Ep. 265: How Remi Wolf Built Her Career: Study the Greats, Take the Gig, Say Yes

Description

Today’s guest is one of the most unmistakable voices in modern pop — an artist, songwriter and producer who has built a career by making music that sounds like nobody else. Her catalog has passed two billion global streams. She’s played top billing at festivals including Coachella, Lollapalooza and Outside Lands, opened for Olivia Rodrigo, Lorde and Paramore, and collaborated with artists including Nile Rodgers, Beck, Dominic Fike and Sylvan Esso. And The Writer Is... Remi Wolf! In this episode, we get into - The USC training that rebuilt her voice - Waiting tables and taking Craigslist gigs while building a career - The 30-minute session behind “Photo ID,” - Industry lessons for every artist to take notes on... and much more. Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music. Join us on Patreon: patreon.com/andthewriteris Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible. Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishers' Association. Your support means the world to us. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 0:40 “You can’t teach tone” — how Remi found hers 2:13 USC: “We’re going to beat you down until you feel like you’re nothing” 6:15 Fourteen, busking the Bay Area, and writing songs in Chloe’s kitchen 13:40 “Carousel” — the first song she ever wrote 15:41 A substitute teacher, an apartment, and her first recording 18:05 Ski racer by day, songwriter by night 19:05 Meeting Jared Solomon at 15 — then finding each other again 21:07 Applebee’s on tour — and the road to sobriety 24:04 Rehab, writing Juno sober, and why clarity changed the songs 29:02 “It’s not ready” — why she refused to release music in college 30:22 Six songs in one week — the reunion that started everything 34:24 Restaurant shifts and Craigslist gigs: how she paid to keep making music 39:26 The Sofar show that led to her first manager 42:39 “I had no expectations” — making music before the industry got involved 45:28 35,000 decisions a da