And The Writer Is...with Ross Golan - Ep. 81: Emily Warren...Stays At Home

Episode Date: April 16, 2020

In this episode, we catch up with a Season 3 guest who is a Grammy-winning, multi-platinum artist and songwriter who has written songs for mainstream pop artists such as Dua Lipa, Shawn Mendes, The Chainsmokers, FRENSHIP, Charli XCX, and more. Most recently, she co-wrote Dua Lipa’s No.1, platinum single, “Don’t Start Now” which spent 6 weeks at the top of the pop radio charts. A native of New York City And The Writer Is…Emily Warren!Please join us to help keep the music community alive and thriving, giving it as much as it gives us. To donate or to apply for assistance visit the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund site: https://www.grammy.com/musicares/get-help/musicares-coronavirus-relief-fund Watch this video interview on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/andthewriteris or on Instagram at @andthewriteris. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hey guys, we are doing a few updates here with our alumni who we love dearly. And we hope all of you guys are staying healthy, safe, and staying at home during this quarantine. And hope you enjoy listening to a few of our previous guests telling you what's been going on in their life since they did their interview. Here are some updates for the quarantine versions. of Anne the Writer is. All right, we are here with Emily Warren. Welcome back. Thank you.

It's good to be back. Where is this luxurious place you're in right now? In Jackson, at my house in Wyoming. Thank God. I feel very safe and far away from people here. Yeah. Well, so since you've been on this, first of all, congratulations on the number one song in the country.

Thank you. Five weeks right now? Crazy. Crazy timing. Yeah. Same. But last time that we talked, you were not in a house in Wyoming. True.

Things have changed. What happened? I guess last time I started I was on maybe my fifth or sixth year of living pretty much out of a suitcase. and I just got to a point where I wanted to put things into drawers and I knew I wanted to be kind of close-ish to L.A. but not in L.A. And so I sort of narrowed it down to this part of the country and ended up in Wyoming and just found like the first house I looked at was like the best house I've ever seen that you're seeing here. It's like fully log and it's awesome.

It takes like two hours to get to L.A. so people have been coming out here and staying for like a week at a time and writing and there's like mountain views and everything. So it's a really good escape. How many, how often, how much of the year are you there? Last year is my first. I moved here two octobers ago and I was here about half the year last year. Is it hard to be in Wyoming and be in the music industry or is it a plus or is it are both true? Yeah, both are true. I mean, we wrote Don't Start Now here, the Duolupa song, which is awesome, because there's a disco night at this like shitty dive bar sort of near my house, like 20 minutes away. And we went there and they were playing disco music all night in the next morning. We were like, we have to write a disco song. And we wrote Don't Start Now, which like justified my being here, which was awesome. And I think beyond that, my, I think, beyond that my, I,

kind of issues that I've had with LA just of feeling like it's really intense are now things that I really enjoy when I'm there because it's so different from being here. Like even being able to go see live music and just being around so many people who work in music is no longer kind of spooky to me. It's really exciting now. So it's created a perfect balance for me. Describe life in Jackson Hole. I've never, I mean, I obviously have seen many beautiful pictures and I know, you know,

all the great parts of, you know, how it looks and I've seen bumper stickers. But, you know, what is Jackson Hall? What happens? How many, are there restaurants? Are there bars? Are there other humans? Are there other humans you are eight? You know, what is life there?

Yes to all. I mean, I think there's, there's like, there's a bunch of restaurants. There's probably two or three, like, great restaurants. There's a sushi place here that I love. There's a couple of bars. The town square is where everything is and it's really like it's only a few blocks in each direction. So it's really small. It's mostly like outdoorsy people.

There's a lot of, there's a huge ski resort here that's like 30 minutes from the house. So a lot of times people come here in winter will go skiing in the morning and then come back in time for a session, which is amazing. There's like the Snake River and hiking in Teton National Park. So it's very naturey. I mean, you grew up in a city, so were you naturally growing up? No, I mean, I snowboarded growing up kind of once a year, but no. And I think that's my whole life growing up in a city. I always wanted to come to the wilderness.

I always wanted to be like in nature and in the mountains and kind of as like an escape. And that's definitely what I got here. And definitely made me, like I was saying, before, like it's made me appreciate the things about cities that I grew up in and in love also, just because it's so different. And the nature here is awesome, but definitely after like three months here, I'm like, I need to see more people. Yeah. What do your family think of? You know, I mean, it's one thing when you tell your parents, I'm moving west, I'm going to L.A., and it's like, ah, don't go that far. But even though you're closer,

I mean, you couldn't be further from, you know, your family. Are they, do they think you're a lunatic? Slightly. They're pumped about it, though. They all came out here for Christmas, which was great. And, yeah, I mean, I think everyone who comes here is kind of shocked at how beautiful it is and just how peaceful. So I think everyone, everyone who's been is pumped about it. Jackson's sick.

and the teetons are like breathtaking, which are not far from here. Yeah, the history of national parks in our country is, you know, we're the first country on the planet to have national parks. I didn't know that. Yeah. And we're constantly fighting for preservation of land, but this is this beautiful landscape.

John Muir, I believe was his name, is the father of, you know, of, the National Park Service and protecting land in the United States. And, you know, Jackson Hole is just filled so close to so many different amazing places. But the Teetans are epically beautiful from all I've seen and read about it. I'm sort of a dork like that. So, I mean, all makes sense. You got to come check it out then.

You would love it. Who are some of the people that have come and visited? Lots of people have come. So Ian and Caroline, Ian Capraget and Caroline Ailin have been a couple of times. Scott Harris has come a couple of times. The chain smokers have come a couple of times. We just did, we actually just interviewed Drew as, you know, as you know, you're doing a lot of stuff with them still.

it seems like the music chain smokers do and what do A leap was releasing and the vibe of where you live it's like it's like you're tapping into the exact opposite so if you live in the city

and you talk about loneliness in the wilderness it would be equivalent you know exactly it's so So antithetical. How's everything else been?

What else is going on? Everything's been great. I'm actually, I mean, hinging off all this. I'm getting in place in L.A. now, so I'm going to be there as well a lot. I'm moving in my best friends. And, you know, it's hard. So will you be 50-50 in both

or just make sure you're in Wyoming for 51% of the years. Exactly. That's exactly right. Yeah. Were there tax reasons to doing that? Or is that just like, yes, I was deciding between Montana and Wyoming and my dad was like, there's no taxes in Wyoming. That's the choice.

And then it was like, okay, great. Yeah, that's so crazy. It's pretty meticulous, perk. It's so strange. Is Jackson shut down right now because of the quarantine? No, right? Yeah, well, they're doing all the non-essential businesses are closed. They're doing curbside pickup and stuff like that, but everything is closed.

How nuts, even there. Wait, so tell me about your place in L.A. Why are you getting a place here? My two, a bunch of my friends from high school live there, and I always stayed with my two best friends in their apartment, like in their beds with them. And so the last time I was there, I was like, we might need to upgrade this situation. We're all on different schedules.

I need my own bed. And I was there a lot this year and just kind of was like, we should all move in together. So it's me, my two friends, and my boyfriend and his production partner are all moving in together, which is going to be great. He's in the UK, though, right? Yeah.

How are they? They need visas. What was that? They need visas? Yeah, they're working on visas. Oh, man. How are they doing with the shutdown and all that stuff? Good.

I mean, I think they're just kind of like their dream come true. They have a lot of production to finish, so they're just like they're doing what they'd like to be doing anyways, which is good. But it's so crazy what's happening right now. Well, when you're, you know, you're kind of quarantined. for some of the year anyway because of how far you are from everybody. How are you creative? You know, maybe everyone can learn from you because everyone here is trying to figure,

how do you write when you're not in the same room and not, but you're not in the same room all the time, you know? Yeah. No, totally. I mean, I think it's funny you ask that. I've been kind of in a funny place with it because my publisher has been hitting me up about virtual sessions and things like that. and I'm not there yet.

I think if this goes on a few more weeks, I'll get there, but I'm very much, I'm lucky to be in this position, but very much right now in a place of, like, absorbing and journaling and playing piano and just kind of like thinking more than trying to put it into a song yet. And I do kind of think, at least for me, that's something I'm really grateful for for this time, as crazy as it is.

Like, I never have time where I feel like I get to just read an entire book in one day and just like, for no reason except for that it's enjoyable and just kind of like take those things in. Are you doing that thinking and sitting at a piano for your solo music or do you just do that naturally? Just naturally. Just kind of I haven't really like put a full song together anything yet. Just kind of like and I guess that's what I mean.

Like obviously and I've been talking to my mom a lot about this and last since this. started but there's we all put so much worth on like being busy and staying productive and being creative with people and doing sessions even when this is happening and all the stuff and it's kind of like there is a really there's a good silver lining to this moment which is like the whole world is slowing down and so even if you were to write a song right now no one's really cutting stuff no one has a plan to release stuff. No one's going on tour to promote stuff. So you have this real moment of like just calm where you can just read a book not because you're trying to find a lyric or watch a movie not because you're trying to get inspired, but like let yourself get inspired just because

you're like taking everything in with no goal kind of, at least for me, that's where I'm at, where it's like I never get to just play piano without thinking I'm putting this into a song but just like sit at the piano and mess around or whatever it is. What are you reading right now? I'm reading, right now I'm reading a book called Normal People, Sally Rooney. It's amazing. It's like a, it's about a guy and a girl relationship that's really interesting, but very realistic. It's like really, I don't want to give anything away, but I highly recommend it. It's fiction?

Yeah. Do you read primarily fiction when you read? Yeah, I do. mostly fiction my friend just turned me on to I've heard of Blinkist No what's that It's for nonfiction

Which I find harder to read But I'm interested in what they're saying But Blinkist is like it's an app Where they Summarized nonfiction books In like 15, 20 minutes And you can read it or listen to it And it's sick

Like you get the whole book 20 minutes Yeah I'm almost exclusively read nonfiction. Really? Yeah, I mean, I like fiction,

and I love writing fiction, but I find myself, um, you know, I like a lot of the, the writers who deal with historical fiction, or historical nonfiction. Mm-hmm.

And so much of nonfiction, especially when it's a biography or if it's historical, ends up being there's so many assumptions that are made by the author because the subject's been dead for 100 years or

200 years or 300 years that, you know, it's like how nonfiction is it? You know, if it's reading all their letters and all that stuff, the assumptions that are made are really interesting and the really good authors

for nonfiction, they do so much research and they paint such an interesting picture. And there's, you know, that thing of, you know, truth is stranger than fiction. And so I think there's something about sensationalizing truth that's inspiring and makes me want to make up stories. What's your fave? I really like Eric Larson, who's he did. devil in the white city which is oh yes

it's about Chicago and the World's Fair 1893 and it's in conjunction of what's happening there also with at the same time with this murder serial murder thing that's happening so you both the

history and the life that's happening and then you know in in the Garden of Beast it's 1933 Germany and it's the American diplomat's daughter who is kind of hooking up with a bunch of Nazis while they were

you know dealing with you know Hitler coming to power or dead historical that's like a made up story within the actual those are real stories so wow you know and you get into these here's what I found my my series just told me more

about what I just said. All those things. I just like the idea that the way he frames things where what I miss about pop music that I like about theater and that I like about you know,

writers who and artists who aren't really trying to do radio music is that they can pick any sort of location. The point of view matters. in those in books and in songs

the point of view is is almost always from you know the guy or the gal to the guy or the gal so myopic versus you know

I spent the night in Singapore and all the old mad hatters here is the beginning of rain dogs for for Tom waits it's like what the but I get it I mean you're in Singapore there's a one arm dwarf

I mean the the guy who the point of view the guy who says it is somebody who uses the vernacular of dwarf right totally I don't know where this is going but I think the idea of why can't we write songs where

why can't we write songs where the character is in some totally seemingly fictitious place. Right. You could. Led Zeppelin did that. Right. Oh? Totally.

I don't know. I was working with Khalid last year. Great. He's fascinating. I mean, he's just like, he's fascinating. It was such an interesting project to work on a couple of songs. we did just because it was like it's one of those things where we felt like we were hanging out all day like just getting nowhere and then all of a sudden there was a like in one split second there was a

song which is great but an interesting process were you where did you guys write it were you on tour no we were at record plant crazy yeah um what's it like working who else was in the room was it just you two? No, there was a few different people. I mean, there was John Hill who did a couple of things with Digi, and then there was always like, it was one of those sessions

where there's a bunch of people in the room the whole time. Do you ever come across people who want to be co-writers on songs just because they're in the room? Oh yeah. That wasn't the case there, but 100% been in that situation before. haven't we all? Yeah, I guess so. Do you like working in big studios like that?

Yeah, I actually love record plant just because I worked there. When I first got signed, I was doing a bunch of stuff there just with prescription. And so it brought me back and they have those like razor scooters at the front and just like Pac-Man in a room. So it feels like a big sick studio to be in.

But some of the studios that are like, that are that vibe, but not so grand feeling sometimes do feel like an office to me. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, we don't have to call those out, but I think I know some of those same ones.

You know what I'm talking about. And it's weird because the more modern they make the studio, it's really hard to make a modern studio not seem super douchey. Right. you know? Not really. I mean, I think it ties into, and I'm sure you actually spoke to Drew about this, I would assume, but we just went and did music in Hawaii, and we were there for two weeks.

And it was like a studio that they built in this house that was on the beach, which obviously is like the best scenario you could be in. But beyond that, we had, since we had so much time, ideas could come up and we could put them down and spend no more than a half an hour on it and then come back to it later and end up spending like a full day on a song but not all in a row. And I think just after a while of doing a bunch of one-off days in a studio with no daylight and like having to be finished at a certain time and only having that one day, that whole, that whole thing does start to feel like work, which is, which is another

reason I love that I can come here and do kind of the opposite vibe. But yeah. when do you release music for yourself again? That's a good question. I don't know. I don't really have any plans to right now. I think that the album that I did put out was just because I felt like I had something to say and I had a few creative things I wanted to try.

And so if and when that probably inevitably comes up again, I will. But it's way more of like a creative outlet. than like a plan sort of thing. Sure. Drew told us about you writing, Don't Let Me Down in his apartment. How crazy is it that that happened? And then now you live in that house in Jackson Hall.

It's crazy. While you have a number one song. It's crazy. It's crazy. I mean, this moment has been particularly really crazy just because I feel like, and in almost like a shameful way, I feel like I'm too lucky right now with what's happening that our song is basically stuck at number one while like everything in the music business comes to a halt. It's absurd. I'm, I've definitely been like,

I don't know, it's insane. Yeah, it's almost went over in December when it's Christmas break, the rating parts freeze around mid-December and they open up again the first second week of January, something like that. Someone's going to correct me with this information. But, you know, that's what's happening now. I mean, totally. Radio departments and promo people

can't push new singles really right now. And so you guys might be stuck there for a while. No, it's insane. I can't believe it. The timing is ridiculous. Really. And it's all timing and at this point.

Well, I'm happy to take a co-writing credit on it. What was that? Retroactively. I would retroactively do it just like I was one of the guys in the... I'm just going to be one of those guys. We've seen it.

We know it well. Well, be safe. Thank you. You too. It's crazy. Crazy stuff you're going. through. I'm proud of you as well. And it's good to see like how, you know, even, it's only been a couple years and already. So more, more hits and new houses and, you know, it's awesome.

Word. Thank you so much. All right. Cool. We'll talk soon. Talk to you later. Bye. Thanks for listening to this episode of And The Writer is. If you want to hear music from this songwriter I just interviewed, be sure to check out our Spotify play. playlist or visit our website at and the writer is.com. If you like what we're doing, please subscribe to us. You can also like us on Facebook and Twitter. And The Writer Is is produced by Joe London, edited by Miles Bergsmah, and published by Big

Deal music. A special thanks to David Silverstein from Mega House Music and Michael White. Until next time, this is Ross Golan.