Latest / Inside Country with Wayne D / Keith Urban Gets Personal, "Whistling in the Dark!"

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Keith Urban Gets Personal, "Whistling in the Dark!" · Inside Country with Wayne D

0:00
Speaker 1: It's always fun catching up. Keith Urban is here.
0:02
Speaker 2: How you doing doing great? Good to see you to.
0:04
Speaker 1: I got to tell you last time we caught up,
0:07
Speaker 1: you were excited about new music, but it felt like
0:09
Speaker 1: you were you had opened up a little bit about
0:12
Speaker 1: a tough time you had gone with an album you
0:14
Speaker 1: thought was done right.
0:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's relative right. Just creatively speaking, it was. It
0:19
Speaker 2: was it was a bit of a gut punch to
0:21
Speaker 2: work on an album per year and a half than
0:23
Speaker 2: to just scrap most of it and start again.
0:26
Speaker 1: It felt like you were still kind of healing off
0:28
Speaker 1: of that when we because we talked, gosh, I want
0:30
Speaker 1: to say it was probably close to four three four
0:32
Speaker 1: months ago.
0:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, how do you feel now that like everybody lated
0:37
Speaker 2: just some Yeah. I mean I always at the time,
0:40
Speaker 2: it's like, man, this is going to be, this is
0:42
Speaker 2: going to push everything like significantly into touring. Is going
0:47
Speaker 2: to be now twenty twenty five, and this is when
0:50
Speaker 2: I was in twenty three, so I'm like two years wow, okay, great,
0:53
Speaker 2: you know that kind of thing. It would have been
0:55
Speaker 2: so much easier to just go the album's fine, it's
0:58
Speaker 2: got a couple of good tracks. We're good. Let's go,
1:01
Speaker 2: let's keep the thing going. But I really wanted to
1:03
Speaker 2: make a good, solid album top to bottom.
1:06
Speaker 1: What was missing from that first one that you found
1:09
Speaker 1: in what Spirit?
1:12
Speaker 2: Musical adventure and spirit, but mostly spirit, just because most
1:18
Speaker 2: of the songs, too many of the songs were similar
1:20
Speaker 2: in this sort of energy and tempo, and they just
1:24
Speaker 2: it was too much of one kind of thing. And
1:27
Speaker 2: I didn't really realize that until I put it all together,
1:30
Speaker 2: because we were recording one at a time and each
1:32
Speaker 2: one individually felt really good, but placed together didn't feel good.
1:37
Speaker 2: And so I just wanted to get back in and
1:39
Speaker 2: capture more of the spirit of who I am and
1:41
Speaker 2: particularly what I do live.
1:42
Speaker 1: We were lucky enough to get the album early and
1:45
Speaker 1: I was spending some time with it, and I'm spending
1:47
Speaker 1: more time with it this morning. There's so many songs
1:50
Speaker 1: that it feels like unlike other albums, it feels like,
1:56
Speaker 1: is this more the direction of the album and the
1:59
Speaker 1: songs in order? Is it more purposeful than it's ever
2:02
Speaker 1: been before? Because it felt that way listening to it.
2:04
Speaker 2: It's very purposeful. Sequencing was very purposeful for the next
2:09
Speaker 2: mood to hopefully be the one that works for how
2:12
Speaker 2: you're feeling coming off that song.
2:15
Speaker 1: What is your favorite story to tell out of those
2:17
Speaker 1: twelve new songs? Right?
2:18
Speaker 2: Eleven eleven new songs. Yeah, there's a track that opens
2:23
Speaker 2: the record, but it's a tiny little piece of dialogue
2:27
Speaker 2: which isn't really a track, but I had to number
2:29
Speaker 2: it frustratingly, it's not a track.
2:32
Speaker 1: That is why I said twelve.
2:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know exactly. It's eleven songs. It's forty minutes
2:37
Speaker 2: top to bottom. That's plenty for an album in my opinion.
2:40
Speaker 2: What was the question?
2:41
Speaker 1: It was purposeful on the placement of song versus just
2:47
Speaker 1: tossing them on there. Yeah.
2:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, because I make records the same way I do
2:51
Speaker 2: a set list for a show. You know, It's like,
2:53
Speaker 2: what's the opening, what's the song you want to come
2:55
Speaker 2: next with? And then where do you want to go
2:56
Speaker 2: after that? The rise and fall, a bit of mindless,
3:00
Speaker 2: a bit of introspection, a bit of emotion, a bit
3:02
Speaker 2: of party, a bit of everything, just you know, pacing
3:06
Speaker 2: it and how do I want to end it?
3:09
Speaker 1: You know?
3:10
Speaker 2: That was that was the thinking behind all of it.
3:12
Speaker 1: What's something that you know? Rewind to Keith Urban many
3:16
Speaker 1: years ago. Many you don't say that to somebody, Uh,
3:20
Speaker 1: Keith Urban younger years early music. Yeah, what's something that
3:24
Speaker 1: you put way too much pressure on yourself and way
3:27
Speaker 1: too much stress on yourself that now that you're like,
3:31
Speaker 1: let's fly through it, we're good.
3:34
Speaker 2: Nothing Nothing comes to mind, really no, because I think
3:37
Speaker 2: I'd already done all that, even earlier, before all the records.
3:40
Speaker 2: I think i'd gone through. I know I had. I'd
3:42
Speaker 2: gone through a lot of a lot of stuff. I
3:45
Speaker 2: mean the first the first some of the early recording
3:49
Speaker 2: sessions with my band, The Ranch. We were on a
3:52
Speaker 2: different record label, and we were getting what I used
3:55
Speaker 2: to call the court appointed producers, a sign to us
4:00
Speaker 2: like Okay, now you gotta go win and cut with
4:01
Speaker 2: this guy because he's a legend, and you're like okay,
4:05
Speaker 2: And none of it was working. It didn't really matter
4:07
Speaker 2: who produced us, he just wasn't working. And this is
4:11
Speaker 2: early on and this famous producer who's not with us anymore,
4:15
Speaker 2: and I'll never mention my name because he's he is
4:17
Speaker 2: a legend, he's great, but I think he was just
4:19
Speaker 2: he didn't want to be there, right. The labels probably
4:22
Speaker 2: like you're going to go produce this band. He's like, Okay,
4:24
Speaker 2: So he's sitting in the studio and we cut the
4:27
Speaker 2: song and he gets to the end of the song
4:30
Speaker 2: and he goes, all right, boys, what do you want
4:31
Speaker 2: on this thing? Fiddle or steel? And I'm like, well,
4:34
Speaker 2: I don't really want what, you know, and he goes, well,
4:38
Speaker 2: we got to put one on there, either fiddle or steel.
4:40
Speaker 2: I don't care what it is, you pick it. I'm like,
4:42
Speaker 2: I don't really want fiddle or steel on this particular song.
4:45
Speaker 2: I don't think it needs it. And he goes, listen, sign,
4:47
Speaker 2: I don't make the rules. Just pick one and we'll
4:49
Speaker 2: get on with it. And he started to get really agitated,
4:51
Speaker 2: and I'm like, I don't want I'm getting all whany
4:54
Speaker 2: and stuff, you know. And then he goes, listen, how
4:58
Speaker 2: many number one records you putt? And I went you didn't.
5:01
Speaker 2: Just people don't really say that, dude, that's in the movies.
5:05
Speaker 2: I can't believe you said that. I said, I've produced zero,
5:09
Speaker 2: and I go and you've done hundreds of them, but
5:11
Speaker 2: you're not putting fiddle or steel on this record. And
5:13
Speaker 2: I just walked out of the studio and he quit,
5:15
Speaker 2: and I the point about that is, I think I
5:18
Speaker 2: got through all the stuff that would otherwise worry me
5:21
Speaker 2: very early on, and I'm like, I'm just going to
5:23
Speaker 2: make records I want to make and they work, but
5:25
Speaker 2: they don't work. But either way I fall on my sword,
5:28
Speaker 2: not somebody else's.
5:29
Speaker 1: Have you always been able to do it your way always?
5:32
Speaker 1: And that's important? Right? Like you don't.
5:34
Speaker 2: Yes, someone said to me early on when I came
5:35
Speaker 2: to Nashville. They said, what's what's your most important thing?
5:38
Speaker 2: And I said, getting a record deal. They said, no,
5:40
Speaker 2: it's not. I said, what is it? And they go,
5:42
Speaker 2: getting the right record deal? And I went, what's the
5:44
Speaker 2: right record deal? And they went, the one that gives
5:46
Speaker 2: you full creative control to be who you are. That's
5:48
Speaker 2: the one you wait. You wait for that one, and
5:51
Speaker 2: we did have to wait for that one.
5:52
Speaker 1: How what what's that process like? Rewind to when when
5:56
Speaker 1: you started getting because I imagine when somebody started to
5:59
Speaker 1: see talent it's like, yeah, here here you go, Yeah, yeah,
6:01
Speaker 1: here you go. What was that process like that? You're
6:04
Speaker 1: like to be patient enough.
6:08
Speaker 2: I think it's just it's being worn down. And one
6:11
Speaker 2: of the great advantages early on I had. I had nothing.
6:15
Speaker 2: When you have nothing to lose, man, you can make
6:18
Speaker 2: some bold choices because I can't lose anything.
6:21
Speaker 1: What do I care?
6:22
Speaker 2: You know, It's like I've got nothing happening. I'll just
6:25
Speaker 2: make the demands I want to make. Take it or
6:27
Speaker 2: leave it. I got nothing to lose, event I got
6:28
Speaker 2: something to gain. And that was, weirdly enough, a great
6:31
Speaker 2: place to get to if that makes sense.
6:34
Speaker 1: Listen, And if someday it all doesn't work out, I
6:36
Speaker 1: could get you playing intermissions at bridge Stone if nice.
6:39
Speaker 1: Just let me know.
6:39
Speaker 2: I always want to have something to fall back on.
6:43
Speaker 1: When it comes to your best days. You are a
6:46
Speaker 1: positive guy to be around.
6:47
Speaker 2: You are to try.
6:49
Speaker 1: You are one of the best entertainers like I've seen live.
6:54
Speaker 1: But obviously there's tough days, as Keith Urban right, So
6:57
Speaker 1: if you peel back like they, hey, it's so excited.
6:59
Speaker 1: Always got this great song? What are challenges that you
7:02
Speaker 1: have to get from stage to stage or song to song?
7:06
Speaker 2: You know, over the years, a lot of people have
7:08
Speaker 2: sort of thought, gush, you write a lot of happy,
7:11
Speaker 2: go lucky, summer time windows down songs. Your life must
7:14
Speaker 2: be great. Good for you, buddy, you know, And I'm
7:16
Speaker 2: like I was looking back thinking why have I written
7:19
Speaker 2: so many of these kinds of songs in my life,
7:22
Speaker 2: and it's and I would define most of those songs
7:25
Speaker 2: as me whistling in the dark, Like these songs are
7:28
Speaker 2: my way of trying to stay a little bit above
7:31
Speaker 2: water myself. It's it's my whistling in the dark songs
7:35
Speaker 2: like I'm not the sunny, happy, go lucky, Everything's great guy.
7:39
Speaker 2: I can be quite the opposite. So I need these
7:41
Speaker 2: songs to keep me, to keep me positive and moving forward.
7:46
Speaker 1: What's been the song that's helped you do that the most,
7:48
Speaker 1: or maybe when you got all of them.
7:50
Speaker 2: All of them, I mean, and getting to revisit some
7:52
Speaker 2: of these songs, like the old ones like Days Go
7:54
Speaker 2: By and who Would Know Me? And Better Life and
7:57
Speaker 2: Somebody Like You and Long Hot Summer. Getting to play
8:00
Speaker 2: these things in concert, it's such a gift. It's a
8:04
Speaker 2: real gift. And to see everybody's singing, it's amazing. I'm
8:07
Speaker 2: so grateful for it.
8:08
Speaker 1: What songs you talk about, you know, some big titles
8:11
Speaker 1: that have lasting power. If someone's making a playlist now
8:16
Speaker 1: that just dove into country music in the last week,
8:18
Speaker 1: they're going to find some of the songs you just mentioned.
8:22
Speaker 1: Do you have a feeling in this new album, what
8:24
Speaker 1: songs could potentially have that like everlasting effect on fans.
8:28
Speaker 2: I don't. I'm always surprised by that, you know, song people,
8:31
Speaker 2: That's the great thing about getting music out finally, So
8:33
Speaker 2: I'm so happy that the album's coming out because now
8:35
Speaker 2: I get to actually get some feedback.
8:38
Speaker 1: What song are you? Is there one that you're kind
8:41
Speaker 1: of like overprotective of?
8:43
Speaker 2: No, no once. That's one thing I've learned to be
8:48
Speaker 2: to be less concerned about people's reaction to what I
8:53
Speaker 2: make or what I do. It's none of my business
8:55
Speaker 2: what you make of it. Like I said my piece,
8:58
Speaker 2: I'm not going to move on with my life and
8:59
Speaker 2: you can sit with it, dissit, be confused by it,
9:04
Speaker 2: hated it first, love it, eventually whatever it is, that's
9:07
Speaker 2: got nothing to do with me. I can't control any
9:09
Speaker 2: of that.
9:09
Speaker 1: There was Thomas Rhett, who will join you at the
9:12
Speaker 1: IHAT Radio Music Festival in about a month here. We
9:15
Speaker 1: talked to him about his new album recently, and he
9:17
Speaker 1: said early in his career, when he would do a
9:19
Speaker 1: show or put out a new song, as soon as
9:22
Speaker 1: it was out or as soon as the show was over,
9:24
Speaker 1: he'd pick up his phone and look for anybody talking.
9:27
Speaker 2: All right, all right, right, right?
9:29
Speaker 1: Have you ever been a guy that.
9:30
Speaker 2: Checks the reviews not reviews, because they're they're not they're
9:36
Speaker 2: only they're only those people in that one moment, and
9:40
Speaker 2: even those people may have a different opinion next week.
9:43
Speaker 2: One of the people's maybe their dog just died, right,
9:46
Speaker 2: maybe their their partner left them, maybe something horrendous happened
9:49
Speaker 2: to them, they lost their job, and they just came
9:50
Speaker 2: to your gig, and they're hating everything. You know, you
9:54
Speaker 2: don't know, So it's a dangerous game to play getting
9:57
Speaker 2: too much from that. My feeling is more broad. It's like,
10:02
Speaker 2: what's the what's the general temperature reading of everything? It
10:05
Speaker 2: feels pretty good. There's always gonna be naysay, screw them,
10:08
Speaker 2: Yeah exactly.
10:09
Speaker 1: You bought to take it anywhere, hit the bank account
10:11
Speaker 1: and see it.
10:12
Speaker 2: Well. Plus, I mean, how many songs did you hate
10:13
Speaker 2: it first and then grew to love them? Because a
10:16
Speaker 2: lot of the time, especially if it's an artist we
10:18
Speaker 2: love the first time we hear like a Thomas Rhett fan,
10:22
Speaker 2: the first time they hear his new song, they're deciding
10:26
Speaker 2: is it like bomb? They've already got an expectation level
10:30
Speaker 2: that this song has to meet. So they're hearing it
10:32
Speaker 2: for what it isn't. Oh it's not die happy man.
10:35
Speaker 2: It isn't. It isn't this. It isn't that. It's like, no,
10:38
Speaker 2: it isn't it's this. Give this, give this a second.
10:41
Speaker 2: You know, this may take a minute. So I think
10:43
Speaker 2: people's reaction sometimes takes a while.
10:46
Speaker 1: Uh. When it comes to shows like the iHeartRadio Music Festival,
10:49
Speaker 1: you're no stranger to Vegas. You've played. I'd be surprised
10:52
Speaker 1: if you didn't have a condo or something in Vegas.
10:55
Speaker 2: I don't have a condo.
10:59
Speaker 1: You do to lost. I want to tell you thanks
11:03
Speaker 1: for keeping up the payments. I'm enjoying the vacation.
11:05
Speaker 2: O good, someone's in there.
11:07
Speaker 1: But what does it mean for you? Because the iHeart
11:09
Speaker 1: Radio Music Festival has evolved over the years where you
11:12
Speaker 1: get like Shaboozie will be there this year. There's these
11:16
Speaker 1: new up and comers who get to experience this. But
11:18
Speaker 1: then you have these legacy acts that come in and
11:20
Speaker 1: every genre is represented to be invited back this year.
11:24
Speaker 1: For where you're at in your career, this awesome new
11:26
Speaker 1: music is coming down the pipe. What does it mean
11:29
Speaker 1: for you to be involved.
11:31
Speaker 2: It's I love it. I love it, I love I
11:34
Speaker 2: love playing new songs. Obviously, I love people wanting to
11:37
Speaker 2: hear those new songs. That's definitely been the case with
11:40
Speaker 2: Messed Up as Me and the Laney Jewet to go
11:44
Speaker 2: Home with You. It just feels great to be able
11:47
Speaker 2: to play, but to be able to slip in new
11:48
Speaker 2: songs as well. It's the best. That's it's the best.
11:51
Speaker 1: It's gonna be fun. What's what do you do? Do
11:53
Speaker 1: you get downtime when you're in Vegas? And if you do,
11:55
Speaker 1: what's like something you'll do?
11:57
Speaker 2: There's something. There's a place where you can go and
12:00
Speaker 2: operate heavy machinery like bulldozers and stuff like that, and
12:03
Speaker 2: you can go crush a car. You can literally like cars.
12:07
Speaker 2: The car is provided us, the Bayo car, but you
12:14
Speaker 2: get to like smash and crush a car. It's an
12:17
Speaker 2: amazing feeling. You can write your ex's name and spray
12:19
Speaker 2: paint on the car. They'll let you do that and
12:21
Speaker 2: then you just annihilate. It feels amazing.
12:24
Speaker 1: That's awesome. Yeah, that's it.
12:26
Speaker 2: I did that. Got a lot out on my system.
12:28
Speaker 1: Do we need to talk? Are you good?
12:29
Speaker 2: I'm good now.
12:32
Speaker 1: You you have I want to touch on because it's
12:34
Speaker 1: kind of a big deal your TV judging experience when
12:39
Speaker 1: it comes to music shows, right Carrie. Obviously you guys
12:43
Speaker 1: have a history together. Carrie's joining the Idol cast. Was there?
12:47
Speaker 1: Have you talked to her about that?
12:49
Speaker 2: Is there?
12:49
Speaker 1: Did she ask her advice?
12:51
Speaker 2: I haven't yet. She's gonna be great at it. I mean,
12:53
Speaker 2: because she knows what it's like to be on the
12:54
Speaker 2: other side receiving all of that, So I think she's
12:57
Speaker 2: gonna be Really She'll be the only one out of
13:00
Speaker 2: and Luke who's been on the other side of that,
13:02
Speaker 2: So she's gonna bring something really important.
13:04
Speaker 1: Do you think that will make her more sympathetic? So
13:07
Speaker 1: we'll see.
13:08
Speaker 2: Tough she may she may be talking mom who knows,
13:12
Speaker 2: could be She could be tough.
13:14
Speaker 1: That's true. We get we get the new album, We
13:17
Speaker 1: get the iHeart Radio Music Festival. Obviously, you said touring
13:20
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five. Do you have other things you're looking
13:23
Speaker 1: forward to in between now and the end of the year.
13:25
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, just putting it, putting the tour together. We've
13:29
Speaker 2: been lucky to be doing a lot of festivals recently,
13:32
Speaker 2: so we've been slipping near songs and we open the
13:34
Speaker 2: show with straight line. We've been doing messed up as me,
13:37
Speaker 2: uh wildside. We just put in the set a little
13:39
Speaker 2: while ago, so it's great sliding these things in right
13:43
Speaker 2: now and getting them greasy and loose and good.
13:47
Speaker 1: Yeah, I and I have to bring up this song
13:49
Speaker 1: title and I don't have it in front of me.
13:51
Speaker 1: It's it's on the new album and it's take that
13:54
Speaker 1: all the way to the drink.
13:55
Speaker 2: All laughing all the way.
13:57
Speaker 1: To the drink. I said to Tay when we heard
13:59
Speaker 1: that song, I go, I hope that's not a radio single.
14:01
Speaker 1: That's a that's a long ass name when the song's longer. Right,
14:06
Speaker 1: do you ever? Do you ever? You're you're talking about
14:09
Speaker 1: building it like a set list, right, and it's very
14:12
Speaker 1: intentional the way you do. Are you the same way
14:14
Speaker 1: with song titles? Are you like cool? It fits, Let's
14:16
Speaker 1: move to the next thing, as in being intentional, Like
14:20
Speaker 1: it's like you have to determine what the title is
14:22
Speaker 1: going to be. Maybe there's a couple of different options.
14:24
Speaker 1: Are you cool? Like slapping the label on it and
14:26
Speaker 1: moving on.
14:26
Speaker 2: No, I think titles are good. I think you're important.
14:28
Speaker 2: With how you do it? I mean when I write,
14:30
Speaker 2: we write that song, Ben Burgess, it's one of the
14:33
Speaker 2: writers on that. And we had this music track already done.
14:36
Speaker 2: Michael Losondo, Terrence Clark, my drummer, the three of us
14:38
Speaker 2: shammed and built this track, and then I brought Ben in.
14:41
Speaker 2: I'm like, what do you make of this track? And
14:43
Speaker 2: he goes, I think it reminds me of laughing all
14:46
Speaker 2: the way to the bank, and I went, oh, what
14:48
Speaker 2: about laughing all the way to the drank? It'd be
14:50
Speaker 2: way cooler. And then we wrote the song.
14:52
Speaker 1: I love it. It's so good. Do you have a
14:55
Speaker 1: favorite out of everything we're about to get on the
14:57
Speaker 1: new album?
14:57
Speaker 2: No, every one of them for different reasons that I mean.
15:00
Speaker 2: I had twenty songs originally, and I stripped it down
15:03
Speaker 2: at thirteen, and then I stripped it down to eleven.
15:05
Speaker 2: So just because I love every one of.
15:07
Speaker 1: Them, eleven songs twelve tracks, I'm never.
15:11
Speaker 2: Going to make them confusing.
15:13
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, twelve. So the rest of the year,
15:17
Speaker 1: you're getting ready to put the show together, do you
15:19
Speaker 1: have any trips playing? You get to unplug a little bit,
15:22
Speaker 1: and isn't going to be tough to finally because you've
15:24
Speaker 1: been home longer than you normally would have been.
15:26
Speaker 2: Yes and no. I mean we've been working a lot.
15:29
Speaker 2: We've been playing a lot of festivals and a lot
15:31
Speaker 2: of corporate gigs, and a lot of bomb mispers and
15:34
Speaker 2: weddings and you know, a few little played, a couple
15:38
Speaker 2: of divorces that were fun, challenging. Did birthday parties played
15:44
Speaker 2: at an airport? You know, we've had some quirky we've
15:46
Speaker 2: bet a quirque a few gigs this year.
15:49
Speaker 1: Do you ever hear? And I'm like this, I'll wrap
15:51
Speaker 1: it up, But the airport gig it went viral, right
15:55
Speaker 1: I saw it? Do you ever get approach for something
15:57
Speaker 1: like that? And you're like, I don't know.
16:00
Speaker 2: These are all my hair brain ideas, Oh every one
16:03
Speaker 2: of them, trust me. Yeah, it was awesome.
16:06
Speaker 1: Oh my lord, the new album's coming Keith in Vegas
16:10
Speaker 1: and we can't wait to see what you got when
16:11
Speaker 1: you hit the road in twenty five minute amazing.
16:13
Speaker 2: Thanks Keith, my pleasure, Thank you,