December 17, 2025 • 8 mins
Join Intern John as he talks with Alex Warren backstage at our HOT 99.5 Jingle Ball about Alex’s Grammy nomination, headlining his own tour next year, and embracing his “inner pop girlie” with Zara Larsson. Plus how did Alex get Jennifer Anniston to cameo in his tour announce video? All that and more in our interview with Alex Warren!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Backstage line the Mercedes Ben's If You Lounge Hot ninety
IFI jingle Ball with Alex Warren, Sir, what I mean?
It was a year ago this week basically, right the
ordinary is born?
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Yeah, about at jingle Ball was when it was created?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Funny enough, it didn't come out like you can't like
nine months ago, ten months ago, which is crazy.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
And also I heard too, you had to push for
the song and come out because originally you were told
this was not a hit.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Yeah, I was told it took a lot of fighting
for that song. Funny enough.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Does that give you the confidence now, like I know
the sound, I know what people want to hear. Yeah,
Oh my god, I mean no, I still clocks my
own tea just now. I still often wonder. I think
it's just like I've been writing songs that I like.
I've been listening to my own music, and I love it,
and so I bet if I like it, there's some
people out there who like it too.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Well, it's gotta be cool to see it now on
stage jingle Ball. When that song starts, the crowds gotta
go crazy. What's that feeling like to see the actual
reaction of people versus streaming numbers being millions of millions.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Gets me excited, funny enough, I'm I'm my ears are muting,
so like I don't hear anything.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
I don't hear anyone out out there, so people could
be quiet as heck.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
And I often think that no one knows who I
am when I get on the stage. So I when
I sing yeah, well, when I sing ordinary, I like
have to pull an ear out just to see if
people are singing it, and every time they are, and
I get surprised every time by that for some reason.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Is it the greatest gadgetil free card ever? Though?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
With the misses where it's like, hey, I wrote ordinary
about you, you'd think that and then you think that,
but no, no, no, she still clocks me on my
stuff a lot.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
But that's good though, because she was there before before
the fame, and that's a lot of people are kind
of like, oh, like you, how are you not?
Speaker 3 (01:39):
You know?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
This is like weird because you're like, oh, I'm nice,
I swear, but like it's like she often like people
often go like, how are you not?
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Like you know?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
And I often say, yeah, I have my wife. I
have my wife who keeps me very grounded. She's been
a part of this from the beginning.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
The album You'll Be all Right Kid is fantastic. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
I mean, I think there's just so much, there's ups
and downs everything. Did you see yourself being like an
icon maybe for kids who've gone through hard time that hey,
like it can be okay, you can still get through.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
The hard times. I don't know of icons the word.
I think for me, I just I write these songs
a lot to help me get through these things. I
wrote them a lot of them in a bedroom to
because I felt like there wasn't any music that you
could listen to.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
To help you grieve.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
And I don't know, for me, it helped me a lot,
And so I'm stoked whenever people tell me that these
songs have helped them in some way. You know, it's
funny because you came up in the creation game, and
there was after Shat Mendez was like the first one
to have like hit music. There was a whole wave
of creators who couldn't sing try to make music.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Was it hard? I mean, let's be blest me real,
but like, was it Harvey?
Speaker 1 (02:36):
You'd be sitting back and like, I actually am good
at this and take it seriously and like, know what
goes into it before releasing yourself.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
No, no, I no, no, I get what you There
was a rush of like, it's gonna be easy to
music and it's not. Though it's there was a lot
of people who thought it would be easy. No, but
I think everyone should try to do music.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
That's the thing. Like, I think more than ever, it's
now accessible. I think that there was an influx of
a lot of cock key influencers who went into it.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
For sure. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
I it was hard for me. It was really difficult.
I think I had to proved myself, especially just because
of everyone. And I I'm still proving myself every day.
I take vocal lessons, I take guitar lessons, I do
everything still. Every day, I do all this and I
don't think I belong yet. I don't think I've proven
myself no matter what. And you know, it's gonna take
me a long time. But I've heard horror stories I have.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
I mean the Grammy nomination, thank you, that's pretty that's
pretty cool, this is pretty suck. They were the last
one they nominated, though they said, imagine like that he'd
be tough, like we did pretty good this past year.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
I know.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I think it was just a lot of people were
telling me that it was gonna happen, and I was
always like, okay, guys like no, it's not like stop.
And when I woke up, everyone was at my house.
I was like, God, damn, this is gonna suck if
no one is gonna suck if it doesn't happen. And
I was second to last, and Lola Young out there.
I can't imagine how you felt. I definitely was like
(03:55):
because ordinary and all this stuff had gotten passed up,
and I truly I was like, Okay, well this is
not It's not my time. You know, maybe maybe next
year I'll I'll do more and I'll try my best again.
And you know, thankfully the Academy saw that and voted
me in.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Yeah, well tonight we'll see you on stage with Jelly Roll.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
How cool is that to be able to do a
song with the artist, because that really happens. I feel like, yeah,
I Jelly's Shelley's my neighbor.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Funny enough, so when I had written that song for
a DJ and and they passed on it and Jelly
Jelly loved it, and I was so stuck that Jelly
loved it and we we attacked it and I was
so stoked.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
It was so fun.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
I inspired thank you bloodline too many times. Oh yeah,
this was on my tour. I've performed this song with
Jelly though. Oh this would be third fourth okay, third fourth?
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Yeah? Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Well and speaking next year your first headline tour, the
Big Tour, is this kind of like a trial run
of like seeing what worked with the jingle ball stuff
and seeing what the crowd responds to.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Live No, no, I think this is just fun. And
last year I was in the audience, so I being
able to watch from like the audience and like wonder
what it's like to then be on the stage. It
has been really really cool. And yeah, I don't a
lot of I think a lot of artists do that
trial run stuff. I for me, I just I go
with it and I give it my own and if
they like it or they like it, if they don't,
(05:08):
it's not my crowd.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Is it cool to see young kids on stage singing
back to you. It's weird.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
It's really strange because like I, well, adults, adults scream
at me too, by the way, Yeah, old man, yeah, yeah, no, Yeah,
it's it's strange. It's strange just because I was there,
like I was a fan first. And I think that's
also why when I'm on stage, like it's it means
so much because I know what it's like to wait
in parking lots for hours trying to get out of
(05:34):
a venue or pay forty dollars for a hot dog
out a venue. So I totally get and understand where
they are and and it makes it makes it feel
a lot better kind of being in that position and
understanding that.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
So the the tour starts next year, do we have
another album in the work, So what's the plan.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
With Yeah, I mean, I'm working on it. I want
I want to let this one sit. Obviously, it's been
twenty one songs, so I'm touring that. I've never done
a proper tour of this album. I started touring and
then started playing some of the songs, and then I've
only done one and a secondary marget of the whole
entire album. So I'm really excited to kind of play
that and maybe play some new songs during this year.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
How did you get Jennifer Aniston to be in that video?
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Jennifer's a friend of mine, so Jen flex Yeah, so
golly yeah. She had facetimed me and I played I
played her, I played her ordinary and we did. We've
just talked ever since, and so when I asked her
to do this, she was like, please, I would love to,
and she showed up. She knocked it out in like
an hour, and I was like, wow.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
You go pro and acting. She's pretty good that. Yeah.
I told her that too. I was that insufferable guy.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
You know when someone comes up to you and they're like,
did you like the food, and I'm like, oh, I
hated it, and your your plate's clean.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
I was that guy.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
How was that? Listen, It's it's so cool to have
you here. We announced you're playing the show, like the
phones look up. I think you were the big big
droopper ching the ball again. Really, no, my god.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
I just think because life's tough sometimes. I think there's
a great quote about heroes and villains and they both
have bad things happened to them. The villain decides the
pain I feel. I want the whole world to feel it.
The hero decides, oh, I make sure nobody feels that again.
I think that you have taken things no positives. Again,
I think some people know like it's okay if there's
bad things happening, we can push through and be okay.
(07:12):
I really think I hope you know that you've made
a difference in eighteen thousand people's lives in DC tonight.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Well, that means a lot. Seriously, it's been no, no, no,
I'm into it. I loved it.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
But one last thing.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
First, common folk, when we see somebody in the hallway
or at the mall, we don't want to see again,
you know, oh we should hang out some time, Like,
oh yeah, I totally it's never gonna happen as a musician.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
You ever run a musicians and go, oh we should
work sometime?
Speaker 1 (07:31):
You go sure, and then like I'm never gonna tell me,
like I would you ever work with you? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (07:35):
You know, like I still want to work with you.
I'm a big music guy. I love like I don't
think i've ever I.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Also like, I'm scared of rejections, so I've never been
like we should work sometime, Like I've never done that
because I well I'm terrified that someone and be like no,
so like I quite literally don't it just it naturally
weirdly happens.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
I'll show someone a song and they'll like it.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
I'd be like, it'd be so weird if you like
cut a verse and they're like, wait, cut can I
and I'd be like.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
You're pretty silly. Yeah, no, yeah, it's like that type
of thing.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
So that's just that's that's kind of how a lot
of my collabs have happened, or like someone will approach me,
which has been really such a blessing, and it's like again.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
I love it. I would love to do collabs with people.
I love working with people.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
I love music. I love everyone's different types of music.
Like I could never make girl pop music the way
like Zara does, and I am so inspired in awe
of her.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
I wish I could.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
I wish I had that bone in me, but I
I write, I just thrive into pressing music. And she's
so freaking good. And I tell her, I told her
and leve Well sure selling Leba, I was like, you
guys just inspire me so much and it's really cool.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Forcire me Yet Ordinary is the biggest song last decade.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Thanks, Like yeah, I mean, listen backstage, Alex Warren if
he's sitting station night or hot and idi Jingaball present
by Capital One.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Thank you in John in your morning show. I heard
radio
Backstage line the Mercedes Ben's If You Lounge Hot ninety
IFI jingle Ball with Alex Warren, Sir, what I mean?
It was a year ago this week basically, right the
ordinary is born?
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Yeah, about at jingle Ball was when it was created?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Funny enough, it didn't come out like you can't like
nine months ago, ten months ago, which is crazy.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
And also I heard too, you had to push for
the song and come out because originally you were told
this was not a hit.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Yeah, I was told it took a lot of fighting
for that song. Funny enough.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Does that give you the confidence now, like I know
the sound, I know what people want to hear. Yeah,
Oh my god, I mean no, I still clocks my
own tea just now. I still often wonder. I think
it's just like I've been writing songs that I like.
I've been listening to my own music, and I love it,
and so I bet if I like it, there's some
people out there who like it too.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Well, it's gotta be cool to see it now on
stage jingle Ball. When that song starts, the crowds gotta
go crazy. What's that feeling like to see the actual
reaction of people versus streaming numbers being millions of millions.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Gets me excited, funny enough, I'm I'm my ears are muting,
so like I don't hear anything.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
I don't hear anyone out out there, so people could
be quiet as heck.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
And I often think that no one knows who I
am when I get on the stage. So I when
I sing yeah, well, when I sing ordinary, I like
have to pull an ear out just to see if
people are singing it, and every time they are, and
I get surprised every time by that for some reason.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Is it the greatest gadgetil free card ever? Though?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
With the misses where it's like, hey, I wrote ordinary
about you, you'd think that and then you think that,
but no, no, no, she still clocks me on my
stuff a lot.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
But that's good though, because she was there before before
the fame, and that's a lot of people are kind
of like, oh, like you, how are you not?
Speaker 3 (01:39):
You know?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
This is like weird because you're like, oh, I'm nice,
I swear, but like it's like she often like people
often go like, how are you not?
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Like you know?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
And I often say, yeah, I have my wife. I
have my wife who keeps me very grounded. She's been
a part of this from the beginning.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
The album You'll Be all Right Kid is fantastic. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
I mean, I think there's just so much, there's ups
and downs everything. Did you see yourself being like an
icon maybe for kids who've gone through hard time that hey,
like it can be okay, you can still get through.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
The hard times. I don't know of icons the word.
I think for me, I just I write these songs
a lot to help me get through these things. I
wrote them a lot of them in a bedroom to
because I felt like there wasn't any music that you
could listen to.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
To help you grieve.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
And I don't know, for me, it helped me a lot,
And so I'm stoked whenever people tell me that these
songs have helped them in some way. You know, it's
funny because you came up in the creation game, and
there was after Shat Mendez was like the first one
to have like hit music. There was a whole wave
of creators who couldn't sing try to make music.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Was it hard? I mean, let's be blest me real,
but like, was it Harvey?
Speaker 1 (02:36):
You'd be sitting back and like, I actually am good
at this and take it seriously and like, know what
goes into it before releasing yourself.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
No, no, I no, no, I get what you There
was a rush of like, it's gonna be easy to
music and it's not. Though it's there was a lot
of people who thought it would be easy. No, but
I think everyone should try to do music.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
That's the thing. Like, I think more than ever, it's
now accessible. I think that there was an influx of
a lot of cock key influencers who went into it.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
For sure. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
I it was hard for me. It was really difficult.
I think I had to proved myself, especially just because
of everyone. And I I'm still proving myself every day.
I take vocal lessons, I take guitar lessons, I do
everything still. Every day, I do all this and I
don't think I belong yet. I don't think I've proven
myself no matter what. And you know, it's gonna take
me a long time. But I've heard horror stories I have.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
I mean the Grammy nomination, thank you, that's pretty that's
pretty cool, this is pretty suck. They were the last
one they nominated, though they said, imagine like that he'd
be tough, like we did pretty good this past year.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
I know.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I think it was just a lot of people were
telling me that it was gonna happen, and I was
always like, okay, guys like no, it's not like stop.
And when I woke up, everyone was at my house.
I was like, God, damn, this is gonna suck if
no one is gonna suck if it doesn't happen. And
I was second to last, and Lola Young out there.
I can't imagine how you felt. I definitely was like
(03:55):
because ordinary and all this stuff had gotten passed up,
and I truly I was like, Okay, well this is
not It's not my time. You know, maybe maybe next
year I'll I'll do more and I'll try my best again.
And you know, thankfully the Academy saw that and voted
me in.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Yeah, well tonight we'll see you on stage with Jelly Roll.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
How cool is that to be able to do a
song with the artist, because that really happens. I feel like, yeah,
I Jelly's Shelley's my neighbor.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Funny enough, so when I had written that song for
a DJ and and they passed on it and Jelly
Jelly loved it, and I was so stuck that Jelly
loved it and we we attacked it and I was
so stoked.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
It was so fun.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
I inspired thank you bloodline too many times. Oh yeah,
this was on my tour. I've performed this song with
Jelly though. Oh this would be third fourth okay, third fourth?
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Yeah? Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Well and speaking next year your first headline tour, the
Big Tour, is this kind of like a trial run
of like seeing what worked with the jingle ball stuff
and seeing what the crowd responds to.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Live No, no, I think this is just fun. And
last year I was in the audience, so I being
able to watch from like the audience and like wonder
what it's like to then be on the stage. It
has been really really cool. And yeah, I don't a
lot of I think a lot of artists do that
trial run stuff. I for me, I just I go
with it and I give it my own and if
they like it or they like it, if they don't,
(05:08):
it's not my crowd.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Is it cool to see young kids on stage singing
back to you. It's weird.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
It's really strange because like I, well, adults, adults scream
at me too, by the way, Yeah, old man, yeah, yeah, no, Yeah,
it's it's strange. It's strange just because I was there,
like I was a fan first. And I think that's
also why when I'm on stage, like it's it means
so much because I know what it's like to wait
in parking lots for hours trying to get out of
(05:34):
a venue or pay forty dollars for a hot dog
out a venue. So I totally get and understand where
they are and and it makes it makes it feel
a lot better kind of being in that position and
understanding that.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
So the the tour starts next year, do we have
another album in the work, So what's the plan.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
With Yeah, I mean, I'm working on it. I want
I want to let this one sit. Obviously, it's been
twenty one songs, so I'm touring that. I've never done
a proper tour of this album. I started touring and
then started playing some of the songs, and then I've
only done one and a secondary marget of the whole
entire album. So I'm really excited to kind of play
that and maybe play some new songs during this year.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
How did you get Jennifer Aniston to be in that video?
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Jennifer's a friend of mine, so Jen flex Yeah, so
golly yeah. She had facetimed me and I played I
played her, I played her ordinary and we did. We've
just talked ever since, and so when I asked her
to do this, she was like, please, I would love to,
and she showed up. She knocked it out in like
an hour, and I was like, wow.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
You go pro and acting. She's pretty good that. Yeah.
I told her that too. I was that insufferable guy.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
You know when someone comes up to you and they're like,
did you like the food, and I'm like, oh, I
hated it, and your your plate's clean.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
I was that guy.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
How was that? Listen, It's it's so cool to have
you here. We announced you're playing the show, like the
phones look up. I think you were the big big
droopper ching the ball again. Really, no, my god.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
I just think because life's tough sometimes. I think there's
a great quote about heroes and villains and they both
have bad things happened to them. The villain decides the
pain I feel. I want the whole world to feel it.
The hero decides, oh, I make sure nobody feels that again.
I think that you have taken things no positives. Again,
I think some people know like it's okay if there's
bad things happening, we can push through and be okay.
(07:12):
I really think I hope you know that you've made
a difference in eighteen thousand people's lives in DC tonight.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Well, that means a lot. Seriously, it's been no, no, no,
I'm into it. I loved it.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
But one last thing.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
First, common folk, when we see somebody in the hallway
or at the mall, we don't want to see again,
you know, oh we should hang out some time, Like,
oh yeah, I totally it's never gonna happen as a musician.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
You ever run a musicians and go, oh we should
work sometime?
Speaker 1 (07:31):
You go sure, and then like I'm never gonna tell me,
like I would you ever work with you? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (07:35):
You know, like I still want to work with you.
I'm a big music guy. I love like I don't
think i've ever I.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Also like, I'm scared of rejections, so I've never been
like we should work sometime, Like I've never done that
because I well I'm terrified that someone and be like no,
so like I quite literally don't it just it naturally
weirdly happens.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
I'll show someone a song and they'll like it.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
I'd be like, it'd be so weird if you like
cut a verse and they're like, wait, cut can I
and I'd be like.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
You're pretty silly. Yeah, no, yeah, it's like that type
of thing.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
So that's just that's that's kind of how a lot
of my collabs have happened, or like someone will approach me,
which has been really such a blessing, and it's like again.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
I love it. I would love to do collabs with people.
I love working with people.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
I love music. I love everyone's different types of music.
Like I could never make girl pop music the way
like Zara does, and I am so inspired in awe
of her.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
I wish I could.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
I wish I had that bone in me, but I
I write, I just thrive into pressing music. And she's
so freaking good. And I tell her, I told her
and leve Well sure selling Leba, I was like, you
guys just inspire me so much and it's really cool.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Forcire me Yet Ordinary is the biggest song last decade.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Thanks, Like yeah, I mean, listen backstage, Alex Warren if
he's sitting station night or hot and idi Jingaball present
by Capital One.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Thank you in John in your morning show. I heard
radio
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My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.