00:13Hi, everyone. I'm Katie with Deadline, and we're here in the Deadline South by Southwest
00:16Studio with Noah Kahn and Director Nick Sweeney. Thanks for joining us.
00:21Thanks for having us.
00:22Of course. I want to start with a general question, just asking about your creative
00:25partnership and how it came together and, you know, what was the impetus for this documentary?
00:29Yes. Well, we had talked about doing a documentary about, you know, the six season tour and kind
00:35of capturing the crazy turbulence of that moment in my career. And it then became something
00:43much more, much bigger. When Nick got on board, he had done amazing work actually in New Hampshire,
00:49which I thought was awesome, having him having done work in New England before, which I thought
00:52was cool. And I love the Santa Camp documentary he did. And he came in and just really established
00:58like a lot of trust early on. Nick asked a lot of questions about, you know, things that were deeper
01:03than tour. And I could kind of start to see the wheels turning towards something a little bit
01:07more personal. And yeah, just we developed a lot of trust. And Nick was a huge part of my life
01:12for
01:12a year and a half, like very much behind the scenes in my world. And yeah, it was a special
01:17partnership.
01:18Yeah, you do open up about some really personal struggles in the documentary. And I wanted to ask you
01:22about the decision to do so and, you know, what went into thinking about how personal you wanted to get.
01:26It kind of happened naturally. And I think I kind of compartmentalized that it would eventually be
01:30a documentary. I was like, oh, this just kind of feels good. And to talk about these things,
01:34and it felt like very cathartic and, and just like present in my mind. And I kind of just didn't
01:40think about this moment here where it's like going to come out soon. I was just like almost like
01:44therapy. Nick, can you talk from your perspective about kind of making Noah feel comfortable talking
01:48about some of those things and also just generally getting to know him and figuring out the direction of
01:52the doc? Yeah. So I had first kind of heard through a production company called Radical that,
01:57that there was interest in making a documentary. And for me, obviously Noah's music is incredible.
02:02And let's face it, it's everywhere. But I was also like, is this person like truly ready to let me
02:11in?
02:12Like, is he really going to open up if we go in and film with him? And what I realized
02:16from like
02:16the very first discussions was that Noah was so, so honest and so open, and there was nothing off
02:22limits, no matter what I asked. You know, there was, I was always waiting for this moment where
02:28he'd been like, I don't want to go there. Well, let's not talk about this. And it just never happened,
02:31which I was really grateful for. I mean, it makes for a, for a really compelling film.
02:36In terms of the process of kind of getting there, I think that the only thing that you can do
02:41is just
02:41be really honest and upfront with somebody, especially when they're delving into stuff as
02:50personal as what Noah does in this film. And for me, it was just about, you know, saying like,
02:56hey, I can see that you're struggling with, you know, certain issues around like, family,
03:02or even just like the pressure of like following up this massive album. You know, I think would be
03:09really powerful if we spoke about that. Are you cool with us kind of capturing some of this as
03:12it unravels in your life? And yeah, no, no was. And I think the reason why is because he knew
03:18how
03:18relatable it was and how much it resonated with other people that were going through similar stuff.
03:23Yeah. When an artist has a really, you know, meteoric rise like that, it is often categorized as
03:29like an overnight success. And I love that in the doc, you talk about how it isn't an overnight
03:33success. And you talk about all the work that went into your career to even get to that point with
03:36stick season. And I'm curious how you decided you really wanted to just talk about that and kind
03:42of explain what you, the journey you'd been on throughout your career to even get to that point
03:46where those TikToks kind of took on a life of their own. Yeah, totally. I mean, I think when you
03:52look
03:52at like a musician's life, it's much easier to understand like, when did you blow up? And like,
03:58what was the one moment that everything changed? And it never really happens like that. You know,
04:03when we started out talking about a documentary, we were playing a thousand capacity rooms. I was
04:07like, I just want people to see what it's like to be on tour because it's so much
04:11at times lonelier and more boring than you could ever imagine. I just want people to really see
04:17that. Um, so that was the idea. And I think like just capturing the content that Nick and the team
04:22did very honestly, it wasn't like always like when the encore happens or, you know, when we're all on
04:28the way to a huge show, it was a lot of it was like, we're in Wheatland, California, and I'm
04:33sitting
04:33on a toilet writing a song like those moments where you're just like filling up hours of the day,
04:38uh, with just like the mundaneity of being on the road. I thought that were really interesting and
04:42captured, you know, my experience. Um, and it was just a really natural way to tell the story,
04:47I thought. And I think it comes across very real and a little bit less, it just lets people into
04:53that moment a little bit more. Stick Season is such a personal album as well. And I'm curious,
04:58just over the past few years, how it's felt to see such a personal album resonate with so many
05:02people. Yeah, it's been beautiful. And I think it was really one of the main motivators to kind of
05:07be personal and be honest and vulnerable in this documentary was seeing how brave people are when they
05:12hear someone talking about things that they've gone through, how brave they become in that moment,
05:17like looking out at the crowd and seeing, you know, 55 year old man crying and little girls talking
05:23about their divorce, the parents divorce and their mental health problems. Like it inspires me to
05:27be more brave. And it also inspires me to not push away things that feel vulnerable because those are
05:32the things that really connect. And I think watch this documentary back is really hard because it
05:36is really vulnerable. And, um, there are things that I, you know, don't want to talk about every
05:40day that I have that happen in the, in the filming. But I also know that those are the things
05:44that
05:44will probably connect most with, with someone that needs it. So it feels like an easy decision.
05:48Do you feel like making the documentary made you more self-assured or like has helped you reflect on
05:52some of just this success that you've had and some of the things you've had to go through?
05:56Yeah, definitely. And specifically about like my relationship with my family, I think it's really
06:01strengthened our bond, seeing how we interact with each other. I think through all the complicated parts
06:06and all the painful parts, there's still so much evident love and respect and kindness to each other.
06:13That was really nice to see. I think a lot of times my family is just like me and you
06:17kind of,
06:17you worry about how you're perceived and you worry that you might not be the person you want to be.
06:22And like when you see like indisputable evidence of like love for each other, it kind of strengthens
06:27that bond. I always, I say, I wish that everybody could have a documentary made about their family,
06:31you know, so you can, you can see how you treat each other.
06:34Well, you just put out a new song, Porchlight, and you have The Great Divide coming out. And we
06:38did see a little bit in the doc as well, just you kind of figuring out what is going to
06:42be next and
06:42how you would follow up this album. And you talked about just feeling creatively maybe in a little bit of
06:48a rut
06:48and just not really knowing where to go next. And I'm curious now that you're on the other side of
06:51that
06:52and you've made the album, kind of what you learned about yourself through that process.
06:55Yeah, that's a great question. I was, I was telling Nick, I feel like watching the documentary get edited,
07:02watching it evolve and watching how those like conversations with me and my dad or me and my siblings
07:06or, you know, meet about my own body, like watching those things kind of come out felt like
07:12like finally revealing that to myself almost and allowed me to make the music freely. And I could
07:16start talking about those things without being afraid of, you know, people hearing it for the
07:20first time. So it was actually a really nice way for me to like break the ice in terms of
07:23these
07:23emotions that I was going through and really helped the album get created.
07:27Nick, how is it for you as another artist, you know, to work with Noah and see him going through
07:31that?
07:32What did it, what did you learn about maybe yourself and about the creative process?
07:37You know, Noah hits this very unique sweet spot between pain and humor. Like, I don't think
07:46there's many other people that do that. There's this joke when he's at Fenway where it's like,
07:51how many, how many people out there have parents that split up? Let me hear you say two Christmases.
07:56And it's just like the perfect encapsulation of this kind of like special place that Noah occupies.
08:02Um, I think humor really helps us deal with and process a lot of the things that are really
08:07painful in our lives. And I think, um, like as we were making the film, the creative process was
08:14really, a lot of it was about kind of like trying to strike that balance and trying to like do
08:18it in
08:18a way that reflects who Noah is and how he deals with things. And that's what it's a really hard
08:23balance to strike, I guess, is the point that I want to make. And Noah does it very naturally,
08:27but to try to kind of like, uh, accurately reflect that in the documentary, it was
08:32a really interesting learning process to do that. And I, I think we did a really good,
08:36um, job of reflecting that because it is very personal, but it's also really funny.
08:41It's a really fun watch.
08:42Yeah. I feel like in any moment you can like be like, like heartbroken and also be like,
08:47that's hilarious. Like my favorite moment in the whole documentary is when we're talking about my
08:51dad and my little brother goes, man, he doesn't even remember the characters from Lost.
08:56I was like, wow, it's just so funny how we could be thinking about the same thing and have
08:59completely different takeaways. And, uh, there's this moment of levity, right? That like that also
09:03like when you kind of least expect them, which I think is what makes it a really fun watch.
09:06Yeah. I would definitely agree. Um, I just want to end by asking, you know, I was excited to see
09:10you working with Aaron Dessner for some of this album and I'm curious how it was to work with him
09:14and how maybe that expanded your creative process.
09:17Yeah, totally. I think Aaron was the perfect collaborator for this album, not just because
09:21he's so talented and worked with my favorite artists, but just because he's really,
09:26really human and he's been through it all before and, uh, coming off the end of the documentary
09:30filming and the tour and going into the studio with Aaron, I was definitely at a very raw place,
09:34felt very burnt out. Um, and Aaron really knows how to talk to artists and knows how to connect
09:39with artists and bring them to the moment they're in and make music from it. Uh, he's just,
09:45his production and his talent speaks for itself, but I really can't say enough about who he is
09:48as a person and as a collaborator.
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