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WEEKEND MUSIC PT. 63: IN CONVERSATION WITH AUDREY HOBERT
Audrey Hobert’s music is what was missing in your saved songs. Her tracks hit your headphones with just the right amount of pace, sass, and authenticity. Last week she released her own debut album, but Hobert has already written music for a while: For and with her best friend Gracie Abrams, fellow well-known pop artist, or also singer, and her brother, Malcom Todd. But now, she’s stepping out front with her own album called “Who’s the Clown?”, made alongside producer Ricky Gourmet.
She’s funny, she’s real, and she brings a fresh new voice to the pop landscape. We got to chat with Audrey in Berlin about releasing her own music this summer, working with friends, and on who’s the clown.
Numéro Berlin: You’ve kept the album a secret for so long, but now it’s finally out – how do you feel?
Audrey Hobert: I’m so happy right now. I really am. It’s funny because when Ricky and I were making it, it was so much fun to do. The thought that it was also going to be equally exciting to finally get to talk about it never came up. I don’t know, I just thought nothing could be more fun than making it, but now that I’m getting to talk about it and do stuff like this, I’m like, oh, it’s all very fun.
What do you think you’ll do once everything is out there?
I mean, I’ll definitely play shows. I have things I would like to do in terms of TV and like certain performances – a wish list. But yeah, definitely I’m going to put on concerts and have fun in that way.
When was the moment you knew you were going to make an album?
I decided that I would be doing my own project after I wrote “Sex and the City”, which took a full week. Back then, there was not a record label really in the conversation. It was more like, I had finished writing this song, then sought out Ricky, asked if he would make it with me. And two months later is when I started to feel, I guess, more pressure. I thought it was just making an EP, but when I started to get record label attention, I knew that it was in my best interest to make an album. But still, I just was really having fun the entire time.
Was it always a given you’d go into something creative?
Yeah. I didn’t think there would be a world in which I wasn’t doing something creative, but I have a lot of interests. I really like to edit. I like to direct. I like to write. I like to sing. I like to dance. I like so many things. And the fact that I’m actually getting to do all of it in this career is, it’s like, I keep saying it, but it’s the best job I’ve ever had, for sure. Because I’ve had other more normal jobs and this is by far, I mean, it’s crazy.
For your single “Wet Hair”, you shot and edited the video yourself – what was that process like?
Yes, I shot it entirely at home! I have four music videos in my contract. We had done the “Sue me” music video, the “Bowling Alley” music video and then lastly the “Thirst Trap” music video. I still wanted to do something for “Wet Hair”. So I just filmed for a few weeks randomly if I was in the mood and then I would sort of edit it as I went. And it was actually really fun to do.
For music videos, do you have a vision in your head for each song? Each video looks different for sure.
I like to challenge myself to do something different each time. Even though I definitely feel like I have a style that I like and an identity. It’s interesting for me to try and change things up for the songs I’m making videos for.
But yeah, usually there are certain songs on the album that I will kind of naturally have ideas for videos. And then, for instance, the video that we just shot, and I’m editing right now, is for “Thirst Trap”. And that was a song that I didn’t naturally have an idea for a video, but I knew it was going to be the album single.
So I would walk around my neighborhood and listen to the song and just try and see things. And now it’s turned out to be totally different from the others.
You’re a very funny person and humor does show up a lot in your songs, but are there also songs that are a bit more sad or serious on the album?
My song “Sex in the City” is sonically a little slower. When Ricky and I were making it, we called it our Stadium Somber, you know, there’s not a dark tone to it and it’s not really sad either. And I have a hard time writing a sad song because I don’t want to sit in the feeling of self pity for too long. I need to find a way to make it okay for the protagonist or make it all make sense. So that would be probably the one that I would classify as more like that, but it’s not really sad and there’s a lot of jokes in it and I need to be making myself laugh as I write a song or else I get bored.
The lyrics of the song say that “this isn’t Sex in the City”, but which fictional universe would you feel most at home in?
I mean, I feel like “Sex in the City” is one that so many people feel. But then also “Girls”, and I wouldn’t mind living in “Friends” or “The Office”. I love television, and New York!
How do you notice that your background in screenwriting influences your songwriting as well?
I studied screenwriting for four years. But I also think some people are born with like a natural sense for story, and I think I am one of those people. Then also to getting to study it for four years, you just learn so much, not just by like being in a classroom and being taught, but by being given what to read and what to watch. I’m very interested in story and kind of all the millions of ways you can tell an amazing story. So I think it’s just naturally in me.
Where is your ideal writing spot?
It depends. I mean, if I’m really like hunkering down and working on a song, I’m usually at my desk in my house. And I’ll just stay there. But I also get ideas a lot out in public. So, I wrote a lot of “Sue me” at a coffee shop. When I was still living near the beach, and I was stuck on something, I would go walk for miles along the beach and just listen to the instrumental in my headphones and write on my notes app. Or I write in my car a lot. I’m kind of like writing songs everywhere I go.
You’ve written a lot with Gracie – was it a shift writing solo or something you’ve always done behind the scenes? In the end – its never a one person job, you also worked with Ricky Gourmet to produce the album – but then, with the intention of creating music for yourself, was it harder than writing for somebody else?
Yeah, it was definitely a shift where I had only ever written with Gracie. And then when her and I wrapped up writing songs for her album, she went on to promote it and put it out, and I still had the urge to write. So I just tried doing it by myself and also writing with people, both are so fun.
But when I’m writing by myself, I’m the only person deciding if the line is good enough. I’m the only person deciding if the melody feels right.
And I’ve historically written alone when it comes to scripts and stuff, even though I do love to collaborate. And what was also so great about the arrangement with Ricky was that he totally respected that I needed to go home to write and then I would come back and bring him a song. And then the fun collaborative part was making it with him and building the instrumental. I got both sides of the coin, which was the best part.
What have you learned from the people around you in creating music together?
I mean, I wouldn’t be doing this if it weren’t for Gracie. I had not written a song before her. And it was such fun with her, that it made me want to keep doing it. So I will always be indebted to her.
And from Ricky … The entire time we were making the album, the thought would cross my mind multiple times a day: “I don’t think anything more special has ever happened to anybody.” It just was that kind of connection that I had with him. And we would just laugh all day. But also, his depth was as deep as mine. And we could just have interesting conversations, but then not talk at all.
And I would not have been able to do this with anybody else. He became one of my best friends, too. I mean, we barely knew each other when we started. And now he is like family, and just one of the most special, special people to me. And the whole thing, even when it was hard work, still every day, I was so excited to see him and to work with him.
I can’t believe that there’s a world in which people make an entire body of work with one other person and don’t feel that way about them. It’s because it’s so intimate. It’s such intense work sometimes, but it also should be really light hearted and fun.
Who do you make music for?
I’m always thinking about young people and particularly maybe a young person who is like having a hard time at school or not quite sure who they are or maybe they know who they are, but there is something about the current state of their life that makes them feel like they need to be different. I feel like I’ve gone through that and have throughout my youth sort of felt like I maybe need to dull myself down sometimes or not show so much interest in something because it might be embarrassing. And it’s really a waste of energy to feel that way. The faster you accept exactly who you are, the more fun I think you have in general.
We have been seeing you play some acoustic concerts now already and I do think you have a big stage presence with just the guitar. Do you have any crazy visions or dreams on how you’d like to stage your concerts in the future?
Well, I love theater. And so I am really, really hopeful that I can put on a show in the future that feels kind of theatrical.
And I just really enjoy the suspension of disbelief that happens when you walk into a theater, and kind of the attention that that medium demands of an audience member. I’m gonna play a lot of shows in my life. And the more successful I am, the more money I’ll have to put on the dream show I want.
But in the meantime, I think it’s important that I’m having fun on stage, and I’m feeling free to be myself.
