LadyGang - LG QUICKIE: Kimberly Perry

Episode Date: June 1, 2023

While Becca is on mom duty, Kimberly Perry is filling in to chat about her life as a solo artist. From “When I Die Young Part 2” to working with Rick Rubin and her pregnancy, she’s in full "Bloom." Check out our amazing sponsors!!! Angi: Download the free Angi mobile app today or visit Angi.com to get professional help on your next project! ThirdLove: Visit ThirdLove.com to get $15 off your first purchase!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Here's Kelty Knight, Becca Tobin, and Jack Vanek. Let's make this quick. Our guest today is a six-time multi-platinum recording artist, formerly of the band Perry, who was discovered by none other than Garth Brooks' manager. She sold millions of records, worked with every important person in music, including, no big deal, Rick Rubin, you know, the coolest guy on the planet. And now she's doing a double birth because she's birthing her new EP, Bloom, her first solo outing, and she's expecting her first baby in August. Please welcome back to the Lady Gang, our friend, Kimberly Perry.

Welcome. Hey, hey, it's so good to be here. Thanks for having me back. A double birth. No pressure. I know you said that. I was like, it feels like twins, if I'm being honest with you, between music and a real life human baby. But you know what? I feel so much more empowered on both sides of it. And I don't

know what it is. Everybody keeps going like, are you nervous? You're making this resurgence. But as a solo artist, I've been in a band with my brothers since I was 15. And I'm like, I'm not nervous at all. I feel more comfortable in my skin than ever before. And I think motherhood is doing that. I really do. Well, it's like, yeah, you've got something really, really important to take care of. So it probably takes the extra weight off of the everything external. I also really love what you said on Bobby Bones when you were talking about like the fact that you were in this project with your brothers for so long and you, you like, it's like how we travel in Lady Gang normally. Like we travel as a trio. We never have to choose our own meals or like really make

our own decisions because it's always this group effort. And after you guys took a break that you went off into your own worlds and like each one of you had this transformation. Um, how do you think that that transformation from you, obviously you went, you met your guy, you're having a baby and then musically like have dug deep into the well again. How do you think that transformation has really affected you? I mean, it's just brought all the pieces together. I think as everybody did during, you know, COVID in 2020, I had a moment to take a really long pause and go like, what are the things on the table of my life that are still sitting on the table that I haven't like gotten for myself and having family and finding the right partner. Cause there's a difference

between like just being married and then finding like the right partner. Not every husband is your partner. And, um, I definitely found that in a six, five bleach blonde boy in a punk rock band in Austin, Texas and knew it like immediately when he walked in the room. Um, and so that really was a catalyst for all the pieces falling into place. And it certainly informed the creative and the things that I wanted to write about because I was just, I was living them in real time, you know? Oh, you're going to have a tall blonde baby. I'm going to tell you. So we did our, our like anatomy scan a couple of weeks ago and his like femur, like his bones are in the 85th percentile. And I'm like, can we overachieve, but like outside the womb, can we just wait?

Can we wait a minute? I'm five, three. This is going to be a problem. I love this. I think you can hear in the music. There's, I mean, there's a lot of darkness. We're going to get into some of the lyrics, but I think a lot of people, obviously that you had this smash song, if I die young and this, this part to like watching the video and you're in this pink dress and there's these wildflowers and you've got the baby belly. And then you're kind of like basically saying in the song, like, by the way, like I wasn't maybe my best self when I was so dark and I've, I've rethought about this darkness and I'm going to look at things a little differently. That's what I took from it. Yeah. Do you feel that? Less than I wasn't my best self. I feel

like I was my truest self in that moment when I wrote the original, you know, I was in my early twenties and almost had a very isolated feeling about my life because there were just things that I was dreaming about, you know, um, and a lot of that had to do with having more friends and wanting a, a partner to be in a relationship. And I was just sort of lonely, I think from time to time. And what's been really cool about the earliest comments on like TikTok and Instagram are, and I don't think I knew this until we put out this part too, but it met everybody in that place that I was sort of feeling like a sense of isolation and it's okay if it ends now because it's good. It's not great yet. And we'll just sort of see where it all goes from here. So

I think part two could not have happened without living the last decade of my life. I think sometimes like we have to get on the other side and see some things begin to manifest to really understand that we have something to lose, you know, and I definitely feel like that at this point. So my opinion has changed a little bit about there being, there's no such thing as enough time, but I didn't know that 10 years ago. I just love it so much to make a part two of a song. Like I feel like that's something that artists don't do at all. And I think, you know, a lot of artists looking back at certain songs and how their lives have changed so much and probably wishing that they could rewrite it in a way that makes more sense after having so much more life

experience. I just think it's such a unique idea to do for an artist. It's really, really cool. Thank you. I'm like really grateful that I had the opportunity to do it, you know, and I'm a big fan of like poetry and I guess Walt Whitman ended up making leaves of grass was like his one body of work that he just kept refining. Um, so I don't think there's going to be an if I die young part three ever, but we'll, um, we won't, we'll never say never though. You never know. I am fascinated by rick rubin and the fact that you worked with him and i i watched his documentary over the past year or whatever and like the fact that this is a man who has no musical training and he just like is like i know what i like and i have great taste and like what was it like to be

in the studio with this guy who i mean he has that uh book out right now and anyway just like like what how can he advise you on music when he doesn't do music i think rick's really like his magic is understanding what language to speak to a specific artist. So some friends of mine who had worked with him, they were like, was he in the studio? Cause he was never in the studio when we cut with him. And I was like, yeah, I mean, he was there when we wrote the songs, he was just sitting in the studio. We were in the, he had us mic'd up, but like Reed Neal and I were writing, he was just observing. And then he would have this, this one moment that really stands out to me. We were just playing this melody and we looked at him and he's, he was

bawling. He was just crying. And it was like just the chords without any lyric had just really spoken to his soul and his spirit. And that's what I think his magic is. He knows when it's going to move people and he knows if it's not moving somebody for some reason, how to fix it. And he may not know. I mean, I say, I think he does know he may not always use like, well, the pre-chorus before the chorus or bar 12, you know, he'll just go that section that has a little thingy that makes me feel like this. Can it make me feel like this? You know? And I think he just knows how to communicate with like the soul of the artist. That's so crazy. Jack, you could be Rick Rubin. You know what? So my fiance is a musician. He's in a band. Um, and I, I do feel

like I do that sometimes. I'm like, you know, if this like one little part was a little bit more like this, I feel like it would be, I feel like I've got a little Rick Rubin in me. Honestly, I love it. A little bit of Yoda. A little bit of Yoda. Just I need a little more sparkle. Kimberly, I wanted to ask you, I think you've had this really interesting career because obviously interviewing you for my different shows over the years, like I've seen you guys, you know, at the Grammys red carpets or at these huge red carpets when it's like the trio, the thing, like the hottest thing since sliced bread. And then I've seen a little bit of the struggle coming out, um, at times. And then obviously you're back now as a solo artist, like the high, you've had the highest highs that you can possibly have in show business.

And I'm assuming that you've had some disappointments along the way. Like what's the difference in your, I don't know. I just want to know what it's like. Like, what do you feel when you're the sliced bread? And what do you feel in that desperation? Cause I am always feeling those two things kind of at the same time. I don't know. Can you talk on that? Does that make sense? For sure. Yeah. I mean, look, life is a combination

of both of those things always for anybody in any walk of life. And I think for me, I had to learn really the art of, well, perseverance, which is not just hanging on for dear life. That's like keeping your head about you and trying to stay grounded, knowing that things are going to ebb and flow. But I mean, for me personally, at the highest of highs, which is so crazy because I feel so different now even standing in solo artistry at the highest high I always just was like the wheels could fall off at any minute you know like how do we make sure that we don't lose this um because it's so wonderful I remember sitting at like the four seasons in Maui and it was in the middle of like a week and a half vacation I was like oh my god I'm like sitting

in paradise what an amazing opportunity I have to be here but I was also just like panicked that it was going to just go away like poof you know and then we lived a season where it did like there were moments that I would look up and I was like everything is under ash here like we're in ashes um what happened and I think you know the the logistics of that happening for us was a combination of like some of the creative decisions that we could control and maybe I would have made a little bit different maybe although again the ebb and flow is part of the whole journey but there were also people around us i think that um took that control from us and that felt very scary to me because it's like i don't know how to i don't know how to make sure that my destiny ends up in the

place that i want it to um and so that was a really interesting thing to just experience but also to then decide and there's a song um on this bloom project called burn the house down and it was like i've got to bring everything back to the studs like i truly if we're in ashes let's add on top of it. Like, let's add a whole heap of them because the only way that we're going to rise out of it is to level everything. And that really defined the last handful of years for me in a relationship. You know, I went through a divorce. Um, our music was on this wild roller coaster. Um, but I also felt like it was a good palette to rebuild from and it had to happen. I love that. Don't be scared to rebuild. It's like, you know, it's, it's, it's so interesting.

people are like, oh, well, I don't want to leave this relationship because then I have to start all over again. It's like the scariest thing. And I think that after the rebuild comes the really, really good shit. All right. When we come back, we're going to get into some of the lyrics off this new EP with Kimberly. Angie's list is now Angie. And I'm so glad that they are partners with us on this podcast because you need Angie and I need Angie and they've made it easier than ever to get all of your home projects done. Right. So if you're anything like me you've probably bitten off more than you can chew and if maybe your dad is not in town or your husband is not handy and you need some say for me right now wallpaper hung in your

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plus five-star reviews prove that this bra is the real deal. Visit thirdlove.com to find your fit and shop their best-selling bras. Get $15 off your first purchase. The Lady Gang. Jack loves a lyric. She's a lyricist. She loves a lyric. We just print them out. Okay, so I have two lyric questions. I think these are my two favorite lyrics on the Bloom EP. So the first one is from, um, the song called smoke them too. And I just love this. And you say tonight, I don't have to choose between being myself and being with you. Oh, that was a revelation for me. That was truly a revelation. I mean, I've always been a girl in relationships that would chameleon, you know? Yeah. And it's like cute. Like you call yourself,

I'm such a people pleaser. And it's like, yeah, but you're like trading identity all the time in a way that leaves you going like, wait, who am I? And what do I even like? Like, what are my preferences? And, um, after my divorce and before I met my husband down in Dallas, Texas, um, I did a lot of work of just like, I needed to figure out what my, who I was. And sometimes those things were contradicting, you know, like that's the song smoke them too. And so I talk about why I want to wear leather, but I also want to wear a lace, you know, I can quit cigarettes and smoke them too. If that's what I decided I want to do. Um, and finally in meeting my husband, I felt like I had found somebody who saw all of those sides, um, because I was embracing them

because I had to see them first and fully embrace it. And I was able to show that. And then I found security in a relationship after finding that security inside myself. And that was transformative for me. Dude, that lyric is like, that is just the epitome, epitome of finding the right person, like within 10 words, like it truly, truly is. And it's like, wait until you find it. Yeah. Oh my God. Yeah. And I also feel like, um, uh, like, like chameleon or it's so exhausting to be in a relationship and like doing the act of like what we think this person is. And we see it a lot, like with our girls that are dating, they're like, well, how long should I wait to call this person back or like all the games playing. Jack was single for years on this

podcast and dating. And we would like live so vicariously through her. And it was like, well, what do I do? I don't want to play the games, but you have to act like this because you have to act like you don't like them, blah, blah, blah. Like eventually we're all ending up watching Netflix in our sweatpants with a zip mask on. So like, I don't, we got to find someone that is like going to enjoy that person, you know? And I don't know why it takes women so long to like, be okay with ourselves. It's such a weird phenomenon. Don't you think, Jack? Yeah, it's like by default, women are just trying to hide some aspect of their personality or themselves that they think is going to be too much or not enough or whatever. And it's,

it's just like so anxiety inducing. And you know, it just, it knocks our self esteem down. So finding the person, like you said, with your husband, where it's like, I can just be myself, Like that's all the baseline. It's so simple, but it's like all that anybody wants in a relationship. It's so simple, but it is hard to find a hundred percent. Cause I do think it's, I do think it's rare. And you know, that's one thing that I found earliest with my husband, the thing we chose to do, like on our first date, which it took me, I had to like really discipline myself to not tell him that I loved him in the first 48 hours. I felt like I had really found that guy. But, you know, I think we were the perfect balance though. Cause the

earliest part of a relationship is so exciting. Like, you know, the physical part of it, the emotional part of it, everything is fireworks. But I think we got to also immediately, it was important to us to like, have really like just pour our vulnerability. We poured it right out on the table. Like, here's my story. Here's your story. I accept all the parts of you. Um, and I felt like he did the same for me. So I think it's like, it's gotta be a balance of those two things. Like you can still have the excitement and the fireworks. And it's not that it's the game playing part of it, but like the fun part of it of flirting and figuring out if we love each other, but also like really taking a hard look at like, okay, am I feeling safe in this space

with this person and paying attention to all of those feelings that you have with somebody, you know? I love it. Okay. The second lyric, um, on this beautiful, beautiful song called cry at your funeral. Um, she says, Oh, get ready. I can't save it all. So I just saved myself a slow wave to send you off. I only wish you well, I can't save it all. So I just saved myself. It's like, Ooh, where'd that come from? I mean, I think I know. Um, yeah. So there were, a lot of really intrinsic relationships in my life that were changing as I was writing this first half of Bloom. And it's so funny that some of those songs with titles like Cry at Your Funeral and Burn the House Down, we wanted the title Bloom because I feel like

in order to grow, you have to create space for it sometimes. And so half of that last year was me creating the space to be able to sort of rise and blossom. But that line really came from going like, look, it's, I've always felt the responsibility, whether it was in a circle of friends in my family, um, to be the peacemaker and sort of make all the things that aren't working come together. I felt the weight of that responsibility. And, um, there were times, especially in the last year that I was like, I can't, like, I am only human and these shoulders are only so strong. And so that was me going, like, I've got to find a way out of this really complicated situation because what I'm building now is my future. I'm not building everybody's life around me and

everybody's future. And that's where that lyric came from. I have compassion for everybody's where they're standing, but I also have to make sure that I am getting the things out of my future that I intend to. And that's my responsibility. It's like putting your oxygen mask gone first. Yes. 100%. 100%. It's also really hard. Like this, this, this like conversation makes me a little emotional. I deal with a similar situation in my family and it's like, you really, the, the people around you can't, for me, it's like when I think of the bloom, right? It's like, you're working so hard on yourself, right? Like, like you said, you gave yourself the space, you're doing the work, you're trying to rediscover yourself.

trying to find out like, what do I like? What do I want the next, you know, 80 years of my, I'll be 187, but, um, you know, what do I want my life to look like? Like, I finally have the courage to go after the life that I truly, truly want. What does that look like? And then you look around and it's like, it can be disappointing at times when other people are not doing that same work and they're not like rising up to take the responsibility for their own feelings, emotions, lives and you, there's nothing to do in that moment, but like, wish them well, hope you catch up. I can't wait to see you on the other side of this, but like, I can't be responsible for you not doing the work anymore. Like I'm going to keep blooming. I hope to see you in the garden one day.

I wish you well. And I just think that's such a beautiful moment. It's such a beautiful emotion that not a lot of people write songs about. thank you thank you yeah and the that song the payoff is like i'll cry at your funeral and i'll dance at your wedding it's also like i will even celebrate the milestones in your life but from a distance like i can't be in the same um there have to be boundaries without the bitterness and that's taken me a really long time to figure out it was either like absent of boundaries or um or i was just still full of like bitterness and not able to forgive yeah those people you know and so it was just it's that whole song was very cleansing it's very cleansing jack and i share a mutual

ex-boyfriend so we have this discussion a lot of like who's still petty and it's me um okay listen kimberly perry the brand new ep bloom is out june 9th so head on over to all your places pre-save pre-order you are not going to want to miss it is absolutely gorgeous it's like your best friend wrapping your arms around you all summer long um and go follow kimberly on her instagram and all her socials the kimberly perry and we need to support this woman she has done the work she's ready to bloom she's blooming a baby and um you know like i just feel like when someone like you does the work and comes out with this great piece of art like let's support her let's make this the best bloom she's ever had and congratulations and i wish you and your family like a healthy birth

and a wonderful you know entrance to earth i can't wait thank you guys so much it's good to see you again so good to see you too bye thank you so much we weren't here for a long time we are here for a good time thanks for listening the lady gang is produced by alex ingber steve delameter and jared monaco make sure you subscribe rate and review our podcast and if you love it share it with your friends on social media like oh my god i just listened lady gang this episode's so great swipe up to listen and if you really want to which we know you do please follow us on social at kelty at becca at jack vanek and at the lady gang sign up for our newsletter at TheLadyGang.com and join our secret Facebook group.

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