Speaker A
Oh my God, we're here. We're here. We're here. Thanks so much for coming. I'm really stoked. I thank you for it. I've been a fan of you for a while. I feel like [laughter] that's how it started.
Olivia Rodrigo discusses her album rollout, music tastes, relationships, and artistic growth in an in-depth interview with Fantano.
Key Takeaways
- Olivia values passion and open-mindedness in music over identical tastes in relationships.
- Her latest album marks a personal and artistic milestone, representing her first adult record.
- Physical media like vinyl played a crucial role in her early musical education and discovery.
- She enjoys creating immersive album rollouts that feel like events for her audience.
- Artistic growth and self-actualization are central themes in her recent work.
What the video covers
- Olivia Rodrigo reflects on the positive reception of her latest album and the excitement around its rollout as a musical event.
- She shares her thoughts on the importance of passion and open-mindedness in music preferences within relationships.
- Olivia talks about her early experiences with vinyl records and how physical media shaped her musical discovery.
- She describes the pressure and significance of creating what she considers her first adult album.
- The interview touches on her songwriting process and the narrative elements embedded in the album.
- Olivia appreciates partners who introduce her to new music and values perspective over matching tastes.
- She discusses balancing theatricality and authenticity in her music and public persona.
- The conversation includes anecdotes about past relationships and differing music tastes, such as Fall Out Boy fandom.
- Olivia emphasizes the joy of seeing fans resonate with her music and the evolving anticipation around her releases.
- She reflects on her artistic maturation and the personal growth evident in her latest work.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction and Meeting Olivia Rodrigo
- 02:05Album Rollout and Reception
- 03:49Music Taste and Relationships
- 05:53Early Vinyl Collecting and Musical Discovery
- 07:55Songwriting and Album Narrative
- 09:58Musical Influences and Tour Info
- 12:06Public Persona and Artistic Maturity
- 14:10Closing Thoughts on Music and Growth
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
Uh-huh. Um, but I sent you a DM when Sour came out, but I wasn't going to call you out on this. [laughter] I wasn't going to say this.
Speaker A
But I think it's important. Okay, it's important. I did, I did just look. Your album was popping off, and I reviewed it, and the last thing I expected in the world is you were just thank you for reviewing my
Speaker A
[laughter] album. And I was like, okay, yeah, sure. No problem. And then I think, like, I think we didn't have another interaction until probably Guts came out maybe, and then I think it was just literally a similar thing. You know, it
Speaker A
was just like thank you, except the review was more glowing that time. And, um, and then this time I cut you off at the pass, and then I was just like, should we do an interview since you paid
Speaker A
attention the last two times? Yes. And you were just like, yeah, let's do it.
Speaker A
We're here. And now we're here. Look at us. [laughter] Exactly. So, I prepared the perfect interview. Are you ready?
Speaker A
I'm ready. Ready as I'll ever be. All right, well, the album's been out for a few days now. Are you shocked by the reception, or at the point of album three are you even paying attention to that anymore? Do you feel like you know what
Speaker A
you're doing enough to just kind of tune out a lot of the noise? I'd like to say I don't. Look, reviews aren't everything, and commercial success isn't everything, but it sure is sweet when people are
Speaker A
resonating with stuff and like when they really get it and like are, you know, putting bits of their lives in my music.
Speaker A
It's just that it's a really great feeling. I can't lie. And on top of that, with so many albums in, there's an anticipation element to it that there wasn't before, too. So, it's like there's almost the
Speaker A
pre-excitement and conversation of everybody sort of like reading into the tea leaves of everything that you're doing, every single that drops. Like, you know, what did you think of, uh, given your experience at this point, the way that people are reacting
Speaker A
initially to singles like The Cure, for example? Yeah. Um, yeah, it's all really exciting.
Speaker A
I feel like I had so much fun rolling out this album. Um, it was really important to me that it kind of felt like an event, and I put a lot of effort into like how I wanted people to listen
Speaker A
to it for the first time, and see all the visuals, and, um, it was really fun to build that world. And so, getting to unveil it to people and seeing their reactions to it is, it's just, it's really
Speaker A
it's so much fun, and I'm so proud of all the work that I did on it. And so, it just feels great.
Speaker A
Um, but like you said, reviews aren't everything, but are you somebody who internally has a lot of like strong reactions to music yourself when you're just kind of hearing popular stuff in passing? I know there's people online
Speaker A
reacting to your yacht rock takes. I know you were talking about that earlier. As inoffensive as they are, but you [laughter] know.
Speaker A
I do have strong reactions to music. Maybe not as strong as yours, and definitely not as eloquently put, but, um, definitely strong reactions to music.
Speaker A
Um, I just, there are some songs that I truly, truly hate, but also some songs that I truly, truly love. So, ain't that life?
Speaker A
You know, could you see yourself, and maybe this is something that, you know, plays into the story of the album, could you see yourself in a taste gap relationship? Like somebody who's on a regular basis playing like songs that
Speaker A
you just can't really stomach. Is that something you could live with? That's a really, really great question.
Speaker A
And not one that I planned. I think I could. I think I could. Okay.
Speaker A
I, there's something nice about like a nice normal boy, too. You know what I mean? Like it's nice to have a guy. So, it's nice to have a guy with taste, but then there's some like normal guys that
Speaker A
that's also quite refreshing. And sometimes I like it when people don't know a ton about my job.
Speaker A
Mhm. Could you ever? I feel like you totally could. I feel like it honestly, it's a bit of a constant. I have a, um, and this is completely unplanned. I've been in at least a handful of relationships
Speaker A
where the other person, um, has been just like die-hard into Fall Out Boy, despite the fact I've never been a Fall Out Boy guy, you know? Um, but I mean, you know, I appreciate their passion for Fall Out Boy. I feel like there are way
Speaker A
worse bands to be into. Wentz has interesting lyrics. You know? I listen to his songs a lot.
Speaker A
Yeah. So, I mean, you know, it's like in terms of like preference, yeah, like I could totally be fine with sort of like being with somebody who doesn't have the same preferences I do.
Speaker A
I want someone who has passion for music, though. Yeah, you know, it's like who sort of appreciates it, you know, or can like appreciate other things as well, even if maybe it's like not their favorite thing. Like I think like I care more
Speaker A
about sort of like an open mind than I do like someone's specific every day preferences, you know?
Speaker A
Yeah. Um, and somebody just having like perspective, you know? Totally. Yeah. I concur. It also is really nice to be with someone who introduces you to new bands. That's like the greatest thrill of that as well. I feel like, you know,
Speaker A
somebody who has a passionate taste about something in a field, be it music or something else where you don't necessarily overlap, can put you on to things that you didn't necessarily know about otherwise, you know? There's like a beauty to that.
Speaker A
For sure. Yeah. But I find it very funny that you said sort of like a guy who's into sort of like normal things. Like, do you mean like normal music or who's into music in a normal
Speaker A
way and isn't like insane about it? Maybe both. I don't know. I'm still figuring it out.
Speaker A
I don't have it down to a science, clearly. Okay. [snorts] Not down to a science yet.
Speaker A
[laughter] Um, I wanted to ask you, you know, being a music aficionado yourself, do you also collect records or sort of, you know, go out to the [clears throat] record store?
Speaker A
Yeah, honestly, I should do it way more than I do. Um, I am a subscriber to the Third Man service where they send you records, which is fun.
Speaker A
Nice. Um, I feel like I discovered a lot of my early favorite records through vinyl collecting, which is kind of rare for maybe someone my age, but my grandma got me like an Urban Outfitters record player when I
Speaker A
was maybe like 10 or 11, and my mom and I would go to the thrift store and get records. And so, that's how I found like Tapestry by Carole King for the first time. I found a Pat Benatar record that
Speaker A
I fell in love with from this like Tanya Tucker record that I fell in love with.
Speaker A
So, looking back at those experiences, I'm really happy that that physical media played a really important role in my life because I don't think I would have found those on Spotify shuffle, you know what I mean?
Speaker A
So, and you know, let me know if you feel this way about your new album. Like, I saw what you were saying almost as like a bit of like an artistic graduation. Do you feel like you've hit
Speaker A
a point where, I don't know, with this record you're reaching a certain sort of like maturity status with the forethought that you're putting into sort of the instrumentation and the storytelling? You know, there's a bit of a narrative that runs through the album
Speaker A
that we can get into as well. Yeah. Um, I do think that it was a lot of pressure because this is like it sort of felt like my first adult album.
Speaker A
Like, I made Guts when I was 19, I made Sorry when I was 17. And so, this album to me sort of felt like, um, you know, I just had to graduate in some way if
Speaker A
not for other people, just for myself. And, um, so, yeah. I don't know. I think every record I just learn so much about myself, but also about l
Speaker A
project, I'm just like learning how to write a song for the first time, and I'm learning how to play chords and like do all of this stuff. And then, um the songs that come out are just sort of
Speaker A
feel like my like homework assignments of me just like on this quest to to figure out how to write songs that I like. And so, I'm just like always learning and and constantly evolving, and I don't feel like I'll ever get to a
Speaker A
place where I'm like, "I know how to write a song. Like, this is all great." Mhm.
Speaker A
You know? But at what point with this project did you feel like you were not just writing songs, but also sort of like trying to think about how they all tied together in the grander scheme of things? I mean, you know, going down to
Speaker A
like some of the final moments on the record where like, you know, uh lyrics referencing back to Honeybee pop back up again, you know, like at what point are you crafting these songs with the rest of the album in mind thinking about
Speaker A
where it's kind of landing in the plot line of the story? Yeah, it sort of all happened maybe a little bit towards the end. I I like I've never been a super like calculated songwriter in that way. I've never been
Speaker A
like, "This is going to be the concept of the album and this is the title and it's all going to look like this." Like I feel like the nature of the songs that I love and the nature of
Speaker A
the songs that I write is very like, "What do you feel like you need to say today?" Like what's like burning in your mind that you need to get off of your chest? And so, um I like wrote maybe
Speaker A
like six or seven of the songs and then so sort of started to take a step back and and see um that there was like a kind of a grander narrative arc and like the tying back to Honeybee and stuff that
Speaker A
was kind of stuff that we added near towards the the end of the album to sort of really make it feel like a a continuous story.
Speaker A
Mhm. And there while there is like uh a spectrum to the progression that I didn't really appreciate until I actually was able to listen to the entire record, like the two sides of it really are kind of like night and day.
Speaker A
You do move through these phases of like there's a love sickness section of the record and then there's like an awakening section of the record. And you know, like they're pretty diametrically opposed in terms of like the mindsets
Speaker A
that you're in in those moments. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. That was a really nice way to put it. Um yeah, I I mean it just sort of happened that way, but I'm I'm really happy that it did. Um you know, that life sort of
Speaker A
took its course. But uh I I always had the title You Seem Pretty Sad For a Girl So In Love Even Before There Was Like The Very Sad Portion of It Just Cuz I Think That Love Songs Are a Lot More
Speaker A
Interesting When They're a Little Bit Depressing And a Little More Broken Or Something Like That. And So, um yeah, I'm happy with the way it turned out.
Speaker A
Was it easy to go back to some of those, I guess, like, you know, mindsets where you were maybe a little bit more in the weeds or sort of seeing things through more rose-colored glasses, given that by the time you were
Speaker A
done with the album, you were kind of like done with that whole process or kind of like had moved through those moments and moved through those phases.
Speaker A
Like Um was it easy to sort of like put yourself back in that headspace to be able to write accurately from that perspective, I guess?
Speaker A
happy perspective? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or or even sort of like, I don't know. I mean, you know, you could definitely qualify it as being happy, but there's also like an element of I think like, you know, like on Maggots
Speaker A
for Brains, for example, you're almost like talking about a certain level of delusion, you know, but you've kind of broken that at this point, you know? And was it easy to sort of get back into that space even though maybe the
Speaker A
delusion is sort of over? What's funny is that like seeing people react to the album now, they're like, "Oh, all these love songs are so sad.
Speaker A
Like it was doomed or whatever." And I just remember being like, "When I wrote these songs, I thought they were purely happy.
Speaker A
Like I thought this was so like wonderful and shiny and and it's only like upon, you know, looking back at it and having a little bit more perspective see different things that and then obviously that, you know, the internet
Speaker A
citizens have pointed out for me, but um yeah, I uh I I I think it is a lot harder to write a a love song than it is a breakup song. I feel like breakup songs come so easily
Speaker A
and naturally and it's like when you have something that you really want to get off of your chest and and you're like angry or sad about something, it's like very natural to want to sit at the piano and and like pour your heart out,
Speaker A
but um it was a fun exercise for me as a songwriter to try to write about romantic joy in like slightly more of a a positive sense and um yeah, it's hard it's it's hard to do.
Speaker A
Yeah, no, and and I I think it's like a credit to your writing and sort of like the quality of the album that like, you know, there is this level of self-awareness of sort of the state that you're in and that it doesn't
Speaker A
necessarily like feel sane, per se, but you are still exemplifying that pure joy and bliss of like being lost in that moment.
Speaker A
Totally, totally. Yeah. It's just about how love makes you insane and crazy and kind of depressed.
Speaker A
I did but then toward the end of the record you sort of reached this spot of like, "Okay, I'm asking for more now.
Speaker A
I've reached this new level of sort of like standards for myself." And you know, I feel like with that message you really could have you really like in a way could have finished things off with expectations with sort of like that new wave high
Speaker A
point. But then after that you decided almost like give us a bit of almost like an epilogue with cigarette smoke. Was there a reason that you sort of like felt like there was still something left to say and
Speaker A
there's kind of this sense of regret that I want to like leave people knowing that I'm still feeling?
Speaker A
Yeah, I just liked the first song on the album and the last song on the album being just complete polar opposites. It kind of felt like a completion of a cycle and I think going through a breakup you go through
Speaker A
so many different emotional phases. Like I think expectations there's a there's a moment where you go through breakup and you're like, "Woo! Like I feel like really and you're like, "I'm going to go and hang out at this bar or something." And
Speaker A
then there's a moment where you know, even in the best of breakups you feel a lot of anger. You know what I mean? I think that that was what cigarette smoke represented to me and I really love that
Speaker A
song. We wrote it really late in the game. Like we almost didn't fit it on the record cuz there there wasn't enough time to turn it in before we had to press the vinyls, but I I really like it
Speaker A
and it it just feels uh just feels very emotional and and in a way that all of my like favorite breakup songs are.
Speaker A
No, I had and I think it's like it's insanely honest, you know? Like like you said like that moment of expectations that's real. People feel that way when it's over, but it's like you know, there's like lingering emotions there
Speaker A
that you still like address in a very real way. Yeah. Um I definitely want to ask about the Robert Smith collab.
Speaker A
Yeah. How exactly did that happen? Was that something that you and Dan were hoping for or planning for from the outset given some of the influences instrumentally on the record? Like what sort of made that idea pop in your
Speaker A
heads? Yeah, so crazy, right? So it's so wild. I still can't believe it happened, but um [clears throat] I met Robert for the first time when we played Glastonbury together, which was an insane, like one of the most
Speaker A
wonderful moments of my life and career and and I will remember it fondly forever, but um after that we sort of became friends and began like corresponding and um I was spending a lot of time in England and he was like, "Come and visit
Speaker A
me at the studio." And I was like, "Oh my god, okay, this is so exciting." And he's nocturnal, so I'd go over at like 9:00 p.m. and like stay till 3:00 a.m.
Speaker A
[laughter] Who would think Robert Smith was a night owl? I know. Yeah. He's amazing, but um and I would like sort of like me play him like song ideas that I had and um just like talk about music and life with
Speaker A
him, which is so special and you know, some of my most cherished memories. And um then we we wrote this song and I I I sent it to him uh and he liked it and I was like, "Would you ever want to like
Speaker A
track a vocal on it or play some guitar?" And he was super down and like sent us the stems and everything and um I just remember hearing his voice on it for the first time and like almost bursting into tears. I just think his
Speaker A
voice is obviously he's one of the greatest vocalists of all time. Like he's his voice just has such a distinct emotional quality to it and like hearing our voices together was was so wonderful and such an honor for me and so um
Speaker A
yeah, it's great. And we sang it at Primavera the other day, which is also so incredible and got to see his set at Primavera, too, which was insane. You have to go see it.
Speaker A
Their festival show while they're still touring, it's it's incredible. Yeah, I mean, great vocalist and also for like somebody of his generation, his voice has held up so incredibly Well, I mean, I'm sure you've heard the new record and the fact that
Speaker A
amazing. The new record's great and the vocal quality is just as good as like Wish.
Speaker A
I know. You know? And the songwriting is just as good, too. It's amazing. Yeah.
Speaker A
It's great. He's played me some of the the ones from the new record that haven't come out yet, too, and it's it's incredible.
Speaker A
So so okay, so they're working on some some new new stuff. Okay. All right. The that the the last album seemed, you know, I mean, it was good, but it almost seemed like kind of like a sign-off.
Speaker A
Really? Yeah, it's it seemed like almost like a sad kind of goodbye in a way or like, you know, we kind of feel like we haven't quite finished things yet and if things are going to be over at some
Speaker A
point soon and we really have to call it quits, we might as well get one more in, Yeah.
Speaker A
you know, and have it be our best that we can make it at this time period. It's kind of what it felt like, but that's cool that they're getting back at it.
Speaker A
Yeah, I think I think that is public knowledge. I think that is announced. I don't think I'm saying too much, but yeah, it's really great. I think you'll like it.
Speaker A
Can we do favorite Cure record on three? Okay. Okay. 1 2 3 Pornography. Disintegration.
Speaker A
Oh. Okay. Fair enough. All right, yeah. Fair enough. Yeah. Yeah. Totally fair. I was I was actually going to guess you would say Kiss Me.
Speaker A
Oh, yeah. I feel like I love Wish a lot, too. Wish is great. But I I feel like you I feel like with this record you're a little bit in your like your Kiss Me era.
Speaker A
Yeah, totally. Like it is a record that is it's sprawling, it's very heavy, it's very dense, there's a lot there, Yeah.
Speaker A
but also it's it's insanely in love. Like it's just going through all these insane different movements that like make no sense almost, Totally.
Speaker A
you know? But it's chaotic and all over the place, but Disintegration's a classic. Love.
Speaker A
Can't fault that one. Perfect. Top to bottom. And and I have to, of course, like, you know, address the my dark side with Pornography, so, you know.
Speaker A
Of course. That's you know, always reckoning with that. [snorts] Um Also wanted to ask you cuz you dig on some Weezer, too.
Speaker A
Love. You had that crossover that you did back in 2025, which I wanted to pick your brain about a little. Um how exactly did that happen? And um yeah, let's just let's just start there. I've also met Rivers, too. Total sweetie.
Speaker A
So sweet. the nicest guys ever. Amazing. Like, you know, what was your experience kind of, you know, uh play working with the band, you Yeah. I mean, I'm just such a huge Weezer fan. I I grew up really loving
Speaker A
them. They were actually my first concert when I was like six or seven cuz my parents were really into them.
Speaker A
Yeah, and there's that picture of you cheesing while watching the band in [laughter] your Weezer shirt, which is an amazing photo.
Speaker A
Yeah. Um, and then I like kind of in my older age, obviously like in my early 20s, fell in love with them again. I really fell in love with Pinkerton. I was like, "Oh my god, I can't believe I
Speaker A
haven't heard this album." I like grew up listening to the Blue Album and stuff like that and then found my Pinkerton. I was like, "Oh my god, my world is forever changed." Um, but I when when I was going to have my
Speaker A
Lollapalooza, I was like, "That would be so rad if Weezer could come." And so I sent Rivers an email and he was he was down and um, it was it was so much fun.
Speaker A
He's great. We played pickleball after the show. He's a pickleball champion. A champion? Like like a like a yeah, he's like a pickleball savant. Like he's so good.
Speaker A
Wow. Really really great at pickleball. Okay. Um, and so we did that and he's just just a wonderful guy. Yeah.
Speaker A
So you're coming out as a Pinkerton girl, is that what you're saying? I'm such a Pinkerton girl.
Speaker A
You're such a Pinkerton girl? It's yeah, it's not only my favorite Weezer album, it might be one of my favorite albums I've ever written.
Speaker A
You don't think it's a little much? No. No, I love it. No, do you I love it. It's about like his like the worst parts of himself. You know what I mean? It's like the That's what he says.
Speaker A
It's like about the most like weird kind of horny, strange parts of himself and I'm like I I as someone I mean I don't ever veer into that territory, but it's like that's what writing songs is for.
Speaker A
It's for like exploring these parts of yourself that you don't really feel comfortable talking about in conversations. I just like You know, get get yourself time. You could still come out with your own Pinkerton. Who the hell knows, you know?
Speaker A
It's like there's no limitation. You could be 40 and come out with your own Pinkerton, you know?
Speaker A
Mhm. Is saying as much, do you feel like three albums in there's like an analog for this record, you know, is this like your Kid A? Is this your Rid of Me? Is this your I don't know. Is this Is this
Speaker A
your uh your When the Pawn? Like what record is this in your catalog? Like where do you feel like this album sits with respect to your other projects?
Speaker A
God, I have no idea. I only time will tell. I just try to make the thing that's as good as I can possibly make it in the moment. I feel like you never really know until I like I feel like in
Speaker A
5 years maybe I'll I'll be able to look at it more objectively. of it then.
Speaker A
Yeah. Yeah. I'm too I'm too deep in it. So we're working with Dan Nigro again for this record. How do you feel like your working relationship with him has evolved, you know, at at this point? You know, is is he listening to you in the
Speaker A
studio? Is he doing everything that you're telling him to do? [laughter] Thank you for your concern.
Speaker A
he's doing that, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um no, he's he's the best. Honestly, he's he's so incredible and I'm so happy that he's like getting all his flowers and he won producer of the year. I was like so stoked. I started crying when he
Speaker A
won. I was so happy. Um but yeah, he's just amazing and I I he's one of my closest friends and we know each other so deeply and we trust each other so implicitly. I trust him so much.
Speaker A
He's just very discerning for better or worse. Sometimes I'm like, "Oh, I wish you would tell me that I'm this song is so brilliant even though it's not." And he he really pushes me and um so yeah, I I we have we honestly had so
Speaker A
much fun making this record, which isn't always the case. Um and yeah, we tried different things. We like brought different people in. We we tried writing to track for the first time on this record, which was somewhat fruitful. We wrote um
Speaker A
Expectations to track and My Way was to track, which is like very uh not like how I learned how to write songs. Very like write a verse and a chorus on a guitar and then bring it to the studio
Speaker A
and see how it sounds. And so that was a fun experiment, but um yeah, he's just really brilliant and I I I think we just have a good creative chemistry for whatever reason. I just feel really lucky that I I met him all
Speaker A
those years ago. I mean, a lot of the aesthetic um sort of influences and sort of like genre touchstones on this record uh contrast pretty hard from your last one.
Speaker A
Like was the direction of kind of, you know, throwing in these reference points and these nods to alt rock and sort of like, you know, Cure or post punk and that sort of thing and a little bit of
Speaker A
riot girl stuff here and there. Was that sort of like a mood board that you had going into this album that, you know, um, was partially a suggestion from Dan at all? Like was this sort of like a part
Speaker A
of your musical diet in the lead up to the record? Like, you know, where did a lot of these influences come together into this soup that was the final product?
Speaker A
Yeah. I was just listening to a lot of that like age of consent was my number one song on Spotify wrapped that year.
Speaker A
So good. Oh my god. Listen to it like 300 times. A song so good I ignore its title every time. [laughter] Like one of the most mind-blowing and and by the way, like New Order is better than Joy Division, okay?
Speaker A
I agree. I agree. you. Thank you. Thank you. Interview [laughter] over. Interview over. Um, no, but I I was just listening to a bunch of that and and I think honestly and and hanging out with Robert really influenced me, too. And I was hanging on
Speaker A
in England a lot and um, just like listening to all of that stuff and I think it just had a way of infiltrating into what we did and um, yeah, I think I I knew that I didn't really want to make like a
Speaker A
rock record. I for some reason it just felt tired and not inspiring to me. Not that I ever made like a real rock record, but like I just wanted to have different touch points, I guess, for this this one and
Speaker A
um, so yeah, it was a lot of fun and I'm I'm happy that that people are like picking up on those references cuz you always hope that they like, you know, somehow make their way into the stuff you make.
Speaker A
Were there any songs in particular where, you know, when trying to capture a certain sound or execute a certain finish either you or Dan were butting heads or struggling to figure out a way to like really kind of get it right?
Speaker A
I think stupid song was the hardest one. Um, because it is very quintessentially like an Olivia song. It's like sort of like driver's license structure and it's like me on the piano and I like wrote it in my living room and it's very like
Speaker A
earnest and and it was hard to I I love that song by the way, but it was hard to try to like take it in a new direction that didn't feel obvious and um Yeah, we spent like almost a year
Speaker A
producing it. Like we just like pick it up and put it back down and we only like really cracked it when Dan started playing that guitar thing at the end of the bridge.
Speaker A
Um and I remember hearing that and I was like, "Oh yeah, that's the sonic texture that it needs to be and that makes it feel different and exciting to me and like not like anything that could have been on any other record. Um
Speaker A
but Yeah, I don't know. We're always butting heads a little. Well, I don't I don't know if this is something that you could kind of get into the description of, but like I love that you pick out that song because
Speaker A
something about that track, yeah, at its core there are some Olivia-isms to it, but I think what makes it interesting as a listen is that there is this almost like constant escalation element to it. Like it always feels like it's getting a
Speaker A
little louder and a little more lush and like a little bit more emotionally intense until it reaches were you guys constantly going over every single section of the song like we need to add a layer here this just to
Speaker A
make it sound a little bit bigger with every passing moment. Yeah, it's it's a a real structure that I like to do. It's the same structure sort of as drivers license sort of as vampire. It's like this big crescendo
Speaker A
and like leading to a payoff. I like love that and I I feel like I I like writing that sort of tune, but um Yeah, yeah, I I I I guess that was sort of a a subconscious thought and and making
Speaker A
it. Um I just I just want songs to feel cathartic sometimes, you know. Mhm.
Speaker A
I I wanted to ask you to sort of like uh dig into a little bit um you know, given the rock thing um your mom's metal taste I understand she's a big Korn fan.
Speaker A
Huge. Like are there many metal bands that she's like put you on to over for years that you know, uh super duper into that maybe people wouldn't necessarily presume?
Speaker A
You know, I really I it's a little bit of a blind spot for me still. I I like enjoy metal, but it's not something that I've really dug into.
Speaker A
She loves Metallica, too, and that's actually Dan's favorite band, too. Dan loves Metallica. So, I've I've have listened to And Justice for All more times than I would can list in my life, but um yeah, I don't know. I She She has She
Speaker A
has great taste in music. My mom honestly puts me on to stuff all the time, which is so crazy. I like went through her Spotify likes the other day and I was like, "Mom, like this is like the Spotify likes of a girl who lives in
Speaker A
Bushwick. Like this is crazy. Like this is like very very tasteful and indie." And she's like a you know, from Wisconsin. She's like a elementary school teacher, so it's I I I I feel like you your parents imbued you with cool older sister taste.
Speaker A
Like I don't really know how else to describe it, you know? Do you feel like you've been passed down this sort of like gift that not everybody of your generation gets by virtue of your parents just like having
Speaker A
sort of elite, you know, ball knowledge on the music front? Yeah. I mean, for sure I You know what I also I think I inherited from my parents? My parents are so passionate about music. Like I've never met two
Speaker A
people who are more passionate about music. Like they love going to concerts. They just like consume so much music media and um yeah, my mom put me on to Dykes Pits, also, who's opening for me on tour. I'm
Speaker A
like that's so rad and um yeah, I I I definitely feel like I got a great musical foundation from them, but it's also fun like like a band like Weezer, like my parents introduced me to them when I was young, but also when you
Speaker A
get older, you're like, "Oh, I'm rediscovering this again." And I have like a totally new appreciation for it.
Speaker A
And um so, yeah. They're really mean, speaking of that, I mean, you do have the tour coming up. Like are you ready to uh follow up Dykes Pits' face-melting riffs like live and in person?
Speaker A
I know. Cuz I mean, they're pretty heavy. The first time I saw them live, they were opening up for Viagra Boys, which was already like a nutty combo. [laughter] I've actually never seen them live. I'm dying to though, but they're just so so
Speaker A
cool and the music is so great. Um yeah, I'm really excited. There's some really really awesome openers for this this tour and then I'm just really excited selfishly to just be able to see them. You know, I get a
Speaker A
concert every day of one of my favorite bands cuz they're all some of my favorite artists, so.
Speaker A
And you've got The Last Dinner Party, too. I love that. I'm so much super theatrical, super over the top, very glammy.
Speaker A
Is is that you know, is the glam rock scene anything that you appreciate on any level?
Speaker A
I love them. What's What would be considered glam rock? Like, you know, a little Bowie, that sort of thing, you know, a little Queen, super theatrical, super lush, super over the top. I mean, given all the orchestrations on this record, I think
Speaker A
it's something that you'd be into. Hell yeah. No, I am I I do love to write a theatrical song.
Speaker A
It's one of the things Dan kind of had to reel back in me when we first started working together cuz I I grew up in like literally musical land, you know what I mean? And sometimes that doesn't always
Speaker A
bode well for a pop song. Um I I think it bodes well unless. I feel like there's a little bit of like a musical theater kid energy in there, but it still has a pop appeal to it. It's a
Speaker A
good mix. Thank you. Yeah. [snorts] Try to balance the two, but uh yeah, I I love a little theatrics, a little drama.
Speaker A
I mean, speaking of that sort of like world that you were coming from, you know, moving into sort of like pop music and mainstream music. Do you feel like that transition for you and that blow-up point early on in your career ever
Speaker A
happened maybe like a little bit too early? Do you ever wish that maybe you had a little bit more time to incubate and develop as an artist and sort of like acclimate and adjust to the music industry because, you know, you're
Speaker A
moving immediately from like these moments in visual media to a mainstream artist so quickly and then just bam, you're there.
Speaker A
1 million percent. It was really hard. I think at at the time I didn't realize how much my life and career shifted literally overnight. Um and uh yeah, I I I mean I I don't look back at the albums and be like, "Oh, I
Speaker A
wish I could have like, you know, had more time to write this album." I look back at like Sour and I'm like, "This is a beautiful time capsule of what it feels like to be a 17-year-old girl and
Speaker A
I wouldn't change it for the world." But, everything around it was so insane. Like, my first performance was the BRITs. Like, the first performance of my my own song was the BRITs and the second one was SNL. And looking back, I'm like,
Speaker A
"That is crazy." And it's so crazy that I didn't fall flat on my face. That very well could have happened just cuz I had no experience and um I feel like that's why I'm I'm so much happier and feel so much more
Speaker A
confident in what I'm doing nowadays, you know, I've been in it for like 5 years. I feel like I've I've I've gotten more of a chance to like figure out who I am amidst all of this stuff and um
Speaker A
that's definitely not how I felt when when Sour came out, which was crazy. Well, still, I mean, you navigated those moments like as flawlessly as you could.
Speaker A
Like, to what do you attribute your ability to have actually moved through that at the age that you were at the time?
Speaker A
I have a great family. I have great friends. I also think I think it's important to be able to dissociate from like that part of yourself. Like, the me that is like sitting here and like going to go hang out with my
Speaker A
friends in New York after this is so different than the Olivia that's on stage and I think it gets confusing when those blend a little too heavily and um so, I've always been good at at trying to not take things personally, I think.
Speaker A
Um another hot take that you had a while back, you expressed very daringly preference for mustaches.
Speaker A
Oh, yeah. Has you Have you had any blowback over that on the internet after sort of voicing such a wild out there opinion?
Speaker A
Oh my god, yeah. That's the most controversial opinion of all. Um No, I stand by it. I really like guys with mustaches. I really Okay. I I I just I really need to test that theory. Just like you know, you I'm
Speaker A
going to show you like a weird guy with a mustache. You're going to tell me which one is going to show you a weird guy with a mustache. You're going to tell me which one is actually like better, okay?
Speaker A
Okay. Like we we we do have like a literal back and forth here. [laughter] Okay, now is this better or is this better?
Speaker A
Okay? I like the mustache, Anthony. I got to say. But wait But wait, there there is this.
Speaker A
Oh, are you just trying to do subliminal Oh, oh, oh, I see. There is this.
Speaker A
You're trying to tell me that if I say no mustache, then you'll give me a 10.
Speaker A
I'm not Wait, Ty. I had my team painstakingly generate the same image with just the mustache being different.
Speaker A
Okay? I would not have someone on my team lie or fabricate any sort of images. This is the same picture. Just one has a mustache and one doesn't.
Speaker A
That's That's the only That's the only separation. Right, right. This is like these two.
Speaker A
This is like You're telling me you still think the mustache is better? This is like some psychological exam that you're doing on me right now.
Speaker A
You're too I don't know what to choose. I'm I'm torn. I'm torn between my heart and the 10.
Speaker A
the same. [laughter] There's no difference between these images except for the mustache. No, I'm a woman of my word, Anthony.
Speaker A
Okay, fine. Fine. [laughter] Fine, it's fine. Oh. It's no problem. Um also, what's what's a fake ass job?
Speaker A
Such a good question. What's a fake ass job? I've seen some deliberation about it online.
Speaker A
a lot of deliberation. You're opening up dialogue. I think mostly it's a thing that I've seen in guys from LA Music reviewer.
Speaker A
Mhm. No, that's not a fake job. Listen. I I think it has to do more so with how hard you work at your job and how much you're contributing to maybe society, a company.
Speaker A
I don't know. I think that when I I said fake job, I was picturing the guys that I've met in LA and New York who have really rich parents who are like producers or like DJs or like creative
Speaker A
directors, you know what I mean? And I'm like, I think you work maybe one day a week.
Speaker A
You can't fake that funk with you. You you know real producers and DJs. That's true. There are real producers and DJs, but then there are some fake ones too.
Speaker A
Yeah, yeah. No, it's you know it immediately when somebody's just pretending to be a good producer DJ.
Speaker A
Yeah. Yeah, but there are um yeah, there there are quite a few fake jobs. I saw someone make an edit to the song of all of the like swipes on Hinge that she's seen of like guys' random jobs,
Speaker A
and it's it was quite harrowing. I think that it's a thing that maybe affects girls that are not in LA and New York as well.
Speaker A
Mhm. So. Okay. You know. No, there are a lot of fake guys' jobs out there.
Speaker A
But you know what? Some people might actually say that that my job is kind of fake too.
Speaker A
Your job is not fake, Olympia. You actually have an audience that's very passionate about what you do. Your career is not a side up. Nobody's being tricked into liking your music.
Speaker A
Okay, thanks. Yeah. No, not a side up at all. Thanks. Not fake at all.
Speaker A
Okay. Um Off the top of my head, would you rather be trapped in a backrooms labyrinth or one wish willow relationship?
Speaker A
I actually haven't seen backrooms. I'm going to go see it this week. Have you seen it?
Speaker A
I haven't seen it yet, actually. Also, you're bare. You snapped the thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and I'm I'm with someone who's crazy.
Speaker A
Yeah. [sighs and gasps] I would be in the one wish willow. You would rather be I'm yeah.
Speaker A
Okay. I I I'm kind of a little crazy. I'm a little obsessive, too. I feel like I could be I could be looking at, you're like, I can navigate that.
Speaker A
navigate that. Yeah, if someone taped my door shut, I'd be like, "Cool! Let's hang out!" [laughter] I'm staying home I'm staying home today, I guess. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're like, you know, he just didn't love her enough. That was just really You saw the
Speaker A
plot and you're like, why didn't he like her enough? love him more than he loved her. That's sad.
Speaker A
she said, "I feel like it's not mutual," he should have said, "You're right. I'm going to love you more." Exactly.
Speaker A
Right. Exactly. That's what I was thinking. That's where he actually messed up. Yeah, it was his fault all along.
Speaker A
[laughter] In multiple ways. Yeah, in so many ways. Yeah, yeah, yeah. In instead of not the wish to begin with, it was actually like he could have just navigated this relationship better.
Speaker A
up to the plate? You know. Right, exactly. He didn't know what he was in for.
Speaker A
For sure. Yeah, absolutely. Um you know, another interesting question and and something that I feel like could be a point of discussion as as a result of like the narrative of this record. Um this kind of self-actualization process that you went
Speaker A
through through the story here. Is this anything where sort of like therapy was applied at any moment or did sort of like a lot of outside discussion, you know, with people who are in your family or your friend group sort of like help
Speaker A
along with the process of coming to this realization that like I deserve better. I should be in a better place than I am right now.
Speaker A
You know, I think it's tales old as time. It's like your friends could be like, "Hey, you're not you like why aren't you happy?" And say all this stuff and give you all types of advice, but when you're in love you're like,
Speaker A
"No, I'm going to This is This is what I'm going to do." And I think that's a normal natural thing, but uh but yeah, but honestly my friends um my friends inform my writing a lot in in different ways and my friends inform my
Speaker A
taste and there's certain lyrics on the album that are direct like rips from conversations that I've had with with my friends who are very smart, introspective and so that's always served as a as a real spot of inspiration.
Speaker A
Is Is there anything sometimes that when you're writing you really have to sort of like consider what the personal impact might be in terms of like this lyric or this moment references this certain person and I know that they're probably going
Speaker A
to be aware of the song at some point or this moment that turns up in the lyrics.
Speaker A
Do I need to check in with them or sort of make them aware beforehand like, "Hey, just so you know, this is going to be out and about this moment that sort of that we had and I need to put it in
Speaker A
the song like this." Yeah, I think it's a little bit of par for the course for dating me, I I But um there have certainly have been been lyrics that have maybe even been too personal for for me that made me
Speaker A
feel uncomfortable that I didn't put on the record, but you know, above all, like I think that my job is to express how I feel and tell my stories. And And when people react to the stories that I'm telling, I'm I'm
Speaker A
acutely aware of the fact that they're not really living my life how I said it and they're kind of just like inserting themselves and their experiences into like the framework of the songs that I've written. And so, I'm well aware of that
Speaker A
that sort of projection that people do. And I think that's really what they're talking about when they sort of want to dissect my personal life or or anything like that. It's a It's always It's always a projection that I think I'm
Speaker A
aware of that. Yeah, people looking for something that isn't necessarily there, like an Easter egg or something like that.
Speaker A
and I'm like I have my boundaries and I know what I think and what I believe and who I am.
Speaker A
So yeah. Yeah, I know exactly. I mean, it's like one thing that I appreciate about like your writing on this record and consistently over your career, there does sort of seem to be like a very conscious healthy boundary in terms of like what you're
Speaker A
willing to share or say. And it's really more about the emotional experience of the song than whatever sort of like lurid details you can pack into it. You know what I mean? It's like, how do you sort of remind yourself Again, is it
Speaker A
through friends? Is it through sort of, you know, working with Dan as a producer that you sort of like make sure you're not having almost like that full Pinkerton moment where like you're being maybe a little bit too unfiltered and
Speaker A
[laughter] and maybe too much of information isn't necessarily serving the message in the way that you want to.
Speaker A
Yeah, there's a certain time when and and maybe I've I've gone too far in the past or something, but that there's a certain moment where it's like, okay, this is becoming a little self-indulgent. And I think Dan always
Speaker A
tries to like keep me from doing that. And um yeah, but I don't know. I I I also think like specificity is a is a really beautiful tool when when used and honed correctly. Um, I'm always like really
Speaker A
inspired by like an artist like Phoebe Bridgers and how she uses specificity in her songs. It could be like the most random detail ever. It's like you ask me how was playing drums is too much to carry and I'm like, I don't
Speaker A
really know exactly I wasn't there when someone said that but like and and it doesn't have like a a real emotional meaning but for some reason when she says it it's so visceral that you're like taken aback by it and so it's like
Speaker A
artists like that really inspire me in terms of specificity and um yeah. Last thing I'll say is that you know, again you're heading out to tour this record and a lot of its songs.
Speaker A
Um given all the you know, interesting sort of like visual stuff that you've built up in the lead up to this record and you know, um you know, even like that uh LA sort of like uh what would
Speaker A
you call it the um the whole sort of like uh interactive kind of space that you had with the tree and everything.
Speaker A
Oh oh yeah yeah yeah yeah. how much of some of these visuals or more are going to be turning into or turning up in the live show, you know, like how much of this is sort of like going to be turning up for these
Speaker A
performances? Yeah. Uh I'm really excited. I feel like this album I've felt more visually inspired than the last two records. I've been having so much fun like creating music videos and like experiences and um I've been very involved in that and having so much fun
Speaker A
and like sort of seeing it as an extension of the creative process in a way that I haven't seen it before so um I'm really excited for tour. I think that this album every single song on the record was very intentionally placed
Speaker A
where it is in like the story of you seen pretty sad for a girl so in love and um the tour's hopefully going to be uh kind of the same way. I want to be very like decisive and intentional about
Speaker A
where all the songs sit and the story that it tells and so yeah, I'm excited. I hope you come.
Speaker A
It'll be great. I'm I'm You're the invite is open. [laughter] I'm going to [snorts] be there.
Speaker A
Okay. I'm going to be there. Olivia, thank you for taking the time. I appreciate it again.
Speaker A
I appreciate it. Thanks. I feel like we could have done an opposite interview. I feel like I have questions I want to ask you too.
Speaker A
You know, next time. Next time. Next time you're in the city. Yeah, next [snorts] time.
Topics:Olivia RodrigoFantano interviewmusic album rolloutGuts albummusic tastevinyl collectingsongwriting processmusic relationshipsartistic growthmusic passion
