Interview with ABC News
ABC Newslive Prime with Linsey Davis)
What’s left of me was the first song Grace wrote for the album after she left Columbia. “I wrote ‘What’s Left of Me’ and thought – oh, I am writing really, really well, let’s write an album. Do the thing like it’s supposed to be done. And then conceptually, it started evolving, and I was like – ooohh, this should be a thing … like this. Very cryptic, but I can’t say more.” She also talked about making music for a movie: “The plot is out there, so I have to write within that plot, within that perspective.
Interview with Billboard
Becoming famous at a young age
Instead of describing it as experiencing success at a young age, I would like to describe it as the façade of fame being shattered for me, very very early, which I am eternally grateful for. It’s like meeting God, and then he is like meh. At a very early age, I realized oh, this is completely hollow. You need to love the art-. And I would never chase that façade at all.
Insisting on defining herself
[Q: Being as visible as you are, and not being afraid of being who you are] Grace: “People HATE it! It’s their least favorite thing. It drives people insane. A young woman who has decided that you can’t limit me, and you don’t define me, they feel it’s a robbery of power, and it makes them SO mad. [Q: How do you want to redefine yourself?] Grace: ”I don’t think I want to redefine myself. I want to be me. I want to be honest; I want to be free.”
Making the new album
”… I was like – how uncomfortably honest can I be? This was the most free I have ever been. And watching myself and others in the project understanding what a monster it is. This is an experience I have never had before, pushing the boundaries of what we can really do.”
Touring
I literally just wrote out in my notes app, an immersive concert idea, and I went through second by second of all the songs and what the lighting is going to be. I love performing so much.”
About making Megalopolis
”I had the best experience acting in that movie. It was unlike anything I have ever done before. I remember Francis asked, ‘Have you ever played a villain before?’ And I was like – is she a villain? She’s kind of a Queen”
Her work-process
”I fear using a system . and that’s kind of fabulous. The only way to survive what I am doing is to be a person who loves chaos, which I do. I thrive under pressure. I love being stressed out. There is no consistency at all. Sometimes I am just unemployed, and other times I am traveling, working all hours, kicking my ass.”
Call it what you want
“[It is based on] personal experience… when two people romanticize a connection, and you both know it’s a waste of time, or maybe you are living in the past and it’s not going to go anywhere. But there is so much love there, and it’s kind of like drug-binging your love.
What’s Left of Me
“That song has many more layers. I was going through a breakup, and I was realizing the butterfly effect of how changed I was from this relationship. I wondered if I would choose the same sweater in the morning. Would I put my right foot or my left foot first. And what part of my skin is even still mine, and left form before this relationship, I am constantly now a shared piece of you. That was really intense. And there is an uncomfortability to that, because it’s done, you will be a part of me forever and you have changed me. I am not afraid to be emotional at all. I am like a little fucked up, I kind of love being in pain, I love it so much, I feel so much like main character and inspired.”