[dial tone] “Hey.” “Hi. Oh my gosh, this
is so exciting. Can I just say
before we start, I’m so honored to be on here. I watch these
religiously, so thank you so much for having me. Singing: “I got my
driver’s license last week, just like we
always talked about. Because you were so excited
for me to finally drive up to your house.” “It’s been the absolute
craziest week of my life.” “Wait, so you’re second semester
senior year, and you just released your first single?” “Yeah, first semester. I’m not even second. I’m dying over here.” “Is this your first
number one single?” “Yes, by far, yes.” Singing: “Today, I drove
through the suburbs because how could I
ever love someone else?” “I grew up in the suburbs. I grew up in
Temecula, Calif. I would sing at talent
shows and stuff. I sang ‘Don’t Stop Believin’,’
which I think is on YouTube, somewhere in the
depths of the internet. Singing: “Don’t stop believin’.” “I’ve always been obsessed
with country music.” Singing: “Please
don’t take my man.” “I’m obsessed with
Taylor Swift.” Singing: “Devils roll the dice. Angels roll their eyes.” “I moved to L.A. when I was
12 years old to start filming a show that was on
Disney Channel.” “One, two, three, four. Bizaardvark. We like to keep it weird. We make crazy videos and
we look good in a beard.” “That’s actually where I first
learned how to play guitar, which is a skill that has
become very useful to me. And then after that show,
I went right to ‘High School Musical:
The Musical: The Series,’ which is the show that
I’m filming right now.” “The cast list is posted. We have our Gabriella.” “The biggest blessing from
that show is that I actually got to write a couple of
the songs for the show.” Singing: “All I want is
love that lasts. Is all I want
too much to ask?” “I’ve been writing original
music since I could speak. I just never showed anyone,
ever, until recently.” “Somebody was like ‘Hey, you
got to check out this girl, Olivia Rodrigo’ and I
went on to her Instagram.” Singing: “And I hope
you’re happy.” “There was a song
called ‘Happier,’ and I listened to it and
I was like ‘Oh my God. This song is incredible.’ She’s amazing.” “That’s how he found me and he
DM’ed me and he was like Yo.” “Had you ever seen ‘Bizaardvark’
or ‘High School Musical?’” “No, no. I still have not and Olivia
tells me I’m not allowed to watch any of it. It’s like a separate
world for her.” “Actually, I truly had just
gotten my driver’s license, and I had gone driving
around my little suburban neighborhood, listening
to music, and crying. I was listening to
‘Minor,’ by Gracie Abrams.” Singing: “M-I-N-O-R
I’m minorly a star.” “There was so many intense
emotions in my head and I was going through so much. And there’s so many thoughts,
and so many different aspects of this breakup. So when I got home, I
sat down at my piano.” Singing: “I got my
driver’s license last week, something we always
talked about.” “And I was looking through
my diary, actually recently, and I literally wrote, ‘I got
my driver’s license last week.’ And that was the opening
of my diary entry and it’s the opening of the song. And then I took it
to my producer Dan, who is like my favorite
person to collaborate with, and I was like ‘Hey, Dan,
can I play something for you? I think this might be the
best song I’ve ever written.’” “And I was like, ‘OK, cool.’ And so she sat down and she
played it for me on that piano.” “I haven’t taken a piano
lesson in a really long time, but I think it’s
called suspension, where you hit one note. And then you create
different melodies with your other hand,
that like — just this note over
and over again. I feel like it’s kind of
heartbreaking and it draws you in.” “Did you think about how it
sounded like the door open signal on a car?” “No, I actually did not. I remember thinking about
putting a car sound in it and I almost didn’t say it
because I was like, ‘He’s going to think
that’s stupid.’” “She had her mom
go and literally —” “Mom, can you record your car? Open the door
and have it beep?” [slamming car door] “And she was like, ‘Sure.’ And so she sent me a voice
note of it and we put it into the song.” “Once we did it, I was
like, ‘Oh, this is awesome.’ And then she hated it. And then she was like
‘I don’t like it. I don’t want the car sounds
in there anymore,’ and I remember being like, ‘Nope, I
think we’re not going to keep these car sounds in here.’” “I wanted it to go — I wanted it to be a
little thing in it because I wanted people
to make TikToks where they could transition into it. And I thought that if
there’s a little thing, there would be a cue, and
people did make it TikToks like that. So I’m really
happy about that. But it goes — I love that, sort of, ascending. You keep going up
with the chord. And I love seventh
notes, and so I tried to put that in there. And it felt really powerful,
and I thought if I went up with my voice —” Singing: “I know we weren’t
perfect, but I’ve never felt this way.” “She originally wanted to
sing it all falsetto, and I was like, ‘You
need to belt it.’” Singing: “And I just can’t
imagine how you could be so OK now that I’m gone.” “And I think that was
the best decision ever. It feels so emotional. Throughout the whole song,
it almost feels like I’m going to break.” Singing: “Guess you didn’t
mean what you wrote in that song about me.” “It’s so desperate,
like pining, and I think that essentially
made the song what it is.” “There were a few other
lines that you’ve changed the lyrics on.” Singing: “I bet you’re
with that brunette girl, the one I always
thought about. And you’re probably
with that blonde girl, who always made me doubt.” “Yeah, I think that was the
fun part about finishing up the song with Dan, is getting
his opinion on little things like that.” “On that one word —” Singing: “Today, I drove
through the suburbs.” “It’s that one reverb tremolo
throw on ‘suburbs’ was my one moment of, ‘can we get
one production trick in the second verse?’ We ended up
recording the song, like, the initial version was
15 B.P.M. faster than what the version is
that is out in the world.” Singing: “Yeah today I
drove through the suburbs, and pictured I was
driving home to you.” “It was way too fast.” “We liked the
movement of it all, but we felt like it was
more emotional when it was slower.” “She came into the studio on
the third day, and she just looked at me — she’s like,
‘Dan, I’m really sorry, but I think we did it wrong. And we have to do it
all over again.’ And I was just so sad. ‘Oh no, we have to do this’ —
but she was right. I knew she was right” Singing: “ ’Cause
you said forever, now I drive alone
past your street.” “And then, with the bridge, he
was like we have to make this a huge bridge. And I was like,
‘I’m hella down.’” “The word stop signs. I think it needs
to be visual and stop signs. And all the sudden, Olivia was
like, ‘Red lights,’ and we were like ‘Oh.’” Singing: “Red lights,
stop signs.” “OK, it’s all the things
you’re seeing when you’re driving we were like
‘Oh yeah.’” Singing: “White cars,
front yards.” “I felt like we were on fire. We wrote it so fast.” “Dan was like, ‘What if we say
I still [expletive] love you?’ And I’m like, ‘That’s brilliant. Let’s do it.’” Singing: “ ’Cause I still
[expletive] love you, babe.” “I don’t like to curse in
songs, but I’ll take credit for it if she wants
to give it to me.” “And I think it’s actually
really cool — that I did swear in my first song. It’s a nice, ‘Look, I’m
an adult, I can say’ — I’m not an adult, but I’m 17.” Singing: “Sidewalks we crossed, I still hear your
voice in the traffic. We’re laughing.” “First of all, people
are so talented. And all of their covers
and their dance videos just blow my mind. My favorite ‘Drivers License’
TikToks are the dog TikToks. They’re just my
favorite thing ever. It was just crazy. My entire life just
shifted in an instant. It was weird.” “The label is like, ‘Wow,
the numbers are — everything’s great.’” “It’s No. 1 in the world
on all streaming platforms and breaking all
these records. But I haven’t left my house.” “When did you get your
driver’s license?” “I think six months ago. I got my driver’s license, and
I also got a song out of it. So I say, all in all,
it was worth it.” “Are you a good driver?” “Yeah!” [car honks]
