Legendary White Stripes musician served as a kind of mentor for the young artist in a new stage of her career
Olivia Rodrigo was no stranger to fame when she released her first album in 2021, the extremely successful Sour. She had already distinguished herself as an actress in productions of disney, the example of Bizaardvark and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. However, the success achieved in music put her in new territory.
Naturally, therefore, she looked for some “mentors” for the continuation of her work in the area. Even because their second album, Gutswill be released on September 8th.
In view of this, as revealed by herself in an interview with the newspaper The New York Times (via website Igor Miranda), the artists who not only served as inspiration but also offered advice on this stage of the journey were Jack White and St. Vincent. The first emerged in the late 1990s with the The White Stripes and became one of the biggest forces in the garage rock revival. The second became notable in fact with the arrival of the 2010s, being one of the great representatives of the so-called art rock at the current time.
It even reached the point of white have sent a letter to Rodrigo in order to answer some of your questions. The artist herself reveals a simple and complex piece of advice given by the mentor in question:
“He wrote me a letter after we first met, and it said, ‘Your only job is to create the music you want to hear on the radio.’ I mean, writing songs that you would want to hear on the radio is actually quite difficult.”
Olivia Rodrigo and partner St. Vincent
While Jack White emerged from a little further afield — and seems to prefer more analogue interactions, which is not surprising considering his enormous fondness for vinyl records —, St. Vincent is more present in the lives of Olivia Rodrigo. It got to the point where they both went to a concert together. Tori Amos, alternative music icon of the 1990s and 2000s.
The report of The New York Times (via website Igor Miranda) also heard Vincent, stage name of annie clarkabout Rodrigo. And it was only praise.
“I have never met someone so young and so easily in control of herself. She knows who she is and what she wants – and she doesn’t seem to be afraid to speak up about it. And she’s a lovely girl too… I’ve never heard her say anything bad about anyone.”
Gutsnext album by Olivia Rodrigowas presented by the singer with the following statement:
“For me, this album is about growing pains and trying to figure out who I am at this point in my life. I feel like I grew up 10 years between the ages of 18 and 20 – it was such an intense period of strangeness and change. I think this is all just a natural part of growing up, and I hope the album reflects that.”
In an interview with Apple Music 1 (via NME), she revealed that she had chosen the title of her second album even before releasing her first, Sour. The idea arose precisely in the process of composing the last album.
“I’ve had the title for a long time. It was when I was creating Sour. I thought, ‘I want the next one to be called Guts.’ Four letters, all caps, like Sour. I love it. I think it’s an interesting word. People use it in so many different contexts, like ‘spill your guts’ [revelar detalhes ou segredos]. ‘hate your guts’ [odiar alguém com muita intensidade], I think it’s an interesting term. It means ‘courage’, but also ‘intuition’. These are matters that, coincidentally, I have been thinking about while writing this chapter.”
Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
