9 Burst results for "Madison Cunningham"
Popcast
"madison cunningham" Discussed on Popcast
"Of the standout song on an album for me. So I loved the hurry for the riff off album. For the most part, it's called life on earth. This is the title track from it. It didn't entirely hang together for me as a record, but this song every time I put it on, this was the one that stopped me in my tracks and was like, this feels like a slowing down of time, like a really beautiful reflection. It's a way to write about climate change without it feeling gimmicky or corny or not working. It's really a gut punch to me. And the refrain that the song is centered around is life on earth is long, which is turning this cliche. And this very human scaled cliche on its head that we think of life is short. But they're really looking at it through a more global lens and this idea of sort of geologic time and really zooming out in this way that is pretty profound for a 5 minute song. I find it's a song that really puts big things in perspective for me, but it hits me in a really emotional way to I'm not even sure if it was a single from the record is certainly not a billboard number one this year, but it's just something that I came back to and that continued to resonate from you throughout this year and kind of capture a bigger feeling of just a more Ella jaic feeling that really just struck me this year. JP, your number one song again, totally different. This is not America, resident day, featuring eBay, let's listen to a little bit of this is not America. I then went through Shopify. But I know I thank you. I want to underscore one thing. It's just like a thing that I think JP you and I have in common and maybe Lindsay did something different this year. We tend to put songs that were not on our albums on the songs list, which is tough because there's obviously a lot of great songs on the albums that we put on our albums list. So I have in different years done this different ways. But I think in recent years, I have tended to move in the direction of songs that don't seem to have a home elsewhere with the implication being that if it's on the albums list, if it's a song on an album on the album list, it's probably pretty good. But different approaches. So resident day, kaya tracee, this is an artist that you have interviewed a bunch that you have spent a lot of time thinking writing about, tell us about this song. Well, resident day got into this beef with J Balvin that interested me not at all. And this is him doing what he does well. He can't think of a less interesting person to quarrel with than J Balvin just for the record. But this is like resident a being like rural historical, really angry, coming up with a great beat that feels really traditional, a bay who are Cubans living in Paris have these very striking harmonies behind him and he's just going at it saying, you know, American culture covers the Americas. Don't be provincial. This machete chops heads. It just kicks. Part of the reason I put it first, I look at the page and I see our Spotify playlists and I think if people are going to be playing these songs as a playlist, they should move like a DJ set. So I'm not saying it's the best song of the year. I'm saying it's a great place to start this playlist and it's a really good song and it's also it's a Lucy. There wasn't an album to go with it. It was just out there. I tend to put singles and like Lindsey, the standout track of an okay album on this list, but also I really just wanted to start with a bang. So is the news on this podcast that this is not the best song of 2022. Is that we breaking, are we breaking news? Do you want to not paint you into a corner on this? You're your penny me into a corner. I don't want to designate any song the best song of 2022. I haven't listened to every song. That's true. As I said on Instagram, the lists are imperfect snapshots. I was regretting that I didn't put blond shells, sepsis on my songs list, which is a song I really, really liked this year, but for exactly this reason, it was basically a Lucy and I never kept track of it anywhere and only after the fact realized it. But yeah, let's turn perfect snapshots and anybody who partakes in the act of criticism should know. But I'm not saying it's not the best song either. Damn. You really try to have it both ways. I am. Okay. All right, all right. Well, I'm reluctant to allow you to have it both ways, but it's okay. I'm in this moment. And then the caramanica universe. I'm so glad you asked because the best song in 2022 is actually two songs. Tyra, having it both ways. Yeah, real spit. To anyone who's ever complained on Twitter or other social media sites about me adding multiple things to single entries this year is for you. I'm here for you. The best song asterisk of 2022 in my world is two songs. It's tomorrow two by Gloria and Cardi B and it's shake it by K flock with Cardi B Doug E B and B 300. Let's listen to the cardi verse on tomorrow too. And we all look good. She said she my opp, but I don't know her how to look her up. I know that I'm rich, but I can help it. I'm hotter. I been on this next so long sometime I fucking start. I can put you in my business. You might wish me that tomorrow. Be on today sing every word or tomorrow. That still got cats open. Keep your mouth shut tomorrow. They want me today then get some sipping. So really the best song of 2022 is, in my mind, cardi doing what Drake has always done, which is hop on younger artist tracks that are stylistically different and demonstrating that she's adaptable to other styles other than her natural rapping style. To me, her verse on tomorrow too is incredibly memorable, condos and head just most of the things that she's saying, I'm not allowed to repeat on a New York Times platform. But an incredible verse, very dexterous, very imagistic, a tremendous amount of fun. I'm also coming off of the kind of cardi versus Nikki, everybody feeling there's only room for one successful female rapper, which is like a long-standing ongoing issue in the genre. It's just nice to have like a very, very clear statement of kind of we can all get along. There's room for everybody and frankly, we probably do even better if we do team up together. So that's why I like tomorrow too so much. Shake it. Let's listen to a little bit of shake it. Can we shower bullies no bridle, put a tag in your head I could buy you like huh? Like what? Now you just stop with this bitch and then give me a rush. Shawty be lucky. She got a crush. I'm not a step up bitch I'm a stop out all of my eyes get mixed with the flower though shit she was gonna touch like she lying quit on my tire all the balls this is interesting year for drill in the sense that drill is trying a few different strategies to go, I don't want to say mainstream, but at least to kind of get a little bit of broader attention and having cardi, one of hip hop's biggest stars come onto a drill track is a really useful tactic, but what's striking is she's doing it in the very traditional way. She's not coming on an outsider imposing her natural style instead she's adapting to the rhythms and flows and patterns that everybody else in the track is wrapping and the fact that she can do that and do that. So efficiently and convincingly is really impressive. And this was maybe not like a huge hit, strictly speaking, except on car speakers for a few weeks over the summer. But a really, really great song. Great K Fox song really, really good dougie beavers on this. Also just happy to see cardi trying this as a way of kind of filling in the gaps between singles or albums and doing it so well. But again, here we are, three different critics, three radically different approaches to what the number one song is. Should we all briefly just run down our top ten, much like we did last week? Yeah. That seems like a way. Yeah, let's just we'll just do it quickly. JP, you want to start? Sure. Well, I started with resident a featuring eBay. This is not America of the smile radiohead spin off with the opposite. We'll go from its cruel country album, the most psychedelic song on the album, bird without a tail base of my skull. Rema featuring Selena Gomez calm down, which is Selena Gomez jumping onto an afrobeats it Amelia and torini and the colorist orchestra right here, a little genial minimalism. Lucre dealt with our temporal, which is this lurching, clanking sort of Tom Waits as a bolero. Burna boy's last last, which is a breakup song. Aldous Harding's lawn, which is a breakup song. Madison Cunningham's already bellion, which is a not breakup song, which is like we're opposites, but we get along and she's gonna create guitarist and big thieves simulation swarm, which is some giant allegory that is much smarter than I. Crazy that you picked a band I've never heard of for your number ten song. That's incredible. Never heard of this man. I've heard that about you. How is trolling you, John, admit it? I had a feeling. I had a feeling that there are some subtext to that choice. But that's okay. I really like this song. This song does kind of reach out and grab you and I don't know, it's like American pie, you want to sit and figure it out. Lindsay, you want to take us through your ten? Sure. And for the record, we all picked way more than ten, but we're being terse here. Yeah. The other ones are just all of us trolling each other. That's what these lists are for. Yeah, exactly. 11 through 25 are all inside jokes. That's it. Yeah, a 100%. So you know my number one, my number two is the 1970 5s happiness, just like the best fine young cannibals song I've ever heard. It's just so late 80s. It's fantastic. I did have alien superstar at number three by Beyoncé. It was very difficult to pick one song off of renaissance because it almost felt sacrilegious to take one out of context, but this is the one for me. Amanda shires title track off her album take it like a man, which is just this really wild melodramatic poetic torch song that's number four. I had a pretty obscure one that you may not have heard of at number 5, Taylor Swift's anti hero. I can't believe the drag of look what you made me do in this blurb just for the record. It's my blurb. Listen man. Listen. I would like to get there because something that I noticed when I was looking at the billboard charts of this year, which I think the stagnation of which is part of why our lists are so different, but this is the only billboard number one that appeared on any of our lists. So I don't know. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So bookmark that thought, but anyway, I look her up. Taylor Swift. Yeah, I'm a pull up the list and we'll get back to it. The list is weird. We should talk about that list. Anyway, back to my list. Just be cha. It's number 6. The rare kind of Lucy that I picked up of moto mommy was high on my albums list. She just had so many good ideas this year that she also had this song in the can. Pusha T, Diet Coke. It's kind of surprising not to see that one on some other lists, but you know. We'll talk about it. We'll talk about what we write. Chloe Mariano, with the song fruity, which I know you are a fan of that record, John, I believe. Really good record. She's really good. It's really talented. Her sort of hyper pop turn. And I'm here for it. Yeah, yeah, yes, featuring perfume genius, spitting off the edge of the world. I'm like in this era of yeah yeah, yes. They're back. And then my girl, grace. She group passion week party. Let's go. Let's go. We're back. Gray size, blah, blah, blah, number ten, speaking of my albums list. All right, I will run through my list. So we had the two cardi features at one. We have munch and number two. Bailey Zimmerman, rocking a hard place. This is a major country record this year from a relatively young singer who has a pretty robust voice and still feels like he's figuring out kind of what the outer bounds of his voice are going to be. Really, really I like this. It's very serious sober song. Number four, Lil yachty, Poland, maybe not even a song at all. Tell me what you think in the comments. Number 5 girls by the dare. If you know, number 6 whoo. What are you doing now by Sadie Jean? The open verse mash up of all the duets that is on Sadie's YouTube channel robotic talk to us at the beginning of the year. This is the sort of logical endpoint of that movement. Number 7, catch a murder by low key. We talked about low key on the Atlanta episode a couple of weeks ago, really, really stressful and bleak record. Number 8, the camera on freestyle on the funk flex freestyle series, freestyle one 71. My ranch out in Idaho, I tell my neighbors, howdy, number 9, yaritza used to say, this is a great Spanish language Mexican folk song with a little bit of contemporary swagger from a very young singer with a family band, very, very interesting voice really, really cool record. And number ten, another TikTok manger. It's complex demo from kitty Gregson mccloud, which started as a snippet and then this is the finished piano version of the snippet. And if you were sad on TikTok sometime in the fall, you definitely know this song. Maybe let's talk briefly about TikTok 'cause I think maybe that will tie in Lindsay to what you just mentioned about the billboard chart, the billboard number ones. You know, I'm like a big fan of the detritus of TikTok and I basically given up trying to absorb new music and any other meaningful way because it's just going to come. It's going to come down this bath and be powerful regardless. These Hot 100 hits, at least a few of them have real TikTok backstories. And it's interesting even 12 months ago, certainly 24 months ago, but even 12 months ago, the pipeline wasn't as smooth. And I think by now, the pipeline is just incredibly smooth from it's happening on TikTok too. It's a major, major, major hit. Are you talking about bad habit? Another song. Okay, I promised somebody that I would say this. So I'm just going to say it. And I think the Steve lacy song is bad. I think the album is not good. And a joke that I made in another context altogether, that I don't know that I stand by, but I did promise someone I would say, is that the Steve lacy records makes the Harry Styles record sound like a radiohead record. I'm glad you've gone public with that, finally. Look, I want to like the Steve lacy record. Just didn't do anything for me. It feels really undercooked. It does not feel formed lyrically or musically and not in the cool way. Not in the, you really undercook this. Not in the Poland way. No, no, definitely not in the Poland way. A 100%. Yeah, I just couldn't get my head around it. The fact that this is a number one hit is very strange. It's 100% TikTok driven, and there is that famous video at a concert this year of all the kids in the audience singing the TikTok part of this song and then completely dropping off and not knowing any of the other words. And on the one hand, LOL, on the other hand, that's got to be so devastating for an artist who puts together a body of work and then it's just like, oh, you really only like 18 seconds of one song that I did. It's gotta suck. Where are you all at on the sea place? Do you want to drag me about Steve lacy? Did anybody have the Steve lacy album on their homes list? No. No, none of us did. I can't get with the full album. I don't mind this song. When you're talking about the big songs of the year and thinking about what to include on my list, it gets to a point where am I sick of it yet? And I'm sick of bad habit. I've reached my threshold where I don't want to hear it out in public anymore. I'm not sick of the Taylor song yet. Do with that, what you will. But bad habit had its shelf life for me. It's expired. All right, you know what? Enough of me complaining about this song. Let's listen to bad habit. Maybe you loved bad habit. Maybe you should send me an email at podcast and I want times dot com and tell me about loving bad habit. Or perhaps loving the parts of bad habit that are not the 18 seconds that people like on TikTok. Anyway, here's some of bad habit. The catchy or the non catchy part is TBD,
Minnie Questions with Minnie Driver
"madison cunningham" Discussed on Minnie Questions with Minnie Driver
"Of all of that. So do you think that being seen because he said that about your sister and about your husband? Is that really important? I mean, obviously it's really important. That's not what I meant. I actually meant, do you think that that is sort of extends into the part of the crux of why you do what you do? Is that notion of reflection and visibility? Maybe in a subconscious way it is. It's funny as a songwriter I've always said, I don't know if I have anything to say. And then sometimes that'll change where you're like, oh, I do actually. There's a song here. There's a statement that I want to make. But I go in and out of phases and feeling like I want to be seen in that way. In a public way and times where I really, really want to hide and that probably fluctuates with the level of hardship that comes with it. You know, it's like the more responsibility you have, the more you crave the denial of it. That's at least been my experience. But I think just in my personal life, yeah, being seen is the most important thing to me, even if that means someone is seeing the worst parts of me. I want them in on that. I want them to know that. That's really cool. I like that. Madison, thank you so much. It's been so great. I really appreciate your time and all your thoughts. Thank you so much. Thank you many this was just the honor of lifetime so thanks for having me. You're very, very welcome. You can find Madison's album revealer out now. Wherever you get your chance. And give the song life according to Rachel, the song she told us about today, the one about her grandmother, an extra spin. Many questions is hosted and written by me, Minnie Driver. Supervising producer, Aaron Kaufman, producer, Morgan lavoy, research assistant, Marissa Brown. Original music, Surrey baby, by many driver. Additional music by Aaron Kaufman. Executive produced by me, Minnie Driver. Special thanks to Jim nikolay. Will Pearson Addison O'Day. Lisa castella and a unique oppenheim at W KPR. De la pescado, Kate driver and Jason Weinberg and for constantly solicited tech support, Henry driver. Hey, it's mini driver. What if you had insights into your genetics that could help you live healthier? How would you use that knowledge to change your life? You can hear me talk with 23andMe CEO Anne wojcicki about how insights from our DNA can affect our health journeys and the new season of the podcast spit from iHeartRadio and 23andMe. This season host baratunde Thurston explores how DNA isn't just about ancestry. It's a key to understanding your health and the new season you'll hear me and 22 other podcasters and influencers discuss what genetics taught us about ourselves and how that knowledge can impact the way we live our lives. Listen to my episode out now on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. When the world gets in the way of your music, try the new Bose quiet comfort earbuds too. Next gen earbuds uniquely tuned to the shape of your ears. They use exclusive Bose technology. The personalizes the audio performance to fit you. Delivering the world's best noise cancellation and powerfully immersive sound. So you can hear and feel every detail of the music you love. Bose quiet comfort earbuds two. Sound shape to you. To learn more, visit Bose dot com. With cheap Caribbean dot com, you can get more food, more drinks, and more fun. For less money on your all inclusive beach vacation. Like bottomless margaritas? Yes, and going snorkeling whenever I want. Yes, and moonlight dance parties. Yes. And loaded fajita nachos? Yes. And? All the daiquiris I can drink. You can say yes and to everything. When you take a next level beach vacation at Catalonia hotels and resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean, with cheap Caribbean dot com.
Minnie Questions with Minnie Driver
"madison cunningham" Discussed on Minnie Questions with Minnie Driver
"Learn more, visit Bose dot com. CVS Health is here for women. We know that women's physical, mental, and sexual health matters. That's why we're offering new women's health services available 7 days a week. Here, period health matters. So we're reducing prices on CVS Health brand period products by 25% and core CVS Pharmacy locations, and our goal is to eliminate the tax on period products nationwide. Learn more at CVS dot com slash women. So what quality do you like least about yourself? Oh man. Probably how non confrontational I am. I run from it at every corner and I think there's this desire in me to be diplomatic and a peacemaker and that's a good quality, but the unhealth of it is when it's like avoiding things purely because they're hard and uncomfortable, not because they're bad if that makes sense. It's like some confrontation is necessary and good. And I hate to see the way that my non confrontational side will possibly hurt somebody. So I work, I work on that. I try to. I'm not good with the hard conversations. There's also this deep fear in myself that I have that I don't know how to articulate something well, especially when nervous. It's weird. I mean, I'm a songwriter. I deal with lyrics, love lyrics, but I have time to sort through that. But when I'm face to face with someone and there's conflict or something and I always feel this immense pressure that I don't have what it takes to actually solve it in that moment. I don't know where that comes from. I don't know if there's something in my childhood or I know my dad is very non confrontational and not to blame him for my own qualities, but you know it's like sometimes you inherit those traits from your parents. Yeah, you do. What's it called? It's called epigenetics. It's like the emotional stuff that you inherit. I didn't know that name. That's helpful. Yeah, yeah, blame dad. I said one time to a friend. I was like, how long can I blame my parents for things? And they're like, I don't know, maybe don't blame them for things. Just maybe take responsibility for as much as you can. And then it's like a really delicate balance. I know it is. I'm always asking my son. I'm like, is this damaging you? Is this damaging you? How about this? Is this damaging you? What about this? Wait, hold on. Let me just stop crying. Is this damaging you? The poor kid, like, honestly, I've just like, listen, I will be able to recommend you a good therapist. I think our parents do. They gave us all these things that are wonderful and all these things that are terrible, because that's also the gift, I guess. Yeah, right? I guess so, I mean, the gift of being able to question yourself and everything you know. I love that gift. But that must be hard as a parent and turn to then to go, I know there's going to be a point in time where I'm going to hurt you. Is that now? Yeah. Like have I done it yet? You know that must be like you're holding your breath. Exactly. And unfortunately, it's unavoidable. Like you are going to do that. And again, it does seem to come around to self awareness that as with anything, the minute one can identify that you've done something that is difficult for another person to metabolize, calling it out and saying, I know I did this and I'm really sorry or I did this and it's because of this or whatever it is. I do think that kind of mitigation helps. Interesting that you're a songwriter and that you I mean, I think it's really cool. I wonder if that's just like in addition to being rarely creative, that's also a way of being able to work through that and deal with it and go, no, you know, I'm going to I can write about it and I can articulate it. I can articulate it actually really, really well. And put it to music. Right. Well, yeah, I guess those fears are always at the beginning of writing songs too. Yeah. I always have this hesitation or this worry that I'm going to forget how to do it or not going to be able to do it in a way that will mean anything to anyone or that anyone could understand, you know? Because I think I love ambiguity. I find it very sexy. I love people who are very mysterious. And there's the part of me that just wants that to be what my music is. And then there's another half of me that's like, but I really want to be understood. Yeah. Like I want people to know where I'm coming from and to get the picture of me so they can hear me when I speak, you know, it's a funny balance. That's so funny. I always really wanted to be mysterious, but nah, that ship sailed. I think that's a whole other lifetime. But I know exactly what you mean about. I think it's really good to be able to articulate stuff. I think that also speaks to the creative process with everything. Anyone who's creative, like the minute you, when you're beginning something, you just have absolutely no idea how you're going to do it again. How are you going to do this? How is it going to happen? How has this song going to be written this book going to be written this play movie TV show be made? It's mysterious. That is mysterious. Yeah, 100% the actual art of songwriting wolf forever be mysterious. It's like it's unattainable. If we all knew where it began and where it ended, we would just stay in those places, but we don't. Exactly. It's constantly moving. So what relationship real or fictionalised defines love for you? I feel like the people in my life who have defined love for me are the ones who have loved me through every phase of my life and liked me even. And I would say my sister, I'm the oldest of 5 girls. Yeah, I know. It's sometimes I don't realize how crazy that is until I see a picture of all 5 of us together. And I'm like, this is a lot of kids. My younger sister and I, we've always been inseparable since I saw her when I was two years old and she was just born. We always have had a bond and she just one of those people where it's like, I always kind of test her and bring things that I think this is too ugly for anyone to hear. I'm just going to tell you, and she never bats an eye. She's always just like, oh yeah, I have those same thoughts and I feel like she has shown me love in ways that so many of my friendships and people that I've leaned on have failed to. And maybe it's a blood related thing, but I don't know. She's just kind of one of those people for me that I lean on and know that I'll be seen by kind of no matter what. My husband is also that person for me he this is such a rare thing and not everybody's story but I've known him since I was 13. We met then and you know it was never romantic. We were always just really, really good friends and he was always one of those people for me that I thought it doesn't get better than Austin as far as character goes. He's the coolest person I know or the best person I know. I don't know if I thought he was the coolest at the time. That became apparently later. He just was kind of one of those people that was just sort of a lynchpin in my life, someone who just saw me from age 13 to now, which is a long span of time and how many turns a person can sort of take. We ended up dating when he was a junior in college. I was a couple years younger than him. I didn't go to college, but I moved to LA and decided to pursue music and the endeavor of that was so much more intense than I expected. And it's definitely tested me in so many ways as a person for better and for worse. And I think he's kind of been there and seen all of it, but still has just been there to kind of scoop me up to hold me kind of at the end of the day and has never hit his love hasn't wavered in the midst
Minnie Questions with Minnie Driver
"madison cunningham" Discussed on Minnie Questions with Minnie Driver
"So uncomplicated for a second. You're like, oh, all that matters right now is just like the way the water feels and catching this wave or whatever, you know, it's like I don't sadly go to those moments often enough or I don't make space for them because there's just so much day to day my friend calls them techno realities, which are just these little things that you get lost in that sometimes cause you to forget what's important and what you love about your life. It's so weird because I was just having this conversation with my boyfriend the other day. I was like, what is this chasm between? The self awareness of things that will make our lives better and the actual doing of them. Yeah. You know how that feels. I know how that feels. And yet actually going and seeking it out is almost like we slump into that techno reality or we slump into it going, wow, this is just life. This is just what it is. I've got to sit in front of my computer for 5 hours and answer emails or do this thing. I think we've got to fight harder to carve out that other space because I know we know that's where the creativity and the freedom comes from. Well, and the people that I think who display that the most are like in sort of business terms are always deemed as flaky or just like non responsive, but they're actually the most tapped in. And that's not the case for every flaky person quote unquote, but those creatives that don't answer emails or don't. It's like, I know that there's somewhere creating or they're on a walk or they're doing the things that matter and it's like, who cares about the rest? I know emails matter. Like if I didn't answer my email, this wouldn't have happened today. So that's important to me. But also, it's just like, I think you're right, instinctively, we know where to return to, but we don't. It's always like last resort or something. Yeah, I think, again, it is just like insisting on drawing the lines of engagement with life. You know, I've gone, okay, well, it's going to be this for this amount of time. But I'm just talking from my I suppose from my own perspective, which is one gets lazy and then you don't realize that you've sort of been bludgeoned by all of the social contracts and all of the stuff. But it doesn't really take much. That's what's great. I can just walk up to the park from where I live in London, and that's where my mother used to say, that's where the city breathes. And it's true. Like you go there and these ancient trees and it's pretty wonderful. But you have to go do it, right? You have to do it. No one is going to tell you that you need that break except for yourself. I've learned that a lot where it's like, you know, if it weren't for me at times, putting my foot down, I don't think anyone would tell me, hey, you should stop. Or you should take a break. There's a machine that's running. And no one really wants to shut it down. Yeah. Particularly if you're generating income for them. I've also found that it's like, you know, I was like, yeah, no, you're right. I got to do that too. Yeah, I mean, it's also attached to morals too, where I'm like, oh my God, all these people are relying on me. I would do anyone wrong that way. And then it's like, there is a certain point of honesty that you reach where you're like, but the way that I feel now isn't helping anyone really, you know, like I have to have to succumb to something. In your life, can you tell me about something that has grown out of a personal disaster? This is another one of those questions that I thought about for a couple days. I did my research and I went and listened to this podcast beforehand and that one got me because I thought I'm 25 at the moment and there's the potential that some of my worst personal disasters are ahead of me. Oh, you're so not wrong. Which is like dark, that's great. It's really true. You can confirm you're coming at me from 25 years literally at 25 years old of the year. Oh my God, no, it's going to be great. It's going to be great because shit's going to grow out of it. Unfortunately, this is the gift that keeps on giving. Stop having personal disasters. You start keeping a tally. It's a relief to me in a certain way though, because the more that I've talked to people who are older than me or have just lived more life, the idea of like, oh, it just kind of stays hard. It makes me feel like there's nothing more that I should be doing to make it easier. It's like, oh, okay, good. This isn't on me. This is just life coming at me. But I would say the most recent thing that I can name, it was the experience of making the album that just came out on September 9th. It was so deeply difficult for me. I think because I just felt so disconnected from myself and from the process I just was like paralyzed. I think from pressure. And again, so much of it, I think, was I was responsible for so much of the pressure was I was putting on myself unduly. But from my label and from management too, it was just like this has to be really remarkable work. Otherwise, who knows in this fragile place that the industry was in and it's like the one time that I felt like everybody who was on the inside couldn't speak for how it would look or what it would be, all they could say was it just has to be amazing. And again, that's not me faulting anyone. I was also making this writing this in 2020. So it was already a disaster. Yeah, I think that was the scariest thing to me. I felt like I was like a little foosball on a foos table that like anything that anyone said could have just shot me in the other direction. So I felt like my compass was gone. So the whole time, to me, that felt like a disaster and trying to make music from that place. I rerecorded songs so many times because it just didn't feel right. I just felt like I was reaching all that to say as that was kind of happening. My grandma died who I was really close to. And you know, grief tends to do that thing, which I learned because that was the first person who I was ever close to that I lost. Grief says this thing that gives you this hyper clarity. Even if it's just for a short time where you're like, oh, literally only these two things matter. That's all I can give importance to. And for me, it was like family and love. And loving people well. And that was it. And music being out of the equation there just was a relief for a minute, 'cause I was like, I've been putting so much pressure on this and on myself and it's turned into this thing that I'm so afraid to look at in the eye. And what was so beautiful about that is there was a song that I wrote about her. It's called life according to Rachel that came out of that and it felt like that sort of purity of thought love and family sort of came through the music and what was so cool about it is I released it thinking this is such a specific song about my grandmother and losing her like I think it's just gonna be for me. And so many people have been able to attach their story and their life through that song, which has just been like so overwhelming and mind-blowing to me. And again, it's like one of those things that I think it was really just because there was like no ego around a song like that. There was no room to try and be impressive in the music. It was just like confessional. It talks about the guilt that you feel when you lose someone that you didn't do enough or all those things that you deal with. So yeah, I think and obviously the record is finished. And I'm proud of it, but that was one of those moments where I was like, how do I avoid going through that again? In my life, even though I see such good that came out of it. But you know, sometimes you come across these situations where you're like, there is literally nowhere around this, but through. And so you just kind of strap in and hope for the best. That's so amazing. And I'm so glad that I'm not glad you lost your grandmother, but to experience the clarity and the clarifying nature of grief is it's an extraordinary privilege and it is a really beautiful strange moment in a person's life. And to be able to be creative, to be able to use that and harness that, because that really, to me, is what that is. It's harnessing that energy and turning it into something else. But I'll tell you something that my dad said to me when I was heartbroken over this guy that I loved so much and really I mean I'm actually must have been your age and I thought that I was going to marry him and I loved him and he just broken up with me and I'd set up all night and I didn't smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee and I was sitting outside our House and my dad was going through this phase of I think I've told this story before but I'm going to tell that again because it's pertinent. And my dad went through this phase where he would go out jogging in the morning and it lasted for like three weeks, but it was during this time. He came out with his towel around his neck and he was sort of jogging and he had his towel headband on. Can he was like, he was like, oh, have you been up all night? And I was like, yeah, I'm so unhappy. I'm so sad. Everyday all day, just crying and smoking and drinking coffee. And he was like, over a chap, is it? And I was like, yes, the love of my life. And my dad was like, do you want me to tell you something that you're not going to want to hear? I was like, well, I mean, not really, but okay. And he was like, you're going to feel this way about someone else. I will say to you, Madison. You are going to feel this way about other records. However, you will also feel that it's easy and beautiful and simple in the way that maybe you love your husband. You have that relationship. Yeah. It's all of it, and it will be all of it if we're lucky, hundreds of times over. But I understand the brutality of being in that moment where it's just so painful. And the process has just been really, really difficult. And even though you're proud of the thing that comes out at the end, it's gnarly. And they'll be that experience again. I'm sure. I hope you're going to write so many more records and I'm sure have it for maybe other different reasons. You know, you'll have kids running around and you won't be able to fucking focus and it'll be like, I'm losing my mind and I've got to finish this record. Yeah, yeah. Totally, this goes back again to what we said at the beginning. It's like, you know, no sing when it's hard and taking steps to kind of alleviate that and sometimes you can't and you just have to go through it being hard. Someone said to me, during that time and a similar thing that your dad said, but she kind of was like, you know, the beauty of this is she was just gonna get harder. And I was like, I don't see beauty in that. But she was saying the reality is and where you can find beauty also is that you're going to lose more people that you love. This is the beginning, but it's also the beginning of more clarity and love in your life. And that can feel morbid, like a morbid idea, but grief is such a human thing. It's such a human idea. And it's things that we don't love to talk about. But I find it so important whether that be grieving the loss of a relationship or like actually losing someone, they all have a place, and it's sadly inevitable. I guess sometimes I'm like, there's no romantic way to really view this. It's just sad. That's it. Yeah. But that's also okay. Yeah, it's also okay, exactly. Sometimes it is, it is just sad. And it is just hard. And that's okay. And we get through it. You get back to the glacier and the inner tube. Yes. Hey, it's mini driver. What if you had insights into your genetics that could help you live healthier? How would you use that knowledge to change your life? You can hear me talk with 23andMe CEO Anne wojcicki about how insights from our DNA can affect our health journeys and the new season of the podcast spit from iHeartRadio and 23andMe. This season host baratunde Thurston explores how more and more people are finding out that DNA is more than ancestry. It's a key to understanding your health, your genetic profile can tell you if you are at an increased likelihood for developing a particular condition. Its knowledge that can help you make smarter choices about your health and your lifestyle and the new season you'll hear me and 22 other podcasters and influencers discuss what genetics taught us about ourselves and how that knowledge can impact the way we live our lives. Listen to my episode out now on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. When the world gets in the way of your music, try the new Bose quiet comfort earbuds too. Next gen earbuds uniquely tuned to the shape of your ears. They use exclusive Bose technology that personalizes the audio performance to fit you. Delivering the world's best noise cancellation and powerfully immersive sound. So you can hear and feel every detail of the music you love. Bose quiet comfort earbuds two. Sound shape to you. To
Minnie Questions with Minnie Driver
"madison cunningham" Discussed on Minnie Questions with Minnie Driver
"More. I
Minnie Questions with Minnie Driver
"madison cunningham" Discussed on Minnie Questions with Minnie Driver
"With, but I would like to know. Yeah, I would too. I would too. I mean, I think it's really tricky, because when you're a kid and you ask questions like, regardless of whether one came from a spiritual household or not, you ask questions and I know as a parent, you endeavor to answer that question, no matter what it is. You try and find an answer. Yeah. I'm so aware of how little I've gone. I don't know. I felt like it was such a cop out and wanted to offer something up. I think it's really interesting that kids in a way have to shed the certainty of their parents answers. Yeah. And maybe those questions go back to being questions. And you don't have an answer to them. Totally. It's such a funny thing. Things I thought I was sure about. I realized it was just my parents gave me that answer because they were my parents. I feel like all of these big questions happened late at night. It's like dark outside and things start to feel a little bit scarier and you ask these questions that are going to be in your head or in your dreams or whatever to your parents. And I'm like, how much of it was them putting on a brave face and filling the silence and wanting to be a pillar for me and say, yeah, this is the answer to this. Probably 90%, you know? Yeah. Being an adult now and knowing how much I say, I don't know. That was also their way of loving me. They wanted to give an answer to help me probably just be able to rest my head. Go to bed, fall asleep, a 100%. When you see a little child's face going, what happens when you die? Like you really, you know, I've leaned pretty hard into clouds and heaven. I'm not gonna lie. I did a lot of that. Faced with this little face staring up from the dinosaur duvet. Oh my God. What happens when you die? Mom? Oh, darling. Oh, it's lovely. Don't worry, it's so lovely. You know, and he never questioned me. And then like, obviously, now we have these conversations. It's interesting, but I want to know that too. It also feel like maybe there's a reason that we just don't. Yeah. Because life wouldn't resonate in the way that it did if we were like, well, it'll be fine. I don't give a fuck, it's fine. There are so many people that I grew up with who act like that because of this certitude and what they think and know to be true. Where it's like, well, there is a heaven and that the afterlife is where it's at and that don't sweat it in this life. If it's not going your way. Yeah. The way that they treat people as a result of that, it's like, to me, or the earth, or whatever it is, it's like, how is this okay to you? Seeing that observing that, that started to just make me kind of like question, you know, it's like we are existing now. Why are we pretending like we understand that it's going to be taken care of later or that we shouldn't be thoughtful about these issues that are happening now or that we shouldn't be attentive to our neighbors or whatever. It's like, I just felt like such an oxymoron to me to claim to be a Christian and to then move through the world that way. But you know that's a whole other conversation, but I feel now like in my life when the words I don't know come out of my mouth, I feel a sense of relief. It's like releasing this pressure that I have to maybe feel like I need the answers for everything and to just be like, actually that's not for me to decide. It's not for me to say. And that's okay. Yeah, it's liberating. Do you find that with songwriting? I found that a little bit where if I was stuck and I genuinely didn't know what that verse was or what that chorus or what it was supposed to be doing. I would say out loud. I don't know. And then I would go and do something else. And it was invariably not necessarily always, but I would say about 90% of the time, in doing that other thing, whether it was going for a walk going for a surf, going to the supermarket, that the idea or the length, the bridge would come or the idea of the lyric. I think there's massive freedom and I don't know. It's the key maybe. And there's sometimes answers. You can't guarantee that, but in the action of saying I don't know and then going for a surf, we're going on a walk. Some of those say they're like as simple as lyrical questions, sort themselves out, where you're like, oh, that's the end of the verse. All of my favorite writers have such strict regiments. They don't only prioritize writing they prioritize not writing as well. And that's them as a part of it, you know? Yeah. That's brilliant. And that is so true. And I think even with writing anything, or maybe even with challenges, as a whole, the idea of leave it alone, like step away from that and allow the sort of now of discovery as opposed to staying in the certainty of I don't know. I think it can actually be incredibly liberating. That's really interesting. It's in the other stuff. The creativity is in the other stuff as well as the sitting there with the guitar or at the piano. Exactly yet, to use an audio example, it's like some of the biggest sounds are made from the lightest touch. You can use that in writing. It's like, we want to put our heavy hand on it because we want product. We want things to be finished and instant when it's like sometimes we just have to lighten up on our touch of the song and let it just grow. I feel like songs are like living things that if you give it the right amount of water and sunlight and attention, they will they will grow. And I was writing over the pandemic with Gary lightbody who's a really old friend of mine and a beautiful songwriter. And we were sending each other so he literally did he just sit there with a guitar and he figured something out. Then he sent it to me and then I play it and then I changed some of the lyrics and I'd send it back to him but it's like each time and then maybe we'd have like voice notes in between where he'd be like, I don't know about that what did you mean by that lyric? Like what did she mean about that linking us back into the thing? And it was so funny being in his I don't know. And then like playing around in that and then vice versa, it was so beautiful because that it was an exchange of I don't know what this is. Or I think it might be this but I'm not attached to it. So you can change it and we wrote like that and there's something really cool about that because it doesn't have to be anything in your right. It does create itself. It's the statue inside the block of marble that Michelangelo idea. It reveals itself. You just sort of chip away. Yeah, I mean, it sounds like also in the exercise what's so beautiful about that when you're riding with someone else is like, you can't afford to be too precious or egotistical about when your ideas are questioned. It's really actually just a question of wanting to understand. It's not like someone put it once where it was like, I try not to take criticism personally because it's not me that they're criticizing. It's just an idea. Which is like, we don't do a good job or at least I don't of separating myself from an idea because if someone doesn't like it, and I'm like, then I can't produce anything else. I'm the problem and it's like, that's not true. You're just the conduit for an idea and don't let yourself become too entangled with it. But I think what's so beautiful about that exercise is like you guys were allowing yourself to ask, like, I don't know what this means and you could either be like, oh, it means this or you could return it with it. I don't know, but it's malleable. Yeah, also practicing having that thrown at you, like, I don't like that. And it's your idea. And you have to go, well, that doesn't feel nice. Okay. And then you have to go through that process of going, well, so what if that were true? So now if I look at this song or this piece of writing from the point of view of this person that I love and value, they don't like this thing. Okay, so what is that? And then going and examining it and going, oh, maybe I was just attached to it because it was the only idea that I had and I wanted to send him something back to show that I can do this at the same level as you, which is ridiculous because he's been writing songs and many more songs than I ever have. It was interesting like interrogating the ego of someone I respect doesn't like my idea. And then you couldn't take it personally because they weren't there. You just have to kind of figure it out and write another idea. And then go, okay, well, that also works and is maybe beautiful. Totally. I think it's cool writing in lots of different ways. And it also creates an opportunity for you to respond in two different ways, either you are offended by it, and you shut down and then no ideas come, or you allow it to be this moment of faith where you're like, oh, I can do
Minnie Questions with Minnie Driver
"madison cunningham" Discussed on Minnie Questions with Minnie Driver
"Of hi-c? Hello, I'm Minnie Driver. Welcome to the mini questions season two. I've always loved priests questionnaire. It was originally a 19th century parlor game where players would ask each other 35 questions aimed at revealing the other players true nature. It's just a scientific method really in masking different people the same set of questions. You can make observations about which truths appear to be universal. I love this discipline. And it made me wonder, what if these questions were just the jumping off point? What greater depths would be revealed if I asked these questions as conversation starters with thought leaders and trailblazers across all these different disciplines. So I adapted Proust questionnaire and I wrote my own 7 questions that I personally think are pertinent to a person's story. They are. When and where were you happiest? What is the quality you like least about yourself? What relationship real or fictionalized to find love for you? What question would you most like answered? What person place or experience has shaped you the most? What would be your last meal? And can you tell me something in your life that's grown out of a personal disaster? And I've gathered a group of really remarkable people, ones that I am honored and humbled to have had the chance to engage with. You may not hear their answers to all 7 of these questions. We've whittled it down to which questions felt closest to their experience or the most surprising or created the most fertile ground to connect. My guest today is musician and songwriter Madison Cunningham. At 25, she is one of the youngest guests I've had on my show. But you wouldn't know it from the wisdom and sort of old soulless that radiates not only through the lyrics she writes, but also in the way she speaks. And whether she's performing solo or sharing the stage with some of folk music's biggest names, Madison's musical talents are really not to be missed. I love hearing a songwriter describe the world in their own words. And it was delightful hearing Madison's perspective on my questions. I really hope you enjoy our lovely conversation. What person place or experience most altered your life? I would say music has been the thing. I think touring the country and the world was the thing that very much challenged my worldview and my line of thinking because I was immediately met with or I should say my opinions were met with experiences. And that changes everything. You can have thoughts about the way you think life should be or the way you've known it to be, but then when you actually experience life and open yourself up to other people's experiences, your opinions on things drastically change. And I remember the first tour I ever did, I was opening for Chris thee, and the punch brothers, and we both had a really similar background, like both grew up in the church. We were both homeschooled the whole way through and I don't know many people who had a similar story like that. We just were talking on the bus and I just was asking questions and I just will never forget one thing that he said to me. He's like, you're 21 now and I was like, yeah, and he was like, yeah, things are going to change for you. And he wasn't arrogant or like condescending or anything. It just was like, he was coming from a place of sincerely sympathizing with me and going or empathizing maybe and being like, I know exactly what you're saying. And I understand it completely, and why you're asking these things, but also it's going to change for you. I just know it. And he was right. And I don't even remember exactly what I asked him, but I remember the place that it was coming from. And I was very just fearful. I just, I just was nervous and scared and I felt I was experiencing impostor syndrome too. So I always say the music in a way saved my life and I think made me the person that I am because it just immediately challenged me and caused me to open my eyes and touch the world in a different way. Did you write different music before music became your I don't want to use the word escape, but maybe your evolution out of that first part of your life. Did you write music while you were still within it and then did you write your way out of it? Yes, and yes. And what was that music like? Do you have recordings of it? What was it like? I feel like I'm still very much that person I always had a curiosity of breaking musical rules. I really, really enjoyed that and just had a curiosity around that. But in terms of writing, my lyrics were very stale and they didn't show anything. They just told everything. I have a bit of embarrassment around that phase of writing that. There was a whole record that I did that had all of the songs on it, which is since been taken down. And again, musically I'm very proud of that record, but thematically and lyrically I just felt that I was showing my age. I think I wrote my way out of it. I had a friend who had sent me a book. Have you ever read the book writing better lyrics by pat Pattinson? No. God I want to read it. Yeah, you should, it's within the first three chapters you get his point and that's just enough to change you into inspire you and the rest of the book's great too, but he goes on this whole tangent about object writing and sort of how to write from your senses. And that really teaches you how to write and metaphor and to incorporate imagery and that phase, I was probably 18 when I read that book and I just remember that my writing started to take a turn because I would think about those exercises and his whole thing is like you write on an object using your senses, you write every day, but it can only be for ten minutes. So when the timer goes off, you have to be done. It doesn't matter if your thought was finished or not. And it's all about teaching the brain to dive deeper in a shorter amount of time. So just when I did that and kind of went full force with that exercise, I really feel like that's when I started to write songs that I was proud of and could get behind now. How great, that's really cool. I want to check that book out. It's incredible. From the first page or just reading the way that a writer writes. It's so inspiring. I think you totally dig it. What question would you most like answered? I think this is really on the nose, but I would love to know if there was an afterlife or not. I don't know if everybody feels that way. But for me, it's like that would maybe help things in terms of the way that we grieve. It's like, will we see that person again? I don't know. Did you have a spiritual upbringing? I totally did. I did. Yeah, and so much of my young adult life has been shedding all of that. But also coming back to it in different ways that I can't sort of help. I guess that question was planted in me as a kid, but there was always an answer for it. There's always like, yes, there is. There is the hope of that. And now I still have that question, but don't feel like I have an answer. And there's a mystery to that. There's a mystery that I've become totally comfortable
Minnie Questions with Minnie Driver
"madison cunningham" Discussed on Minnie Questions with Minnie Driver
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WNYC 93.9 FM
"madison cunningham" Discussed on WNYC 93.9 FM
"Feed us come from the doctor. Johnson met with them from Colombia. That's Bomba, a stereo, a new song called Agua from their new album data coming this spring. Finally, John s. O. NPR's Morning edition. They'd be doing a monthly project online, where they ask a musician to create a song about life during the pandemic. Police tell us who's this month's featured artist. It's the Grammy nominated singer songwriter Madison Cunningham and her song called Broken Harvest is her response to all of the losses. The pandemic is caused the loss of people, of course, but also All the plans that were disrupted, and even more importantly, it's about the realization that loss is nothing new. We all have to deal with it, and somehow we do so she finds that notion kind of comforting and wrote this song to have that effect word and give it up. Hang it up won't do We owe them all things little Where we'll be crab in sweet faced a lovely arrangement on that song by Madison Cunningham. Broken Harvest is her contribution to NPR's morning edition song Project. John Schaefer is the host of W and my sees new sounds, he could see his full round.