September 16, 2024 • 20 mins
Singer/Songwriter x.o.anne joins us for the first time on America's Dance 30, celebrating her FIRST #1 song! She shared how "Free" was born w TELYKast, and if there are usually a lot of versions of songs she writes.
We also got to know Anne a lot better w #FinkysFirsts!
Find out about:
Follow: @AmericasDance30 on all socials!
Count down the biggest dance songs in the country every week with Brian Fink on America’s Dance 30; listen on stations around the world!
Follow: @AmericasDance30 on all socials!
Count down the biggest dance songs in the country every week with Brian Fink on America’s Dance 30; listen on stations around the world!
We also got to know Anne a lot better w #FinkysFirsts!
Find out about:
- if music was the first thing she wanted to get into when she was growing up
- the first song she wrote
- if 'x.o.anne' was her first choice for her artist project name
- the first time she performed
- the first time she heard one of her songs on the radio
- the first thing she does to escape the monsters in her head
Follow: @AmericasDance30 on all socials!
Count down the biggest dance songs in the country every week with Brian Fink on America’s Dance 30; listen on stations around the world!
Follow: @AmericasDance30 on all socials!
Count down the biggest dance songs in the country every week with Brian Fink on America’s Dance 30; listen on stations around the world!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, hello there, Hi, how are you. I'm great?
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Talk about totally throwing me off my game. I don't
think I've ever had an artist pop in here fifteen
minutes early.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
Well, you know what you're like.
Speaker 4 (00:13):
The first time I'm doing this, so I was like,
I better not be laying and mess it up.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
And me, I'm a creature of habit, so I like
have routines and everything, so I normally pop in like
fifteen minutes.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
But then I saw you pop in. I'm like, oh
my god, I'm like scrambling. It's so funny.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
John Carlo had mentioned really quickly that you were nervous
about doing the chat. I'm like, you want to talk
about making me nervous, throw off my entire routine.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Even the playing field a little.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Bit, exactly. Thanks a lot. Well, it's great to meet you.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
It's nice to read to you. Thank you so much
for having me on.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Now, first of all, do you want me calling you
XO an through the entire chat or just Anne?
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Yes? No, I mean you could call me Ann that's fine,
or EXO if you want to be super cool about it.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Okay, when you put it like that, XO.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Welcome to America's Dance thirty for the first time.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Hey you, I'm so excited dance counting down the biggest
dance songs in the country.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
This is America's Dance thirty.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Congratulations on Free with Telecast going number one.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
That is so amazing.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Oh I can't believe it. Actually, I mean I can,
but I can't.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
You know.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
You know we were talking about both of us being
nervous during chats. There is nothing to be nervous about
because we are celebrating your number one.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
I will tell you this.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
The ten fifteen minutes normally leading up to chats, when
I'm just sitting in the room setting everything up, waiting
for the artist, Oh my god, my anxiety is at
like a thousand percent.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Really that can't be true.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Oh, it is horrible. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
So I'm an ambervert, so I'm really introverted until I
like have to be on stage or whatever. Then I'm extroverted.
So like the lead up the waiting is like, oh,
come on, let's just do this already.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
Well that means you're passionate if you're pushing through that
every single time.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
So that's good.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
That's actually my middle name is passion. Now is this
your first number one ever.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
Yes, it is actually yes, my first one. Hopefully not
the last.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Oh I'm sure it's not going to be the last. Well, congratulations.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
You know.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
I talked to Kyle and Trevor the Guy's at telecast
when the song first came out. But I'm really interested
to find out how the song was born on your end.
But before all that, let's get to know Xoan a
little better with Finkey's first Okay, So I love finding
(03:06):
out the origin story of artists. When you were growing up,
was music the first thing you wanted to get into
or was there something else you wanted to be.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
I think it was the very first thing. I had,
like visions of being a rock star. But then for
a while it's like, oh no, I'm gonna be a lawyer.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Oh my god, we have something in common.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
I wanted to be a lawyer too, because I love
arguing exactly.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
I liked being right exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
But then I saw everything that goes into being a lawyer,
and I'm like, nah, I'm out.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
No. Yeah, I guess I got the taste of I
don't know, validation, I don't know what. I finally did
some theater and I just like I was first on
the stage in the theater, and I really loved that,
and I guess everything else just dissipated.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
All dreams of being a lawyer were gone.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
So when you actually get into music, it actually.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
Took I kind of got into it later than a
lot of people in this industry.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
It was after college, and yeah, because I studied musical theater.
I was a theater geek.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
And then I kind of just didn't enjoy not having
any control over what I was working on.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
And yeah, and then I kind of found.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Songwriting through some breakups, and it just all of a
sudden felt right, even though you know at that point,
you know a lot of people start this industry when
they're twelve years old, so it already felt like I
was late, but but.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Yeah, it was.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
It just sort of felt right from there. I don't
know if you ever had that feeling. I was like, oh,
this is what I meant for, you know.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
I mean, I've been in radio thirty one years, so
I definitely had that feeling when I first got into it.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Now, besides your latest number one with Telecast, I saw
when I was deep diving that you also helped write
with and Francis and Bo Anderson, which what an amazing
song reaching out. I personally think I think that should
have went number one.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
We did too, No, no, yeah, that was an amazing
experience in Bo's amazing and yeah we wrote that like
one of my first sessions actually in London. Yeah, and
it just kind of came together quickly, as so many
songs do when they actually work.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
So such a great song. And then I saw that
you also just wrote the theme for gwen Pool in
Fortnite and saying that too, which is incredible.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Congratulations, Oh thank you.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Yeah, that was like, that was a lot of fun.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
It kind of brought It's a totally different side of
me than the Free, although equally appropriate in a way.
It's very quirky and spoken word and silly, and yeah,
I had a lot of fun with that because I
didn't know much about Gwenpool or like the mar universe
at all before that, and there's such a depth of
information about every single character and so much to pull from.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
So that was that was really a fun project.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Yeah, that's so incredible.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Now do you remember the first song you ever wrote?
Speaker 4 (06:16):
I think it was like out of a heartbreak, Like again,
I was, I was a little older and I had,
I had gotten married way too young in Las Vegas.
I've lived like a whole life, but uh, and I
was going through that breakup and I think I wrote
a crappy little song on my little patio in Los
Angeles about like being sad. I don't know, and yeah,
(06:39):
and from that everything changed, But I do not remember
the song though.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Did you do the Elvis marriage in Vegas or No?
Speaker 4 (06:47):
We didn't quite go that far, but but almost.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Yeah, it was, it was still it was still fun.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Well, I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm glad that
it led to what it has for you.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Yeah, it was.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
It was that experience overall, and yeah, I definitely opened
up a whole new side.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
It's my creative life. And yeah, it's been it's been
a while.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Ride just more proof that everything happens for a reason.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
Totally, Yes, Yes, definitely. This journey in music has been
like an act of faith and I guess just surrender
to kind of what's meant to be. And it's it's
exhilarating hope that way.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
That's so incredible. Now I love the artist name xo An.
I mean, how can you not when a hugs and
kisses are in the name. But when you were trying
to decide on an artist project name, was XO in
the first name you're going to go with or were
there other names you were considering?
Speaker 4 (07:42):
Well, and my middle name and I'd used Anne for
a while and Tao is my last name, and I guess, well,
I used to say, Oh, I like to use Anne
because she's way nicer than Rebecca. I was like, you
don't want to meet her, uh no, but I do
like to think of, you know, for now, not so much,
(08:05):
but when I was first writing, I would like to
kind of think of like I don't know my best
self or like my most sensitive or enlightened self, but
still myself kind of like like a more private self
like writing. And then XO an Yeah, I don't know.
I guess that came together through some kind of like
cyber obsession of the Internet. And yeah, like kind of
like I'm signing off every song like XO am, I
(08:27):
did this for you guys, like lots of love vibe.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Like I love that. That is so awesome.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Yeah, I'll get him a lot of thought.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
What I didn't think about is how hard it is
to communicate it when I'm trying to tell someone to
follow me, I'm like, it's X dot O dot and.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
They're like, what are you talking about. I'm like, I
don't know, honestly, like, don't follow me.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
I'll edit that part out because you don't want to
say that. But then on I saw on I think
on X that it's X underscore.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Oh underscore, And.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Yeah, that's more a product of I think, just I
don't know this organization.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Now, are you a hugger? I mean you have to
be with that in your name, right, Yeah, I guess
I am.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
I mean hopefully one appropriate.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
It just throws me back to high school when everybody
would sign XO when they're on the like on your
yearbook and stuff.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Now do you remember your first time performing on stage?
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (09:33):
God, I think it was in HMS Pinafore.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
I can'tfully above.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
Saying that to you, but yeah, I think so Gilbert
and Sullivan musical. That's awesome much pretty far from the
telecast vibe. But yeah, that's where I first before and
I think, I mean, I played piano for a long time,
like that was my first and so I was always
playing that like as a child in various places.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
And then what about as an artist, what was your
first time performing?
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Oh, I guess just around New York, like because I
lived in New York for a while and played you know,
the Bowery Electric and other spots in Brooklyn and just
doing my thing like all over our Lower East Side
and stuff like that. Yeah, I don't know the exact location,
but yeah, just kind of the circuit.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Around New York.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Now, of course you've got songs that you've written all
over the radio, including your number one. But do you
remember the first time hearing one of your songs on
the radio.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
It's funny because like I've just gone back to the
States and like, so I haven't actually heard this like
organically yet, so I've heard, Yeah, I don't really.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
I kind of feel like i've here.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
I hear stuff like on online played back to me
like when someone's taped it or whatever. But I don't really,
I don't know if I've really like heard it sitting
there in the car.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Well, we need to change that quick.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Yeah, I mean, well, of course you have to give
me a car.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Okay, I am writing it down right now now, total
side question. But as an artist, but also as a
songwriter who writes a lot of songs for other people.
Is it weird hearing songs when it's not you performing
it but you wrote it.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
No, I mean it used to be.
Speaker 4 (11:43):
It used to be hard because, like, singing is my
very first passion. But I think that I kind of
also feel that like writing.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
I feel like writing.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
Is almost like a service, like to the world, like
if someone wants it, you know, so especially if I
help an artist write it, like in the room, then
like to me, that's like on theirs. If it's something
I did first, then no, I mean usually I just
I mean I usually if they sound great, then I'm
just happy that it's going to get out in the
(12:15):
world because you know, as songwriters, we write so many
songs and and you.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
Love most of them, and not all of them make
it out there.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
And so if someone can kind of bring it to
life and they relate to it, then usually that's a
good sign too, because that's what it's all about, is
having stuff that you know more a lot of people
can relate to and then can bring themselves to.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
So it's a beautiful thing really, I.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Think, well, speaking of lyrics that you can relate to,
I mean, Free is just such an amazing song.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Lyrically finally in Thinky's.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
First, what's the first thing that you do to get
the monsters out of your head?
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (12:52):
God, Well, recently I've been kind of I've been trying
to do something in between, like meditation and sort of
you know, some kind of prayer without like kind of
any religious element, and just kind of thinking, you know,
the universe.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
For what I have, and you know, trying to.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
Accept the challenges I have and and kind of even
thank the universe for the challenges and maybe consider that
those could be the exact things that I need.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
To learn to bring me to the next moment.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
So I think gratitude, taking time, making calls to friends,
and just being humble, letting go, letting go of my
preconceived notions what my life should be. Those are all
things that I try to do consciously every day.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Isn't it crazy how quickly our minds turn on us?
Speaker 1 (13:55):
I mean, it is just.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
Insane, it really is. It is.
Speaker 4 (13:59):
Yeah. I think I'm someone that has a lot of
faith and also a lot of fear, and I think
that's kind of what worked in this song, you know,
because I think I was experiencing like both things even
in the recording of it, and you know, such a
positive team of people working on the song that I
kind of was able to push through even some feelings
(14:21):
of like not being enough like that day, you know.
And I think that's kind of what makes the song
worked as well, because it's real, you know.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
And yeah, and you can push through those feelings. I
think that's the point.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
You know, there are real feelings, but also you can
really let go of them.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Oh absolutely.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
I have to constantly repeat to myself that is not
a rational thought to kind of retrain your brain, because
those thoughts come into your head so quickly that you
just have to keep repeating to yourself to retrain your brain.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
That's not a rational thought.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Yeah, and I think you.
Speaker 4 (14:58):
Can retrain your brain too, you know, see things half
full as well, even if that's not how you started,
you know. And I think it can be easier and
easier to see the positive or see the possibility.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
You know.
Speaker 4 (15:12):
I always like to say, like miracles can't exist, like
if you kind of are always trying to control everything,
Like it's only when you let go, when you're in
the unknown, when you're kind of in a place, you know,
it's a miracle. By definition isn't expected, you know, so
it has you have to be in a place that
nothing's necessarily going the way you thought it would go
for something amazing to happen, you know, I think that's
(15:35):
too even with a song, like I mean, things that happened.
I made some mistakes, had to put some things on
credit cards even to be on that trip, and everything's
kind of sort itself out.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
But like, thank god I did, because the song's working out.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
You know, sometimes you just have to trust your gut,
even if it isn't rational. You know, sometimes positivity isn't rational,
I think.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
And that's also the beauty of it.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Man, I love your way of thinking. That is so awesome.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Let's talk about this smash because not only was it
written incredibly, but you sound amazing on it. I know
that Sophie Simmons had something to do with it as well.
How was this song born on your end?
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Well?
Speaker 4 (16:21):
Yeah, the Telepass guys like they yeah, they definitely had
like a strong vision for the sound that they were
you know, exploring and playing with. And I think they
said that they wanted it to be something about free,
which obviously it is.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
And yeah, and then I guess we kind of just.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
Very organically started finding melodies and words. And you know,
Sophie is such a talent, And what I really appreciate
about her is that she really works to I think,
highlight the best of who she's working with. And you know,
it's not just like, let's write a great song. It's like,
write a great song that can highlight your vocal and
(17:02):
you're you know what you bring to the table. And
I think that's such a huge a huge talent.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
And makes you really shine.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
You know, you need a team of people to help
you shine, I think, and she really did that.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
And they all did.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Yeah, you guys all did an incredible job.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
I think, if I remember correctly, they told me that
when you guys finished it, they actually decided to push
that out first on their EP because it was exactly
what they were looking for with the EP.
Speaker 4 (17:33):
Yeah, that happened pretty fast and yeah, again unexpected, but yeah,
we only did that in January, which you know, sounds
like a while ago.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
That is faster than a lot of things.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Something I love to find out about songs is how
many different v's there are from when the artist starts
working on it, all the tweaking that goes on when
it finally gets put out. When it comes to your songs,
are there a lot of revisions that go to it
when you're writing them?
Speaker 3 (18:02):
I guess it depends.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
Like That's one thing that's beautiful to me about songs
writing is that every situation is different. Sometimes it just
comes out, and sometimes it needs a lot of tweaking.
I mean, sometimes it's a bad sign if something means
a lot of tweaking. But no, I mean I tend
(18:25):
to overthink, you know, even with this one, I was like, oh, like,
do we need it so tuned or like whatever whatever, like,
because sometimes I you know, I am a purist of
like vocals and all this stuff. But but we find
a happy medium, you know, And I.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Think I think that's important.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
Part of working collectively is like trusting the collective opinion.
It's like you can have your opinion, but also like,
let's trust like the group.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Well, I think I speak for everybody when I say,
how amazing you sounded on this song.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Ah, thank you so much. I really appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Congratulations on it going number one. Congratulations on your first
number one. Yeah, So what is next for XO?
Speaker 4 (19:13):
And Well, I'm just in the process of moving back
from like literally this week from London because I've been
living there for like three years.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
And yeah, I'm in Nashville.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
I see my mom a little bit, and then I'm
gonna be in LA and yeah, I have some good
collabs coming up, and yeah, I'm just gonna be doing
a lot more writing in LA and back in my
own contry what so I'm very excited about and.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
Doing some good stuff already here in Nashville.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
So yeah, lots of music that's so awesome. Everybody can
follow X dot O dot and on Instagram or x underscore,
oh underscore and on X or Twitter, x oh an
whatever you want me calling you. It is so incredible
(20:05):
finally meeting you. Thank you so much for your time
with us on America's Dance thirty.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (20:11):
I really appreciate your time and having me. It's nice
to meet you.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
America's Dance thirty counting down the biggest dance songs in
the country.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Am America's Dance thirty
Well, hello there, Hi, how are you. I'm great?
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Talk about totally throwing me off my game. I don't
think I've ever had an artist pop in here fifteen
minutes early.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
Well, you know what you're like.
Speaker 4 (00:13):
The first time I'm doing this, so I was like,
I better not be laying and mess it up.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
And me, I'm a creature of habit, so I like
have routines and everything, so I normally pop in like
fifteen minutes.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
But then I saw you pop in. I'm like, oh
my god, I'm like scrambling. It's so funny.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
John Carlo had mentioned really quickly that you were nervous
about doing the chat. I'm like, you want to talk
about making me nervous, throw off my entire routine.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Even the playing field a little.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Bit, exactly. Thanks a lot. Well, it's great to meet you.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
It's nice to read to you. Thank you so much
for having me on.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Now, first of all, do you want me calling you
XO an through the entire chat or just Anne?
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Yes? No, I mean you could call me Ann that's fine,
or EXO if you want to be super cool about it.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Okay, when you put it like that, XO.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Welcome to America's Dance thirty for the first time.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Hey you, I'm so excited dance counting down the biggest
dance songs in the country.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
This is America's Dance thirty.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Congratulations on Free with Telecast going number one.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
That is so amazing.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Oh I can't believe it. Actually, I mean I can,
but I can't.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
You know.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
You know we were talking about both of us being
nervous during chats. There is nothing to be nervous about
because we are celebrating your number one.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
I will tell you this.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
The ten fifteen minutes normally leading up to chats, when
I'm just sitting in the room setting everything up, waiting
for the artist, Oh my god, my anxiety is at
like a thousand percent.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Really that can't be true.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Oh, it is horrible. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
So I'm an ambervert, so I'm really introverted until I
like have to be on stage or whatever. Then I'm extroverted.
So like the lead up the waiting is like, oh,
come on, let's just do this already.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
Well that means you're passionate if you're pushing through that
every single time.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
So that's good.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
That's actually my middle name is passion. Now is this
your first number one ever.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
Yes, it is actually yes, my first one. Hopefully not
the last.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Oh I'm sure it's not going to be the last. Well, congratulations.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
You know.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
I talked to Kyle and Trevor the Guy's at telecast
when the song first came out. But I'm really interested
to find out how the song was born on your end.
But before all that, let's get to know Xoan a
little better with Finkey's first Okay, So I love finding
(03:06):
out the origin story of artists. When you were growing up,
was music the first thing you wanted to get into
or was there something else you wanted to be.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
I think it was the very first thing. I had,
like visions of being a rock star. But then for
a while it's like, oh no, I'm gonna be a lawyer.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Oh my god, we have something in common.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
I wanted to be a lawyer too, because I love
arguing exactly.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
I liked being right exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
But then I saw everything that goes into being a lawyer,
and I'm like, nah, I'm out.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
No. Yeah, I guess I got the taste of I
don't know, validation, I don't know what. I finally did
some theater and I just like I was first on
the stage in the theater, and I really loved that,
and I guess everything else just dissipated.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
All dreams of being a lawyer were gone.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
So when you actually get into music, it actually.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
Took I kind of got into it later than a
lot of people in this industry.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
It was after college, and yeah, because I studied musical theater.
I was a theater geek.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
And then I kind of just didn't enjoy not having
any control over what I was working on.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
And yeah, and then I kind of found.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Songwriting through some breakups, and it just all of a
sudden felt right, even though you know at that point,
you know a lot of people start this industry when
they're twelve years old, so it already felt like I
was late, but but.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Yeah, it was.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
It just sort of felt right from there. I don't
know if you ever had that feeling. I was like, oh,
this is what I meant for, you know.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
I mean, I've been in radio thirty one years, so
I definitely had that feeling when I first got into it.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Now, besides your latest number one with Telecast, I saw
when I was deep diving that you also helped write
with and Francis and Bo Anderson, which what an amazing
song reaching out. I personally think I think that should
have went number one.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
We did too, No, no, yeah, that was an amazing
experience in Bo's amazing and yeah we wrote that like
one of my first sessions actually in London. Yeah, and
it just kind of came together quickly, as so many
songs do when they actually work.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
So such a great song. And then I saw that
you also just wrote the theme for gwen Pool in
Fortnite and saying that too, which is incredible.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Congratulations, Oh thank you.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Yeah, that was like, that was a lot of fun.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
It kind of brought It's a totally different side of
me than the Free, although equally appropriate in a way.
It's very quirky and spoken word and silly, and yeah,
I had a lot of fun with that because I
didn't know much about Gwenpool or like the mar universe
at all before that, and there's such a depth of
information about every single character and so much to pull from.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
So that was that was really a fun project.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Yeah, that's so incredible.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Now do you remember the first song you ever wrote?
Speaker 4 (06:16):
I think it was like out of a heartbreak, Like again,
I was, I was a little older and I had,
I had gotten married way too young in Las Vegas.
I've lived like a whole life, but uh, and I
was going through that breakup and I think I wrote
a crappy little song on my little patio in Los
Angeles about like being sad. I don't know, and yeah,
(06:39):
and from that everything changed, But I do not remember
the song though.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Did you do the Elvis marriage in Vegas or No?
Speaker 4 (06:47):
We didn't quite go that far, but but almost.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Yeah, it was, it was still it was still fun.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Well, I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm glad that
it led to what it has for you.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Yeah, it was.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
It was that experience overall, and yeah, I definitely opened
up a whole new side.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
It's my creative life. And yeah, it's been it's been
a while.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Ride just more proof that everything happens for a reason.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
Totally, Yes, Yes, definitely. This journey in music has been
like an act of faith and I guess just surrender
to kind of what's meant to be. And it's it's
exhilarating hope that way.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
That's so incredible. Now I love the artist name xo An.
I mean, how can you not when a hugs and
kisses are in the name. But when you were trying
to decide on an artist project name, was XO in
the first name you're going to go with or were
there other names you were considering?
Speaker 4 (07:42):
Well, and my middle name and I'd used Anne for
a while and Tao is my last name, and I guess, well,
I used to say, Oh, I like to use Anne
because she's way nicer than Rebecca. I was like, you
don't want to meet her, uh no, but I do
like to think of, you know, for now, not so much,
(08:05):
but when I was first writing, I would like to
kind of think of like I don't know my best
self or like my most sensitive or enlightened self, but
still myself kind of like like a more private self
like writing. And then XO an Yeah, I don't know.
I guess that came together through some kind of like
cyber obsession of the Internet. And yeah, like kind of
like I'm signing off every song like XO am, I
(08:27):
did this for you guys, like lots of love vibe.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Like I love that. That is so awesome.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Yeah, I'll get him a lot of thought.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
What I didn't think about is how hard it is
to communicate it when I'm trying to tell someone to
follow me, I'm like, it's X dot O dot and.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
They're like, what are you talking about. I'm like, I
don't know, honestly, like, don't follow me.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
I'll edit that part out because you don't want to
say that. But then on I saw on I think
on X that it's X underscore.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Oh underscore, And.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Yeah, that's more a product of I think, just I
don't know this organization.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Now, are you a hugger? I mean you have to
be with that in your name, right, Yeah, I guess
I am.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
I mean hopefully one appropriate.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
It just throws me back to high school when everybody
would sign XO when they're on the like on your
yearbook and stuff.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Now do you remember your first time performing on stage?
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (09:33):
God, I think it was in HMS Pinafore.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
I can'tfully above.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
Saying that to you, but yeah, I think so Gilbert
and Sullivan musical. That's awesome much pretty far from the
telecast vibe. But yeah, that's where I first before and
I think, I mean, I played piano for a long time,
like that was my first and so I was always
playing that like as a child in various places.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
And then what about as an artist, what was your
first time performing?
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Oh, I guess just around New York, like because I
lived in New York for a while and played you know,
the Bowery Electric and other spots in Brooklyn and just
doing my thing like all over our Lower East Side
and stuff like that. Yeah, I don't know the exact location,
but yeah, just kind of the circuit.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Around New York.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Now, of course you've got songs that you've written all
over the radio, including your number one. But do you
remember the first time hearing one of your songs on
the radio.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
It's funny because like I've just gone back to the
States and like, so I haven't actually heard this like
organically yet, so I've heard, Yeah, I don't really.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
I kind of feel like i've here.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
I hear stuff like on online played back to me
like when someone's taped it or whatever. But I don't really,
I don't know if I've really like heard it sitting
there in the car.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Well, we need to change that quick.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Yeah, I mean, well, of course you have to give
me a car.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Okay, I am writing it down right now now, total
side question. But as an artist, but also as a
songwriter who writes a lot of songs for other people.
Is it weird hearing songs when it's not you performing
it but you wrote it.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
No, I mean it used to be.
Speaker 4 (11:43):
It used to be hard because, like, singing is my
very first passion. But I think that I kind of
also feel that like writing.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
I feel like writing.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
Is almost like a service, like to the world, like
if someone wants it, you know, so especially if I
help an artist write it, like in the room, then
like to me, that's like on theirs. If it's something
I did first, then no, I mean usually I just
I mean I usually if they sound great, then I'm
just happy that it's going to get out in the
(12:15):
world because you know, as songwriters, we write so many
songs and and you.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
Love most of them, and not all of them make
it out there.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
And so if someone can kind of bring it to
life and they relate to it, then usually that's a
good sign too, because that's what it's all about, is
having stuff that you know more a lot of people
can relate to and then can bring themselves to.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
So it's a beautiful thing really, I.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Think, well, speaking of lyrics that you can relate to,
I mean, Free is just such an amazing song.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Lyrically finally in Thinky's.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
First, what's the first thing that you do to get
the monsters out of your head?
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (12:52):
God, Well, recently I've been kind of I've been trying
to do something in between, like meditation and sort of
you know, some kind of prayer without like kind of
any religious element, and just kind of thinking, you know,
the universe.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
For what I have, and you know, trying to.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
Accept the challenges I have and and kind of even
thank the universe for the challenges and maybe consider that
those could be the exact things that I need.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
To learn to bring me to the next moment.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
So I think gratitude, taking time, making calls to friends,
and just being humble, letting go, letting go of my
preconceived notions what my life should be. Those are all
things that I try to do consciously every day.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Isn't it crazy how quickly our minds turn on us?
Speaker 1 (13:55):
I mean, it is just.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
Insane, it really is. It is.
Speaker 4 (13:59):
Yeah. I think I'm someone that has a lot of
faith and also a lot of fear, and I think
that's kind of what worked in this song, you know,
because I think I was experiencing like both things even
in the recording of it, and you know, such a
positive team of people working on the song that I
kind of was able to push through even some feelings
(14:21):
of like not being enough like that day, you know.
And I think that's kind of what makes the song
worked as well, because it's real, you know.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
And yeah, and you can push through those feelings. I
think that's the point.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
You know, there are real feelings, but also you can
really let go of them.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Oh absolutely.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
I have to constantly repeat to myself that is not
a rational thought to kind of retrain your brain, because
those thoughts come into your head so quickly that you
just have to keep repeating to yourself to retrain your brain.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
That's not a rational thought.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Yeah, and I think you.
Speaker 4 (14:58):
Can retrain your brain too, you know, see things half
full as well, even if that's not how you started,
you know. And I think it can be easier and
easier to see the positive or see the possibility.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
You know.
Speaker 4 (15:12):
I always like to say, like miracles can't exist, like
if you kind of are always trying to control everything,
Like it's only when you let go, when you're in
the unknown, when you're kind of in a place, you know,
it's a miracle. By definition isn't expected, you know, so
it has you have to be in a place that
nothing's necessarily going the way you thought it would go
for something amazing to happen, you know, I think that's
(15:35):
too even with a song, like I mean, things that happened.
I made some mistakes, had to put some things on
credit cards even to be on that trip, and everything's
kind of sort itself out.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
But like, thank god I did, because the song's working out.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
You know, sometimes you just have to trust your gut,
even if it isn't rational. You know, sometimes positivity isn't rational,
I think.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
And that's also the beauty of it.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Man, I love your way of thinking. That is so awesome.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Let's talk about this smash because not only was it
written incredibly, but you sound amazing on it. I know
that Sophie Simmons had something to do with it as well.
How was this song born on your end?
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Well?
Speaker 4 (16:21):
Yeah, the Telepass guys like they yeah, they definitely had
like a strong vision for the sound that they were
you know, exploring and playing with. And I think they
said that they wanted it to be something about free,
which obviously it is.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
And yeah, and then I guess we kind of just.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
Very organically started finding melodies and words. And you know,
Sophie is such a talent, And what I really appreciate
about her is that she really works to I think,
highlight the best of who she's working with. And you know,
it's not just like, let's write a great song. It's like,
write a great song that can highlight your vocal and
(17:02):
you're you know what you bring to the table. And
I think that's such a huge a huge talent.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
And makes you really shine.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
You know, you need a team of people to help
you shine, I think, and she really did that.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
And they all did.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Yeah, you guys all did an incredible job.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
I think, if I remember correctly, they told me that
when you guys finished it, they actually decided to push
that out first on their EP because it was exactly
what they were looking for with the EP.
Speaker 4 (17:33):
Yeah, that happened pretty fast and yeah, again unexpected, but yeah,
we only did that in January, which you know, sounds
like a while ago.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
That is faster than a lot of things.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Something I love to find out about songs is how
many different v's there are from when the artist starts
working on it, all the tweaking that goes on when
it finally gets put out. When it comes to your songs,
are there a lot of revisions that go to it
when you're writing them?
Speaker 3 (18:02):
I guess it depends.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
Like That's one thing that's beautiful to me about songs
writing is that every situation is different. Sometimes it just
comes out, and sometimes it needs a lot of tweaking.
I mean, sometimes it's a bad sign if something means
a lot of tweaking. But no, I mean I tend
(18:25):
to overthink, you know, even with this one, I was like, oh, like,
do we need it so tuned or like whatever whatever, like,
because sometimes I you know, I am a purist of
like vocals and all this stuff. But but we find
a happy medium, you know, And I.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Think I think that's important.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
Part of working collectively is like trusting the collective opinion.
It's like you can have your opinion, but also like,
let's trust like the group.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Well, I think I speak for everybody when I say,
how amazing you sounded on this song.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Ah, thank you so much. I really appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Congratulations on it going number one. Congratulations on your first
number one. Yeah, So what is next for XO?
Speaker 4 (19:13):
And Well, I'm just in the process of moving back
from like literally this week from London because I've been
living there for like three years.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
And yeah, I'm in Nashville.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
I see my mom a little bit, and then I'm
gonna be in LA and yeah, I have some good
collabs coming up, and yeah, I'm just gonna be doing
a lot more writing in LA and back in my
own contry what so I'm very excited about and.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
Doing some good stuff already here in Nashville.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
So yeah, lots of music that's so awesome. Everybody can
follow X dot O dot and on Instagram or x underscore,
oh underscore and on X or Twitter, x oh an
whatever you want me calling you. It is so incredible
(20:05):
finally meeting you. Thank you so much for your time
with us on America's Dance thirty.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (20:11):
I really appreciate your time and having me. It's nice
to meet you.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
America's Dance thirty counting down the biggest dance songs in
the country.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Am America's Dance thirty
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