Bustle Mixtape
The famously low-key musician ups the ante on her latest album.
But I have [feelings].
I dont have any other way to express them.
I dont know any other way to express them [other than music].
It gave me such a language.
Music has always been Carliles outlet.
One thing the six-time Grammy-winning singer does share with her grunge rock peers?
Shes always been one of those but just wait untilyou see them live artists.
In part, its Carliles extraordinary vocal range and her hair-flying-everywhere guitar-slamming that win the crowd over.
Its Brandi Carliles signature, genre-bending sound, just turned all the way up.
I just put out my book [Broken Horses] and I got all sorts of really beautiful feedback.
I keep seeing the word drama used to describe what you were going for with this album.
What does drama mean to you?
When I was a little kid, I used to fight all the time with other kids.
But in the studio I have always kept pretty solid control, I don’t know why that is.
I get very workman-like in the studio.
I get really perfection-based even though I kept live takes, I kept vocal mistakes …
I died inside every time I made one.
Im not going to do that big dramatic note!
and they were like, Whats your problem with drama?
and I was like, I don’t know.
I just did it.
I wish that this was just beginning and not just ending.
So I wanted to start there, at that level of drama and take it forward.
Since you made this album at home, was it also inspired by your surroundings and pace of life?
Its not monotonous by any means.
And then it happened.
[The pandemic] happened.
It stopped, and there wasn’t a safety net.
There wasn’t a backup plan.
The responsibility of providing for my family had all gone away, and you know what?
We adapted and we totally got through it.
That really comes through.
Is there a song that you feel especially proud of?
I remember because I had just written a book and gone back to my Sunday school days.
How did you spend your days?
I kept us really busy on the property.
We built a garden, a stacked-stone raised-bed garden.
We built trails in the woods.
I also got my captains license and learned how to drive a big boat out in the ocean.
The twins sang Beginning to Feel the Years with a ukulele.
The wedding was really beautiful, but it was just an extension of that.
What was the first record you ever bought?
It would definitely beBlue Movesby Elton John, from a secondhand store bin.
What was it about Elton John that drew you in?
I completely fell in love with Elton John.
Whats your go-to karaoke song?
Anyone can do it, and everybody wants to shine at some point in their lives.
Was there a moment when you felt like you had made it as a musician?
Every moment along the way.
Every time I achieved a little micro victory, I thought I had the greatest life in the world.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
This article was originally published onOct.
