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in an intoxicating blend of vulnerability and swagger. When you're not streaming her music, you can also find your on YouTube, where she dissects her songs piece by piece in an amazing series called Stripped, and of course, like so many of us during lockdown, she's on TikTok, where her clips have earned the attention of millions, including a special shout out from Lizzo. I'm so happy to welcome ups. Thanks

for having me. I's to be here. So you just released an EP called Young Life Crisis, which is probably the most perfect title I can imagine. You said that the first song you wrote for this EP was Fake Bitch, and the last song you wrote was Young Life Crisis, the title track. That seems like a hell of a journey between those two songs just from the titles alone. Can you tell me a little bit about the journey of the CP and where it came from. Yeah, it

was quite the emotional roller coaster for sure. I started writing the EP in Quarantine pretty much like I was on I was on tour in March at the beginning of and then got sent home from tour and just kind of like went back home to like hang with my parents. I was like, oh, this will take like two weeks for this COVID ship to die down, Like I'm just gonna just like make music care for a few and then, however, many months later, like five six months later, I'm still in Arizona with an EP now.

So it's like I kind of just started doing writing sessions over zoom, and without really realizing it, I was accidentally like narrating the young life crisis that I had in because songwriting was very just like therapeutic for me. So I just just kind of writing about how I was feeling so out of control and like I was such a mess, and um, yeah, I don't know. The whole EP was pretty much just like what was going

on in my head. When you write from such a personal place like you do, did the lyrics come after the facts sort of after you figured it all out in your mind or is it almost like free associating You write it all down and then you make sense of it later and think, oh my gosh, this is this is where I'm at right now. That's a cool question. Yeah, I think I think it goes hand in hand. I feel like I use songwriting as a way to work through my issues, which probably isn't healthy. I should probably

like go to therapy instead. But yeah, yeah right, I'm like it's for it's good for the content. But yeah no, I'll definitely like step out of writing a song and be like, oh, so, like that's what I'm feeling. Like with the title track Young Life Crisis, I remember it was the last song that I was writing for the EP, and I had all the other four songs picked and I was kind of trying to find like what is

the consistency, like what is the over arching thing? Yeah, and um, I remember like I was in a session with this producer Duilly on Zoom and I was talking about I was just kind of listing off all my life issues and I was like, I think it'd be cool if we had a verse that was like listing off all my problems. And then he just was like

it sounds like you're having a young life crisis. And then I that was kind of just like like the light bulb moment where I realized that I in fact was having in a life crisis, and that was the title of my AP. It was just this big moment for me. So, yeah, songwriting definitely helps me like process my feelings for sure. What is the Zoom songwriting session has been like for you? Is that Has that been a weird adjustment or has it been pretty easy? It's

been weird. At the beginning of Quarantine for a solid few days, I was like, you will never catch me on a Zoom. That's so weird. A'll only right in the studio. Then, once I realized that I would really only have the option to work on Zoom for much longer than I expected, I just started working with the producers that I already loved and know um from working with in the past, and kind of fell in love

with it. Like it's very it's totally different. Um. I feel like it's an added layer of like communication skills because you're not like in the room to like feel each other's energy, and songwriting is so much about energy, So that's been interesting. But I feel like, I don't know, I've gone into a fun group with that. I've gotten to write for other artists on Zoom. I wrote the whole ep on Zoom, So I don't know, I kind

of I kind of dig it. Now, How has it been from a creative standpoint being back home with your parents in Arizona? I went home and stayed with with my folks for a while too. It just being back in my childhood space and just around my parents. It puts you in a weird mindset? Did that sort of come through it all? How was that for you? Was it nostalgic? Was it getting back to your musical basics in a way or I think it was a little

bit of everything, like positive and negative. For sure, it is so weird being in your your childhood bedroom as an adult because you're like, what is It's so strange and like my childhood bedroom is now like a guest room, so it's not even like it doesn't have like from when I was a kid. Um, Yeah, it was cool. I think it definitely brought me back to my musical roots.

We had a band room and the house, so getting to like jam with my dad now during quarantine and that was like something I did growing up with him, so that was really cool. I think getting to like really like record all my own vocals for the e P in my childhood bedroom was just something that was kind of like a full circle moment for me, which I thought was fun, but it is a weird energy.

I think being home was amazing, and I think a lot of people got to spend way more time with their families than they were expecting to last year, and I loved it, but it also kind of sent me into a spiral some days. You know, you wrote the song people, I Don't Like, one of my favorite tracks during Grammy's Week in l A last year. I wanted to know, is there a correlation between Grammy's Week in l A and and that song? Of course? Yes. Yeah.

That was kind of my first a proper Grammy Week experience of you know, hopping around to all the industry parties, and I just quickly realized I was just kind of observing, and I was also a little tipsy because like, what else are you going to do with these things? And realized I was reintroducing myself to the same people like every day, and we would all just be like, yeah, we should all totally get drinks, like knowing, damn well, that was never going to really happen with half these people.

And I was coming from one of the parties into a session a little drunk, ranting about like why does everyone go to these things? Like no one wants to be there, like you can tell, like everyone's just like going through the motions, And I was like, everyone at these parties are so fake. Then my co writers will Giants Johnny Short like Taylor you went to the parties to like you're part of the problem, and so then we just turned it into a song about the people

I don't like, including myself. It was very fun. So this would have been around early and you said that around that time you were going through, I think, to use your words, like a musical identity crisis in a way. Why was that? Where did that come from? I don't know. I think I'm still so young. I mean I just turned twenty two, so I feel like November December. Oh, let's go, wait, what's your son? Then you're not a Sagittarius, right,

I'm a sadge cap cuss. I'm on the day. But I just had an astrology reading recently, and I have never been into astrology until now. I'm like, it's I'm such a sad just from this like one hour of reading. Um, yeah, it's great. Sorry. What was the question? So this musical identity crisis at the at the beginning of last year, where did where did that come from? For you? How

did you get out of it? Yeah? I think being so young, Yeah, being so young and making music every single day, My life emotionally is such a roller coaster. So my music is changing on the daily, and some days I'll write a song that is produced in a way that I won't like a week from now, you know.

So it's like when I just started putting out some songs that I was really hype about in the moment, and then once they came out, I was like, this isn't who I am now, Like I need to figure out how to like meet in the middle with my writing and like what I'm releasing. And it wasn't even a super negative experience. It was actually like pretty dope.

I was just kind of like, oh, I just me to figure myself out, and now I feel like honestly, it kind of started with writing people I don't like and starting to work with Johnny Shore and will J all these people I work with a bunch that kind of established this like sound that later on became the Young Life Crisis CP. And I think getting to work over Zoom honestly and being more involved in production has been something that's been really exciting for me and like

helped me get out of that identity crisis. For sure. It must be hard because on one hand, you want to keep some level of consistency in your music for you know, for the sake of the brand, you want to carve out your lane. But you also want to give yourself freedom to explore and not not have yourself in Is that Is that a challenge kind of rationalizing

those two. Yeah, I think for a while I was always stressing about that, and then now I feel like the way that music is, and especially pop music, like you listen to the radio and there's no sound them anymore. Like everyone is just making cool music and that's such a cool place to to be in right now. It's like everyone is just genre bending left and right, which

I love. So yeah, I don't know. I feel like as long as the song or the sound or the lyrics just feel authentic to you as an artist, you can do whatever you want and people are going to buy it. I feel like people can tell when your stuff is like inauthentic, you know, so as long as you love it, I feel like other people will love it.

You know. Things that I hear artists say is one of the most important things is is just you know, listening to your gut and and and trying to just tune everything else out and listen to what you really really think is the way to go. Is that is that hard to do? How do you find sort of the bravery and and single bidedness to to follow that voice? Sometimes? Yeah, it's hard to do, especially because I'm still so young,

and I still like question myself. I'm like, well, I love is right now, but like is that the right thing to to do or to believe in? Like I don't know, but I think yeah, just especially doing music, I have to remind myself, like fans and people who listen to your music and like live and breathe it, like they want that kind of like fearlessness, you know, And it's like, I don't know, I feel like that's kind of what inspires me to just do whatever the

funk I want, which is really fun. It's cool. I love the music video for Money on my mind and it had that that fight Club edge. How was it acting with yourself? It was very fun. It was weird, just like having to stare at an empty chair and pretend it was me. That video was very fun. We filmed it in the middle of the night in this warehouse in l A. So I was very delirious and I feel like that energy was very Tyler dirt in for me. Um. It was very fun that music video.

I was really stop to tell that. How did you land on the fight Club angle? It was funny because I've been working with this music video director, like on all the Young Life Crisis visuals, George, and in a couple of weeks before he sent in a treatment with his idea for the music video, I had seen Fight Club for the first time ever, which is so embarrassing that I hadn't seen until. I was funny but whatever, it was obsessed with it. I watched it like four times in a row, in like the span of a

couple of days because I was obsessed with it. And then George hits me and and he's like, Okay, I don't know, this is crazy, but what about like a Fight Club vibe, and I was like, you just read my mind, like I just saw it him obsessed with it. Let's do it, and so yeah, we just kind of tag team did and made it happen. Yeah, it was fun. Aside from watching Fight Club multiple times and writing this TP, what else has been helping you through the last nine months

or so? I quickly realized in Quarantine, I was like, I need to find other hobbies that aren't music or going out to restaurants, because I'm gonna be miserable if i don't. So I started like painting. I've been I've been trying to to try some new hobbies. I tried surfing, skateboard, yeah, some skydiving. I don't know. I'm just trying to like try new exciting, you know, casual. Yeah, I don't know. I've been just trying to do whatever to just kind

of escape from music. You know, now that it's my job, I'm times it's nice to take a break from it. First, how did you wind up skydiving that? I can't even imagine, Like, you know, when you're so afraid that you can hear your own heartbeat, just like that's just even thinking about doing that right now is where I'm at. So how how was that? Like? It was pretty rad. Yeah, I think there's a there's a moment where you're in like the really long, horrible, stressful plane ride up before you

even jump, which is horrible. But then this once you're up there and they're like we're going to jump in a couple of minutes, you reach this moment of peace where you're like, sick, either will live or die. I have no control over it, so I'm just going to enjoy jumping out of this plane right now, and it's the most like inspiring thing. I also am so cheesy and like spiritual with it where I'm like I'm leaving all my negative energy like when I jump out of

this plane and it's really rad. I'm I really want to get my skydiver's license. So you're serious about it. But yeah, it's very fun. I've only done in a couple of times, but I highly recommend trying it. The ultimate case of just letting go. I mean, somebody if is just especially I imagine being an artist too, and you really want to like have some level of control over over your art, what you're doing and everything. Just the moment of finally it's like, no, I'm letting go.

I release has got to be really really liberating. It's powerful. Yeah, it's it's cool for sure. What have you been listening to during lockdown during quarantine? Because I don't know about you, but I've been returning the songs that I haven't been listening to since I was a teenager, just like musical comfort food. Have you been feeling that way same? That's funny. I thought I was crazy and boring for listening to

like all this stuff I grew up listening to. Yeah, I mean, I've been listening to a lot of like Frank Ocean and Sissa and like all this sad girl stuff like Boni Ver and all that. But I've also been getting back to a bunch of No Doubt, which I grew up listening to, like Wheezer, the Shin Spoon, Outcast. I don't know, I've just been kind of like going back to what I listened to when I grew up, which has been fine. You mentioned you're playing music with

your father. You grew up in a very musical household. Was it always a given that music was going to be kind of your direction in life? Yeah? Yeah, my dad was in punk bands like all throughout me growing up, so as a kid just observing that whole culture, Like I would wake up and there would be a band who was touring sur Phoenix, like crashing in my living room and I would like be like five years old having my cereal in the morning with these like punk

rockers whatever like on tour. So I was obsessed with the vibe of it all, and we had a band room in the house, so I naturally just gravitated towards piano and guitar and my friend on the drums, and like, yeah, I don't think there was ever really another option for me, Like since before I could remember, music and singing was the only thing I've ever wanted to do and the

only thing I was like good at at all. So yeah, I mean, like my parents put me in this dope performing art school when I was ten, and I graduated high school from there and then fulls into too l a, like there was never another option for me besides music, which is cool, but well, there's some who were some of your early songwriting influences Deaf Really, Weezer and the Shins from like a songwriting perspective, like Weezer, to me, is like iconic as far as like pop writing goes,

and as far as just like looking up to artists, like when Stefani was kind of that person for me, I think it was so rad to have just this badass woman front leading a band like it was amazing. It was really inspiring as a kid to like watch it. Do you remember the first song you ever wrote? Yes, and it's probably somewhere out on the internet still. It's called Disturbance and so emo. I think I was like twelve and wrote this very disturbing, like really sad, depressing song.

But I was a very happy kid, so my parents were like, what's going on? And then um I yeah, like went and recorded it in the studio and made an album when I was thirteen and like dropped it and did the whole thing. It was so fun. But I look back and I'm like, this is so cringe e. But it was a part of part of me growing up, so it's still very close to me. Yeah, you've spoken very highly about drugs. The song was song, not the

substance drugs. Tell me about that. The song you've written drugs, uh, which wrote with with Shawn Kennedy's one of your favorite songs you've ever put out. What is it about that song that really makes it special to you? Um, I honestly don't know. I just remember the day we were making it in the studio, which is now like over two years ago now, which is crazy. There was just this moment where we were like, this song is so special,

this is dope, and that energy was so exciting. Like I actually the other day was going back into my voice notes from the day we wrote it, hearing us like come up in real time with the just came into the body for the drugs, and that like made me so excited, just like watching the idea kind of

like get Burst was really exciting. And I think it's true, like the song has been out for two years, and I think because it's so special to me, it continues to have these like second and third little lives over the years, which is is it's been dope because the song means so much to me, So it's been cool to More people are are getting to hear it, for sure. And I got to ask you about one to three

or four five sex amazing song, amazing title. You were saying that that you worked a long time on getting that song writer. I went through a bunch of different incarnations, is that right. Yeah. I one day came up with the title and I was like, that's clever, that's funny, and so I just started bringing it into a bunch of sessions with people, and I think for a while I was overthinking it and trying to make the rest of the song too clever and like songwrity, And then

I honestly was about to give up on it. I was like, it's maybe it's just not meant to be. I've tried it so many times, it's not working. Then I was in a session with Rick Knowles, who is like an iconic legendary producer and writer that I was just like so honored to even be in the room with him, and I was like, I'll try this again, like maybe this this title will work. And we wrote the song in like thirty minutes, recorded the song in those thirty minutes, and like that's the version that we

put out. Like it just was so natural and it happened so easily, which I think is how both songs should have been. Um. But yeah, I was just this moment that just kind of clicked and makes made happen as fun and This is a question coming from someone who if you you put a gun to my head, I would not be able to write a song. I wish I could. To me, it's it's still like magic. I don't understand how people do it. You've been doing it since you were a kid, you know, almost ten

years now. How does one improve as a songwriter? What? What do you get better at? Is it learning the craft of Okay, maybe this bridge should be a little shorter. Is it learning how how to write a better craft, a better hook. I'm always just curious, like, how does one improve as a songwriter? What does that mean to you? Improving as a songwriter. I think it happens for me. I feel like it has happened naturally, just through working with other other songwriters and just kind of observing and

learning from them. And I think like when I started doing sessions three years ago and moved to l A, I had only ever written songs like a own in my room, and I thought they sounded cool, but didn't really know that there were some like little rules that you can follow in songwriting that where if you go listen to all the songs Max Martin wrote, like the chorus and the verse and the pre like all start on different parts of the measure, and like certain ranges

that like you if the verses here in this low range and the PRIs a little higher in the course, it needs to be even higher. Like just little things that I never knew before getting in the room with other writers and I was like, oh, like, that's why pop songs are so dope. There's like this little formula formula you can kind of follow, and then just through that, I've just kind of like taken in as much information as I could and tried to apply it to my

own writing. But I'm still learning. It's been cool being able to write like so much over Zoom too. I feel like I've learned a lot about songwriting, just like in the past year for sure, I've been loving the stripped down videos where you go piece by piece and kind of build a song layer by layer. How did you start putting those together? How did I think? Yeah,

that was a result of quarantine boredom. One night I got drew and get my parents house in the band room and just started trying to piece the song together from like in loop it and make it happen. Yeah, And then I was up until five in the morning, Like I kind of like got my mind set on it, and I was like, I'm not going to sleep until I get this video film. I feel like this would

be so sick. Yeah, I just like started with the drum loop and then added just whatever the different layers of the songs were, and now it's like my thing that I love to do for every song I put out. It's so fun. It's just so amazing just to watch you go from instrument to instrument to instrument and just be a one woman band. Is there an instrument that's your go to? I mean, do you write always on the guitar, always right on the piano and you have a favorite. I feel like it's a toss up between

guitar and piano. Piano is kind of like the instrument I feel most natural, but guitar is way more convenient, so you can just like pick. Like I don't have a like an actual piano in my house and that I just have like keyboards. So I think I read do most of my songwriting on guitar, which is fun and mostly like on stage, I'll play guitar based too, so it makes sense. But yeah, I don't know. I feel like if if if I am just like playing an instrument like for myself, it would definitely be piano

for sure. I have to say, I've seen you play bass and sing on stage at the same time. I don't know how you do that. I play bass myself. It's like I can't like the padding the head and rubbing the stomach thing. I can't. I don't have the coordination to sing and play at the same time. That's amazing. Yeah, that same it's very difficult. I've never I think that's been the hardest thing to learn in the past few

years is learning how to play the bass. I was in the middle of touring and I finally one day Fender sent me this bass that was like I was obsessed with, but I was like, I don't really know how to play bass, but I don't how to play guitar. Figure it out. There's based in my songs and then yeah, but trying to play it and saying at the same time took me a minute. But now it's it's so fun.

I love playing bass live. It's it's it's very fun. Well, in addition to your your stripped down YouTube videos, like a lot of us during quarantine, you've gotten really into TikTok Unlike a lot of people, You've made some really amazing songs using other people's vocals, like like Lizzo's example.

How did you start doing that? Another Quarantine boredom moment. Yeah, I just remember one day there was this viral video of this person just kind of ranting about life, and I around the house would kind of just like sing it or like make fun of it or whatever. When my friends we would all just quote it all the time. And then finally I realized I was like, oh, this has like a little rhythm to it, like if you listen, there's a beat behind this that like they're they're kind

of talking in like song form or whatever. And so then I turned into a song. And now anytime I see somebody like ranting and it has any sort of rhythmic vibe to it, I turned it into a song. It's very fun. It's a it's a good way to pass the time. And Quarantine for sure, I'm gonna say. I mean, some people make like banana bread, and then you not only make an EP but make music out of just other people's conversation. It's incredible. It's fun. The Lizza thing was fun too, because when I saw that,

I was like, this is it no brand? Now I have to do this. This is perfect And then yeah, like she Lizza saw it, which was crazy because I'm a huge fan of her. But then I had to take it a step further when I was drunk on Zoom with a producer that I love, there's a trend here and I was like, we need to actually make this a real song and I want to drop it on soundcloads. So we turned it into like a full song, which is the first time I've ever turned one of

my TikTok's into like a real song. But it was fun. I've been loving the TikTok game right now. It's very, very exciting. I have a very crucial question to ask you before I let you go. Sushi is one of my favorite things on the planet. My dad's been taking me since I was probably six years old. I know you are also a big sushi fan. Where are some of your favorite sushi places to go? I know you're in l A or live in l A, which is, you know, sushi mecca of the United States. Yes, that's amazing.

I never it's so hard to find people that love sushi as much as me, Like I'm obsessed with it. That's very I have it every day in my life. Me too, Yeah, it's the every day I wake up and I'm like having a five arge to not get sushi again, Like it's really bad. I'm pretty basic though, Like Sugarfish in l A is kind of like go to because they never miss, like it's never not good. But I do want to go to um. I hear

Sushi Park is very good out here. I don't know, but sugar Fish has been my quarantine go to for sure. And there's one too that's just open to New York and that's been like when I'm getting them to go, it's not quite as good as getting them when you're there, but it's still pretty good. It's not the same, but it's it'll do for now. I can't wait to actually sit down there and eat it. Sugar Fish when it's allowed again, it will be iconic. I'm very excited. Well

that leads into my my last question. When we've been been doing these these episodes, these kind of lockdown episodes, I always end with this, aside from going to sugar Fish, if you can snap your fingers and have everything go back to normal, whatever your definition of normal is. What would be the first thing that you would do? People you'd hug, places you'd go Oh. I was gonna say, go play a live show, but then you said people you hug, and I was like, am I bad person?

I'm not trying to, I think no, I think yeah, hugging is something I definitely do. Miss. It's weird that it's like rude now if you see someone going for hug, they're like backup, which is it's so strange. But I think I would definitely like book a live show and make it like because I think about the last actual live show I hadn't it makes me so sad that that hasn't happened for a year now. So yeah, I think playing live show would be the very first thing

that I would make happen. Get your back out there soon. So well, thank you so so much for your time today. It's been such a pleasure. Thank you for having me. This is very fun. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Inside the Studio, a production of I Heart Radio. For more episodes of Inside the Studio or other fantastic shows, check out the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts,