INTERVIEW: Carly Rae Jepsen on her first ever Australian tour and recording 200 songs for one album
Canada’s Carly Rae Jepsen became one of the biggest stars on the planet in 2012 when her single ‘Call Me Maybe’ hit number one across the world, selling 18 million copies in the process. She has since developed a reputation for unerringly delivering some of the most brilliant pop music to ever grace the music industry, a skill she cemented this May with the release of her fourth studio album Dedicated, a glorious 1980s synth-pop dream. Of the back of this latest album, Jepsen has embarked on her first every tour of Australia and New Zealand, which she will follow up with a tour across Europe in February.
We recently met up with Jepsen on her whistle stop visit to Sydney to chat about her tour, her music and what the future holds for her.
Hey Carly Rae, welcome to Australia! You're doing your first shows in Australia and New Zealand, what took you so long?!
Good question. I have no idea! It blows my mind that it's been 8 years since I've been here and now that I’m here I’m like ‘I will never let that happen again!’ It's just been tricky, I've taken a lot of time in between writing albums is the first thing and then we get to touring it’s the US and then Europe and by the time I get home it's like onto the next cycle. But I’m so happy we finally made it. It's been a long wait in my head and my heart, so happy to be here.
You did your first Australian show in Sydney last Tuesday. How did it all go?
It was great. Everyone, the whole room was wild. I didn't expect that. I wasn’t sure what to expect actually since it was I guess essentially our first show. We didn't know if anyone would register any of this material, but I didn't get to sing like one word alone. Even like the B-sides and stuff were being sung along with me. It was nice. I felt like my music arrived before I did and that's always a great feeling.
Your creativity encompass so many different fields - you write, record, perform live, make music videos, you do theatre as well - is there a part of all that creativity that you enjoy the most?
I would say the writing aspect is the number one for me. But all of that encapsulates like the main thing, which is just trying to connect. All of that are like vessels to help you get that message and get that room to fill, it makes everyone leaves a bit lighter.
Your latest album Dedicated is such a brilliant collection of pop music. I read that you wrote over 200 songs for that album. What happens to all those songs that don't make the final cut?
It doesn't mean that every song's good! How I pick a good song is I want to feel like I really earned it, the album that I hold in my hands. That it wasn't like ‘here's the 15 songs done’ versus ‘could I have beat that?’ But there are still B-sides worth of material that I would love to share. I don't know what the plan is for that but I know that I have every intention of getting some more songs out there.
There is a great 1980s synth vibe to Dedicated. The 1980s was 30-40 years ago now, why do you think that style of music is still so popular so many years after?
Everyone's got a different opinion, but at least for me that's the era of pop I’m most attracted to. I love how dramatic it got. I love the extremes of literally hearts on sleeves, like everything was the end of the world or the beginning of the world and it was all wrapped around love. I don't think pop's ever been as good.
What is next for Carly Rae Jepsen?
I've been asked that a little bit today. I’m like ‘I don't know, I just finished a tour!’ No, I guess a little bit of attention to the B-sides situation and then it'll be fun to kind of clear the decks a bit because that's when there'll be room to ask ‘what am I making next?’ I’ve got to figure out what I’m attracted to musically and go from there.
Carly Rae Jepsen is performing in Auckland tomorrow night at the Town Hall, supported by Starley. Tickets are on sale now here
Carly Rae will perform across Europe in February 2020. Tickets on sale from December 4
February 7 - Albert Hall, Manchester, UK. Tickets here
February 8 - Roundhouse, London, UK. Tickets here
February 10 - L’Olympia Bruno Coquatrix, Paris, France. Tickets here
February 12 - Paradiso Noord, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Tickets here
February 13 - La Madeleine, Bruxelles, Belgium. Tickets here
February 15 - Essigfabrik, Köln, Germany. Tickets here
February 16 - Grosse Freiheit 36, Hamburg, Germany. Tickets here
February 18 - Tonhalle, Munich, Germany. Tickets here
February 19 - Astra Kulturhaus, Berlin, Germany. Tickets here
February 21 - Sentrum Scene, Oslo, Norway. Tickets here
To keep up with all things Carly Rae Jepsen you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter.
