Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey, guys, it's Jackie Gould, Tonighter and Jen Tesler. We
are two Jersey Jays, and we have a great episode today.
I feel like, you know what, Evan always hates when
people say that before a talk show, Like a talk
show host will say like, we have a great episode
for you today.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
He's like, what else are they supposed to say? Are
they supposed to say we have a crappy episode for
you today?
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Right?
Speaker 3 (00:22):
But I guess you don't have to say anything. But
the thing is, and this is not This actually sounds
a little hokey. But I feel like we usually get
very excited always, I guess about our guests. I mean,
this one is very exciting, but like I.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Feel like I don't know that I never met our
guest today, but you've met her how many times?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
So well we could say who she is. It's some
big suit.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Okay, you guys are going to find out your second
But we have the magical I don't know what other
word to use, Kelsey Watts, and we're going to tell
you about her if you don't know about her already.
But I met Kelsey so I found Kelsey on TikTok,
like literally just scrolling TikTok. All of a sudden, this
(01:07):
angel appears with this voice that you know, you get
so many of those tiktoks right where somebody comes across
and somebody who was on the voice or whatever, but Kelsey,
who actually she was. But there's something so as you
guys will soon see, but there's something so magnetic about
(01:28):
this woman. And I started to like just become obsessed
with her, told my friends about her, would just watch
her tiktoks all the time. So when I was standing
outside in Manhattan on the way into an event, and
I looked to my left and there she is.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
She has a no or.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
I thought she didn't know me, and I lost my shit.
There was at this thing Alec Baldwin was there. Like
nothing else mattered then the fact that this redhead was
literally standing next to me with her amazing husband, and
I just I couldn't even I was like, because you
have to understand, when you hear Kelsey, you're like, what
(02:08):
is happening? Anyway, she was so so sweet, and she
she knows about the Housewives. She watches the Housewives, so
you know, she said fans of ours as well. We
ended up going into the event. I remember when my
daughter was with me and she like came over to
me and she's like, excuse me, Jen Rachel's over there
by the whatever, looking like just just she's just a sweetheart.
(02:31):
And then whatever, we we just shot the shit for
a while and I said, I've got to come see six,
which is her Broadway show that's running right now, and
she got us tickets and I brought, you know, three
of my best friends, and then we hung out afterwards
and brands and who's her husband? And I have been
have texted and he is the most amazing man. But
(02:54):
that's that was sort of my introduction to Kelsey, And
little did I know that she is a rising star
for me. I thought I was cool that I knew
who she was from TikTok, but I'm never that cool,
and lots and lots and lots of people know who
Kelsey is, so so that's sort of like that's how
(03:15):
we first connected. And she's not only talented and beautiful,
but you'll see she is the warmest, kindest, Uh. There's
something like she's just like sugar coming off of her.
So I am so excited that we have her on.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Yeah, going to love her and it's more than just music.
She has a very very interesting backstory, of course, a
really interesting story of how she got to where she
is now because we all.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Know that that's not easy.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
There's a million people vying for fame and trying to
make it on TikTok and on reality shows, and so
to really to make it to the level that she
has already is really amazing. So to hear her backstory,
but she also has she's layered. She she she works
(04:05):
with as a mental health advocate, and we'll hear all
about her backstory, but real quick before she comes on,
what's new with you?
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Ah, what's new with me?
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Well, I've been spending a lot of time at the beach,
which has been I mean, you've had a beach house
for a long time. I had, We had a place
in South Carolina we used to go to, but we
just didn't go that often, and so we sold that
place and we bought this place in Margate, New Jersey.
And it's just dreamy. It's so good, it's just so great.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
It's just you know what it is.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
It's it is beautiful there and the beach is fabulous,
and it's also just like the getting away thing, right,
Like sometimes it's just getting out of your own out
of scenery into another, you know, a whole other area.
And but it's summer and it's just everything feels very happy.
Right now. I'm leaving for sun Valley tomorrow my with
(04:59):
two of my best college friends.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I'm excited about that.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
We're doing a little a little vacation at my friend's
house and Sun Valley.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
So what about you? What's going on? And not a
whole lot.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
I've got an injured kid at home, so a lot
of time spent being a nurse.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
I don't know what is in the water over at
the Goldschniders.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
You know what, when you have athletes in the house,
there's you know, like shit happens. But one of my
older sons is being actively recruited to play basketball in college,
so he all these I know, well, Jonas would be also,
but he's he's been injured so he has to He's
(05:40):
not injured anymore, but he's like getting his strength back.
He just got cleared like a month ago. But Aiden
is he's off at tournaments, constant tournaments. This weekend is
the last one he's with Evan in Atlantic City. They're
constantly somewhere, but starting to get like mail from colleges
and halls and it's really excited.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
That's pretty cool, Jack, That's not easy.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
It's very cool because to think that I have like
another like he's going into his junior year in high school,
but to think that I could potentially have another four
years of like exciting college basketball.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
I love watching my kids play sports. It's like my
happy place. So I definitely did not have that. I'd
neither one of my kids played sports. My son really
wanted to, but he just he that was not his area.
He did not excel until he got well he's actually did.
Wasn't fencing in high school, which he loved. Oh really,
And Rachel has has had zero. I mean, Zach's a
(06:35):
huge sports ban. Rachel could not care less.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
But I really wanted to be good at sports. I
just wasn't. I have these memories. I was just play softball.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
I was always on a softball team, and I was
a catcher a lot of times, and my dad would
just like crouch down behind the gates and just like
screen directions at me the whole O.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
No, I can't really wanted me to be good.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
But it is a joy watching your kid play when
they love it, and you love it, and.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
He wants to do that. He wants to play in college.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
And you know what I'm discovering now is like I
had no idea how it works with like Division one
Division three.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
It's like Division one.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
There's some great schools that are Division one, but they
take like the one or two best players in the country.
So I said TOVNM, like, why can't he just go
to a school like do He's like, are you kidding?
Like do you know, like takes like the first pick
in the draft, like they are they are the best. Like,
so there's a lot of Division one schools that are
not great academically. And the truth is when you get out,
(07:37):
like most of these kids are not going to the NBA.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
So you need a good well good too. My very
dear friend, I think I've told you about a Jackie.
Her name is Maria Harper.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
So, oh, I know I know all about the Harpers,
trust me.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Okay, So Maria, I don't know if you know about
So she has two sons and she was married to
Ronald Harper, who played on the Bulls. He's famous with
Michael Jordan was part of that team. So her first son,
Ronald went to Rutgers and then got recruited.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
He's in the NBA. I'm not sure which one.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
And Dylan, her other son, who went just got he's
the second what is it second? He was the second
pick in the draft, right, or the second pick in
the draft, right?
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Yeah, yeah, so he's amazing.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
So, uh, it's funny because I called her like right
after I had heard I don't and again I don't
really follow basketball, because I heard it because I started
getting all these texts that the whole like the internet,
she was going viral. And yes it was about Dylan
because he is exceptional, but because she's so gorgeous, everybody
was talking about like Dylan Harper's mom was upstaging him.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Oh my god. Yeah, they'll be having that same conversation
about Aiden. You know, yes, it will, they definitely will.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
But I mean it was, yeah, I know, it's like
it's I don't know, it's Rutgers a Division one.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
I don't I don't know.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Actually look at him at So yeah, it's all very exciting.
But I'm glad you're having a great summer. It's going
by way too fast. My school, actually, my kid's school
starts before Labor Day this year.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
It's the first time ever. Yeah, isn't that wild?
Speaker 1 (09:09):
So we don't even we're not even taking like a
Labor Day weekend trip, which we usually do. But anyway,
as long as everyone's healthy and good, I'm trying to
just like take deep breaths and not get freaked out
over any of my kid's injuries. So and I felt,
can I just tell you this weird thing? I fell
at the end of June? Right, did you know this?
(09:30):
I tripped while I was jogging. Oh my god, I
got really injured. But I scraped my shoulders so badly,
and I had these hydrocholoid bandages on it. When I
took it off, I saw ink from my tattoo. I
think I have to get retattooed.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Isn't that crazy?
Speaker 3 (09:46):
It scraped off I don't know if you could see this,
but very strange.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
It scraped off the top ooh, scraped off the top.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Layer of like kind of see it of right there.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Yeah, Rachel's trying to get her tattoo removed.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Maybe she should use Oh no, I want all the tattoos, no, Rachel,
but this one that she wants to get redunk. She
didn't like it. Oh, really, maybe she should just scrape
herself off.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Just tell her to like turn on her side and
like scrape herself on the pavement for like an hour.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
That'll work.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
I'm super super excited to meet Kelsey and to talk
to her about all the things.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
So if you're read no further ado, let's bring her in.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Hello, Hi, how aril right?
Speaker 4 (10:37):
Kelsey.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
I feel like I'm the only one who hasn't met you.
I know, I'm so excited, thank you for being here.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
So I was just I'm sorry, I was just doing
this intro to you. We were talking about you first,
and I'm like, I mean, Jackie, I can't. I probably
sounded like I'm madly.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
She's like your uh yeah, you're spokeswoman.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Now she loves you. I can't help it.
Speaker 4 (11:01):
We became best friends. Whenever we met at like Hollywood, I.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Was like, oh, oh no, no, no, no, excuse me, you
didn't we didn't meet.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
You were attacked. I was saying.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
I looked to my left and I said, I was
like Alec Baldwin was there. They were like sire and
I looked to my left. None of it mattered. I
see this princess with red hair that you can't miss her.
And then I'm like, that's that. That is that bitch.
I am obsessed with talk holy shit.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
And I lost it.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
Oh my gosh, it was so great.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
It was and I was I was across the street
from your show the other day. I saw and Juliet
So and I looked out and I saw six, and
I said, that's that's funny because I'm gonna meet one
of the stars of six.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
So let's jump in.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Okay, so I know a little about you and your background.
But okay, so like you were, you were a kid,
you loved singing everything.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Your first big opportunit.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Co Unity, was on aj McLean's song Hurts to Love You.
Do you consider that your big break or was the
voice your big break?
Speaker 4 (12:08):
I would say the voice probably. I mean I loved
getting to be on that track. But crazy enough, I
never met him, like while recording the track, like I
did basically like a demo vocal on it to see
if they would like me, and then they ended up
liking it. But I only met him once whenever we
performed at this tin roof in Kentucky. Yeah, in Kentucky,
(12:32):
like like super super random and as awesome as that was,
it was right before COVID, so like everything kind of
like like nothing really took off with it. And the
Voice is what really gave me like visibility for people
were like everybody's watching their phones. We were during the
COVID season saying a Kelly Clarkson song for Kelly Clarkson,
(12:53):
and so.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
What I dare you?
Speaker 4 (12:55):
I dare you? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Wait, could we just we have to talk about that
for a second, because because a lot of us out
here that have fantasized that one day we would be
on the Voice and what that would be like. And
I don't know if I have ever spoken to someone
who's actually on it, but of course I've seen your
audition and like you see Kelly Clarkson just losing her
(13:17):
shit when you start singing, and you were blonde at
the time, right, and you're and just as obviously just
as gorgeous as you are now. But I mean that
experience and I don't think that you won, which baffles me.
I don't really understand how that's possible. But was it
(13:38):
still like it must have been so surreal to finally
get to do your thing and here is it was Kelly,
Gwen Stefani, Lake Shelton, was it, Adam Levine and John
Legend And how do.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
You even begin to perform in front of like icons
like that?
Speaker 3 (13:55):
And you seem so calm, you were so were you complected?
Speaker 2 (14:00):
I tell us all about it, ish, I mean, I had.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
To go in treating it like another gig. That is
the only thing that I could do to be able
to separate like the intensity of who these people were.
I mean, because they're all insanely successful and you know
they're doing what I want to do. But I had
to go into it with like more of a business
mindset of this show is not going to make me famous.
(14:24):
It's not going to get me a record deal, but
what it will do is get me a lot of eyes.
And so in my brain, I was like, all right,
if I can sing a Kelly Clarkson song for Kelly Clarkson,
I knew.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
It was her love her she.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
Oh, I've always loved her. Yeah, Oh my gosh, shev
forever and always. She was one of my idols growing up.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Her voice, right, I mean, I mean they're all obviously incredible,
but Kelly Clarkson and Promis I don't have that professional,
like I can't look at things the same way that
that you can write.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
But her voice is but you're a.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
Consumer, I mean you know, and like she even like
Kelly OK, I mean her entire career, she's just so good, Like, yeah,
she's just so good. So you know, I was like,
if I can sing her song for her, I'll at
least get on TV. And because you're not guaranteed to
even audition for Blinds, you know, like once you're there,
(15:17):
you're not guaranteed to be able to sing in front
of them. So really I was like, yeah, yeah, because
if the teams fill up before you get to audition,
it's just like oh right, yeah. So I mean so
it got me a lot of visibility. Thank god she
turned around, because that was terrifying. I was like, oh
my gosh, they're they're not going to do it. They're
not going to turn around?
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Oh no, yeah, that was what did they say?
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Because it was her when And I'm thinking as I'm
watching it, are John Legend and Blake Shelton, Like are
they not hearing what's happening?
Speaker 4 (15:47):
I will say during battle rounds. I didn't get a
lot of airtime after that, but during battles. Blake did
say I wish I had turned around for you.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
You know that he's my He's my I love him love.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
I was like, I was like, I wish you could
get a SoundBite of that, Like, can I just put
that on my resume quick?
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Well, I'm telling you it seems like you did great
without me. Yeah you were amazing.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
Oh so yeah it was great.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Yeah, so you did the voice and then what was
it like immediate the the like publicity and the catapulting
of your career?
Speaker 2 (16:24):
What happened from there?
Speaker 4 (16:26):
So it actually it doesn't happen as quickly as it looks.
You know, once somebody quote unquote blows up, it looks
like it happened overnight and everyone's like, oh my gosh,
I just did it. But the reality is, once I
left the show, I knew I had a very very
small window to release music so that way I could
get fans of the show to become fans of me,
(16:48):
because that is half of the battle, is not just
being a contestant on the voice, Like, as a new artist,
you need people to be fans of you and your music.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
How did you who was advising you to do that?
Speaker 3 (16:58):
How'd you know that just me and I just you
just knew that it's a hard industry.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
What's a hard industry to manage?
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Right?
Speaker 4 (17:06):
I mean it really is. And I went to Belmont
and so I did you know music business and commercial
voice so, and social media was just becoming massive, like
TikTok had just become a really big thing. And so
I knew, if I can find a way to have
a viral moment, that'll at least gain a decent enough
following to to have people like really watch me and
(17:30):
not just the show. So I started posting. Things didn't
really go like as fast as you think they would.
I mean, it got me a blue check mark before
you know, you could pay for it, like you know,
it allowed me to actually have like some more gigs.
But during that time, I mean I'm still bartending. Like
up until less than a year ago, I was still
(17:50):
bartending until four o'clock in the morning and downtown Nashville.
Because as an independent artist, we pay for everything. So
even now, I'll still pay producer, musicians, recording, studio photo shoots.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
You don't pay that for your the songs that you've recorded. Now, yeah, girl,
I yeah, that's what I'll see Watt, What are you
talking about?
Speaker 4 (18:17):
Because if you know of any people that want to invest,
you just let me know. But I mean the reality
is like, as an independent artist, that's what we do,
you know. So I was just trying to find a
way to make a living as a singer and then
also find a way to gain an audience on a
big platform. So it really wasn't until mid twenty twenty three,
(18:41):
which was two years later, that I really started gaining
momentum on TikTok, and I really I wanted to quit
social media. I was so over it. I was like,
nothing is working.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Really because I was going to ask you that, So
you're so successful and like people would look at you
like you said and say, oh she was on the
voice and then catapult it to fame.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Did you have these moments that I feel.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Like a lot of us go through after specifically after
a reality show, where you're like nothing good is ever
going to happen again? That was my peak, like there's
nothing that exciting that's going to happen from here.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Did you have a lot of those moments? Oh?
Speaker 4 (19:17):
My absolutely?
Speaker 2 (19:18):
How did you push the breakdown really?
Speaker 4 (19:21):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Well I think it makes people feel better.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Yeah, I mean because it's because it's real, Like you're
on this reality show that is way more of a
television show than a sinking competition, and your brain is
like just right here, and you're like this is all
that matters. And then when you get kicked off, you're like,
well now what Like now it's not like they give
you help. It's not like they're like, oh, here's this
aftercare program for people who are on reality shows, Like
(19:47):
it's just good.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
If there is one, please sign me up.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
I mean so no, there were many times I was
super discouraged and like I couldn't figure out out like
why nobody was paying attention. And I think it's because
I didn't know who I was as an artist. You know.
I was encouraged very strongly to go in multiple different
directions and I really just listened to everybody else except myself,
(20:14):
and it.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Wasn't you expand on that, Kels, Like what does that mean?
Speaker 3 (20:18):
So? So what do you feel like you're author? I
hate I hate these buzz whatever your authentic self?
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Where did that?
Speaker 3 (20:26):
Where did you belong? And where are people trying to
push you to belong?
Speaker 4 (20:29):
Yeah? So because of the kind of voice that I
have ballads are very popular, and I was encouraged to
just sing ballads and to be straight pop, and sometimes
it was encouraged to dumb my voice down so that
way people could sing along. And it needed to be
more about people's accessibility to sing along with my songs,
(20:51):
and I needed to not sing like me in essence,
being pushed to be someone like a Sabrina Carpenter, which
she's phenomenal. Love her, but we're very different, you know,
and that's not me. And so the things I was
trying to do just didn't work. Nothing worked, and so
I you know, I grew up listening to you know, Whitney,
(21:11):
Selene Mariah, but then also def Leppard and Kiss and Boston,
and you know, like that's I love pop music and
rock music, and that's I've always wanted to kind of
mesh the two and stay in the pop lane, very
similar to you know, Pink. She's a really good example
of someone who's been very successful in that lane. And
(21:32):
I was kind of told, nah, it's not popular right now,
don't do that. And so as I was trying to
do what everybody else I thought wanted me to do,
nothing on social media worked. Like I was I just
was kind of lost, you know, I was. I was
really really lost. And one day after I was like
(21:53):
done with social media. I was had gotten a little
traction on Facebook, like from reals, and then I got
hacked and all of my money and so I had
to go back to bartending. And yeah, it was a
whole whole thing. And it was pop music Month. I
think it was July of twenty twenty three year August,
and Brandon and my manager were like, Kelsey, just sing
(22:18):
and I was like, I don't want to just sing.
Nobody wants to hear me sing. Everybody and their dog sings.
And this was at the point where everyone's singing in
the parking garages and I was like, no, everybody else
is already doing that, Like who's going to want to
hear me do that? And they were like, just sing,
just just sing. So I put forth the least amount
of effort because I was so over it, and I
(22:39):
put my phone up against the kitchen counter and I
put Brandon's phone with a karaoke track and was just
making coffee or making a shake because that's.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Why you guys, But you guys.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
Brandon is Kelsey's husband, husband, Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, I
don't know why. I do know that one of the
most adorable sweet like Kelsey just just just sugar. He's
made of sugar. He's cut and a performer and a
brilliant singer.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
He's I know, he's so good. I keep telling him
he needs to sing more, and he's like, no, just.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
I love when you guys sing together.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
Same, I mean, and we just started acting goofy and
being funny, and I sang songs that I wanted to
sing and that I enjoyed singing, and my gosh, it
just exploded, like I mean, we hit a million in
less than seven months on Dick and now we're at
one point nine million and over a mine.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
Oh I love that.
Speaker 4 (23:32):
I mean, it was crazy. So it just shot off,
and that's what really helped catapult my visibility, was me
just being myself and singing on TikTok.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
Can I ask you something this is and this might
be a I don't know if this is an okay
question to ask, but I never.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Jen doesn't care. I don't care.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
But do you think that part of why they wanted
to put you in a box was because of what
you look like? Because I'm not, but because you are
beautiful and you have this very I would think about this,
but sellable look, I mean, right.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
So do you think that that was part of it?
Speaker 4 (24:20):
I think so. I think also it depends on what's
popular at the time, you know. Some sometimes there's you know,
there was there's a moment when Adele is the biggest
thing happening. There's a moment when I, like Olivia Rodrigu
is the biggest thing, you know. I mean, there's different
styles that I think become popular at different times more so,
(24:42):
and I think possibly it probably has a lot to
do with how I look and that it'd be sellable
and just a pop market. And I still love pop
music and that was what I would consider myself to be,
but it has a little more of an edge. Yeah,
like and I I mean, gosh, I have tattoos and
my hair changed colors all the time.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
I do too, Yeah, I have lots of them.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
Yeah, I mean, and I love them. But it does
add to a look, you know. And so yeah, I mean,
I think it's very possible what people think is going
to sell. But at the same time, I think what
sells the best is me being me, which sounds obviously
so cliche. But it's the truth because I think people
(25:24):
relate to vulnerability, they relate to you just being you.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
So talk about your new single Fit in very powerful lyrics.
Did you write it from a place of like what
you were feeling or sometimes I know people can write
songs about that have nothing to do with their own life,
but this, this had to do with your life, right?
Speaker 4 (25:43):
Oh? Absolutely? Yeah. So I wrote it with a guy
named Q and he's in Nashville right now, but really
really talented producer and writer. And it was our first
time writing and the other we'd never written before. And
we were just hanging out having coffee and he was like,
what do you want to write about? We started talking
about the boys because he had vocal coached on AGT
(26:06):
and done a lot of records for a Demi and Beyonce,
and so we're talking about just the sounds and like
an artist, what you want to like? What does Kelsey
Watts sound like? And as I was going through the story,
I just told you all about the voice. Then it
took me back to being a kid. I was never cool.
I had never had a date to prom I didn't
(26:26):
have a boyfriend, I wasn't invited to the parties like
I you know, I wasn't bullied heavily.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
They're all kicking themselves now, right, Yeah, I'm like.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
Me, no, you know, I mean like I got along
with everyone, but I I was never high school skinny.
I wasn't the really pretty one like it just it
just wasn't my life. And so I hated middle school.
I hated high school. It was a miserable place to
be and because I felt like I never fit in ever.
(26:57):
And so that got us talk and we were like,
oh my gosh, we we can write about that. And
I took from real things I've been told, Like the
first line of the song is I know that you
think that you're a lot, because I was always told Kelsey,
you're just a lot, like you're just too much, Like
you're just a lot. And you're like, what does that
even mean? And why does it hurt my feelings? You know,
(27:20):
like you know, And so it's you say you're gonna
change for real this time, but then you fall off
and fall in line, and then you look up you
find the dirty truth and it's like, oh, it's cause
I keep telling myself I'm gonna be myself, but now
I keep trying to be like everybody else every time,
and you're like, oh, that's actually my problem because I
keep doing I mean, you know, so I absolutely pulled
(27:40):
from real life experiences because I want everybody that listens
to my music to know not only are they not alone,
but you already belong with me just the way you are,
like you all like, because you're already you already fit in.
So are we still trying?
Speaker 3 (27:59):
I've been doing many, many years of therapy to learn that, Kelsey.
I don't know how that just came to you.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
But.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
And I think it's something that everybody struggles with.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
And I've been hearing it from.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
The mouth of somebody who is just so beautiful and successful.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
Is it makes other people feel very, very seen. So
thank you for that?
Speaker 4 (28:19):
Yeah, thank you, I mean, and that's the goal, you know.
And yeah, I mean, and I feel like I finally
with this song. It's me. I love the sound, I
love the guitars, and I love the synthse and I
love like the actual like like like the just the
sound texture. I'm like, oh, this is me.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
All right.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
So I'm not like good, I'm not like well versed
in the music industry.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
So are you signed to a label. Now, do you
have an album or you just put out your own single?
Speaker 4 (28:50):
Independent? I have, I have management, and that is it
that that has to be a choice, right, Like, I'm
why are you signed to label?
Speaker 2 (28:59):
Is that the ultimate goal? Or is that not the goal?
Speaker 4 (29:02):
I think eventually that would be the goal, you know, Okay?
Because here here's the reality is as an independent artist, yes,
I can control everything. However, I'm also financially in charge
of everything. And music's really expensive. I mean, it's marketing
is so expensive, and most of the things I would
love to be able to do I physically can't afford
(29:24):
because it's like twenty thirty grand, you know. And as
much as I would love to say I have that
in my back pocket to just throw away it, does
you know? I mean yeah, Like, and that's what a
label really does. They're a bank. You knows.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
You're not being approached by labels now, then there's a
disconnect there, clearly, yeah, you know.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
And I think that I think the biggest battle is
because as because even though I've been singing for forever,
I'm technically a new artist. And half of the battle
is visibility, getting people to actually hear my music, not
just me singing on TikTok. So you approach a label
and they're like, well, how many streams do you have
or you know, how many songs do you have in
(30:03):
the bank. And even though I have all of these
songs in my bank that are done and I'm down
to release, I don't have a TikTok viral moment for
my music. And so I think that's probably the biggest hurdle.
And so I need a song, one of my songs
to pop off, if you will, or to have a
(30:24):
viral moment, I think, to get attention from labels that
will want to actually work with me because I've always
done money.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
It's could you hate that pressure?
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Like I hate the social media pressure, Like you're you're
a lot younger than we are, but I mean that
there used to be none of that, and now, like
even when like one of our gen and I share managers,
like even when they call them they'll like make a video, I'm.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Like, like, I just don't.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
I don't like the pressure, you know, I know, I
hate it.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
I hate a lot.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
It's a lot of pressure, and it's like it's such
a blessing and a curse at the same time, because
you know TikTok and Instagram has allowed me to have
visibilit that you used to have to be signed to
a label for. But then the downside of it is
that unless you have certain numbers and certain engagement. Now
they don't want to sign you unless you already have
that because they want their investment to return ten yol.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
Honey, you better enjoy your anonymity while you haven't. I
mean now, I'm not even kidding, like, I don't know.
I'm sure you feel like in such a different place
than you did two years ago, and especially with six,
which we'll get to, but you, no, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
If I'm a betting girl, You're not going to get
to do this.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
She is your biggest She is like the president of
your fan club.
Speaker 4 (31:39):
I know, I love you so much.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
It's really nice. It's really nice to see. Well tell
us about six.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
Yeah, yeah, oh.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
My gosh, yes, I mean, like, how did it even happen?
Speaker 4 (31:49):
I'm on Broadway? Like what?
Speaker 2 (31:51):
Yeah, it's crazy, it's insane. Were you a big Broadway
fan growing up? Were you a Broadway girl?
Speaker 4 (31:58):
Oh? I've always loved Broadway. I love musicals, I love
musical theater. I mean it's gosh. I mean, I remember
listening to Lamez when I was like four, you know,
and like crying in the backseat, being like, oh my gosh,
she's dying, like ridiculous. I mean, but I never thought
it would be a thing for me, because you know,
I chose to express myself artistically with tattoos, and you know,
(32:21):
I didn't choose to go into singing, acting dancing at
a super young age. So I always felt like I
was way behind the curve, never could do it, and
I didn't feel like I hit the mold, which back
then I did not, And now it's way more progressive.
You don't have to you don't have to fit a
certain body type or a certain look, like Broadways really
(32:42):
really expanded, which is amazing and I'm so grateful. But yeah,
I didn't think it was ever going to be a
thing for me. And now I'm here, did.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
You approach them? Did you audition for it? Or did
you get approached?
Speaker 4 (32:56):
So I was actually doing a gig on a showboat,
you know, trying to make a living as a singer,
and this lady came up to me at the meet
and greet handed me her card and said, Hi, I
think you're amazing. I would love to chat. I'm casting
for a Broadway show and I just I think we
should talk. And at that point I had no idea
who she was and came to find out it's Reverted Douchek,
(33:18):
who is the musical supervisor of Six Everywhere, and she's
also you know, worked with people like Hugh Jackman and
Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway on Lay Miz and has
been on Broadway herself. I mean, she's she's phenomenal, like phenomenal,
and me not knowing that, I just texted her and
I was like, oh my gosh, hey, it was so
nice to meet you. And you know, that was the
(33:40):
end of twenty nineteen beginning of twenty twenty, and you know,
COVID happened. They had cast the show already. She was
talking about six. It was the first time they were
bringing it to the US that that had been cast,
and then we actually built a relationship through the voice
and after the Voice in twenty twenty one, she was like, hey,
I'd love for you to come audition for six and
I was like, nay, I think they were casting for
(34:02):
the first tour and they called me for parr I
think they did Seymour for a bit, but Parr was
the main one, if I remember correctly. And I went
to Chicago auditioned at a callback and then they asked
me to come to New York and then I got
cut and I was like, oh, I know. I was
like what I mean? So, I granted I've never done
(34:25):
musical theater professionally before, like so I knew nothing about
this process.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
But do you dance? Also?
Speaker 4 (34:32):
I do?
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Okay, So when you get cut in this process, do
they tell you that you're cut or do they just
ghost you?
Speaker 4 (34:40):
Thankfully they told me I was cut.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
Okay, that's nice.
Speaker 4 (34:42):
Yeah, I know in some parts you just you never
hear anything, but yeah, this company they did email me
and they were like, thank you for coming, but unfortunately
we're not going to ask you to continue. And I
was devastated, Like devastated, Okay, I was like, I was,
oh my gosh, it was rough. Brandon was with me,
and it was just it was a sad It was
(35:04):
a very sad day. So I let myself be sad.
And then I emailed the casting director Peter and was like, hey,
thank you so much for the opportunity. What can I
do to get better, Like what in essence, why did
you cut me? How can I be better? And he
was like have you ever acted before? And I said no,
I have not, and he was like, well, if you
(35:27):
could work on that, that would be great. And so
he offered to connect me with an acting coach that
he really liked, and so his name's Benji Shaw and
I started working with him just on Zoom for months.
I mean, I just did it for myself in hopes
that maybe they would call me again, but really just
to harness in that craft because I'd never done it.
(35:47):
So then six called me again the next year, twenty
twenty two, and they were like, hey, we love for
you to come out to New York and audition for us.
We want you just for PARR And I was like okay, cool.
Made it to the VERY and they sent my stuff
to the UK because that's where it originated and so
they have to get everything approved for casting, and I
didn't get cast and I was like, well, okay, cool.
(36:10):
So then they call again the next year and by
this point I'm just like, I mean cool, Like I
was like, Hi, well, I don't know what's happening, but
they invited me to a boot camp. So what that
meant is they flew me in, put me up in
a hotel, and with like thirty other girls. We were
(36:30):
in like an intensive for about a week and they
put us one on one with acting, singing and mass choreography,
like different grooves and this. They called me for Seymour,
which is who I play now, So they called me
specifically for just this role, and was there for a week,
had a blast, and I left fully not expecting anything.
(36:53):
I was like, I just had the opportunity to get
coaching from some of the top people in this industry.
What a blessing, and just left and I didn't hear
from them for about a year and a half. And
I mean I fully, like I fully didn't have six
in my view at all. Like I was full blown
social media, just like doing my own music. I mean,
(37:16):
Brandon and I had just bought a house three days
before I got this call. Like that's how much like
I wasn't expecting six to be a thing. They called
my manager and they were like, hey, there's an opening
on Broadway in January. Would she even be interested? And
I was like, dull, what do you mean? Am I like,
of course, I'm interested. And then a couple months later,
(37:39):
I got the call while I was picking out blinds
and home depot.
Speaker 3 (37:43):
I never forget you never forget those moments, right, you don't.
Speaker 4 (37:47):
Right. I looked at the at the person helping us,
and I was like, I'm gonna need to I'm gonna
need to come back.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (37:53):
Yeah, oh my god, I love He was yeah, oh yeah,
he was with me, and he goes, oh, no, we're moving.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
Wait, so is your run? Is it a limited runner?
Are you in in definite?
Speaker 4 (38:07):
We're Our contract goes until February, so right, Okay, I'm
there for the year. Yeah, I'm here for the year.
Speaker 1 (38:12):
Okay, amazing. Do you love it? It's a lot, right,
I'm like, how.
Speaker 2 (38:16):
Do you do that? You know?
Speaker 1 (38:17):
I was watching a show I told you a show
this weekend, and like I was exhausted by the end
of it.
Speaker 4 (38:22):
For them, yeah, oh, it's exhausting, for sure. Yeah, but
I mean it's so much fun. Like I feel like
they both kind of exist at the same time, Like
I can be fully exhausted and fully like overflowing with
gratefulness at the same time. And I feel like that
accurately describes this show because you said you have you
(38:42):
seen six?
Speaker 2 (38:42):
I don't see I haven't. I haven't seen it yet.
I'm gonna come.
Speaker 4 (38:46):
Yet and so but genuine you'll be able to understand. Yes,
it's nuts and you never leave the stage.
Speaker 3 (38:54):
That's what I was about to say.
Speaker 2 (38:56):
I was about to say it to Jackie. I'm like,
she don't.
Speaker 3 (38:57):
It's not like it's like go back, Oh you have
some it's they never leave.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
Oh that's wow. Is there an intermission or do you
go straight through?
Speaker 4 (39:06):
There's no intermission. It's only an hour and a half long.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
Oh really yeah, oh wow. I can't wait to see it.
I wanted to see it anyway, but now of course
I have to.
Speaker 4 (39:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
Wait, have you ever messed up live?
Speaker 4 (39:20):
Yes? Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (39:21):
And what is that like, like, do you freak out?
Do you cover it well? Well?
Speaker 4 (39:25):
I mean now I can cover it very well. At
the beginning, I don't think I covered it well. There
would be moments where I was like, yeah, and you
just kind of like way even hope nobody notices.
Speaker 3 (39:47):
Kelsey even just in terms of how exhausting you have
to a day. You have a like you're never like
I gotta do this again today?
Speaker 4 (39:56):
Oh? I mean sometimes yeah, I mean.
Speaker 3 (39:58):
It's gotta be or how grateful you are, right, and
how magical it is.
Speaker 4 (40:03):
Still it's still it's physical. It's a very physically demanding job.
Like I think that anybody that's doing eight shows a
week on Broadway is like in the Olympics of performing, right,
I mean, it is. It's a lot. And it's also
you're not just doing the eight shows a week, like
even if you take my artistry and what I'm doing
(40:23):
with my music out of it, which is also insane.
I mean, you have extra events like we're about to
do a Broadway and Bryant Park, seeing the national anthem
at the Yankees game. You have rehearsals whenever new alternates
are coming in, so I mean then you have brush
up rehearsals at least once a month, so you're there's
a lot of moving parts in addition to the eight
(40:46):
shows that you're doing a week, and then you have
to make sure you're going into physical therapy because it's
so hard on your body.
Speaker 2 (40:51):
Can I ask you a personal question?
Speaker 1 (40:53):
Yeah, So I imagine that there's a lot of time
lost with your husband now, time to you used to
spend together. Now you're se bright a Park. Do you
feel like that's impacted your marriage?
Speaker 4 (41:03):
Thankfully? Right now? Whenever we first moved to New York,
Brandon owns a medical practice in South Africa, so he
does yeah I know, yeah, he's really smart. He does neurophysiology,
so he does all of the reporting from over here,
and he has people in South Africa that run his
practice for him. So right now, like he was managing
(41:24):
a bar in Nashville, the one that I was bartending
at downtown.
Speaker 2 (41:28):
Is that how you mad at me?
Speaker 4 (41:30):
No? We Actually that's a whole other story.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
We'll have to well that's we'll have a part two.
Speaker 4 (41:35):
Yeah, we'll have a part two. But he was doing
that in Nashville and so here I was like, when
we move, said, don't worry about finding a job. Just
to find a job, like, focus on you, focus on
your practice, and whenever you decide you want to find
something over here, then awesome. So really, up until now,
(41:58):
he's really been like the massive support structure at the
house with the dogs and the apartment and like the moving.
I mean, it's it's been insane. So I feel like
that's kind of been his job, but it's allowed us
to really still spend time together because it's just working
around my show instead of his job and my.
Speaker 3 (42:19):
Job, right, Russey, when I watch you, guys, you guys,
when you do which now all of our listeners will
watch Kelsey on TikTok or Instagram. And so almost every
time you're with Brandon and you're like mixing some health
drink or I don't know what's going on there, you're.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
Making something there. And but there is this.
Speaker 3 (42:39):
The way that he looks at you, like you'll be
singing and he'll be like, like, he's just he looks
he's like you, like you can't believe that he's married
to this angel and that you're singing like that, you guys.
Speaker 2 (42:50):
Is So that's a part of what.
Speaker 3 (42:52):
At the beginning when I noticed you, I was like
the way he I remember I said something to him,
I guess that night when we met at in Hollywood,
and I'm like, are.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
You just so in love with her?
Speaker 3 (43:04):
And he's like, oh, oh, now, if you ask Jeff
Best so that he'd be like, I love her. But
like Brandon is he just seems like a really special
guy to me and a guy that is so obsessed
with his wife, which I just love.
Speaker 4 (43:24):
Yeah, and he is like that's nice.
Speaker 2 (43:27):
That support is everything.
Speaker 4 (43:29):
Like, yeah, being in this industry, having someone who understands
loves entertainment. He's not in it like performing with me,
but he's so supportive and like, like the other day
I went, I had this little gig at this place
called the Cutting Room for Broadway Sayings. I just sang
(43:50):
like two songs, and I mean it was super fun.
It wasn't just my show. It was with a bunch
of other people, and I sang You and I by
Lady Gaga and then Honeymoon Avenue by Ariana Grande and uh.
Before that, I had had a day where I was
just really discouraged and I was like, Brandon, maybe I
just don't need to write music anymore. Maybe I just
(44:11):
maybe it's just not for me, and maybe I'm supposed
to pursue musical theater only and I don't, like, I
don't know. I just felt very I just felt very discouraged.
And he was like, well, Kels, you know obviously you're
supposed to perform, but we you know, we'll work it
out and we'll pray about it, we'll talk about it.
And I was like, Okay. So I go to this
(44:33):
performance where I sing two songs that I would you know,
sing as Kelsey Watts, you know, like doing a Kelsey
Watts concert. And I got done and he walked up
to me and he was like, you're not allowed to quit,
and I was like, right, he loves that you were
born to do this. He goes, and we're going to
do everything we possibly can to make sure that it happens.
Speaker 3 (44:57):
He was like, yeah, that's what Jeff Bestl says to
me about the Housewives.
Speaker 4 (45:00):
It's true thought.
Speaker 3 (45:04):
It, but no one says. No one talks to you
like that about that.
Speaker 4 (45:08):
It's just meant to be, I know. I mean, so
I just I was like, okay, okay, I guess it is.
And I mean, yeah, he's so what you see in
the videos, he really is like that amazing.
Speaker 2 (45:21):
Are you guys religious? You said pray?
Speaker 3 (45:22):
Do you guys have a deep spiritual connection?
Speaker 4 (45:26):
Yeah, so I always like to instead of saying religious,
because I feel like is like considered to be like legalistic,
you know, I feel like it can have a very
negative connotation. But so I have a personal relationship with
Jesus and so does he, and so that's a really
nation right. Yeah. Yeah, I mean it's just a really
big foundation with us, and yeah, and it.
Speaker 3 (45:50):
Must be I mean you must, it must really help
you in terms of the struggle that you know is
becoming a real professional, you know, artist.
Speaker 4 (46:00):
Yeah for sure.
Speaker 2 (46:01):
Yeah, Kelsey, are you comfortable talking about your brother? Oh?
Speaker 4 (46:06):
My gosh, of course yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:07):
Okay, yeah, because you know, Jen and I have both
been very open about our like mental health struggles. And
just to know that you advocate for mental health and
just tell us a little bit about the song you
wrote and what it all means to you.
Speaker 4 (46:24):
Yeah. So for just a context for people, I lost
my brother to depression back in twenty thirteen. He took
his own life. And we have always been really open
in my family about mental health. And Jordan was his name,
and he was already on medication, had seemingly been doing
(46:46):
really well. He told my parents he was still living
at home. He was nineteen, and he was like, hey,
I just feel off, and uh my parents were like,
all right, cool, we'll go back to the doctor. It's
before we had like an actual psychiatrist. We had just
a family practitioner, and he up Jordan's dosage and nineteen
year old kid missed his appointment two weeks later and
(47:08):
once we got the autopsy back, it was his brain
went from such a high to such a low because
he ran out of his medication.
Speaker 2 (47:15):
That it just that's so awful.
Speaker 4 (47:17):
Yeah, because he didn't leave anything. There was no sign
of planning, like it wasn't it wasn't what you would
typically see in somebody that's taking their own life. And
so it really was his brain broke. And so I
had a choice my family. I mean, it's a whole.
(47:38):
We can get way deeper into it, yea, but my
family as a whole had a choice to live in
it or live with it. And obviously it's something you
never get over. I'll never not hurt from it. I mean,
my gosh. His birthday was July twelfth, a couple days ago,
and I woke up and I'd been fine, and I
(47:58):
woke up and my sister had posted something on her
Instagram about his his birthday, and I lost it. Like
I walked into the theater. We had a two show
day that day, and I'm just like sobbing, uncontrollable. I'm like,
I'm not going to be able to do a show
to day, like, oh my gosh. And so it's it's
something that just still that grief comes in waves. And
(48:20):
one reason I'm so passionate about talking about it and
writing about it is so that way people know it
doesn't make you weird. It's not a strange thing or
like an abnormal thing to have to deal with. It's
there's a chemical imbalance and that's not your fault. That's
like saying somebody that has cancer, it's their fault they
have cancer, or just get over it, like it doesn't work.
(48:42):
It doesn't work that way, No, it doesn't, you know.
And so there's just been the stigma around it, and
I feel like we're getting better as a community talking
about it. But you know, for me, it brings purpose
to the pain.
Speaker 2 (48:54):
Yeah, and your song is I Can't say Goodbye.
Speaker 4 (48:57):
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah, I wrote I can't say Goodbye
by myself crazy enough. Anyone that knows me knows I
don't really write by myself. A lot. I love to
co write, And there was one day I was just
writing at the piano in Nashville and I just couldn't
stop crying, and I just the things that I was saying,
I just started writing down and that's how the song
(49:19):
came to be. Brandon walked in and he was like,
are you okay? I like, but I wanted to write
it and release it so that way anybody that's ever
lost someone too soon can relate to it. You know,
it's not necessarily you have to lose somebody, you know,
through depression, but I think it's important that people know
(49:40):
that they're not alone and that there is hope in
the world.
Speaker 1 (49:45):
Have people told you that they listen to it and
it helps them through It helps them feel.
Speaker 4 (49:51):
It's really cool anytime somebody, even at the stage door.
I've had people, like at the stage door for six
I've had people come up and be like, hey, I
just want to let you know, like, thank you for
your song. I've also lost my brother, or like I
thought about taking my own life, and thank you for
writing that. Oh I love that. Yeah. So it's really
it's being I love meeting people personally that can relate
(50:13):
to it. I mean, and even if I see it
on my gosh, anytime I posted about it on social media,
comment after comment after comment after comment of someone who's
lost a loved one or who's survived it, or who's
lost like somebody too soon, I mean, it's it's just
a real. It's it's a real thing, you know, and
it's not always comfortable to talk about, and so I
(50:35):
do my best to make it comfortable.
Speaker 3 (50:38):
Tell us something about him, because why, I know we're
gonna run out of time because we okay, but just
tell us something about him that Yeah, So.
Speaker 4 (50:45):
Jordan was like a renaissance man heat like physically painted,
like beautiful painter, like he had like ten paintings and
on like a tour whenever he passed away. He played
every instrument, none of from like the French horn to
the drums, guitar has like he has music on Spotify
(51:06):
under authentic fiction, okay, and I like that so cool. Yeah,
it's so cool to listen to. I can't listen to
it often or I'll cry, but it's beautiful. He was
super creative. He could do magic tricks, like you know,
he was the random kid, like he's so goofy. He'd
be like crocheting in class, like being funny, like he
(51:28):
was just so creative. Like you know, he went on
a mission trip with my dad one time to Morocco
and there's a video of him doing like caricature sketches
of people and just like handing them out, so you know,
he everybody wanted to be his best friend. He was
so funny and so joyful. And there's actually a testimonial
video that he has on YouTube called hands Free, So
(51:52):
if you just look up where I can send it
to you guys so that we can askuse. It's beautiful
and it's his testimony of like whenever he had seemingly
overcome depression. He was doing really really well for a while,
and so he wanted to do a video about it.
And it's so the video is him talking but also
like painting with his fingers, this painting and like it
turning into different things and it's so cool. It's so
(52:14):
so cool.
Speaker 1 (52:14):
But yeah, it's really beautiful that you can keep his
memory alive with music for everybody, not just your family. Yeah, okay,
pivot for a minute.
Speaker 2 (52:26):
So our podcast typically we talk.
Speaker 1 (52:29):
About like middle aged women stuff, and lucky for you, you're
not even close to middle age yet, but.
Speaker 2 (52:34):
You are in your mid thirties.
Speaker 1 (52:36):
Do you feel like aging has any place in like
your industry or do you feel like age has nothing
to do with anything, or is there like do you
feel like in order to be the next hot thing,
you have to be young.
Speaker 4 (52:52):
You know. I think there's two sides to that coin,
and I hate it. I think as women specifically, we're
the only ones that are really ever given that timeframe.
You know. For men, for whatever reason, you know, you
can become a country superstar at forty five and nobody
blinks an eye. But god forbid, if you're a woman
(53:13):
over twenty one, you're done, you know. And so thankfully again,
I think due to social media, that has subsided a lot,
but I don't think it's gone. Unfortunately. I think there
are some people in this industry that are like, Nope,
we want you to be really, really young, so that
way we can make you do what we want, and
we can hold you to be what we want and
(53:34):
put them through a cookie cutter thing because it's like
cash cow, you know. So I think it doesn't mean
that it's over, but I think that there are more challenges,
you know. Now. I do my best to make sure
I stay fit, take care of my skin because esthetics
is a big part of our industry, just in entertainment,
(53:56):
So you know, I do my best to take care
of myself and make sure that my age doesn't ever
define me.
Speaker 2 (54:01):
I'll see, I mean I don't know.
Speaker 3 (54:02):
I just look at you. I see a baby. But
then again, I'm yeah, you look.
Speaker 4 (54:07):
Very very I love that like a I mean, but
it is, you know, it's just part of it. But
thankfully in things like Broadway and acting, you know, television
and film stuff like that, I mean, you'll never age
out of that. But as far as being in the industry,
I do think it's still a challenge for sure.
Speaker 2 (54:24):
Yeah, okay, So what's next? What can we what? What
are we waiting? What are we expecting next?
Speaker 4 (54:30):
On my word? So, there are so many things, and
I mean so I'm still writing almost every day. I
do a lot of like zoom rides, still a lot
of recording on top of being in the show.
Speaker 3 (54:41):
But you play instruments. Sorry to interrupt, but you said piano.
I play piano nice yep.
Speaker 4 (54:46):
I can fake guitar, but with these nails for the show,
it doesn't work as well, so sticking to piano. But
I mean, so, still have a lot of music that
I'm excited to release. I have enough where I could
put it all on an album. It just depends on
how I decide that I want to actually release it,
you know. And I love Broadway I would love to
(55:07):
still be able to be in this world after six
and you know, if an opportunity comes about, so down.
But I mean ultimate goal is to tour. You know,
like we're we're trying to be like Lady Gaga status,
so we're.
Speaker 2 (55:21):
Waiting for it.
Speaker 1 (55:21):
And you know that if you do tour, Jen and
I'll be in the front row. Oh my gosh, You'll
be back staring for you, thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (55:28):
I was like, Farrow is not going to be close enough. No, no,
Gen will be backstage, you know, Jackie.
Speaker 3 (55:33):
I don't know if you know this, but Danielle cabral
is also a huge. It was so funny because when
I saw Danielle.
Speaker 4 (55:39):
I she loves you.
Speaker 3 (55:40):
I saw Kelsey at this thing and then Danielle was
like freaking out and I'm like, wait a second, step off,
you know this is my thing. But yeah, I can
feel like people discover you and then they just lose it.
Speaker 4 (55:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (55:52):
I'm not really on TikTok, so, I mean I did
have a short stint on TikTok, but I don't. I
try really hard lately to like not be online as much,
so I'm not, but I I I definitely know who
you are.
Speaker 4 (56:09):
I mean, I mean, I mean thank you.
Speaker 1 (56:10):
And now of course now I feel very you know, connected,
But you know, your your story is amazing and very
layered and really interesting, and I'm just so happy for
all your success and I can't wait to see what's
to come for you.
Speaker 4 (56:25):
Thank you, y'all are amazing. I got so excited and
they were like, you want to be with Jen and
Jackie And I was like, duh, of course, Oh I
love that.
Speaker 2 (56:37):
Let's go for drinks. Yeah, let's do it. Let's do it.
Speaker 1 (56:41):
So you're amazing. I'm so honored to have met you.
Thank you for coming on.
Speaker 4 (56:46):
Oh my gosh, thank you for having me for real.
I had so much fun with y'all.
Speaker 3 (56:50):
Love you so much, Love you, Talk to you soon.
Speaker 4 (56:54):
Okay, I'll talk to y'all. Bye bye bye.
Speaker 2 (56:58):
Yeah, it was amazing.
Speaker 3 (57:00):
Ask me one thing that I would love to do.
It would be like be a famous singer?
Speaker 1 (57:04):
Like yeah, well, I actually I always think about the question,
like if you could have one like be amazing at
one thing? It would it be like sports, acting, singing
or playing an instruments?
Speaker 2 (57:15):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (57:16):
I just think like how magical to be able to
I think I would actually choose sports, but like how
real magical?
Speaker 2 (57:22):
Yeah, I mean, like you just go out and do
something you love and.
Speaker 1 (57:26):
Do it so well in front of like people, just
screaming like that to me is living the dream.
Speaker 2 (57:32):
Thank you so much for listening.
Speaker 3 (57:33):
By the way, I don't I one day we'll get
the lighting right. I mean, I look like the lighting
in this house is going in out. I kind of
look like a Halloween character at some point. But anyway,
sorry about that if you're watching, but if you're not,
and if you're listening or if you're watching, we love you.
Speaker 2 (57:48):
Thank you so much with us and we will see
you and we're two Jersey Jays and we'll season. Bye guys, Bye,