- 4 minutes ago
Alex Warren links up with Bru to talk about the new album, 'WILDCHILD,' his vulnerable and honest approach to songwriting, and how John Mayer made his way onto his sophomore effort.
“I think that this album has allowed me to grieve in a way that I didn't think was possible,” shares Alex. “‘WILDCHILD’ to me means more than anything. My dad used to call me that.”
“What I'm saying to people is that, ‘people die twice, they die when they die and they die when you stop telling their story,’ and keeping my dad a part of this album keeps him alive forever. Having his voice in this record and having the name he called me be the title track of it, and having my childhood videos be the soundtrack to an interlude just allows my dad to live on forever.”
'WILDCHILD' is now available everywhere.
“I think that this album has allowed me to grieve in a way that I didn't think was possible,” shares Alex. “‘WILDCHILD’ to me means more than anything. My dad used to call me that.”
“What I'm saying to people is that, ‘people die twice, they die when they die and they die when you stop telling their story,’ and keeping my dad a part of this album keeps him alive forever. Having his voice in this record and having the name he called me be the title track of it, and having my childhood videos be the soundtrack to an interlude just allows my dad to live on forever.”
'WILDCHILD' is now available everywhere.
Category
🎵
MusicTranscript
00:00I've never I've never like went in and bought my album we've never had it like out at a place
00:05so
00:05like this is gonna be like my first time experience yeah we didn't have it like I think last year
00:11for
00:11the first album I never got to like go buy it in person so I'm like super super amped to
00:16be able to
00:17do that that's really cool man it's gonna be a cool I know it's gonna be like my childhood dream
00:21and stuff it's feeling great well dude getting to listen to it I'm like it I'm so happy for you
00:26I'm
00:26so like proud I feel eternal for some reason congratulations you and I you and I have known
00:31each other for quite some time but we also like always talked about this like we've always been
00:36like wow we'll see each other we'll do it like we're gonna go like but we've never done so I'm
00:40so excited that like it's finally happening I want to come in person and do it one day I was
00:44gonna say
00:45I was gonna say we're not all the way there yet but this is a great step and again I
00:48appreciate
00:48the time so much so listening to the album like I would love to go through some of the songs
00:51with
00:51you just get some of the stories and everything yeah dive into it a little deeper so first up with
00:57emerald eyes I mean groovy man loved it thank you what made that one the one to like introduce wild
01:03child at least in the album like song title you know I think that it's a nice like right off
01:09the
01:09rip that intro with the piano line into a really sick bass line and now Rogers plays guitar on it
01:15which
01:15is just something so sick but I think it puts you into like a headspace of uh almost like
01:21where am I going from here because it's so like everything all at once um and I wanted to kind
01:28of purposely give you sonic whiplash when it goes into a ballad right after and I think that that's
01:33kind of setting the tone not setting the tone with one record but setting the tone with two and I
01:38kind
01:38of want it to feel like life where you know you could be really high up somewhere and then all
01:43of a
01:44sudden kind of just get body slammed by life and I wanted that I wanted that to be as realistic
01:49as
01:49possible I love that because sometimes you know people do it to where it is like a ride right like
01:53it's the rise and they come back down or you know with a big bang so you were consciously deciding
01:57like
01:57how this was at least perceived if people listen to it from start to finish I was consciously like
02:02if you are listening to this record in in like I viewed it as someone who it comes out and
02:08they
02:08immediately put it on in their car and I want them to listen to it chronologically I want you to
02:13go
02:13through the emotions of life not when it's convenient you know like I think that life isn't
02:19fair life isn't um isn't going to be like well let's ride them up a little bit and drop them
02:24down
02:24I wanted you to go through emotions the same way everyone else does yeah you're not here to hold
02:29their hand they can take it feel it all um but it's kind of like representing my show too so
02:35if you've
02:35seen my show it's like all of a sudden it just hits you yeah yeah we're crying and then a
02:40cannon
02:40goes off it's just you gotta be ready at all times um and then kind of vice versa of that
02:45the
02:45first song out was it passenger that you released like as the single from this album was that the
02:49first one out or do you count the first one out first one out was fever dream okay we dropped
02:55and that was right after the grammys right what's the process of picking that single first because
03:00I mean I guess it's not like the full representation of the album but yeah how do you
03:04it feels like it'd be hard how do you pick those singles we had written three songs at that time
03:09and it was fine place to die cry wolf and fever dream and I think right when the album uh
03:16sorry
03:16right when the grammys happened I kind of wanted to come out with a uh a feel good love song
03:22especially
03:23right after ordinary to kind of do it again but in a in a a different light and so it
03:27was really cool
03:28to kind of just rip right out of that I think it's honestly prefaced you for emerald eyes and a
03:32few
03:32of the other like passenger yeah you get a vibe check pretty quick absolutely for sure same stars
03:38made me feel things and I wanted yeah I wanted to ask about like as you work those writing muscles
03:44and you know you share more vulnerable sides how did like Lewis Capaldi you know in his music strike you
03:50to feel like this is something you should embrace you know that type of portrayal in your music
03:57uh yeah I mean I honestly you know didn't ever want to be that guy that bummed everyone out and
04:03so I
04:03never really talked about the things that I had went through and um I was talking to a friend one
04:07day
04:07and he was telling me that you should be you know you could help people with the story that you
04:11have
04:11and um when I started writing songs I was like you know what let me embrace that and you know
04:15obviously Lewis Capaldi had done it so well with writing you know records uh like someone you loved
04:20and so many songs about loss and so um when I started to write records like that in the sense
04:26of
04:26being honest with the audience and kind of like putting it in a perspective of a ballad um I realized
04:31that
04:31I uh I had a little bit of a knack for it yeah how do you think like mainstream pop
04:36mainstream pop
04:37whatever that is whatever that looks like nowadays is going to change especially like in the male
04:41aspect musically with sure or lyrically with guys like you somber benson boone harry styles it feels
04:48like that's more like encouraged than ever yeah I I think that it's it's an interesting layout here
04:55because there isn't really a clear path for male pop stars I like to say that I'm a male pop
05:00star
05:00is kind of funny to me like compared to like a lot of those but oh yeah I don't know
05:06I think that
05:06it's it's definitely a lane of just for me I just want to write about the things that happen in
05:11my life
05:12so I don't know if that puts me in the singer songwriter category or what it is but um I
05:16just
05:16want to be honest with the people who listen to my music and it's appreciated so much I mean even
05:21people like you know the Taylor the Taylor Swift's the world too where they're like man even the
05:25compliments for like somber and you where it's like it really does uh it's refreshing so we
05:31appreciate it and it's a really powerful thing absolutely um moving on to cry wolf I love this
05:36because I feel like it'll apply to so many people partners friends uh relationships of all kinds
05:41where'd you pull inspo for this song cry wolf for me was um the first record we wrote on the
05:48album
05:48and it was uh it was definitely I'm not a confrontational person so as I go through life
05:54I've kind of always just been like okay cool and and because of that I think a lot of people
05:58have
05:59kind of walked over me a bit and um one day my wife and I were sitting in the kitchen
06:03I was like
06:03can we stop doing this like can we just can we just I don't know can we just maybe focus
06:09on each
06:09other and so we uh I I went in the studio the next day and I was very much like
06:14you know what
06:15I'm just going to be a confrontational person in my music and get that out and so I uh I
06:20pretty
06:21much just stood up for myself in that record and um yeah it was it felt very very uh liberating
06:28what
06:28is the word I'm looking for is it liberating yeah I liberty for all and there we go yeah under
06:36what's the phone it you really are belting in that song so I know that felt good uh yeah and
06:40you do
06:41I was screaming in that booth what do you do to get your voice to the point where you're able
06:45to
06:45just let the let it run diet coke that's it the bubbles really activate something and you don't
06:52dude four diet cokes I'm there have you ever written something though and realized like oh no
06:57I have to sing this every night for the next how many years every song every song I've written is
07:03just I I am just torturing myself on that stage it's all like here's the thing it's like there's
07:09some records like passenger that are really easy and fun to sing like that song I could sing sick
07:14just because it's just like it's just mellow you don't need to try as much I start the show with
07:20an
07:20octave jump like everything is just vocal gymnastics it's I don't know why I do it but I also think
07:26it's
07:26obviously you know to build a motion you've got to do that you have to you know drop the octave
07:31and
07:31have this huge crescendo it's just uh what people are tailored to now yeah that's something I love it
07:36man um tell me about the decision to also I loved hearing this on the album but to include are
07:43you
07:43having fun Alex the memories the nostalgia like tell me about that decision my dad left me um my dad
07:51left me a bunch of videos and when you start to watch them you start to realize they're more
07:55messages to us now that we're older and he purposely did that and I couldn't bring myself to watch those
08:01videos I still haven't watched all those videos and I was on tour and Adam my producer had texted me
08:09a link and he said sit down when you listen to this this is your interlude and so he kind
08:13of just
08:13delivered it to me in the sense of like I was not a part of that process and oh wow
08:17when when he played
08:19it when I got it and I played it I bawled my eyes out and essentially what this is was
08:24just everything I
08:25wish I heard from my dad now like it's almost like this weird time machine that I'm able to talk
08:29to him
08:29again everyone's like oh like what would you do if you could talk to your dad one last time and
08:34that interlude feels like that for me so it was uh it was really really emotional and even when I
08:40listen to it now I get pretty pretty twisted up yeah whoever added that music behind it didn't need
08:45it that was like too much yeah it's like when they add that music in those commercials the dogs that
08:49you need to it's like come on I felt like a dog I felt like one of those dogs
08:53oh well I may be curious to ask you like who to you this might be a little deep but
09:00like who is
09:01wild child now like do you still consider that you is a younger you or is this album almost you
09:06reconnecting with that kid I think that this album I think that this album has allowed me to
09:15grieve in a way that I didn't think was possible you know like and I I truly think that today
09:22wild child to me means more than anything my dad used to call me that and it never really came
09:27up
09:27in my daily life and you know during my show I do this whole speech and I I feel like
09:32I need to start
09:33living in what I'm preaching and what I'm saying to people is that you know people die twice they die
09:38when they die and they die when you stop telling their story and keeping my dad a part of this
09:43album
09:43keeps them alive forever you know like having his voice in this record and um having the word he
09:49called the name he called me be the title track of it you know and having my childhood videos be
09:55the
09:55soundtrack into an interlude just allows my dad to live on forever this piece of work will outlive me
10:01you know and I think that's something so important that my kids and their kids and their kids after
10:07that will be able to have a part of their lives that's so cool man I love that right I
10:12love that you
10:13get to experience that too like who would have thought like if you didn't even pursue music
10:17you never would have got to that moment that's what I'm saying like I think that it's a rare
10:20thing that I feel like this will outlive me in so many generations yeah one more dad question here
10:26if I feel like I obviously know the answer but if you if your dad could hear this album what
10:31song
10:31you think maybe you'd be the most nervous to play for him and maybe the most excited feel like wild
10:36child would be his favorite for multiple reasons but are sure wow that would be his favorite I don't
10:41know I don't think I'd be nervous my dad was the loudest supporter ever I talked to a lot of
10:45his
10:45friends and like people who he went to college with will show up to my show which is so cool
10:50and
10:51they're like hold up a sign and they're like I was in a frat with your dad and um it's
10:55really rad I
10:57um they will always go like oh like if your dad was here he would have bought this whole entire
11:00section out he would have had every single friend service for everyone and he'd have the gas station
11:06worker he just met here at this show tonight because he's so proud of you and like all these things
11:09and so
11:10I don't think I would be I don't think I'd be nervous to show him any record I'd be I'd
11:15be so
11:15excited and he would sit there for hours just staring at me excited that's so cool well I love
11:21that is there anything like music that gives you that type of like therapeutic benefit you know some
11:28people like Harry runs other people tried things that are in that vein but what about you is music
11:33the number one and anything else you surf I don't know you surf well we did talk about surfing that's
11:38right yeah yeah never got out there the sharks are crazy right now by the way El Nino they're
11:43everywhere California I know I'm doing I'm doing the wave pool here in Australia so before a show
11:48every day before a show all I'm doing is surfing that's so cool you just hit that flow state I
11:53dude
11:53I don't have a phone no one can bother me I throw it and I just go surf it's the
11:57best I love that I'm
11:58glad you get that time too it can be intense um all right I asking another uh question about like
12:04a
12:04fan of your album which song would cover say is the most alex song on this album whoa dig deep
12:13alex song whoa I've I've never thought of that what cover would say is the most alex I have to
12:20say wild child it has to be yeah it has to be brought out absolutely I'm gonna ask her after
12:26this that's a really great question you can ask her this one too has cover ever heard a song and
12:31gone like that is not how this happened like is he right from experiences I don't think so I've
12:38never really fought or I've never written about like a fight or else I didn't say oh you're just
12:44saying what you know in general I don't know it could have been like uh I feel like a verse
12:50where
12:50like obviously it's romantic and it'd be like that is not that's happened I do feel like that's
12:55happened where she's like are you sure was that me other girlfriend no um wait I think it has
13:01happened I'm not sure though I it has to be an old song like it'd have to be something like
13:05I wrote so
13:05long ago yeah that's funny hit me back on that I want to know I'm curious she has she has
13:11hit me
13:11with she I I've sent her my out like my my songs like I have a deck full of just
13:15songs that I've
13:16written and I send her one and she goes who is this about like what is this about like she's
13:22asked
13:22me that a lot of times for interpretation you know it's not always gonna be out right exactly
13:27on the nose yeah and then I'm like explaining I'm like oh well like I wrote this about like
13:31it's definitely I've definitely done that that was great dude last we talked um you teased that there
13:37is like one ish collab on this album and we now know it's John Mayer of Wild Child first of
13:42all
13:43how cool is that and second of all it's the coolest well my dad my dad's favorite musician
13:50was John Mayer and so we would get in the car and he would play it and there'd be the
13:54Costco
13:54uh cashews in the back and we'd eat those and it was just one of those things where like my
13:59fondest
13:59memories of my dad was listening to music in the car as we went places and I feel like he
14:04made that
14:04such a thing like he had the cd and the cassettes and he'd throw them in and like it was
14:08just such a
14:08all of us all the siblings would be singing train and cold play and john and um rascal flats and
14:15that's
14:15what I grew up with and um yeah I think that that was like a pivotal part and so when
14:20I wrote
14:21Wild Child I wanted to put a minute and a half guitar solo at the end and so I put
14:25the spot there and
14:26I dm'd John and I said hey no offense but you're holding up my album here if you're not hopping
14:31on
14:31this thing and um I swear I said I said no pressure though and so he yeah he dm'd me
14:38back and he's like
14:38I'm in and so he FaceTimed me while I was in Berlin and he did it that's incredible yeah no
14:44pressure
14:44whatsoever but I will be posting this no I'm just kidding yeah right that's amazing dude I feel like
14:49you manifest that you manifest so much like I feel like you're a goal-oriented guy and or at least
14:54you have a vision about where you want to see things go what would you love to see next in
14:59your
14:59career a lot of the things that I do are based off of like nostalgia or my childhood I think
15:04it's just
15:05me healing the broken parts of my childhood and my goal is to eventually sell out um Petco
15:12Petco Stadium Petco Park in San Diego that was where I used to grow up going and watching the
15:17baseball games with my dad so like a goal of mine would to play would to be to play my
15:22hometown
15:22stadium yeah I feel like it's only a matter of time it's such a lame goal it's such like I
15:27was
15:27I would love to dominate the charts bro I would love that no I just want to play
15:33no I just want to play Petco Park dude that's incredible and the best part is like it's gonna
15:38happen at some point and I can't wait to see it yeah absolutely one day that'd be rad um as
15:44we move
15:44as we move on with this like new chapter you did basically talk about that like the numbers you
15:48basically got the dream outcome with ordinary you got like a massive record success globally everything
15:54did achieving that change your definition of what success actually is it's kind of a deeper
16:01question as we I'm just curious from from being at the top what that's like and if it feels like
16:05everything that you thought it would I think I would have thought that I would
16:11it was scary like it does that make sense like it was terrifying I think I think the biggest thing
16:17was
16:17like wow that's a great question and it's so deep I think what that song has awarded me has
16:31what that song has awarded me has been exactly what I thought it would be like I have the security
16:36of of just being able to spend time with my wife but also the freedom to experiment with music like
16:42I don't have to I don't have to worry about like oh I hope I can get a hit like
16:47I never thought I'd
16:48get one and so now that I have one now there's no pressure it's kind of like oh cool what
16:52kind of
16:52music do I want to make now it's not like I don't need to make a 15 second tiktok audio
16:57and then
16:58build a record around that it's more like what rock what record do I want to make and how do
17:02I
17:02promote that you know I think it's two different mindsets now um but it is definitely something
17:07where that song was so big that now it's like okay well any any amount of success I have will
17:14look
17:15minute compared to that record because it's it's astronomically bigger than I think I could have ever
17:20imagined it does that make sense like a successful record to my like a successful record today will
17:25still not even come close to what ordinary is you know what I'm saying no it's crazy because you're
17:31right you get that freedom of like oh I did it I achieved anything I do will not amount to
17:36it so
17:36it's kind of like it's it's scary it's done it's all downhill from here no I'm just kidding
17:42straight up that is what it is like no matter how big of success this next stuff is I don't
17:48know I
17:48wouldn't say that I mean you could absolutely do it again I think I think you will but like I
17:54get
17:55the daunting feeling of like how yeah but well on that note uh good luck with that no I'm just
18:01kidding
18:01thanks man appreciate it hope that works out for you no I want to finish up with a couple just
18:05like
18:06rapid fire things uh first thing that comes to your mind here about the new album what was the song
18:09that was the hardest to finish I Miss You More was the hardest to finish that song for me
18:14I was crying during it so most of that funny enough is the one take that we did in the
18:18beginning
18:18because we wanted to keep it um we wanted to keep it emotional so if you listen to it second
18:23verse I
18:24just start crying and so like I'm actually actively crying during that record god I was like man he's a
18:29good actor I didn't know that that's amazing yeah yeah no that was terrifying uh what was the song you
18:34think fans are gonna completely misunderstand at first last time because everyone I played for
18:40misunderstands it so last time for me was what I wrote um everyone we wrote everyone who wrote it
18:47has a different understanding what that record is so for me it's the last time that I got to see
18:51my
18:51parents for um another person's last time they get they get to hold their daughter before they're too
18:56big to be held it was for uh mags it was the last time she got to see her boyfriend
19:00before they broke up
19:01and for adam it's the last time that he I forgot what it was but everyone has a different reason
19:06on why
19:07they wrote it and it was it's the most misunderstood record that everyone calls me goes what is this
19:11about is this a breakup song wow wow that's that's a great backstory I can't wait for people to hear
19:17it and keep misunderstanding more of their songs me too I'm very excited I'm very excited for that
19:22last one the song that cover has played the most so far on the album what's she obsessed with
19:27what was it rescuer rescuer oh yeah I mean that's come on she blasts that song like dude I'm not
19:33kidding like before it came out it was always like can I play rescuer for this person can I have
19:37to play rescuer for this person she loves that song I love that she's the gatekeeper of rescuer
19:41and now it's out in the world by the time this comes out congratulations dude and I really do
19:45appreciate you making the time I know you're so busy and traveling and cannot wait to see you in
19:49person and catch up like formally but it's always a blast getting to say hey and I'm so happy for
19:54you
19:55genuinely so I'm stoked to see you soon amazing all right dude good luck stay safe and healthy and
20:00everything and yeah we'll see you back in LA at some point we'll serve finally get you in pet
20:04guys can't wait for it all
20:06you
Comments