Jenna Andrews & Stephen Kirk on Netflix's 'Hitmakers', 'KPop Demon Hunters' Music & More

2 days ago

Hit-making duo Jenna Andrews and Stephen Kirk sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to dish on their time filming Netflix's 'Hitmakers.' Plus, the pair talk about their relationship, working on music for 'KPop Demon Hunters' and more.

Transcript

00:00There's that initial spark when you're writing a song in a room as a collaboration.

00:04You kind of know in the first 20 minutes, like, we have a hit.

00:08But after that, that's where the insular part comes, because it's the lyric, it's the depth,

00:12it's the math.

00:13It's a lot of things that come into writing a hit song.

00:16And with 70 cameras in your face, it's hard to do.

00:30K-pop feels very, like, to me at least, it feels like pop music, right?

00:35It's just catchy, danceable, inspiring, happy.

00:39The thing about K-pop, it is an ecosystem.

00:41I think it's not necessarily a genre at this point.

00:44I think in K-pop, like, anything can happen at any time, and it's just all so good.

00:48And the attention to detail with the artists, from the way they dress to the way they all

00:54have their, like, specific image, and then they're dancing, and the whole thing is just

00:58such a, like, there's just such a precision to K-pop, which I think is just, like, really

01:03fire.

01:04I think, like, the reason people watch movies or, you know, turn to entertainment is a lot

01:10of the reason is because, you know, you want to get away from your real life.

01:13And I think K-pop does a really good job of that, and it's just fun to work on, because,

01:18you know, a lot of music, especially for the past four years, it's a lot of, like, sad

01:22music and things.

01:23And I think for K-pop, it gives you the release to make something that's just fun.

01:28These camps can make or break a career.

01:31If you don't write a hit, you won't be invited back.

01:38This show had, like, 70 cameras.

01:41And so we showed up, and we were like, oh, yeah, this is going to be interesting.

01:47There's that initial spark when you're writing a song in a room as a collaboration.

01:51You kind of know in the first 20 minutes, like, we have a hit.

01:55But after that, that's where the insular part comes, because it's the lyric.

01:58It's the depth.

01:59It's the math.

02:00It's a lot of things that come into writing a hit song.

02:03And with 70 cameras in your face, it's hard to do.

02:06And I think for me, I reverted into, you know, everybody kind of has that safe place within

02:12themselves to be like, okay, I'm going to go here to be like, pretend it's okay.

02:15But it's like that bubbly, which I like about myself.

02:17But at the end of the day, I think it kind of, it just threw me off a little bit, you

02:23know?

02:24But I mean, ultimately, it was fun.

02:25But I think if we were to do it again, season two, who knows, I'd probably approach it differently.

02:31Yes.

02:32You came into this camp thinking that I didn't like it.

02:34Is this so uncomfortable?

02:35Jenna.

02:36It's good discomfort.

02:37Songwriting is such a sacred thing for us.

02:39Like, I mean, like it's, sometimes it's therapy, sometimes it's a party sometimes, but it's

02:44always our thing, right?

02:46And so when you have cameras, you're caught between like, am I sitting right?

02:50Like, do I look crazy?

02:51Like, everything you say, you're worried that it can get chopped up and, you know, because

02:55it happens.

02:56I mean, it did happen.

02:57By doing this show, it's sort of like everything, this is not in like a negative way, but it's

03:02kind of against everything that, how we work, right?

03:05But we're also people that love the challenge and love to have fun.

03:09So it was like, okay, like, we're with it.

03:12What about Jenna and Steven?

03:13Are they dating?

03:14Cause I can't tell by how he acts.

03:15I do think that like...

03:16Okay, next time.

03:17Oh my God, am I that boring?

03:21You can't talk to your girl like that.

03:29It's such a blessing to have, to be able to spend as much time as we spend together and

03:33to be able to like, in real time, work out.

03:36Like the blessing about us working together is that like, anytime we have a disagreement,

03:40like I don't go to work or she doesn't go to work and we take, you know, six, seven

03:44hours and we've been stewing on it all day and then we got to like sit.

03:47So like our relationship is just very moment to moment.

03:51We handle whatever we have going at the same time.

03:53And then we, we move on and we're, we're best friends.

04:01I want to, first and foremost, feel like a mentor and inspiration to all musicians coming

04:09up, but there's a soft spot in me that wants to be a mentor for young girls, you know, coming

04:12up in this industry.

04:13I think it's, it's more challenging for women and I know I've said that before, but I do

04:17think when I go to sleep at night, that's something important on my heart to be able

04:20to wake up in the morning and say that like, I really can help, you know, pave the way for,

04:26for new girls coming into this business.

04:28So that's important to me.

04:29I want to be perceived as somebody who like I am, I want to be perceived as a good son.

04:32I want to be perceived as a good brother and a great friend, somebody who's loyal.

04:37And on the music side of things, like I think the thing about me personally and something

04:41that like I want, I mean, I would love for people to see me as somebody who never cheated

04:46the game, right?

04:47Like I, I show up every time I, I do anything musically, like it's my first and last time

04:54I'm doing it and I try to give everything.

04:56I feel like creation is a gift from God.

04:58And I feel like, um, I was blessed with, with, with the ability to do this.

05:03And I don't, I don't, I take it very serious.

05:05Um, I don't take myself that serious, but I do take, I do take the gifts that I've been

05:10given and the opportunities that I've been given very serious.

05:12I mean, there are people in the world who give up anything just to, just to have a, just

05:16to see a 10th of what I've been blessed enough to see.

05:19So, um, I, I want to be perceived as somebody who doesn't take that lightly and, and really

05:23shows up and really just gives a hundred percent.

05:26I don't, I don't, I don't ever want to cheat the game of music or cheat the process.

05:31You know what I mean?

05:32Like the results will be the results either way.

05:33You don't win championships every year.

05:35But for me, I just want to show up, um, consistently and give everything that I have.

05:44I certainly had no expectation.

05:46I was just like, let, I love K-pop.

05:49This sounds like a fire idea.

05:50Let's just see where it goes.

05:51And then for it to come out, go number one on Netflix and then like the soundtrack explode.

05:57It's just like such a blessing.

05:58Obviously now watching this, did you, did we think a soundtrack?

06:08I mean, the truth is, is most labels would be like turn their heads at soundtracks because

06:13soundtracks just don't, don't, I mean, they don't really stream.

06:16They don't really go.

06:17It's like, it's about the movie and they go away.

06:19Right.

06:20I think with this particular one, because it was K-pop, I think we both thought it probably

06:25will do something.

06:26But to this extent, no, definitely not.

Jenna Andrews & Stephen Kirk on Netflix's 'Hitmakers', 'KPop Demon Hunters' Music & More | THR Video

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