During her GUTS World Tour, adorable video footage plays in the background of a young Olivia Rodrigo performing in front of her stuffed animals. “It really excites me. My mother can't watch that part without crying,” admits the singer.
It's one of the many moments present in Netflix Olivia Rodrigo: GUTS World Tourhis concert film that debuted Tuesday.
“It's a very sweet moment,” Rodrigo continues to say The Hollywood journalist. “It makes me so happy to watch those videos again. This has always been my dream, as demonstrated by those home movies where I put on shows with my stuffed animals. And I'm really grateful that it happened this way and that I get to live my dream every night. It's really special. I am a very lucky girl.”
INTESTINESRodrigo's second album released last September, was a huge success and helped her double the number of shows she played in 2022. ACID Tour. She also moved from theaters to arenas such as Madison Square Garden in New York and the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, where the Netflix special was filmed.
He hopes his fans who couldn't make it to his live shows will be satisfied by his new concert film. “That's what was really exciting for me about putting it on Netflix: People who maybe couldn't get a ticket will be able to watch it,” he says. “Also, I think this film shows different perspectives and angles and feels fresh and exciting even if you've seen it before.”
Olivia Rodrigo
In an interview, the 21-year-old talks about performing live, her advice for rising star Chappell Roan, who will open the tour, a possible return to acting and voting for the first time.
Your last tour was theaters, but on your recent tour you moved to arenas and played double the shows – how was that?
It was very different. My two tours, I feel like they're not even comparable. They both felt so different. THE ACID The tour was super intimate and it was amazing. I'm really happy that I cut my teeth on touring with that kind of route, but this tour was really big and I went to so many places I'd never been before and I was playing bigger places. And so it definitely challenged me as an artist, and I feel like I learned a lot and became a lot more confident as the shows went on.
The tour featured an all-female band: was this the same for your first tour?
It was, yes. I love girl bands. I grew up loving rock music and more specifically female rock bands like Sleater-Kinney and Hole and Babes in Toyland and all these female rockers. And so going on tour, I always set out to recreate that environment for myself.
During the tour you performed “Pretty Isn't Pretty” by INTESTINESwhich has a groovy beat but is lyrically deep. What was it like writing that song, and did you have any fans tell you specifically about that track?
It's so interesting what you say. It's one of my favorite songs to perform. I had been thinking about the lyrics to that song for a long time. I had several trial runs where I tried to write “Pretty Isn't Pretty,” and it just didn't work. And finally, when I wrote this version, I thought, “Yes, I finally articulated what I wanted to say.” It's one of my favorite songs to perform live because it's not a hit song or anything like that. It doesn't have the most streams of any of my songs and my discography, but I always watch when I sing that song and there are some people in the audience who really, really feel every lyric and I can tell it really resonates with them. I always try to make eye contact with them and sing it to them, and that makes it a really meaningful experience for me.
Many of your fans are your age or younger, but you also have older fans. How does it feel to see some 30- and 40-year-olds singing at your shows?
It's a really fun part [of the shows]. It's been amazing to see all the different age groups singing together, and there's just a diverse group of people that come to the shows, and it's so fun to look out and see them every night. Music is so universal. It reminds me how similar we all are. We are much more similar than different and a concert is a perfect example of this in real life.
I hope that if you write from a place of honesty and vulnerability… [something] that most people have heard this before in their lives – hopefully [everyone] resonates with that. This is my theory.
In the film you say that “Enough for You” is your favorite ACID. Why?
I wrote that song alone in my bedroom, on my bedroom floor, and I'm really proud of it and it really captures the insecurity I was feeling at the time. It's an insecurity that I thankfully don't feel now, but it's a beautiful time capsule of my 17-year-old heart, and so I always have a fondness for it.
Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan
Chappell Roan appears in the concert film – what was it like performing with her?
It was fantastic. I mean, I love Chappell, and she was such a big part of it INTESTINES around the world. He opened; he did the first seven shows with me and really helped me find the right balance and understand what the show was. I felt remiss not to include her; she's such a big part of it. I love that song [“Hot to Go!”] so much, and it was so fun to play it with her. The audience went crazy.
You both work with producer Dan Nigro – is that how you met?
Yes, we met through Dan. We exchanged sessions in his studio and we would see each other from time to time and hang out. He has some background vocals on some of my songs ACID AND INTESTINESso it's always been a part of my life, and I'm so, so happy that it's blowing up and killing it and getting all the recognition it rightfully deserves.
She, along with numerous artists, is marking her discoveries this year. They are experiencing new things: more fans, fame, upcoming Grammy nominations, etc. What advice do you have for them since you had this same experience in 2021?
Oh my God. It's so hard. I'm 21, I feel like I'm still flying around in a lot of ways, but I think looking back at that time when my music was starting to take off and I was starting to gain some popularity, it was all super exciting , but I think it's really important to remember ultimately that the things that really give you purpose in life are probably not rankings or awards or anything like that. And I think if you maintain that mindset, you will be a happier, more grounded individual.
Has there been time to record new music or write? Do you write when you have a thought or do you prefer to write in a scheduled session?
A little of both. I love writing songs. It helps me feel healthy and human. For me it's a bit like a question of self-care. It's like writing a journal or something, or calling your therapist. That's what songwriting means to me, so I always write songs. But I'm trying not to put too much pressure on making something that can be listened to by a lot of people right now. I'm having fun.
Olivia Rodrigo
Earlier this year you were nominated for Best Rock Song at the Grammys alongside The Rolling Stones, Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age (boygenius won the award). I was wondering if getting that nomination was kind of really special?
Yes, it was like that. It was really fantastic. I mean, I felt like I was accepted into a community that is historically very male. There are a lot of kids who make rock music, so to be included in that category as a young person was really exciting for me. It meant a lot.
Which artist would you like to collaborate with or write a song for?
Oh my God, I've always wanted to write a song with Gwen Stefani. I love her so much and I got to perform with her at Coachella this year. She's such a kind, down to earth, sweet woman, and I think her songs are guides for me in writing my own songs. And so it would be nice to do something with her today. That would be great. It's so versatile. She is the ultimate coolest girl. Nobody does it like her. She's amazing.
Elections are upon us. How do you feel about it? Is this the first time you will be able to vote for a presidential candidate?
It's my first presidential election. I missed the last one. It's very exciting. I cast my vote yesterday [Sunday]. I made a postal ballot and went to deliver it to the polling station. It was very emotional. And I wore my sticker with a lot of pride all day. It's a super, super important election, so I hope everyone, especially people my age, gets out and votes. It couldn't be more important.
Many of us first saw you in an acting role before “Drivers License” came out – if you were to get back into acting, what kind of role would you want it to be?
Oh, very interesting. I would like to do an acting role that has nothing to do with music. As much as I love music, I think it would be really cool to be able to stretch a new muscle and do something completely different than what I've been doing for the last few years. I'd love to do something like that, but who knows? The future is bright.