November 27, 2020 • 45 mins
Get ready to dance your way out of the darkness: Kylie Minogue joins host Joe Levy to talk about how she finished her new album, Disco, at home while in lockdown.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Inside the Studio presented by I Heart Radio.
I'm your host, Joe Levy. Okay, fire up the strobe lights,
get out the mirror ball. If you want, we can
(00:22):
get on Amazon and order up a bubble machine. I
just checked. They're pretty inexpensive. But let's get all that
gear together because my guest to this episode is Kylie Minogue,
whose new album Disco is a quarantine dance party in
pretty much every sense, by which I mean it's not
just an album guaranteed to get you up off the
(00:46):
couch and onto whatever passes for a dance floor in
the COVID bubble of your choice, but also that this
album was recorded in part during lockdown. Some songs were
written over zoom calls. Kylie had to set up microphones
at home teach herself to use some recording software like
(01:06):
Logic and pro Tools so she could capture her vocals
on her own when she could not get to a
studio to finish her fifteen studio album, And that fifteen
studio album is also the first Kylie album on which
she gets a credit for additional vocal production. Disco is
(01:26):
update on some vintage seventies dance floor romance. Songs like
I Love It and Missing Things celebrate the kind of
fun that starts well after sundown and ends shortly before
or after sunrise. And though the hasn't exactly been a
good year, it's been a surprisingly good year for albums
(01:51):
that chase that sort of after sundown, just before sunrise
kind of fun. There's dualas future and nostalgia. With arrived
at the end of March, so that's a dance party
that we got just as the world was grinding to
a halt. Lady Gaga's Chromatica got that at the end
of May, Jesse Waars What's Your Pleasure came a month
(02:13):
after that at the end of June, and now November
has brought us Kylie's Disco. Maybe it's a little strange
that a year in which dance floors have been off
limits has also been a good year for albums celebrating
the joys of dancing, But it's certainly worth remembering all
these albums had their roots in pre pandemic times, and
(02:37):
those pre pandemic times in only seem untroubled in comparison
to the universality of our troubles these days, so it's
also worth remembering that disco has always been a music
of liberation, the same way that rock and roll was
back in the nineteen fifties, when Elvis the Pelvis shook
(02:59):
his ups and Little Richard first let loose the power
of two D fruity. In all these cases, dancing was
a way of putting liberation into motion, and Kylie actually
talked about just this. I've found all these correlations between
disco music and this year that disco was born out
of darkness, it was born out of struggle and adversity
(03:21):
and people trying to find a place to belong and
be accepted and expressed themselves and all of that kind
of stuff. People clearly have been creating just the sort
of escapism and liberation that Kylie's disco album offers. I mean,
it entered the charts at number one, making Kylie one
of six artists who have topped the UK album charts
(03:44):
in five consecutive decades. And those other artists are Paul McCartney,
John Lennon, Paul Weller, Bruce Springsteen, David Gilmore and now
Kylie Minogue. And I think it's fair to say that
Kylie looks a lot better in sequence than any of
those dudes, just like I also think it's fair to
say that, like a lot of women making great pop music,
(04:07):
she never quite gets the credit she deserves. And she
started out in the late eighties pop factory of stock
Akin and Waterman. Those are the guys who gave the
world Rick Astley is never going to give you up,
and early Kylie hits like Hand on Your Heart or
her cover of Locomotion are in eternal sugar high. So
(04:31):
Kylie's ability to turn that kind of start into a
long lasting career that puts her in the company of
Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen is pretty astounding. And it's
a combination of determination, experimentation, and some glamour kissed reinvention.
I mean, she spent the nineties being all sorts of
(04:54):
different Kylie's Got Kylie duetting with Nick Cave, trip Hop,
Kylie getting Loozy on put Yourself in My Place, all
rock Higlie working with two of the Manic Street Preachers
on some kind of Bliss, which I just played for
the first time in a long time and it sounds
like the theme song to a lost James Bond movie.
(05:16):
And she did all of this before settling into playing
old iconic Kylie by the two thousand and one album Fever,
which gave us the immortal hit Can't Get You out
of My Head. How immortal you can actually hear? Jesse
Ware paid tribute to Can't Get You out of My
Head on the title track to her disco album What's
(05:39):
Your Pleasure, in much the same way to Can't Get
You out of My Head picked up the robo disco
sound of Georgio Moroder's Midnight It's Breast soundtrack. In other words,
Kylie herself is now the kind of classic sound that
she paid tribute to in two thousand and one, then
(06:00):
she's paying tribute to all over disco. Kylie talked with
me about how the roots of this new album go
back to a pretty elaborate concept that accompanied the tour
for her previous albums Golden, which she had recorded in
Nashville and which she described at the time as Dolly
(06:20):
Parton standing on a dance floor. And she also talked
about what it was like to go from playing a
concert in Brazil and really hitting her stride in March
recording this album to having the pandemic shut everything down,
and the challenges of making this kind of dance music
(06:41):
with collaborators. She's never had the opportunity to meet her
celebrate now their success with face to face. Here's what
else she had to say. Kylie, welcome to inside the
studio and congratulations on the success of Disco. We're talking
just a couple of days after the album has gone
(07:02):
into the UK charts at number one. So this makes
it your eighth number one album and it sets a
record of its own. You are now the first female
artist to have a number one album in the UK
in five separate decades. It's crazy, right, How does it?
What does that feel like? I know I have to
explain that I'm fifty two and it's been five decades,
(07:25):
so it's it's um. It does sound like you started
making records when you were two years. Someone on Twitter
the other day said, wow, you know, five number ones
in in five centuries? Wow? Five centuries an accomplishment you
would you would mean making records in prehistoric times. Yeah. Yeah,
(07:50):
there are some days where it feels, you know, I
may feel like it's been that long, but no, it's
an incredible feat. I had no idea of this impending
stat when I was making the album, which was just
as well, because I've really kind of felt the pressure
leading up to the release. But yeah, so late eighties,
(08:10):
the first year of the ties um that's how they
have managed to kind of shoehorn that statistic in there.
But nevertheless, I'm really proud of it. Yeah, No, I mean,
I love the fact that there's a there's another stat
The Beatles, Elvis Presley, the Stones, Bob Dylan, they've all
had number ones in five decades, but not consecutively, not
(08:32):
five consecutive decades the way you had, right, So they
really Beatles should really work on their consistency a little more.
I think, yeah, oh yeah, well, gosh, amazing company. And
to be the first UM female, the first solo female
to do it's it's it's nuts. Yeah. Well, let's talk
about disco and how it came to be, how how
(08:54):
this party got started. So you you finished the tour
for for your last album, Golden, I think in March
of and then you were back recording just about six
months after that, back in the studio, and the Golden
tour did have a studio fifty four section. When you
got to Locomotion, that song started with a little Donna
summer shout shout out a little bad girls, Beep Beep two,
(09:16):
two and and And is that where this disco idea
started or was it something else for you? Well, I
think it's been a lifelong love affair of disco anyway,
but certainly leading up to this album, You're right, the
Golden Tour in we had this loose narrative for the show,
(09:37):
which no one in the audience needed to totally get,
but just have the sense of. And so I'm gonna
have to I've got to rewind a bit just to
get to how we got to disco. Um. When we
started rehearsals for the Golden Tour, just in conversation, we're
trying to come up with this narrative, and we came
(09:59):
up with this idea that what if Donna Summer had
she was in Los Angeles and she had a gig
that night in New York. I had to get to
New York on the next night. I don't understand time
difference in this moment, but you know, she's got to
get to New York to appear at Studio fifty four.
But the planes canceled, there's a storm, there's whatever. The
(10:19):
flights canceled, and so our narrative was this kind of
cross country journey and arriving at Studio fifty four. Thus,
the penultimate part of the concert is our version of
Studio fifty four. And every time I would get to
that part of the show, not least because it was
a home stretch. So it's like, Okay, I think we've
(10:40):
made it through another show and everyone's kind of peaking
it by this stage. But it just felt like such
a it felt like home to me. I mean, I've
never been to Studio fifty four. It's it's a fantasy
for me. But I think it's so it's it's um
imagery that the music that it's presence is still was
strong that you can kind of, you know, insert yourself
(11:04):
in a fantasy landscape to Studio fifty four. So yeah,
that's what I thought, Okay, next album, this is where
I want to be. So after the Greatest Hits Tour
in twenty nine thing, that's when I went into the
studio and yeah, disco became a thing for me. Yeah, no,
(11:24):
quite evidently, So so that was the idea even you
started in in about September of last year, and I
think one of the first songs we heard the very
first single, say Anything, I think came from the first session. Yeah,
it's exactly for the first session for the album. Did
you have the idea in mind then? Did you think, yeah,
we're making a disco album right from the start? Um.
(11:47):
When I went in for that session, it was it
was more it was more for fun and just to
kind of settle myself. And I wanted to put um
Biffs at it, Biff Standard and John Green together because
I've worked with for a long time John just for
a short time. Well, I was quite sure that something
(12:09):
good would come of putting the three of this in
a room together. Um. So yeah, I hadn't although disco
is our dance floors on my mind. Um, I think
with this particular session, I didn't want to label it
as anything. Just let's get together and see what happens.
And that's when Say Something was written. And then earlier
(12:31):
this year, once we decided, okay, the album it's going
to be called disco. This is the lane that we're
going down. And for a while I was I was thinking,
how how say Something going to fit into this because
we didn't write that disco in mind, but we've felt
like it had a bit of state of independence kind
of feeling. I mean, we wish but you know, kind
of could latch onto that in a kind of seventies vibe,
(12:56):
and it turned out had enough to be in the
disco theme. But I didn't go into that session saying
fellas it's disco, right. But it's also so striking because
it is the first single we heard from this record,
and it comes from last September, so it's from the
before times before we you know, before COVID. But thematically,
(13:19):
when when you first heard it, you know that that
opening line, we're a million miles apart in a thousand,
a thousand ways, it felt so of the moment. It
felt almost like it was created in reaction to to
where we were. Yeah, I mean, I've heard a number
of artists say similar things with songs that they wrote
(13:40):
just before drama of I guess it's just a reminder
of the power of music that making it is one thing,
but how it translates and what it becomes in the
real world is is something you can't predict. You can't
you can't even really manifest. You just have to let
it go and see what happens. First thing, I didn't
(14:01):
know if that song would even make it on the album.
It was so beautifully odd that I was I was
kind of preparing to resign myself to potentially the fact
that they would. They the label would say, yeah, we
pould like it, but we just don't think it's going
to hit the mark. So then when it was on
the album and then selected as the first unanimously as
(14:23):
the first single, I just I thought I kicked a
goal through the posts. There we go. And then this
year through Lockdown, when I finished was finishing the album
at home and listened to that song in its in
its stages because we added to it and developed it
through this year, And there was one day I listened
to it just outside, and I mean it just it
(14:43):
was like we didn't we hadn't written it. It was
like it fell from the sky and it was saying
something that we needed to hear. It was amazing, I
mean sad and wonderful and amazing. You know you you
just mentioned the all the drama of do I have
(15:05):
this right? Did I read that? Right before Lockdown started?
You had a concert in Brazil? Yeah, I had in
San Paula, like about just about a week before I
did so, sixth of March. I'm not great with dates,
but I definitely remember the sixth of March because we
(15:27):
knew that there was uncertainty in the air, and I
would say for the two weeks leading up to that gig,
I was just waiting for the phone call saying canceled,
We're not going, which would have been absolutely fine, of course,
but yeah, we went, and it was just it was
that last It was my last big show, and thankfully
we all got there and back and everyone was safe.
(15:49):
And that's great to hear how big those Brazilian crowds
can be, cuge, how big a crowd was. It wasn't
one of those mega, enormous, endless brazil million crowds. It
wasn't like a rock and Rio or something like that,
but it was a sizeable crowd whose passion. I mean,
I don't think I heard anything four songs. I literally
(16:12):
was looking at my band, looking at my sound monitor guy,
just like I'm singing. I could I don't know if
I'm singing remotely and key in time. It was just
like this this wave of emotion. And I know they're
famous for it, but we still hadn't quite prepared ourselves
for it. So yeah, my last big show that I
did is you know still ringing in my ears? Actually sorry,
(16:35):
the last show full stop and just under the Wire too,
because if that's March six, I guess that's about ten
days before the stay at Home orders come down. And
how much of the album was was done by that
because you you were you at that point had the
concept in mind and some songs finished. Yeah, So I
(16:58):
would have been in the studio before going to sub
polo and then for sure when I got back, and
I would say even in those last a few days
between arriving back from Spollo and the lockdown in London,
I was we were I say we were. We were
(17:19):
at a strong cantor not galloping, but a strong canter
as far as the album goes like We've got you know,
you work so hard every day and then I mean
I get consumed by it. So I was in and
out of studios until the day before Lockdown. Actually, I
think maybe the day before Lockdown we wrote I Love It.
But we were aware in various sessions and different writers
(17:41):
that Lockdown was blooming. It hadn't been um, it wasn't
the date wasn't determined, but we were aware of it.
So it was definitely creeping into the writing process at
that time. So two questions, what's that like, you're you're
you're in a cantor you're you're making this record and
it's a dance party record and then everything stops? And
(18:07):
what were you feeling at that moment when things ground
to a halt. Was there any sense of, oh, maybe
maybe it's time for a sad singer songwriter record or
are we really going to the disco still? I mean, what,
how how soon were you back at work and what
were your feevors? You know what. I'd have to even
(18:28):
I'd have to look at emails and messages because it's
a bit of a blur that time. As soon as
lockdown happened and there wasn't There were no no planes,
hard any cars. It was just that eerie silence, the uncertainty.
We didn't know if this was this two weeks, three weeks,
are we going to kind of go back to normal
(18:49):
or so we all thought. We all thought a month
would be a long time, like it'll be over a month,
come on, Yes, So I think it was I want
to say, maybe three weeks or so before I really
started thinking about I could be wrong at the time
that even now, time is very strange, you know, was
(19:12):
was it this morning or was it six months ago?
Which Thursday is this? Is this the Thursday that was yesterday?
Or the Thursday that the same, right exactly? So anyway,
I think when it became evident that we weren't going back,
you know, I'm not going to see you in the studio,
then I must have, you know, I wanted to carry on.
(19:35):
I don't even know how this was decided, or whether
I spoke to one of my producers and said, well,
let's try and do remote. I actually can't remember it was.
It's all a bit of a haze around there. But
I did remember that I had a basic microphone and
an interface somewhere. Thankfully it was in my home and
(19:58):
I found it in a cupboard, which to me it
was the first miracle. I had never used them before.
So I was thinking, right, okay, it looks like it
looks like that cable goes with that, and I think
I could. I mean, I've never plugged I've never plugged
it in. So I was sending pictures to one of
my producers says, yeah, that looks all right, Yeah, you
(20:18):
just do that that and that, and start on garage
but garage band, and you know, we can at least
get some demos done. We weren't thinking about remote recording
like proper session recording, just carrying on the writing process.
And so we did it like that for a little bit,
and then it wasn't too long before one of my
other producers, Timmy Brunilla, who's I mean, they're all a bit.
(20:43):
They're all a bit often like anyway with their equipment
and the gear and how you technically do this. But
Timu was amazing. He arranged the mic for me, he
was talking with the people in um where were they
in nodding him? I think was a company that collated
all the pieces together, sorted out the laptop with pro tools,
(21:03):
with logic, with just the stuff I needed, and did
test sessions with them. So he was like my my
fairy team, my fairy princess. And he's a finish writer
producer who worked on the first three tracks I know, Magic,
miss a Thing, Real Groove, he worked on all of those.
(21:23):
And do I have this right? You've never actually met
him face to face? Correct. I was due to fly
to l A for a two week writing session with him.
In March, so obviously that didn't happen, so we did
everything remotely. Yeah, I only know him from the waist
up in two dimensional form. I cannot wait to meet.
How did you first connect? Then you were going to
(21:46):
go for a writing session in l A. How did
how did the two of you come together to get
even that on the calendar? That was from the song Magic,
which my I and r Jamie Nelson got hold of
and we all fell in love with that track. We thought,
this is this is really good and also the real
group and missed thing. So the Trifector, the first three
(22:09):
songs um had seem Me on them, so that felt
like I finished those with with the writers and producers.
But yeah, we he was like we felt like he
could be a conduit for us to access disco, but
have it cool and have a kind of for one
of a better way to say itause, I'm sure this
(22:29):
has been used to thousand times and put my stamp
on it and a modern stamp on it as opposed
to it being a pastiche and cover. Because any disco
songs you're going to reference, you can't. There's no point
to do them again. They're just perfect and that became
a bit of a you know, like something to contend with. Actually,
you'd think, on paper, Kylie disco, Sure, we'll do this
(22:53):
in no time, but actually it was it really required
a bit of um, you know, chipping away, looking from
different angles and how close can we go to it,
you know, referencing Abba Begs, Donna, Summer Shake, etcetera, etcetera.
Because what you wanted to make wasn't just a disco
in a sense of, oh, we're gonna make a dance
(23:14):
pop record which maybe has some thumb popping bass on
a tracker. To you, you know you you were referencing
and taking inspiration from a lot of classic grooves. I
know you brought up Lionel Richie. You just mentioned Abba
and I definitely hear that on a couple of different tracks.
Donna Summer Studio fifty four is mentioned. You know, like
(23:36):
the touchstones are all there, and if you've got to
set those as your touchdones, you you you better get
the group better be right. But you also wanted to
be something more than we We would start some things
and go, okay, let's get a baseline that's similar to
blah blah, I kind of remember what but just didn't
(23:57):
hit you know. So anyway, thanks to amazing producers and
tenacity and as I say, chipping away and looking at
it from different angles, we got there. And it transpires
that the roots of disco are seventies my you know,
I fell in love with disco back then, but then
it morphed through the years and there's a bit of
(24:17):
eighties electronica, um you know, some some parts of that
then even some self referencing in early two thousand's when
I had a bit of disc like a bit of
electro disco then. So yeah, it's turned out to be
a thankfully not just rooted in this, not just a
tracing And it's so interesting to me be you were
(24:38):
just talking about recording your vocals at home. You started
out with the idea that you were going to work
on demos, and you ended up with a vocal engineering
and production credit on the record. Like you you had
to learn a little bit of uh studio craft as
it were. And I love the idea that your your
(24:58):
studio seems to have been in a cupboard but then
grew into a more sophisticated Yeah, it was in boxes
in the cupboard. Yeah, I ended up I took delivery
of one microphone that timod source for me from Finland
that was broken in transit. You wouldn't know what to
(25:20):
look at it. But yeah, we tried recording on that
and it was just you know, like in Lockdown, everything
took so much longer. Delivery vans were, you know, just
to get a delivery of anything. So I completely understood
that it took longer to get these bits and pieces
and then for that part to a write, well a
very important part to arrive and be broken. So we
(25:41):
got a long story shot again, we got another one
by the time. It's funny when you have these experiences
and your home alone, so there's no one to share
it with and to kind of share that memory with.
I'm just thinking back to receiving all the other parts,
your stand, your pop shielders, surround the interface, that top
that like just all of it with you know, wrestling
(26:03):
the boxes and up and down the stairs and where
do they go, and it must all looked pretty hilarious.
But when the microphone arrived in this box like a
like a flight case, just like a little yeah flight case,
and I swear to God when I opened it up,
there might have been angels going. I was like, ah,
there it is, like this is this is it? Unpack
(26:26):
it and I just remember that you don't drop the microphone.
Don't drop it. Tim's team is explained to me to
make sure it's always off when you move. Just basics
you get stuff. But I've never had to do it before.
So yeah, I got it set up in my lounge room.
But that's not that's not until I had already set
(26:47):
it up elsewhere and had my first connection with Timy
to test it, and he said, m that sounds terrible,
like that's I just think small room. But I had
to take everything out of the room to get the
stuff into the room. It wasn't a size of a couvert,
but small enough. So then I thought, okay, I'm going
to move. I moved it again to the lounge room
(27:08):
and then I had to kind of try and sound
proof it enough. So I got boardrobe racks and had
Dubet's I don't know if you call them dubets over there, dooners,
Dubet's rug just kind of whatever I could. So you
had to build a little a little pillow for it
is it were to kind of dampen the sound of it.
(27:28):
Thankfully it didn't have to be, because I've seen some
great pictures through a lockdown of actors doing a d
R where they literally kind of under two chairs with
a dot on top of it. I didn't have to
go to that extreme, but just just try and dull
the room a bit for that for that additional dialogue
recording that they have to create their own whisper room,
(27:50):
which basically means you have to put a blanket over you. Yeah,
so I wasn't. I wasn't kind of hunched under or anything.
I have my space, but yeah, what a what a
crazy time. So again I didn't, you know, I didn't
really know when we would finish. There was no date
that we said it has to be finished by this time.
And I've asked myself if I hadn't started recording before Lockdown,
(28:14):
would i've what would I have written? If anything? I
think it was easy for me to continue because, as
I said before, we had our momentum and got the
d n A. We've kind of broken the back of
what's the soundscape of this album? This is it? We
just need we just need to keep writing and writing
until we think we've got all the songs. So I
(28:35):
think that was the that helped me be that tenacious
through lockdown and throw myself into it. Those are some
of the rewards, are the pleasure of having a purpose
(28:56):
of direction, something to do during this time. But but
what were some of the challenges, Because you've talked a
little bit, talked a little bit about working remotely miss
the thing and having a bit of a meltdown working
with him. Yeah, I will say, to me, write some
amazing melodies, and I think the picture of his and
(29:19):
he's got amazing voice, very unique equality to it. And
so when I was finishing those songs with him, and
we're going through singing it through and through before we
got to recording, even then I said, do you think
what about taking it down a half a tone or
maybe even a full tone? Is okay, Sure, let's try that.
We'll try it. And and then I've just got to
(29:41):
call a spade a spade. And he's right, and I
know it because I can hear it myself. It's like
it's just not not hitting the same. But even though
I was thinking this is a this is going to
be just a more challenging song to sing parts of it.
So when we got to recording it. We I would
record with Timo, then he would work with his his
(30:02):
co producer, Nico Study in l A. So this just
this kind of triangle on that on those records, and
a lot of that was really getting used to the
remote set up, getting used to my mic, which he
loved and sky adam so everyone loved that. You know,
the setup worked. But for those from Mrs Mr Think particularly,
(30:23):
I would like, I've never been closer to a mike,
some kind of you say you right on, like I
could not and literally could not be closer to them,
like okay, okay, good go. And I was just one
of those ones that was a bit of a challenge
for me, and we, ah, now it's coming back to me.
We did the vocals for that, they went to Nico,
they came back to Team, they produced them, and then
(30:44):
he said, now we've now we know what to do
with this mike. Could we do it again? Could we
re record those bits? And I was thinking, yeah, sure sure,
because then he realized to get that sound on that song,
you needed me really close on the mic. So we
did it again. And when you're that close in the mic,
there's nowhere to run or hide. It's like every every
(31:08):
teeny thing you do, you just I don't know, it's
like it's like being enough so you mean, it picks
up every noise you're making, your mouth everything, so you're
so close. And it was a day that I was exhausted.
I think we got back to rerecording it kind of
(31:29):
near the end or having done. You know, I'm trying
to remember four or five weeks in a row of
really going for it and me kind of almost executive
producing the album, myself setting updates and juggling people and
kids and deliveries and foods and not my kids, them
(31:51):
and their kids, and acknowledging the stress of lockdown, simultaneously
knowing I'm one of the lucky ones I can work
and and be creative. But still it um it did
get to me at a point. And I think it
just when we were doing the re record for Miss
the Thing, because I was I felt a bit challenged
(32:12):
by anyway. I didn't go the full cry, but Timu could.
You know, by this time, I've spent many, many, many
hours with Timu. And it's like that in the studio,
whether you're in an actual studio or a remote studio,
you can't. You can't hide what's happening in your real life.
And I think it could have been any of my
producers that you know, it's if you're working with good,
(32:32):
understanding people and you're having a day where you just
can't quite do it. So like timor I just I
think what it did was just awful. Can we I
might have to call it a day, And he's like,
no problem, no problem. The irony is he used the
vocals from that day, So it was more my mind
that was messing with me than actually what I was singing. Um,
(32:55):
So yeah, definitely with everyone I worked with remotely, we
were all riding out a little roller coasters of emotions
each time. Let me ask you about that about working remotely, because,
as you say, when you're in a studio, it can be,
you know, a long pressured situation. Some songs, some days,
(33:19):
some nights can go on forever. But there are people around,
and when you're working on a track, you can sense
in the room whether it's working or not. But when
you're working remotely, particularly on dance music, and there's no
dance floor around or maybe nobody to dance, how do
you know when it's working? Did you did you like
(33:41):
test drive or test dance some of these songs or
how did you know when they were right? Good question. No,
there wasn't really a dance test, just the same way
as usual, I guess, but it was. It was very
(34:03):
weird not to be able to be in the room together.
And even towards the end of like finishing up the album,
we're still saying, well, maybe maybe when it's released we
can have a listening party just the people who worked
on it. No, we can't, so we still haven't had
that moment, and I as and when we can, I
(34:24):
would dearly love to have everyone who know all my
producers who worked on this and co writers, just like
to have our own really daggy disco, like the worst
disco over but well, it would be the best thing
ever for us. It's certainly know all the words. You
deserve it if anyone deserves a dance party, celebration. I
(34:45):
mean you guys who've made this record do. But you
mentioned Sky Adams before, and I want to ask you
about Sky. You worked with him on Golden and he
contributed a lot to this record, and he worked on
two my favorite tracks, U super No and Celebrate. You
tell me about him. Tell me about working with him.
How did you guys first connect and what is working
(35:07):
with him? Like, we're first connected. I didn't connect with him,
but he came into my life when the always great
Jamie Nelson my A and R sent him the working
tape of Dancing, written with Steve McEwen and Nathan Chapman
in Nashville. So, yeah, Dancing originally in its in its
(35:29):
work tape form was slower. It was part of my
introduction to working in Nashville. They write the song. It's
not always produced, it doesn't have what it's going to be.
It's just here's the bones of this song, and then
you can build on and produce it. Produce it. However,
so Jamie sent that to Sky Adams, and I remember
(35:51):
hearing that. I was with my girlfriend in South France
and an email come through with Sky's rework of Dancing.
It was one of those moments I just I knew it.
I was so excited. I would not have ever imagined
it like that. And the extra he puts some different instrumentation,
and I mean he basically had he produced it. So
(36:13):
that's the first time I had heard of Sky Adams.
And then I went into the studio with him for
Golden and he is so fast paced. He is, he's amazing.
There's no there is no stop in that train, and
I tell you, so, you've got to kind of get
into Skyland. It's really fast. And a big difference working
with him remotely in Lockdown is I got to see
(36:36):
his face because there's a something I would never have
thought of. But when we're in the studio, it's the
back of his head with his amazing green and blue
afro just and he's there and he has the music
really loud, and sometimes me and the co writer will
be like, Okay, it's so loud, but you know, you
go with it. And so working remotely, I got to
(36:57):
see his face on the screen a lot. That's so
so the distance, the social distancing was more of a
face to face experience in this case. Yeah, very Actually
it really was. Um I mean, I wish it was other,
but just something I would never have even had in
my mind before. So with Sky before Lockdown, we were
(37:19):
working in the studio a couple of collaborators. He works
with a lot um and then I had a session
with him and Megan Katone. So that was the first
time I've met Megan and she's an awesome writer as well.
So our remote sessions was sky Megan and myself, and
even that we had to figure out how does this work?
(37:42):
A two way zoom is okay, three way when you're
listening to music is you're just not hearing the same thing.
So we we ended up finding out way in our
rhythm for the remote sessions where we'd all get together
for the initial what are we doing today, figure out
our melody, our concept, and then Scott'd say, right, I'm
(38:05):
out and be back in half an hour. So Megan
and I would carry on doing the lyrics and then
we'd all, you know, we'd he'd come back into the
session and we'd say, okay, this is what we got,
what do you think? And then you know, just just
like a normal writing session, and then uh yeah. Normally,
Megan had a very easy set up at her place.
(38:28):
She's a that's a trait, she's a songwriter, so she
would be able to put down the demos. So at
least we had ah by the end of the day,
I kind of a sketch of what we were doing,
and then later once we decided which songs that we're
going to go on the album, then I'd record them.
Miss guy, the disco sound is happen. I mean, we're
(38:49):
having a moment in right, We're back to this and
and I know you've talked about this. I know people
have asked you about this, but that that desire to
return to fund to do something fun. It's not like
we just need it now in Quarantine. It's not like
was the banner year that I want to remember either,
if you know what I mean, Like it is a
(39:10):
necessary sense of escape and relief, but it's also really
poigned to hear these songs about connecting on a dance
floor and finding love. And you know, at this moment
when we can't connect on a dance floor anywhere else,
how how how's it felt to you to have this
kind of music in Yeah, I think that how can
(39:35):
I explain this? A lot of the music could be hearing,
maybe not so much now, but certainly in the previous months.
Was of course it was done last year. So disco
is having a big moment this year. I think that's
the Zeke guys. That's like I didn't know that duo
was making a disco album. She didn't know that someone
else is going to make a disco album. Jessie Ware
didn't know. Like, it's just it's surround, and I just
(39:58):
think it's big because of this year. It's um, I
don't know, I found it. Maybe you've heard me talk
about this before, but I've found all these correlations between
disco music and this year that disco was born out
of darkness, that was born out of struggle and adversity
and people trying to find a place to belong and
be accepted and express themselves and all of that kind
(40:20):
of stuff. And even I'm just looking at what we've got,
like you know, starfields and all of that is trying
to find the light in the darkness and either dance
your way through it or so yeah, it's finding the
light in the darkness and then going to And I
don't know if this is too poetic, but it makes
sense in my mind, and sometimes you have to latch
(40:41):
onto poetic things anyway that you're that disco ball. It
just needs that one light on it and then it
refracts light everywhere. And and I think whether you are
aware of that when you listen to disco music, well,
if you're aware of it, you get it. But even
if you're not. Perhaps it's just it's just part of
it's it's being disco. I don't know that they're not
(41:04):
all happy songs, but you can find happiness within them,
or at least an understanding, you know, a lost sense
of belonging. I'm not the only one feeling like this.
You understand me. You have troubles. I mean, I've got
this songs on this like Supernova, which is it's it's
almost mumbo jumbo. That is total escapeism. Um. But yeah,
(41:25):
something like to celebrate you is you're swaying and you
feel kind of happy, but there's a there's a sadness
to it, but you're you're going with it. I mean,
I have to tell you, I was listening this morning
and the lyric last Chance for First Dance popped out
at me, and I got I got a little emotional,
I got a little children that's in last Chance. Yeah. Yeah,
And I'm not gonna I don't think I'm ever going
(41:46):
to make I can't make a Woe is Me album.
That's not my life. I'm very grateful for everything I have,
but you know, we're all human and we have emotions
and we have to go through life. What the hand
it deals as as some is. It's good and sometimes
it's a little more challenging. But for everyone this year,
of course, it's been a challenge. So yeah, I think
(42:07):
we started talking about the escapism and dance music and
the disco music and the joy that that's brought a
feelth going off topic a bit, no, I mean this
is this is exactly right. These are great things to
talk about, and I think we're grateful to have from
you a music that gives us a chance. Is the
old saying goes to dance our way out of our restrictions.
(42:30):
You know, it's the liberation of of movement and rock
and roll and dance music and disco the way it
liberates the body. That's that's where it all started. Yeah, totally.
And when I look back at songs that were done
in Lockdown or just prior to Lockdown, like I'm trying
to paint the picture of moveing my home studio, just
being so focused and working on things after the calls
(42:52):
were finished or prepping for them. But it was it
was one of my my coping mechanisms as well, to
really throw myself into it. I mean, whenever it's writing
for an album or fight trying to find the songs
for an album. I'm pretty obsessive about it anyway. Just
it's like, oh, I'm not in it's not stage moment,
it's not a public moment. This is just focus focus,
(43:13):
and I love it. I really really enjoy the challenge.
So yeah, in Lockdown, I mean maybe I went even
further with that or had nowhere to you know, it
wasn't going out to go to the studio and come back.
It was just there was always there. But I think
of some of the lyrics that that we wrote, um,
like like Supernova, it feels like we just want to
(43:36):
get out of here. We just want to go being
out in space where anything is possible and leave this
this world behind. You know, everything's kind of magic and
amazing out there in our minds anyway, and it's all
it's all about possibilities, nothing stopping us out there. But
I don't think that's what we were. I think it
was I think it was coming from our subconscious at
(43:58):
the time. We're just like, what are we doing? How
can we make this song? Well, we're grateful to you
for getting it out of your subconscious and and getting
it to the rest of us, because we did need
a chance to move around a little bit, get up
off the cap a lot of it, even if we
can't get all the way out there b pm on
(44:20):
this album is it really gets going. It starts slow,
it eases you in, then before you know, it's super over. Um.
Then we'll just give you a little bit of a brightness,
say something and then it pretty much gallops to the
end and we wind you down with celebrate you unless
it's the deluxe edition and then we have to get
back out on the dance floor again. Yeah, well more, yeah, well, Kylie,
(44:46):
thank you so much for being with us this is
This has been terrific, and congratulations again and thanks for
sharing the disco machic. Thank you so much. M hmmm.
Inside the Studio is a production of I Heart Radio.
For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, check out the
(45:08):
i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts. M HM
Welcome to Inside the Studio presented by I Heart Radio.
I'm your host, Joe Levy. Okay, fire up the strobe lights,
get out the mirror ball. If you want, we can
(00:22):
get on Amazon and order up a bubble machine. I
just checked. They're pretty inexpensive. But let's get all that
gear together because my guest to this episode is Kylie Minogue,
whose new album Disco is a quarantine dance party in
pretty much every sense, by which I mean it's not
just an album guaranteed to get you up off the
(00:46):
couch and onto whatever passes for a dance floor in
the COVID bubble of your choice, but also that this
album was recorded in part during lockdown. Some songs were
written over zoom calls. Kylie had to set up microphones
at home teach herself to use some recording software like
(01:06):
Logic and pro Tools so she could capture her vocals
on her own when she could not get to a
studio to finish her fifteen studio album, And that fifteen
studio album is also the first Kylie album on which
she gets a credit for additional vocal production. Disco is
(01:26):
update on some vintage seventies dance floor romance. Songs like
I Love It and Missing Things celebrate the kind of
fun that starts well after sundown and ends shortly before
or after sunrise. And though the hasn't exactly been a
good year, it's been a surprisingly good year for albums
(01:51):
that chase that sort of after sundown, just before sunrise
kind of fun. There's dualas future and nostalgia. With arrived
at the end of March, so that's a dance party
that we got just as the world was grinding to
a halt. Lady Gaga's Chromatica got that at the end
of May, Jesse Waars What's Your Pleasure came a month
(02:13):
after that at the end of June, and now November
has brought us Kylie's Disco. Maybe it's a little strange
that a year in which dance floors have been off
limits has also been a good year for albums celebrating
the joys of dancing, But it's certainly worth remembering all
these albums had their roots in pre pandemic times, and
(02:37):
those pre pandemic times in only seem untroubled in comparison
to the universality of our troubles these days, so it's
also worth remembering that disco has always been a music
of liberation, the same way that rock and roll was
back in the nineteen fifties, when Elvis the Pelvis shook
(02:59):
his ups and Little Richard first let loose the power
of two D fruity. In all these cases, dancing was
a way of putting liberation into motion, and Kylie actually
talked about just this. I've found all these correlations between
disco music and this year that disco was born out
of darkness, it was born out of struggle and adversity
(03:21):
and people trying to find a place to belong and
be accepted and expressed themselves and all of that kind
of stuff. People clearly have been creating just the sort
of escapism and liberation that Kylie's disco album offers. I mean,
it entered the charts at number one, making Kylie one
of six artists who have topped the UK album charts
(03:44):
in five consecutive decades. And those other artists are Paul McCartney,
John Lennon, Paul Weller, Bruce Springsteen, David Gilmore and now
Kylie Minogue. And I think it's fair to say that
Kylie looks a lot better in sequence than any of
those dudes, just like I also think it's fair to
say that, like a lot of women making great pop music,
(04:07):
she never quite gets the credit she deserves. And she
started out in the late eighties pop factory of stock
Akin and Waterman. Those are the guys who gave the
world Rick Astley is never going to give you up,
and early Kylie hits like Hand on Your Heart or
her cover of Locomotion are in eternal sugar high. So
(04:31):
Kylie's ability to turn that kind of start into a
long lasting career that puts her in the company of
Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen is pretty astounding. And it's
a combination of determination, experimentation, and some glamour kissed reinvention.
I mean, she spent the nineties being all sorts of
(04:54):
different Kylie's Got Kylie duetting with Nick Cave, trip Hop,
Kylie getting Loozy on put Yourself in My Place, all
rock Higlie working with two of the Manic Street Preachers
on some kind of Bliss, which I just played for
the first time in a long time and it sounds
like the theme song to a lost James Bond movie.
(05:16):
And she did all of this before settling into playing
old iconic Kylie by the two thousand and one album Fever,
which gave us the immortal hit Can't Get You out
of My Head. How immortal you can actually hear? Jesse
Ware paid tribute to Can't Get You out of My
Head on the title track to her disco album What's
(05:39):
Your Pleasure, in much the same way to Can't Get
You out of My Head picked up the robo disco
sound of Georgio Moroder's Midnight It's Breast soundtrack. In other words,
Kylie herself is now the kind of classic sound that
she paid tribute to in two thousand and one, then
(06:00):
she's paying tribute to all over disco. Kylie talked with
me about how the roots of this new album go
back to a pretty elaborate concept that accompanied the tour
for her previous albums Golden, which she had recorded in
Nashville and which she described at the time as Dolly
(06:20):
Parton standing on a dance floor. And she also talked
about what it was like to go from playing a
concert in Brazil and really hitting her stride in March
recording this album to having the pandemic shut everything down,
and the challenges of making this kind of dance music
(06:41):
with collaborators. She's never had the opportunity to meet her
celebrate now their success with face to face. Here's what
else she had to say. Kylie, welcome to inside the
studio and congratulations on the success of Disco. We're talking
just a couple of days after the album has gone
(07:02):
into the UK charts at number one. So this makes
it your eighth number one album and it sets a
record of its own. You are now the first female
artist to have a number one album in the UK
in five separate decades. It's crazy, right, How does it?
What does that feel like? I know I have to
explain that I'm fifty two and it's been five decades,
(07:25):
so it's it's um. It does sound like you started
making records when you were two years. Someone on Twitter
the other day said, wow, you know, five number ones
in in five centuries? Wow? Five centuries an accomplishment you
would you would mean making records in prehistoric times. Yeah. Yeah,
(07:50):
there are some days where it feels, you know, I
may feel like it's been that long, but no, it's
an incredible feat. I had no idea of this impending
stat when I was making the album, which was just
as well, because I've really kind of felt the pressure
leading up to the release. But yeah, so late eighties,
(08:10):
the first year of the ties um that's how they
have managed to kind of shoehorn that statistic in there.
But nevertheless, I'm really proud of it. Yeah, No, I mean,
I love the fact that there's a there's another stat
The Beatles, Elvis Presley, the Stones, Bob Dylan, they've all
had number ones in five decades, but not consecutively, not
(08:32):
five consecutive decades the way you had, right, So they
really Beatles should really work on their consistency a little more.
I think, yeah, oh yeah, well, gosh, amazing company. And
to be the first UM female, the first solo female
to do it's it's it's nuts. Yeah. Well, let's talk
about disco and how it came to be, how how
(08:54):
this party got started. So you you finished the tour
for for your last album, Golden, I think in March
of and then you were back recording just about six
months after that, back in the studio, and the Golden
tour did have a studio fifty four section. When you
got to Locomotion, that song started with a little Donna
summer shout shout out a little bad girls, Beep Beep two,
(09:16):
two and and And is that where this disco idea
started or was it something else for you? Well, I
think it's been a lifelong love affair of disco anyway,
but certainly leading up to this album, You're right, the
Golden Tour in we had this loose narrative for the show,
(09:37):
which no one in the audience needed to totally get,
but just have the sense of. And so I'm gonna
have to I've got to rewind a bit just to
get to how we got to disco. Um. When we
started rehearsals for the Golden Tour, just in conversation, we're
trying to come up with this narrative, and we came
(09:59):
up with this idea that what if Donna Summer had
she was in Los Angeles and she had a gig
that night in New York. I had to get to
New York on the next night. I don't understand time
difference in this moment, but you know, she's got to
get to New York to appear at Studio fifty four.
But the planes canceled, there's a storm, there's whatever. The
(10:19):
flights canceled, and so our narrative was this kind of
cross country journey and arriving at Studio fifty four. Thus,
the penultimate part of the concert is our version of
Studio fifty four. And every time I would get to
that part of the show, not least because it was
a home stretch. So it's like, Okay, I think we've
(10:40):
made it through another show and everyone's kind of peaking
it by this stage. But it just felt like such
a it felt like home to me. I mean, I've
never been to Studio fifty four. It's it's a fantasy
for me. But I think it's so it's it's um
imagery that the music that it's presence is still was
strong that you can kind of, you know, insert yourself
(11:04):
in a fantasy landscape to Studio fifty four. So yeah,
that's what I thought, Okay, next album, this is where
I want to be. So after the Greatest Hits Tour
in twenty nine thing, that's when I went into the
studio and yeah, disco became a thing for me. Yeah, no,
(11:24):
quite evidently, So so that was the idea even you
started in in about September of last year, and I
think one of the first songs we heard the very
first single, say Anything, I think came from the first session. Yeah,
it's exactly for the first session for the album. Did
you have the idea in mind then? Did you think, yeah,
we're making a disco album right from the start? Um.
(11:47):
When I went in for that session, it was it
was more it was more for fun and just to
kind of settle myself. And I wanted to put um
Biffs at it, Biff Standard and John Green together because
I've worked with for a long time John just for
a short time. Well, I was quite sure that something
(12:09):
good would come of putting the three of this in
a room together. Um. So yeah, I hadn't although disco
is our dance floors on my mind. Um, I think
with this particular session, I didn't want to label it
as anything. Just let's get together and see what happens.
And that's when Say Something was written. And then earlier
(12:31):
this year, once we decided, okay, the album it's going
to be called disco. This is the lane that we're
going down. And for a while I was I was thinking,
how how say Something going to fit into this because
we didn't write that disco in mind, but we've felt
like it had a bit of state of independence kind
of feeling. I mean, we wish but you know, kind
of could latch onto that in a kind of seventies vibe,
(12:56):
and it turned out had enough to be in the
disco theme. But I didn't go into that session saying
fellas it's disco, right. But it's also so striking because
it is the first single we heard from this record,
and it comes from last September, so it's from the
before times before we you know, before COVID. But thematically,
(13:19):
when when you first heard it, you know that that
opening line, we're a million miles apart in a thousand,
a thousand ways, it felt so of the moment. It
felt almost like it was created in reaction to to
where we were. Yeah, I mean, I've heard a number
of artists say similar things with songs that they wrote
(13:40):
just before drama of I guess it's just a reminder
of the power of music that making it is one thing,
but how it translates and what it becomes in the
real world is is something you can't predict. You can't
you can't even really manifest. You just have to let
it go and see what happens. First thing, I didn't
(14:01):
know if that song would even make it on the album.
It was so beautifully odd that I was I was
kind of preparing to resign myself to potentially the fact
that they would. They the label would say, yeah, we
pould like it, but we just don't think it's going
to hit the mark. So then when it was on
the album and then selected as the first unanimously as
(14:23):
the first single, I just I thought I kicked a
goal through the posts. There we go. And then this
year through Lockdown, when I finished was finishing the album
at home and listened to that song in its in
its stages because we added to it and developed it
through this year, And there was one day I listened
to it just outside, and I mean it just it
(14:43):
was like we didn't we hadn't written it. It was
like it fell from the sky and it was saying
something that we needed to hear. It was amazing, I
mean sad and wonderful and amazing. You know you you
just mentioned the all the drama of do I have
(15:05):
this right? Did I read that? Right before Lockdown started?
You had a concert in Brazil? Yeah, I had in
San Paula, like about just about a week before I
did so, sixth of March. I'm not great with dates,
but I definitely remember the sixth of March because we
(15:27):
knew that there was uncertainty in the air, and I
would say for the two weeks leading up to that gig,
I was just waiting for the phone call saying canceled,
We're not going, which would have been absolutely fine, of course,
but yeah, we went, and it was just it was
that last It was my last big show, and thankfully
we all got there and back and everyone was safe.
(15:49):
And that's great to hear how big those Brazilian crowds
can be, cuge, how big a crowd was. It wasn't
one of those mega, enormous, endless brazil million crowds. It
wasn't like a rock and Rio or something like that,
but it was a sizeable crowd whose passion. I mean,
I don't think I heard anything four songs. I literally
(16:12):
was looking at my band, looking at my sound monitor guy,
just like I'm singing. I could I don't know if
I'm singing remotely and key in time. It was just
like this this wave of emotion. And I know they're
famous for it, but we still hadn't quite prepared ourselves
for it. So yeah, my last big show that I
did is you know still ringing in my ears? Actually sorry,
(16:35):
the last show full stop and just under the Wire too,
because if that's March six, I guess that's about ten
days before the stay at Home orders come down. And
how much of the album was was done by that
because you you were you at that point had the
concept in mind and some songs finished. Yeah, So I
(16:58):
would have been in the studio before going to sub
polo and then for sure when I got back, and
I would say even in those last a few days
between arriving back from Spollo and the lockdown in London,
I was we were I say we were. We were
(17:19):
at a strong cantor not galloping, but a strong canter
as far as the album goes like We've got you know,
you work so hard every day and then I mean
I get consumed by it. So I was in and
out of studios until the day before Lockdown. Actually, I
think maybe the day before Lockdown we wrote I Love It.
But we were aware in various sessions and different writers
(17:41):
that Lockdown was blooming. It hadn't been um, it wasn't
the date wasn't determined, but we were aware of it.
So it was definitely creeping into the writing process at
that time. So two questions, what's that like, you're you're
you're in a cantor you're you're making this record and
it's a dance party record and then everything stops? And
(18:07):
what were you feeling at that moment when things ground
to a halt. Was there any sense of, oh, maybe
maybe it's time for a sad singer songwriter record or
are we really going to the disco still? I mean, what,
how how soon were you back at work and what
were your feevors? You know what. I'd have to even
(18:28):
I'd have to look at emails and messages because it's
a bit of a blur that time. As soon as
lockdown happened and there wasn't There were no no planes,
hard any cars. It was just that eerie silence, the uncertainty.
We didn't know if this was this two weeks, three weeks,
are we going to kind of go back to normal
(18:49):
or so we all thought. We all thought a month
would be a long time, like it'll be over a month,
come on, Yes, So I think it was I want
to say, maybe three weeks or so before I really
started thinking about I could be wrong at the time
that even now, time is very strange, you know, was
(19:12):
was it this morning or was it six months ago?
Which Thursday is this? Is this the Thursday that was yesterday?
Or the Thursday that the same, right exactly? So anyway,
I think when it became evident that we weren't going back,
you know, I'm not going to see you in the studio,
then I must have, you know, I wanted to carry on.
(19:35):
I don't even know how this was decided, or whether
I spoke to one of my producers and said, well,
let's try and do remote. I actually can't remember it was.
It's all a bit of a haze around there. But
I did remember that I had a basic microphone and
an interface somewhere. Thankfully it was in my home and
(19:58):
I found it in a cupboard, which to me it
was the first miracle. I had never used them before.
So I was thinking, right, okay, it looks like it
looks like that cable goes with that, and I think
I could. I mean, I've never plugged I've never plugged
it in. So I was sending pictures to one of
my producers says, yeah, that looks all right, Yeah, you
(20:18):
just do that that and that, and start on garage
but garage band, and you know, we can at least
get some demos done. We weren't thinking about remote recording
like proper session recording, just carrying on the writing process.
And so we did it like that for a little bit,
and then it wasn't too long before one of my
other producers, Timmy Brunilla, who's I mean, they're all a bit.
(20:43):
They're all a bit often like anyway with their equipment
and the gear and how you technically do this. But
Timu was amazing. He arranged the mic for me, he
was talking with the people in um where were they
in nodding him? I think was a company that collated
all the pieces together, sorted out the laptop with pro tools,
(21:03):
with logic, with just the stuff I needed, and did
test sessions with them. So he was like my my
fairy team, my fairy princess. And he's a finish writer
producer who worked on the first three tracks I know, Magic,
miss a Thing, Real Groove, he worked on all of those.
(21:23):
And do I have this right? You've never actually met
him face to face? Correct. I was due to fly
to l A for a two week writing session with him.
In March, so obviously that didn't happen, so we did
everything remotely. Yeah, I only know him from the waist
up in two dimensional form. I cannot wait to meet.
How did you first connect? Then you were going to
(21:46):
go for a writing session in l A. How did
how did the two of you come together to get
even that on the calendar? That was from the song Magic,
which my I and r Jamie Nelson got hold of
and we all fell in love with that track. We thought,
this is this is really good and also the real
group and missed thing. So the Trifector, the first three
(22:09):
songs um had seem Me on them, so that felt
like I finished those with with the writers and producers.
But yeah, we he was like we felt like he
could be a conduit for us to access disco, but
have it cool and have a kind of for one
of a better way to say itause, I'm sure this
(22:29):
has been used to thousand times and put my stamp
on it and a modern stamp on it as opposed
to it being a pastiche and cover. Because any disco
songs you're going to reference, you can't. There's no point
to do them again. They're just perfect and that became
a bit of a you know, like something to contend with. Actually,
you'd think, on paper, Kylie disco, Sure, we'll do this
(22:53):
in no time, but actually it was it really required
a bit of um, you know, chipping away, looking from
different angles and how close can we go to it,
you know, referencing Abba Begs, Donna, Summer Shake, etcetera, etcetera.
Because what you wanted to make wasn't just a disco
in a sense of, oh, we're gonna make a dance
(23:14):
pop record which maybe has some thumb popping bass on
a tracker. To you, you know you you were referencing
and taking inspiration from a lot of classic grooves. I
know you brought up Lionel Richie. You just mentioned Abba
and I definitely hear that on a couple of different tracks.
Donna Summer Studio fifty four is mentioned. You know, like
(23:36):
the touchstones are all there, and if you've got to
set those as your touchdones, you you you better get
the group better be right. But you also wanted to
be something more than we We would start some things
and go, okay, let's get a baseline that's similar to
blah blah, I kind of remember what but just didn't
(23:57):
hit you know. So anyway, thanks to amazing producers and
tenacity and as I say, chipping away and looking at
it from different angles, we got there. And it transpires
that the roots of disco are seventies my you know,
I fell in love with disco back then, but then
it morphed through the years and there's a bit of
(24:17):
eighties electronica, um you know, some some parts of that
then even some self referencing in early two thousand's when
I had a bit of disc like a bit of
electro disco then. So yeah, it's turned out to be
a thankfully not just rooted in this, not just a
tracing And it's so interesting to me be you were
(24:38):
just talking about recording your vocals at home. You started
out with the idea that you were going to work
on demos, and you ended up with a vocal engineering
and production credit on the record. Like you you had
to learn a little bit of uh studio craft as
it were. And I love the idea that your your
(24:58):
studio seems to have been in a cupboard but then
grew into a more sophisticated Yeah, it was in boxes
in the cupboard. Yeah, I ended up I took delivery
of one microphone that timod source for me from Finland
that was broken in transit. You wouldn't know what to
(25:20):
look at it. But yeah, we tried recording on that
and it was just you know, like in Lockdown, everything
took so much longer. Delivery vans were, you know, just
to get a delivery of anything. So I completely understood
that it took longer to get these bits and pieces
and then for that part to a write, well a
very important part to arrive and be broken. So we
(25:41):
got a long story shot again, we got another one
by the time. It's funny when you have these experiences
and your home alone, so there's no one to share
it with and to kind of share that memory with.
I'm just thinking back to receiving all the other parts,
your stand, your pop shielders, surround the interface, that top
that like just all of it with you know, wrestling
(26:03):
the boxes and up and down the stairs and where
do they go, and it must all looked pretty hilarious.
But when the microphone arrived in this box like a
like a flight case, just like a little yeah flight case,
and I swear to God when I opened it up,
there might have been angels going. I was like, ah,
there it is, like this is this is it? Unpack
(26:26):
it and I just remember that you don't drop the microphone.
Don't drop it. Tim's team is explained to me to
make sure it's always off when you move. Just basics
you get stuff. But I've never had to do it before.
So yeah, I got it set up in my lounge room.
But that's not that's not until I had already set
(26:47):
it up elsewhere and had my first connection with Timy
to test it, and he said, m that sounds terrible,
like that's I just think small room. But I had
to take everything out of the room to get the
stuff into the room. It wasn't a size of a couvert,
but small enough. So then I thought, okay, I'm going
to move. I moved it again to the lounge room
(27:08):
and then I had to kind of try and sound
proof it enough. So I got boardrobe racks and had
Dubet's I don't know if you call them dubets over there, dooners,
Dubet's rug just kind of whatever I could. So you
had to build a little a little pillow for it
is it were to kind of dampen the sound of it.
(27:28):
Thankfully it didn't have to be, because I've seen some
great pictures through a lockdown of actors doing a d
R where they literally kind of under two chairs with
a dot on top of it. I didn't have to
go to that extreme, but just just try and dull
the room a bit for that for that additional dialogue
recording that they have to create their own whisper room,
(27:50):
which basically means you have to put a blanket over you. Yeah,
so I wasn't. I wasn't kind of hunched under or anything.
I have my space, but yeah, what a what a
crazy time. So again I didn't, you know, I didn't
really know when we would finish. There was no date
that we said it has to be finished by this time.
And I've asked myself if I hadn't started recording before Lockdown,
(28:14):
would i've what would I have written? If anything? I
think it was easy for me to continue because, as
I said before, we had our momentum and got the
d n A. We've kind of broken the back of
what's the soundscape of this album? This is it? We
just need we just need to keep writing and writing
until we think we've got all the songs. So I
(28:35):
think that was the that helped me be that tenacious
through lockdown and throw myself into it. Those are some
of the rewards, are the pleasure of having a purpose
(28:56):
of direction, something to do during this time. But but
what were some of the challenges, Because you've talked a
little bit, talked a little bit about working remotely miss
the thing and having a bit of a meltdown working
with him. Yeah, I will say, to me, write some
amazing melodies, and I think the picture of his and
(29:19):
he's got amazing voice, very unique equality to it. And
so when I was finishing those songs with him, and
we're going through singing it through and through before we
got to recording, even then I said, do you think
what about taking it down a half a tone or
maybe even a full tone? Is okay, Sure, let's try that.
We'll try it. And and then I've just got to
(29:41):
call a spade a spade. And he's right, and I
know it because I can hear it myself. It's like
it's just not not hitting the same. But even though
I was thinking this is a this is going to
be just a more challenging song to sing parts of it.
So when we got to recording it. We I would
record with Timo, then he would work with his his
(30:02):
co producer, Nico Study in l A. So this just
this kind of triangle on that on those records, and
a lot of that was really getting used to the
remote set up, getting used to my mic, which he
loved and sky adam so everyone loved that. You know,
the setup worked. But for those from Mrs Mr Think particularly,
(30:23):
I would like, I've never been closer to a mike,
some kind of you say you right on, like I
could not and literally could not be closer to them,
like okay, okay, good go. And I was just one
of those ones that was a bit of a challenge
for me, and we, ah, now it's coming back to me.
We did the vocals for that, they went to Nico,
they came back to Team, they produced them, and then
(30:44):
he said, now we've now we know what to do
with this mike. Could we do it again? Could we
re record those bits? And I was thinking, yeah, sure sure,
because then he realized to get that sound on that song,
you needed me really close on the mic. So we
did it again. And when you're that close in the mic,
there's nowhere to run or hide. It's like every every
(31:08):
teeny thing you do, you just I don't know, it's
like it's like being enough so you mean, it picks
up every noise you're making, your mouth everything, so you're
so close. And it was a day that I was exhausted.
I think we got back to rerecording it kind of
(31:29):
near the end or having done. You know, I'm trying
to remember four or five weeks in a row of
really going for it and me kind of almost executive
producing the album, myself setting updates and juggling people and
kids and deliveries and foods and not my kids, them
(31:51):
and their kids, and acknowledging the stress of lockdown, simultaneously
knowing I'm one of the lucky ones I can work
and and be creative. But still it um it did
get to me at a point. And I think it
just when we were doing the re record for Miss
the Thing, because I was I felt a bit challenged
(32:12):
by anyway. I didn't go the full cry, but Timu could.
You know, by this time, I've spent many, many, many
hours with Timu. And it's like that in the studio,
whether you're in an actual studio or a remote studio,
you can't. You can't hide what's happening in your real life.
And I think it could have been any of my
producers that you know, it's if you're working with good,
(32:32):
understanding people and you're having a day where you just
can't quite do it. So like timor I just I
think what it did was just awful. Can we I
might have to call it a day, And he's like,
no problem, no problem. The irony is he used the
vocals from that day, So it was more my mind
that was messing with me than actually what I was singing. Um,
(32:55):
So yeah, definitely with everyone I worked with remotely, we
were all riding out a little roller coasters of emotions
each time. Let me ask you about that about working remotely, because,
as you say, when you're in a studio, it can be,
you know, a long pressured situation. Some songs, some days,
(33:19):
some nights can go on forever. But there are people around,
and when you're working on a track, you can sense
in the room whether it's working or not. But when
you're working remotely, particularly on dance music, and there's no
dance floor around or maybe nobody to dance, how do
you know when it's working? Did you did you like
(33:41):
test drive or test dance some of these songs or
how did you know when they were right? Good question. No,
there wasn't really a dance test, just the same way
as usual, I guess, but it was. It was very
(34:03):
weird not to be able to be in the room together.
And even towards the end of like finishing up the album,
we're still saying, well, maybe maybe when it's released we
can have a listening party just the people who worked
on it. No, we can't, so we still haven't had
that moment, and I as and when we can, I
(34:24):
would dearly love to have everyone who know all my
producers who worked on this and co writers, just like
to have our own really daggy disco, like the worst
disco over but well, it would be the best thing
ever for us. It's certainly know all the words. You
deserve it if anyone deserves a dance party, celebration. I
(34:45):
mean you guys who've made this record do. But you
mentioned Sky Adams before, and I want to ask you
about Sky. You worked with him on Golden and he
contributed a lot to this record, and he worked on
two my favorite tracks, U super No and Celebrate. You
tell me about him. Tell me about working with him.
How did you guys first connect and what is working
(35:07):
with him? Like, we're first connected. I didn't connect with him,
but he came into my life when the always great
Jamie Nelson my A and R sent him the working
tape of Dancing, written with Steve McEwen and Nathan Chapman
in Nashville. So, yeah, Dancing originally in its in its
(35:29):
work tape form was slower. It was part of my
introduction to working in Nashville. They write the song. It's
not always produced, it doesn't have what it's going to be.
It's just here's the bones of this song, and then
you can build on and produce it. Produce it. However,
so Jamie sent that to Sky Adams, and I remember
(35:51):
hearing that. I was with my girlfriend in South France
and an email come through with Sky's rework of Dancing.
It was one of those moments I just I knew it.
I was so excited. I would not have ever imagined
it like that. And the extra he puts some different instrumentation,
and I mean he basically had he produced it. So
(36:13):
that's the first time I had heard of Sky Adams.
And then I went into the studio with him for
Golden and he is so fast paced. He is, he's amazing.
There's no there is no stop in that train, and
I tell you, so, you've got to kind of get
into Skyland. It's really fast. And a big difference working
with him remotely in Lockdown is I got to see
(36:36):
his face because there's a something I would never have
thought of. But when we're in the studio, it's the
back of his head with his amazing green and blue
afro just and he's there and he has the music
really loud, and sometimes me and the co writer will
be like, Okay, it's so loud, but you know, you
go with it. And so working remotely, I got to
(36:57):
see his face on the screen a lot. That's so
so the distance, the social distancing was more of a
face to face experience in this case. Yeah, very Actually
it really was. Um I mean, I wish it was other,
but just something I would never have even had in
my mind before. So with Sky before Lockdown, we were
(37:19):
working in the studio a couple of collaborators. He works
with a lot um and then I had a session
with him and Megan Katone. So that was the first
time I've met Megan and she's an awesome writer as well.
So our remote sessions was sky Megan and myself, and
even that we had to figure out how does this work?
(37:42):
A two way zoom is okay, three way when you're
listening to music is you're just not hearing the same thing.
So we we ended up finding out way in our
rhythm for the remote sessions where we'd all get together
for the initial what are we doing today, figure out
our melody, our concept, and then Scott'd say, right, I'm
(38:05):
out and be back in half an hour. So Megan
and I would carry on doing the lyrics and then
we'd all, you know, we'd he'd come back into the
session and we'd say, okay, this is what we got,
what do you think? And then you know, just just
like a normal writing session, and then uh yeah. Normally,
Megan had a very easy set up at her place.
(38:28):
She's a that's a trait, she's a songwriter, so she
would be able to put down the demos. So at
least we had ah by the end of the day,
I kind of a sketch of what we were doing,
and then later once we decided which songs that we're
going to go on the album, then I'd record them.
Miss guy, the disco sound is happen. I mean, we're
(38:49):
having a moment in right, We're back to this and
and I know you've talked about this. I know people
have asked you about this, but that that desire to
return to fund to do something fun. It's not like
we just need it now in Quarantine. It's not like
was the banner year that I want to remember either,
if you know what I mean, Like it is a
(39:10):
necessary sense of escape and relief, but it's also really
poigned to hear these songs about connecting on a dance
floor and finding love. And you know, at this moment
when we can't connect on a dance floor anywhere else,
how how how's it felt to you to have this
kind of music in Yeah, I think that how can
(39:35):
I explain this? A lot of the music could be hearing,
maybe not so much now, but certainly in the previous months.
Was of course it was done last year. So disco
is having a big moment this year. I think that's
the Zeke guys. That's like I didn't know that duo
was making a disco album. She didn't know that someone
else is going to make a disco album. Jessie Ware
didn't know. Like, it's just it's surround, and I just
(39:58):
think it's big because of this year. It's um, I
don't know, I found it. Maybe you've heard me talk
about this before, but I've found all these correlations between
disco music and this year that disco was born out
of darkness, that was born out of struggle and adversity
and people trying to find a place to belong and
be accepted and express themselves and all of that kind
(40:20):
of stuff. And even I'm just looking at what we've got,
like you know, starfields and all of that is trying
to find the light in the darkness and either dance
your way through it or so yeah, it's finding the
light in the darkness and then going to And I
don't know if this is too poetic, but it makes
sense in my mind, and sometimes you have to latch
(40:41):
onto poetic things anyway that you're that disco ball. It
just needs that one light on it and then it
refracts light everywhere. And and I think whether you are
aware of that when you listen to disco music, well,
if you're aware of it, you get it. But even
if you're not. Perhaps it's just it's just part of
it's it's being disco. I don't know that they're not
(41:04):
all happy songs, but you can find happiness within them,
or at least an understanding, you know, a lost sense
of belonging. I'm not the only one feeling like this.
You understand me. You have troubles. I mean, I've got
this songs on this like Supernova, which is it's it's
almost mumbo jumbo. That is total escapeism. Um. But yeah,
(41:25):
something like to celebrate you is you're swaying and you
feel kind of happy, but there's a there's a sadness
to it, but you're you're going with it. I mean,
I have to tell you, I was listening this morning
and the lyric last Chance for First Dance popped out
at me, and I got I got a little emotional,
I got a little children that's in last Chance. Yeah. Yeah,
And I'm not gonna I don't think I'm ever going
(41:46):
to make I can't make a Woe is Me album.
That's not my life. I'm very grateful for everything I have,
but you know, we're all human and we have emotions
and we have to go through life. What the hand
it deals as as some is. It's good and sometimes
it's a little more challenging. But for everyone this year,
of course, it's been a challenge. So yeah, I think
(42:07):
we started talking about the escapism and dance music and
the disco music and the joy that that's brought a
feelth going off topic a bit, no, I mean this
is this is exactly right. These are great things to
talk about, and I think we're grateful to have from
you a music that gives us a chance. Is the
old saying goes to dance our way out of our restrictions.
(42:30):
You know, it's the liberation of of movement and rock
and roll and dance music and disco the way it
liberates the body. That's that's where it all started. Yeah, totally.
And when I look back at songs that were done
in Lockdown or just prior to Lockdown, like I'm trying
to paint the picture of moveing my home studio, just
being so focused and working on things after the calls
(42:52):
were finished or prepping for them. But it was it
was one of my my coping mechanisms as well, to
really throw myself into it. I mean, whenever it's writing
for an album or fight trying to find the songs
for an album. I'm pretty obsessive about it anyway. Just
it's like, oh, I'm not in it's not stage moment,
it's not a public moment. This is just focus focus,
(43:13):
and I love it. I really really enjoy the challenge.
So yeah, in Lockdown, I mean maybe I went even
further with that or had nowhere to you know, it
wasn't going out to go to the studio and come back.
It was just there was always there. But I think
of some of the lyrics that that we wrote, um,
like like Supernova, it feels like we just want to
(43:36):
get out of here. We just want to go being
out in space where anything is possible and leave this
this world behind. You know, everything's kind of magic and
amazing out there in our minds anyway, and it's all
it's all about possibilities, nothing stopping us out there. But
I don't think that's what we were. I think it
was I think it was coming from our subconscious at
(43:58):
the time. We're just like, what are we doing? How
can we make this song? Well, we're grateful to you
for getting it out of your subconscious and and getting
it to the rest of us, because we did need
a chance to move around a little bit, get up
off the cap a lot of it, even if we
can't get all the way out there b pm on
(44:20):
this album is it really gets going. It starts slow,
it eases you in, then before you know, it's super over. Um.
Then we'll just give you a little bit of a brightness,
say something and then it pretty much gallops to the
end and we wind you down with celebrate you unless
it's the deluxe edition and then we have to get
back out on the dance floor again. Yeah, well more, yeah, well, Kylie,
(44:46):
thank you so much for being with us this is
This has been terrific, and congratulations again and thanks for
sharing the disco machic. Thank you so much. M hmmm.
Inside the Studio is a production of I Heart Radio.
For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, check out the
(45:08):
i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts. M HM
Popular Podcasts
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com