Miley Cyrus, photographed in 2017

Miley Cyrus

Photo: Liam Hensworth

Interview

Miley Cyrus Talks Dolly Parton Duet, 'The Voice,' Artist Growth

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The GRAMMY nominee reveals how she has evolved on her new album, 'Younger Now,' and the special song that she is hoping will color positive change
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Sep 28, 2017 - 11:33 am

Has Miley Cyrus really found the fountain of youth? We'll have to wait until Sept. 29 when her new album, Younger Now, drops. But if you've heard "Malibu" or tastes of "Inspired" and the title track, you already know that this LP features a very different slice of Miley Cyrus.

Miley Cyrus On Dolly Parton, "Rainbowland" Duet

In contrast to the bombastic big-room pop sounds of Bangerz and the experimental psychedelic stylings of Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz, Younger Now tells a tale that sounds both sweet and mature — a song cycle intent on conveying a new perspective on the young singer's place in the world, where she came from, and how she can leverage her fame to spread a wider message of respect and positivity.

Cyrus stopped by Recording Academy headquarters in Santa Monica for a chat about Younger Now, her godmother Dolly Parton (who joins her for a duet on the album) and what she likes most about her role on the TV singing competition "The Voice."

You've mentioned in previous interviews that you're able to grow from record to record because you don't let yourself be boxed in by what the previous album sounded like. How important do you think that mentality is as an artist, and how does it help you keep your sound fresh?
For me, changing from record to record is just me evolving naturally. In my life, I'm not thinking about an album, or what I'm going to present to other people. I'm just being myself and going through what I go through in life, which changes all of us. Every day we all wake up a little different. So I never think about what I did before or who I was before, because that's not the way that you grow. I try to take every day as a new one, try something else and do something that scares me a little bit — grow every day and let the music reflect that.

You wrote all the lyrics for this new album. Why was it important for you to keep that part of the creative process all to yourself this time?
Writing the lyrics for me solo on this record was important because I'm really trying to project what I think and feel, and I don't think that anyone can know that besides me. It's just a different time for me in my life — how I want to create, how I want to co-create and how I want to collaborate. Lyrics are very sacred to me, and also to my fans. I want them to understand that this record is really all the truth, from me.

You have a duet on the new album with your godmother, Dolly Parton. Can you tell us about "Rainbowland" and why you teamed with Dolly for it?
I wrote the song "Rainbowland" with my fairy godmother Dolly Parton because we wanted to write a song that could really make a difference — that could speak to the current situation of not only our country but the world. It says "We are Rainbows/Me and you/Every color/Every hue," and it's about embracing everyone that is different. It also says, "I don't think I'll sleep a wink/It's the only thought I think." It's about being dedicated to making change.

You're returning as a coach on "The Voice." What is your favorite part of being on the show?
My favorite part about "The Voice" is making music every single day. Anytime you can go to work and just make music all day — that's the best thing ever, that's the ultimate dream. And then working with artists who maybe wouldn't have the opportunity to get their music heard without a platform like "The Voice," I'm just grateful to be a part of it, and to help let unknown artists get their voices out into the world.

Tyson Ritter of All-American Rejects in 2016

Tyson Ritter of All-American Rejects 

Photo: Brian Gove/Getty Images

Interview

All-American Rejects: Tyson Ritter Talks New "Chaotic, Polarizing" Music

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The frontman for the power pop-quartet gets deep on why he's glad to be back with brand-new music
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Oct 16, 2017 - 1:25 pm

Tyson Ritter, frontman for the All-American Rejects, has been living life at a frenetic pace since before he could drive.

Tyson Ritter Teases New All-American Rejects Music

Having grown up, in his own words, "in front of a record button" since the age of 17, Ritter spent the next 15 years recording and touring nonstop. Following their 2012 album, Kids In The Street, the group went on a much-needed hiatus. They've reemerged in 2017, this time with a new single, "Sweat." And there are more single releases in the works — the Rejects' future plans hinge upon releasing tracks in pairs over the course of several months, then compiling them into a full album offering.

Ritter stopped by the Recording Academy's Santa Monica offices to talk a bit about his band's new music, their recent Rejected short film and why touring with Dashboard Confessional was surreal, among other topics.

After about five years away from the grueling pace you've been keeping for most of your adult life, how does it feel to be back with new All-American Rejects music?
It feels great to be back after five years of nothingness, musically. The man I've partnered with in this band, Nick Wheeler, we'd been at each other's feet, or ankles, since we were 17. Technically, I was 14 when I started playing in bars with him, and we became the All-American Rejects when I was 16. Fifteen years on the road solid left us with this sort of desire to taste life in its real form, instead of 10 feet above everybody every night on a stage. It feels great to be back.

You've used words like "chaos" and "polarizing" to describe the upcoming record. Anything else you can tell us about the new material you've been working on?
I use words like "chaos" and "polarizing" to describe the new record because I don't want anyone to hope for something that has been. I understand how certain fans, especially younger fans, get this chip on their shoulder. … Because [they] want [their favorite band] to stay pure in this time capsule. But this isn't 2002 anymore, and I'm not 17. I like to say I've grown up in front of a record button since I was 17. Whenever anybody goes, "How have you changed?" I answer that question with, "How many different people did you turn into from 17 to 29 to 30?" That's like trying to calculate madness in a condensed form. This new offering [is] going to be a kaleidoscope because I don't want anyone to be able to be like, "Oh, this is All-American Rejects." There's some of that, but then there's the adventure of going beyond that.

Is there a particular track on the record you think fans are going to be most surprised by?
We're getting ready to put out two more. We're doing this in-pairs release [strategy]. Every time we put out more music, instead of putting out a full record or putting out an EP, we're going to do two songs at a time until there's [enough for] a record … and then [we'll] kind of put it all out together.

There's a song called "Send Her To Heaven" [that's] like this tribute to the Pixies, because it's in the chord progression of "Where Is My Mind?" But we kind of sent it through a Rejects lobotomy, and you get this song that is kind of the chaos that I'm speaking about. That song, we're pairing with a song called "Demons," which we recorded with this kid named Justin Raisen. Sonically, [it's] probably the most confused landscape we've ever designed because you hear guitars, you hear all sorts of things that sound like there could be a band in there. But to me, it's kind of a revelatory song; it's pushing the sonics for us.

Let's talk about the short film Rejected. What do you think the film captures best about the kind of transition you've been going through personally and with the band?
When I watched the documentary, I went through many feelings about it. I was always worried it was too self-indulgent, but I think the thing that it exposes, that I'm proud of, is that there's a bit of a reckless desire to kick the archetypical band — in the terms of having to fall inside these lines of "a band can do this" or "a band can't do this."

You did an Ask Me Anything on Reddit recently, which attracted a pretty cool outpouring of fans from all over the world. Was there any memorable story from a fan saying how they'd been affected by your music that you remember picking up from that?
I always love hearing about people passing our music to their children. There was a really great story about this lady who said she'd listened to us growing up, and then one day her kid was like, "Play the All-American Rejects!" That's such a surreal thing to me. That makes me feel completely touched, but also completely mortified — knowing that something I wrote laying on the floor when I was 17 is now getting passed down to children.

You guys just wrapped a tour with Dashboard Confessional. Did you come back with any particularly fond moments from that run of shows?
Touring with Dashboard Confessional, for me, was surreal. That was my first show that I paid to go see in Texas. This guy named Chris Carrabba in Dashboard Confessional was opening. And I was like 16. If you would have told me then that I would have been playing with him 20 years later, I'd have been like, "Screw you, man. That's not happening."

This was a tour where I felt like I was on a tour with a bunch of musicians. And every night people would be out there standing, watching or supporting. It felt like a community of musicians. That was a tour of gentlemen.

Valerie June in 2017

Valerie June

Photo: Terry Wyatt/Getty Images

Interview

Valerie June Retraces Her Steps On 'The Order Of Time'

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Tracing the rising country/folk star's path through her formative years and the songs she's written along the way
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Oct 13, 2017 - 6:07 pm

Country singer/songwriter sand multi-instrumentalist Valerie June has traveled a winding road.

Valerie June On Her Music's "Spiritual Journey"

Born and raised in rural Tennessee, June got her first taste of the music industry by helping her father promote shows by gospel and R&B/soul singers like Bobby Womack, K-Ci & JoJo and even Prince.

Relocating to Memphis in 2000, and again to New York in 2011, June orbited the fringes of Nashville gospel/folk scene for several years while gigging the club circuit between the city and New York, first performing in the two-piece outfit Bella Sun with her ex-husband Michael Joyner, then appearing on MTV's online series "$5 Cover" and recording an EP alongside Old Crow Medicine Show. In late 2010, she put together a Kickstarter project to help raise funds to record a new album. The fruits of that labor became her debut album as a signed artist, 2013's Pushin' Against A Stone, which was co-written and co-produced by June's recent collaborator Dan Auerbach.

Now, June is back with a brand-new LP, The Order Of Time, and awakening to growing acclaim — she's been featured on Rolling Stone's list of "10 Country Artists You Need To Know," and June was even name-dropped by Bob Dylan in a recent interview during which the legendary songwriter was asked for some young artists who'd caught this ear.

June took some time to share her personal journey that brought her from small-town Appalachia to the world stage, her favorite tracks off of The Order Of Time, and how the songs she collected for the record — written and recorded across the span of more than 10 years — speak to and are influenced by her personal journey.

It seems like a big part of your story, so to speak, is your journey. Going from being a young songwriter, working the club scene, to rubbing elbows with Robert Plant and getting name-dropped by Bob Dylan. How do you think that journey you've been on has expressed itself through your music?
I'm shocked. (laughs) I was thinking about Bob Dylan today because I love him so much, and I was just singing along with one of his songs while I took a shower, and I just can't believe it. I had to go like this (pinches herself): Bob Dylan, Robert Plant — [these are] good people!

My new record is called The Order Of Time and the first song's called "Long Lonely Road," and it deals with the journey. And then, "Astral Plane," is about dealing with the journey when you leave the body — you just go through a spiritual journey on that [song]. It really feels like all these songs have like a spiritual journey to them. So it could be a journey of a physical body, a person going through life or it could be the journey of a spirit moving through time.

Can you choose one song off the album and give us a little bit of the backstory to it or where the inspiration came from?
"Astral Plane": Massive Attack sent me a track and said that they loved my voice and that they'd like me to write to the track. I had a really fun time listening to it, again and again, all day for a couple of days, waiting on something to come to me. And nothing came, so I turned the track off and I went to cook in the kitchen. When I turned it off and I was chopping up onions and garlic to put them in the frying pan and get that sautéing, I heard this voice singing, "Dancing on the astral plane/Holy water cleanse and rain." I was like, chop, chop, chop. "Flooding through the stratosphere /Blind, but yet you see it's all clear," and I was like, "Whoa, that's really pretty." And so, then I said, "Well, I think I'm getting a song." And I got the whole song; all the lyrics, the melody, all of it.

I sent it to them and they were like, "Ahh, that's not really what we were thinking for this track." (laughs) My ego was like, "No!" But then I said, "You know what? I love this melody. I love this song." And I sat with my guitar in the living room and I just started to play chords to fit the melody, and then [producer] Matt [Marinelli] got home, and I was just like, "Yeah, this song is definitely one that I want to put on my record. It's one I have to share with the world."

Have you ever had a moment when you doubted that you were going "make it"?
I never had that moment. (laughs) Every day I get up and I get myself into alignment with the things that I came here to do. You're always walking into it, following a practice of calling forth what you came to be. … For me, the journey is a practice and I have to do it every day. I have to get up and dust off and say, "OK, I'm ready. I'm ready to shine again. I'm ready to shine again. I'm ready to shine again."

The songs on The Order Of Time were written over the course of more than a decade. How do you think gathering that collection of songs speaks to your personal journey over the past 10 to 12 years?
Well, it certainly does speak to it because there've been so many different versions of some of the songs. Like "Front Door," I did that [song] years ago with my first band — [with a] guitar player, a cellist and myself, and that was the magical moment for that song. The same with "Just In Time," except back then I didn't record it. I wanted to for years and years and years … but it wasn't time for it. So the songs have spirits and they have a life like anything else. Some songs want to be huge, other songs ... they're made for an individual's heart to turn them on. They're medicine, these songs.

Caitlyn Smith at ACL 2017

Caitlyn Smith

Photo: Daniel Mendoza/Recording Academy

Interview

Caitlyn Smith Talks 'Starfire' EP, Songwriting Heroes

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The successful songwriter-turned-solo artist reveals her favorite track from her 2016 'Starfire' EP, and dishes on her biggest songwriting heroes
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Oct 12, 2017 - 6:53 pm

Having fostered a budding career writing hit songs for some of the biggest artists in music – names like Meghan Trainor and John Legend, Kenny Rogers, and Dolly Parton – Caitlyn Smith is ready to take on the world, on her own terms.

Caitlyn Smith On "Starfire": "It's My Anthem"

A year after her top-20 charting Starfire EP (Billboard Americana/Folk Albums) showed enough promise to make Smith one of the first marquee signings to Sony's newly-reformed Monument Records, Smith is making ready to service the title track from her 2016 EP to radio and streaming services, and is making plans to release her debut full-length album in January of next year.

Smith sat down with the Recording Academy to chat about her forthcoming LP, the journey that's brought her to the stage as a solo artist, and the musical heroes who've inspired her to create her best work.

Pick your favorite song off the Starfire EP and tell us a little bit about its story of its writing and its inspiration.
One of my favorite songs on the Starfire EP is the single "Starfire." It really is my theme song. I've been in Nashville for years writing songs for other people and have also, in a way been trying to pave my own way as an artist, trying to figure out what I want to say. Through that journey, there have been a lot of closed doors and a lot of heartache, and "Starfire" is my anthem to never give up continuing to shine my light and just tune out all of the negative voices and keep going. To me, it's just my favorite song.

You said there've been a lot of closed doors and heartache. Can you point to a moment where you knew without a doubt that things were going to move ahead and that you were going to succeed?
I think it comes in waves. Sometimes I'll be having a rough time, and I'll have a song get cut and things will look up or I'll get a gig, and I'll be like, "Okay, here we go. We're going to focus back in and keep trying." I wouldn't say there was one shining moment that's like, "You need to keep going." For an artist, it's up and down, and it's actually like a continual feeling of, "Phew, can I keep running this marathon?" And my husband has been such an incredible lighthouse on my journey to help to keep pushing forward and looking forward.

You have written for some really huge artists, and had great success in that realm. Rolling Stone called you "one of the 10 country artists you need to know." You're one of the first big signings for the reformed Monument Records, and you've got a new full length coming out this year. Two questions, are you ready to share the title and release date? And what's next for Caitlyn Smith?
I'm very excited. The single "Starfire" will be out later this month, and then the full record will be released in January. I can't say the date yet, but I cannot wait. 2018 is shaping up to be quite a fun year!

We'll be watching closely. I've read that you said you knew before graduating high school that music was what you wanted to do for the rest of your life. Was it difficult making that decision at such a young age? What was it like?
I always knew, from when I was a little kid and started singing, that music was what I wanted to do in some capacity. When I was in middle school, I put together a band with some of my friends and was cold-calling venues. It was something that was a passion of mine at a young age, and it continued to grow. I made my first record. Then my parents sat me down with my college fund, and they're like, "Here, we have this for you, but, if you want use it to make a record, pay us back, but here you go."

And so I went and made a record at 15, and that really was a turning point of putting my sights on what I really, really wanted to do. And so I made a couple records in high school, and I just knew before graduating. I was like, "Hey, you know, I'm not going to college for this. I'm just going to gig, and see what happens." So, it was a little bit of a leap of faith, but I think it's working out. Yay! (laughs)

Clearly, it was the right move. So when it comes to songwriting, who would you point to as your greatest hero?
I consider myself a student of songs and listen to all kinds of genres, but some of my top favorites are Patty Griffin, Carole King, Ray LaMontagne, and Paul Simon. I mean I could just keep listing on and on and on. I love songs. (laughs)

Dirty Heads in 2017
Interview

Dirty Heads Talk 'Swim Team,' Pre-Show Rituals, Favorite Rap Records

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The Huntington Beach-based reggae group discusses new album, biggest hip-hop influences, and staying positive
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Oct 12, 2017 - 3:25 pm

Huntington Beach-based pop reggae crossover group Dirty Heads have a new record coming out this week.

Dirty Heads Dish On 'Swim Team'

Swim Team drops on Friday, Oct. 13, but bass player David Foral assures me that they aren't worried at all about bad luck.  The new record's lead singles, "Vacation" and "Celebrate," have a distinctly positive vibe, the same vibe lead vocalist Jared Watson has in a promo video for Swim Team the band shared to their YouTube channel where he makes strong points about staying positive and staying focused on all the good things in life. .

Watson and Foral paid a visit to the Recording Academy's Santa Monica headquarters to reveal a bit of the backstory behind their forthcoming album, as well as share some insight into the formative artists they followed while growing up that set the tone for the type of sounds they would work to incorporate into their music.

Dirty Heads are currently touring the U.S. and Canada, pre-orders for Swim Team are available now.

We noticed in your promo video for "Vacation," you spoke about how the song is a little bit of a meditation on being healthy and happy. And that life's too short to waste on being unhappy. Since then, you've put out another single called "Celebrate", so is it safe to say that type of vibe, happiness and celebration, is going to be a big part of the theme for Swim Team?

Jared Watson: Yeah, I think celebrating and being happy and living your life the way that you think that you should live it is definitely an underlying thing in this album. Celebration and happiness are underlying themes of who we are, and what we want our music to be.

You realize after you've been doing this for 15 years that you can affect people with your music, and you can affect them in a positive way. I think since day one we've been trying to make feel-good music, and just fun music. We went in with no expectations, and just got back to having fun. Like going in, who's got ideas, does anybody? Nope, okay, start from scratch. It was really fun, and it reminded me of the first album that we did.

Swim Team drops on Friday the 13th. Are you guys superstitious at all?

David Foral: I was born on the 13th. It's my lucky number. (laughs)

So, we're not ... Well, yes I am. I have a little OCD. (looking at Watson) I feel like you have a little OCD when it comes to pre-show rituals. We have a ritual where our keyboard player writes a lore, or a little free style.  We either get some weird renaissance guy, like you know, like a Lord of the Rings character.

Watson:  Like an Irish Lord of the Rings toast that he had written the night before, or the day of. Or we get his alter ego, which is this rapper, this gangster rapper, and we get something like that. He usually writes a cheers for us, Dave pours them, and then... I have handshakes for almost every different member of the crew. And if one of them doesn't feel right, we gotta do it over until they all feel right, and then I can feel normal getting on stage.

Foral: Yeah, and not every show is the same. Sometimes we're at a festival where we gotta jump in a golf cart, and go across, and we're always looking, "Where's the bottom, where's Shawn, where ..." You know we're trying to get everyone together at the last minute just trying to make it work, and we usually make it work.

Watson: It's not the end of the world if it doesn't happen but ...

Foral: It's just something doesn't sit right.

Watson: As soon as you step on stage it goes away.

You are going on tour soon with The Unlikely Candidates. I see you worked with them on "Celebrate." How did that collaboration come about?

We were in with Heavy, which is the producers Jordan [Miller] and Jason [Bell], and we clicked really, really well with those guys. We have a lot of fun. We get along, we're friends. Like we're friends outside of writing music, and the industry.

Watson: They get what we're doing.

Foral: Yeah, they get what we're doing. So there's a lot of joking, there's a lot of laughing just like what it was when we started. There wasn't a lot of pressure; we were just kids in a room writing music having fun. Which, I think you can easily lose sight of that and get off that track. So when we met Jason and Jordan, it clicked really well. It's like speed dating, or just meeting someone on a date for the first time. You don't know how it's going to go.

We have so many other goals, it was just being gone and the sacrifice, and the birthdays, and I've watched Duddy and his two kids. I've watched him miss birthdays. We miss vacations, we miss ... Anything that you can think of, you know?

Watson: Weddings.

Foral: Weddings, and all these special moments that you could be there for your friends and families, and loved ones. We're out on the road doing these things, but we're not out on the road for ourselves and, "Oh, boohoo." We're very, very blessed. It's bigger than us. If something goes really bad, you know, we would go home and cancel shows, but for the most part, you know, there's 10,000 kids coming to a show. They might work jobs that they hate, and they might have saved up forever.

You can't let those kids down, and we don't want to. We're very passionate about what we do. And I think when you write something that's real, and every word that you're writing down is something that is completely from the heart. I think people can gravitate towards that, and they're going to feel it through the music.

Watson: It's powerful.

Foral: It's powerful. Yeah. Powerful for us. You know, so when something hits us like, that hard, we had to do it.

You've always worked hip-hop influences into your sound, especially with the upcoming record as you just mentioned. What would be some of your most formative rap or hip-hop records you listened to while you were coming up?

Watson: I think for me it would be Low End Theory from A Tribe Called Quest, and maybe Ready to Die.

Foral: Bone. Bizarre Ride to the Far Side. Beastie Boys License to Ill. Gang Starr, Black Star, Jeru the Damaja – I was an East Coast kid, and still kind of am. I know I'm from the West Coast, but East Coast hip-hop really – You know, 36 Chambers, Wu Tang, that was a really big one. Obviously De la Sol. We could go on and on. As an MC, and a lyricist, like AD Rock, and I don't know which member of Pharcyde, but they all had this higher register. And my voice just naturally goes to a higher register. So I gravitated towards MC's with higher register.

I remember wanting to kind of be like the AD Rock of the Dirty Heads when we started. I wanna be the higher register cause Duddy had a lower register. And I gotta say, Run the Jewels, like just recently… I really love ASAP Rocky, Schoolboy Q, there was the TDE Camp. There's a lot of good stuff coming out, Joey Badass, that was like, "Alright cool." There's still guys out there that I get, that I like.

But, not a lot of it, I really wasn't listening to that much hip hop, and then Run the Jewels 2 came out, I had just not heard of Run the Jewels 1, and I had been a big fan of El-P and Company Flow for a long time. That album blew my d*** off. I was like, "You wrote this album for me." It was everything that I want in hip-hop. Everything that I like about hip-hop was in that album. So that really got me really excited.

Earlier on, you got kind of thrown in with a lot of other bands from the West Coast. Bands like Slightly Stoopid, Pepper, The Expendables; you were lumped in that kind of similar scene. What do you think about that categorization, and how do you think that scene has changed or evolved in the last decade or so?

Foral: Growth, I think, is the main thing.

Watson: Yeah, steady growth.

Foral: I really think it started with Sublime, No Doubt, and [Slightly] Stoopid. After Bradley [Nowell] died, there was kind of this lull. But Slightly Stoopid kept it going, and then bands like Pepper and, I guess us. Which is weird to say, you know? We all started playing shows together and all these little festivals that were, you know, 1,000 people have turned into festivals with 20,000 people.

I think just the growth of the scene is really cool. I think our generation really needed something where it wasn't…just something more positive, something where you could go to a show and not feel judged, or just be who you are, just have a good time. I think our generation needed that.

Watson: I mean what's cool is you'll see parents and kids at our show. They'll come together, it's not like, "Oh mom drop me off, I don't want to go." It's a bonding experience.

Foral: Yeah, totally. I love it, and we're stoked to be a part of it.