Audacy Check In: Brandi Carlile and Elton John

Audacy Pop

Elton John + Brandi Carlile joined us for a very special Audacy Check In and you can check out the full video right now! 🌟

Transcript

00:00Who was the first friend in the industry that when you finished the album completely, you

00:06ran off and played this thing for?

00:09Well, that's a good question. Who was the first person you played it for?

00:12I can't remember. I didn't play it to many people.

00:16You played it to Kate Bush.

00:17Played it to Kate Bush.

00:18This is your Odyssey Check-In. We are here with Brandi Carlile and Elton John. Thank

00:25you so much for taking out the time. I know you have a busy day. Let's get right into

00:30it. I know Pete Townsend kind of spilled the beans on this project a little bit. Did you

00:37scold him when you saw some of his quotes in different tabloids or what happened?

00:44I just forgot about it. And I think most people forgot about it. That was no, I didn't scold

00:49him. I love Pete. He's one of my dearest friends.

00:52I didn't forget about it. I loved it.

00:55It builds anticipation, right? So is it true what he said? You guys actually completed

01:01this album in just three weeks?

01:03Yeah, it is. We went in with nothing and came out three weeks later with 14 songs, 10 of

01:09which make the album. Yeah, it was a very, very few. I had a lot of doubt making this

01:15record. And I was tired. I was irritable. And the first flight, four or five days were

01:21really kind of powder keg time. But once we got past that, it was just plain sailing.

01:27It was just brilliant.

01:28So is that a testament to the chemistry you two have? Is it a combination of that? And

01:34also like, at this stage in your career, you you just don't hit those dry spells as much

01:39writing wise?

01:40Well, the lyrics that we got from Bernie and Brandy were so amazing. And Andrew, what the

01:46producer is a for the four people involved in this whole project. And it was it was very

01:51much a team effort. All the lyrics I got were amazing. And they were so easy to write to

01:59when you get great lyrics, I write very quickly. So Brandy's lyrics and Bernie's lyrics was

02:05so good that the songs came together really quickly. And they were, we had a great band,

02:11we had Chad from the Chili Peppers on drums. We had Pino Palladino on bass. And we had

02:18Josh Klinghoffer from the Chili Peppers on synths. And Andrew on guitar with Brandy.

02:24And Elton on piano. And me on guitar a little bit.

02:28I said guitar.

02:29Oh, you did?

02:30I did. Yeah. Yeah, it was. It was one of the most enjoyable, incredibly quick albums I've

02:35ever made. It was wonderful. The energy in the room was, it was like electric, you could

02:39get electric shock if you touch the wall.

02:42Brandy, now on the track list, did you two see eye to eye on every song that made the

02:48cut? Or was there something that Elton loved and Brandy, you were like, absolutely, that

02:52is not going on the album? Or you guys pretty much saw eye to eye?

02:56We pretty much saw eye to eye after that first few days, everything clicked. We just really

03:01inspire each other. And we didn't know for sure we knew we loved each other. And then

03:05we had this great friendship. Oh, I didn't know if we would inspire each other. So it

03:08was really scary in the beginning. But we really did. And then everything from from

03:12from the beginning to end was mostly smooth sailing. And we just tend to acquiesce toward

03:18one another, I think, as artists in general.

03:21Yeah, I think. Yeah, it was. And also, we filmed every song being written. We filmed

03:28every song being recorded. We had nine cameras on the go all the time. So eventually, you'll

03:33be able to see the shenanigans then went on at the beginning of the album, which weren't

03:37but it was necessary for the sparks to fly at the beginning. Yeah, mostly for me to get

03:43that energy going. And boy, it was the energy in that room when we got going. It was fantastic.

03:47The best part of the cameras was I never saw when they were fixed. So I didn't know where

03:51they were. And we were forgetting about them all the time. So it's not as if there was

03:56a person standing there with a camera we forgot and our behavior reflects that.

04:01Well, look, you got a documentary in the can, too. I love that. So who was the the first

04:07friend in the industry that when you finish the album completely, you ran off and played

04:13this thing for? Well, that's a good question. Who was the first person you played it for?

04:17I can't remember. I didn't play it to many people.

04:20You played it to Kate Bush.

04:22Played it to Kate Bush. Very cool.

04:25I'm kind of a bit of Randy Townsend. Yeah, I who did I play it for?

04:32That was really exciting. I played it recently for Bon Iver and and Aaron Dessner and the

04:40looks on their faces were just you can't fake loving an album that much. So we know we've

04:45done a really special thing. We're really excited. Ready. What does it mean to you?

04:50Uh, having a whole album with Sir Elton John, what does that mean to you?

04:55Well, it's just incredibly life affirming to me. I wouldn't have written a song or learned

05:00to play an instrument without Elton John and Bernie Taupin. So this for me to say it's

05:05the realization of a of a dream is a profound understatement.

05:08Wonderful. Before we wrap up, Elton, I know you always have your like finger on these

05:14upcoming budding artists. It's really like a spidey sense for you. It's amazing. I just

05:20don't know. And I've heard that you keep tabs personally on all these people, you know,

05:25texting them, calling them, visiting them, which is just mind blowing. So what's your

05:30prediction for this year? Maybe next year? Who's on your radar right now?

05:34Well, Lola Young is a singer which is going to break called Messi. She's been around for

05:40about five or six years in Britain and she's nearly cracked it. But this time she's really

05:45cracked it, which I think is going to be fantastic because she's got all that experience behind

05:49her. And I think she's going to be huge this year.

05:54Wonderful, wonderful. Well, I love the single. I love that you two are collaborating on this

06:00and big fan of both of you. So thank you so much.

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