Billie Eilish & Finneas O’Connell in Conversation - “I Create Music” ASCAP EXPO 2018

Hi everyone, all right. I'm extremely  excited to introduce our next panel   moderated by Grammy-nominated KCRW host Chris  Douridas. Chris made a name for himself as the   musical director at KCRW and the original host  of the station's show morning becomes eclectic.   Chris has also gone on to supervise nearly 20  movies including oscar winners American Beauty   and Austin Powers. Beyond his film and tv work,  Chris serves as a consultant for record labels,   publishers and has lent his programming  expertise to both iTunes and Amazon Music,   I'm sure you've heard of them. He also  continues his dedication to discovering and   nurturing new artists through his weekly  live performance series School Night.   Next, I'm pleased to introduce our two panelists,  Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell. Yes! Since going viral with her 2016 hit "Ocean Eyes",   Billie signed a Darkroom and an Interscope  and released her debut EP "dont smile at me"   she has since performed the song on CBS's The  Late Late Show with James Corden has sold out   headlining tours in America, Australia, the UK  and Europe and was recently named Apple music's   latest up next artist and then we have finneas who  is the incredibly talented producer and songwriter   of all things billy eilish including her single  ocean eyes bellyache and board as well as the rest   of her ep don't smile at me he's also currently  working with khalid tori kelly sabrina claudia and   olivia o'brien just to name a few uh phineas also  recently released his debut single as an artist   i'm in love without you so check that out if  you haven't so everyone give them a warm welcome so nice hi guys how are you um i'm  very pleased to be here uh we have a   even though it's a short history the the the music  that these guys have put put out in the world   i've been along for a lot of the rides so it's  really great for me to be here to help bring out   some of the making of this music with you guys  um i guess i could just say about two years ago   we met you at a starbucks you had a  really really pretty scarf yeah yeah   that's true yeah i'd heard some music and i was  playing them on my radio show at kcrw and i was   just you know i had this driving curiosity to  find out what this was about and where it was   coming from and so we met up at a starbucks in  culver city and uh i i actually remember the story   that struck me most that day that i'm  gonna share and start with if that's okay   and i i hope i remember this correctly because  my memory is a little iffy but uh i think we were   talking about ocean eyes um and the way i remember  the story everybody knows the song yes yes   okay come on okay i don't have to play it  for you right we don't have to play but   um you had written the song for your band right  yeah um phineas has a band called the slightly's   and it's a band that i was also playing at kcrw  and uh who also played school night yeah um   but the way i understand the story with ocean  eyes was that you had written the story written   the song for the band and you were working on  the on the song in your bedroom yeah and uh i   i guess you would come into the kitchen to make  a sandwich or something and oh yeah and probably   she was singing the song you know she was  just singing the song in the kitchen and   finn was like wait whoa whoa wait wait you  know and correct me if i get this wrong but   you're like you'd been listening you heard it  through the walls and you learned the song and   he's like what we should record this with you yeah  it sounded so much better when she's saying it   than when i sang it it was like crazy to me um and  uh yeah i mean like billy's kind of had that like   the voice that i feel like she she has now for  like as long as i can remember which is such a   unfair gift um she's 16 now but she was 13 when  we recorded oceanize um and he's 20. yeah but   she just like immediately brought this kind of  depth to the song like it sound her interpretation   of the song was like as if she'd written every  single line of it and that's such a amazing thing   to hear from from a person so it was just such  a clear kind of like i was like billy has to   sing the song i remember we like were playing on  guitar and you were like singing it and we walked   out to our our parents who were in the living room  talking about the mortgage or something and mom   was on a treadmill desk and dad was like leaned up  against the treadmill desk like a and we were like   shut up listen to this and billy saying as we sang  it though yeah they didn't shut up during the song but yeah we just i just knew that i  loved hearing her sing it and um she   i don't want to speak for you but you were in  a dance class at the time yeah well i've been   i grew up as a dancer so it was sort of like i  don't know i found all the music that i liked   through dance and i feel like dance is has always  been a head of music you know what i mean like   not as a whole i just mean like a radio ahead  of radio yeah yeah yeah and like i don't know   i would always find songs that from dance that  a year later became like you know like blurred   lines i heard like [ __ ] a year before that song  was big and same with like rude by magic and stuff   so that's how i'd sort of grown up finding  music and like when phineas came to me with   ocean eyes he was like i have this new song and  i was like i know [ __ ] i live like three feet   away from you like because it's like we live in  this tiny little house you feel me like we live   in this little house so when he writes a song  i hear it a lot a lot it's like you know the   walls are not that uh thick so other stuff gets  heard too through the walls anyway yo uh nah but   one of my dance teachers was like you knew i   made music and i sang and phineas and i wrote  together and stuff and he just asked if we would   make a song that he could use for a dance recital  and i thought that was the sickest thing i just   was like because that's what i've wanted you know  because i grew up as a dancer and that was that   was such a huge part of my life that like you  know making a song that me and my friends could   dance to on stage is like oh that's so sick and so  phineas had the song oceanized and we just sort of   did it in it well the production was super  influenced by the idea that at the bare   minimum seven or eight people were going to be  dancing to it and so the production needed to be   the right speed to translate to to movement and  to have needed to have like sort of minimal enough   percussion to make the beats impactful um i wish  i wish like producing every song had that kind of   clear uh direction to go in it was really a  helpful thing to sort of have that like it   has to you know fill column a b and c which was  great yeah we literally like sat in your room   yeah like yeah a lot of that yeah just like  feeling what would you know work you know   and we just sat there for like two days  and recorded the whole song and then just   basically listened and was like what can you do  here how can you move to this and i think like   i feel like we still do that and we feel like  absolutely we would have still done that even   if we weren't writing or making the song  for a dance because it's like if you can't   if you can't dance to a song it's not a song it's  just [ __ ] noises yeah yeah nah i don't know but   then i like broke my hip and i didn't do the dance  but i wrote the song and that's fine but yeah so   that's true you didn't actually get to perform no  i went to one rehearsal and then the next day my   hip popped out of itself nice so when you hear the  song it's not something that you would if you were   i mean i i my instinct like if you're writing a  song for a dance it it's such a you know quiet uh   you know it's not if you're gonna write it as  a dance track it seems like it would be more   i love the way you guys decided to keep it so  tempered you know well to be completely honest   it's a you know there are elements of it that are  super duper inspired by a lot of the music we were   listening to at the time they listened to a lot  of aurora at the time who we've got to give a lot   of credit to on the production absolutely  lapsley too and i think i think that was   a lot of that was the music that was being  danced in this class it was a lyrical dance class   so yeah i think lyrically i mean it did even  inform like you know once the song had been   written when we were recording it i think my  biggest note to billy probably was was to make   the lyrics more percussive because i thought like  there's so much of that song that has no drum beat   and no kind of like structure to move your body  to and so literally if you watch like dance videos   to it people are moving their body on like the  lines of the song and the visuals and stuff so   i thought billy killed that you know in that  song just like was able to really articulate   exactly how percussive every element of it needed  to be that's right that's where i'm headed because   it wasn't just a song you guys created for this  dance it ended up being the song that laid out   the whole style of what you guys did thereafter  yeah you know so it became um the kind of um you   know the starting stone for that sound and coming  up with that sound to me even though it grew out   of this organic need for this dance piece uh is  so i don't know you know it's um serendipitous   the way it you landed on the sound you know that  was suitable for your voice and for where you guys   wanted to go with this yeah yeah thanks man  so when the song was originally written for   the slightlys it was more of a rock song i guess  yeah it sounded like sort of bad sound garden   um and and it was really cool but i just like that  song has like a really i'd always wanted to write   for other artists and be a co-writer and i i was  18 at the time and just had no experience in that   in that world i actually had come to the i came to  the ascap expo when i was 16 my mom got me tickets   for christmas and i had an amazing time here so  it's really amazing to be back under this but um but yeah i learned i learned a ton coming at  16 i remember seeing mike will do a panel and   um rick knowles who has produced a lot of lana del  rey's work was really it was a crazy experience um   but yeah i'd always wanted to write for other  people and at the time i didn't know anyone   else to write with or for and uh you know pretty  much funneled everything into the bands that i'd   been playing with in high school and but this  song specifically i just thought like i thought   i need to hear someone with a totally different  voice seeing this because it had so many things   in it that were like not even really within my  spectrum of ability as a singer there's like an   octave jump into the chorus and the falsetto  that feels so much better in a girl's voice   and and when billy was down to do it i was  just like thrilled because it was like all   i all i'd wanted for the song was to be sung  by a person with as beautiful voices as you so then um so the success of that you guys felt  really good about that and then that i guess led   to was it six feet under the second song or were  there things that what changed like it took over   our whole lives which was amazing it was really  random like we put it out in the middle of the   night on like a wednesday yeah before you had  anything else recorded yes yeah it was like the   only we didn't have a backlog of stuff we'd been  working on we just had this one song that we'd   kind of made and thought like well we both really  like this and we like we'd love for our friends   to hear it and yeah it's funny i'd feel like we'd  we'd i'd watched enough interviews with artists i   liked who'd who would post like like an interview  they'd say something like you know yeah i was just   like you know i worked at a denny's and then i  put a song out on soundcloud the next day it was   charting and you know and i remember watching  those interviews and being like [ __ ] like   and then like it wasn't charting the next day  but it really did like it started to just catch   on to people sharing it online and you know we  really didn't we didn't put any press behind it   or anything we didn't really know anyone in them  but we really almost didn't put it out because we   honestly only made it for my dance teacher and  we put it out because it was there and we were   like you know why not and so we we basically  like left the free download link up so it's   like if you if you heard it you could download it  for free and just have it and then like sort of   i don't even know like phineas i was  like at starbucks and phineas called me   it was like in between a dance class  and he called me and he was like yo   this song bro the song has a thousand plays that's  [ __ ] crazy we just i don't know like a thousand   now it's sort of like oh well a thousand isn't  it's a lot isn't that many but it's a lot like a   thousand people in one room that's so many people  and at the time we were like [ __ ] we made it   we hadn't but that's how it felt and it's like  because everything's relative you know that's how   i feel all the time and and that even leads into  sort of the age aspect to me because it's like   you know people you know i'm  16 and he's 20 and it's like   you know a lot of people sort of are like well  if you're that young how could you have possibly   gone through that or how could you feel that how  could you write about that how could you you know   have any idea what the [ __ ] that's like how  could you be human right okay and it's just like   do you remember being a teenager because it sucks   you know and like it sucks for everyone and  that's fine and it's just like i think anyone   is capable of feeling anything and making anything  at any age it's like a three-year-old you know a   three-year-old versus a 40 year old you know like  a four-year-old 40 year old has gone through more   remember you know like has lived longer seen more  whatever but you've still felt the same things   being a baby is terrifying everything's [ __ ]  huge and [ __ ] yeah i don't know it's just like   it's all relative i feel like  everything's still pretty huge to you   yep um but we have to be fair because you you  guys came up in a very unique environment yeah   absolutely um your parents are creative people um  they work in creative industries they play music   around the house yes they filled the house  with instruments tell me about what that was   like coming up in that environment well it was  definitely like i don't know we never were forced   into anything i think our parents like enrolled  both of us in piano lessons really young and we   didn't enjoy it never practiced and they were  like all right uncle you know pulled us out of   piano lessons when we asked to be pulled  out um and then i think you just kind of i don't know boredom leads to creativity a lot  of the time and i think if you're if you're a   little bit bored and you have access to a piano or  a guitar in the same room when you're really young   you know it's pretty it's pretty tactile and  interesting even to suck at something like that   um so it was really just amazing to have  all of those instruments in the house   all the time and you know just play around on them  and that was i think that was like i don't know   what i don't i don't imagine i ever would have  learned how to play piano if we didn't have like   even like a casio keyboard from costco in  the living room just to just to sit down at   whenever we wanted to right yeah and like we were  homeschooled so it was sort of like you know we   we learned throughout life it wasn't really like  sit down and learn this and i'm not going to tell   you why you have to learn this you just have to  learn it which is like like that's just i feel   like i mean i've never been to school so i can't  say that school's bad or schools whatever maybe it   is but i don't know i just we just grew up sort of  being able to have a little bit of time to be like   you know what i actually want to learn about this  i don't i don't want to learn about that because i   don't need to i'm never going to do anything that  has to do with that so what we did was we just   made music and like listen to music and sang music  and sort of did that kind of thing and it was   i don't know it just it felt right our parents  called it life like life skills training which   i think is like i still at 20 go to restaurants  and like i have a friend who like will pull out a   calculator to figure out the tip and i'm always  like dude like if you know any math you should   know how to calculate a tip at a restaurant you  know what i mean i think so so those were you   know sort of actual things that you use on a  day-to-day basis we're always prioritized and   and i think those are the things that you know  stick with you anyway and so we always focused   on those and then any chance we we got we were i  just feel like when you're forced into something   you're not going to want to do it no matter  what it is and just like if you weren't forced   into it maybe you would want to do it you know  it's like you don't i feel like so many people   don't get the option they're just kind  of it's like you have to learn this and   then you'll have to whatever and it's like what's  that's a waste of my time like obviously you need   to know things to like be a human being but i  don't know i just think i don't [ __ ] know well   in addition to music being in the house that you  guys could uh play yourselves i mean what what   were you guys listening to growing up you remember  like the first song i'll ask each of you guys   the first song or artist that made you go you know  realize the power of music i think for both of us   both of us it was the beatles like pretty much  since day one but i don't know my dad was always   playing like tons of little cds that he had of  like every artist like mix tapes mixtapes pretty   much and like he would just play stuff from like i  don't know the beatles and like avril lavigne and   like lincoln park and sarah mclaughlin like a lot  of people that i wouldn't have you know the greats   um i don't know so we just kind of grew up  around a lot of different stuff and then   i think i'd say them the first time i was  sort of like oh music is unbelievable was   like i heard childish gambino when i was 11. i  heard some i think i heard heartbeat off of um   camp camp yeah and at first it was like i just  it came on shuffle because like obviously phineas   phineas was like all about music and always has  been and has been a genius since day one but like   so he would buy music and then i would sort of  have it on my ipod because like he was four years   older than me so he would go through like the  phases before i would and so it all would just   be on my ipod before i even heard it and then  childish gambino came on and i just was like   whoa what about that song so impressive to you it  was just so different at first i didn't even know   if i liked it i just liked that it was different  and i feel like that's that's how i feel with a   lot of things is like you don't you don't really  necessarily have to like it or not like it it's   just the fact that it's not what you've heard  before is sort of more important than whether   you like it or not if that makes sense because  you know you can like a song that's that's   copying every other song and you still like it  or you can hate a song that's the same way but   but when you hear something different and you're  not used to that it's like it just like opens your   mind and i feel like most people right now i don't  know i don't know if this is necessarily true but   i feel like a lot of people just hate on what's  different and just because they're they're so   stuck in their own like this is what has to be  cool and this is what's good and this is what's   whatever and i feel like so many people you  know talk [ __ ] about a lot of real art   that's like that's they're they're really doing  something you've never heard and you're just   so used to what you've heard all the time  that hearing something new is completely   you just don't know how to wrap your head  around it can you think of another example   i mean i feel like most people will  like at me for this but it's like   everybody like hates 21 pilots i mean i feel  like people are just like yeah it's one of   like lincoln park like 21 my chemical romance  green day you know it's like they think of it as   sort of like a phase like a joke and whatever and  like it's not a phase mom type stuff but it's like   if you listen to the art they're making it's like  they're saying some stuff that nobody says and   i think like 21 pilots honestly is they have  some amazing songs and the way they write and   the way that they sort of just create everything  and all the just i want to know what their brains   are doing and just because it's different  and maybe you don't like it it's different   so let it be different you  know fin yeah that's you so   yeah so like if you um could go  to the same question like an early   you know epiphany moment with  music music um yeah the first the first album i bought with my own money  was move along by the all-american rejects um i mean tyson ritter still has like  the greatest jawline i've ever seen but there was just great great writing on that  record and and just like i thought his vocal   delivery of everything was super dope and um i  love the sonics of it all i remember that was   like one of the one of those artists that you  kind of get introduced to through like music   videos i don't know if you could probably  all think of an artist like that where you   heard a song the same time you saw a music  video and for me that was like they have a   video where they're like in a parking lot and  fireworks are going off during their whole   song it's just awesome and yeah to me that was  like a real i mean i remember like this sounds   goofy but i was eight at the time and i had like  a you know a little ipod or like i don't even   think i had ipod it was like a sandisk blue mp3  player because i couldn't afford an ipod at 8. um   but i remember they had a song called dirty little  secret and i didn't want my mom to hear that i was   listening to that song so i only listened to it  in headphones in the back of the van and i think   there's like there's something about music growing  up that is formative and i think everyone has said   this sort of since the beginning that like if  there's any music that is like kind of secret   to you it's that much more important to you you  know anything that you're you're sort of keeping   to yourself and not really sharing and then if you  find someone else who who independently likes that   music it's like an instant bond with them you  know so so yeah all american rejects yeah yeah   very cool so let's talk a bit about how you guys  are now now that you've kind of settled on a sound   um that we talked about with ocean eyes and then  the the next song started to emerge um how does   that process work between the two of you where  did the song starts happen it's always different   it's like you know sometimes i have lyrics in my  head or i just i mean like my phone is just like   filled with just thoughts and not even necessarily  just lyrics it's just like every single thing i   think i just sort of write down and i don't  know why you clapped but that's swaggy um   no but like i don't know sometimes it's sometimes  this lyric sometimes it's just a melody that you   think of or sometimes it's chorus sometimes it's  a beat it's like it's always different and i think   that that keeps it fun because if you just like  i don't know i think people definitely have their   their way of making stuff which i think is great  and like i definitely have my own ways and stuff   but if you sort of do it the same way every time  you're just making the same song over and over   again and i feel like i've done that myself  and i'd rather have new experiences sort of   showing me what i don't want and what i do want  and stuff like that just because you learn from   everything really i don't know if you agree with  that but yeah i think yeah i mean i don't know   anytime i watched like interviews with songwriters  growing up and they said that they always started   one way or another way like i get that there's  like ways that are you know sort of proven to work   a lot of the time but it's so interesting to start  a song in in an odd way and it leads to such a   different song a lot of the time so i think those  are all just tools to keep in your back pocket and   if you're ever feeling less inspired you know pull  out one of those and try a song that way i think   one of billy and my sort of go-to ways to start a  song is uh totally conceptual um you know we won't   start on an instrument or with a lyric at all  we'll start with like an idea of a scenario that   the song should be um definitely worked best the  most it's been the most fun the most fun it's like   you know becoming someone else or like a character  or just like deciding to look at you know right   from the perspective of like like i wrote a song  from the perspective of somebody that i had hurt   and the song was like basically you know  the whole song is like you but it was all   to me from their perspective and that was i  mean not to get like deep and like stupid but   it was like i don't know are you ever like in  a place with someone where you've done too much   damage in their life that you shouldn't even step  in their life again like yeah even to apologize   he said yeah um a list no but it's just like  you've done too much damage it's it's the best   thing to do is just get away you know away from  the situation you shouldn't even apologize because   that would make it worse and i was at a place once  where like that was how everything was and sort of   my way of of getting the maybe the guilt or not  even guilt because i didn't really feel bad about   it i just knew that it was wrong um i wrote from  his perspective and i just sort of understood what   i had done in his mind and it definitely opened  my mind up because it's like you everybody thinks   for themselves obviously because we are us and  like we can't be anyone else no matter what we do   so it's like obviously you're going to do  things for you and whatever benefits you and   that doesn't you know harm anybody else but i  think just just at least putting yourself in   someone else's shoes or whatever it's just  like it makes you think a little bit more   in you know the meantime i think one of the things  you were touching on earlier too is that like   yeah being what's up is that a song we know no  it's not out yet not out yet okay well just to   reference like i think i think one of the  things that people throw around when you're   when you're 13 like billy was when we started  making music together or or 18 even or 16 now writing exclusively from real life experience  and reality is is a wonderful thing but i think   i think the same rule of like starting a song  the same way every time it's really wonderful   to start a song with with an idea that's  a fantasy i mean like we wrote this song   called party favorite that was on billy's ep and  that was again back to the concept like we just   were like billy was playing like a c chord on a  ukulele and it sounded adorable and i was like   we should write a song about breaking someone  bringing up with someone on their birthday and   then we kind of were like oh that's funny and  then we're like it should be like a voicemail   the whole song should be your voice i have a voice  memo of us writing it and it's literally just like   yo it should be you know voicemail and it should  be on their birthday and then we were like yo   and then we like high-fived and [ __ ] and you  can hear it all right it's like a voicemail   you're really like yeah professor you hear  that in the voice we get really hyped sometimes   yeah but i think you know that's that's a song  that's like you know if you want to write that   song and and prove it you have to be like an [  __ ] and break up with somebody on their birthday   and in a voicemail and it's like it's still  a like a song that i'm really proud of and i   i enjoy it every time i play it with you live  and it's like the fact that it isn't true in that   specific instance doesn't mean that the emotional  sentiment isn't completely honest and relatable   right of course you know i think that's that's  just yet another sort of aspect of like and   that ended up being one of the more unique  songs i mean it's a little bit different than   than the rest yeah very much so because  you're putting yourself in a situation   yeah it's outside yourselves and i mean that  that that's i work a lot in film and film music   and music supervision and that's i think one of  the joys for an artist when they come to a movie   project is they're coming with a set of you know  dramatic circumstances that they wouldn't find   in their normal lives that it puts them in a box  that they have to kind of find their way out of   and write a song from the perspective of all  these other given circumstances totally yeah   so you know one of the things that i find  astounding about your work and and why i was   so excited when i first came across it was just  the fact that it was coming from the two of you   without any outside influence and it was such  a um confident realized fully realized thing   you know so often an artist starts collecting  collaborators as they as they grow and and   and find success and and those collaborators  change the way they sound but you guys kind   of came out of the box with this defined thing and  and now it's about protecting that i would imagine   yeah can you speak to that about how you know  as these baby steps started to turn into sprints   and and and the long race you know how how you've  managed to protect what you guys are doing that's   been so sacred i mean one thing that i was saying  like yesterday was you know when this all hap sort   of started it was like oh maybe we should get in  the studio with this person and write with these   people and have this producer and you know have  this person do this and this and it's like but   that's not how we got here though so  what's the point of that and it's also like   if you want if someone wants you to you know maybe  work with this person so that you come out with a   hit or whatever the [ __ ] they want you to do  it's like like you come out like and then if   you do get a hit with this person that maybe you  didn't like maybe you don't even like the song   and you're pulled in that direction you have  to sing that song for 20 years do it again   yeah right and the thing is like if that gets  big and it gets and it makes you whatever it's   like that's like if you get high once and  you write a song and then it makes you a   [ __ ] star or whatever then you have to get  high every time write a song so that it's good   but if you just sort of write them all beginning  you write them all sober yeah that's jiggier yeah being sober is tight you guys it's  dope i mean that but there have been um   there have been some collaborations yeah  i do want to bring up um the recent lovely   track which just came out with khalid and that  was that's the first example i guess isn't it   of you guys writing a song with an outside  collaborator yeah that's the first one   that's out that's come out yeah i mean i think  i think the way we've viewed like i've written   and produced with a couple other artists um  in a similar capacity to what i do with billy   but i think when it's when it's the  project that we work on together   any form of collaboration that that makes its way  into music usually starts as like a friendship   you know i think organically it should lead is the  best example of that he's he was a friend of both   of ours and um we kind of met through instagram  or twitter how did you meet you met him right   twitter exchange and it was like i don't even  like i don't know location came out and i found   it like sort of right away from my friend and  i looked up his name and there was nothing it   was like i looked i looked up khalid on um itunes  and nothing at all there was no name there was no   songs it was just like this song location that was  on soundcloud and that was it and i was like who   is this kid isn't that amazing it's so great it's  not crazy i know and and i had no idea i had died   there was nothing about him i looked him up on  safari and there was like nothing at all and and   then i was like on twitter one day and i looked up  his account he had followed me off it was twitter   twitter yeah and he followed me and i was like and  then like he dm'd me and he was like yo i'm such a   fan of your stuff by the time he was hadn't even  moved out to alex yeah he lived in el paso at the   time yeah and he was like i love your stuff like  i'd love to i'm moving to la soon like we should   hang out and stuff and he got here i got his  number and we just like talked and like we were   just like friends you know and it wasn't like we  met him in person at school night when we played   school night he came to that show that's crazy to  me that's you know and looking back on all that i   didn't meet him that night when he played school  when you guys played school night i didn't know he   was there that's i didn't realize you guys had met  that night right like just i mean he hasn't like   he's still as nice as the day we met him which is  so awesome and impressive considering everything   that he's now you know had to go through it's  so beautiful that that was such an organic   thing you know well we just hung out for  like a week i think it was about a year ago   that's all that happened he just like came over  and hung out with us and we ended up writing a   song it wasn't like right let's get in the  studio and write a song it was like it was   like like 40 writing that song and 60 like weird  youtube videos that we like old vines and stuff   yeah um but i think the main thing that i i i  would say is like at the beginning it was like   why it's special to me and why he special to me is  that at the beginning we both respected each other   as people and the art that we were making and  had there was no hype so there was no hype around   him there was no hype around me it was just two  people respecting what they're doing and that's   that's sort of stuck with me because you know you  don't i don't know anymore who's real and who's   not you know it's like because people are just  climbing to get to the top and it's just like   if you ruin everything on your way to the top what  the [ __ ] do you do at the top so with khalid it   was just like that was just a friend of mine and  as he grew and as i'm growing now it's like we're   still just we equally i think have the same amount  of respect for each other as we did when we were   you know that you know for for any songwriters  in the audience artists in the audience i think   what i'm witnessing here and what i felt was  was true about these guys is that you know   you've really protected that compass there's  this inner you know compass that we all have   and listening to that listening to your muse or  your your instincts your gut whatever you want   to call it is really where all this came from and  where it's going to continue to come from and it's   in and as things grow i feel like again protecting  that and you know shielding it from the [ __ ] is   is extremely important and i think a lot of times  what happens along the way is people lose sight   of that or they start to doubt themselves or rely  on other people um and sometimes the wrong people   and once that happens i feel like that's where you  start to lose the plot you know so i'm commending   you guys for for just instinctively knowing that  and and and shielding yourselves against outside   forces you know um there's another collaboration  i want to bring up and uh it's the vince staples   yeah uh track um which is a personal favorite  i i mean i love everything you guys are doing   he's our personal favorite i mean we just  love i love him he's so awesome crazy um   so i the reason i'm i'm focusing on this  for a minute is because we've talked a bit   about the songwriting and how the  songs come come to be written but   i think it's easy to overlook the production  skills that are at work there's a restraint   to what they're doing that sets them apart yes  we see it sometimes in lapsley and we see it   in aurora there are other artists that are that  are maybe um you know uh in a similar world but   but i think that that's um it's easy to take for  granted what you guys are doing on the production   side and i i commend you for that and i i i  want to talk a bit about the concept for this   song and burn and and set it up how did this  start and then i want to play it for everybody   well we had this song watch which phineas  wrote like a week after ocean eyes came out   in 2015 earth and night oceanized the night the  night yeah the night oceanos came out and kidding   yeah and we just sort of had it and we which by  the way that was november 2015. it was a long   a lot like a long time ago in in the you know  spanish career at this point but we sort of   made a little demo of it with production and  everything and the demo sounded very similar   to the song watch that ended up on the ep first  demo but it was very like rudimentary demo but   basically at the time it sort of got lost and  everything and it was just sort of i just was like   we were we were doing other things there was a  lot going on at the time and then around like i   don't know we were right literally right now last  year may 27th yeah like when we were starting to   work on the ep and stuff um everyone was like  what about that song watch and i was like watch   i was just like whoa and and i feel like at  the time i was just at a place where it's like   you know you hear something so much that you just  become deaf to it like i had i still don't even   know what that song really sounds like because  i've heard it so many times since 2015 and it's   like i don't know i just like i was numb to  it at the time i couldn't hear and i couldn't   feel it really and so basically they were like we  should put that song out and i just was like numb   as i said and i was like what if what if we just  read completely redid it and everyone was like   and i was like nah we're gonna do it. so  we sort of went into the studio and just   started completely from scratch and i re-recorded  all the vocals and they're all really different   and very robotic and to me it's like it's it's one  of my favorite songs we have ever put out and burn   and it was basically supposed to both of them  were going to come out and it was going to be   like watch and burn like watch and learn but  let's watch and burn so and burn we just like   we just dug into it as much as we could  and made it completely different than   really anything we had at the time which  is what i wanted and it was it was so much   more what i was feeling at the time and it  was just crazy and he just like sat there   and the production that came out of this  boy oh my god i know like oh my god and   and then we [ __ ] finished it and then we  put watch out and then we put ann burn out but   but the thing was like we had a conversation  with everyone and we were like this needs this   needs something else and at the time they were  like i was like you should have a rap first and   then they should have a what a rap first and then  they were like if if you could get anybody on the   song and who would it be who would it be and i was  like been stables like duh and at the time i said   it i was like this is not going to happen yeah  there's no way vince is gonna do this and shoot hi   somehow they told him about it he was like sure so  we went and met him and he's literally a genius i   don't i i don't even know like the way he talks is  just like he's like on another planet it's really   it's kind of insane to like talk to him and like  hear what he has to say he's just what do you mean   it's really really smart and really funny i we  we went to the studio like we found out they were   doing a session in like december it was actually  it was the they just he just put out this song   called get the [ __ ] off my dick it's a really  good song yeah and they were they were recording   that the night we were there it was like him and  dj dahey who produced it who's awesome but um   yeah we i mean we were we were supposed to go  for about 10 minutes and i think we were there   for like three hours and we barely said anything  we just kind of sat there and like listened to   him go on on this like tirade of his opinions  really opinionated dude and then we listened to   that song a bunch of times and he has a line in  that song where he says npr or xxl i can't tell   which is which which is just a pretty good sort of  summation of of him and his rye sense of humor but   yeah we that was we didn't meet him until after  he cut the verse in in anburn and then after we   put it out we didn't get to meet him so it was a  real well when he's when he did the verse first   he literally sent it to us and there was no the  track wasn't even there so it was just his verse   an mp3 in an email in an email like just his verse  and no song no me no anything at all no click even   like it was just him shouting it was fire but yeah  wow all right so before we play it um you know i   when i first played the track on the radio i  i was in my headphones listening to this and   you know i listened really loud in my headphones  too yeah and uh and so i heard every little nuance   and uh if you guys know the song you know  what i'm talking about there's all kinds of um   little treats little gifts little easter eggs  throughout the song and i i wonder if you can   maybe break down um a couple of things we should  watch out for when we play it back well okay so as   a as a producer i never really had any training as  a producer um and most of the time at all i don't   really know what i'm doing and so to me it's  it's all about like if i have an idea i just   try to execute that idea as opposed to like being  virtuosic which i'm not um and in that song's case   i was in the shower one night and i started kind  of like beat boxing this thing and i thought i   thought i have no idea what it's gonna sound like  but it would be really cool if this song that's   about setting somebody's car on fire if i made a  beat out of like matches being ignited and i cut   off like the tails of the sound of that because  like a match being ignited kind of goes like   and if you cut it off at a certain time that  in and of itself is super rhythmic and we're   always sort of striving for like as minimal an  approach as possible so each sound that is in a   song to me is like really important there's not  a lot of stuff hidden there's not a lot of like   oh here's this this great canvas of music and you  might not even notice this thing going on there   every piece has to be like very precise for me to  feel really good about it um so this song was like   yeah i mean it's almost sort of like a like you  know that group stomp that like yeah they do shows   where they just like stomp and like sweep it's  very kind of yeah it sounds like like ambience   um and so that was that was really exciting  to me and billy and i literally like   stood in we stood in the bathroom stood in our  bathroom because i had cool acoustics and she   held um a tashcam recorder it's like a hundred  dollars and i flicked matches on a matchbox and   then she would blow them out and then we went  to the studio that we'd rented out for the month   and uh i just loaded all the sounds in and  started building the the beat well also one   um one of the treats like right after the  chorus like that goes into the verse it's   it's a it's kind of like a it's like a blow  and then he says thanks and that was just   that was just like we were in the bathroom and we  were doing this and then i blew one up because he   was like can you just blow one out and then  we'll just like we're done so i blew one he   was like thanks and we just like left the room and  then he played and i was like that's [ __ ] sick   i like left it and then also there's uh in the  first verse i say that's better yeah and like   like back here like it's not it's not like a  part it's like because you had a good run on   that vocal yeah it's well i'm so precise about  my vocals like it's it's it's almost miserable   to record because i'm so like it has to be exactly  how i want it to be and after it's done i'm like   it's so so satisfying and it's hard in the  making but it's like it's definitely worth   it i think but maybe it's hard for him because oh  it's great no it's it's really wonderful i think   as a producer like you kind of want the thing  you're working with to do like a hundred takes   uh and billy will do a hundred takes she's just  down um and as a result i've never never had the   auto i've never had to pitch correct a note of  billy ever because she just sounds that good well it's cool it's cool that you guys went  back to the bathroom to do that because i   guess when you're in the shower and you had  that original concept you were hearing the   the good acoustics and oh yeah it was like  it was like our apple garage that was yeah   yeah um well let's play the track uh this  is ann byrne with uh vince staples play loud if we were meant i'll sit and watch but you never came back to  ask it out go ahead and watch with the fight that you your love feels so fake my but you never came me but you never came back to ask it out you know you coming back   in the corner how much time do we have i'm looking for oh okay  cool um i want to have some time to take some   questions from you guys uh so be thinking about  your questions um as we get just give give we'll   give you a minute for that but i want to ask you  what we have to look forward to like what's in the   immediate future that you're excited about right  now when you leave here what what's on the agenda   uh we're just making what we're making like  we're just making some stuff i mean we were   just on tour for three months so we got back and  we were like whoa we're home and um it was kind   of like we learned i mean you learned so much on  tour but i think one of the main things was like   performing every night it's like you kind of  you kind of feel what's more fun to do live and   what's you know what the crowd likes more and  what's more fun to do with the crowd because   performing to me is is such a it's like i  don't want you to come to my show and watch   me do a show i want you to like do the show  with me you know it's like it's like i don't   know it's like a it's like a collaborative thing  it's like the audience swag the audience is um   it's like they're there with me so it's like  i want to spend as much time with them as i   possibly can and like i don't know so we're we're  making sort of crazy [ __ ] to mosh to i guess   and also cry too but like different stuff so when  you tour do do mom and dad go with you guys hell   yeah both of them hell yeah well i'm like five  years old so they legally have to be with me like   legally they have to be with me i can't go without  them is that true um yep seriously yeah but um   nah it's great like my parents our parents is just  like oh they're super cool they're the best and we   definitely would not be the way we are now without  them and i feel like not enough people are are   sort of get that i feel like so many people have  such tough home lives and i think that sucks balls   like um i don't know but our parents have  always been really supportive and helpful and   you know yeah so how i mean  they must be involved as well in   helping take care of things how do  they split up the duties what do they   bring to the table other than stability i know  they've done most of the work already because they   you know brought you into the world when we're  on tour um mom sort of serves as like billy's   personal assistant slash day-to-day manager  and um we brought our down on the last run   as our lighting director which was really fun so  that's kind of their official job titles but man   it's like having your whole family on a tour  makes tour feel like a lot more like a family   vacation it's pretty awesome um yeah so dad and i  would get up in the morning and go get coffee or   you know find a donut shop in whatever city we  were in it was pretty awesome i think that's   yeah i don't know i think i think a lot of the  elements of tour that like when i talk to friends   of mine they're in vans of tour they miss like  their family and we're like wow we're we're good   got our whole family with us it's pretty awesome  well you know you mentioned uh the example of   khalid reaching out on you know following you on  twitter um can you can you point to another moment   perhaps aside from the thousand plays on  soundcloud where you guys started realizing wow   this is this is really something like  you know that this is this is gonna work i don't know i don't know i feel like you never  really get there because yeah i don't i don't   really want to get there because i mean i'm i'm  so grateful for what's happening but it's like   i think if you think about it too much you just  go insane a little bit and and i i always want   to want to do more i never really want to get  to a place where i feel like i've done the most   i never want to be like yeah i've like i'm  i did it and i'm done and like i don't want   to like i want to do better i want to do  more i want to keep creating stuff and   and kind of just take it in along the way and i  feel like some people are like if you know what   do you want to have accomplished in 10 years  and whatever and the only thing really not the   only thing but i'd say the main thing is just  i want to have not taken it for granted because   i catch it going over my head and  i'm just like what is this like   what i just it's the kind of thing that's just  like what the [ __ ] bro like jesus christ   i don't even know what's going on it's like  every little thing is i mean it's it's very   like humbling and exciting and momentous you  know yeah kind of day-to-day it's pretty it's   really it's unfair it's very cool yeah i think  i mean the thing that the thing that like always   impacts you most if it happens to you is whatever  you know you are already doing in your life like   for example like i came to the ascap expo at  16 and coming back at 20 like that's huge and   like i don't know like like there's been like  a couple like shows or things that we've been   fans of and anytime we're involved like okay  there's like a frozen yogurt place in like   glendale that we'd like love and we were in there  and oceanized play and we were both just like   that's it like it's playing at yoga earth also  uh we did a show in london and kaylynn russo   came to it who is this model but she was in two  justin bieber music videos so i was like swag i   was just like it was so she came backstage and i  was just like because it's like she's i don't know   it's just like little things that like because  we grew up as fans and we're still fans and like   i don't know we go ga to like every show we're  the side stage is [ __ ] i hop that [ __ ] fence   though between ga and vip you know so let's uh  let's turn it to you guys um and i'm not sure do   we have somebody with a microphone running there's  two lines and two microphones oh yeah okay so uh   my first okay um hey my name is pete and um  i like that you created your own sample with   the uh the match and i was just wondering what  microphone you used and if it was run through any   specific preamps it was a tascam dr05 which you  can buy on amazon for like 100 and it's just a   it's got its own like sd card you usb it into your  computer um and it's a stereo pattern and i just   love the way anything in stereo sounds makes stuff  sound so real yeah and there's i think there's   probably some compression on it ultimately but  if there is compression it's like a stock logic   plug-in compressor and uh yeah we i mean i i don't  own any preamps so no no pre-amps on that but yeah   the dr05 is not a dope thanks man thanks  all right thank you thanks yeah and um hey   hi on the on the other side of music business  question um what do you think you individually   did dark room did or in the beginning  when that record started getting traction   how did you participate in the marketing or what  marketing tools do you think work the best because   and the reason i'm asking to have success that  early at that age and then have the success online   i think that's like the perfect mix for everybody  who wants to get started indie they don't   necessarily want to do pr and be in billboard  but they want to know how to reach fans what do   you think worked best when you were starting to  get that initial traction i mean for me it was i   don't know i feel like the the way that i sort  of chose who i chose to work with me is like   i didn't want anyone to work for me i wanted  someone to work with me you know and i wanted like   i don't know i wanted to feel like they trusted  what i had to say and like knew that i knew what   i wanted and they helped me get that instead of  trying to force me to do stuff you know i feel   like a lot of a lot of people do that and a lot of  you know i feel like that happened so much and and   an interscope and dark room like the people there  just felt so real to me and i mean i don't know   what they did but they did some magic [ __ ]  yeah at the very very beginning when it was   just oceanized and billy wasn't signed yet and we  just started working with our management billy is   really good at instagram right she's really really  good at it and i can't really like it's it's   it's a little unquantifiable but like at meet  and greets and stuff like i feel like 80 percent   of the time kids are like i found her on instagram  and then like heard the music and i think you know   a lot of that has to do with it being authentic  for billy she has great sense of style she looks   awesome and she's got a great sense of humor  her instagram is at where are the avocados   i think that's like there's like little sort of  subtle forms of of self-pr that are a little bit   counter-intuitive to what a pr firm you know can  do for you we have wonderful pr with alex baker   but she's working on on much sort of bigger  broader scenes and they came in later they   came in they all came in later i think on that on  that sort of initial social media realistically   yeah so twitter and instagram are kind of  the kings of self-promotion and then you know   we got really lucky most like the people that  were sharing our song were share like as soon as   one person found the song and sent it to another  person it you know it all kind of spread like that   which you know we've both been involved in other  projects that have not had that you know sort of   luck attached to them i'll just say also too it  starts with a great song obviously absolutely   you know they could have found her on instagram or  twitter and then gone to the music and if the song   didn't deliver we wouldn't be here today right it  starts with the song that's why we're here today   right that's why we're here but my observation  is that billy's way better at instagram than i am   right so yeah yeah and then just i guess a  follow-up to that point if you said in your   time how you split your headspace i want to do  something that shows personality my style or   whatever versus be about music what percentage on  that and i'm going to take that's definitely been   sort of like a thing that everyone's tried to be  like you know trying to be really careful with   which is that i feel like a lot of people are kind  of afraid that it's like people are just gonna   think of me as a you know a fashion influencer  or you know just like a social influence or   whatever but but i don't know because i sort of  i tie it in with everything and i i try to like   i try to not be like advertising my music it's  it's just sort of part of the way that i am   you know and it's like i listen to my own [ __ ]  and like i post videos of me listening to it as   just a song in the background but it happens to me  my own song i don't know really it's just sort of   i don't know i just i don't know i  think that's as far as i can answer   yeah the answer is you're dope the answer thank  you man i appreciate that hi hi i'm lorelai   and um my question is have you ever experienced  self-doubt or like comparing yourself to others   and like how do you get over that have you ever  not oh my god i've never not experienced that   is the i mean girl like i i'd say like for me  it's like i write music right i write with him   and i write for myself and stuff like that  but it's like for me even writing music is   really hard for me i'm not naturally good at  writing music i can write and if it if i really   sit down and force myself to to come out with  something i can get there but it's it's not an   easy thing and it's also you know there's so much  competition in the world and there's so many like   i'd say especially since i'm a girl and like  a teenage girl it's it's even harder because   it's like you know people are just gonna be like  oh yeah you're just like every other pop singer   and i'm like but what the [ __ ] is pop like i  don't like genres i don't like the idea that you   have to be in a box and i sort of this is like  dark but like what kind of keeps me just doing   whatever the [ __ ] i want is like everyone's  gonna die yo like everyone's gonna die i'll die   everyone here will die like it just it's a  natural thing and so it's it kind of makes   me like well whatever i do it's gonna be fine  if i do the worst thing in the world everyone   will die so it won't matter if i do the best thing  in the world everyone will die so it won't matter   so you should just do whatever the [ __ ] you  want while you can alert yeah and i don't know puts things in perspective it does yeah awesome  thank you of course thank you thanks lorelai   yes we go over here now hi yes my turn yeah okay  so if you noticed i screamed when you were like   i hop fences because we just met backstage and  um and um so i noticed you were literally the   sweetest person i was like oh my god i want to be  her friend and i noticed that you know you've had   all this success you're on a panel right now at  ascap teaching all these people and you still were   this person that i was like i want to be friends  with her how do you stay so grounded with such   success and gaining momentum continually  yet you are literally the chillest person   thanks first of all um bro i have no [ __ ]  clue like at all i don't know it's honestly   it's really hard it's really really hard and  especially like you know being on tour it's   like you're gone for three months and there  was there's definitely a lot of moments that   you kind of feel like you're like drowning  but i mean there was definitely like a a week   or more than that but i was just thinking about  it this one day where i was like i felt like i was   i felt like i had died and i was watching all of  my friends have a life without me but it wasn't   like it wasn't like horrible it was that's just  how it felt that's realistically how it felt and   i don't know i just i think keeping the  people that that have sort of been around you   at your worst and they're okay with that it's  like that those are the people that are like   helpful and i've lost a lot of friends  baby a lot but it's like [ __ ] them then   like i don't know just like i mean that song  copycat is literally about this girl who used   to criticize every [ __ ] thing i did and then  did it herself it's like [ __ ] really like   fr yeah right but i don't know i mean it's i don't  really know because i haven't i haven't mastered   being grounded and staying grounded i think my  family is a big help the fact that i'm doing   this with my brother who's like my best friend is  helpful but i'm not gonna say that it's perfect   because it's [ __ ] not at all a lot of it is  draining and horrible but it's it's all worth   it if that makes sense it's rewarding and i get to  do what i want to do and what i love and yeah but   you're just down to earth when you do it you're  not like i'm the biggest superstar on the planet   you're like i'm a human being so let's try to  make music you know what i mean right i mean   [ __ ] i am a human being like everybody is  artificial you guys are not artificial you guys   are here and you're trying to learn what you want  to know and what you want to sort of have in your   life and that's what's interesting to just because  i know so many people who are just like yeah well   when i'm famous i'm going to do this and i'm like  yo shut up like why would you why would you want   that you shouldn't want to be famous to be famous  you should want to achieve what you want to do i   mean maybe that's being famous but that's stupid  like to be honest i don't know just everybody's   human like just i don't even know like what  why do people hold in their farts i don't know   that's what i'm saying like anyway you get it nice  to meet you we're friends forever now okay cool   hi hi my name is yoshiha i have a question  directed to phineas um i uh you mentioned in   your in your discussion that you were you educated  yourself on producing i just wanted to know like   who did you have any mentors growing up or what  what advice can you give to people who want to   learn producing and mixing um so i mean i didn't  i didn't have any like person that would say   that they were my mentor but i sort of globally  decided kind of everyone was my mentor if that   makes any sense um no one in in particular was  taking me under their wing but i was watching as   many youtube videos and as many interviews as i  possibly could i was going to things like ascap   i was reading any forum i possibly could on  websites like reddit or gear [ __ ] about you know   any form of production or knowledge or  relationships with people and i was just   really fascinated with the whole thing and a  lot of it you know at the end of the day all   music production is and all recording anything  is is sonics it's all whatever it sounds like   there's kind of no visual to it there's there  are shiny rat compressors and beautiful speakers   and beautiful studios but the only thing  that matters is how it sounds and so to me   like it was always a really fun challenge to hear  something i loved and try to make something that   emulated that sound not like you know hearing  a song and then trying to rip off the song but   like if i heard a bass that i just thought really  punched through i'd try to try to just you know   mess around until i found stuff like that and  also like it's an under undervalued thing but   if you google like i remember googling like what  is the base synth on frank ocean's novocaine   and somebody was like i think it's a trillion  patch like immediately i had kind of an answer   to that you know what i mean and it was such  a kind of a like oh well like i just always   it's always important to like if you don't  know something just try to ask some where   you know because usually you'll find an answer  really fast which i thought was really cool but   i think you know i'm trying not to  be as long-winded as possible but   the only thing that will really change your  life is is making something that sounds like   nothing else and those are always the things that  that i remember as being like the most formative   listening to a band like the strokes who i think  recorded drums with a kick mic and an overhead   and that was like their only drum setup because  it sounds so unique and it's so different and   it's memorable and you always think about it  so pairings that are unique you know sounding   as good as something else is very satisfying  but sounding like nothing else is probably the   most valuable thing thank you thank  you oh my god ow okay hi billy and uh   thanks for coming i sound like  a man sorry i'm kind of fish i was gonna well first of all i'm a songwriter  and i write everything on the ukulele like   you and um i was wondering if i could give you  my demo maybe we could write together one day   you don't even have to listen to it just take it  i'm bleeding so i'm like literally that might hurt   all right yo anyway um so i wanted to ask  you i saw the bellyache video a while ago and   i wanted to know like did how did you come  up with that it's like visually it's very   simple but it's very effective and i  was wondering like how that came about   thank you um you good yeah i know i'm good okay  um yeah well that video when we made that song   that video was already in my head i don't know  why the [ __ ] but it just all i saw was me   in a yellow rain suit with a red wheel but what  is it called video flyer radio flyer that's not   what it's [ __ ] called what is that yeah okay  well it was going to be filled and i just i just   pictured the desert and then i also had this one  image where i was in a white room with like a big   plastic bag and at the time i was like it should  be a plastic bag filled with like body parts   like bloody body parts and then i was like no but  money is too is cool also and it's like also has   a lot to do with the song but i don't know like  i'm i think of myself more as a visual artist than   anything else really that always comes first  so when i'm writing and recording and just   performing even i'm thinking about visuals  and every video i have out is my treatment and   you know i'm i sort of try to be as involved  with everything that goes into them as possible   it's my styling it's my you know my styling with  the help of of a lot of people that i know and   it's just i'm involved in all of it because  that's what's important to me because   i've always been a person that sort of found music  from videos like what phineas was saying is like   i just surf youtube and watch music videos  and whether or not the song is cool like   i don't know like i like when we were  making the ep phineas was producing and   so he was like recording stuff and it was really  loud so i couldn't listen to the sound and i was   just looking at videos on youtube and i clip  clicked this random one for a song called nasty   by paris and i didn't watch it i didn't listen  to sound i just like muted it because phineas   was making [ __ ] and i watched the video and it  was like one of the most amazing things i've seen   and it was all these girls and guys and like the  sickest [ __ ] and like they're in the middle of   like this garden and they're just like dancing  the bejesus out of themselves and like i just   thought it was so sick and i didn't even hear the  song i just thought the visuals were amazing and   that's what i look up to really and for bellyache  all of the visuals in that just were already in   my head nobody told me about them nobody was  like it should be like this i literally was like   i'm gonna be in the desert i'm walking to the  right from a side view and i'm i have a wagon and   it's full of money and a trash bag and i'm wearing  a yellow thing and i'm a crazy person and that's   just sort of how it went and i'm really happy with  how it turned out um but it took a while to pick   directors and stuff because that's a huge  part of it it's like you just have to have   the energy with that person you know but yeah  no i'd love to hear your demos that's fly   cool thanks um i think we can fit  in one more question sorry guys um   hi hey i'm galete first of all congratulations  it's especially exciting because probably my   daughter was one of the first 1 000 people to  like this sweet so i remember driving in the car   and she told me mom you have to listen to this  she's so hot so this is pretty amazing i wanted   to ask about the label especially with you guys  because like how do you find a balance between   your individuality because clearly it's something  that is important for you and you don't have to   even state it it's it's so uh clear so and but it  seems like at the end of the day when you become   big enough it comes down to signing with a label  so it's just curious what was the process was it   was it like okay like we're gonna sign with you  but these are the condition was it like how did it   come you know how does it um how do you find the  balance between signing with the label but keeping   your individuality right it's a it's a big thing  and it definitely took a long time like and and   that wasn't like just a long time doing nothing it  was us really like studying each label that we met   with and the thing is i was 13 and i had no idea  what was going on and i was just sort of going   into these meetings with these people that were  like we're gonna make you and i just was like like   some of it was so fake to me but then i remember  meeting with interscope for the first time in dark   room and we were just in this room and at the top  of the building and there was like you could see   the city through the window and stuff and and  it wasn't about any of that what i liked was   honestly it was this one dude who's like my  label guy who works who has his own little thing   called dark room that's a part of interscope  it's an imprint yeah it's an imprint and he   to be honest he was the reason that i signed with  interscope because his i just felt like he got   it and he understood that i am what i am and like  nothing is gonna stop that at all and i don't know   it's just it was really his energy and and the  way i just believed in what he was saying and i   felt like he believed in what i was saying and and  still even after that i took a long time to really   sort of dig into every single one and sort of like  we negotiated contracts for six months wow yeah   that's overwhelming yeah and it was also like we  didn't really know because it was the beginning   so we were like do we sign with the label at all  because you know there's so many stories about   signing with the label and then everything goes  to hell and like you're whatever but it was the   energy that i felt from them and just and i didn't  even care who had worked with them who was on   the label who whatever whatever they promised  whatever they said it was it was literally the   energy i can't even stress that enough and what  they've pretty much still managed to do is like   just herd me and and that's what i respect the  most i don't i don't want you to sell to me i   don't want to be try to have somebody impress me i  don't care about that i don't care who you know or   what you are or how much money you have or how icy  your wrist is i just want to hear what you have   to say to me and with me if that makes sense and  you know it's still keeping a balance between hey   i'm going to do this and it's going to be this way  and i'm and i just that's that's all i can say you   know and i don't know they've been they've just  been so good at listening it's all about the music   it is but tell your daughter i love her that's  very sweet i love that thank you yeah you know   when it comes down to it the major labels they all  have resources they all have money they all have   similar resources but it just comes down to who  you connect with and who you feel like you can be   in a room with and and work together with would  for what might be a very lengthy relationship   hopefully which i think it will be thank you guys  so much thanks chris yeah thank you guys so much

Channel: Cande Ruiz

Views: 308,486

Keywords: billie eilish, finneas, ascap expo 2018, billie eilish interview, billie eilish interview 2018

Id: 4XeDDsjcoAk

Length: 75min 21sec (4521 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 14 2020