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girl in red poses wearing black beanie and long sleeve tee

girl in red

Photo: Jonathan Kise

News
Girl In Red's Must-Have Items On The Road herbal-tea-white-sofas-girl-red-wants-private-jet-shell-settle-twizzlers-video-interview

Herbal Tea & White Sofas: Girl In Red Wants A Private Jet But She'll Settle For Twizzlers

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From exactly five packs of gum to a candy she can't find back home, singer/songwriter girl in red breaks down her backstage rider on the latest episode of Herbal Tea & White Sofas
Taj Mayfield
GRAMMYs
Sep 13, 2021 - 12:35 pm

Maria Ulven, also known as girl in red, doesn't hold back with her music, often sharing the most vulnerable sides of her life like love troubles and self-hatred, but her most demanding request when she hits the road is candy.

"There's one thing that I always like to get when I'm on the road—and that's Twizzlers because those are kind of hard to get here in Norway," the 22-year-old singer/songwriter tells GRAMMY.com in the latest episode of Herbal Tea & White Sofas below. "American candy is just so much better than Norwegian candy."

Girl In Red's Must-Have Items On The Road

Twizzlers may be the one food that Ulven always searches for when she leaves home, but she says the aspect of touring she loves most is feeding off the energy of the crowd.

"My favorite thing about being on stage is probably hearing the crowd sing my songs," Ulven tells GRAMMY.com. "Feeling the energy of a crowd is just so insane."

Watch the "Serotonin" singer break down her full rider below, and click here or on the slider below to find out what other artists can't live without on the road.

Herbal Tea & White Sofas:
Herbal Tea & White Sofas
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María Becerra
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girl in red poses wearing black beanie and long sleeve tee
girl in red
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Girl In Red's Must-Have Items On The Road

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Larkin Poe
Photo: Jesse Grant/Getty Images

Larkin Poe On Their Love For Local Snacks On Tour

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Palaye Royale
Photo: Ashley Osborn

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Larkin Poe pose at a Recording Academy event

Larkin Poe

Photo: Jesse Grant/Getty Images

News
Larkin Poe On Their Love For Local Snacks On Tour herbal-tea-white-sofas-larkin-poe-interview-love-local-snacks-touring

Herbal Tea & White Sofas: Larkin Poe On Their Love For Local Snacks On Tour

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Watch Rebecca and Megan Lovell, a.k.a. Larkin Poe, discuss their favorite parts of touring, which include trying local snacks and connecting with their fans
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Sep 1, 2021 - 11:44 am

You know when you're at a party and the food is so delicious, you wish you had a little more room in your stomach? And if the host gives you a little to-go container when you leave, it's the perfect chef's kiss moment.

For GRAMMY-nominated roots rock 'n roll sister duo Larkin Poe, touring with legendary British artist Elvis Costello was a bit like this. As they explain in the latest episode of GRAMMY.com's Herbal Tea & White Sofas, they loved the gourmet cheese he had backstage so much, they'd wrap up leftovers in napkins to snack on later.

Larkin Poe On Their Love For Local Snacks On Tour

In the video above, watch Rebecca and Megan Lovell, a.k.a. Larkin Poe, discuss their favorite parts of touring, which include trying local snacks and connecting with their fans.

Herbal Tea & White Sofas:
Herbal Tea & White Sofas
Prev
Next
Herbal Tea & White Sofas: María Becerra
María Becerra
Photo: Viviana Garcia

Here's María Becerra's Backstage Secret Weapon

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Sarkodie

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girl in red poses wearing black beanie and long sleeve tee
girl in red
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Larkin Poe
Photo: Jesse Grant/Getty Images

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Palaye Royale
Photo: Ashley Osborn

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11 Things We Learned About Larkin Poe At The GRAMMY Museum

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The three brothers of Palaye Royale pose together, seated

Palaye Royale

Photo: Ashley Osborn

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Why Palaye Royale Love Their Fans & Nutella palaye-royale-video-interview-herbal-tea-white-sofas-fans-nutella-soldiers-royal-council

Herbal Tea & White Sofas: Why Palaye Royale Love When Their Fans Bring Them Nutella

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In the latest edition of GRAMMY.com's Herbal Tea & White Sofas video series, rock brothers Palaye Royale discuss their favorite backstage snacks and the magic energy of performing live
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Aug 25, 2021 - 9:37 am

As most cat owners know, when people find out you have a cat, they tend to gift you with feline-themed objects for all occasions. Likewise, when Palaye Royale lead singer Remington Leith tweeted that he liked Nutella, the band's fans—dubbed Soldiers of the Royal Council—made sure the group was never in short supply of the hazelnut spread while on tour.

Why Palaye Royale Love Their Fans & Nutella

In the latest episode of Herbal Tea & White Sofas, Canada-born, Los Angeles-based rock brothers Palaye Royale discuss their favorite backstage snacks, their love for their fans, and the sacred energy of performing live. After you watch it, make sure to grab yourself some Nutella and listen to their latest single, "No Love In LA."

Herbal Tea & White Sofas:
Herbal Tea & White Sofas
Prev
Next
Herbal Tea & White Sofas: María Becerra
María Becerra
Photo: Viviana Garcia

Here's María Becerra's Backstage Secret Weapon

Herbal Tea & White Sofas: Sarkodie
Sarkodie

How Sarkodie Unwinds Backstage With This Beverage

girl in red poses wearing black beanie and long sleeve tee
girl in red
Photo: Jonathan Kise

Girl In Red's Must-Have Items On The Road

Larkin Poe pose at a Recording Academy event
Larkin Poe
Photo: Jesse Grant/Getty Images

Larkin Poe On Their Love For Local Snacks On Tour

The three brothers of Palaye Royale pose together, seated
Palaye Royale
Photo: Ashley Osborn

Why Palaye Royale Love Their Fans & Nutella

Herbal Tea & White Sofas: Faouzia
Faouzia
Photo: Jimmy Fontaine

Watch Faouzia Describe Her Backstage Beverage

Laycon squats in a golden room wearing shades and all-black
Laycon
Photo: Oluseyi Adegeye

Laycon On His Love For Local Food & His Fans

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Ava Max
Photo: Charlotte Rutherford

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Shelley FKA DRAM

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Ashe poses in a green plaid jacket & white lace gloves
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Tori Kelly

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Greyson Chance
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Lucy Dacus

Photo: Ebru Yildiz

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Lucy Dacus Talks New Album 'Home Video' lucy-dacus-new-album-home-video-her-personal-songwriting-tour-grammy-interview

Lucy Dacus On New Album 'Home Video,' Her Personal Songwriting & Touring Again

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Indie singer/songwriter Lucy Dacus discusses her personal third LP, 'Home Video,' her role as a narrator and chronicling her coming of age
Mike Hilleary
GRAMMYs
Sep 8, 2021 - 11:49 am

 

Lucy Dacus puts a lot of effort into crafting the lyrics of her songs, so she knows when someone in her show's audience is singing the wrong words back to her.

"It happens way more often than I think people realize," she tells GRAMMY.com from her home in Philadelphia. "Sometimes it'll almost mess me up or I'll start laughing because I'm watching somebody really enthusiastically not know the song." Thankfully, from her vantage point onstage, the charm of it all is a compliment that can't be faked. "They want to be having a good time the way everyone else is," she says admiringly.

After what has undoubtedly felt like an infinite time loop of uncertainty, for the first time in over a year and half, Dacus actually got to return to the stage this summer as the opening act for Bright Eyes. Starting this month, she'll will soon top the bill of her own tour to support her third album, Home Video.

Preempted by a deluge of anticipatory media coverage unlike anything she'd experienced before, the 26-year-old's newest full-length was met with critical acclaim thanks to its unflinching exploration of the songwriter's adolescent past. It features short story-style vignettes of sexual identity, faith, friendship, first loves and heartbreak and shows how looking back at the less romantic parts of one's life can contribute something meaningful to your present.

Recently, a lucky cohort of young songwriters received a masterclass in Storytelling Through Songwriting from the "Thumbs" artist herself, during her GRAMMY U and Songwriters & Composers Wing Zoom webinar. Through this and her music, she is continuing the never-ending creative cycle of making memories with music, putting those and other memories into song form, and inspiring the next generation of music makers with her heartfelt tracks.

"I feel the most [grounded] when I can relate to everyone who I have been previously," says Dacus. "I have so many friends who do not want to talk about the past, who say 'I hate who I was,' and throw it away. And maybe they have a phoenix feeling about that, where they just are born from the ashes of their past.

But for me I want there to be a line. I want my life to make sense to me, and the closest way for that to happen is to get familiar with the past and take ownership for the things that I did wrong, to forgive myself for those things. I don't have to blame myself. I like to figure out what can I take credit for, what can I not take credit for. I learn so much from that process."

You probably had a lot of emotions going back on the road, but touring with Bright Eyes, how did it feel to be in front of people performing again?

It was wild and amazing. It's also so weird because you just have to trust the science of the day, being told that the vaccines work, that being outside is all right. Making it to the end of the tour with Bright Eyes, none of us got COVID, all the shows were outside except one and that had a vaccination requirement. It was nice to kind of reenter playing shows and it being more of a lower stakes situation as an opener.

It's clear the logistics of touring still come with some hurdles. You're among a growing number of artists requiring vaccination status or negative tests to be able to attend your shows.

It's tough that everyone has had to become half scientist and half lawyer. I don't know these things. It is not in my wheelhouse to know these things. I'm always like, "Can we do this?" And people on my team are like, "I don't know, but we've been talking bit by bit." We're trying to figure out how to make it feel and be as safe as possible, anything that makes people feel more comfortable.

Your songs have always had such a writerly approach to them, even more so with Home Video. What has kept you from–in some alternate reality–the pursuit of writing an actual book or memoir? Why do you feel music is your most powerful means of communicating?

I think the short answer is that I'm a coward. The longer answer is that I think the literary world has an academic undertone, or it just feels like all of the writers that I love–I can't do that. Whereas with music, all my friends did it, and you can just look up the chords. And you only need to know three.

You need to know lots of words to write a book. Music just felt more accessible. I had examples of it. I went to shows. Books, it's so bare, and so personal, and I feel a particular book could only exist because of who that author is. I can't be them, and so I can't write that book or a book that good.

I just have way more internal monologue that keeps me from writing long form. With music I literally don't even think about it. I'm never second guessing myself. I'm never stopping myself from singing to myself. I'm never thinking "Is this good or not?" I'm just doing it. And when it's done, it's just something that had to happen.

For a listener coming across these songs who had no idea about the context of how they were conceived, how would you describe the narrator of these songs? Do you consider the narrator a reliable one?

I don't think there's such thing as a reliable narrator. That's my take. I think that all story is curation. And to make anything is to curate, because you're not making something else. Even sculpture, looking at a stone and making something out of it, that's a curation of the stone. I don't know if I'm asking people to rely on me. I think I just want people to listen.

One of the things that really struck me listening to these songs is this pervading theme of identity and this awkward period we go through when we're young and just trying to figure ourselves out.

I feel the hardest lesson of trying to get to know yourself is knowing that you're going to change. I think that people who have a really strong sense of self are really flexible. I think that if you try to hold on to who you are too hard, that idea is more likely to crumble.

I do have this desire to really know who I am, or even what that means. I think that I will never be satisfied because any working definition changes. A lot of this has been in the pursuit of figuring out what has never changed about me, maybe what will never change in the future. Who was I then, what does that tell me about who I am now and maybe who I'll become? Then again I think maybe the impulse itself to forecast your life is futile. I'm trying to maybe let go of the need to know who I am.

The process of writing this record, with so much of it drawn from your journals, when could you say, "This particular moment feels appropriate to be translated into a song"?

It happened the other way around, actually, where I would have this memory and think, "Oh, my gosh, I have this recovered memory from my life." And then I'd go to the journals, to that specific day and find what I had to say about it at the time, which is so different from what I'm thinking about it in the present.

"VBS" is a good example, where I was on the way to record some songs and saw a sign advertising Vacation Bible School. I was like, "Oh, my God, my first boyfriend used to snort nutmeg." And so then it was like, "OK, I have to write that down. That has to be a line."

So the nutmeg line was first. And then everything else I went back and looked not just at journals, but photos from that time, and I tried to just exist within that world, in that state of mind for a little bit to finish the song. I'd have this triggered memory for no reason, and then use all of the primary source documents, to flesh out ideas.

You know how you when you listen to a song during a particular moment in your life, you wind up immediately associating that song with that moment? You're transported back to the way you felt and where you were when you heard it. You have written songs capturing specific memories from your past, putting them to music, which will then be listened to by someone. That song about your memories will become a song that someone will associate with their own experience and memories. What would you call that?

I feel like there's some good metaphor. I can't really put words to it. I think that it's just participating in a tide of gratitude. Because I myself am so affected by those moments in my life where there are songs that I associate with places and memories, and that is so meaningful to me, being able to contribute to that ongoing force. I'm grateful I've gotten to experience other people's work in that way. It's an honor to show up in people's lives in the way that music has shown up for me.

Where Do Pop And Classical Music Truly Meet? Cardi B Pianist Chloe Flower May Have The Answer

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Herbal Tea & White Sofas: Jack Underkofler

Jack Underkofler

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Dead Poet Society On "Least Picky" Backstage Rider 2021-herbal-tea-white-sofas-dead-poet-society-jack-underkofler-backstage-rider

Herbal Tea & White Sofas: Why Dead Poet Society's Jack Underkofler Has The "Least Picky" Backstage Rider

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In the latest episode of Herbal Tea & White Sofas, learn why Dead Poet Society lead singer Jack Underkofler is committed to having the world's most reasonable backstage rider
Morgan Enos
GRAMMYs
Jul 7, 2021 - 1:26 pm

Some artists make larger-than-life demands on their tour riders—hence the classic urban legend about Van Halen requiring the removal of brown M&Ms. 

For their part, Dead Poet Society have decided to take the opposite tack, as their lead singer, Jack Underkofler, attests in the below clip.

Dead Poet Society On "Least Picky" Backstage Rider

In the latest episode of Herbal Tea & White Sofas, learn why Dead Poet Society's Underkofler is committed to having the world's most reasonable backstage rider—including one ordinary pillow to nap on.

Check out the cheeky clip above and click here to enjoy more episodes of Herbal Tea & White Sofas.

Herbal Tea & White Sofas: Why Greyson Chance Swapped Candy For Champagne & Candles Backstage

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Some of the content on this site expresses viewpoints and opinions that are not those of the Recording Academy and its Affiliates. Responsibility for the accuracy of information provided in stories not written by or specifically prepared for the Academy and its Affiliates lies with the story's original source or writer. Content on this site does not reflect an endorsement or recommendation of any artist or music by the Recording Academy and its Affiliates.