Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo, Cynthia Erivo, Julia Michaels and Jon Batiste sat down to talk about songwriting on Off Script With The Hollywood Reporter. In this preview clip, the artists speak about what it means to make music that inspires listeners or helps them get through a tough time. Plus, they reflect on the why they create and write songs. Watch the full conversation on SundanceTV and AMC+ on Dec. 31.
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00:00 As creators, what is it like when you do hear
00:02 that your music has really helped someone in a hard time
00:07 when it's so hard to think positively?
00:10 It makes you focus in on the thing that you're actually doing.
00:12 So there's lots of noise around the actual art of making something,
00:16 making music, making film, making TV, whatever it is.
00:19 But when a person has taken the time to listen,
00:23 to be there, meet you where you're at,
00:26 meet you where you were when you made the thing,
00:29 and take that with them in their daily life,
00:32 and use it as a tool to help them get through whatever they're going through,
00:36 you're a part of their lives.
00:39 You've made something that sticks with them,
00:42 that they get to carry with them.
00:44 And that is possibly one of the most incredible honours you can have.
00:48 So that anything else is just not important.
00:53 That is the important thing,
00:55 making things that people can hang on to
00:59 when there's nothing else to hang on to.
01:00 I think to refocus whenever it feels like everything else is out of focus on that,
01:05 I think it's really special.
01:08 If I'm honest, I don't know that you could have told me when I was 15, 16
01:13 that I'd be here,
01:14 that I could make music and have people listen to it.
01:17 It was like a pioneer's guide dream, you know?
01:20 -I feel the same. -So when people...
01:21 I feel completely the same.
01:23 I thought it was as unrealistic as a cartoon on TV.
01:27 I would watch artists and I'd be like, "Oh, my God, imagine doing something like that."
01:32 But never, ever thinking that that was even a possibility.
01:35 That doing this, sitting here, making music, writing songs,
01:40 playing them out, connecting with people, going on tour,
01:43 connecting one-to-one with people in a room.
01:45 It's such a profound experience.
01:46 I think about this a lot, John, in your Grammy speech a few years ago.
01:51 You said, "I show up every day,
01:53 I make music every day because it's a spiritual practice for me."
01:57 I think about that all the time and that's totally what it is.
01:59 If I don't write every day or create something,
02:02 I don't feel like myself, I don't feel fulfilled.
02:04 It doesn't matter if I put it out.
02:06 It's just something that you need to do,
02:09 just breathing or eating.
02:11 -That's what it feels like. -I feel more anxious.
02:13 Completely. I feel so anxious.
02:15 [music playing]
02:17 [music playing]
02:19 (upbeat music)
02:22 (upbeat music)