“It couldn’t be more important”

During her GUTS World Tour, an adorable video of a young Olivia Rodrigo performing in front of her stuffed animals plays in the background. “It makes me very emotional. My mother can’t watch this part without crying,” the singer admits.

This is one of the many moments featured on Netflix Olivia Rodrigo: GUTS World Tourher concert film, which debuted on Tuesday.

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“This is a very pleasant moment,” continues Rodrigo The Hollywood Reporter. “I really enjoy watching these videos. This has always been my dream, as evidenced by those home movies where I put on a show for my stuffed animals. And I’m very grateful that it happened that way, and every night I make my dream come true. It’s really special. I am a very happy girl.”

INTESTINESRodrigo’s second album, released last September, was a great success and helped her double the number of concerts she played in her 2022 SOUR Tour. It has also moved from movie theaters to arenas such as Madison Square Garden in New York and the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, where the Netflix special was filmed.

She hopes that her fans who could not make it to her concerts will be satisfied with the new concert film. “That’s what I was really excited about when I put it on Netflix — people who might not have been able to buy a ticket will be able to watch it,” she says. “Also, I think this movie shows several different perspectives and angles, and it feels fresh and exciting even if you’ve seen it before.”

In the interview, the 21-year-old talks about performing live, her advice to tour opener and rising star Chappelle Roan, a possible return to acting and her first vote.

On your last tour you were playing theaters, but on your last tour you went to the arena and played twice as many shows – what was that like?

It was wildly different. My two tours, I feel like they don’t even compare. They both felt so different. The SOUR The tour was extremely intimate and wonderful. I’m really glad I got to do the tour with that itinerary, but this tour was really big and I got to go to a lot of places I’ve never been before and I played these bigger venues. And so it definitely stretched me as a performer and I feel like I learned a lot and became a lot more confident as the show went on.

The tour was an all-female band – was that the case with your first tour as well?

It was, yes. I love girl bands. I grew up loving rock music, specifically all-female rock bands like Sleater-Kinney and Hole and Babes in Toyland and all these female rockers. And so, when I went on tour, I always tried to somehow recreate this environment for myself.

On tour, you perform “Pretty Isn’t Pretty” with INTESTINESwhich has a catchy beat but is lyrically deep. What was it like writing this song and did you have any fans who specifically spoke to you about this track?

That’s so interesting that you say that. This is one of my favorite songs to perform. I’ve been thinking about the lyrics to this song for so long. I had a few trial rounds where I tried to write “Beautiful is not beautiful” and it just didn’t work. And finally, when I wrote this version, I was like, “Yeah, I’ve finally articulated what I wanted to say.” It’s one of my favorite songs to play live because it’s not a hit or anything. It doesn’t have a lot of airplay of any of my songs and my discography, but I always watch when I sing this song and there are a few people in the audience who just 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 for 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 do you feel when 30- and 40-year-old people sing at your concerts?

It’s such a fun part (of the show). It was so cool to see all the different age groups singing together and there’s just such a diverse group of people that come to the show and it’s so fun to watch them every night. Music is so universal. It reminds me how similar we all are. We are much more alike than we are different, and the concert is a great example of that in real life.

I hope that if you write from a place of honesty and vulnerability — (something) that most people have experienced in their lives before — hopefully (everyone) will resonate with that. That’s my theory.

You mention in the film that “You Are Enough” is your favorite piece SOUR. why so

I wrote that song by myself in my bedroom on my bedroom floor and I’m really proud of it and it really captures the insecurity I felt at the time. It’s an insecurity that I thankfully don’t have now, but it’s a real beautiful time capsule in my 17-year-old heart, and so I’ll always feel attached to it.

Chappelle Roan appears in concert film – what was it like performing with her?

It was awesome. I mean, I love Chappelle, and she was such a big part of it INTESTINES world tour She opened; she did the first seven or so shows with me and she really helped me get my feet wet and helped me understand what the show was all about. It was a mistake not to include it; she is such a big part of it. I absolutely love this song (“Hot to Go!”) and had so much fun performing 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 used to exchange places, holding sessions in his studio, seeing each other from time to time and hanging out. She has backing vocals on some of my songs SOUR and INTESTINESso she’s always been a part of my life and I’m so, so happy that she’s blowing up and killing it and getting all the recognition she so rightfully deserves.

She, along with a number of artists, celebrates her breakthroughs this year. They experience something new—more fans, fame, upcoming Grammy nominations, and more. What advice would you give them, having had the same experience in 2021?

oh my god it’s so hard. I’m 21, I feel like I’m still flying by the seat of my pants in a lot of ways, but I think looking back when my music started to take off and I started to get some traction, it was all pretty exciting, but I think that at the end of the day it’s really important to remember that the things that really give you purpose in life probably aren’t charts or awards or anything like that. And I think if you keep that mindset, you’ll become a happier, more grounded person.

Was it time to record new music or write? Do you write when you have an idea, or do you prefer a scheduled session?

A bit of both. I like to write songs. It helps me feel healthy and human. For me, it’s something like self-care. It’s like keeping a journal or something, or calling your therapist. That’s what songwriting is to me, so I’m always writing songs. But I try not to put too much pressure on making something that a lot of people will hear right now. It’s kind of fun for me.

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). I was wondering if getting this nomination feels like something special?

Yes, it worked. It was really great. I mean, it felt like I was accepted into a community that is historically very male-heavy. A lot of guys are into rock music, so to be included in that category as a young woman 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 nice, down-to-earth, sweet lady, and I think her songs are such a guide for me in my songwriting. And so it would be cool to do something with her today. That would be great. She is so versatile. She is an incredibly cool girl. No one does it like she does. She is wonderful.

Elections are coming. How do you feel about it and will you be able to vote for a presidential candidate for the first time?

This is my first presidential election. I missed the last one. It is very exciting. I cast my vote yesterday (Sunday). I mailed the ballot and left and left it at the polling station. It was very exciting. And I wore my sticker very proudly all day. This is an extremely important election, so I hope everyone, especially people my age, will come out and vote. It couldn’t be more important.

Many of us first saw you in an acting role before the release of Driving License – if you were to return to acting, what role would you like to see?

Oh, very interesting. I would like to play an acting role that has nothing to do with music. As much as I love music, I think it would be really cool to stretch a new muscle and do something completely different than what I’ve been doing for the past few years. I would love to do something like that, but who knows? The future is bright.

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