Olivia Rodrigo joins Most Requested Live and talks with Bennett about her latest single "Vampire" and her new album GUTS! Olivia shares how many songs she wrote for her album, dives into her songwriting process (which includes getting In-N-Out with her friends), the pressures she faces to top Sour, what songs she wishes she wrote and SO much more.
Check out the exclusive interview now!
Check out the exclusive interview now!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
Sits to chat with Bennett on MostRequested Live world wide with woman, How
are you good? To see youagain? You too? You too?
I'm good. Yeah, so let'sto see you two. It's been a
minute. It's been a minute.Thanks for hopping back on Most Requested Live,
freaking congratulations on Vampire. The song'smassive. We love it. Thank
(00:25):
you so much. Yeah, it'sbeen an exciting week. Yeah, to
say the least. Why what doyou think Vampire was the song to really
kick off the guts air? Youknow what? What what about this song?
This tone really kind of like setsthe table. Yeah, I mean
I always loved the song. Itwas um, always one of my favorite
songs on the record. We wroteit last winter, and I remember writing
(00:48):
it and feeling like it was reallyspecial that I kind of had that feeling
in my gut I got um anduh uh. Yeah. I think it's
just a perfect introduction to the album. I think it's it's um, you
know, not entirely super different fromSour, but I think it still represents
kind of a gradual transition into somethingnew and different. So yeah, I'm
glad you like it. Absolutely.We love playing it and I love talking
(01:14):
about how an album is made,like, I love hearing the process.
So let's talk about guts, Like, for instance, how many songs do
you think you wrote for this album? Is there a number on that?
Man? I mean, I'm definitelylike a strength and numbers songwrite. I
feel like I write so much andthen just a fraction of them are any
(01:34):
good. I probably wrote, likemyself, like a probably like one hundred
or one hundred and fifty songs forit, just because I love I love
writing, and I you know,most of them are just terrible. But
I feel like we recorded probably liketwenty in the narrated them down to twelve.
That's amazing. So are you writinglike on your phone like you have
an idea at the airport, let'ssay, and like you're just writing things
(01:56):
in your notes? Yeah, Imean the ideas strike at the strangest times.
I definitely like, well, utilizemy notes app a bunch my little
voice notes get used abused. Ihave so many, like my phone can
hardly keep up. But yeah,stuff like that, and I love I've
been kind of trying to practice justgetting up every morning and sitting at the
piano and trying to write even ifI don't particularly feel very inspired. I
(02:19):
find that that's usually the way thatlots of the best songs can come.
Yeah. I love the stripped downversion of Vampire Too on the piano.
I'm kind of curious when you're inthis writing and recording process, who are
the people I guess in your innercircle, like friends or family, that
you're like, Okay, I havethe song, I love the idea.
What do you think, Like,wh Who's gonna give you like the oddest
(02:40):
feedback? Right? I mean,my producer Dan is incredible at that,
And whenever I write a song juston my own, I always play it
for him and get his take,and I really trust his opinion. But
you know, I friends in themusic industry and friends that aren't in the
music industry, And sometimes I reallylove playing songs for friends who aren't in
the music industry just to get there, like completely honest, you know,
(03:02):
take on it. And me andmy friends love driving around in the car.
That's like our favorite thing to dowhenever, like we're all in town,
will like hop in the car andgo get a hamburger from in and
out, and I'll like play themsome songs and get their feedback. That's
like my favorite thing in the world, and how lots of my opinions get
formed. I guess that's amazing.So you're yeah, you're in and out
(03:23):
double Double Animal Style released Olivia Songs. It is amazing. Yeah, gotta
have the double level. Yeah,where if I get the invite? That
sounds awesome. So as you're writingand recording, I'm sure you are reflecting
madness that has been the last fewyears of your life since Driver's License of
(03:45):
course, just sour in general.I guess what did you learn about yourself
or maybe the industry in general,like anything surprising or maybe different than maybe
you thought it would be. Yeah, I mean completely, I learned so
much, I think. Yeah,Driver Sicens was a very quick introduction into
the music industry, kind of likea baptism by fire. It was just
(04:06):
like everything was just all at once. It was just so huge, and
it felt kind of overwhelming at thetime. But I feel like looking back,
it definitely taught me how to remaingrounded and face of all of that
and kind of just keep my headdown and focus on the work. And
so I guess that's what I've triedto do this time around. And yeah,
I'm very lucky for how everything workedout. I am very fortunate.
(04:27):
Yeah, is there added pressure comingoff of Sour? Like the album is
just so massive, breaking records awards? You know, is there at a
pressure like how do you measure success? Like does it need to hit all
of these markers? Or do yourfans just have to like gravitate towards the
music like they did with Sour?Is that all that really matters? Right?
(04:49):
I mean, yeah, I wasso much pressure. I remember beginning
to make this next album Guts andlike sitting down at my piano and just
being so overwhelmed, like just playinganything and how many people gonna how are
people gonna like this? So likewhat are people on TikTok and say about
this? And like you know,like getting in that mindset, which is
just the worst thing you can possiblydo. But yeah, I think my
(05:10):
goal the entire time was just totry to make a record that I would
like, that I would love tohear on the radio. But it's actually
way easier said than done. Ithink that in itself is the hardest thing
to make a record that you wouldlove. It's it's very difficult. So
I think I did that and aslong as I you know, made songs
that resonate with me and that Ifeel really proud of. I think that's
all anyone can ask for, andeverything else is just kind of cheering on
(05:30):
the top. Now, how doyou like? You said you recorded twenty
of the one hundred and one hundredand fifty songs whatever you wrote, you
narrowed it down to twelve. Howis that process? Like? You know,
it's these are your children, soto speak. You know, they
all mean something to you. Howdoes that? How does it all work?
Is it get frustrating? Or whatwas the process? Yeah? Yeah,
(05:55):
I think it really helps my havingmy producer all like my stuff on
the guitar, the piano, Iwant to always play it for him,
and he kind of helps narrow itdown because you know, when something so
close to you, sometimes it's hardto see something objectively, Like I could
write the worst song ever about somethingthat just means a lot to me and
you know, be blinded by myown, um, you know, association
with it. So it's always goodto have someone that you trust, that
you can bounce ideas off of afunk that always helps me nice. That's
(06:19):
awesome, And I'm just so curiousWe love asking songwriters this question. So
this is perfect for you the songyou wish you wrote. So say like
you're you're in this process, you'regetting ideas, you're writing, and you're
like, I just heard a songon the radio and I wish I thought
of that first. That's so good. Is there a song like that?
(06:40):
Reason why that kind of hits you? I ask literally everyone that I know
that's a song write of those questions. So this is perfect. I think
about it often. My two answersare I really wish I wrote you out
and though Lena's Mornersen, I thinkthat's one of the best songs I've written,
and more on like a pop space, I really wish that I wrote
Hey, Mickey, ill of thatsong so much. I think it's so
(07:01):
brilliant and clever U. So yeah, those are my two answers. Yeah,
you're like, damn, I wishI thought of that first. Yeah,
yeah, time Machine, Yeah forreal, I want to like get
into their brains. Well, I'msure there's a lot of young songwriters that
are like, man, I wishI thought of Driver's License or Vampires,
So it works both ways. Thatwould be yeah, Yeah, it's universal.
(07:26):
Well, uh, congratulations on Vampire. We're going to continue to play
the hell out of this as weget ready for Guts in September, and
we just can't thank you enough forhopping on and catching up a little bit.
Oh my gosh, thank you somuch, so good to see you
and great to talk to you.We'll talk to you, Ola,
Sits to chat with Bennett on MostRequested Live world wide with woman, How
are you good? To see youagain? You too? You too?
I'm good. Yeah, so let'sto see you two. It's been a
minute. It's been a minute.Thanks for hopping back on Most Requested Live,
freaking congratulations on Vampire. The song'smassive. We love it. Thank
(00:25):
you so much. Yeah, it'sbeen an exciting week. Yeah, to
say the least. Why what doyou think Vampire was the song to really
kick off the guts air? Youknow what? What what about this song?
This tone really kind of like setsthe table. Yeah, I mean
I always loved the song. Itwas um, always one of my favorite
songs on the record. We wroteit last winter, and I remember writing
(00:48):
it and feeling like it was reallyspecial that I kind of had that feeling
in my gut I got um anduh uh. Yeah. I think it's
just a perfect introduction to the album. I think it's it's um, you
know, not entirely super different fromSour, but I think it still represents
kind of a gradual transition into somethingnew and different. So yeah, I'm
glad you like it. Absolutely.We love playing it and I love talking
(01:14):
about how an album is made,like, I love hearing the process.
So let's talk about guts, Like, for instance, how many songs do
you think you wrote for this album? Is there a number on that?
Man? I mean, I'm definitelylike a strength and numbers songwrite. I
feel like I write so much andthen just a fraction of them are any
(01:34):
good. I probably wrote, likemyself, like a probably like one hundred
or one hundred and fifty songs forit, just because I love I love
writing, and I you know,most of them are just terrible. But
I feel like we recorded probably liketwenty in the narrated them down to twelve.
That's amazing. So are you writinglike on your phone like you have
an idea at the airport, let'ssay, and like you're just writing things
(01:56):
in your notes? Yeah, Imean the ideas strike at the strangest times.
I definitely like, well, utilizemy notes app a bunch my little
voice notes get used abused. Ihave so many, like my phone can
hardly keep up. But yeah,stuff like that, and I love I've
been kind of trying to practice justgetting up every morning and sitting at the
piano and trying to write even ifI don't particularly feel very inspired. I
(02:19):
find that that's usually the way thatlots of the best songs can come.
Yeah. I love the stripped downversion of Vampire Too on the piano.
I'm kind of curious when you're inthis writing and recording process, who are
the people I guess in your innercircle, like friends or family, that
you're like, Okay, I havethe song, I love the idea.
What do you think, Like,wh Who's gonna give you like the oddest
(02:40):
feedback? Right? I mean,my producer Dan is incredible at that,
And whenever I write a song juston my own, I always play it
for him and get his take,and I really trust his opinion. But
you know, I friends in themusic industry and friends that aren't in the
music industry, And sometimes I reallylove playing songs for friends who aren't in
the music industry just to get there, like completely honest, you know,
(03:02):
take on it. And me andmy friends love driving around in the car.
That's like our favorite thing to dowhenever, like we're all in town,
will like hop in the car andgo get a hamburger from in and
out, and I'll like play themsome songs and get their feedback. That's
like my favorite thing in the world, and how lots of my opinions get
formed. I guess that's amazing.So you're yeah, you're in and out
(03:23):
double Double Animal Style released Olivia Songs. It is amazing. Yeah, gotta
have the double level. Yeah,where if I get the invite? That
sounds awesome. So as you're writingand recording, I'm sure you are reflecting
madness that has been the last fewyears of your life since Driver's License of
(03:45):
course, just sour in general.I guess what did you learn about yourself
or maybe the industry in general,like anything surprising or maybe different than maybe
you thought it would be. Yeah, I mean completely, I learned so
much, I think. Yeah,Driver Sicens was a very quick introduction into
the music industry, kind of likea baptism by fire. It was just
(04:06):
like everything was just all at once. It was just so huge, and
it felt kind of overwhelming at thetime. But I feel like looking back,
it definitely taught me how to remaingrounded and face of all of that
and kind of just keep my headdown and focus on the work. And
so I guess that's what I've triedto do this time around. And yeah,
I'm very lucky for how everything workedout. I am very fortunate.
(04:27):
Yeah, is there added pressure comingoff of Sour? Like the album is
just so massive, breaking records awards? You know, is there at a
pressure like how do you measure success? Like does it need to hit all
of these markers? Or do yourfans just have to like gravitate towards the
music like they did with Sour?Is that all that really matters? Right?
(04:49):
I mean, yeah, I wasso much pressure. I remember beginning
to make this next album Guts andlike sitting down at my piano and just
being so overwhelmed, like just playinganything and how many people gonna how are
people gonna like this? So likewhat are people on TikTok and say about
this? And like you know,like getting in that mindset, which is
just the worst thing you can possiblydo. But yeah, I think my
(05:10):
goal the entire time was just totry to make a record that I would
like, that I would love tohear on the radio. But it's actually
way easier said than done. Ithink that in itself is the hardest thing
to make a record that you wouldlove. It's it's very difficult. So
I think I did that and aslong as I you know, made songs
that resonate with me and that Ifeel really proud of. I think that's
all anyone can ask for, andeverything else is just kind of cheering on
(05:30):
the top. Now, how doyou like? You said you recorded twenty
of the one hundred and one hundredand fifty songs whatever you wrote, you
narrowed it down to twelve. Howis that process? Like? You know,
it's these are your children, soto speak. You know, they
all mean something to you. Howdoes that? How does it all work?
Is it get frustrating? Or whatwas the process? Yeah? Yeah,
(05:55):
I think it really helps my havingmy producer all like my stuff on
the guitar, the piano, Iwant to always play it for him,
and he kind of helps narrow itdown because you know, when something so
close to you, sometimes it's hardto see something objectively, Like I could
write the worst song ever about somethingthat just means a lot to me and
you know, be blinded by myown, um, you know, association
with it. So it's always goodto have someone that you trust, that
you can bounce ideas off of afunk that always helps me nice. That's
(06:19):
awesome, And I'm just so curiousWe love asking songwriters this question. So
this is perfect for you the songyou wish you wrote. So say like
you're you're in this process, you'regetting ideas, you're writing, and you're
like, I just heard a songon the radio and I wish I thought
of that first. That's so good. Is there a song like that?
(06:40):
Reason why that kind of hits you? I ask literally everyone that I know
that's a song write of those questions. So this is perfect. I think
about it often. My two answersare I really wish I wrote you out
and though Lena's Mornersen, I thinkthat's one of the best songs I've written,
and more on like a pop space, I really wish that I wrote
Hey, Mickey, ill of thatsong so much. I think it's so
(07:01):
brilliant and clever U. So yeah, those are my two answers. Yeah,
you're like, damn, I wishI thought of that first. Yeah,
yeah, time Machine, Yeah forreal, I want to like get
into their brains. Well, I'msure there's a lot of young songwriters that
are like, man, I wishI thought of Driver's License or Vampires,
So it works both ways. Thatwould be yeah, Yeah, it's universal.
(07:26):
Well, uh, congratulations on Vampire. We're going to continue to play
the hell out of this as weget ready for Guts in September, and
we just can't thank you enough forhopping on and catching up a little bit.
Oh my gosh, thank you somuch, so good to see you
and great to talk to you.We'll talk to you, Ola,
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