September 23, 2025 • 33 mins
Matt and Leigh are once again out of their depth as they interview Kiwi/international country music sensation Kaylee Bell. She talks about her NEW album, and as usual Leigh pulls all the stops to shoe-horn his own musical career into the conversation.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
This is an iHeart Radio New Zealand podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
I feel about it. Feeding it is my jeans mm
Bobby Dundee Diesel. Just before it rained, you took this
all the way in New Orleans. Ah, it goes on.
(00:36):
I'm just trying to work. May I think of the course,
might go feeling good les easy, lord, Bobby singing blues.
Might don't know something like that.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
You know, it's great, it's cool. Maybe we're on the
chorus after the after the podcast potentially, Hey, but hey,
podcast time, Thank god. Welcome to another episode of Page
Talk with Leeha and Matt Ward live from the Eco.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Watch.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Great to be back, and uh, we've got a very
special guest today. Got a new album coming out next week.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yep. Kaylee Bell, big fan.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Kayleie Bell. Welcome to the show. And what do you
think of that?
Speaker 3 (01:15):
I rated it? Yeah, I mean you're a season of music.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Or something in that.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
Butkay, before we get stuck to you, before we go
talk about too much about the new album and a
tour that's coming up. It's a bit of a deep
dive back into your past. Do you recognize this voice?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (01:51):
Sorry, I thought we might do, Like, Okay, this is
your life kind of thing there where you know that
someone like an old angel.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Or it wouldn't be nice if you mentioned I'm just
jumping with the questions to the traditional stuff, and I
would say, get this podcast back on track, but I
don't think it. Actually it was Kaylie, Thanks for joining us,
Happy to be here. How tell us how does a
how does a girl from yabt He become the most
streamed Australasian Yeah, country singer.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
It's a good question.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
Well, you grew up in a town that, like you
really just essentially want to leave at some point, and
you get out in the world and you chase whatever
it is that you're tasting. And for me, it's always
been country music. And yeah, lucky that I get to
wake up every day now and do it. It's pretty crazy.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
And I suppose the South Island Timuru Waymatti, et cetera,
probably more prevalent disposed with country music as opposed to
the rest of New Zealand. I mean that's obviously was
the case when you were grown up. You got into
it when you were here.
Speaker 5 (02:47):
Yeah, I started when I was four and I was
lucky my family did it. But I do think the
South Island for whatever reason, had a really good talent
quest kind of circuit. And for whatever reason, we grew
up on American country music. And as I've got older,
I guess and the more I've traveled, you kind of
realize small towns are the same, no matter we're in
the world, they are, right, So yeah, it was quite
a natural kind of genre to fall into being a
(03:10):
small town.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Would you say that Wyti is the nestville.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
Of New Zealand? Like, what do we need to do
to make that happen?
Speaker 2 (03:17):
That's what I want to You mentioned what do you
call it? Competitions?
Speaker 4 (03:22):
Obviously later on you you involved in some major competitions
et cetera and AUSEI. But talent quest I remember bringing back
to me again for a moment. I remember entering a
talent quest when I was about eighteen with a guitar.
Showed up and yet to play by yourself, which I
was doing as nervous as hell. Showed up on the stage,
they called my name up. I was gonna do my song,
went there, opened up my guitar case. Never's holl and
(03:43):
the guitar wasn't in it, and you can see my face.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
My brother was watching and he said something. It's almost
like and I think, what would you do? I think
someone might have give me a guitar, but I was
thrown by then anyway. But that's the sort of competition
that you would have gone on.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
That's sort of would have the other ones that you
would have gone and now they would have said who
they are?
Speaker 5 (04:08):
Those sorts of competitions where like you said, you've explained it, well,
you get up.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
With the band who have like never the song like y.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (04:16):
Absolutely, And it's kind of like fly by the ced
of pants And that's the exact environment that I grew
up on, and I think it does.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
He wonders, as you know, you've probably never forgotten.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
I've never forgotten the experience how to get on that competition.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
I came last.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
I said to Lass, she went better than actually had
played it. Okay, so let's move on. Then of course
it was kind of Ozzy. I suppose that you really
started to cut through.
Speaker 5 (04:41):
Yeah, Ossie have been the kind of first audience that
have embraced what I do. I think right back from
I moved to Australia when I was about nineteen twenty
and lived there for about six or seven years. Actually
kicked about in Bathurst, a all places, which was quite random,
and then found myself on the Voice Australia. So yeah,
I feel like Gussie have really like kickstarted a lot
(05:03):
of things for me.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
There's just quite a big industry over there.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
And the music scene, I suppose is when it's population yeah,
but it's broader. I mean country music, rock music, even
as bigger they're compared to.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Good time music.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Yeah, they just really embrace it.
Speaker 5 (05:19):
You know, Like the festivals we play in Australia, I
just feel like the Aussie fans are just so much fun.
Like you'll go to a three day festival and there'll
be no fighting, like everyone's happy. It's like there's some
of the coolest festivals we get to play. So yeah,
in terms of like the goal has always been America,
but Australia is always part of that goal and I'm
just lucky that we have such a great time touring
over there now too.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Is Is that all your biggest following in sort of
Aussie or the States?
Speaker 5 (05:43):
Yeah, Australia's Australia and America now, so they're kind of
on par which is nice. So you've just been a
bit of time in both places. So we're back and
forward a lot, And is.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
It frustrating for you or I suppose people in New
Zealand they probably just don't have an appreciation of just
how big country music in Gina is. Saying the States,
I mean, you can be on the top ten or
twenty or something in the country.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Shots and that's just massive compared to anything here.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Yeah, you're right, it's it's growing here.
Speaker 5 (06:05):
As you've probably seen, like this, a lot of country
music on the radio here now, which is amazing.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
But yeah, you have a number one song in America, that's.
Speaker 5 (06:12):
Like you'll set for life, right, and you can tour
off the back of that forever. And so for years
growing up in New Zealand, all I wanted was to
hear country music on the radio.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
And I feel like we've achieved that.
Speaker 5 (06:22):
But you go to America and it's everywhere, right, It's
at the nails, cell on, it's in the cab that
you get into.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
It's like it's just so ingrained in their culture.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
And one of your really popular songs, Keith is a
tribute to Keith Urban.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
It is a tribute to the Keith Urban.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
How did that come about? And how does Nicole Kidman
feel about that.
Speaker 5 (06:43):
Well, I haven't heard from her, so I guess that's
probably a sure sign.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
I mean, I mean, you could be Nicole Kedman like
sort of a person in the world that someone's.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
Would love to benicle. She's amazing.
Speaker 5 (06:56):
Actually get so many weird comments on my TikTok being
like are you Kith's daughter? Like, I'd say probably there'd
be thousands of comments on my TikTok's being like are
you related to Keith?
Speaker 3 (07:04):
You Keith's daughter.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
So it's like met him, right, probably pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Didn't you perform it to him on the voice?
Speaker 5 (07:10):
Yes, I performed my song to him, which was terrifying.
A lot of people talk about those shows where you know,
there's a lot of setups and all that kind of thing,
where for me, it genuinely was not that case at all.
It was like, flew to Australia was actually meant to.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Be singing another song.
Speaker 5 (07:26):
The music team were like, hey, Keith's the coach, we'd
love you to actually sing your songs, was like the
day before our audition. I mean, it's it's so cool.
I have so many people who have discovered that all
around the world. Now, that moment of like me singing
that song, Keith turning the cheer, Thank god that he did,
and the rest is kind of history.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Which is wild.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Yeah, he's great guitarist, isn't he.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
He is one of the best guitarists.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
He and John Mayer and Brad Pais he paid with
him as well as a country guitarist when he's phenomenal.
Speaker 5 (07:55):
People don't really know that till you go to a
lie like to me, Keith the live show. Here's the
goat of the live show, Like here's the greatest in
terms of country music playing live.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
But people were always like shocked when.
Speaker 5 (08:05):
They go to a Keith show and they're like, I
didn't know he was such a good guitarist.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Like he plays that down.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Might just have a quick break, have quick break? Well yeah, okay,
well do you want to You might as well do
a quick break. Can be back with Kayleie Bell. It's
again well back to pay to talk with Lee Hart
and Matt Ward and we've got a very special guest
with us, can't you singer Kayleie Belly?
Speaker 4 (08:32):
That's right, And we were talking about some of the
people you've performed with and alongside et cetera. I saw
you perform a couple of years ago. Actually you yep,
you're opening for Edge yearon what in parts? I mean,
that's a pretty massive gig. He's obviously done gigs of
that size all over the world.
Speaker 5 (08:46):
Now, that was probably one of the I mean it
was the first time we've played a stadium. I mean,
I've always grown up on like Shania Twain, so like
for me, my goal one day is to play stadiums.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
But to get to do that with.
Speaker 5 (08:58):
An artist like each year and was just like one
of the coolest things, like I'm pappy now, like whatever.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
That was a great show I remember rightly. I think
he ended up having some sound issues.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Yeah, you were there that night, that was fine.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
And after that, that's right.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
It wasn't that he opened his case and was there, so.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
You didn't have that heavy when he was a teenager,
so he didn't learn that list.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
So you're spending a lot of time in the States,
but how much time and where do you live when
you're there?
Speaker 5 (09:25):
Yeah, So basically I started going to Nashville when I
was eighteen and it's been about fourteen years back and forward. Obviously,
visas are really hard to get, so it was a
lot of like save my money, go for three months,
come back, save my money. I did did that like
repetatively all through my twenties, and then moved to Nashville
(09:46):
three years ago.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
So I was living in Nashville full.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Time, living there. Aside from the music side of things.
What's that as a place?
Speaker 5 (09:52):
Yeah, it's an interesting place. Actually, I feel like if
you took the music away, you'd be like, why am
I in Nashville?
Speaker 3 (09:59):
But obviously being in the industry, it's one of the
most exciting towns to be in. Musicians that are there everywhere.
Every as a songwriter.
Speaker 5 (10:08):
Everyone's trying to like work a day job and make
the dream happen. It's one of the most inspiring towns
you could possibly be in because people were literally chasing
their dreams again with no guarantee. Everyone's kind of in
the same boat, and the.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Success is so close.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
Like every day you're like, I'm this is an opportunity day.
You know, any day could change your life in Nashville, Like,
there's not many places in the world that you could.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Live that you could say that.
Speaker 5 (10:32):
Yeah, like you're one song away and that could be
written at any time with anybody.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
But the competition must be intense, So you've let me
be in the top of your game whole time, you know.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Yeah, And that's what I always found hard.
Speaker 5 (10:43):
I always I loved coming home just to like reset,
and I always feel like I really appreciate, like just
the nature of New Zealand and all the really simple things.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
That we have here that we kind of take for granted.
Speaker 5 (10:55):
After a while, I just found them so like resetting
and healing the more time that I spent over there.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
So I feel like, as much as it's.
Speaker 5 (11:02):
Been really tough being from New Zealand and having to
try and go over there and make a mark, I
kind of look at it like we're so lucky to
be able to come back here and have this, you know,
and it's been a really healthy balance.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
I want of coming back like for a grounding kind
of thing.
Speaker 5 (11:19):
See the family, and like I said, just be around
nature and time really does slow down. Like you said,
you actually kind of can't relax over there because you're
like if I don't go there, then I might not
meet that person. And it's like you become a little
bit crazy, like because every day is just like a
possibility to meet someone that could change your life.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
In Nashville.
Speaker 4 (11:37):
So yeah, look, I might just interrupt you both here
if I could. You know, sometimes I feel like a
hearty snack. I turned to snack a Yangy, this New
Zealand's oldest and most trusted JEP brand, established in sixteen
forty eight or thereabouts. That's saying something, check out and
you kill a prown cocktail flavor. I love them and
so will you. And once you try snack a Changy,
(11:59):
you'll never go back.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
At a Yangy.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
I mean, you've been doing this in a little while now,
I'm so young. Yeah, but what do you make of
this sort of the music industry in the sense, like
the streaming aspect of this stuff. I know, the album's
coming out VIOYL on CD, et cetera, but also the
streaming is a huge part of it. Yeah, I mean,
has that been a frustration how that side of the
industry works now?
Speaker 5 (12:25):
And I think, okay, there's two different ways that you
can look at it. And I don't think it was
necessarily set up right from the beginning, and that's why
we're kind of trying to play catch up with it
a lot. And I still think that songwriters lose out
from it, which I think is the biggest downfall, because
what are we if we don't have songwriters in this world? Like,
to me, songwriters are like step one, right, Like we
need great songs. But from an artist's point of view,
(12:47):
I feel like it's allowed me in the last particularly
i'd say, five years, to remain independent and like I've
always been an independent artist, and it's never been a
better time because like the streaming world has kind of
knocked down a lot of walls that used to exist,
you know, like people can listen to your music anywhere
in the world now at any time, and then you
(13:09):
can go on two of those countries exactly, go and
go back to someone and get on radio. And it's
just like I look at it from such a positive
point of view because I've seen it from a positive
point of view with what it's done for my career
and allowed me to have a global career essentially, you know,
like you think about being in New Zealand, if I
didn't have that global reach, like you'd be very much
(13:31):
stuck to your territory.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
And so yeah, I think there's so much positive from it.
Speaker 5 (13:37):
I think, like I said, there's a lot of catch
up that needs to be done in terms of like
just having some things in place with proper pay, particularly
for songwriters. But yeah, I love that I can go
anywhere in the world.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Now it's going really well.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
Actually, I think we'll submit this toward the podcast stuff
up the rest of you talk about some influences that
you mentioned Twain and stuff student in that way, musicians
you know across this bedroom don't have a piece of
a country.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Yeah, so much.
Speaker 5 (14:10):
I'd say, like female artists actually over the years I
think of like who I'm and juicing my childhood at
the moment is like the stuff that I grew up on,
which is like the Tina Arenas of the world, and
I just love those, like really strong female voices of
the nineties.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Country.
Speaker 5 (14:28):
But also he had a lot of mainstream stuff going
on back then, Like there's a lot of country artists obviously,
like the Pam Tillis Is, the Trisha Ewarods like just phenomenal.
Grew up on a lot of that stuff. But then
I also love mainstream, like I love radio. Why I
think like someone like Keith Urban really you know, I'm
really drawn towards him because he's the same as a
lot of like pop sensibility that he's pulled into country music.
(14:48):
So for him, he'll write like with a melody, or
he'll start with like a loop that's like more of
a feeling as opposed to like a lot of Nashville
writing is that you would walk into a room exactly
like this and we'd sit down with our guitars. Lee
wouldn't have because he wouldn't have bought it in the case,
but this is how we would start, so and we
would just write with three guitars and someone would be
(15:09):
writing lyrics and so it was very lyric driven. And
so that's why I love a lot of like radio
influenced stuff where it's like melody driven and like and
if you can blend country music in terms of the
lyrics and the pop melodies, I just think that is
like the perfont.
Speaker 4 (15:23):
Because so many songs, I mean, the genre, it's only
in the production side of it decides where whether it's
a country song, a rock and roll song, or a
rock and billy song or blues song. When they're all
good songs and good.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Songs, that's great, exactly, the song wins at the end
of the day.
Speaker 5 (15:36):
And I always say that when I like, you know,
like when I think of egos in an industry, I'm like,
how does anybody actually have an ego? Because we're all
the mercy of the song, like, and we're only as
good as our last song, right.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
So someone else is going to come and kick ourrass
and write a bit of song tomorrow, like.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
You should mention egos.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
I was in a band years ago called Wild Teg
with my brother and a guy called Matt Johnson, and.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Egos got involved there because they.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
Both had really big egos and I was the songwriter
who didn't have such a big ego. But we ended
up suing each other and that was but you know,
it was very much like the Beatles in a way.
I got nasty how much suing was going on, so
much so that the Beatles even got involved in it.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Some of the Beatles that got involved.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
It was happening at the same time as the Beatles.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
When I said the Beatles were involved, what Matt the drama?
Speaker 4 (16:27):
He had my Beatles CD collection Greatest Hits and I
was trying to get that back of him and kind
that was part of the whole deal, along with other
stuff songwriting rights and.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Sort of stuff, and which you know, they really were.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
We went suing for the rights, were actually suing. We
didn't want them. We were trying to give them to
each other that we were trying to know you have them,
you know, and no one wanted to be the guy
because the expenses of holding those rights was more than
we were earning. So I suppose you're probably avoiding some
of that by being your own boss.
Speaker 5 (17:00):
I've I'm kind of like no Bs kind of person
like I think it's it's an industry that full of it,
and I love that I get to kind of call
the shots and run this how I want to run this.
And yeah, it's it was kind of accidental, you know,
it was originally it was just because no one would
sign me, and then it's got to that point now
where it's like it's a great editgud.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
It's very key we, isn't it.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
Talking about artists, I kind of look up to someone
like a Taylor Swift, who's basically been the CEO of
her own company. I think she's kind of just been
a pretty big force in our industry of like knowing
like the business side of things and the behind the
scenes and.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
All the ugly stuff that we don't really like to
talk about.
Speaker 5 (17:41):
When we're artists, because we meant to be like so
spontaneous and it's meant to be all these beautiful things,
which it is.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
But it's also that and so I love the other
side of it too.
Speaker 5 (17:51):
I love looking at things from you know, more of
a business sense and learning about the behind the scenes
and why things are the way they are in our industry.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
You know, you know, just before you tell another Beatles story,
it's probably a good time to throw another break.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
I have to break.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
We be going to talk about, well, how following it
must be now that you're the family as well.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Break.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Yeah, that was great.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
We should have heard the whole home we did.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Hey, welcome back to page talk with Lehard met Ward
and we've got specialis Kayie Bell before we talk about
your new album, which is coming out next week. A
lot going on outside music.
Speaker 5 (18:40):
Yeah, new baby, new little baby boy James. He was
born at the end of January and so I.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Haven't really remembered for anything since. Yeah, seven months old. Yeah,
he's he's been everywhere.
Speaker 5 (18:52):
He The best part was that before he was even born,
I had to I had in New Zealand asking me
for his name, which I'm like, do I need to
decide this like today on the phone.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
So I couldn't book any fly.
Speaker 5 (19:10):
So that was the first thing, and then he was
We actually had our first gig six weeks after I
gave birth, so basically we had James. We had him
like registering for a passport day two. I mean, you've
got to get a picture of this poor little baby
with their eyes open looking.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
But yeah, so his eyes.
Speaker 5 (19:31):
Are commuter generated, because how you get a baby to
open their eyes for a basketball is beyond me.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
That's but obviously you know that time came.
Speaker 4 (19:43):
The birth was months ago, but of course before that
was pregnancy and stuff.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
That's when you would have been working and writing the
album recording it.
Speaker 5 (19:50):
Yeah, so we found out, So I actually didn't think
I'd ever be able to have a child. So we
found out we were having a baby when I was
in Nashville June last year, and so I just signed
American management, booking agencies like all the things, and so
it was just like a huge like shock, and so
then year we kind of just went into planning mode.
My partner works in my band and runs all that
(20:12):
stuff as well, so we're both very much like aligned
with like our path and goals in life. So we
were just like, well, let's just make this happen and
do it the best we can. And so I spent
a bunch of time in America and wrote a bunch
of the record in New York in Nashville, and we
made most of it and over in Nashville. Then I
(20:32):
flew my producer back to New Zealand and December last year,
which was like getting to that point of like, I
think it was like thirty four weeks pregnant when you
just like can't fly anymore. We'd just come off the
Cane Brown tour in Australia and I was at that
point of like I need.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
To slow down.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
And so yeah, my.
Speaker 5 (20:48):
Producer, Tom Jordan, flew out from Nashville and we made
the record at home last year, which was pretty cool way.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Of doing it. Matt's got young kids as well, oh nice.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
And two, so there's lots still look forward to. Yeah,
if you got a seven months old, ye okay, if
they start crawling, they start eating adult food, which is just.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Like you've imagine making an album during that.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
Time, an album at all, and you were just treading
in the wa washhouse, which I mean, did those emotions,
you know, of having a child and make its way
in all into the album, into any songs or yeah,
maybe recorded or folt.
Speaker 5 (21:21):
There's a song on there called Heartbeat, which was that
moment of finding out I was pregnant. Like I said,
I didn't think we were able to have children, so
it was like an absolute shock. Obviously, I went into
a songwriter in Nashville and actually kind of broke down
into tears and was like, this is what's happening, and
there was no way we could have written anything else
that day. I always find songwriting it's kind of like
counseling in a really good way, Like you're talking to
(21:43):
strangers about your life, like your most personal details becoming
apparent as you know, like you just grow right and
you think about life so differently. And I'm just looking
at the world now, like what it's actually going to
look like for James and you know, when he's my
age or whatever, and so there's actually I just feel
like I've kind of just unlocked this thing that's happening
now and I just can't stop writing songs about him,
(22:04):
and it's crazy.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
Yes, so I'm excited.
Speaker 5 (22:07):
There's another song called Mankind, like the whole Premius office
is like you raise the boy, right, you make the
man kind and like that's like the idea behind the
snake song that I'm just like super excited about.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Whereas if I did After Ride album right now, I'd
probably be songs called pipe down, Stop talking about yourself?
Speaker 3 (22:27):
What age do you start the toilet training?
Speaker 1 (22:29):
That's what I want to You don't want to start
it too early. That's the problem because they just you
want I have falls. Yeah, that's good.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
That's a good.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Well, let's talk about the album.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
Then.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
It's called Cowboy.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
It is called Cowboy Up.
Speaker 4 (22:43):
I'm coming out on vinyls CD and also obviously live
stream CD.
Speaker 5 (22:47):
Yeah, so weirdly like and I'll probably say Australians mostly
like my Australian market.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Love a CD.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
And do you know what I think it is.
Speaker 5 (22:56):
I think it's when you're out driving a tractor around
a peddock and you just get sick of Spotify cudding
in and out and you're like, put on a goddamn CD, right,
Like it's got to be where it comes from, because
I have been shocked that people still buy CDs, but
they do.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
It's amazing.
Speaker 5 (23:10):
That's making a comeback, I know, and cassette tapes I
think are coming back to which I do love a
cassette tape. But I'm most excited about vinyl. To me,
vinyl like it's a piece of art. It's like a
collector's item, isn't it. So that's the part that I'm
most excited about.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
You've got the whole cover, You've got.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
All the DJ room to sign.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
You know, you want to leave people a nice little
message heart? Can we please be best friends?
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Are there? We go? So when you go to Nashville,
when you stay, you've got to place there.
Speaker 5 (23:41):
You just got.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Okay, there's a few parts of this.
Speaker 5 (23:43):
First first years, I used to sleep on people's couches,
do all the things right. Obviously got a flat a
few years ago, so I was living with some Australians
in Nashville in a place called Bellevue, which is like
out west.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
And then recently I did this.
Speaker 5 (23:57):
I lived in New York for a month and stayed
in this hotel, did a residency, played for them like
a couple of nights a week, which was genuinely like
one of the coolest things I've ever done New York
in the summer, like lived my best life. And they
own a bunch of hotels in Nashville. So our recent
experience of Nashville, which we'd never done before, we took
Baby James, my partner, came and we got to stay
(24:18):
in like one of the most pimp and like hotels downtown.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
CMA fist was on.
Speaker 5 (24:23):
We could like walk everywhere, go back and share and
charge your phone, all the things that I've just never like,
I've always just been like running ragged around Nashville during
CMA like an absolute mess. And so if you guys
are going, I highly recommend doing doing the downtown thing.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
Downtown thing. Yeah, and Broadway have you seen Broadway before?
Speaker 5 (24:40):
Like Broadway is just like I can't It's like Vegas conky.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Tonks, It's like Memphis but more just like.
Speaker 5 (24:49):
Bigger, more neon, brighter, Like everywhere you're walking, it's just
like the soundboard of just like band band, band, band, band,
like all the wagon wheels, all the songs that you
could possibly expect to hear all down Broadway, and it's
like it's just so much fun.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
So when you're back in New Zealand, are you back
down South or are you.
Speaker 5 (25:09):
Mum and Dad still live in all my family live
around christ Church and so we always go down to
Mom and dads for Christmas and will very much be
making sure that James is brought up with knowing that
he's a can tab.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
That's important stuff. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:25):
I know you've been busy your week obviously doing promo
and stuff, and you're probably chanted. But the chance you
might want to play a couple of chords.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
You can play some cards. Do you want to play
some chords with me?
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Sure, okay, cool. We've got special guest, Kayleie Bell, who's
got a guitar and her also sort of croat.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
I tell you I was did you just prehim this?
Speaker 2 (25:48):
I've always had one line around here somewhere.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
But so here we go. I think we should jam.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Okay, something off the new album? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (25:54):
Maybe can we do the title track?
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Definitely your new album? My album?
Speaker 3 (25:58):
Yes, sorry not to be mistaken for your new album.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Do you want to microne off?
Speaker 2 (26:04):
It'll lead through anywhere?
Speaker 3 (26:06):
So he says, we'll just do a versal course of
Cowboy Elpy.
Speaker 5 (26:10):
We were in left, he ride on track, my friends
out front, the cars barked down back. We had everything
we needed, and you treating me like baby I know
one who Yeah, you haul the stars, I hug the moon.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
You're brown. I was cut my baby loose.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
He there was.
Speaker 5 (26:39):
Sawing the whiskey got me thinking maybe we couldn't have
it all.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Yeah after all. But now it's He'll tolling around we
go with the rodeopen on my first baby boots tapping
you pulled me back, Kelly.
Speaker 5 (26:55):
Ahead of that, it's he hated baby, Drive your cat
go crazy, read good, sky da Drea, be the reason
why you fall yep, yes on this se laugh cow yeah, cowe.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
That takes me back to wear I used to play
you know.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
That was great playing thank you. We just had our
first jam session.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
So that was the tit effect of the new album.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
Absolutely, that song had a bit of a journey.
Speaker 5 (27:30):
Actually I teased it on TikTok and then it kind
of was one of those songs that like started having
some noise and then I was like, oh crap, I
have to like find a producer and do all the things.
And it actually took me nine months. And I'm going
to tell the story because I don't do this very often,
but I cold messaged a guy called travel Titleman on Instagram.
(27:51):
He misses me straight back and he's like, I'm in
Nashville this week, love to do the song.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
And I was like, well, that really wasn't that hard?
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Meant to be?
Speaker 3 (27:56):
Meant to be.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
That's good because we pretty much just cold message all guests.
Speaker 5 (28:00):
This podcast so brilliant, it works sometimes right exactly.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
So how about your sort of process and is a
sort of work. Are you a lyric person or do
you sort of hummer tune that you know and then
you will put the meat into the words to that sort.
Speaker 5 (28:17):
Of Yeah, that's a great question because it's different for everybody,
as you can imagine. Like I think for me, it's
like I have a lot of voice notes on my
phone and that's from like moments of inspo, whether that
be driving the car or in the shower or whatever.
It is, like that's when like a melody and an idea,
like a feeling. Like I said about like so Keith
Urban writes a lot of stuff just by like the
(28:40):
chorus or like a melody, and I think I do
also start a lot of my songs that way and
then it kind of to me that kind of sets
the tone of should this be like a positive up
song or is this like a slow ballad and then
at least I'm starting to work out like where this
song will live, and then I actually start a lot
of songs with song titles. I feel like I'm always
writing stuff down on my phone, like little gems that
(29:02):
I'm thinking of through the day, or hear people say
I think a song title in like a hook. So
Nashville is big on hooks, Like the last two lines
of the chorus will like hook you in. And it's
often got the song title win it. And so that's
another thing that I absolutely love, just trying to chase that.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Yeah, havebout emotions. I mean a lot of people.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
Find it easier to write about breakups and stuff or
when I'm more emotionally, you know, in turmoil right, nasty
blues or love songs.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Or anything like that.
Speaker 4 (29:32):
I'm not talking Taylor Swift, I'm not talking even beatles
and stuff. But it's amazing if you're in a really
happy place where your life's going, really get a lot.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Out of mediocrity or what do you call it. It's
so traige life you almost.
Speaker 5 (29:50):
Need I always think that's why the UK is so
good at music, right because most of the time the
weathers crap and their depressed, and you're right and it
does a lot of music does come from those places.
And so that's what I think is the most magical
thing about songwriting.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
It's like it's healing, it's like counseling.
Speaker 5 (30:05):
It's like you walk into a room and there's nothing,
and you walk out with a song like what a
wild creation?
Speaker 3 (30:11):
Like were just that?
Speaker 4 (30:12):
To me?
Speaker 5 (30:12):
I'm always just like that comes from so many different things, right,
It comes from inspiration, it comes from just there's so
many things involved with writing a song what a can't
do And that's exactly right. So in terms of like
should we be worried a little bit, but there's also
that human element that it just can never replicate totally.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
So you don't have to tour this album as well,
Now Zealand, that's.
Speaker 5 (30:32):
Going to be Yeah, it's terror New Zealand is. I mean,
you've done it plenty of times, I'm sure, and not really.
You could be on our rider, we could have well
Snacker Changy on the rider.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Don't worry about that time.
Speaker 5 (30:46):
Okay, done done, Deale, you're coming on to it, but
yes we are going on to it. And touring New
Zealand is something that I never thought I'd get the
chance to do. As we talked about, country wasn't very
big here growing up. The last three years of touring
has I feel like we've seen that change. And the
amount of kids that come to our show I think
is so cool. That's to me, is like that just
shows as a whole new generation of kids that like.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Country music, which is great.
Speaker 5 (31:10):
And yeah, this tour particularly, we're just sort of previously
we've done a lot of regional stuff, which I love.
Like growing up small town, you realize how starved of
things like music you are, and so I always like
when I get that time to tour, I always wanted
to go back to my hometown and get to the regions.
And I feel like we've done that with the last
two tours and it was some of the coolest memories
(31:33):
that I have. But with this tour, with obviously scheduling Baby,
they's at the big cities and play some venues that
we are bucket lists, you know, like the Civic and
Auckland is a bucket list.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
How does that work? You strap on the front pack.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
And on the stage and.
Speaker 5 (31:54):
Yeah, but he like we are trying to normalize having
him on the road. Which I think as a woman
in music is really important. I pay value to the
people that have done that before me and showing me
what it looks like to be a mum, particularly in
the music industry, which is still an industry.
Speaker 4 (32:09):
Probably in the dark past, it was a case of yeah,
well yeah years.
Speaker 5 (32:15):
Yeah, and so I've really tried to make a point
of continuing on and juggling things, and it's just meant
that I've had to be way more organized. But I also,
like I said, I want to have him out on
the road with us and just show that you can
do both. I think is a really important kind of
statement to make to other women and music, you know,
like for them to see it as well. Yeah, So
tickets available and I always do. I do these meet
(32:37):
and greets after the show every night for free, where
I literally stand and hug and say hi to every
single person that comes, because I think that's such a
cool way to connect with people and you know, get
to know people out on the road as well.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
Leaves to do that, but the sort of people just
stopped coming a couple of minutes.
Speaker 4 (32:54):
Yeah, Kayley, thanks so much for coming all the way
up to Eco Lodge. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
It's pretty beautiful, wasn't it? Would you would you leave?
Would you go?
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Or is actually kind of like Hotel California. It doesn't
look I can't actually do a.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
Lot of my songwriting thinking and then drinking.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
Really not necessarily in that order.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
No, No, definitely in the other order. Where are the
best songs come from?
Speaker 2 (33:20):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (33:21):
Beautiful, Thanks Kaylene, thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
Guys love it.
This is an iHeart Radio New Zealand podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
I feel about it. Feeding it is my jeans mm
Bobby Dundee Diesel. Just before it rained, you took this
all the way in New Orleans. Ah, it goes on.
(00:36):
I'm just trying to work. May I think of the course,
might go feeling good les easy, lord, Bobby singing blues.
Might don't know something like that.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
You know, it's great, it's cool. Maybe we're on the
chorus after the after the podcast potentially, Hey, but hey,
podcast time, Thank god. Welcome to another episode of Page
Talk with Leeha and Matt Ward live from the Eco.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Watch.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Great to be back, and uh, we've got a very
special guest today. Got a new album coming out next week.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yep. Kaylee Bell, big fan.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Kayleie Bell. Welcome to the show. And what do you
think of that?
Speaker 3 (01:15):
I rated it? Yeah, I mean you're a season of music.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Or something in that.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
Butkay, before we get stuck to you, before we go
talk about too much about the new album and a
tour that's coming up. It's a bit of a deep
dive back into your past. Do you recognize this voice?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (01:51):
Sorry, I thought we might do, Like, Okay, this is
your life kind of thing there where you know that
someone like an old angel.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Or it wouldn't be nice if you mentioned I'm just
jumping with the questions to the traditional stuff, and I
would say, get this podcast back on track, but I
don't think it. Actually it was Kaylie, Thanks for joining us,
Happy to be here. How tell us how does a
how does a girl from yabt He become the most
streamed Australasian Yeah, country singer.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
It's a good question.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
Well, you grew up in a town that, like you
really just essentially want to leave at some point, and
you get out in the world and you chase whatever
it is that you're tasting. And for me, it's always
been country music. And yeah, lucky that I get to
wake up every day now and do it. It's pretty crazy.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
And I suppose the South Island Timuru Waymatti, et cetera,
probably more prevalent disposed with country music as opposed to
the rest of New Zealand. I mean that's obviously was
the case when you were grown up. You got into
it when you were here.
Speaker 5 (02:47):
Yeah, I started when I was four and I was
lucky my family did it. But I do think the
South Island for whatever reason, had a really good talent
quest kind of circuit. And for whatever reason, we grew
up on American country music. And as I've got older,
I guess and the more I've traveled, you kind of
realize small towns are the same, no matter we're in
the world, they are, right, So yeah, it was quite
a natural kind of genre to fall into being a
(03:10):
small town.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Would you say that Wyti is the nestville.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
Of New Zealand? Like, what do we need to do
to make that happen?
Speaker 2 (03:17):
That's what I want to You mentioned what do you
call it? Competitions?
Speaker 4 (03:22):
Obviously later on you you involved in some major competitions
et cetera and AUSEI. But talent quest I remember bringing back
to me again for a moment. I remember entering a
talent quest when I was about eighteen with a guitar.
Showed up and yet to play by yourself, which I
was doing as nervous as hell. Showed up on the stage,
they called my name up. I was gonna do my song,
went there, opened up my guitar case. Never's holl and
(03:43):
the guitar wasn't in it, and you can see my face.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
My brother was watching and he said something. It's almost
like and I think, what would you do? I think
someone might have give me a guitar, but I was
thrown by then anyway. But that's the sort of competition
that you would have gone on.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
That's sort of would have the other ones that you
would have gone and now they would have said who
they are?
Speaker 5 (04:08):
Those sorts of competitions where like you said, you've explained it, well,
you get up.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
With the band who have like never the song like y.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (04:16):
Absolutely, And it's kind of like fly by the ced
of pants And that's the exact environment that I grew
up on, and I think it does.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
He wonders, as you know, you've probably never forgotten.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
I've never forgotten the experience how to get on that competition.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
I came last.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
I said to Lass, she went better than actually had
played it. Okay, so let's move on. Then of course
it was kind of Ozzy. I suppose that you really
started to cut through.
Speaker 5 (04:41):
Yeah, Ossie have been the kind of first audience that
have embraced what I do. I think right back from
I moved to Australia when I was about nineteen twenty
and lived there for about six or seven years. Actually
kicked about in Bathurst, a all places, which was quite random,
and then found myself on the Voice Australia. So yeah,
I feel like Gussie have really like kickstarted a lot
(05:03):
of things for me.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
There's just quite a big industry over there.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
And the music scene, I suppose is when it's population yeah,
but it's broader. I mean country music, rock music, even
as bigger they're compared to.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Good time music.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Yeah, they just really embrace it.
Speaker 5 (05:19):
You know, Like the festivals we play in Australia, I
just feel like the Aussie fans are just so much fun.
Like you'll go to a three day festival and there'll
be no fighting, like everyone's happy. It's like there's some
of the coolest festivals we get to play. So yeah,
in terms of like the goal has always been America,
but Australia is always part of that goal and I'm
just lucky that we have such a great time touring
over there now too.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Is Is that all your biggest following in sort of
Aussie or the States?
Speaker 5 (05:43):
Yeah, Australia's Australia and America now, so they're kind of
on par which is nice. So you've just been a
bit of time in both places. So we're back and
forward a lot, And is.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
It frustrating for you or I suppose people in New
Zealand they probably just don't have an appreciation of just
how big country music in Gina is. Saying the States,
I mean, you can be on the top ten or
twenty or something in the country.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Shots and that's just massive compared to anything here.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Yeah, you're right, it's it's growing here.
Speaker 5 (06:05):
As you've probably seen, like this, a lot of country
music on the radio here now, which is amazing.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
But yeah, you have a number one song in America, that's.
Speaker 5 (06:12):
Like you'll set for life, right, and you can tour
off the back of that forever. And so for years
growing up in New Zealand, all I wanted was to
hear country music on the radio.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
And I feel like we've achieved that.
Speaker 5 (06:22):
But you go to America and it's everywhere, right, It's
at the nails, cell on, it's in the cab that
you get into.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
It's like it's just so ingrained in their culture.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
And one of your really popular songs, Keith is a
tribute to Keith Urban.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
It is a tribute to the Keith Urban.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
How did that come about? And how does Nicole Kidman
feel about that.
Speaker 5 (06:43):
Well, I haven't heard from her, so I guess that's
probably a sure sign.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
I mean, I mean, you could be Nicole Kedman like
sort of a person in the world that someone's.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
Would love to benicle. She's amazing.
Speaker 5 (06:56):
Actually get so many weird comments on my TikTok being
like are you Kith's daughter? Like, I'd say probably there'd
be thousands of comments on my TikTok's being like are
you related to Keith?
Speaker 3 (07:04):
You Keith's daughter.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
So it's like met him, right, probably pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Didn't you perform it to him on the voice?
Speaker 5 (07:10):
Yes, I performed my song to him, which was terrifying.
A lot of people talk about those shows where you know,
there's a lot of setups and all that kind of thing,
where for me, it genuinely was not that case at all.
It was like, flew to Australia was actually meant to.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Be singing another song.
Speaker 5 (07:26):
The music team were like, hey, Keith's the coach, we'd
love you to actually sing your songs, was like the
day before our audition. I mean, it's it's so cool.
I have so many people who have discovered that all
around the world. Now, that moment of like me singing
that song, Keith turning the cheer, Thank god that he did,
and the rest is kind of history.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Which is wild.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Yeah, he's great guitarist, isn't he.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
He is one of the best guitarists.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
He and John Mayer and Brad Pais he paid with
him as well as a country guitarist when he's phenomenal.
Speaker 5 (07:55):
People don't really know that till you go to a
lie like to me, Keith the live show. Here's the
goat of the live show, Like here's the greatest in
terms of country music playing live.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
But people were always like shocked when.
Speaker 5 (08:05):
They go to a Keith show and they're like, I
didn't know he was such a good guitarist.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Like he plays that down.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Might just have a quick break, have quick break? Well yeah, okay,
well do you want to You might as well do
a quick break. Can be back with Kayleie Bell. It's
again well back to pay to talk with Lee Hart
and Matt Ward and we've got a very special guest
with us, can't you singer Kayleie Belly?
Speaker 4 (08:32):
That's right, And we were talking about some of the
people you've performed with and alongside et cetera. I saw
you perform a couple of years ago. Actually you yep,
you're opening for Edge yearon what in parts? I mean,
that's a pretty massive gig. He's obviously done gigs of
that size all over the world.
Speaker 5 (08:46):
Now, that was probably one of the I mean it
was the first time we've played a stadium. I mean,
I've always grown up on like Shania Twain, so like
for me, my goal one day is to play stadiums.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
But to get to do that with.
Speaker 5 (08:58):
An artist like each year and was just like one
of the coolest things, like I'm pappy now, like whatever.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
That was a great show I remember rightly. I think
he ended up having some sound issues.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Yeah, you were there that night, that was fine.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
And after that, that's right.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
It wasn't that he opened his case and was there, so.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
You didn't have that heavy when he was a teenager,
so he didn't learn that list.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
So you're spending a lot of time in the States,
but how much time and where do you live when
you're there?
Speaker 5 (09:25):
Yeah, So basically I started going to Nashville when I
was eighteen and it's been about fourteen years back and forward. Obviously,
visas are really hard to get, so it was a
lot of like save my money, go for three months,
come back, save my money. I did did that like
repetatively all through my twenties, and then moved to Nashville
(09:46):
three years ago.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
So I was living in Nashville full.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Time, living there. Aside from the music side of things.
What's that as a place?
Speaker 5 (09:52):
Yeah, it's an interesting place. Actually, I feel like if
you took the music away, you'd be like, why am
I in Nashville?
Speaker 3 (09:59):
But obviously being in the industry, it's one of the
most exciting towns to be in. Musicians that are there everywhere.
Every as a songwriter.
Speaker 5 (10:08):
Everyone's trying to like work a day job and make
the dream happen. It's one of the most inspiring towns
you could possibly be in because people were literally chasing
their dreams again with no guarantee. Everyone's kind of in
the same boat, and the.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Success is so close.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
Like every day you're like, I'm this is an opportunity day.
You know, any day could change your life in Nashville, Like,
there's not many places in the world that you could.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Live that you could say that.
Speaker 5 (10:32):
Yeah, like you're one song away and that could be
written at any time with anybody.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
But the competition must be intense, So you've let me
be in the top of your game whole time, you know.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Yeah, And that's what I always found hard.
Speaker 5 (10:43):
I always I loved coming home just to like reset,
and I always feel like I really appreciate, like just
the nature of New Zealand and all the really simple things.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
That we have here that we kind of take for granted.
Speaker 5 (10:55):
After a while, I just found them so like resetting
and healing the more time that I spent over there.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
So I feel like, as much as it's.
Speaker 5 (11:02):
Been really tough being from New Zealand and having to
try and go over there and make a mark, I
kind of look at it like we're so lucky to
be able to come back here and have this, you know,
and it's been a really healthy balance.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
I want of coming back like for a grounding kind
of thing.
Speaker 5 (11:19):
See the family, and like I said, just be around
nature and time really does slow down. Like you said,
you actually kind of can't relax over there because you're
like if I don't go there, then I might not
meet that person. And it's like you become a little
bit crazy, like because every day is just like a
possibility to meet someone that could change your life.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
In Nashville.
Speaker 4 (11:37):
So yeah, look, I might just interrupt you both here
if I could. You know, sometimes I feel like a
hearty snack. I turned to snack a Yangy, this New
Zealand's oldest and most trusted JEP brand, established in sixteen
forty eight or thereabouts. That's saying something, check out and
you kill a prown cocktail flavor. I love them and
so will you. And once you try snack a Changy,
(11:59):
you'll never go back.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
At a Yangy.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
I mean, you've been doing this in a little while now,
I'm so young. Yeah, but what do you make of
this sort of the music industry in the sense, like
the streaming aspect of this stuff. I know, the album's
coming out VIOYL on CD, et cetera, but also the
streaming is a huge part of it. Yeah, I mean,
has that been a frustration how that side of the
industry works now?
Speaker 5 (12:25):
And I think, okay, there's two different ways that you
can look at it. And I don't think it was
necessarily set up right from the beginning, and that's why
we're kind of trying to play catch up with it
a lot. And I still think that songwriters lose out
from it, which I think is the biggest downfall, because
what are we if we don't have songwriters in this world? Like,
to me, songwriters are like step one, right, Like we
need great songs. But from an artist's point of view,
(12:47):
I feel like it's allowed me in the last particularly
i'd say, five years, to remain independent and like I've
always been an independent artist, and it's never been a
better time because like the streaming world has kind of
knocked down a lot of walls that used to exist,
you know, like people can listen to your music anywhere
in the world now at any time, and then you
(13:09):
can go on two of those countries exactly, go and
go back to someone and get on radio. And it's
just like I look at it from such a positive
point of view because I've seen it from a positive
point of view with what it's done for my career
and allowed me to have a global career essentially, you know,
like you think about being in New Zealand, if I
didn't have that global reach, like you'd be very much
(13:31):
stuck to your territory.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
And so yeah, I think there's so much positive from it.
Speaker 5 (13:37):
I think, like I said, there's a lot of catch
up that needs to be done in terms of like
just having some things in place with proper pay, particularly
for songwriters. But yeah, I love that I can go
anywhere in the world.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Now it's going really well.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
Actually, I think we'll submit this toward the podcast stuff
up the rest of you talk about some influences that
you mentioned Twain and stuff student in that way, musicians
you know across this bedroom don't have a piece of
a country.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Yeah, so much.
Speaker 5 (14:10):
I'd say, like female artists actually over the years I
think of like who I'm and juicing my childhood at
the moment is like the stuff that I grew up on,
which is like the Tina Arenas of the world, and
I just love those, like really strong female voices of
the nineties.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Country.
Speaker 5 (14:28):
But also he had a lot of mainstream stuff going
on back then, Like there's a lot of country artists obviously,
like the Pam Tillis Is, the Trisha Ewarods like just phenomenal.
Grew up on a lot of that stuff. But then
I also love mainstream, like I love radio. Why I
think like someone like Keith Urban really you know, I'm
really drawn towards him because he's the same as a
lot of like pop sensibility that he's pulled into country music.
(14:48):
So for him, he'll write like with a melody, or
he'll start with like a loop that's like more of
a feeling as opposed to like a lot of Nashville
writing is that you would walk into a room exactly
like this and we'd sit down with our guitars. Lee
wouldn't have because he wouldn't have bought it in the case,
but this is how we would start, so and we
would just write with three guitars and someone would be
(15:09):
writing lyrics and so it was very lyric driven. And
so that's why I love a lot of like radio
influenced stuff where it's like melody driven and like and
if you can blend country music in terms of the
lyrics and the pop melodies, I just think that is
like the perfont.
Speaker 4 (15:23):
Because so many songs, I mean, the genre, it's only
in the production side of it decides where whether it's
a country song, a rock and roll song, or a
rock and billy song or blues song. When they're all
good songs and good.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Songs, that's great, exactly, the song wins at the end
of the day.
Speaker 5 (15:36):
And I always say that when I like, you know,
like when I think of egos in an industry, I'm like,
how does anybody actually have an ego? Because we're all
the mercy of the song, like, and we're only as
good as our last song, right.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
So someone else is going to come and kick ourrass
and write a bit of song tomorrow, like.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
You should mention egos.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
I was in a band years ago called Wild Teg
with my brother and a guy called Matt Johnson, and.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Egos got involved there because they.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
Both had really big egos and I was the songwriter
who didn't have such a big ego. But we ended
up suing each other and that was but you know,
it was very much like the Beatles in a way.
I got nasty how much suing was going on, so
much so that the Beatles even got involved in it.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Some of the Beatles that got involved.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
It was happening at the same time as the Beatles.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
When I said the Beatles were involved, what Matt the drama?
Speaker 4 (16:27):
He had my Beatles CD collection Greatest Hits and I
was trying to get that back of him and kind
that was part of the whole deal, along with other
stuff songwriting rights and.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Sort of stuff, and which you know, they really were.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
We went suing for the rights, were actually suing. We
didn't want them. We were trying to give them to
each other that we were trying to know you have them,
you know, and no one wanted to be the guy
because the expenses of holding those rights was more than
we were earning. So I suppose you're probably avoiding some
of that by being your own boss.
Speaker 5 (17:00):
I've I'm kind of like no Bs kind of person
like I think it's it's an industry that full of it,
and I love that I get to kind of call
the shots and run this how I want to run this.
And yeah, it's it was kind of accidental, you know,
it was originally it was just because no one would
sign me, and then it's got to that point now
where it's like it's a great editgud.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
It's very key we, isn't it.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
Talking about artists, I kind of look up to someone
like a Taylor Swift, who's basically been the CEO of
her own company. I think she's kind of just been
a pretty big force in our industry of like knowing
like the business side of things and the behind the
scenes and.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
All the ugly stuff that we don't really like to
talk about.
Speaker 5 (17:41):
When we're artists, because we meant to be like so
spontaneous and it's meant to be all these beautiful things,
which it is.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
But it's also that and so I love the other
side of it too.
Speaker 5 (17:51):
I love looking at things from you know, more of
a business sense and learning about the behind the scenes
and why things are the way they are in our industry.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
You know, you know, just before you tell another Beatles story,
it's probably a good time to throw another break.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
I have to break.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
We be going to talk about, well, how following it
must be now that you're the family as well.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Break.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Yeah, that was great.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
We should have heard the whole home we did.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Hey, welcome back to page talk with Lehard met Ward
and we've got specialis Kayie Bell before we talk about
your new album, which is coming out next week. A
lot going on outside music.
Speaker 5 (18:40):
Yeah, new baby, new little baby boy James. He was
born at the end of January and so I.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Haven't really remembered for anything since. Yeah, seven months old. Yeah,
he's he's been everywhere.
Speaker 5 (18:52):
He The best part was that before he was even born,
I had to I had in New Zealand asking me
for his name, which I'm like, do I need to
decide this like today on the phone.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
So I couldn't book any fly.
Speaker 5 (19:10):
So that was the first thing, and then he was
We actually had our first gig six weeks after I
gave birth, so basically we had James. We had him
like registering for a passport day two. I mean, you've
got to get a picture of this poor little baby
with their eyes open looking.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
But yeah, so his eyes.
Speaker 5 (19:31):
Are commuter generated, because how you get a baby to
open their eyes for a basketball is beyond me.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
That's but obviously you know that time came.
Speaker 4 (19:43):
The birth was months ago, but of course before that
was pregnancy and stuff.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
That's when you would have been working and writing the
album recording it.
Speaker 5 (19:50):
Yeah, so we found out, So I actually didn't think
I'd ever be able to have a child. So we
found out we were having a baby when I was
in Nashville June last year, and so I just signed
American management, booking agencies like all the things, and so
it was just like a huge like shock, and so
then year we kind of just went into planning mode.
My partner works in my band and runs all that
(20:12):
stuff as well, so we're both very much like aligned
with like our path and goals in life. So we
were just like, well, let's just make this happen and
do it the best we can. And so I spent
a bunch of time in America and wrote a bunch
of the record in New York in Nashville, and we
made most of it and over in Nashville. Then I
(20:32):
flew my producer back to New Zealand and December last year,
which was like getting to that point of like, I
think it was like thirty four weeks pregnant when you
just like can't fly anymore. We'd just come off the
Cane Brown tour in Australia and I was at that
point of like I need.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
To slow down.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
And so yeah, my.
Speaker 5 (20:48):
Producer, Tom Jordan, flew out from Nashville and we made
the record at home last year, which was pretty cool way.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Of doing it. Matt's got young kids as well, oh nice.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
And two, so there's lots still look forward to. Yeah,
if you got a seven months old, ye okay, if
they start crawling, they start eating adult food, which is just.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Like you've imagine making an album during that.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
Time, an album at all, and you were just treading
in the wa washhouse, which I mean, did those emotions,
you know, of having a child and make its way
in all into the album, into any songs or yeah,
maybe recorded or folt.
Speaker 5 (21:21):
There's a song on there called Heartbeat, which was that
moment of finding out I was pregnant. Like I said,
I didn't think we were able to have children, so
it was like an absolute shock. Obviously, I went into
a songwriter in Nashville and actually kind of broke down
into tears and was like, this is what's happening, and
there was no way we could have written anything else
that day. I always find songwriting it's kind of like
counseling in a really good way, Like you're talking to
(21:43):
strangers about your life, like your most personal details becoming
apparent as you know, like you just grow right and
you think about life so differently. And I'm just looking
at the world now, like what it's actually going to
look like for James and you know, when he's my
age or whatever, and so there's actually I just feel
like I've kind of just unlocked this thing that's happening
now and I just can't stop writing songs about him,
(22:04):
and it's crazy.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
Yes, so I'm excited.
Speaker 5 (22:07):
There's another song called Mankind, like the whole Premius office
is like you raise the boy, right, you make the
man kind and like that's like the idea behind the
snake song that I'm just like super excited about.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Whereas if I did After Ride album right now, I'd
probably be songs called pipe down, Stop talking about yourself?
Speaker 3 (22:27):
What age do you start the toilet training?
Speaker 1 (22:29):
That's what I want to You don't want to start
it too early. That's the problem because they just you
want I have falls. Yeah, that's good.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
That's a good.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Well, let's talk about the album.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
Then.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
It's called Cowboy.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
It is called Cowboy Up.
Speaker 4 (22:43):
I'm coming out on vinyls CD and also obviously live
stream CD.
Speaker 5 (22:47):
Yeah, so weirdly like and I'll probably say Australians mostly
like my Australian market.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Love a CD.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
And do you know what I think it is.
Speaker 5 (22:56):
I think it's when you're out driving a tractor around
a peddock and you just get sick of Spotify cudding
in and out and you're like, put on a goddamn CD, right,
Like it's got to be where it comes from, because
I have been shocked that people still buy CDs, but
they do.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
It's amazing.
Speaker 5 (23:10):
That's making a comeback, I know, and cassette tapes I
think are coming back to which I do love a
cassette tape. But I'm most excited about vinyl. To me,
vinyl like it's a piece of art. It's like a
collector's item, isn't it. So that's the part that I'm
most excited about.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
You've got the whole cover, You've got.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
All the DJ room to sign.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
You know, you want to leave people a nice little
message heart? Can we please be best friends?
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Are there? We go? So when you go to Nashville,
when you stay, you've got to place there.
Speaker 5 (23:41):
You just got.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Okay, there's a few parts of this.
Speaker 5 (23:43):
First first years, I used to sleep on people's couches,
do all the things right. Obviously got a flat a
few years ago, so I was living with some Australians
in Nashville in a place called Bellevue, which is like
out west.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
And then recently I did this.
Speaker 5 (23:57):
I lived in New York for a month and stayed
in this hotel, did a residency, played for them like
a couple of nights a week, which was genuinely like
one of the coolest things I've ever done New York
in the summer, like lived my best life. And they
own a bunch of hotels in Nashville. So our recent
experience of Nashville, which we'd never done before, we took
Baby James, my partner, came and we got to stay
(24:18):
in like one of the most pimp and like hotels downtown.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
CMA fist was on.
Speaker 5 (24:23):
We could like walk everywhere, go back and share and
charge your phone, all the things that I've just never like,
I've always just been like running ragged around Nashville during
CMA like an absolute mess. And so if you guys
are going, I highly recommend doing doing the downtown thing.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
Downtown thing. Yeah, and Broadway have you seen Broadway before?
Speaker 5 (24:40):
Like Broadway is just like I can't It's like Vegas conky.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Tonks, It's like Memphis but more just like.
Speaker 5 (24:49):
Bigger, more neon, brighter, Like everywhere you're walking, it's just
like the soundboard of just like band band, band, band, band,
like all the wagon wheels, all the songs that you
could possibly expect to hear all down Broadway, and it's
like it's just so much fun.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
So when you're back in New Zealand, are you back
down South or are you.
Speaker 5 (25:09):
Mum and Dad still live in all my family live
around christ Church and so we always go down to
Mom and dads for Christmas and will very much be
making sure that James is brought up with knowing that
he's a can tab.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
That's important stuff. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:25):
I know you've been busy your week obviously doing promo
and stuff, and you're probably chanted. But the chance you
might want to play a couple of chords.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
You can play some cards. Do you want to play
some chords with me?
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Sure, okay, cool. We've got special guest, Kayleie Bell, who's
got a guitar and her also sort of croat.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
I tell you I was did you just prehim this?
Speaker 2 (25:48):
I've always had one line around here somewhere.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
But so here we go. I think we should jam.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Okay, something off the new album? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (25:54):
Maybe can we do the title track?
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Definitely your new album? My album?
Speaker 3 (25:58):
Yes, sorry not to be mistaken for your new album.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Do you want to microne off?
Speaker 2 (26:04):
It'll lead through anywhere?
Speaker 3 (26:06):
So he says, we'll just do a versal course of
Cowboy Elpy.
Speaker 5 (26:10):
We were in left, he ride on track, my friends
out front, the cars barked down back. We had everything
we needed, and you treating me like baby I know
one who Yeah, you haul the stars, I hug the moon.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
You're brown. I was cut my baby loose.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
He there was.
Speaker 5 (26:39):
Sawing the whiskey got me thinking maybe we couldn't have
it all.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Yeah after all. But now it's He'll tolling around we
go with the rodeopen on my first baby boots tapping
you pulled me back, Kelly.
Speaker 5 (26:55):
Ahead of that, it's he hated baby, Drive your cat
go crazy, read good, sky da Drea, be the reason
why you fall yep, yes on this se laugh cow yeah, cowe.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
That takes me back to wear I used to play
you know.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
That was great playing thank you. We just had our
first jam session.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
So that was the tit effect of the new album.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
Absolutely, that song had a bit of a journey.
Speaker 5 (27:30):
Actually I teased it on TikTok and then it kind
of was one of those songs that like started having
some noise and then I was like, oh crap, I
have to like find a producer and do all the things.
And it actually took me nine months. And I'm going
to tell the story because I don't do this very often,
but I cold messaged a guy called travel Titleman on Instagram.
(27:51):
He misses me straight back and he's like, I'm in
Nashville this week, love to do the song.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
And I was like, well, that really wasn't that hard?
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Meant to be?
Speaker 3 (27:56):
Meant to be.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
That's good because we pretty much just cold message all guests.
Speaker 5 (28:00):
This podcast so brilliant, it works sometimes right exactly.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
So how about your sort of process and is a
sort of work. Are you a lyric person or do
you sort of hummer tune that you know and then
you will put the meat into the words to that sort.
Speaker 5 (28:17):
Of Yeah, that's a great question because it's different for everybody,
as you can imagine. Like I think for me, it's
like I have a lot of voice notes on my
phone and that's from like moments of inspo, whether that
be driving the car or in the shower or whatever.
It is, like that's when like a melody and an idea,
like a feeling. Like I said about like so Keith
Urban writes a lot of stuff just by like the
(28:40):
chorus or like a melody, and I think I do
also start a lot of my songs that way and
then it kind of to me that kind of sets
the tone of should this be like a positive up
song or is this like a slow ballad and then
at least I'm starting to work out like where this
song will live, and then I actually start a lot
of songs with song titles. I feel like I'm always
writing stuff down on my phone, like little gems that
(29:02):
I'm thinking of through the day, or hear people say
I think a song title in like a hook. So
Nashville is big on hooks, Like the last two lines
of the chorus will like hook you in. And it's
often got the song title win it. And so that's
another thing that I absolutely love, just trying to chase that.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Yeah, havebout emotions. I mean a lot of people.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
Find it easier to write about breakups and stuff or
when I'm more emotionally, you know, in turmoil right, nasty
blues or love songs.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Or anything like that.
Speaker 4 (29:32):
I'm not talking Taylor Swift, I'm not talking even beatles
and stuff. But it's amazing if you're in a really
happy place where your life's going, really get a lot.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Out of mediocrity or what do you call it. It's
so traige life you almost.
Speaker 5 (29:50):
Need I always think that's why the UK is so
good at music, right because most of the time the
weathers crap and their depressed, and you're right and it
does a lot of music does come from those places.
And so that's what I think is the most magical
thing about songwriting.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
It's like it's healing, it's like counseling.
Speaker 5 (30:05):
It's like you walk into a room and there's nothing,
and you walk out with a song like what a
wild creation?
Speaker 3 (30:11):
Like were just that?
Speaker 4 (30:12):
To me?
Speaker 5 (30:12):
I'm always just like that comes from so many different things, right,
It comes from inspiration, it comes from just there's so
many things involved with writing a song what a can't
do And that's exactly right. So in terms of like
should we be worried a little bit, but there's also
that human element that it just can never replicate totally.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
So you don't have to tour this album as well,
Now Zealand, that's.
Speaker 5 (30:32):
Going to be Yeah, it's terror New Zealand is. I mean,
you've done it plenty of times, I'm sure, and not really.
You could be on our rider, we could have well
Snacker Changy on the rider.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Don't worry about that time.
Speaker 5 (30:46):
Okay, done done, Deale, you're coming on to it, but
yes we are going on to it. And touring New
Zealand is something that I never thought I'd get the
chance to do. As we talked about, country wasn't very
big here growing up. The last three years of touring
has I feel like we've seen that change. And the
amount of kids that come to our show I think
is so cool. That's to me, is like that just
shows as a whole new generation of kids that like.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Country music, which is great.
Speaker 5 (31:10):
And yeah, this tour particularly, we're just sort of previously
we've done a lot of regional stuff, which I love.
Like growing up small town, you realize how starved of
things like music you are, and so I always like
when I get that time to tour, I always wanted
to go back to my hometown and get to the regions.
And I feel like we've done that with the last
two tours and it was some of the coolest memories
(31:33):
that I have. But with this tour, with obviously scheduling Baby,
they's at the big cities and play some venues that
we are bucket lists, you know, like the Civic and
Auckland is a bucket list.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
How does that work? You strap on the front pack.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
And on the stage and.
Speaker 5 (31:54):
Yeah, but he like we are trying to normalize having
him on the road. Which I think as a woman
in music is really important. I pay value to the
people that have done that before me and showing me
what it looks like to be a mum, particularly in
the music industry, which is still an industry.
Speaker 4 (32:09):
Probably in the dark past, it was a case of yeah,
well yeah years.
Speaker 5 (32:15):
Yeah, and so I've really tried to make a point
of continuing on and juggling things, and it's just meant
that I've had to be way more organized. But I also,
like I said, I want to have him out on
the road with us and just show that you can
do both. I think is a really important kind of
statement to make to other women and music, you know,
like for them to see it as well. Yeah, So
tickets available and I always do. I do these meet
(32:37):
and greets after the show every night for free, where
I literally stand and hug and say hi to every
single person that comes, because I think that's such a
cool way to connect with people and you know, get
to know people out on the road as well.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
Leaves to do that, but the sort of people just
stopped coming a couple of minutes.
Speaker 4 (32:54):
Yeah, Kayley, thanks so much for coming all the way
up to Eco Lodge. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
It's pretty beautiful, wasn't it? Would you would you leave?
Would you go?
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Or is actually kind of like Hotel California. It doesn't
look I can't actually do a.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
Lot of my songwriting thinking and then drinking.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
Really not necessarily in that order.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
No, No, definitely in the other order. Where are the
best songs come from?
Speaker 2 (33:20):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (33:21):
Beautiful, Thanks Kaylene, thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
Guys love it.
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