NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - The Drink with Kate Snow: Stephen Sanchez

Episode Date: September 23, 2023

Stephen Sanchez wrote his hit song “Until I Found You” in his bedroom. He tells NBC News’ Kate Snow what’s behind his debut album, “Angel Face.”

Hi, everybody. This is Kate Snow. So happy to share this conversation I had with singer Stephen Sanchez over a chocolate shake for my series, The Drink. He is the youngest person I've ever interviewed on The Drink. It is always about how someone got to the top. Stephen tells me how he wrote his hit song, Until I Found You, in his bedroom and how he made it big so fast. We discussed his special relationship and performance with Elton John and wait until you hear the weirdest thing about him. It's weird. You can hear more stories of success from top artists, entrepreneurs, and visionaries. You can find them all at NBCNews.com slash The Drink. I mean, when you have a thing that you've always wanted to do

for your whole life, you don't need to finish high school and then go to college to figure out how you're gonna do that if it's right in front of your face. It's like right there. I would never fall in love again until I found her. All right, we are at Junior's in Times Square with Steven Sanchez. Right on.

And this is what you requested. I love this. Oh my gosh, thank you so much. Chocolate milkshake, thank you love this. Oh, my gosh. Thank you so much. Chocolate milkshake. Thank you so much. Junior's is iconic. Cheers, Steven. This is a great choice.

I love this. I've never cheers to a chocolate shake before. That's really good, yeah. Oh, it does not disappoint. That's great. I'm going to do like a cream off the top first. Sounds good. You might be the youngest person. I think you are the youngest person

I've ever interviewed on the drink. Thank you so much for that. I tried to grow out the whatever facial hair Try and make it knowledge that way but It's to your credit that we are sitting here you have For people who don't know you had this viral record that kind of went crazy, like to the point where 80-year-olds know it, teenagers know it, until I found you. Everybody. And then you have a new album out, like now, brand new, your first full-length, right? Do you want to just keep eating the whipped cream and I'll just give you a life story? Totally.

It's all right. It's crazy. It's actually crazy. How did you do all this? It looks to me like the last few years have been a lot of effort. Yeah. A lot of work. Totally. Yeah, I mean even the year, this year has been a lot of work.

I think, you know, obviously we're releasing a debut record, Angel Face. Don't rest your head I'll be the pillow And I'll be the bed It's really exciting. So, you know, I think the same feelings of, you know, having released Since I Found You and then experiencing the tremendous success of that song obviously brought to the table. It feels similar to release a record and to kind of experience that unknown again.

Does this all feel a little like a pinch me, like am I dreaming kind of thing? Yeah, I mean, I think I feel more tired these days for sure. So go back for me. You're born in California. You're raised outside Sacramento. I am, yeah. What was life like for you? I mean, it was just elementary school, high school, middle school, kindergarten.

I think, you know, all the basics that you kind of go through. I have two sets of grandparents. So on one side, my grandfather collected vinyl, and he had it stacked in his barn. I'd go in there and pick through the vinyl. He has like a farm? He has a farm, yeah, in San Jose. And so in the barn, he's got the vinyl? In the barn, he's got the vinyl.

I mean, the most classic. I mean, this guy has the most humble, laid-out, classic farm. So how old are you when you go to the barn and start looking around? I'm like 10. Yeah. I think yeah I think yeah 10 and what kind of records are we talking about tucking Roy Orbison Frank Sinatra Nat King Cole Dean Martin Jimmy Durant you know Marty Robbins that's old stuff her about burn the T I wanna brass the platters just anything you could think of and the first time I was ever hearing those artists it was on the hard copy you know and so I picked

through all the records take a stack bring back in the house he picked through them and he'd send me home with some so I'd pick through all the records, take a stack, bring it back in the house. He'd pick through them and he'd send me home with some. And then I'd just rip through them and listen to them. And then the next time I'd see them, I'd do the same thing all over again. Do those become your musical influences? I mean, yeah. I mean, it seems like it.

I mean, naturally it feels that way. But the songs, the songwriting, you know, that is what, like, drove me to, you know... that is what like drove me to, you know. Kind of pulled you in. Be very romantic. I feel very romantic because of that music. I mean, your songs are very romantic, especially the new album. Wow.

Thank you so much. Go ahead. Have some more. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Please. Yeah, we're just eating. Yeah, we're not even, this isn't even a shake. It's just whipped cream. It's not the drink.

This is all just whipped cream. It's not even a shake. Today it's not the drink. It's the eat. It's the meal. Your parents, like, your family's not necessarily musical, right? No. Your parents, I read that your dad like designs kitchens for a living. Yeah, whoa, yeah, yeah.

And your mom... She is paralegal. Point being, like, they're not in music. No, not at all. You're not, like, from this sort of, like, legacy music family. Yeah, no, not at all. So when do you pick up, is it the ukulele first? Yeah.

You did your research. I do my research, Stephen. She's good. She's good. That's awesome. When did you pick that up? There was this girl, actually. I never told this story. There was this girl, actually. I never told this story.

There was this girl in elementary school. Her name was Bella, Isabella. And she played ukulele extremely well and classical guitar extremely well. And just was multi-talented, could sing. She won every talent show during middle school and it like angered me like it angered me so much because i was falling in love with music and wanting to play an instrument and you couldn't do that because i love to sing you know right i think i couldn't like play you know so you're jealous of bella so i was angry at bella i was like this is so annoying

like i'm going to do that so i bought a ukle for, or my parents bought me one for Christmas. Yeah, yeah. How old were you then? I was like 13 maybe. And like started playing on that. And then I was like, I want to play guitar now. And so I upgraded from ukulele to guitar. And then I joined the, you know, worship team.

And like they taught me how to play guitar. Oh, that's awesome. Wait, so you played in like the church band I played in the church band and then you know I was entering high school you know for the first time and having crushes and stuff I was like I don't want to sing about you know the you know you want to sing the lord I want to sing about my love and uh sort of on brand for you in high school I heard you would play in the cafeteria at lunch. Yeah. Like you're the guy in the corner playing guitar for everybody? Yeah, I was. Yeah, I was literally lugging around an amp, a guitar, and a microphone stand, and a bag to each class.

I was late to every fifth period class. Because you were still in the cafeteria playing? Yep. Miss Winitsky was very upset. Shout out, Miss Winitsky. Miss Winitsky, you see him now. You see me now. Hey, she's been to a show, I think. Yeah, love it.

It's really great. That evolves into you're making some videos. Initially, it was Cage the Elephant cover. Love Cage the Elephant. And that took off. Yeah, it was great. And then I posted this song, Lady by the Sea, which ended up being the first single that was ever put out.

This is a song I wrote called Lady by the Sea. Here we go. Lady by the Sea Lady by the Sea A producer sees it, right? A manager. A manager saw it. And he and I got together and he flew me out to New York, first time in New York, and we recorded the song.

And Jeremy Zucker, this amazing artist, he produced it. And then we pitched that song to every label that we could possibly think of. By the way, you're like 17 years old. I'm like 17, yeah. And then every label came back and wanted to have a conversation. And then we were in months of meetings and zoom calls and then we landed on a universal with republic and made made a couple eps and then just before we released the first ep i wrote until i found you You wrote I Found You, like, in your bedroom?

Is that right? Yeah, yeah. 2021. 2021. Crazy. And it's about a girl. I mean, the first word of the song is Georgia, right? Yeah, sure, yeah.

So, who's Georgia? Oh, man, you know, I mean... Ex-girlfriend. I mean, it's anybody you want her to be for anybody else, but you know, in like a beautiful way, like people are applying that song to their own love stories. Did you drop out of high school? I dropped out of high school. I don't recommend doing that.

Okay. Things are going okay. Yeah. Did you end up finishing yet, or you'll go back eventually? I'll probably go back eventually. You'll do it. You'll do it. Yeah, yeah. I always wondered what it would be like to go to university, too. That'd be cool. Yeah, yeah. Well, maybe when the music thing kind of slows down. Maybe, yeah. I mean, I think if the music thing slows down, I'm getting a farm and sitting out there and growing grapes.

Having a barn full of vinyl, maybe? Maybe, yeah, yeah. Okay, so you leave high school. You barn full of vinyl, maybe? Maybe, yeah, yeah. Okay, so you leave high school. You move across the country, right? You moved to Nashville. Moved to Nashville with my parents. We drove across the whole country. Oh, your parents go with you?

Yeah, they came with, yeah. I mean, I was still, like, really young. I was 17. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. But what a supportive thing for your parents to do. Totally, yeah. Holy cow.

Unreal. Everybody I talk to on The Drink has a story like that, about seizing opportunity. Just like seeing it and being like, I got to go for it. Yeah. Did it feel like that? Totally. I mean, when you have a thing that you've always wanted to do, you know, for your whole life, you don't need to finish high school and then go to college to figure out how you're

going to do that if it's right in front of your face. Right. You know, it's like right there. So it was definitely one of those seize the opportunity moments. I saw you sing at the See Here Now Festival. Yeah, I saw you. I'm sure you did because I was up front. She was up front.

Here's what I observed. You were so joyful it seemed like. You were just like appreciating the crowd and loving the moment and dancing. Yeah. I mean yeah. That's what it's all about. It's that surrender. I think if there's too much pressure it just kind of like ruins it a little bit. Thank you so much. Good night.

So, the new album is like a concept album, right? It is, yeah. Stories and all. It's as if you're back in... Yeah, please, have some milkshake while I explain. It's like set in the 50s and 60s is based on a fictional singer who you basically play right the troubadour sanchez and all the songs are a story

arc of his of his short life yeah right yeah it is very very 50s and 60s feeling. If words could just hold you, tell me you could feel me. I think you're dating somebody. Maybe. You don't talk about her? Who knows? Okay. Who knows? She's wonderful.

She's kind of the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. You're kind of keeping it a little quiet so that it doesn't get ruined? I understand that. I understand that. I understand that. Well, I mean, more because, you know, I just... No, not ruined.

I mean, like, by people, like, by the outside world. Totally. I mean, I just... I think, yeah, we should be the only ones that care about how we feel about each other.

I think there's a lot of young listeners, though, who care a lot about whether Stephen Sanchez has a girlfriend or not. Totally. Totally. But I think, too,

like, I think it's safe to say, like, half those people never know me, you know, and, like, really know me. So, like, to share my life outwardly just feels like, ah, well, what's the point? Like, what's the point? You know, they're never going to know me more than that. So, like, I'd rather just save it for the people that I see every day, you know, to know what's going on. Elton John. Yeah. Reaches out to you. Wow. What? What? And then you go on stage at Glastonbury, his final performance, and you sing your song. Yeah, it's pretty insane. It's kind of a ridiculous sentence, too, in a lot of ways.

You never thought it would be like Elton John, Stephen Sanchez in one sentence. I mean, I think it's a huge trend. I kind of can't even make up my own dreams anymore because it's just like all the things that I couldn't even think would happen are happening like that, you know? I didn't even think to think of something like that, you know about happening and it was because he saw your song so so david furnish and elton they have a podcast called the rocket hour yeah yeah and uh he uh threw until i found you on his desk you know and uh elton fell in love with it you know obviously elton has had

a lot of influences from the 50s and 60s you know Elvis and all that. Him and I spoke on the phone leading up to that Rocket Hour interview. Everybody on the Rocket Hour, my guest this week is Stephen Sanchez, who I heard sing a song called Until I Found You. And I just fell in love with the song, and I fell in love with his voice. Some months after that, we finally got to get together in person. And I joined him for a dinner at his voice. Some months after that, we finally got to get together in person, and I joined him for a dinner at his table that was Smokey Robinson

and Barry Gordy Music Cares event that was honoring their careers and stuff. So I got to sit next to Elton. And the next day, you know, the boys and I, we played a showcase,

and then we got off stage, and Elton pulled me to the side, and he's just like, oh, my gosh, that was just dynamite, baby. Like, that was great. Like, your voice, just everything, your performance was just brilliant. Really brilliant. I was like, thank you so much.

And we sit down, and he's like, so, I'm doing a festival. I'm headlining a festival in the summer called Glastonbury, and I'm having a lot of guest artists come out, and it's going to be a really wonderful show. I'm like, oh, that's amazing. And all this is going over my head. I'm like, he's not going to ask me to do that. Like, what?

So I didn't even think of that. And he just went, you know, I just thought that was so amazing, and your voice is just incredible. I would love to have you come and be one of the special guests that I have on stage. Would you come and sing at Glastonbury with me? And I was... What did you sing? I got to check my schedule.

And I'm just kidding. No, I honestly asked him, I was like, are you sure? Like, that's a, I was recognizing the fact that this is his final show and the fact that he's like honoring a younger artist that, you know. Amazing. I mean, who am I to do that? That's crazy. And when you were up there and looking out at that sea of people.

I mean, it was amazing. I mean, when you were up there and looking out at that sea of people. It was amazing. The days laying up there were just magical. In rehearsal, you know, I got to see him a lot more after that. So I got way more comfortable when he calls me randomly. He calls you randomly now? Yeah. Like Elton could be on the phone right now.

So in March, leading up to Glastonbury, he called me while the boys and I were on our way to play a show and he went, you know, I had a thought. I know that we were going to have you come out and sing, I guess that's why they call it the blues, but I just think this is such a tremendous moment in my career and it's going to be such a massive moment for you as well. And I would just, I would love to highlight that moment for you and I would love for you to come out and sing your song. Can we do rapid fire? Rapid fire questions, let's go. Favorite song? The Violet Hour by Seawolf. Nice. Is there someone you haven't met who you would love to collaborate with? Lana Del Rey.

Easy. Oh my gosh. It would be so great to do a record with her. Weirdest thing about you? I like make weird, funny voices to myself. Like after I burp, I could be like, I'm gonna burp. I'm gonna burp. I'm gonna burp.

I'm gonna burp. I'm gonna burp. I'm gonna burp. I'm gonna burp. I'm gonna burp. I'm gonna burp. I'm gonna burp. I'm gonna burp. Weirdest thing about you? I like make weird, funny voices to myself. Like after I burp, I could be like, I'm like, wow, that was great, or something like that.

Like, well done. That's kind of weird. That is weird. That's kind of weird. OK. Any advice for an aspiring musician out there? Oh, man. Just write the truth, you know? You have to be authentic. You

gotta be authentic to what is the truth to you, you know? Steven Sanchez, thank you so much for the shake. You're welcome.