Laufey

Norah is joined by Laufey, the honey voiced Icelandic singer-songwriter and multi instrumentalist whose modern jazz sound has won her both a GRAMMY nomination and millions of fans on TikTok. They talk about building a career in music while maintaining autonomy, and play some of Laufey's elegant originals, along with a lovely version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," featuring Norah on piano and Laufey on cello. Recorded 8/05/23.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Nora Jones and today I'm playing along with Leave.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
I'm just playing long.

Speaker 1 (00:07):
Wey, I'm just playing in lone wezy. Hey, I'm Nora,
and with me as always is Sarah Ode.

Speaker 3 (00:18):
Hello and happy holidays everybody.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
Yeah, this is our holiday Ish episode.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
I love this time of Year's miss Ish.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
It's my favorite, and.

Speaker 3 (00:29):
I feel like we have the perfect guest artist to
make us feel cozy and warm and all the holiday feels. Yes,
our guest today is the captivating singer, songwriter, multi instrumentalist Leave.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
She is blown up out there. I am watching her
rise to start them and it is really fun to
watch because she is a doll. She's an incredible musician.
We had so much fun hanging out and playing music together.

Speaker 3 (00:59):
She's our first Icelandic guest, that's true. She released her
debut album last year called Everything I Know About Love,
and just released her new album Bewitched a few months ago,
which I think Bewitched is a perfect album title for
her because her voice is very enchanting.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
You were gonna say bewich, I was going to say
be wish enchanting. Yes, it's beautiful, It's like butter.

Speaker 3 (01:25):
Actually, it really is and stay tuned for a little
holiday surprise if you're feeling jolly.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
Yep, we do a little jingle jangle. We did a
couple Christmas songs together that we released as digital singles,
and so we might just do one of them at
the end. We had so much fun hanging and I
learned a lot from her. It's fun to learn stuff
from someone who's so much younger. It makes me happy
for our future.

Speaker 4 (01:50):
Yes, do you know what I mean?

Speaker 3 (01:52):
She's very smart and cool.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
She's smart, cool and really just beautiful musical. So we
had a great time. Thanks for listening to us for
this whole whole last year plus two months, and please
like and subscribe if you want to hear new episodes.
We might be taking a little break after this episode

(02:18):
and we're going to be back with some fresh, fresh episode.
It's a while, so you don't want to miss it,
the freshness. Yeah. So if you don't like and subscribe,
then you might not know when we're putting out afresh ee.
So okay, did I say fresh too many times?

Speaker 3 (02:35):
You kept it pretty fresh.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
We appreciate you all. Thank you so much for checking
us out and sticking with us. This has been a blast.
And there will be more to come, so stay tuned
and thanks and please enjoy this episode from Live.

Speaker 4 (02:56):
This is one of my favorite on the album, is it?

Speaker 1 (02:58):
Yeah, it's pretty. I love it.

Speaker 4 (03:00):
A single though, whatever it'll be. The thing is, I
love all of them so much. I feel like they
could all be singles, so I can't. It's really hard
to decide.

Speaker 1 (03:09):
I think that that makes sense. They're your children, They're
like your little babies.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (03:14):
I figure, you know, if the kids like it, they'll
pick out the ones that.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
Yeah, singles singles for the kind of music you make,
kind of music I make. It's confusing.

Speaker 4 (03:26):
I'm like, none of this is going to pop radio,
so you can chill.

Speaker 1 (03:31):
Yeah, so it's not the same.

Speaker 4 (03:33):
Yeah, the next one I have, The next single is
like with an orchestra, It's like perfect.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
When was the last time there was an orchestral single?

Speaker 4 (03:43):
Well, rarely for me, it's been one other time.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (03:49):
Well that's the reason I wanted to be a single,
because I was like, well, if I can't decide which one,
I may as well make it with purpose, which is
like pushing a symphony orchestra on to me, like Friday.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
Yeah, my label always surprises me by picking the song
I didn't think would be a single to do a
video or whatever.

Speaker 4 (04:12):
Yeah, I mean, I like, in the beginning, I refuse
to do a video for from the start because I
was like, I'm not gonna do a video unless it
starts popping off. It starts like getting a lot of excitement. Yeah,
and then it did, So now I have to go
do a video. That's literally I'm waking up tomorrow and
going to dance for.

Speaker 1 (04:25):
Her soul Really after you get in late tonight. Ooh,
that's exciting.

Speaker 4 (04:32):
It's gonna be a new one.

Speaker 1 (04:33):
Why not?

Speaker 4 (04:34):
Right? Yeah, why not? I'm doing a little something new.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
Well, that's that's how you keep it fresh.

Speaker 4 (04:40):
Yeah. I did a music video for my last one.
I had to kiss a boy for the first time
on screen. Oh boy, how was that so scary? But
I did it. I remember before the scene, I like
locked myself in a bathroom and I like I looked
at the mirror and I was giggling so much because
I thought it was so silly. And then I like,
I like looked at myself and I was like, you

(05:00):
are a professional. I was like, you are a professional,
and you're going to push through this. You spent way
too much money to not go through this, That's true.
So I pushed through because I'm a professional And was
he a professional actor?

Speaker 1 (05:16):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (05:16):
Yeah, he was an actor, so he like walked me
through it too. It is great.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
It helps to know that the other person is yeah, yeah, no,
it helps.

Speaker 4 (05:24):
It helped so much, and we were all good friends
at the end of the shoot, which was which was good,
but I was it was definitely a new one for me,
like the acting of it, but I kind of enjoyed
it in the end.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
It's gonna be fun.

Speaker 4 (05:35):
Now, dancing is going to be interesting.

Speaker 1 (05:37):
I try to dance thing once and it never came out,
which is that.

Speaker 4 (05:42):
Well.

Speaker 1 (05:42):
I used to think I was a good dancer, but
I think I'm just a good like interpretive dancer. Yeah, question, yeah,
are you doing like a diminished thing?

Speaker 4 (05:52):
Actually? I think I did.

Speaker 1 (05:53):
I think you did both. Actually you switch it up.
I kind of like it that I'll just follow you
in all of the be in case.

Speaker 5 (06:01):
Let's do that, okay, alrighty.

Speaker 6 (06:23):
One one stand. I don't want to codest sleep pale misty.

Speaker 7 (06:50):
I'll allow myself to have just to light and I
don't do every answer. I know he don't love me
quite like God.

Speaker 6 (07:14):
I swear to myself as he.

Speaker 8 (07:23):
This wild, until he haunts me again, rose fur fee.

Speaker 9 (07:51):
Lodly, I'll pretend stay for.

Speaker 6 (08:04):
They re.

Speaker 10 (08:08):
Corus haunt the alwaisars hes me over.

Speaker 6 (08:19):
And I long to every answers.

Speaker 4 (08:28):
I know he don't love me.

Speaker 10 (08:32):
Quite like God.

Speaker 6 (08:37):
I swear to myself as he.

Speaker 8 (08:42):
Really wooland until he haunts me again.

Speaker 1 (09:18):
That's pretty.

Speaker 4 (09:19):
I love that. It was so nice.

Speaker 1 (09:21):
I thought it was great.

Speaker 4 (09:22):
Yeah, yay, yay.

Speaker 1 (09:23):
So you've never done that live yet? No, because it's
on the new album that has yet to come out.

Speaker 4 (09:29):
Yeah, I may have spilled it accidentally once at a
small concert.

Speaker 11 (09:33):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (09:33):
I was going to ask how that goes now, because
I remember when I was first coming out, I would
always I was dying to do new songs, so I
would always.

Speaker 4 (09:40):
Be fans already knew the song, so it actually I
think it helped.

Speaker 1 (09:43):
It helped. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (09:44):
Yeah, I'm never sure how much I'm allowed to. I
kind of like, you know, do now apologize later, But
no one's really screamed at me. I think it was
one time I like posted a little clip of from
the start, like a little early and I went to
my manager. I just looked at him. I was like,
I think I've put so that a little bit early, right,
And he was like, yeah, maybe, but why Yeah? I

(10:05):
mean he was like, you know, you do whatever you want.
He was like, but what's the second I start telling
you not to do that?

Speaker 1 (10:11):
That's you know, that's true? Yeah, Well, I think you've
done a good job of knowing.

Speaker 11 (10:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (10:18):
I mean, you don't want to do it too early,
so the excitement doesn't so people aren't angry at you,
like waiting for it.

Speaker 1 (10:23):
Oh gotcha. I was gonna say, what's the negative, because
I don't see one.

Speaker 4 (10:26):
Well, sometimes if it's a little earlier, then people are
like waiting for it for so long.

Speaker 1 (10:29):
Thats like where's the song? Where's the song?

Speaker 4 (10:32):
Which you know isn't a bad thing because it eventually.
I guess.

Speaker 1 (10:34):
I just remember doing a song from my second album
way early on, because it was a couple of years
I had written it and I tried it for my
first album but it didn't make it, so it made
the second album. So I'd had it for a long
time and we always did it called what Am I
to You? It was tricky because I was with the
band right and we were working out the arrangement. I
ended up with like five different versions of it. Oh,

(10:58):
not just different versions, but like very different arrangements. But
really yeah, so and in the end, it almost like
kind of spoiled the the newness when you're in the
studio for the first time capturing a song. It didn't
spoil it at all, but I was confused also.

Speaker 4 (11:12):
Right, No, I completely get that. I mean, when I write,
songs turn into such a different beast, you know, once
they've been recorded. I try to keep like the integrity
of the song as much as possible, but I almost
see it sometimes as two different versions of the song,
like the form that I wrote it first in just
you know me in one instrument, and then the recorded version.

(11:33):
And you know, I've I've been releasing like orchestral versions
of the same song. I'll have like a live version,
a studio recording, and like an orchestral live recording of
some Like I think a couple of my songs have
like three or four versions out and it's like I
kind of like that.

Speaker 1 (11:48):
It's great.

Speaker 4 (11:49):
Yeah, it kind of reminds me of you know, like
the all the old jazz musicians they had, like you know,
they're like five different versions of like dream a little
dream of Me, like in different cities or different or.

Speaker 1 (11:57):
It takes three exactly album from the very yeah exactly.

Speaker 4 (12:01):
Like No, when I talk about my favorite favorite Bill
Evans recordings, it's always such a joke. I'm like, yeah,
but like take three right.

Speaker 1 (12:07):
Take three right exactly, because all those old jazz records
they play all those extra takes takes.

Speaker 4 (12:12):
I kind of like that. I like that.

Speaker 1 (12:14):
Sometimes I don't like it when you start hearing the
same song over like yeah, yeah, you know you're but
but yeah, it's awesome because there's really no bad one exactly,
yeah exactly.

Speaker 4 (12:25):
No, it's cool. It kind of tricks my brain into thinking, like, oh,
like that version will never be there's no final version
of a song.

Speaker 1 (12:33):
That is a good thing to remember because I think
it's really easy to get caught up in that definitely recording.

Speaker 4 (12:39):
I think that's how I like have at least gotten
through like this album and whatever so quickly. It's because
I was just like, I don't hold onto my songs
for that long. I'm like, if that's how I wanted
it in the moment, I'm not going to overthink it. Yeah,
and I can never look I'll never look back at,
you know, my my musical decisions from when I was
making the album and like regret them because that's just

(13:00):
what I wanted in the moment.

Speaker 1 (13:01):
Yeah, it was a record of the moment exactly. Yeah. Yeah,
and it's you're you're painting a brushstroke and it's an
abstract thing and you're just sort of filling it in
as you go, right, and it's what it.

Speaker 5 (13:13):
Is, yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 (13:17):
This is so fun to get to hang out I know,
music like this.

Speaker 4 (13:21):
It's such a just such a joy for me. I mean,
obviously I've been such a like a fan of yours
for genuinely since I was a baby. So to get
to even sing with you is like it feels like
stepping into a record or something. It's it's incredible.

Speaker 1 (13:36):
I mean, you're such an incredible musician. You switch on guitar,
the cello. We were playing around with the cello yesterday.
It was amazing. And then you play piano really beautiful.

Speaker 4 (13:50):
Can I play the piano you? You know, Like I
was mentioning yesterday, you're such a The way that you
play is so uniquely you, and like to get to
hear that, like kind of Nora Jones touch on songs
that I've written is like absolutely mind blowing to me.
It's so cool.

Speaker 1 (14:08):
Thanks, I'm excited. I feel like I feel very familiar
in your songs because they they are with the kind
of chord changes that I like. Yeah, I mean, but
I mean I had to really train myself to not
play seven's and like alterations. Whenever I started playing other
kinds of music, my hands would just normally go to the.

Speaker 4 (14:29):
That's definitely I suffer from that illment as well.

Speaker 1 (14:33):
Yeah, but I mean it's okay.

Speaker 4 (14:34):
Yeah, I mean I don't hide from it. There are
all kinds of the amount of times I've been in
sessions and people are like, yeah, it's like almost like
a little bit of a rub there, and I'm like, yeah,
but results.

Speaker 12 (14:45):
Results, yeah hey, oh yeah no, I like like the
dirtiest chord that then resolves and like I always say,
like the beauty is in that tension.

Speaker 4 (14:56):
I think that's like when people are like, oh, especially
like when when young like gen Z, when I think
what they hear in my music that is unique. I
don't necessarily think it's like unique to me, but I
think it's unique maybe for you know, this this year
and this time. It is just that tension and resolve
that doesn't exist as much in pop music.

Speaker 1 (15:17):
Yeah, that's true.

Speaker 4 (15:18):
Yeah, I don't even know some of the most popular
pop songs now, Like I hear they have like either
like some two five ones or like kind of that
tension and resolve and people are like, what is this
And in my head, I'm.

Speaker 6 (15:27):
Like, it's the Dungeon.

Speaker 1 (15:28):
Yeah, yeah, it makes sense. I like the type rope
in music.

Speaker 4 (15:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (15:32):
Oh it's the best.

Speaker 4 (15:33):
Of course me too.

Speaker 1 (15:37):
I was I was wondering if we could try that
song Valentine.

Speaker 4 (15:41):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, my jazz standard. I love it.

Speaker 1 (15:45):
It's kind of a yeah, well, that's what I like
about it. It's it's a jazz standard. And I think
because you have all these younger fans, of course they
love the music, but I also feel like some of
these songs speak to their moments. Yeah, because growing up
listening to Lush Life, you know, Yeah, that's one of

(16:06):
my favorite standards, but I couldn't relate to it when.

Speaker 4 (16:09):
I was a kid, Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 (16:11):
And something about this song has that sort of first love,
the kind of thing that I feel like.

Speaker 4 (16:17):
I think that's one of the ways I've managed to
because I went into this, like always with the goal
of appealing to a younger audience.

Speaker 1 (16:23):
Okay you did, yeah, consciously.

Speaker 4 (16:25):
Consciously, Yeah, I've made a point out of it. I remember,
there's so many great jazz musicians and that sort of
kind of like an older audience and have served me
also as a listener. But I think what this generation
really cares about is is relatability. Well, I also, I'm
a very honest person and the way that I write
is very much the way that I speak, so it

(16:46):
kind of, I guess naturally ended up being like that.
But I think the reason that I've managed to grow
such a gen Z audience with music that sounds, I
guess a bit older, is because the lyrics are I
guess a little more like relatable than Yeah, a lush life,
you know, exactly as wonderful as that song is.

Speaker 1 (17:04):
I love that song.

Speaker 4 (17:05):
It wasn't a kid that wrote it, like seventeen when
he wrote it, though, wasn't straight Billy Streehorn. I was
like eighteen when he wrote it. I think you make
me right.

Speaker 1 (17:12):
He was young, but I think back then eighteen was
a whole other life.

Speaker 4 (17:15):
That's true. He used to visit all the very great places.

Speaker 1 (17:18):
Yeah, I don't know. I recently learned that paul Anka
wrote My Way for Frank Sinatra when paul Anka was
only in his early twenties, which is also kind of bonker.

Speaker 4 (17:28):
That is like, yeah, that is an old man song.
That does an old man song one. He did write
a great song, but an old man one.

Speaker 1 (17:34):
He did write it for Frank when he was I
guess later in his career. But still, I don't know
to get that emotion. It was pretty cool.

Speaker 13 (17:43):
However, my music is very I definitely write about very
uh well, I guess the experiences that I've been going
through in the past, you know, four years of writing,
which is very much like.

Speaker 4 (17:54):
Moving out of my home and and being like young
in a new city for the first time, only you
love for the first time.

Speaker 1 (18:01):
But that's stuff, that's the magic.

Speaker 4 (18:04):
Yeah, it's it's funny. I feel like I'm I write
my like my albums are my journals. Like I even
look back to like some of the first songs I
wrote on my first EP and I'm like, wow, I
was really young. That was very I don't think like
that anymore. But it's been cool.

Speaker 1 (18:21):
But it's yours. Yeah, it's your journal, it's your record
of that time. I think come Away with Me was
the first song I wrote when I moved to New
York and I started playing guitar, and it was very
simple because I didn't know very many chords on guitar.

Speaker 4 (18:33):
It's my EP is very much like my first time
playing guitar as well. Yeah, yeah, I like that. I
think one of the reasons I started writing on guitar,
and I still, even though I'm a much better piano
player than a guitar player, I still write mostly on guitar.
I think because because I just know chords and like
not too much, I can focus on the writing the

(18:54):
emotion and exactly lyrics, whereas like the piano, I can
get carried away. There's just too many options, and I
understand it well.

Speaker 1 (19:00):
I've written more songs on guitar for that reason, same reason.
Not that I'm fancy on piano, but you're pretty fancy
on piano, you know. Anyway, Let's try this song, Valentine.

Speaker 4 (19:25):
I've recheckted affection Free. Now I have it, and damn it,
it's kind avoid.

Speaker 6 (19:39):
He tells me. I'm pretty don't know how to respond.

Speaker 14 (19:46):
I tell him.

Speaker 4 (19:47):
That's pretty too, Can I say that don't have a
clue with a free person?

Speaker 6 (19:55):
I surprise myself.

Speaker 4 (20:00):
Scotter flies, I'm scared off guys song wanna please because
I think got fallen.

Speaker 6 (20:09):
In last time.

Speaker 4 (20:12):
I blinked and suddenly I heard a fall and.

Speaker 6 (20:21):
Bombarda bumbo.

Speaker 4 (20:33):
Bombard, but.

Speaker 6 (20:41):
A bud. What if he's the lad strong light case?
What if he's.

Speaker 14 (20:54):
The only one and means.

Speaker 10 (21:00):
Maybe I should fund I'm only to I don't even
know w to becalled? I lost all control.

Speaker 15 (21:20):
Oh my heart, God caught no romance with him.

Speaker 6 (21:28):
Somehow, I still feel a shock through a bad when
I hear when I love you because I've got someone
to the first one to ever like me back. I

(21:50):
am seconds from a time.

Speaker 9 (21:57):
How the hell did I I can't believe I get
to you.

Speaker 6 (22:10):
I blinked and.

Speaker 4 (22:15):
Found cute. He's so cute.

Speaker 1 (22:30):
I love sorry and chime in on his many harmony was.

Speaker 4 (22:33):
So so so lovely and dainty.

Speaker 6 (22:36):
Dainty, dainty.

Speaker 2 (22:36):
It's so sweet.

Speaker 4 (22:38):
It's a cute one. This is definitely one of the songs.
I look back and I'm like, yep, I was definitely
twenty one.

Speaker 1 (22:44):
Yeah, I laid out on that lyric.

Speaker 4 (22:46):
Yeah, I know I sing that now and I'm like, yeah,
those three years ago.

Speaker 1 (22:52):
Yeah, it's funny, right, I think it's great. But also
that first love kind of thing is just so we've
all been there.

Speaker 4 (23:01):
Yeah, you know, I think I think for my young
listeners it feels feels relatable, and I think for older listeners,
even me now being three years older, it's reminds me
of a kind of like a sweet time at incent time.

Speaker 1 (23:15):
Yeah, I love that. So you're in the middle. I
met you about three weeks ago. I guess we did
a show together in Ghent wrestles. Yeah, that was fun,
it was, And since then, I feel like you're going
through a lot. You're doing really great and I feel

(23:38):
like you're kind of people are getting turned on your
music really fast. I'm trying to not say you're blown
up because that just sounds obnoxious, but you kind of are.

Speaker 4 (23:48):
It's yeah, it's a crazy time. I kind of I
kind of can't believe it, especially with the kind of
music I make and have sought out to make. It's
I never ever ever would have dreamed of, you know,
that it would breach kind of you know, people that
don't listen to this music normally or don't you know,
have that history of listening to jazz music, which was

(24:09):
always the goal. It just is so wild to me.

Speaker 1 (24:12):
Well that's funny because I heard you say You've said
a few times that it is kind of your goal
to turn younger people onto jazz.

Speaker 4 (24:20):
Yeah. Absolutely, you very.

Speaker 1 (24:21):
Clearly think want to do that.

Speaker 4 (24:23):
Yeah, that's kind of like the whole reason I make music,
I would.

Speaker 1 (24:27):
Say, But I love that. I never thought about music
that way personally. Yeah, I never thought about how or
who it should be received by because I wasn't that
forward thinking. But I think with the nature of the
way you have to make music these days, yeah, it
makes a lot of sense to have to think about

(24:47):
that stuff.

Speaker 4 (24:48):
Yeah. Well I grew up playing classical music and jazz music,
and I went to jazz you know, conservatory if you will,
for school, and to Berkeley. Yeah. So how all this
like formal education behind me for these styles of music
that kind of seem like they're only for those who
have the formal education.

Speaker 1 (25:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (25:08):
And I love the music so much and I want
to make it kind of accessible to all. And I
think one of the reasons that people believe that these
genres of music are dying out a little bit is
because it's lost that air of relatability and accessibility, which
you know, jazz music in the beginning was meant to
be that, you know, it was kind of breaking out
of classical forms. And I guess in a way of

(25:32):
triving to trying to save these styles of music, I've
gone out to make this kind of music and make
it accessible for all.

Speaker 1 (25:40):
But I think that's great because I've heard of other
people doing that as well, but they are more of
a historical route.

Speaker 4 (25:49):
Right.

Speaker 1 (25:49):
You're writing original music, and you know, you're not trying
to do something old. You're just doing what you feel
in an original way. That's why it's being related to
so well, you.

Speaker 4 (26:02):
Know what I mean. Cut Well, you know this generation
they don't really care what the music sounds like. Like
of course, they want good music, but they want just
somebody that they can look to. Like I. The way
I carry myself and the way I go about like
social media for example, and and like releasing and all
that is very pop music. Like the way that I

(26:23):
go about it is very much a pop like focused career,
which I wanted. But the second I open my mouth,
it's kind of like you know, it's like Valentine, It's
like songs that sound kind of old, but because they're
written about my current experiences, my modern experiences, I think
there's some sort of connection there that gets to the

(26:43):
new generation. And I think it's really neat. I really,
really really surprised that it's somehow worked out. You know, previously,
when I'd walk around and people would ask me like, oh, like,
you are honestly like one of the like kind of
my main examples for you know, somebody that could bring
music that was, you know, less traditional in that sense

(27:05):
and bring it to a wider audience. Like there were
such so few examples. It was really only you for
for a while that I had to look up to that.
So it's really cool to be sitting across right, Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 (27:20):
Yeah, but it's so such a different world now, it's
so different. You are, you're like a social media master
and you have to be there.

Speaker 16 (27:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (27:30):
I mean that's the way that I've managed to connect
to a young adeas because they're all on social media. Yes,
I also enjoy it.

Speaker 1 (27:37):
But I think if you don't enjoy it, people can
tell and they won't connect to it as well much.

Speaker 4 (27:41):
Yeah, I'm lucky. I enjoy it. You know, it's not
not not a given to to want to do it
along with doing music, Like they're kind of two separate
things that now the industry kind of requires you to
do both. Yeah, I mean it's lucky. I enjoy it.

Speaker 1 (27:57):
I've talking to a bunch of friends lately, and there's
because it's not the artist's brain to be a self promotion.
You have to be your own.

Speaker 4 (28:05):
You have to be like business. You are a.

Speaker 1 (28:08):
Business woman, and that's what I find so fascinating that
you're so on top of it all, you know, at
a young age. I don't think I really knew my
way around stuff at that age. Well maybe by by
your age I had to. But I mean, did you
start out just as as a teenager watching TikTok or then?

Speaker 4 (28:31):
No? No, I mean, like, so I was at Berkeley,
I was just a student there, and then I was
studying cello, and yeah, well we also got sent home
because of the pandemic. So I went home and I
had just a couple of weeks or so, I thought
of break because of COVID, and I just said to myself,
you know, I'm gonna post little videos on myself online

(28:53):
playing jazz standards and songs that I've written that sound
like jazz songs, and and just kind of that was
my challenge to, you know, try to write as much
as possible and post as much as possible. And I
actually didn't even have TikTok at that point. I remember
my sister came. I have a twin sister. Yeah, she
and her friends had been watching TikTok and she went

(29:15):
to university in Scotland, and my sister was like, you know,
you should get on TikTok, like there are a lot
of singers on here. And I remember rolling my eyes
and feeling like this is so stupid, like this is
not for me at all, Like I'm never going to
like get into that. This is for children, you know.
And then of course, like everyone else, I kind of
got sucked in, and I think I posted one video
of myself singing I Wish you love and I'm like

(29:39):
accompanying on cello. Yeah, and it just kind of immediately
caught into the algorithm or something, and all of a sudden,
I had all these young people commenting on it, being
like oh my god, like this sounds like something out
of a movie or reminds me of my grandparents or something.
And it was really then that it kind of clicked

(29:59):
in my that my generation had a hunger and understanding
of this kind of music. It just hadn't been presented
to them yet. So I kind of, you know, after
that video, kind of jumped on the train and kept
on doing that. And it was kind of a perfect
storm of events. I had my first song set to
release the third week of the pandemic just it was
just for fun, like I literally uploaded it onto like

(30:22):
tune core or whatever myself, and yeah, it's all just
snowballed from there. It was all just a really lucky,
lucky kind of string of events. But social media is
definitely the reason that, you know, I'm not sitting in
my bedroom in Iceland and yeah, and got to move
to La so I have you know, as much as
you know artists are inclined to hate on social media,

(30:44):
I'm very thankful for where it's it's brought me, and
it's given me a lot of control and leverage kind
of as an artist myself to run my own business
exactly the way I want to and also release, yeah,
and release exactly the kind of music I want to
like nobody's ever Like when I wanted to release Valentine,

(31:05):
you know, not a single person was like, hey, you know,
I don't know if gen Z is gonna like a
jazz song, Like yeah, you know, nobody ever thought that
because I had already posted it on TikTok and it
had already you know, shown shown that it was there,
that there was interest there.

Speaker 1 (31:19):
It's it's pretty cool you can take control like that,
and once you're in the machine and people are excited,
it's just connection with other people.

Speaker 4 (31:31):
Yeah, it is is It is this like direct line
of communication that I have with my audience, and and
that helps me so much as an artist to know
what they want. Like obviously I make music for myself
first and foremost, but I also have you know, an
audience and and I listen to them, and it's really
neat to have that direct line of communication. And it's

(31:53):
so fun to like respond to fans and like respond
to d ms and they're never expecting it. So yeah,
they excited, get so excited. I still remember, like, yeah,
I was only about three years ago I post. I
remember I posted a video of myself like from a
practice room at Berkeley singing down by Emily King and
like playing along, and she commented on the video or

(32:16):
shared it or something, and I remember I had to
like take myself out of class, like I had to
see myself out because I was like so nervous and
so excited, and I like remember it like standing in
the hallway hyperventilating because I was so excited that like
Emily King had commented on my video and it encouraged
me so much to like continue. And I now have

(32:36):
that power, which is the coolest thing in the world. So,
you know, whenever I see a cover or of one
of my songs that a fan has made or you know,
a nice DM and I just if I have a moment,
I respond because maybe one day I won't be able to,
but until that day, I'm going to engage as much
as I can.

Speaker 1 (32:56):
And because you remember how that felt.

Speaker 4 (32:57):
Because yeah, I remember so well. There's like a cup
of artists who who are now my friends, even that
I like did covers of their songs and I was
like freaking out. It's like so sweet, that's so cool,
Like I can in one second like make someone's week.
It's crazy, right, Yeah, it's so crazy.

Speaker 1 (33:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (33:15):
So I mean I'm sure you you feel that power too,
Like when people come to you and and you know,
tell you how much your music has meant to them
or what they've done. It's it's wild how how that happens.

Speaker 1 (33:30):
I could learn a lot from you on social media,
running your own show, being such a good business person. Also,
you're on a label, but it's kind of self run.

Speaker 11 (33:42):
Is that?

Speaker 1 (33:42):
What's the label? Your?

Speaker 4 (33:43):
Oh, my label is called a Wall And they're really
really great and and have been so supportive and they
support all my projects and and they kind of let
me release whatever music I want and I have like
full creative control and and yeah, it seems it's like
a really really like best case scenario. It's like all

(34:04):
these things that at least at Berkeley, you know, people
are always talking about how like if you're with a label,
like you don't get to make your own decisions and
stuff like that. And my experience has been entirely the opposite.

Speaker 1 (34:18):
But are they a typical label or there?

Speaker 4 (34:20):
I mean, I would say so, there's not really anything
they do that other labels don't do.

Speaker 1 (34:26):
But there are they a major label?

Speaker 4 (34:28):
They they're no, I don't They're not considered a major label,
but I believe they're under Sony now.

Speaker 1 (34:33):
Oh gotcha, gotcha, but a great Yeah.

Speaker 4 (34:36):
I own my master's and own my publishing, and it's
it's cool we have it.

Speaker 1 (34:41):
Like I didn't know what that meant when you know
what I mean.

Speaker 4 (34:44):
Yeah, it's well, I mean there's so much transparency in
social media now, and like obviously with Taylor Swift, you know,
speaking so much about it and and re recording all
of our all of our older albums. It's like it's
very kind of a its forefront of a lot of
young artists' minds now.

Speaker 1 (35:02):
Yeah, and it's been empowering because it educates you all
as to what the business is behind the scenes of business.

Speaker 4 (35:09):
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (35:10):
I remember when I signed my record deal. It was
not for a ton of money, and we did fourteen
songs for the first album, and I had a publishing
deal like in the Works, but I only wrote two
and a half songs on my first album. It was
a few covers and a lot of songs from my

(35:31):
band members. At the time, I was a new songwriter.
But we get closed, we start pressing the records, and
it comes out that I didn't understand any of this
at the time until after the fact. The label only
pays seventy five percent of the publishing per song, so
you have to get every publisher to agree to that.
But of course it's favored nations, which I didn't know

(35:52):
anything about, and so if one person doesn't agree, then
nobody agrees to it.

Speaker 4 (35:58):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (35:58):
And also the label only paid for eleven songs on
an album, so here I had fourteen years out of
pocket for three I was going to be way out
of pocket for three songs plus the extra twenty five
percent of each song, if that makes sense A quick
mass yeah right, no, yeah, but it was too late
to go back because everything had been pressed and finalized.

Speaker 4 (36:19):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (36:20):
So this all kind of came out at the end,
right before the album came out, and I panicked a
little and I didn't under and then for so now
I'm like okay. Ever since then, I was very you know,
I learned my lesson is what I'm saying. But it's
just little things like that that you don't think about.

Speaker 4 (36:37):
No, I mean, I've had my own version of that too,
you know, like you kind of don't. It is odd,
you know, in the beginning, especially for young artists, like
you really don't know anything about the music industry and
it is so so so confusing, Like I'm still learning
so much every single day. I always tell people, like
I get I got my master's degree in music business

(36:58):
from my manager because he's like still to this day,
like teaching me everything, like there is to know, and
there's so much to know. But like like my first
my first few songs, I had no clue about any
of that stuff, and I was just lucky that I
had my manager swoop in and kind of like help
me take care of it.

Speaker 1 (37:15):
But that's good. Interesting, Yeah, you need people to help
help you through it, but also it's great to know
that you're wise to most of the stuff.

Speaker 4 (37:26):
I'm like very careful.

Speaker 7 (37:27):
Well.

Speaker 4 (37:28):
I remember, like at Berkeley, like in music business classes
that we would take, Like my my main takeaway was like,
don't like be careful before you sign anything. Yeah, make
sure you have a lawyer and whatever. So like I remember,
you know, when I first started getting phone calls and
emails from labels and managers and stuff like that, I
was like, okay, slow down. I took all the meetings,

(37:51):
but I refused to sign anything until I had like
a manager and a lawyer. It's good, So it was
like this, it was this puzzle piece. I remember the
first few months of doing I was very confused because
I really needed help, but I also wanted to make
sure it was the right people helping me. So that's good.
I kind of walked around blindly for a bit, but
it was all worth it.

Speaker 1 (38:10):
That's great. Would you ever consider signing it a big
deal and losing control of your masters? Is that something
that's crossed your mind?

Speaker 4 (38:21):
I think it would have to be for a lot
of money. Yeah, a lot of money. I think hopefully
I'm in the position now where like, I don't think
anybody would be, you know, crossing me and telling me
what to do and what not to do. I think
I think people realize that I'm very strong minded and
know what I want musically. Yeah, but yeah, i'd have

(38:42):
to for a lot of money to give up my master.

Speaker 1 (38:45):
It wouldn't be a quick decision.

Speaker 4 (38:46):
It wouldn't be a quick decision. No, it would be
a group decision too.

Speaker 1 (38:49):
I love that everybody knows what that means now. Yeah,
because of Taylor's.

Speaker 4 (38:54):
Yeah, no, I know it's funny.

Speaker 1 (38:55):
She's not the only one, but like it's pretty pretty good.

Speaker 4 (38:59):
It's good it's it's brought on so much transparency in
the music industry, and and you know, kids are walking
a little less blind into these like big scary meetings.

Speaker 1 (39:08):
Yeah, well good, I'm glad. Yeah, I'm glad you're smart.

Speaker 4 (39:13):
It's it's I have a good team. I will say.
After I released this song, somebody commented it's so.

Speaker 1 (39:22):
Really yeah, that's funny. I actually don't think so. I
think it's so you.

Speaker 4 (39:30):
I just remember that it's so nice.

Speaker 1 (39:40):
It's a nice piano, right. Yeah, I'm glad you're going
to play. Yeah, I know.

Speaker 4 (39:44):
I'm really dancing around all the instruments now.

Speaker 1 (39:46):
I'm excited you're going to play.

Speaker 4 (39:48):
So excited to have the world on it. That's such
a good call.

Speaker 1 (39:50):
Cool. Did you study classical piano and also so cello
and piano classical growing up? Intensely, very intensely. Your mother's
a violinist.

Speaker 4 (40:03):
She's a violinist. Yeah. My grandparents were also a violinist
and a pianist.

Speaker 1 (40:08):
Oh wow, And your sister is a violinist.

Speaker 4 (40:11):
She's a violinist. Yeah, she plays on a lot of
my recordings.

Speaker 1 (40:14):
That's cool. Anyone else musical, No, just yeah, where did
the jazz came.

Speaker 4 (40:22):
Well, my dad really liked jazz. Okay, yeah, so he
played he played a lot of jazz music. And I
think for me, like when I started singing, I always
had kind of like a dark, like low deep voice,
and I could kind of resonate with like Ella Fitzgerald
and like, of course my voice is not nearly like theirs,
but kind of had that darker quality to them, and

(40:43):
the recordings with like the big string ensembles and stuff,
I could kind of relate to that, Like it kind
of felt like a middle world between like classical music
and something new, something newer. So I kind of that's
how I fell in love with jazz, and that was
the only music I really saying, Like.

Speaker 1 (41:01):
There's never saying classical.

Speaker 4 (41:03):
No, you know, I don't love classical singing that much.
Maybe I'm exposing myself. I might come around.

Speaker 1 (41:09):
I might love Maria Kallis.

Speaker 4 (41:11):
Okay, there's one recording on Maria Kellis singing Samson and Delilah.
It's like one of the most beautiful songs in the world.

Speaker 1 (41:18):
She had a lot of heart.

Speaker 4 (41:19):
Yeah that I will say.

Speaker 1 (41:22):
Cool. I love this song. This is this is a
deep song.

Speaker 4 (41:25):
I mean it's it is a deep song.

Speaker 1 (41:27):
You know, we were talking about Valentine and being young
and all the relatable first this one feels old.

Speaker 4 (41:33):
I've definitely matured a bit. Yeah, my songwriting and experiences
have matured a bit.

Speaker 1 (41:38):
I love this one. I'm glad we're gonna do.

Speaker 16 (41:40):
It to distances.

Speaker 4 (42:05):
My soul.

Speaker 6 (42:10):
Took a flame.

Speaker 4 (42:12):
Through scot Honestly, I didn't think about how we didn't
say by just.

Speaker 6 (42:30):
Very It hurts to be something.

Speaker 4 (42:36):
It's worse to be in.

Speaker 14 (42:38):
A flame with you.

Speaker 6 (42:53):
So I didn't call you.

Speaker 4 (42:59):
For sixteen long day. I should get cigarette.

Speaker 17 (43:12):
For so much restrain, No man, how long risis tamptation.

Speaker 4 (43:24):
With love. It hurts to be something. It's words to
be nothing with you.

Speaker 14 (43:37):
I've done the math.

Speaker 4 (43:40):
There's no solution, will never left.

Speaker 6 (43:47):
Why can't let go? So I brought my promise. I

(44:27):
called you last life. Shouldn't have.

Speaker 18 (44:36):
I wouldn't have if it weren't for the side of
a boy who just like you standy.

Speaker 4 (44:53):
New her, Sibby something or siby nothing. Wrasy it?

Speaker 16 (45:37):
Where you.

Speaker 4 (45:53):
Sorry?

Speaker 2 (45:53):
I love that.

Speaker 1 (45:56):
I'm like I know that, of course, where is it?

Speaker 6 (45:59):
It is?

Speaker 4 (46:00):
Sorry? I threw that in there. I loved it a little,
a little tension for the kids.

Speaker 1 (46:04):
That was beautiful.

Speaker 4 (46:06):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (46:06):
That sounded okay. I couldn't tell, but no, I loved it.

Speaker 4 (46:09):
I thought it was great. The world sounds so beautiful
on it.

Speaker 14 (46:13):
Good.

Speaker 1 (46:14):
I love that song. It's so intense, very very intense.

Speaker 11 (46:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (46:19):
And also the tension we were talking about, like the
push and pull of the tempo stuff.

Speaker 2 (46:24):
I love that.

Speaker 4 (46:25):
Yeah, it's a fun one. It's a really good one
to do live.

Speaker 11 (46:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (46:28):
I bet it's probably my favorite one to sing live
right now.

Speaker 1 (46:31):
Really.

Speaker 4 (46:31):
Yeah. Well it's new enough.

Speaker 1 (46:32):
You know, it's new, but it's been out a couple
of months now maybe, or it's.

Speaker 4 (46:36):
Been a month a month. Yeah. Well, by the time
this is out, I guess it will help in a
couple maybe I'll be tired by then.

Speaker 1 (46:41):
No, I don't think so. It's the people in your audience.
They're mostly younger.

Speaker 4 (46:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (46:49):
Do they sing?

Speaker 4 (46:50):
Oh, they sing yeah, constantly? Yeah, pretty much. Well, I
find when the audience is sitting down, they're a little
more reserved. If there's adding, they're singing the entire side. Really.

Speaker 1 (47:02):
Yeah, that's insane.

Speaker 4 (47:04):
It's crazy. It's cute, and they harmonize a lot as well.

Speaker 1 (47:07):
Really, I was gonna ask that do they do the harmonies?

Speaker 4 (47:09):
Yeah, they do, and and I hear it the most
clear for like the last note. I'll like sometimes end
and I'll like, you know and like on a sea,
and I'll hear like it's like a choir. Yeah, singing kids,
A bunch of singing kids. Yeah, big with the orchestra kids,
that's great. Chore kids. Yeah, we're all the we're all community,

(47:32):
the choir kids.

Speaker 1 (47:33):
I was a choir kids.

Speaker 4 (47:34):
Yeah, yeah, exactly. No, it's it's really it's cool. I
never thought i'd be hearing, you know, a room of
you know, a thousand young people singing along to like jazz. Yeah, yeah,
I know.

Speaker 1 (47:46):
It's great.

Speaker 4 (47:46):
It's fun.

Speaker 1 (47:47):
That sounds really fun.

Speaker 4 (47:49):
Do you ever get tired of singing certain songs?

Speaker 1 (47:52):
I don't usually because when I when I launched in
to come away with me, or don't know why, the
audience gets happy. There's like a oh.

Speaker 4 (48:02):
Yeah, I've always wondered, you know, because you know, you
you have these songs that are just like like everybody
knows them, so I'm sure you have to perform it
every single time.

Speaker 1 (48:12):
I feel like I need to do those every time, right,
I feel like.

Speaker 4 (48:15):
The rest that there's but you don't get tired of it.

Speaker 1 (48:18):
I don't get tired of those songs. And I think
it's just because the thank you, I mean, I think
don't know why it is a great song. My friend
Jesse Harris wrote it. I think there was a time
where I got tired. I'll get tired of like an arrangement,
and I switch things up, not just for the sake
of switching it up, but I feel like songs evolve

(48:40):
and grow and change as you play them, and so
hopefully the audience doesn't mind that it's a little different
from the record, you know, Yeah, oh yeah.

Speaker 4 (48:48):
Of course, I think, at least for me. Like when
I go to a concert and I hear I always say,
you go to a concert, you don't want to hear
a recording. Yeah, Like, there's so much beauty in a
the imperfection, not that there's any imperfection on your plenty,
but there's so much beauty in that, you know, slight
human error, like that's what you come to a concert
to see exactly, and then also difference in arrangement, Like

(49:11):
I think some of my most magical memories from concerts
was like when I'd go to like a pop concert
as a kid, and like they just sing and play
guitar on a song. Oh yeah, and hear like a
special stripped down version. Yeah, and that's always been my favorite.
Or like if you hear a version with like a
super upbeat version of like a song that's like kind
of a ballad, like it always takes you by surprise, yea,

(49:32):
and that feels special because that feels like you only
got that.

Speaker 16 (49:35):
You know.

Speaker 1 (49:36):
Yeah, that's true. I think I think people have different opinions,
but that's how I feel. I think some people really
just want to hear certain arrangements. But I think as
long as you're not doing it just to the sake
of messing with it, right, I think it has to
be again, it carries over. If it's heartfelt and you
mean it and it evolves into something that you're excited about,

(49:57):
then a different arrangement is is awesome?

Speaker 4 (49:59):
Yeah, okay, hm hm hm.

Speaker 14 (50:10):
M m.

Speaker 4 (50:13):
That was the first video ever person online.

Speaker 16 (50:15):
What is it?

Speaker 4 (50:16):
I did?

Speaker 6 (50:18):
Has your heart from side? Lock your dreams at night?
It could happen to oh to count Stars.

Speaker 11 (50:36):
Or you right stone board, some one drops aside and
down You dono.

Speaker 4 (50:49):
Keep an eye on spring run when church builds aery.

Speaker 6 (50:57):
It could happen to.

Speaker 4 (51:03):
Love.

Speaker 6 (51:05):
Oh did was one the your arms would be?

Speaker 4 (51:13):
And it happened to me.

Speaker 6 (51:52):
Geeve your eye on spring.

Speaker 4 (51:56):
Roum wind Church Bill rees, it could happened.

Speaker 16 (52:06):
Oh that.

Speaker 6 (52:10):
Was your arms would be, and it happened to me.

Speaker 4 (52:29):
That's such a cute one. I actually did a recording
of that for my album. I don't know if it's
going to come out, but we did kind of like
a like a like a wedding belt kind of thing.

Speaker 1 (52:45):
That's sweet.

Speaker 6 (52:46):
Yeah, yeah, I'll put it out.

Speaker 4 (52:48):
I like that out there.

Speaker 1 (52:50):
You put everything out?

Speaker 4 (52:51):
Or do you have everything out?

Speaker 1 (52:52):
You don't hold on to stuff. I don't think it's
not anything you like to just do the app play right?

Speaker 4 (52:58):
Yeah I have. There's one song I've recorded that I
haven't put out, but every every other one. I recorded
fourteen for the album, and fourteen are coming out. I
stop a song before it even goes into recording if
I don't like it. Okay, if I don't like a song,
I don't finish writing it. And if I don't like
a song when it's finished, I definitely don't record it.

(53:18):
Really yeah, but then I get so excited when I'm
recording it and it turns into my baby, and I'm like,
there's no use holding on to it. Even with like
my last album, which was my first album, Like I
found the songs that I don't necessarily love that much
anymore are like some of my found's favorite songs.

Speaker 1 (53:35):
That's a weird thing. I feel like that I always
respond to stuff that maybe isn't my favorite.

Speaker 4 (53:40):
Yeah, and so so music is so subjective, so you
may as well just put it out.

Speaker 1 (53:44):
Yeah it is. That's true. Also, I think in today's
world it's like more is better, more is better. When
I was younger, I think it was better to be
selective and rit not overdo it.

Speaker 4 (53:56):
Yeah, well, I think. Yeah, back in the day, they're
just like row out, like tons of recordings and different
versions of recordings. And then we went into like a
time where it was like very protective and selective about
which ones go out because you know, it took so
much to send a record out. You know. Now it's
like you upload it online.

Speaker 1 (54:14):
And it's done.

Speaker 4 (54:15):
It's like putting it. It's like almost like posting an
Instagram post. It's like that easy.

Speaker 1 (54:20):
It's crazy. And then the algorithms you kind of want
to stay in it for streaming.

Speaker 4 (54:25):
Right exactly. Yeah, Well, you just there's so much content
and so many people because it's so easy to you know,
release music and post. So I guess to stay relevant
and stay remembered, you need to kind of keep up.
I tell you, well, until you become like an icon
like you, then you can do no.

Speaker 1 (54:45):
I mean it's the same with me. I think I
think I'm being encouraged to do stuff more frequently. Yeah,
that same reason, and I get it.

Speaker 4 (54:55):
I mean, I mean, as long as as long as
it's what you like, desire exactly. Yeah, I think it's
releasing music is something you don't want to. I can't
be forced people.

Speaker 1 (55:08):
People won't won't care about it.

Speaker 4 (55:10):
Especially the kind of music you make and I make.
I think you know it's not come out of some machine.

Speaker 1 (55:16):
You know, it's hard for us to fake it. Yeah
we're singing.

Speaker 4 (55:19):
Everyone will like if you look like a little dead
in your eye, like in a recording, people will comment like, like,
you look a bit tired today, And I'm like, you're right,
I didn't really want.

Speaker 1 (55:27):
To record that exactly, or I just won't even finish it.
I just won't sing exactly exactly exactly.

Speaker 11 (55:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (55:35):
I did a recording with Wayne Shorter oh wow, maybe
six or seven years ago, and we were all live
in the room and with a band with bass and
drums and singing playing the intro. I finished two verses
and I was like, oh my god, he's not into it.
He's not playing, you know. And then all of a sudden,

(55:56):
it was just listening. Wow, you know, and then he
played the beautiful something I've ever heard in my life.
But it was just so interesting to me. He wasn't
going to just like play under the verse for the
sake of doing it, and it was a really good
lesson and just like heartfelt. I feel like, I'm I
try to do that anyway, but it was a reinforcing

(56:16):
of it.

Speaker 4 (56:17):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (56:17):
Yeah, it was cool.

Speaker 4 (56:19):
That's an incredible story. You must have the most incredible
stories locked.

Speaker 11 (56:22):
Up in you.

Speaker 1 (56:23):
I have some good ones. I have some funny ones too. Yeah, yeah, off, mic, off, mic.

Speaker 4 (56:30):
I'm looking forward to it. I'm definitely collecting some funny ones.

Speaker 1 (56:35):
Of my own. Good. I hope, I hope you enjoy
I hope you're enjoying yourself.

Speaker 6 (56:40):
Yeah, I will.

Speaker 4 (56:40):
I'll burn my journals. I'll have my sister burn them
when I die.

Speaker 1 (56:44):
But are you enjoying yourself and all this? Because I
remember this time, and I remember I had a lot
of stressful things going on at the time. But I
hope you're enjoying it.

Speaker 4 (56:53):
I really am. I feel like so fortunate and I
have such a good support system, so it's i've I'm
enjoying it.

Speaker 7 (57:00):
I think.

Speaker 4 (57:01):
I think I will never be in a more exciting
time in my career than this, like whether it continues
to grow or if it flat lines. Like every day
something new and exciting happens, and it's new, you know,
it's it's a first time feeling for everything, and I
feel so thankful for everything. So I hope I can
hold on to that kind of excitement. I hope so too.

Speaker 1 (57:23):
Looking back, I think the one thing I wish is
that I could have just relaxed a little and enjoyed
it more. Yeah, but I get this. I feel like
you are. My sense of you is that you seem
genuinely tickled by all that.

Speaker 4 (57:37):
I'm like, amused by it.

Speaker 1 (57:39):
Well, it's amazing, Yeah, it truly is. It's it's a
lot of things, but it's definitely amasing.

Speaker 4 (57:45):
Yes, exactly, exactly.

Speaker 1 (57:47):
Well, so We recorded this Christmas song together yesterday, which
was fun.

Speaker 4 (57:54):
It was very fun.

Speaker 1 (57:55):
Do you want to try it? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (57:56):
I do.

Speaker 1 (57:57):
I just can't get over how cool it is when
you play.

Speaker 4 (58:02):
Rig It's fine, It's really cool. It's it's definitely you
know something I found Some of the first videos I
posted online were like playing guitar and singing, and I
realized it seemed just to be such a rare thing
that people were fascinated by it.

Speaker 1 (58:19):
It's find it's fun.

Speaker 4 (58:21):
Yeah, kind of, it's like somehow a cross between bass
and guitar. It's somewhere in the middle, and it has
that body. It's Yeah, it's a very versatile instrument. It's
my favorite instrument.

Speaker 1 (58:33):
Do you always play everything on tour? Like, do you
you dabble? You'll play piano, cello.

Speaker 4 (58:37):
Yeah, I like I'll usually sit in kind of like
a triangle formation, and I'll like I would say, I
split pretty evenly between piano and guitar. Well, it depends
if I have a grand piano, then I'm more on
piano because.

Speaker 1 (58:49):
You're enjoying it because you do ever you do like
use a keyboard ever?

Speaker 4 (58:52):
Or is any Yeah, I mean on it's like my
one off shows, like shows that I'm playing solo, I'll
like usually have a grand piano, and like the shows
in Asia that I just did in Australia, I had
a grand piano. But on my tour, you know, when
we're like traveling with everything, it's it's a keyboard and
a shell.

Speaker 1 (59:09):
Now what do you use because I'm curious about that.

Speaker 4 (59:12):
The keyboard It's a Nord Okay, yeah, I've used.

Speaker 1 (59:16):
I've used.

Speaker 4 (59:18):
It's a Nord something. It has eighty eight keys and
it's weighted. That's all I asked.

Speaker 1 (59:22):
I used one of those ones. Yeahh they couldn't get
a piano into this place.

Speaker 4 (59:25):
And right, well, pianos are so tricky, you know, they're
so tricky.

Speaker 1 (59:29):
I just did a tour with the piano and the
heat and it just it really went out a lot.

Speaker 4 (59:34):
It's crazy, but it's so worth it.

Speaker 6 (59:37):
It is.

Speaker 1 (59:37):
I mean, I've done it for twenty years, but I'm
starting to question certain things. I think it's also fun
to try different things. I used to tour with an upright,
which I really wow because I had more intimate, like
more closeness with my band that way, right, yeah, other way?

Speaker 4 (59:52):
How do you situate the piano.

Speaker 1 (59:54):
So that that's what's always the audience. Yeah, there's always
somebody with my back to the audience.

Speaker 4 (59:59):
And that's I did that the other day, and I
felt like I was away from the audience.

Speaker 1 (01:00:03):
Yeah, I mean I feel bad about it, but there's
nothing you can do.

Speaker 4 (01:00:06):
Okay, I'm still seeing you. Yeah, your backside.

Speaker 1 (01:00:08):
They can see my hands. Not the worst.

Speaker 4 (01:00:10):
Yeah, exactly see your hands and see what you're doing.

Speaker 1 (01:00:12):
Okay, let's try the slag Yay.

Speaker 2 (01:00:18):
All right, have yourself, Ah, marry little Christmas.

Speaker 1 (01:00:39):
Letting your heart belive.

Speaker 6 (01:00:45):
Next year are a lot of troubles.

Speaker 1 (01:00:48):
We'll be out of side.

Speaker 4 (01:00:56):
Have your shoe for Mary Christmas. Make the targets. Next
year all.

Speaker 14 (01:01:09):
The large travels will be miles away.

Speaker 15 (01:01:19):
He as in older lace, happy golden days, faithful friends.

Speaker 6 (01:01:33):
Who are to last, Gavin hear to twe Sunday.

Speaker 19 (01:01:44):
Soon we all be together, if the faith allows unto.
Then we'll have to model through show so had shows

(01:02:09):
a merry little Christian.

Speaker 14 (01:03:00):
We are as in olden days, happy golden.

Speaker 4 (01:03:08):
Of your.

Speaker 1 (01:03:12):
Flame for friends who had to.

Speaker 6 (01:03:18):
Gather near to us one small some Ly, soon we
all pa together. If the fates a.

Speaker 4 (01:03:37):
And then we'll have to model.

Speaker 14 (01:03:42):
Through somehow, so have a very little Christmas.

Speaker 4 (01:04:21):
So jolly. That was great. Santa will be happy with
that one.

Speaker 1 (01:04:28):
I think he would dig it. Yeah, thanks for doing this,
of course, thanks for having me.

Speaker 4 (01:04:34):
Yeah, such a dream.

Speaker 1 (01:04:35):
Yeah, it was really really fun. I hope we get
to play more.

Speaker 4 (01:04:39):
Yeah, my god, we too.

Speaker 1 (01:04:40):
All right, have a good trip.

Speaker 4 (01:04:42):
Thank you, thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:04:45):
Ah, that was so fun.

Speaker 3 (01:04:47):
Her sound is so refreshing. It's really unique, and the
honesty in her lyrics makes her song so special.

Speaker 1 (01:04:53):
We talked about it in the episode, but I really
do love the angle she's coming from because she's such
a great jazz musician, but she's trying to make original
music instead of just singing old standards, which is sort
of the struggle I had coming out and playing jazz,
because you love those old songs, but at a certain
point you want to do something new. Of course, you

(01:05:15):
want to sort of be yourself. So I love how
she's made it work.

Speaker 3 (01:05:20):
Yeah, you know, it's like the lyrics that she relates
to and not just you know, telling someone else's story.

Speaker 1 (01:05:26):
Yeah, yeah, I love it, and I love her sweet fans.
They love her so much. It's so sweet to see.

Speaker 3 (01:05:33):
Yeah, if you didn't know about her. Check out the
rest of her music. Get to know her. You won't
be sorry. Her sound is truly her own. Try to
see her live if you can. She's got some tour
dates coming up. And Happy holidays. Everyone from the Norah
Jones is playing a long crew.

Speaker 1 (01:05:48):
Yes, Happy holidays to you, wishing you well this season.
I hope you're cozy. Thanks for listening, and we love you,
We love you. If you want to know what songs
we did today, we did it. I've a original song
called Haunted from her album Bewitched twenty twenty three. We
did Valentine from Everything I Know About Love from twenty

(01:06:08):
twenty two. We did Promise from Bewitched, and we did
have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, which is a song
from the nineteen forties written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blaine,
and it was introduced by Judy Garland in the musical
Meet Me in Saint Louis.

Speaker 4 (01:06:23):
I love that version.

Speaker 1 (01:06:25):
Today's episode was recorded at Clubhouse in ryan Beck, New York.
Recorded by Pete Hanlon, assisted by Gillian Pelconan, mixed by
Jamie Landry, edited by Sarah Oda. Additional editing and mixing
by Matthew Vesquez. Additional engineering Matt Marinelli. Artwork by Eliza Frye,
Photography by Shervin Linez. Coordinating producer Rachel Ward. Produced by

(01:06:47):
Nora Jones and Sarah Oda.

Speaker 4 (01:06:49):
Hey that's me me and you That's me.

Speaker 1 (01:06:51):
Thanks a lot, Happy holidays,