Tori Kelly | New Album TORI., Spruce, Le Sserafim, Sing 3, High Water

let me tell baby and then in the simlish it's translated to hi beautiful human hi I'm Zach that's Dan welcome to the studio uh back again our friend Tory Kelly yay I'm so happy to be here you're the best you're the best I really you know I was telling somebody today like our origin story and I feel like I [ __ ] bring it up every time we talk literally every interview I've seen comments they're like they talk about this every time we're going to move on here we go again no but I just I just want to say like this album that we're about to dive into is [ __ ] incredible and it is nothing like you've ever put out before and you're at like a really different stage in life but also the sonics attached to this thing is crazy and there there's definitely growth between the last conversation that we had yeah and at that time you were I mean you were very close to releasing an album well the last time was a year ago last time was a year ago I had just one song out from this album so I just I think I just had put out missing you and I knew I had all these songs on Deck but I was we not talk about Young Gun or was I I don't think we did cuz the EP wasn't even out well okay that's crazy this is what happened this is what happened we were we had an interview schedule and then you got sick I know you were supposed to come in the next day lit literally I've been looking forward to this just so you guys know for so long because I was devastated when I was like like I had this healthare super scary like ended up sorry about ended up um collapsing like randomly and had like shortness of breath and everything I was in the hospital and the first thing I said like everyone was super worried and stuff and the first thing I was like wait I have to get out of here like I have an interview it's Zach thing tomorrow like what why am I here and everyone's like okay yeah like we'll see and and you know sure enough I had to you know get admitted of course and I was there for like a couple days but I was so sad cuz my EP was was you know set to come out that's it that same week a few days later and then yeah this I was I was so bummed that we had to cancel but when they rescheduled it for for now I was like oh that's perfect we have now we can just talk about the whole album instead of just the EP did you have two parts ready to go that made up an album before or did you end up writing the rest of this album after being in the hospital so a little bit of both really the whole project was always meant to be a whole project like it was always John bellan and I got in the studio and it was always like okay this is our vision these are all the songs and then myself and the team we kind of decided to do like a part one EP just to sort of like get people kind of used to the sound because I knew it was a little bit of a departure and so instead of just like throwing all the songs out there at once we like maybe we kind of you know give a little taste test and um so we you know broke it up that way and now well after I had the the health scare I actually did end up adding um like two new songs to it in one of those songs is it high water right yeah high water so good phenomenal thank you phenomenal dude the range on this album is really really really superb thank you it's crazy it's crazy you give you give everybody everything thanks very F all all of me every side it's Where Do We Begin on this song I know it is so good thank you where are you at I mean physically is the first question then mentally is the second and the two are obviously connected yeah like now or when I wrote when you're writing this record um when I was riding high water so like I said I had the that Health scare um that was back in Late July and you know had the EP come out and everything and I was was sad cuz I had all these things planned including you know this show of course but I had you know all this stuff planned I didn't get to promote it like I wanted to but I did get to go on tour and I was it was weird cuz I didn't feel like I fully processed what it happened I was just you know everyone was like asking me like are you okay are you okay how are you and I I really did feel like I I recovered fast like it was a scary weird thing that happened and then I was like okay well I feel fine now and the doctors are saying I'm fine so like let's go on tour woo like and everyone was kind of like um okay like that was a lot but I think after the tour when things kind of settled again um I realized like wait this I don't think this album is done like I thought that it that it was I thought I had all the sounds and everything that I wanted and I just realized like you know what I I think I need a song that would essentially be like like what's the song that I would have wanted to sing during that hard time and um something to kind of like pull me out of this funk that I'm in um you know therapy was great just like getting to talk through it and and process all of it because it's was very strange especially you know kind of it it being like such a big story I guess and you know being like in the public eye make because it was already traumatic and weird and scary just on its own like with just me and my family and the people close to me but then when the news broke out I was like wa this is wild like that that had never happened to me before that that kind of headline I guess um how does that really feel does it make you feel that people care yeah I got I got a lot of it was an overwhelming amount of like support and love and just like prayers and like we my family and I we could feel it like through the internet it was just like wow so many people are just really caring and um yeah I just got like flooded with messages so it was it was awesome it was just really overwhelming um um just in in the midst of everything so all that being said I think getting into the studio again and realizing you know I think we need to add at least one more song that's really what the inspiration for high water was it was like what would I have wanted to hear during that hard time um to sort of like lift me out of that and then then the song as I'm as I was writing it it sort of turned into okay I don't I don't really want this song to just be about me and my story like how can I make this feel um like I want to give hope to other people too and and what they're going through and maybe they can hear this song it can encourage them you know and whatever they're going through in life so that those were the two sort of like inspos for um for high water when you're writing that do you write that through a lens of like the next time something hard happens I can listen to this record um or do you like write it through a I mean you're writing it through your lens of like this is what you wish you had yeah yeah not so much like My Future Self for for this song at least in particular I think it was more um yeah what what would I have wanted to hear or even just in that present moment like what do I feel like I need to hear right now um and also like just what like there's no other songs like that on the album so it felt really good to kind of like fill in that slot and then once once I wrote it I was like oh now like now this is me like I was missing that sort of um that like puzzle piece on the album beautiful song Thank you really good do you want to talk about it what are you thinking what's What's your deal I'm just I'm listening are you yeah so quiet what are you yeah what are you up to I'm just what do you mean what I'm up to you're AIT an energy that I don't think I like I don't know I wasn't getting that VI I don't know what he's talking about I'm closer to it physically you know you're like on the other side of the room you have space you guys spend too much time together I think like every day for the past 15 12 years yeah well we've limited time honestly now we do yeah it's great he goes that way I go this way we meet up and do this and you miss each other and it's like stretch I don't think I've ever missed I don't think I've ever missed a Zach wow I don't think I've ever like longed for his like like companionship I've never like been outside of the T being like what's Zach up to today oh man but not in a bad way it's just when you see someone five days a week what you don't care about six and seventh day yeah I'm fine you know what I did think about high water when I listen to and I hope this is a compliment it's like your version of like Unwritten by Natasha Benfield oh my gosh it's the best compliment ever I love that song wow that's great dude there's like a choir or gang vocals on that yeah who is it um so I I I always love real singers like I have to preface this by saying that first because the choir is literally just me it's like AI That's why in the in the live video video it's seven of you singing the song too yeah it's crazy like technolog is wild you guys cuz we honestly what it was we just didn't have time like we were trying to make these deadlines and you know cuz you have to like turn in the album and get all the artwork and everything together so we had this deadline and I was kind of like wait I want to add one more song kind of thing it's funny it's you know end up being like a single but I yeah we just didn't have time to like get a whole choir and record them so I would have had that but uh as was me and um one of the producers that worked on the whole entire project his name is ten Rock so talented and he was like no I think we're fine if it's like he's saying a little bit too so it's just the two of us and then he ran it through this like AI thing and we're just like a choir it's so weird it still it still blows my mind wow yeah that's that's crazy I know wait so did you go in and sing the song in different tones or did they really just take one that's the thing is it was just one vocal like I just sang it once and then they like were able to make a choir out of it I know I know cuz that's how I would have used to do it is just record like a whole stack like that's like what Jacob Kier does and yeah where he just like Stacks a million voices but we didn't do that your work with Jacob has been really superb yeah like that segue there I didn't mean to do that no just like I'm I mean I just I really didn't think of him I was like oh yeah I love him he's really a gift oh my goodness he he his talent is just unreal I mean yeah it go goes without saying but he as a person he's so like generous and kind and just he's such a champion I think for other artists like he's not he he loves just collaboration and like bringing people together and I just yeah I can't say enough good things about him what what is it like in that room when you're with him like working together yeah yeah I mean I've seen video of It kind of yeah yeah he did he posted a video of us of us singing working on Bridge Over Troubled Water which was uh kind of insane because the story behind that is he he was also he was working on finishing his album and he was like up against all these crazy deadlines too and he does like everything himself like he's like you know engineering it and like he's just like a mastermind so he hit me up and he's like hey I'm going to be in town like in LA for like I think he had like two days that he was going to be here like would you be down to hop on this song like I'm doing a version of Bridge Over Troubled Water I think you would be amazing on the last verse and I you know I'm looking at my calendar I'm like oh my gosh I'm I don't know when I'm going to be able to do this and I was thinking it wouldn't have worked out but we figured out that there was a block of it was literally like one hour that I could make it work and I have a studio at my house so I was like you could just come over um and I have this 1 hour before I have to get in the car and drive down to Anaheim which is like an hour away to play this like this day was so insane because I was leaving my house to go sing with this band called Lawrence who's amazing they actually also worked on my album um they're signed with John yeah so it's crazy like network of people so I I drove down out because they were they were opening for the Jonas Brothers who I've also known for a really long time so I'm like this is the craziest Day Ever I'm just seeing like all these amazing people and so we had this one hour I was like Jacob we have to be quick like I I don't know I have to make it down there for a soundcheck and uh so he came over and he's like it's fine it's fine we'll be fast and I I knew he was quick but we like when I tell you like I blacked out like I don't remember when I saw that video I'm like I literally don't remember doing any of that like we were just we were on this this other planet I felt like the things that he was having me do like and and sing the notes were just they didn't exist and I'm like what are you having me do right now and uh yeah I mean he he actually posted like a longer it's like a eight minute version somewhere on on YouTube and it's just it's just trippy because he he's just so good like and I think working with him we both uh we we're just I think we're just similar in in what we hear so he would you know throw this run out at me this riff and then I would kind of like mess with it and make it my own and yeah we just kind of took it section by section and then at the end of it I was like okay bye I have to go and then he sent it to me I was like when did we do this this is crazy and did you get it done less than an hour oh yeah no yeah it was it was like it was definitely less than an hour yeah he has he has the whole you know he recorded the whole thing and I was like how long was that actually he was like yeah was it was like just under an hour which I I've like never done before that's sick so he he's amazing I I I love that guy what what a like what a bright light in music but you as well you guys um that song is [ __ ] amazing but also Lawrence and John bellan so good on this album yeah yeah that's crazy that they're really two incredibly gifted individuals MH right it's the guy and the girl yeah well there's a whole bunch of them yeah there so the brother and sister yeah um Clyde and Grace who are just like amazing people they're so talented Gracie's voice is like insane um and so it was mainly actually the ones who were really working on the album were um Clyde and Jordan who is one of the horn players and uh he's saxophone player and yeah but the band is like I think there's like nine or 10 of them hly a lot yeah but they're just they're great and they're they just like they love being on the road they're so their show is so fun like highly recommend anyone listening to go watch them live hello beautiful human every year millions of Gamers experience igss an adequate gaming setup syndrome luckily a cure has been found you have to go beyond with the vibronic mattress by Beyond sleep this thing has six built-in subwoofers USB ports for charging LED lights so you never sub your toe it gives you an acoustic massage when you want it plus adjustable degrees of comfort this right here is the best way to game ever hear your igss today at Beyonds sleep tech.com can we dive into purple Skies yeah what does that really mean to you purple Skies like as a phrase or like theme to the entire thing as an interlude yeah the interlude what does that mean against Tori being the self-title of the album I mean let's dissect yeah let's dissect it so yeah purple Skies sort of it accidentally became a theme of the album uh we John and I had written a bunch of the songs and at some some point along the way I was listening through and I was like do you realize we say purple skies in like two of the songs like we didn't even do it on purpose missing you we said was rain in purple skies and then I think alive if I die um underneath we say underneath the purple sky I was like that's weird like why why did we say that twice and I was like I kind of like it it feels it kind of felt like the aesthetic of the album I don't know what it is about purple I have I'm I'm just really into purple lately it reminds me of the early 2000s I just think purple was like everywhere for some reason and um so that that was one element that I liked how it kind of tied in and yeah I just kept seeing purple everywhere and so I I decided to name that interlude purple Skies interlude it just felt like dreaming and um I just liked the visuals that it gave me while while listening to the album so yeah and then now now the tour it's called purple sky tour I wonder where it came like really was stemming from you know what's that like it like where did that yeah we in the subconscious it came out and you saw I don't know I think I honestly feel like this is the first album where I've been so much more visual with it like I've before I think I would just get so caught up in like every Sonic detail and which I still definitely am but now I've I feel like I've built on that where I'm still this perfectionist when it comes to the music but now I have the capacity to get more creative with like the overall like presentation of it I guess and just the aesthetic and even like okay what's like the fashion around this album what are what are the visuals like what are the music videos You Dance I mean yeah that part like that's huge don't let's let's not gloss over movement like that yeah it's fun I I wanted songs that would make me want to move again I I grew up dancing um as a kid I took like dance class and stuff and then I was always singing though throughout that and you know the singing thing kind of took over and someone threw a guitar in my hand and it was that was it but I I really love yeah I just I just love to dance and I think this album feels like such a it just covers all the bases for me because there is still that girl with her guitar sound on there like on songs like oceans and um even Diamond like you'll hear just a lot of that like acoustic kind of um texture writing any of those these songs that way or actually no and I it's funny people think I write on guitar I I often will learn the song after on guitar I find this is just me I find that writing songs on the guitar can kind of limit myself um I don't know what it is like I maybe it's just the style that I play in like I don't want to get too locked into to you know I have like a specific way that I play so I kind of like when I can just be free of that and we can play around with just like other sounds maybe we write a song fully on bass or we start with the drum pattern and then what I'll do is I I end up kind of like covering my own songs it feels like I'm doing like a a remix of it interesting yeah but I I I don't often it's very rare that I'll that I'll I'll feel like it should start on guitar for me can we talk about cut yeah you don't want to cut if it's not wor if it's not with me yeah not with me you keep going you ain't get this love from somebody else I'm the only one you know you take control yeah I know you know I know you know that's it that was good that was great I was looking for your approval thank you thank you very much good record thanks this one's this is a fun one did you see are you writing like are you talking to somebody this song this song was I think more about the overall like confident feeling of I mean I think in every like all of my love songs if there's any hint of me singing about love I'm obviously thinking about my husband like of course cuz like we love him big fan um so yeah there's that element of like oh let me let me go back to like when we first met and maybe what I what I like could have said or could have been thinking or feeling um so there's that element to it but I think with with a song like cut it was a lot of just me channeling this like new confidence of like yeah I'm I'm the only one for you like you don't want to fall in love with with nobody else but me so it's a little bit of like a flex song that that side of me kind of kind of Fe out um but the the I think the main thing I love about this song is it it does have that like UK garage kind of thing um but it's also Mi it's like a hybrid it has that Vibe but then it also has that um you know like early 2000s R&B like timolin dark child's this whole album gives nostalgic R&B pop yeah it's great correct it's been missing and you bring one of the most incredible human beings in the kop K-pop Community into it yes dude I love Kim from Las seraphim she's the best she's incredible yeah and that song is a hit you like it no no strap in no that shit's a hit it's so good haven't you been teasing something about this since 2022 so yeah so there was I didn't officially tease it myself we kind of like leaked it out for two seconds um and yeah there was a little clip of it going around in in 2022 people were connecting it like when I finally did claim the sound or whatever on Tik Tok they were like wait this this has been on there for a second but um yeah it's it's a fun one that I I've always that's a that's a good example of with this album is like I feel like I was really stretching myself but it didn't even feel I don't even want to say like stepping out of my comfort zone because these are these are all songs that I've always wanted to have like I just didn't it just didn't make sense in that time so this is Spruce is such a good example of like I've always wanted to have just like a fun getting ready with my girls type of song you know like we're going out we're going to go a dance we're going to look cute like I just think there's something so fun and and sweet about um yeah just like a little like girly pop Anthem what was it like working with her so we John and I had this song and this was this was one of the later ones that we that we were working on and we always said this would be so cool to get somebody in the K-pop space because I I've like loved K-pop for quite a while now and I was getting tagged so much on on like Twitter and stuff of all these different K-pop stars like doing like covering my songs and I was like what I didn't even know they knew like how do how do they know who I am and you know I've uh I've seen like um Ros from black pink uh great cover She's So Dope um Jean cook even um he's amazing covered by song like back in the day he did Paper Hearts so there's always been this kind of this link you know I think between me and and just like K-pop I just I've just always um loved it and thought it would be so cool to to collab with somebody and so I've I have been kind of keeping an eye on Las seraphim and I've been a fan of theirs and and so I was like do you think jaywan would be down like if we just sent it and so and I love her voice I think she's so cool and we sent it over and she was down and she she sent it back and I was like it's literally perfect like no notes so um yeah she killed it and she just took the song like I always pictured some kind of feature on it but she like took it to a whole another level and um I'm looking forward to actually meeting I was wondering yeah I know I I just yeah that's going to be really cool I want to I want to meet her really bad I really think you guys have a hit on your hand it's really good yeah it's really good thanks it's so good what's it about Spruce um yeah it's so the song kind of explains like what Spruce is it's just like we basically made the word Spruce into like a noun instead of like saying like oh like oh let me go like spruce up or let me go you know like like sprucing up um yeah we just kind of took that and we were just like yeah this whole song feels like Spruce Spruce Spruce no I'm an idiot we're just goingon to no you're not an idiot we're we're making it a thing no I thought it was a tree so it is technically a tree I did Google it and I was like yeah this is also a tree yeah but um but you've heard that phrase you know like oh let me go like spruce up real quick I canally get it like the energy of it and um yeah we're just going to make we're going to make Spruce a thing it's the new phrase I'm here for stop trying to make Spruce happen going to say to me no it hasn't even started yet yeah yeah we're we're planting those seeds wow whoa full circle that's good another feature on the album uh an afro Beach Superstar eh yeah unbelievable is a great song thank you how does that come together and by the way the production is crazy oh man I you can tell I'm getting like giddy every song we're talking about like it's so good you should be really proud I really am I really am um I was I was telling uh my just like a side note before we talk about unbelievable I was telling my therapist the other day we love therapy um I was telling her that this album feels like almost like a gift to my younger self like I mentioned like I danced as a kid and I kind of had this vision of like what you know what I would be like as an artist and I'm so grateful for my whole career and all the twists and turns and different genres that I've done but this album really does feel even everything down to like the Y 2K aesthetic like I was literally growing up in that era and it kind of feels like a gift like to my younger self like this is the album that um that she wanted and it's kind of like I'm giving her her dream in a way so that was just just a little side note they how special is that it it's super special it really is um yeah and I'm I'm super proud of it but but you didn't ask me about that you asked me about unbelievable but what a beautiful place to be in your life like to be in the position to give yourself that gift through ART yeah and it's it's like it really feels like healing that inner child I feel like we all probably at one point or another go through that that phase right of kind of I feel like I'm having this conversation like with my with my younger self um yeah and it does feel really special that's amazing do you feel like you had to put out the other style of music to even get here though oh 100% yeah that's why I say like I don't even regret anything like all when I just look back at my career so far um because it does feel like I'm I still have so much more that I want to do but yeah looking back it's like I I would have never been able to make this album any sooner than now um I think I I had to prove to myself a few different things um and you know now arriving in this place of like okay like I've done I've done a lot now and I'm really grateful for all the things I've done but now like now let's have some fun let's just that rhym I hate when I do that um yeah now let's just like have fun let's like loose enough of it and just you know try new things or or things that you've always wanted to try and just haven't yet um kind of like unlock you know these these other sides of You by the way you can listen to tor's album it's all waiting for you on Amazon music there's a link below maybe we'll even throw like a code or something on the screen to scan I don't know uh Tori though is the name of the album self titled obviously that's your name oh is that your water jug yeah it's huge I know yeah that is so real it's a suitcase of water it even it has my phone in it what I know and wait I feel like I'm doing an ad like I'm not sponsored by they should you send me all the water bottles please no I I have my whole team makes fun of me like it's an it's my emotional support water bottle like you'll see this on tour like it's a whole thing it has a strap cuz then if I don't have it like I just won't I won't drink water you know and then I'm always losing my phone so I just keep my phone in there too I like that thank you it's an accessory I need to make like a custom one now should make it merch or something that's a good idea you do tumblers yeah a Tor Tumblr a Tor Tumblr you heard it here first y' wait unbelievable let's get back to song yeah sorry let's let's actually get back to the to the good stuff um how do you get there from a production sents and is John on that one as well I mean he yeah he worked on the whole he did the whole album yeah we did we did everything so uh unbelievable was uh a song that he he actually had kind of in his back pocket it wasn't like fully done but he had this like little demos idea um and he played it for me I was like way like I'm I was and still I still am very into just affro beats like through uh throughout the pandemic like when we were in lockdown I got my husband and I were just obsessed with fire boy like we would just have his albums on Loop and so uh yeah so he played me the song and I was like wait this would be really cool like how how can we make this fit what we're already doing and make it make sense and because I didn't want I I never want anything to feel forced but um it just yeah it felt really good to just like play around different tones and kind of like lay into the into the track and just like settle into it and cuz that song's like all about Rhythm like you have to really find the pocket so um that was a fun one and that was another one similar to Spruce where we just from the jump we were like oh we like we're going to definitely want a feature on this this just feels like it'd be perfect and so um and yeah and again similar to Spruce I guess I had been a fan of Ira star and it was just like let's just see like let's just ask and see if she's down and the cool thing about this song though is she was was I think she was going to be in New York and we were both we both happened to be in New York at the same time so I was working cuz that's also where where John is yeah so I was like oh that's perfect like I'll fly out I'll meet you at the studio and so I actually got like my parts were all done but I actually got to be there when she was uh recording her verse and we kind of like she I mean I don't even want to say like we worked on it together cuz she literally just went in there and it just like it was just like perfect like she it all just came out of her um and uh and I I just wanted her to like do her thing on it and yeah I love how it turned out she's so sweet too like she's so fun we she even ordered us like Nigerian food in the studio it was like yeah she was she's amazing really great record yeah I listened to it we had we have this crazy Listening Room here at the Amazon music campus and it sounds insane really I want to go in there oh oh you can listen to right after this you did you listen to you doing there cuz the production's crazy on that song yeah that's I think that's no I didn't I listen to it on my headphones oh sorry we can listen to it though together yeah let's go yeah we can it's pretty sick it's the Dolby Atmos room did we did I pass it on the way it's um no that's another room oh okay yeah that's that's a cool Listening Room but not as good as the other Listening Room oh wow yeah that's cool you guys have listening rooms here yeah Amazon music's Co right all we do is really listen to [ __ ] music to be honest yeah that makes what do we do here listen to music share music talk about music yeah lot of music what do you you want to talk about music I want to talk about thing you do like I just the production's crazy there's like so much switching up going on in there yeah um thing you do is I think my favorite on the album it feels weird to say that but I just keep going back to it like we so when when we working on thing you do I knew from the jump like this H this has to open the record like this has to be the first song because we have that Oella moment in the beginning I think the reason I like this song so much is it checks so many boxes for of what I love who I am like it it gives me the it gives me catchy chorus but still giving like live instrumentation still giving that like sample kind of vibe so it's very like we were very drawn to like '90s hip hop for this song um it has like the interpolation of Tom's Diner in there like I'm I you know I I get to kind of do runs and sing do my thing like towards the end um yeah I don't know it just like it crosses off so much for me and it's it makes me want to dance but it also makes me want to like play every instrument like it's just uh it's big it's fun yeah I I just I love the reaction too like when I play when I was playing the album for friends and stuff like that was the first one and they were just like that's just the first song like what in the world um and then the whole outro you know that feels like a whole movie in itself um and I think the the thing about the song Too is right away I just I could picture the live show like I just knew I was like oh this is going to translate really well um at a show or like at a festival even or something you could just I could picture it at like every every type of venue every size of venue so yeah it's my spel what did you learn about yourself from finishing this album I learned I learned that I can do what I want and be and I can yeah if I really believe in something I don't have to second guess it I can just kind of take that and run with it and and see where it takes me cuz that that is what I did on this album and it felt really good because like I said I've said this before but it really did feel like like okay you you know you you may think that you know you know my sound or my brand or my aesthetic whatever but like this album feels like it's me saying like you you actually don't like there's all these other sides that I haven't even shared yet I'm sure there's still more as I as I get older um that will emerge but I think just this season I'm in I learned that that there's really no rules and I can I used to think like excuse me I used to think that not sticking in one lane was a bad thing or me liking all these different genres was a bad thing cuz I just I just always love to sing like I know I know that for a fact I know I love singing and I love singing all these different styles and growing up I I really thought it was a bad thing like oh people aren't going to understand me like I'm going to have to pick a genre and stay there and and a lot of artists do that and that's great and and it works and maybe maybe that is something that I you know need to do or if I would have done that I would have had a different career but whatever there's no way that I would be happy doing that I think I'm just the type of artist that whatever phase I'm in like whatever whatever's going on in my life I'm going to put all of that into to the sounds that make sense for where I'm at in life so um this is a long way of answering your question but I think yeah overall it just feels like I yeah I get I get to play I get to do what I want like I think I've I've proven enough to myself now to where I can be like okay let's just let's have fun like you don't have to it doesn't have to all be like so serious all the time like just get out there and do your thing you know like it goes back to me kind of giving that album to the to my younger self it's me saying like here here girl like go do your thing like have fun with it um yeah so I think that's what I've learned from this but I did forget to say something about the album that um that I I just feel like is really special and sets this album apart for me personally is because when I started working on it I had just left my my previous record label Capital Records and I forgot that you went through that shift yeah yeah so and there's nothing at all bad to say about them it was literally just like timing like it was just kind of time to part ways um i' had been there for a really long time so it just felt right going into this new season of my career and so um I had left capital and I was you know I didn't have a label and then I started working with John on this music and I just feel like because we were able to work like just the two of us and of course like the the other guys that had worked on the album as well but it was it really felt like it was just me and my vision and no extra like pressures or opinions because that can happen a lot you know at a label like a lot of times you get signed and then and then you figure out what the sound is going to be and everyone kind of has a say and so with this I think it just speaks to like where I'm at right now in my career because I just got to do it all myself and then essentially what we did is we took this body of work and we kind of like went around yeah like we went around to different labels and we were like who wants it essentially like it's done like this is what you get take it or leave it whoever is the most excited about it like I wasn't willing to like budge it was kind of like this is what I made like if you're if you want it you know let's partner together so um that that felt really empowering and really special and Epic Records ended up you know just reacting really well and it's been great with them and um I just think looking back on that it it just feels really cool to be like oh this is we just made what we wanted to make and then [ __ ] yeah now now it's coming out so creativity and The Leverage was with you 100% And by the way because it will work everything moving forward if you choose to stay with epic is also with you yeah yeah it it was a cool way to enter into like a new a new season and and a new partnership yeah I think it set the tone in a cool way everything with epic obviously is working out but were you prepared to do this independently if you had to that's interesting question it it crossed my mind because like I said it's like I didn't have a label I had all this music um yeah and I think it definitely yeah it definitely crossed my mind I have been an independent artist before you know when I was first starting out so I I know what that grind is like and have so much respect for Indie artists I think once we started taking those meetings I and I was kind of realizing okay my my vision for this album um you know I want to kind of have that label support and uh partner with people who can you know open doors and just make this like as big as we can make it just because these songs feel so big so it was more just like yeah let's just you know let's just like go big on this and and for for this specific music it just kind of felt right once I was actually in those meetings Tor that's a good question good question D thank you tor's waiting for you will listen I music is all there for you crazy yeah I'm glad I remember this I was like wait I had I didn't mention that part it's wild cuz I forgot that you went from Capital to a whole new label and really like there was this like Moment Like a season in between the two yeah where you didn't have anybody yeah but for you honestly the best yeah it worked out to your benefit it worked out yeah I'm grateful how do you know it was officially finished um once I put high water and same girl on there same girl is like the last like you know pin and just like final little bow on the whole thing um and I think uh and even yeah this album it is like it is finished it does feel finished but I still think there's you know there's room for maybe even more like from this era um John and I are already like we have like the writing bug again like let's let's do more songs so really yeah for sure we just had so much fun in the studio but um yeah I think I think same girl was a very obvious like ending for me who are you talking to in that song I'm talking to not not one person in particular it it's a little bit of uh talking to like the industry as a whole I would say um like the music industry I guess um and and a little bit of like just you know people with opinions I guess I or yeah just like chatter online and kind of things that I saw even even like little dumb things like people confused about my me changing my hair color or something I was like um there's a line in the song I'm like still like I'm still the same girl even if I look a little different you know but um yeah there's there's a lot of like Easter eggs in that song too like little nods to uh some lines in my first album and uh yeah I think I think fans will pick up on on a lot of that stuff with that song it felt like a a little gift to them well yeah I mean like she said there's a lot of Easter eggs I don't know if I picked up on the ones you're talking about but you but I was wondering like when you were growing up were labels trying to say like do this or do this cuz you were talking about how you don't need to get naked to sell out shows yeah yeah so that's a that is a direct Easter egg from um unbreakable smile my first album and the song unbreakable smile where I say um maybe I could sell out shows without taking off my clothes and this was 2015 my debut album and at that time I was feeling I was just feeling like okay I'm doing I'm doing everything and I I love this music but something's not clicking like what is it and I was just feeling this kind of this pressure I guess of like it and actually it was it goes way before that I think when I was a kid you know I was signed at at 12 years old and there W there was definitely it wasn't just what I was feeling there was like a pressure I think to to look a certain way dress a certain way um I think as a as a female like in the music industry in you know mainstream pop music whatever there's a certain um pressure for sure I think to to look a certain way and maybe maybe a little more revealing and you know I think as a kid being thrown into that and knowing like that's just not who I am um and I knew that from very young I I was so determined I was like there this can't be the only element that's missing like there's got I should still be able to do what I love and and not do that and it's not that it's even like I'm not even judging anyone who does choose to dress a certain way it was more that it's it's more that I wanted to sort of be an example for like the for for myself as a kid it would have been great to have somebody to look up to and be like wow they're doing it and it's just like another option like you don't have to look like this or dress like this or or even like seeing about certain things like there you know there's another way to do it so I think when fast forward to 2015 when I was putting out um that first album that's where all of that angst came from it was like you know I've been in this industry for 10 years and I'm it's like finally happening it it was almost like a little bit of like a oh cool like I did I proved to myself that I can just remain true to who I am and um people people will hopefully listen seems like they they were rocking with me you know which is cool but like people like there's other people with the same mindset and so taking it all the way back to uh to same girl now on this album I had another one of those moments where I was like what is not like something is not uh like not clicking like what is it and then I I snaap back into that little girl and I was like oh my gosh like there's still that kind of pressure of like okay now you've been now you've been in this industry but like what else you got wow us shock us like it's all about like shock Factor now I feel like um which again like I'm not I I don't want this to come off as like judgmental at all but I think for me it's more just like oh wait but like can I just still be myself and like do what I'm doing like is that cool too and so that's where that's where a lot of those feelings came from from uh from same girl was just me kind of saying like I'm still I'm still the same like I'm going to stay true to who I've always been even if I'm having a little more fun with like sounds and my style and whatever like that the core of who I am is always going to be the same but also doesn't do you feel validated in the fact that you were able to stick true to yourself and it's worked 100% yeah 100% And I I think I yeah I'm so grateful and when I'm I think I feel it the most uh it's the most tangible for me like when I'm on tour like when I'm doing shows and I I can actually physically see you know these these people singing like all of my lyrics and um yeah that's that's just the most validating thing and you could tell like they're resonating with it and whatever they're going through in their life like everyone brings their own story to those shows so it's yeah that's that's super validating I think I think every artist would say that maybe you are also a great role model I never thought of that until this very moment you know when you're talking about like the right pop person to be and there was no example of that no you are and is that responsibility like strengthened or like intensified by I don't know being an elephant that is seen by like dozens of millions of kids all over the world uh yeah the good old elephant in the room um no she's a big deal she's a big deal yeah I I absolutely like pinch myself when I think about when I think about that whole franchise and I mean the first movie alone I was like this is so crazy and then when they did the second one I was like wait this is still crazy like this is growing now and then they've announced they're doing a third are you returning I yeah I I hope so how can they get rid of mina she's so she takes up the whole screen um even if I have no lines like she's just going to be there no but yeah I I'm very excited about about just being being Mina I I and to answer your question I feel like yeah maybe it did I don't know may maybe it did kind of put that in my mind I think of even without that movie though I you were a great role model before that movie I mean thank you I I don't think I've like tried to be a role model I guess I think there's this theme that I feel like I keep going back to is just that younger self it's like who would I have wanted that girl to to be looking up to like is she proud of me and I think I keep I use that as sort of um you know like my gauge I guess but it yeah it's it's wild it's very it's very humbling to to get comments like that where you know I guess yeah people looking up to me is kind of crazy but wild any details on S three um I I don't think I'm allowed to say yeah but you've been in conversation yeah I've been I've been in combos yeah very excited cool yeah what is that like how long does it take to finish a movie it's it's a long time like you'll end up going I went into the studio it's very sporadic like they just kind of call and they're like hey like when we have you know like this block of of um like of lines or or we have a song we want you to come in so it's usually like a song and then we'll do some lines uh but I think on I think on both movies I went in maybe like four times and then and that was it it's like so it's so quick and you're I mean the sessions are pretty intense like you're you're getting through a lot but it's it's very spread out it's like you'll do a session and then like a few months go by you'll do another one cuz they're they're like piecing together things the scen yeah and um you know animating all of it but you don't really get to see anything until it's done like they have maybe some sketches and stuff but yeah it's all just you have to like visualize it and I mean the director that's kind of his job um who's who's incredible he's so fun to work with um but yeah it's his his he'll just like explain what the scene is in a really fun way and it's yeah it's fun it's like we get to be kids and just have fun the whole time how cool is that it is great do you remember when the characters first pitched you they're like Tori we want you to play a sing an elephant um I remember yeah I remember them calling and having me do I did like a zoom audition for it CU all I really knew was it was like a bunch of singing animals um and I must have known that that my character was an elephant though but it didn't it didn't stick out to me cuz I had I had no reference like I it was just the way they pitched it was like yeah it'll it would be you know a singing competition with like all animals but you won't really you won't really dwell on the fact that they're animals like you'll get so invested that you'll feel like these are like real people and um yeah and and it was all about the music they're like we're going to have just you know like classic iconic songs Bon's in it crazy he's crazy I got to meet him too at one of the like press things that we did and I was I was tripping out I was like you're Bono and he he had seen something of me but I didn't know like what video he was talking about he was like oh yeah that that one video that you did and I was like it felt like such a deep cut I was like what I I think I vaguely know what you're talking dude it was either a deep cut or he's making it up or something someone else hon he like actually doesn't know who I am honestly has no idea no but what the things he was saying I was like no I definitely I'm I'm tracking with you but I couldn't I I don't know how he maybe he got something sent to him I don't know but it wasn't like he wasn't n referencing like this viral video of mine or anything it was like the vine not the vine imagine if he brought that up no but he he was so lovely he so sweet and uh yeah he was very kind it was cool to meet him next time you run into him let him know that you know danola oh okay yeah I will they're friends you guys are friends I mean I know I know them pretty well pretty well I love making him uncomfortable we can edit out I just had to do bit what pretty cool I think that may be the coolest thing about you I mean yeah it's pretty wa like you could text him right now like hey Bono I mean I not directly him but like he doesn't get in touch okay wow you looking for a collab you need a feature yeah I mean that I think we should do a collab May hook you up with that yeah please yeah we'll talk he's going to hook you up with that he could even get me [ __ ] tickets to the sphere okay that looked crazy it was great he's like it was great there every night yeah went eight times yeah I was backstage it was fine oh man that's funny yeah I have a visual of you and B talking in my head I really enjoy it yeah thanks for thanks for that it was a good time that was nice welcome that was really cool uh Tory Kelly you're great Tori is the album by the way it's waiting for you plus all tor's discography is on Amazon music listen to it below what are you thinking uh all right cool I got some dumb questions love those someone in the other room before we started was talking about how you sing in Sim Sim Sim she did a song talking about that some many the other we don't they're in trouble no I'm just kidding no um you did a song for Sims 4 yeah no it's it's a highlight for me yeah he say like what are you running from it no no I I love it I'm just making fun of whoever brought it up her name's Kelsey oh oh Kelsey I thought it was okay no not your team someone from our team oh got it okay yeah yeah I thought it was someone from my team like make sure you talk about s um no but that was that was highlight highlight of my career and you could there's a clip of it somewhere it went around recently on Tik Tok and I'm just having the time in my life my hair is like bouncing everywhere it was so fun so how do you learn sish so they it's a real language like they translate everything and they just kind of type it out and it's really I mean it's easy to read it's just like weird sounds um I think we did we did my song as off my first album called expensive uh and then the the first line of the song is uh what is the song actually now I'm only thinking of the Sim version how did the real words go let me tell you yeah oh yeah let me tell you baby and then in the simlish it's translated to so I guess I think baby is always Nu I think and then yah the word yah is yib so it's like yib y yib yib so you start and I think love what is love I think love is like nerb right you you're nodding like you know know I know I know the language yeah um I I used to play but it's been it's been so long remember like rose bud semi semicolon or whatever it was the hack the the co the cheat code to get like a million doll you guys don't remember that no I remember that but on like Roller Coaster Tycoon different game yeah remember that one too that was a good one wow Nostalgia um that's pretty cool anyway yeah was a a dream I've done some weird things like weird cool SL cool things it's things like that where I'm like what is my life like what are we even talking about but it's so awesome I just love I love what I get to do it's it's great you know what else went viral is when you uh sang The Lorax thing oh yeah and nobody can do it except of course you can no there is other people what is it I think it's the it's the Run um from the movie I was just getting tagged in it a bunch and I'll just reply to comments sometimes they're like do The Lorax run and for a while I was like what is that I don't know what that is so I had to go I had to go listen to it but it's just like a I don't know who's actually singing it on the in the movie we should find that out it's really good do you ever surprise yourself when you're singing you're like wow I am I'm I'm good you know um you're just so used to at this point I I'm trying to I feel like it's a good way to say a non-c conceited way to say you can say yes no I will say something that I love about what I get to do and I I will call it a gift because I don't I don't feel I feel like I've worked hard and I've like you know worked on my craft and I take it really seriously but I do feel like it's it's at the end of the day like a gift from God like I didn't choose to be a singer you know um and so I when I'm alone and just kind of singing and no one's watching it is really cool those are the moments I think where I'm like oh this is cool that I I'm just enjoying this like by myself like or just you know me and God like we're just it's just us it's just me and there's no audience and I think that's like I I'll have I'll have moments every once in a while where I'm I'm just singing or I'm practicing something or um you know singing a worship song or something like that and I'm like wow this is it's such a pure love of music because I'm not doing it for anybody else right now um so I think that's very telling when I can kind of have those moments to myself and like oh this is cool like yeah you sound good you just hit that note really well and I you know kind of um just get into it that way but uh yeah I think that's that's how I know that I just really love what I do and that I think I'm like meant to be doing it that's a good answer because sometimes when I'm in the car I'm like I think I hit that and I probably didn't and you must feel that every time you sing no no I mean cuz that when I'm when I'm alone that's also when I'm working out the Kinks You know so it's like I'll I'll be like oh girl like yeah you didn't you didn't hit that like keep trying um because I'm I'm such a perfectionist I I yeah I I work on I work on that a lot I I just always want to keep growing and always be always being a student really of of my craft how many takes does it usually take you to get a verse down um it varies I mean I think with this album we we were so particular on like the sounds and E every song is almost like its own world so I would I would almost like get into character um it was and when I say character like it wasn't fully acting cuz again it's like it's less of playing a char and more of like me sort of pulling out this thing that's been sitting there and uh and trying to match the song like a song like unbelievable for example it's like these really cool like low tones that probably some tones that people haven't heard from me before on a song um Spruce is another one I'm it's like opposite like I'm singing super high and like soft and um so it was fun to sort of like paint you know paint throughout these songs and just uh create like new I want to say like I guess there's like new tones and new textures I think that I was discovering I was like oh that sounds cool let's see how that sounds but I didn't answer your question at all because you asked me how long it it took that was that's a good answer yeah I don't really know how long it was always different but when you have a song like shine on or ocean yeah ocean can you turn that rasp on and off or does that just come naturally I I can it's so funny in the studio I I purposely try for it I'll I'll drink soda sometimes and get a little rasp or coffee um sometimes it's just there like if I don't know it's just there but ideally it depends on the day but ideally I'm able to yeah decide like okay I want rasp on this note um I think when I'm performing live like on a tour there's so many shows back to back that I intentionally make it a little cleaner because I think if I'm too raspy it like my voice will just be shot but um I'll still I'll let it like poke out on on certain notes just because it's fun but yeah in the studio I think I did the same thing actually for my gospel project is very similar process to doing like oceans shine on is a good example too where I intentionally wanted to go for that R so I was like yeah let me get a soda or or like like a Coke or a a coffee or something and it just it makes it more consistent wow that's the secret yeah that's what works for me I guess one of the best shows I've ever seen in my life was you performing in a church really yeah where did you come to the LA one it was so good that was a fun one phenomenal that tour was really special it was all it was like all churches or like historic buildings it's really cool really special stuff it was I I mean I get flashbacks to it all the time thank you we got to get you to the to the new I I saw you at the trador too oh yeah yeah I did but I'll see you again I'll come I will be watching T Kelly on stage until I can watch no longer didn't you just perform with the Roxy not too long ago was that or is that the one that was canceled I did we ended up we ended up redoing it I was told there was no tickets left and I couldn't go oh okay you just need to say I had to say that been waiting on for a couple months now we we'll get you at the next one I'm sorry about now this is something I actually thought about on the way here and I thought this is a really good idea and I had to P it to you you ever think you ever think about naming a Tor the Tory okay it's so funny that you said that because t o u r i because this this would have been the time to do it I my album's literally called Tori so I was like what's the tour going to be I'm not even joking like that was that was like a like a half serious conversation at one point because I was like I don't know like like it's just it's just too much I think I would cuz my my fans have been calling even before this album like they've been saying oh my gosh can't wait for Tori like they'll spell it like t o u r i and yeah it just maybe I maybe I missed my moment maybe I should have really gone gone with it but I just I couldn't commit fully I would just been laughing too much a little a little a little too far but it can be like an inside joke you know we can we can say it yeah I tried pitching ma with more once on the macor the maor he he didn't take it yeah a tough one but you did have some success with 5 Seconds of Summer oh yeah five sauce five it five sauce five yeah that was their fifth album their fifth album oh that was your idea because if you spell it it's five ss5 so instead of a fifth and it's their fifth album five sauce five yeah I love that no yeah they they used it yeah where's your where's your percentage still waiting for it I don't know how that work give you a cut nope they just don't have his address I'm sure I just moved they probably got lost in the oh yeah totally yeah yeah yeah I'm sure they processing er something something you have any thoughts over there yeah yeah of course I do um he's got his notes yeah so I went digging in the comment section on Tik Tok and I found something from December where somebody said are there any whistles on your album you said there's one but it's kind of hidden wow you really went deep diving there is where well it's hidden didn't like do you want mean am I supposed to say I feel like people should have to find it oh no I'm just kidding okay next question um it's on it's at the end of shine on at the end of shine on on there's like a note and it's it's like stacked I do a couple different octaves in one of them so that's the song where there's like a really cool Bridge or something going on there yes yeah is it it's after that they all have cool Bridges though well yeah you know what I'm talking about there's like a big choir yeah yeah I that is that AI too no that's real that's real human that's so funny no so that's me John tenro Clyde and Jordan I think yeah I think that's just I think that's just us and then we just stacked it a bunch of times what else are you thinking I mean I feel what else have we not talked about I feel like I may have asked this last time but I think people still ask you what and and I don't remember the answer what is the Spice Girl samp that's missing or where can we find it yeah no we didn't we did we talk about this last time I don't know if I had teased it I don't think so I am getting hit up all the time about this sample what is it I don't know so well because you're you were looking at comments that's how you found it yeah yeah yeah so I went on Instagram live like this this is probably a year ago now because yeah a year ago yeah I went on Instagram live and I was just like feeling crazy and I was I was like let me just play some stuff that I don't even know if it's going to go on the album or not but I'm just feeling wild and I never do stuff like that because I'm very like oh I don't want them to hear it yet and on this day I was like whatever I'm I just I had just uh worked on this song with John and I was like whatever let's just play it I just was just feeling chaotic so I played it and I was literally I literally played like 5 Seconds of it and there's a little um like Spice Girls they could tell like I even cut it off like before it was getting to the whole thing but the yeah they're they're on to me with that one they've been begging um so I might have to I might have to put that one out at some point cuz I didn't realize the response would be like begging me for it did you clear the sample not yet and that's what that's what they've like caught on to also they're like wait maybe it's like a process I'm like yeah it kind of is but um yeah I'm I I really I really like the song I still and another reason too is like we hadn't finished it yet I just got ahead of myself and was like woo let's play a little piece of it it wasn't even done um but I also just wasn't expecting them to like be begging for it so I guess now I have to put it out what song is it do we know do we know the sample can you say that um I think it was a uh you want to get with me you better listen yeah like the The Spice Girl song wow so if if you're listening Spice Girls well please say yes the process is pretty laborious like you're going to need all the girls to sign off you're going to need the person who produced it wrote it every writer on it whoever owns the publishing whoever owns the master should we like start a petition I mean like the conversation starts here it's called Grassroots but lucky for you I do know their manager oh we know everybody if you haven't figured that one out wow so I'm getting a Bono feature I'm getting a Spice Girl sample all here this is great I do happen to know their manager she's a really good friend yeah tell her said what's up tell her we'll be reaching out songs going to cross her Des soon yeah no it is it is a fun one it is a fun one sick yeah why am I saying sick so much today sick I haven't noticed I say sick a lot I like look for different ways to express excitement outside of my own smile dope sick all bad all bad yay listen to Tori it's waiting for you all of her music is on Amazon music you got a final thought I think I've asked enough we've covered you if you have a question you should ask it Dan okay so with the health scare is everything good now like you're all in the clear yeah yeah I am I mean I'm feeling I'm feeling great so yeah I don't just no I just didn't know if there was like anything that you had to like get checked up on if it would from doing certain tours or traveling or yeah so I I have really great doctors and they have been like checking up on me and stuff and I'll go in every once in a while but for the most they're just like yeah you like everything looks good so I'm I feel kind of like better than ever actually which is which is exciting so um yeah I'm glad to be on the other side of that now so happy for you thank you so so happy that you're healthy but also crafting may I say the best art you've ever made a yeah I've had it on repeat since we got the link so good yeah do y'all have a favorite oh I mean I love high water High water's Faith really good I think thing you do and I think it also kind of reminds me this is also another compliment but I think it reminds me of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West when his Productions kind of going all over the place but it's like incredible that's kind of like the outro especially with the piano stuff yep yeah yeah I think I think John mentioned that as like a an inspo yeah yeah then he nailed it thank you yeah there's another song I was in the car going like this too but I forget what song it is so doesn't matter is it maybe like diamonds yeah maybe sh maybe one of those there's like there's definitely some I feel like some like well I like so many times just now uh I think it was shine on actually now I mentioned it there's a lot of 90s hip-hop sprinkled throughout the album I would say it's that hybrid what did you learn from John bellan after making this album I love his work ethic and how how much of a perfectionist he is like we both are but in different ways he he got so passionate about just working on this whole album and wanting every song just to be like amazingly great and uh very you know like Forward Thinking and he he wanted to like check off all the boxes like I just want this to be amazing and it was really cool having someone Champion me like that who was just taking my vision and and wanting it to um yeah just wanting it to be really good so I think as far as what I learned from him I think I always thought I don't know if I learned this from him but maybe um it just confirmed something for me where I I always thought that I was a pretty slow songwriter and i' really like took my time with everything and sometimes I would get into sessions and they the writers would be so fast and I would just be like well okay like and then we end up with a song by the end of the day and which is great and sometimes that really works but my natural style is to really take my time and sometimes work on like one song for a whole week and just really hack away at it and perfect it and he is also like that so getting in the studio with him and um him just already having that natural process I was like oh this just confirms for me that this is like this is what it's supposed to be like for at least this album you know it's supposed to this is like my favorite way way of working like we just really took our time with it and um I think you can tell you know when you hear the songs they feel really hand like handcrafted and pieced together so to align like that with a partner is really special yeah it is and they chosen this album great listen to Tori it's all on Amazon music for you please listen link is below you good MH thank you Tory Kelly thank you so much we appreciate you and love you love you too it's always so fun tor's waiting for you please listen to it it deserves more than just your ears it deserves your attention and your time so try it out listen to an on Amazon music you good like he said tor's waiting for you Tori is waiting for like I I am waiting for you in your headphones I like how the EP was like Tory lowercase in the album's Tory Capital period yeah that was very intentional I had to I had to go all caps and then all caps wasn't good enough I was like I need it's it need there to be a period it's a statement it ended there yeah it ends with this album but really it leads to something totally new 100% yeah cool cool listen to Tori link below Tor Kelly thank you guys

Channel: Zach Sang Show

Views: 38,674

Keywords: zachsang, zach, sang, interview, zach sang interview, celebrity, amazonmusic, music, ariana, grande, zach sang and the gang, dan zolot, cameronlouis, tori kelly, tori kelly album, tori kelly vine, tori kelly new music, tori kelly TORI, tori kelly EP, tori kelly jon bellion, tori kelly songs, tori kelly interview, tori kelly zach sang, tori kelly health

Id: 3iH9s5kxXyw

Length: 73min 23sec (4403 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 05 2024