing the moonwalk, right? He did
00:47awesome stuff beforehand, and then there was some kind of... What was the switch with you
00:51for Hello Heaven Hello? I really think I reached a place... I think I hit 27, and I really
00:58kind of felt like I wanted to do what I wanted. I think when you're in this kind of business
01:04so young, I think I started this at 18, and my first album was very much what I wanted to
01:10do because I had no fan base. And you know what I mean? The first album gave me a fan base,
01:13but album two and three, a lot of opinions kind of got in the way. I think as always happens
01:19when you're a young artist, and I think I hit 27 with this album, and I really wanted
01:22my imagination and my unfiltered creativity to kind of lead. And I think that made me
01:30like... I don't know. I think I grew up with albums like Houses of the Holy, and I grew
01:37up with albums like Dark Side of the Moon, and I grew up with albums like Urban Hymns.
01:44You know what I mean? I grew up with classic rock records that would not be limited by imagination,
01:48not be limited by, let's cut this down, let's make this shorter, let's, you know what I mean,
01:53make it digestible. This was kind of... So I think with Hello Heaven Hello, I really wanted
01:58to go there. And really, it's been such an exciting time, to be honest at the minute, because for years
02:07people have been telling me to turn the guitars down, or filter the drums, or EQ the drums so they're
02:11less apparent. And now it's all about turning them up. And I love it, man. Nine minutes song,
02:17two guitar solos, first single of the new album, let's rock.
02:20And then this, this, the whole album is amazing. I've been listening to this album since you
02:26released it. And like I said, I just said, I'm annoying at this point, because I send your music
02:32to everyone I know. I'm just like, please, I'm like, please check this out. Please listen,
02:37please watch this video. Please, because it's so exciting for me, as a rock fan, to have someone
02:43like you carrying the torch of rock and roll. I think with it all, like, I'll give you 20 quid
02:48for saying that later, by the way. I, um, I feel like, I feel like so, um, excited right now, because
02:57I think me, Dorman is true as form. It's really coming through with this music. I think like I
03:06grew up, me, me old man, my father had a guitar shop and it feels like I'm seven again. You know
03:11what I mean? Yeah. My new album and these shows in this moment, it smells like, it smells like
03:17Tolex, amp glue, soldering wire and lager. And I love it. You know what I mean? I think like,
03:21I feel like I'm back in my, you know what I mean? I'm back in my dad's shop again. And, um, I really,
03:28I think people have been afraid to go straight down the middle rock. You know, I think people
03:32can see it to be an old man, an old man's genre or cheesy because I don't know. I think no one, um,
03:40no one had the bottle to kind of just go for it in its, in its purest form.
03:51And we've, we've done that on this record, you know, I think from, from like, from the music
03:58to the show, to the, to the way we look, you know, I think, I think with it all, people needed
04:04it. We need a bit of naughty. We need a bit of rock and roll. Rock's been boring for years
04:09because it's not been allowed to, to blossom in a new iteration. It's, it's been, I've had
04:15to be adherent to the past or it's had to be quiet. You don't want to be fucking quiet
04:21in rock music. That's why you make it. You want to be loud. You want to be out there.
04:24You want to, you want to take on the opinion. I think like we have fun with love and hate,
04:32you know, I think we, you've got to be able to have fun with it. And, and, um, what a year
04:40it's been, man. It's been the craziest year yet. And, and it's about to get even wilder.
04:46I think this heirs with a coincidence, uh, that, that it's so real. Well, November, November
04:5621st, it's a five song EP, four new songs, and then a remake of back in the saddle. You
05:01know, my first concert when I was 13 years old was Aerosmith. And I can't imagine how
05:07awesome it was for you to work with Steven Tyler, because when, when I watch you two working
05:14together and I saw Steven Tyler, I want to talk about the final Aussie show too, but
05:18it was like his coming out party because they told us that Steven Tyler couldn't sing anymore.
05:23They said he was done. They said he was retiring. He came out at the Aussie final show, did whole
05:29lot of love and he sounds as good as ever. I don't know. Yeah, that was amazing. It was
05:34amazing. That was amazing. So tell me about working with Aerosmith on this, this new EP that's
05:40coming out November 21st called one more time. I think, I think with it all, I think
05:45we, it was crazy because Joe hit me up about hello, heaven. Hello. He was a fan of it.
05:52Same as you, you know, I was like, Oh, it's cool to see rock and roll back in some kind
05:58of new iteration. You know what I mean? He says he loves the middle section when it gets
06:03rocking. So I was like, Holy shit. Joe Perry's just sent me an email. That's wild. Yeah.
06:12Let's get together. So I went down, I flew down to Sarasota, Florida to see him for a couple
06:18of beers as you do, you know, and we had a couple of beers and he said, let's, let's get
06:22together. Let me give you Steven's email. And I emailed them both. I was like, let's go
06:27get, let's go get, let's go get dinner. Let's go get a drink. Let's go get a vibe. Let's
06:33figure it out because I knew they were talking about getting back into the studio together
06:38because Steven had his voice operation and he was healing. But obviously the psychological
06:42effect of falling on a barrier and crushing your larynx is crazy for a singer. You know,
06:47it's like when you get, when you get given a voice and to have it taken away is the most
06:53traumatic thing in the world. Like for example, say like I go on stage one night and I've got
06:57a hoarse voice. It's my biggest fear ever. If you go walk out to 20,000 people, not knowing
07:01if you're gonna be able to hit the notes, it's, it's, it's worse than it's literally like
07:06the most crazy thing to, to do. So, and how, and how do you do, how do you do that? When,
07:11when you, when you have a bad night, like your voice, when you wake up and you're like,
07:15my voice is hoarse. Do you, how do you push through that as a singer?
07:19Got to trust, just got to trust the gods, man. You know, I think it's crazy. And what's
07:24weird is with me, I think it's cause I'm, I'm young. Like I can be feeling horrible all
07:31day. And then 30 minutes before I put my ears in, I hear the crowd. I do a shot of whiskey.
07:37I hear the roar. And for some weird reason, it comes over you. You forget all bodily functions.
07:45Like if you needed to pee, you forget you needed to pee. You know what I mean? If you're thirsty,
07:51you forget, you're thirsty. You're just like, it switches on. And I think what happened was we,
07:55we, we agreed to go for a drink. So I went for a drink with the Aerosmith guys and I secretly held
08:01a studio. Cause if you're on, if you're on a first date, you're either going to go home with each
08:06other or you're not going to get on. Oh yeah. And luckily we went home with each other,
08:12you know, within an hour, I was like, I got a studio around the corner. You want to get in?
08:16And they're like, yeah. So we hit the studio and then me and Steven, obviously again, like
08:21Steven was, it was talking about his voice and talking about the, like kind of what he
08:25went through. But when we got together, it was so similar energetically with two puppies.
08:30I say me and Steven are puppies and Joe's a cat. Joe Perry's a cat. We're puppies. You
08:34know what I mean? Joe Perry's like, I'm a city and look cool as fuck. I'm going to play
08:38my guitar. And you, I mean, Steven was like, woo, woo, woo. And there was this beautiful
08:45sense of healthy competition between me and Steven. So we were just trying to outdo each
08:52other. And then all of a sudden Joe's going, wow, he's hitting notes. I've not heard him
08:56hit in years. Cause that's a very, my only angel that is so hard to sing and he hits it.
09:03Yeah, man, that's the vibe. I think, I think because we were having such a good time, we
09:09didn't, we didn't even allow ourselves for our heads to play tricks on us. So we start
09:15singing it and we're in the booth and we're vibing out and it's all getting recorded on
09:18tape. And then you kind of come out and you go, what notes that? Oh shit. It's a top B.
09:23That's crazy. But he didn't even realize, I didn't even realize we were just singing
09:27it.
09:27What are these other songs like that we haven't heard yet? Can you describe some of those
09:31songs?
09:32We've got a song called problems straight up stadium rock and roll. You know what I mean?
09:37Imagine like my vibe we're pulling from the, we're pulling from the good stuff. You know,
09:43I think it's, it's just, I don't know what I'll explain it. Stadium rock music. Wild woman
09:49is got tinges of outlaw country, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash. But then Perry puts his guitar
09:57on it and it's just epic. There's a song called a thousand days, which is like an epic eighties
10:03rock ballad. And then back in the saddle is just heavy as tits now. You know what I mean?
10:09It's like, it's like wild. My vibe is, I love back in the saddle because we, we, we, um,
10:16we needed one more song. And I was like, why don't we cover saddle? Because that song's
10:23heavy, heavy as they come. But obviously in 75 to the eighties, you're limited on your
10:30recording quality. So I was like, let's beef up this bass. Let's drop, let's drop some heavier
10:37bass in it. And let's drop some heavier drums in it. And a disco beat in the, in the, in
10:42the, um, back. Get the kids jumping, change up the feel in the, in the chorus. And then,
10:51and then the guys just loved it. It was amazing because I think with me, I brought a youthful
10:57energy and, and them, they brought an authenticity that's just so legit. Like when you have Joe
11:03Perry play slide guitar or pedal steel or lap steel, like it's like, it's like he invented
11:09it. You know what I mean? It's crazy.
11:11Yeah. Yeah. When you guys come together like that, it's like you brought your youth and they
11:14bring that experience. And that's just something beautiful. You guys create together. Would
11:18you guys consider, would you guys consider a final Aerosmith stadium tour, Aerosmith,
11:25Youngblood touring the world? What do you, what do we think of this?
11:28Youngblood and Aerosmith, that'd be crazy. I'd love to do a couple of shows with them.
11:32You know what I'm saying? I think we're like, we're like family now. I'd love to go on the
11:36road. I'd love to sing with them. That'd be amazing. Wouldn't it?
11:39Oh my God. That, what a show you do a set. They do a set. Then at the end, you do your
11:43five songs together. I think that would be epic.
11:46I already do some mental in Boston. I want to do like Fenway park.
11:49I mean, you sold out your tour. You sold out your tour in one minute. I mean, you're on your
11:52way to playing Fenway. I mean, you probably could.
11:55It was wild, man. It was wild. This, this, when this tour went on sale to see the amount of people
12:00in a queue, I was like, what the, I mean, it's a, I mean, as an English, as an Englishman,
12:04you know, an English rock musician, the whole dream is to break America. It's kind of,
12:10that's what Ozzy said to you in that video, that beautiful video where you give him the
12:14chain, he whispered in your ear, now go conquer America. That's what he told you. That was one
12:20of the final things Ozzy said to you, which is, is what you have to do now.
12:23It was. I think like when, when you, when, again, when you're an English musician, the
12:29respect comes when you go out to America and you quote unquote, break America in inverted
12:35commas, you know, I think like I've always been obsessed with playing rock music in America
12:41because it's where it came from. Screaming Jay Hawkins, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley. It's
12:45where it came from. And, uh, I think that's why breaking America for a British rock musician
12:51is so, um, sacred because it's where the genre began. It's where the, it became out of the
12:59blues. It came out of the swamps. You know what I mean? It's where you want to, it's where
13:03you want to, uh, I think rock music is such a beautiful genre because it's adherent to where
13:07it came from. It's very respectful to its history. I think that's why, um, why it's very,
13:13uh, a safeguarded genre, you know, I think hip hop and pop music give the crown up to whatever's
13:19biggest rock music doesn't give its crown easily because it needs to, you need to be vetted multiple
13:25times, you know? Yeah. That's why, that's why I push you so hard with everyone. Cause I'm like,
13:29no, no, you don't get it. Like people don't want to give you a chance. And then once they hear it,
13:35you blow their mind. It's so for my vibe is this. If you are
13:40unsure about me, come see me live and I'll blow your mind. Promise.
13:49You know, these rock festivals, young blood, uh, aftershock just at 164,000 louder than life,
13:55180,000 people are dying for rock and roll music and we need new head. You're, you're a headliner
14:01or you're, you need to be headlining all these rock festivals. You need to bring blood fest,
14:06maybe around the world. Maybe you and Sharon could bring back Oz fest, do it in Birmingham,
14:11uh, for, you know, a four day festival instead of touring the world, do a four day festival
14:16back to where Ozzy started every year. You and Sharon could do that.
14:21I love that. To be honest, man, I'm going to poach you. You should quit your job and come
14:24work for me. I like it. I like the vibe.
14:29Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Radio. He's coming with me. Abe's mine now.
14:32Hey, what, you know, I'll come with you. Uh, tell me about playing that final show back
14:40to the beginning. You did changes. I can't imagine what the roar from that crowd sounded
14:46like when they were singing back the chorus of changes while you're on stage. Ozzy had
14:50to have been 10 feet, 20 feet behind you backstage when that was going on.
14:54I mean, that, that, that moment, um, I didn't intend to do that moment till I was on there
15:01because I knew I had, I had a headline festival in Belgium that night. So I had to do the gig
15:10at three and then get on a plane and I was not going to miss it to the world. And I knew
15:17that Ozzy was getting there around three 15 and I was on at three 30 cause he was going
15:23on at seven and it came to me in the last verse. I was like, I want him to hear them.
15:29He's just got there. He's probably nervous cause he can't walk. He's got to do the gig
15:33in a chair. Yeah. I want him to hear 50,000 people roar that chorus. That's what went through
15:42my mind. And when it was a risk because obviously when I walked, when I walked out to that stadium,
15:48it was me and a piano and 50,000 fans, you know, and 50,000 people who some of them didn't
15:55know what I was. And some of them probably had an issue with my authenticity because that's
16:01the thing that's going around the rock community, which is cool. But, but, but I love it.
16:08I like that. I love it when I'm backed up against the wall. I, I like the pressure and I knew
16:18that I basically, all I wanted to do was go out there and say, thank you to my hero, you
16:24know, for everything. And I think the most beautiful thing about the back to the beginning
16:28gig and the most beautiful thing about Ozzy and Sharon in their partnership. It's the first
16:34time that six generations of musicians came together to honor the genre and honor the founding
16:45fathers, you know? And I think, um, I think it was the first time maybe an older generation
16:51of rock fans had something in common with me and just realized that I'm just a fan of the
16:58music. I think everyone is. I think when you, when you kind of go to judge any artist
17:07from now on, listen to me, I don't, but when you got to judge an artist, every artist starts
17:15out as a fan.
17:17And let me say this, if people have a problem with your, with your authenticity, just know
17:22Ozzy Osbourne loved you. Like that's all I need to hear. Ozzy Osbourne signed off on
17:29you. So who is anyone else to say you're not authentic or anything? And once they hear
17:32your music, they're going to realize you are authentic. You are real. Yeah. Yeah. Authenticity
17:38is such an interesting thing because it is so hard to tell now because all we see is a 15
17:46second clip of someone on the internet. That's all we see probably on this interview of what
17:51one bit is going to get clipped up and posted online. Right. And you've got to make a judgment
17:55on someone's entire existence and you get 10 seconds. So my vibe is you got an issue with
18:01me, go down the rabbit hole a bit. You know what I mean? I promise you, you'll have a good
18:05time.
18:06Last thing. Can you just tell me how you started becoming friends with Ozzy Osbourne? How did
18:10that relationship start?
18:11I've known, I've known Kelly for years. I've known Kelly. Um, she, she came to one of my
18:16gigs, really early gigs for about 200 people. And she was a legend because she was wearing
18:21a parka and we just started getting, we just, we just naughty. I mean, Kelly are just naughty.
18:27You know what I mean? And, um, and I asked Kelly to be in my funeral videos. I want you
18:33to run me over and call me a poser. And she was like, I'm on tour with Sid from Slipknot.
18:39She's obviously engaged to Sid. And, um, and she's like, I can't do it, but let me give
18:46my mum a call. And I was like, what? And then she was like, yeah, mum and dad are going to
18:50come do it for you. I was like, you are joking. And then, and then I met him. I met, I met
18:55the man, I met my hero. I met the, he's always been my North star, you know, and he gave me
19:00his cross and, and he, and he, and he said to me, I hope this brings you luck and don't
19:13worry about it. Never compromise. They'll get it later. And I was like, whoa. And it hit
19:20me right in between the face because he knows how savage the rock community. I just like
19:29do what you want and do it with everything you got people. Cause we understand things
19:35in hindsight as human beings. We like, we are creatures of habit. Anything new we go, no,
19:43I'm not bothered about that. If you have fries with ketchup on and someone goes, Oh, I've got
19:47this new fucking Chipotle mustard. You're going to be like, nah, I'm just six ketchups. I've
19:51been having it for 10 years. Yeah. I put mayo on my fries. So Oh, European baby. I like
19:55it. You know what I mean? It's like, you know what I mean? We're creatures of habit. So we're
20:00very reluctant to embrace anything new. And I think that was the best, best piece of advice
20:04someone gave me because it was like, everyone get, everyone understands things in hindsight.
20:11November 21st. I want to thank you. Cause I feel like you brought Aerosmith back. I thought
20:15Aerosmith were not going to do anything. November 21st. We have new Aerosmith music for the first
20:21time in 12 years. I'm telling you, it was my 1994. I was just 13 years old. I was my first
20:27concert ever. I've loved Aerosmith my whole life. They canceled their tour. Steven Tyler was doing
20:32nothing. It seemed like it was over. I feel like you have breathed life into one of my favorite
20:38all time. You like, thank you for doing this because I feel like Aerosmith are back now. And I think
20:43it's because of you. So November 21st, everyone get this album one more time. The new EP, four
20:49new songs, a remake of back in the saddle. Such a pleasure to talk to you. Thank you so
20:54much. Hey, you're a legend, man. Thank you for having me. And guys, I hope you love the
21:01record. It's really good. It's really good. And it was an outpour of the soul, man. And it
21:08happened by accident. And that's when, and it's just magic. And that's the best stuff
21:15is what, by accident, most of the time. 100% because it's the universe's gift to you.
21:21Thank you so much. It was really awesome talking to you.
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