- 2 days ago
Gracie Abrams joins us inside the Rockstar Suite at Hard Rock Hotel New York for an Audacy Check In, talking with Mike Adam about her upcoming album, her film debut, The Met Gala, and much more.
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00:00The first songs that we made for this album, we wrote two years ago.
00:05One of them is the last track on the album, which I wrote and recorded the day that we recorded
00:14That's So True, and the day that I wrote and recorded I Told You Things.
00:17And so there were these little clues along the way, but this was like the most I've ever been involved
00:24in production.
00:28This is your Odyssey check-in.
00:30We are at the Hard Rock Hotel in the Rockstar Suite with Gracie Abrams.
00:34It is so good to see you.
00:36Good to see you.
00:37Thanks for having me.
00:37Of course, bone to pick with you before we get started.
00:40Last time we hung out, like all you did was lie to me.
00:43Oh, I don't know if you remember.
00:45I was like, oh, Gracie, who's going to be any features on the album?
00:48Who's going to be on the album?
00:49You're like, no, nobody.
00:50And Taylor was on the album.
00:51And then I was like, oh, are you going to go down the acting path at any point?
00:57You were like, no, I hate acting.
00:58I'm only doing music.
00:59And now you're about to be in this movie.
01:01So I just don't know how I could trust you.
01:03Well, it's not a great start for us, is it?
01:06It's not great for me.
01:09Right, right.
01:10Hopefully you will be more forthcoming.
01:12You can be because, I mean, you've announced a lot of the things.
01:15Certainly.
01:16Well, that was not in the cards until it was.
01:19So that can't have been a lie.
01:20And if I was protecting a Taylor secret, sue me.
01:24Right, right.
01:24You have to sign paperwork for that.
01:26I mean, I understand.
01:28Briefly, tell me about the A24 thing, how it came about, and the audition process, all that.
01:35Yeah.
01:35Helena Rain is a brilliant artist.
01:38She wrote the script.
01:40She's directing the film.
01:41I knew her in the tiniest amount we had met three years ago and didn't even stay in touch, really.
01:49But she reached out to me asking if I would read the script, which felt like the greatest gift in
01:54the world.
01:55And I did not interpret it as read the script to potentially audition if you connect with it.
02:01But I read the script, and it made me feel like I was being electrocuted.
02:04Like, it was just so alivening.
02:07And she's such a force.
02:10And, yeah.
02:10And then, again, with the audition process, every round was just a gift.
02:17And I would go home at the end of the day being like, I'm the luckiest girl in the world.
02:21I got to just read her work to her.
02:23And in my mind, that was the end of the road.
02:26But for whatever reason, she's letting me attempt.
02:30And hopefully, I make her proud and do her justice.
02:35But it's very humbling already.
02:37And I have a lot to learn.
02:38So I'm excited to get into it, you know.
02:41I love it.
02:41Did you walk away from those auditions like, I crushed this?
02:45Or were you, like, totally in your head?
02:46No, I wasn't, like, I wasn't.
02:50No, I just felt like it's so much fun to play like that.
02:56I don't know.
02:56That's, like, such a corny way to put it.
02:58But it was, like, I don't know.
03:00With music, I am so personally connected to the stories.
03:05And I think as a reader, I'm so excited when I find a book that feels like the inside of
03:12my head.
03:13But also, as somebody else's entire life, you get to, like, escape into that.
03:17Yeah.
03:17And that was my experience with Helena's script.
03:21So then to be in a room and get the opportunity to, like, actually pretend that you are the person
03:30you loved escaping into.
03:32It just was a lot of fun.
03:34But, again, it's funny to talk about it before having stepped on set for it.
03:40So I can only say what it felt like to be introduced to this universe she's created.
03:47But it was exciting.
03:48Would you contribute musically to the project at all?
03:53Like, would you do something new for it?
03:55Or is there something from the album that, yeah?
03:57Definitely not from the, I don't imagine this album belongs in the please world.
04:06But maybe, I don't know.
04:08I don't know.
04:09It's up to Helena.
04:10It's like I am not the guardian of any of this information.
04:13So it's funny to chat about.
04:15But, yeah.
04:15Hit the Wall is wonderful.
04:17You linked back up with Aaron for this and for the album.
04:22What is it about you and him that just works?
04:26Like, how does he bring out what he does from you?
04:30I think his skill set, it blows my mind.
04:38The fingerprint that he leaves on everything that he makes.
04:41It's so distinct to me and also so specific to the artist who he's working with.
04:47I think because of his history as an artist in the National, he has got this, like, really holistic understanding
04:53of what it feels like to be on all sides of, you know, this industry.
04:59As, like, a touring musician and a writer and a player and a producer, he's got the biggest heart.
05:07And I think that allows him to connect with the people that he's working with to bring out, I think,
05:13the best in them.
05:15And he and I have known each other for six years now.
05:18And he's, like, family to me.
05:19So there is a real, sometimes harsh in the best way, like, honesty.
05:25So we challenge each other.
05:26And some of my favorite experiences, you know, in the studio with him is when we disagree because it always
05:32teaches me something.
05:34And I love him for a million reasons, but I really appreciate that he's kind of helped instill in me
05:42that you don't need to make a radical change in order to put out a new album.
05:45Like, it doesn't have to sound 100% different than your last thing.
05:50It can be a continuation and, like, a discovery of what made you fall in love with writing in the
05:55first place.
05:56So this album, to me, feels like an elevated version of our process working together.
06:03And I'm very proud of it.
06:04It's so interesting because you're saying, like, you know, it doesn't have to be completely different to show growth.
06:11And it's interesting because recently, Jack Antonoff, I forget what, like, interview it was or something, but he was talking
06:17about, you know, because it was all this big hoopla about him not being involved in Taylor's latest project.
06:23And he was like, it's not normal for people to solely work with one person or one team throughout their
06:31career.
06:32And I think it's interesting because I imagine there's pros and cons to it because maybe if you are only
06:39working with one person, you could feel stagnant at some point.
06:42But then there's people like Billie Eilish who pretty much work with Phineas but have still found ways to, you
06:48know, push themselves and, like, go without outside of the box.
06:53I think it's so personal.
06:54It's like a collaborative relationship is like any other relationship, like friendship, romantic relationship, familial.
07:01It's like these are such intimate spaces.
07:05And I also think, you know, one's art reflects where they're at.
07:11And I think if, you know, any one of us feels like something's not working for this particular time we're
07:18in, I think it should be celebrated, you know, the exploration of new partners.
07:24And in my experience, like not from a success point of view, but just from like a personal fulfillment point
07:31of view, I've been able to like as a mentee of Aaron's basically learn so much under him and with
07:40him.
07:40And so speaking from my personal experience, which is the only one I can reference, it's been a privilege to
07:48spend the past six years in the studio with Aaron.
07:51And yeah, he's just the greatest.
07:53When you are writing, do you ever have to Google the definition of a word?
07:59Like, oh, I really want to use Slipknot here, but let me just double check on this.
08:05Well, I knew Slipknot, but there have definitely been instances like I think for sure there have been times where
08:11you, yeah, like I'm trying to think of it as an example.
08:15Why can't I think of anything specific?
08:17I've like absolutely opened the dictionary before.
08:21I've been like, I, this word fits so, so perfectly and wanting to make sure I'm like, but can I,
08:27will it make perfect sense in the way that it sounds correct?
08:31I'm like, want to make sure.
08:32But I tend to think my songs, the vocabulary, it's like conversational enough that I've never, I've, you know, it's
08:44not too frequent at the dictionary.
08:46Yeah, yeah, yeah.
08:47Like you've used it before in the wild.
08:49Like it's something that, you know, it's also fun.
08:52I, I, I was, I read an interview a long time ago that REM did and they were talking about
08:59writing their songs and that sometimes they would take a book and flip it open to a random page and
09:04just put their finger on a word and use that as the jumping point.
09:08That is a fun way to, to, I mean, that's completely, that's just an entire pivot.
09:13But anyway, thinking about opening books in the studio, it's very fun and very inspiring sometimes dictionary or otherwise.
09:20So how was, how was this, uh, creative process, this recording process on this album different from the last one?
09:27Would you say it was easier?
09:29I don't know.
09:30It was actually not.
09:32I think it was, we, it was more intricate.
09:34But, um, as a whole, it was more intricate.
09:38I feel like we, everything, we, we ran all of it through with a fine tooth comb and, and, um,
09:46this was like the most I've ever been involved in production before.
09:51And Aaron and I have such a shorthand, like our, the way that we describe sounds or what we want,
09:59it's like the very exciting part of, of being in the studio together.
10:05And so to see it come to life in the way that it has with this album means a lot
10:09to me.
10:10Um, but, but the process of getting there was not always easy.
10:13And I think the first songs that, um, we made for this album, we wrote two years ago.
10:19Uh, one of them is the, is the last track on the album, which we, I wrote and recorded the
10:26day that we recorded, uh, that's so true.
10:29And the day that I wrote and recorded, I told you things.
10:32And so there were these little clues along the way, but I think what differed in this, this, with this
10:38process was like being off tour and having like five months of not being on the road to sit with
10:43all the songs and to let my nervous system sort of reset.
10:46I feel like there's a lot of, um, there's more patience, kind of less like manic energy in this music
10:51more, um, uh, yeah, more, I guess more, it feels more patient to me.
10:58It feels more thoughtful, but I think that also just comes with like age and time and having a bit
11:05more, um, giving yourself and the subjects of your songs a more grace.
11:11And so hopefully that's felt, but I love that.
11:14Awesome.
11:15Uh, before we wrap up, let's do just a few random, um, questions that I couldn't, uh, weave in seamlessly
11:22into this interview.
11:23So, uh, so for the Met Gala, was there anybody you met for the first time there that, uh, you
11:29kind of had a cool, you know, first time experience with?
11:32Um, Amanda Seyfried.
11:34Oh, yeah.
11:34My queen.
11:36I love her so much.
11:37I've loved her so much.
11:38I think her career arc is incredible.
11:40I think she's so cool.
11:43And I, we were chatting for a bit, but I, and I said it to her, which is just how
11:49I've always felt about her that I think there are like some people that do public facing jobs and they've
11:55navigated it so well where like she seems to be so herself in the fishbowl, which like is hard to
12:03do.
12:04And, um, I just think she is sick and I got to tell her that to her face.
12:09So that felt really nice.
12:10That's awesome.
12:11And, um, um, who else did I meet for the first?
12:14It's such a blur.
12:16And do you just like roll up and tap somebody on the shoulder?
12:18Like, Hey, I want to meet you.
12:19Or how does that do you bump into each other?
12:22Stepping on people's trains and things.
12:25Stanley Tucci accidentally stepped on my train for a split second.
12:29We didn't even meet, but he was like, Oh, I'm so sorry.
12:31I was like anything for you.
12:32I'm like, rip it.
12:33Um, no, every, everyone was very lovely.
12:36And, um, it, it's a very cool thing to be in that museum.
12:39Like after hours when you get to walk up very close to the, all the art and, you know, that
12:46was me like trying not to fall over.
12:48But yeah.
12:49Yeah.
12:50Um, have you listened to Noah Kahn's new album?
12:52Do you have a favorite song on there?
12:53I love porch light.
12:54I love porch light.
12:55And I love all the music, you know, that I think what Aaron has added to the, you know, Noah.
13:03Um, con verse, um, is exciting and it feels so alive and so.
13:10Like Noah's directly in your head.
13:12And I think he's such a remarkable storyteller.
13:16And so is Aaron.
13:16And so for them to team up just made the most sense in the world to me.
13:20Cool.
13:20Um, and I was lucky to hear, uh, some of it before it came out.
13:24So I've been, I've been living with it for a while.
13:27And it never disappoints.
13:29That's awesome.
13:29Yeah.
13:30Well, you are wonderful.
13:31Your music is wonderful.
13:33Thank you so much.
13:34I appreciate it.
13:34Good to see you.
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