Chappell Roan reveals the secrets of a brilliant debut
In an interview with Brandi Carlile, Roan and her co-writer/producer, Dan Nigro, share the story behind her debut album, "Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess."
With the “Midwest Princess” still being on the rise, and no end to that ascent being anywhere in sight, the story behind Chappell Roan’s star-making debut album got a deeper dive in downtown L.A. Thursday night. For 66 minutes, in front of about 200 fans, celebrity moderator Brandi Carlile put questions to Roan and her co-writer/producer, Dan Nigro, in effect turning the Grammy Museum into the Pink Pony Classroom.
Subjects raised with Roan and Nigro, just hours before they picked up a slew of Grammy nominations, included why the "Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” album took five years to come together, what flipped the switch to create the Chappell Roan persona the public knows and loves midway through that process, and what her second album might be like. Spoiler alert: the singer and producer were not giving any spoilers away about Album No. 2. (“We’re still in the very early stages of making a record, so it’s hard to say what’s different,” said Nigro.) But nothing about the first one was off-limits, including some of the relationship difficulties that ended up being explored in song, as the trio plumbed the depths of what already has come to feel like a classic pop record.
“I’m not taking it lightly at all to note that there are so many fans of Chappell Roan that would love to get the chance to sit here and ask her anything that they want to know,” said now-veteran Grammy queen Carlile at the outset, establishing fangirl credentials. “And, predictably, if you know anything about me, I fell in love with Chappell’s music when my wife showed me a video of ‘Your Song’ by Elton John.” (The mutual friendships Carlile and Roan share with John came up later in the conversation.) “And Chappell’s collision with Dan Nigro is a gift to the whole world and to all of us in this room. … You two have changed pop music forever.”
Dan Nigro and Chappell Roan speak with Brandi Carlile at the Grammy Museum.Rebecca Sapp / Getty Images for The Recording AcademyWhether or not anyone might count that as premature, Roan does at the very least have the best debut album since, well, Olivia Rodrigo’s (also produced by Nigro, coincidentally or otherwise), with an extra fix of social impact that remains to be fully measured. And when Roan ended the night by mesmerizingly singing two ballads, “Picture You” and “Casual,” with acoustic guitar and violin accompaniment, whatever Recording Academy members were in attendance might’ve been tempted to give the singer all the Grammys, on the spot, including the ones she’s not up for.
Early in the conversation, Carlile asked about any opposites-attract aspects of the musical relationship between Missourian Roan and New Jerseyite Nigro, who was previously known as Olivia Rodrigo’s go-to guy. Said Roan to Nigro, “It is so cool to look back and be like, damn, I didn’t know the Cocteau Twins until you literally introduced them to me. And (now) that is one of the tentpoles in who I am.” Meanwhile, she brought some of the rootsier influences in. “With the country, we just wrote a song called ‘The Giver’ — it’s country and we played it on ‘SNL.’” (The audience was aware.) “It’ll come out, don’t worry. But that was so fun to write that and bring what I knew to the table, because I’m a country girl. So I got to be like, ‘No, no, no, let me show you some country songs.”
Rating: 5