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Brandi Carlile
This is an I Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.
Matt Rogers
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Bowen Yang
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Bowen Yang
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Matt Rogers
Rhode island, all that.
Bowen Yang
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Matt Rogers
look, man, there. Oh, I see my eye. Oh, my. Oh, and look over there.
Bowen Yang
Wow. Is that culture?
Brandi Carlile
Yes. Goodness.
Matt Rogers
Wow.
Brandi Carlile
Las Culturistas
Matt Rogers
calling. We're quickly off to the races with our guests.
Bowen Yang
I'm wearing my Hijira hat.
Matt Rogers
Yes.
Bowen Yang
And just as a tribute, just for the Joanie connection. And gosh, it feels crazy to look across at our guest as if she's an old friend.
Matt Rogers
Well, here's the thing. I was thinking, while last night, I'm sort of zoning in for the episode and consuming, consuming, consuming. And I'm thinking, potential. Most talented person we've had in the past.
Bowen Yang
I don't think it's potential.
Matt Rogers
No, I'm not kidding, because I actually texted our vocal coach Doug Pecked, about it. And I was like, can we talk about the voice of our guest? And he was like, well, the word is fearless.
Bowen Yang
Well, this is fearless. Singing all your fucking songs in the original key.
Matt Rogers
You're crazy. You are crazy. But we haven't even spoken. We haven't even breached that with our guests because we're too busy talking about going on vacation on a boat and going on vacation to the mouse house.
Bowen Yang
And she's an expert at both. I can't believe I got to tell this person. This is what I breached. Broached with her breech broached. Last song I listened to. And I've told you this probably a million times. I will remind you. Last song that was playing in the car and I intentionally played it before my mom dropped me off to the airport before I went to school.
Matt Rogers
Was it the story?
Bowen Yang
It was not the story, but it was off the album. Cannonball. Ooh, so good.
Matt Rogers
I will never Forget being a 19 year old singing all of these lines across my face. I'm 19, tell you the story. And I'm just sort of giving this, like really, like, just world weary. Because of course, you know, Grey's Anatomy opened the door.
Bowen Yang
Of course.
Matt Rogers
Like millions of gays.
Bowen Yang
A Sara Ramirez. An underrated Sara Ramirez.
Matt Rogers
Shout out to you.
Bowen Yang
Shout out to Sara. Okay. But anyway, I've told her guests this since then.
Matt Rogers
She is.
Bowen Yang
She has inadvertently started the queer sort of commune that we will all be living in in a post apocalyptic world world. Yeah, she's building the mess hall. She's built. She's building the dining hall now.
Matt Rogers
Eleven Grammy awards, two Emmy awards, an Oscar nomination. Don't forget about that one, everyone.
Bowen Yang
Well, she's a fucking legend.
Matt Rogers
Everyone. Well, stunning talent. Brandi Carlisle. Hey.
Bowen Yang
Hey, girl.
Matt Rogers
Hey, you guys. We want to know. You said you're fresh from Disney.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Matt Rogers
What are the vibes?
Brandi Carlile
Oh, really good.
Matt Rogers
Really good.
Brandi Carlile
Unbelievable.
Matt Rogers
Because you do it with the guide and you sort of. You get your dining reservations ahead.
Brandi Carlile
Exactly. And then you just regress.
Bowen Yang
Who's there? Are the twins there? Are the kids there usually the twins?
Brandi Carlile
Always the kids.
Bowen Yang
Always the kids.
Brandi Carlile
Nowadays. Yeah, our mushroom days at Disney are over. But they did exist.
Matt Rogers
They did exist. And they're fun when they last. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Bowen Yang
But did you hit up Universal as well?
Brandi Carlile
No, we do the California's Great Adventure. We hit that up and then we do Disney and I try to do Pirates of the Caribbean four or five times.
Matt Rogers
And is that because there's so much to see?
Brandi Carlile
Is this nostalgia? I didn't go to Disneyland, like, till I was 21. 21 was my first trip as an adult with, like, my much older girlfriend.
Matt Rogers
Much older.
Brandi Carlile
Much older.
Matt Rogers
So she was like, I want to show you something.
Brandi Carlile
Exactly.
Matt Rogers
It's so funny. It took you to Disneyland. She's like, I gotta show you something you've never seen. Oh, gosh.
Brandi Carlile
Disneyland. Yeah. It's so predatory.
Matt Rogers
Was it a lot of older women in the beginning?
Brandi Carlile
Oh, yeah. I mean, only.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
Only, yeah.
Bowen Yang
This is what people don't realize.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Bowen Yang
See, Matt and I even come from. Did you ever do. Were you ever a Craigslist guy?
Matt Rogers
No, I never did Craigslist.
Brandi Carlile
Oh, can you tell me what that is?
Bowen Yang
Oh, so you did Craigslist. The sort of. The listings, the classifieds of the Internet.
Brandi Carlile
Right.
Bowen Yang
But they were. There was a personal section.
Brandi Carlile
Okay. Okay.
Bowen Yang
Yeah. Where it was M for M, M for F, F for M, F for F, T for T. T, M for T. Like what? Like, it really was like a big tent for whatever you wanted. And it would be people there being, like a non guy. It was just where you went before the Grindr days.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Bowen Yang
And before the. And it was like we were in a desert as queer people.
Matt Rogers
It was a place of finding.
Bowen Yang
It was a place of finding.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Bowen Yang
And so I feel like there was a long. There was a while where I felt like I was identifying as, like, well, I guess I'm just dating older men. Even though that never really. That was. That didn't really come to pass. It was just like. Well, it's just the people that I'm, like, gravitating towards are like, the older.
Brandi Carlile
What age were you when it was like that?
Bowen Yang
Oh, my God, like, 19. Like.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. I would have considered it, like, a description of type for me.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Bowen Yang
Really?
Brandi Carlile
Yeah. Like, almost like its own orientation.
Matt Rogers
How much older?
Brandi Carlile
I mean, the one, like, you can be honest, at least 10 years, but 15. Awesome. And maybe anywhere under 20 would be, like, between 15. 20 would be, like, really excellent.
Bowen Yang
Sure. Gosh. Do we. Is there a different. Is there a different. Is there a different math to it with lesbians?
Brandi Carlile
I'm not exactly sure. I think it's linked to, like, profession.
Matt Rogers
Yeah. Really? Is that so?
Brandi Carlile
Yeah. Yeah. Like, we were talking about boat captains.
Matt Rogers
Yeah, we sure were.
Brandi Carlile
Or like, police officers or, like, firefighters. It could just be me. I'm talking about. But I remember going to the Pride Parades in Seattle, like on Broadway in the 90s, and just standing on the sidelines with these baby dykes just, like, losing my mind over, like. Like the cops when they would walk
Matt Rogers
through any authority figures sort of, or just like.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah. And they had to be just kind of, like, dyke and awesome and how, like, warm and evolved and. You know what I mean? Well traveled and it was just like. It was kind of a way to maybe finish getting raised in some ways, like.
Bowen Yang
Yeah.
Matt Rogers
They saw the old soul in you, too.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, I think so.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Bowen Yang
Because when were you going into the city? When were you going to Seattle to, like, be with your. With your fellow queers?
Brandi Carlile
As soon as I could. Like, I didn't get a driver's license till really quite late, but I would get rides, like, to the city, and I would go busk at Pike Place Market, and then I would go and take my busking money up to, like, Broadway and, you know, sit in the outside of the gay bar where I could, you know, have, like, a mocktail, you know, and just watch gay people, like, live their lives. Cause I didn't meet a gay person until after I came out of the closet. I never knew one.
Bowen Yang
So then. And this is such a naive question, so then, like, what is. What is your way of, like, knowledge with your. With your. With your gayness without a person there to, like, mirror that or like. Or, like, download something into you?
Brandi Carlile
I think it was a combination of, like, just a cultural recognition of gayness in music and film and television. And then also just, like, puberty kicking in and realizing I was thinking about kissing girls.
Matt Rogers
Yeah, of course.
Bowen Yang
What am I saying? How did you know the combination of
Brandi Carlile
both of those two things?
Matt Rogers
No, but I think the interest element of it is also we're just dying to talk to people about the things that we love, even now. Yeah. That's kind of why we even have this.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, I love this.
Matt Rogers
It's like, it's never hard to, like, talk to people about what they love. And that is. It's like when you're that age, you're just dying to be seen in what you've been told or what you've been feeling is, like a niche thing.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Matt Rogers
You know, and then you can say the name of these artists and, like, you can say, like, whatever it is. And they have the discography as well. And it's like, okay, my people.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah. And these little dog whistles and breadcrumbs and the whole thing. And then, you know, your friend group gets kind of based on that or built on that and becomes, like, your personality in a way.
Bowen Yang
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah. That's how I felt.
Matt Rogers
Seattle is such a great city. Like, we went. We went the first time we Ever went. We did an. It was like an. I don't think so, honey live show. And the space was. Was it all ages?
Bowen Yang
It was an all ages venue.
Matt Rogers
And it was dry and it was dry. And it was like Seattle. And it was. It was. I. We left the show, which was bad. And we were like, seattle kinda sucks. No. Now that I've gone back, I'm like, seattle rocks. No, no. Every time I do my show there, it's always the best.
Bowen Yang
It's always the best show.
Matt Rogers
Like, I come back every time being like, Seattle has it.
Bowen Yang
And I need to wipe my slate clean from. Because I haven't been back to Seattle since. You must return since 2019. And the weather was bad. You know, it's always all these things. And I was like, I need to go back and like really experience it.
Brandi Carlile
Well, Seattle is like the older lesb. Like, she makes you earn it. You have to go back. Like we're almost Canadian in that way. We're not gonna show you our cards like all at once. You have to come back two or three times and then maybe, you know,
Matt Rogers
Seattle doesn't chase you.
Brandi Carlile
No, Seattle.
Matt Rogers
Seattle has actually. That's a roller culture number 10.
Bowen Yang
Seattle doesn't chase you.
Matt Rogers
You chase Seattle. But Seattle has actually given you so much when you think about it. Because not only this, not only all this like formative experience and culture and like your musical beginnings and so much, but also Seattle being the setting of Grey's Anatomy.
Brandi Carlile
Yes.
Matt Rogers
How many gay men and young women are like, I found you because of the story being on Grey's.
Brandi Carlile
All of them.
Bowen Yang
Really.
Brandi Carlile
Everyone.
Matt Rogers
That was how I did it.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah. And it wasn't just the story. The story was like the fourth. Third or fourth song.
Bowen Yang
Yeah.
Matt Rogers
You were up in the soundtrack.
Bowen Yang
I was gonna say that.
Brandi Carlile
Even now Gray's like, I feel like I'm alumni of like when I see the cast, like when we're. It's like, this is a thing that happened. I'm so glad you guys realized this.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Bowen Yang
Because they would use your. So and all the promo. What was the album before the Story? Cause it was like pre story. I was like, oh, there's this amazing singer, Brandi Carlisle. And then shit blew up.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah. There was a few songs and there were a couple of songs. I even went in and recorded just four Grey's Anatomy.
Matt Rogers
Uh huh.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Matt Rogers
Yeah. I mean they also. They were noted for having like the best soundtrack on television.
Bowen Yang
Alec Botsavas, now she's the head of music at Netflix. She was the music supervisor for Greys and she was the music supervisor for the oc?
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, she just.
Matt Rogers
She.
Bowen Yang
She's cool as hell as fuck.
Matt Rogers
Oh, she did the OC too. I was gonna say I would have
Brandi Carlile
wanted to date her. Yeah, that's who I would have wanted to date.
Bowen Yang
She would have taken you to Disneyland.
Brandi Carlile
I think so.
Bowen Yang
As many times as you want.
Brandi Carlile
Like at 20. Not just 21.
Matt Rogers
Do you know er, Fightmaster?
Brandi Carlile
No.
Matt Rogers
So they were on Grey's Anatomy for years. They were playing like, the first non binary resident resident there for years. And they're also a musician.
Brandi Carlile
Okay.
Matt Rogers
No, that's a good.
Brandi Carlile
Okay, great.
Matt Rogers
That's a good spiritual connection.
Bowen Yang
That's a good spiritual connection. But I feel like this is. You sort of, like, still have this. Even though I feel like you've always had this, like, grunge quality to the music. I feel like you never have to, like, claim it or like, sort of like brandish it too much because it's just like, you are like a Washingtonian and like, it's like. I feel like this is making me
Brandi Carlile
feel so good right now, hearing this. Yes.
Matt Rogers
I can't tell Kingtonian title of app.
Brandi Carlile
Just that you're like. You're acknowledging or noticing that those elements of grunge and like my city and just kind of like shameless dramatic rock and roll that sort of like hovers under the surface of everything I do.
Bowen Yang
Cause it's under the surface. I would never. Cause would you ever say that it's like, been surface in the albums?
Brandi Carlile
I mean, there are like a few times where it'll become overt, but it's always there. There's always this kind of like, there's always this. I'm on the edge of saying fuck it all the time.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
And my voice says fuck it all the time and falls apart and breaks apart in ways that I'm not ready for, I'm not prepared for. But, like, that I'm willing to just kind of tumble through that what's gonna happen mentality when I'm singing big. And I don't ever want to, like, lose that. I don't want to learn how to control that part of it.
Bowen Yang
Wow.
Brandi Carlile
But I do attest, like, I think that's a Seattle, molecular Seattle infiltration into
Bowen Yang
my singing, where it's like the music, like Seattle having its own music row, Seattle having this tradition as a music town kind of is the hub for you to then be like, I'm gonna go. I'm gonna have this relationship with Dolly for country. Not like, not like, not like genre by Genre, but like, with Joanie for folk and with, like, Elton for, like, rock, you know, it's like, it all kind of Seattle is the source for that for you.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah. It's like the lens through which I see all of them, too. You know what I mean? So. But all those things are also definitely true. I'm having, like, really a lot of nostalgia in my mind right now because of the stuff you're saying.
Matt Rogers
Well, this is what this thing that you're saying about your voice not necessarily being prepared of everything, but you singing big. Like, one of the things I was talking to Doug, our coach, about was, like, again, I'll say the fearlessness of your vocal and to hear you say your voice is not always prepared for it, but you are singing big. You are just an instrument. And I feel like you sing, like, in fearless ways. And I guess what I mean by that is, like, those breaks in your vocals, like, the ways that you approach vibrato and the ways that you really are an actor in your songs. Like, there's so many elements of your music, and even the songs that you cover, which are so gargantuan, and they're such tasks. Is there anything that scares you vocally? And if so, like, what are those things? Because when you listen to you, you're listening to someone without fear.
Brandi Carlile
As a listener, it all really scares me vocally.
Matt Rogers
Really?
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, absolutely. Like, I'm always kind of, like, sipping on this perfect cocktail of paralyzing fear and, like, confidence and the belief that whatever happens is meant to happen.
Matt Rogers
You would never know. And you write such difficult stuff for yourself.
Brandi Carlile
I know. What does my wife say? She's like, you've rolled for your own back with that one, Brandi. You're gonna have to hit that note for years. I know.
Matt Rogers
Like, what have I tasked myself with again for every show?
Bowen Yang
But it's a choice that you're making because it's like Maren was saying. It's like you are singing in the original key.
Matt Rogers
Yeah, yeah.
Brandi Carlile
Ye. But I mean, I will change that key if I need to. Like, I. No problem. No, I mean, I want to go straight. I want to be Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash, like, when I'm in my 80s. Like, I'll drop that.
Matt Rogers
Yeah, yeah.
Brandi Carlile
But, like, right now, it's the original key. And honestly, because I am not, like, living the same lifestyle I was when I was younger, it's actually easier for me to sing now than it ever was before.
Bowen Yang
So what is that?
Matt Rogers
What have you cut out entirely?
Brandi Carlile
Oh, God. I mean, alcohol. When I'm on tour?
Matt Rogers
Yeah. When you're on tour.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah. And my, like, rules around eating and what I eat and when I eat and what I do. And then I have a vocal coach like you guys do.
Matt Rogers
It's a little different.
Brandi Carlile
It's a little different. It's like, very unsexy. But, like, I become completely owned by my ability to hit the notes.
Bowen Yang
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
That is like, I'm an athlete every night. I'm thinking of it that way. And I don't know why I envision this. Like, maybe you guys do this. I don't think the audience does what I think they do, which is sit there and go, can she do it? Can she do it? Oh, that's what I think that they're all doing. It's not what they're all doing.
Matt Rogers
Like, they're like Olympic judges. Kind of like, that note was not clean.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah. But is it what you do?
Matt Rogers
It is.
Bowen Yang
Do we project that onto the audience? Oh, as audience members. Is that where we're.
Brandi Carlile
Yes. Is that what you do?
Matt Rogers
I think. I mean, I'd rather it all be perfect, but I think something that you probably now know from years of touring at the level that you do, which is they are there for the experience. Not. They're not there. They're in judgment, they're there in excitement. And you know, I've been playing. I've. I've been on the opposite coast of you every single time. But my. My best friend Melissa and her husband saw you at. At the Kia Forum and Michael had. Had never seen you and never, like, wasn't familiar. But Melissa and her best friend Taylor were like huge fans. And so he got there and they said. They were all sobbing the entire time. And then Michael Turner was like, I love Brandi Carlisle and that he wasn'. But then he became like such a die hard fan. And your live experience, they said it was so clear that everyone was there almost in like pilgrimage and that it was the lesbian convention and that everyone was incredibly keyed in and respectful and everyone left in a very. In a. In a very tight formation. And it was a real. It was. It was a beautiful. It was processional. And that the. But that the experience of being there was like truly like everyone was there just in excitement. So they were not like. Well, she missed that one because it doesn't happen a. I know.
Brandi Carlile
Well, it doesn't. I know that what you're saying is true. And I'm one day gonna be able to fully, like, let that in and stop believing that when I sing, it's about to be scored by Olympic judges. And then I think when I do let that go, that's when I'm gonna do the real shit. Like, that's when I'm gonna take some real risks, you know, because I actually think it might be just a little bit repressive and something I'm, like, gonna untangle before I'm 50.
Bowen Yang
Before you're 50 now, do you feel. Does this sentence ring true to you? I perform, behave differently because I feel like I'm being watched like that. Like the idea of being perceived is the thing that's like. Yeah, well, yeah.
Brandi Carlile
I mean, is it that way for you? As we've become public people, it's hard not to think that way. And it has, like, positives and negatives. Like, you do something normal at home, something domestic, and you're like, oh, that was cute. I wish 10,000 people saw that.
Matt Rogers
Look how clean it all is.
Brandi Carlile
And then, you know. But then you have, like, normal, everyday interpersonal mistakes, you know, like, you know, I'm a little bit too hard on one of my kids or something goes wrong. And then I feel like, extra sort of scolded by people that aren't there.
Bowen Yang
I see. But I feel like you've really done a. You've made a beautiful thing happen for yourself. Not made it happen for yourself, but you have been surrounded by people. I think that's a beautiful sort of hallmark in the Brandi Carlisle story, which is like, you're with the twins, you're with Catherine, the kids are with you. You are not alone.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Bowen Yang
You know, and that, I think is
Brandi Carlile
being alone is the worst.
Bowen Yang
And you guys are talking about, like, you and I think you and Colbert were talking about this. I feel like it's like being alone is. Being alone is fine until it's not. And I love it. I love it. I love it too much.
Brandi Carlile
My wife loves it too.
Bowen Yang
So then how do you.
Matt Rogers
How does this.
Bowen Yang
How does this work for the two of you? Where it's like you don't like being alone, but she does.
Matt Rogers
Like, we're like, amber, no.
Brandi Carlile
What about you? Do you.
Matt Rogers
I know I do need to be alone sometimes. Fraser and I are distant, so it's like, if I wasn't okay with that, that would be a horrible thing.
Brandi Carlile
No, I feel like the key is if you don't like to be alone, like, I really don't like to be alone. Is that you kind of learn to be alone with someone. Like, if you come over to my house, I'm not gonna stop everything and host you of course. Like, I'm gonna let you in and show you where the refrigerator is. But whatever I was doing, I'm probably gonna go back to doing it. You can join me. You can not join me. I want you there, but I don't wanna have to interact 100%. And so, like, that is just. I just kind of been able to hold onto that. And it's weird because the more people you put around you and the more intimacy you're able to sort of cultivate, I think that, like, the more you can get away with that shit.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
And then you never forget being like,
Bowen Yang
hey, just come in. There's the fridge. Like, what do you mean, like, that shit?
Brandi Carlile
Well, I just think people conflate. Like, I don't get to be alone with. I don't get to do what I want.
Matt Rogers
Oh, yeah, you're right. You're right. Well, being alone with someone. So being alone while someone else is there.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Matt Rogers
Is also a marker of true comfort with that person.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Matt Rogers
You know what I mean? If I'm ever feeling like I have to fill the silence a lot.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Matt Rogers
Or entertain all this all the time, I'm like, well, this is supposed to be a person that's close to me in my space. Like, I don't have to, like, be talking the whole time.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
Matt Rogers
You know, it's. But it is. I don't know, for me, like, I. I sometimes think, like, of silence music. Like, it's going bad.
Bowen Yang
Yes.
Brandi Carlile
Silence is valid.
Bowen Yang
Totally.
Brandi Carlile
That's also because you guys, like, live in a city. Like, a major city. Do you think you'll always live in a major city? New York or la.
Matt Rogers
He's heading out. No, you have designs.
Brandi Carlile
Where would you go? Because, like, I do. I think that, like, being able to step in and out of show business and the music business is like a really kind of crucial, peaceful. A way for me to keep my sort of inner peace and compass pointed in the right direction. I'm not saying that you can't live in a major city and be in show business and not step out, but, like, do you ever see yourself living outside of.
Bowen Yang
Sure. Like, I. Honestly, I'm like, I'm so jealous of you. Like, you ha. Like, you're building a dining hall.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Bowen Yang
That's amazing.
Brandi Carlile
Literally, right now it's called the Commons. Are you making a joke? As I really am.
Matt Rogers
No, no. What phase is it in?
Bowen Yang
I'm tracking your. I'm tracking this.
Matt Rogers
We're tracking your dining hall construction.
Bowen Yang
Where are you with it?
Brandi Carlile
It's actually going. I just a little while ago got the text that we passed framing inspection, so we can.
Matt Rogers
Let's go.
Bowen Yang
What are we thinking? What's the color?
Brandi Carlile
I want to do the color drenching thing.
Bowen Yang
What's that?
Brandi Carlile
Maybe it's just like, too much social media, but, like, I'm just so beyond the millennial gray thing. Like, I want to go, like, all one bold color, like a cobalt blue or a forest green.
Matt Rogers
I love that.
Brandi Carlile
Paint everything.
Matt Rogers
Don't be afraid of a color.
Bowen Yang
Don't be afraid of a color. I've got what's called superior blue in my house, where it's in the kitchen and then it's echoed in the primary. And the guest room is like a forest green.
Brandi Carlile
Oh, okay.
Bowen Yang
And so I feel like this is good.
Brandi Carlile
We're preparing this for you. Thank you.
Matt Rogers
No. He's gonna love this dining hall. And now a quick break from our sponsor, Vital Proteins.
Bowen Yang
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Matt Rogers
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Bowen Yang
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Matt Rogers
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Bowen Yang
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Matt Rogers
Huge thanks again to our sponsor, Vital Proteins.
Bowen Yang
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Matt Rogers
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Bowen Yang
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Matt Rogers
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Bowen Yang
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Matt Rogers
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Bowen Yang
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Matt Rogers
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Bowen Yang
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Matt Rogers
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Bowen Yang
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Matt Rogers
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Bowen Yang
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Matt Rogers
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Bowen Yang
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Matt Rogers
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Bowen Yang
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Matt Rogers
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Bowen Yang
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Matt Rogers
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Bowen Yang
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Matt Rogers
With hundreds of new and used EV models available today, there's an EV to fit every lifestyle and every budget. The way forward is electric. Learn more@electricforall.org Us living in a city does not. When the grid goes down, he's going to Ontario.
Bowen Yang
I'm going to Ontario. Oh, that's what you meant?
Brandi Carlile
That's what I was gonna ask.
Bowen Yang
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Brandi Carlile
Where are you gonna go?
Bowen Yang
I'm gonna go to Ontario.
Matt Rogers
He's got a plan.
Brandi Carlile
All right.
Matt Rogers
I. It scares me. It could happen tonight. But that's what they're saying. That's what they're saying. It's tonight. We're recording this on what's the day?
Bowen Yang
April 7th.
Matt Rogers
April 7th. Anyways, but like he has a whole plan for when the grid goes down. And the gays have started to talk about when the grid goes down. I feel like the lesbians have been talking about when the grid goes down for a very long time. Prepared.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Matt Rogers
It's big prep. It's big prep.
Bowen Yang
It's prepper culture.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, Yeah.
Bowen Yang
I think lesbians are better preppers than gay guys.
Brandi Carlile
Oh, you want us, you want us on the team? Yeah. Could you guys be rural gays?
Bowen Yang
I would figure it out.
Brandi Carlile
I was looking at those shoes and I'm like, yes.
Matt Rogers
Actually, no. He's sort of in a cosplay right now and that would suggest dorsiness.
Bowen Yang
That's cosplay. But I'm from a lineage of farmers. I'm from a lineage of farmers.
Matt Rogers
I'm from a lineage of farmers, says Bowen Yang. It's true.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Matt Rogers
I'm from a lineage of hairdressers and gym teachers. So we can look cute while we do the model diagram.
Brandi Carlile
It works with the gym teacher.
Matt Rogers
Passed the presidential fitness test back in the day. I don't know if they do that anymore.
Bowen Yang
No, I think they do.
Matt Rogers
Not in the president's name.
Brandi Carlile
Who can climb a rope, though?
Bowen Yang
Oh, we were supposed to do that.
Matt Rogers
So hard to do.
Brandi Carlile
God.
Matt Rogers
Well, we had to do the sit and reach.
Bowen Yang
Sit and reach was.
Matt Rogers
That's an iconic one.
Brandi Carlile
The wall sit.
Matt Rogers
Then there's the wall sit. That wasn't part of the test, but that's a good one. We had to do pull ups.
Brandi Carlile
Okay.
Matt Rogers
Push ups, crunches, the mile run. And there was one other thing. I don't remember it, but I think there was five elements of it. Maybe I just did five.
Brandi Carlile
But that was a rope climb.
Bowen Yang
The rope climb.
Matt Rogers
The rope climb is not something I'm familiar with.
Brandi Carlile
Oh, you guys didn't have to climb a rope.
Bowen Yang
This is Washington. This is Washingtonian.
Matt Rogers
That's a crazy town. Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
You could climb a rope and you could. You could. I couldn't even hang off the thing.
Bowen Yang
No.
Brandi Carlile
I would just. Just drop it.
Bowen Yang
What are we getting at there?
Brandi Carlile
No. What was even.
Matt Rogers
Yeah, but all I ever wanted when I was younger was to have was to be at a fancy enough high school that had like that project adventure shit.
Brandi Carlile
Oh, yeah.
Matt Rogers
You know what I mean? Like, they would have all this shit that was like, you know, you could zipline and you could do that and this. And now it's like, I watch the Survivor challenges and I'm like, I couldn't get through 15 seconds of this. Like, I could, but it wouldn't be fun.
Bowen Yang
No.
Matt Rogers
When I was younger, I was like, I can't wait to be on Survivor one day. And now I'm like, that looks hard.
Brandi Carlile
Oh, hard. Do you ever watch that show Naked and Afraid?
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
Oh, my God. I have watched every season of Naked and Afraid.
Matt Rogers
You love that.
Bowen Yang
Would you do it?
Brandi Carlile
I love it with my children. I would not be able to be naked and I wouldn't be afraid, but I could do alone. Except for that I'd have to be alone. And they did have one season where they could pair you.
Bowen Yang
Okay.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, so. But I would definitely be pretty good in one of those situations for a little while.
Bowen Yang
How's Katherine outdoors?
Brandi Carlile
Do you know what? She's like a Londoner. Like, I'm talking like, you know what you do.
Matt Rogers
What I do. You spoke a little bit like your British partner. I do this.
Brandi Carlile
It's happening.
Bowen Yang
It's beautiful. I love it.
Brandi Carlile
We've been married 15 years now, and I hear it all the time in myself. I'm like, what the fuck is that?
Matt Rogers
No, but it's good.
Brandi Carlile
It's good.
Matt Rogers
It means you're listening. I always go. The word I can't get. He hates when I do this, but I go, whoa, whoa. He's like, that's not a thing.
Brandi Carlile
It's not a thing.
Matt Rogers
He gets a very phrase about it.
Brandi Carlile
My wife always says, I can't, I can't, I can't. And I go, you can't, you can't, you can't. And she gets so annoyed with me when I do that.
Bowen Yang
It's rp. Is it received pronunciation?
Brandi Carlile
I mean, they also don't hear themselves. And a ending words in R, like brar. Yeah, they can't say braw. They say braw. And I. You know, they don't hear that R. You tell them they put an R on that. They just like, flat out, no, sky's not blue. Yeah.
Matt Rogers
So insane. I love every second of them speaking.
Bowen Yang
Oh, it's beautiful.
Brandi Carlile
I love it. It's so gorgeous.
Matt Rogers
It really is.
Brandi Carlile
Do you guys ever, like, fight?
Bowen Yang
No.
Matt Rogers
He doesn't raise his voice.
Bowen Yang
Okay, what's her fighting style?
Brandi Carlile
Oh, God, she's.
Matt Rogers
She rips it.
Brandi Carlile
Oh, my God. She's. Yeah, she's absolutely.
Bowen Yang
Fireball.
Matt Rogers
Fireball.
Brandi Carlile
Oh, my God, that girl will fight. I mean, I have never fought so much in my life.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
And, I mean, I had brothers and sisters. I have, like, a brother that's like a year younger than me. That girl can fight and then just over it in a split second like it never happened.
Bowen Yang
Wow.
Matt Rogers
And now is that compartmentalizing or is that it actually is over?
Brandi Carlile
Just over.
Matt Rogers
Okay. Yeah.
Bowen Yang
Moves on quickly. I don't think gay guys can do that. I don't mean to generalize with lesbians. I just think gay guys, they hold a fucking grudge.
Brandi Carlile
Oh, no.
Matt Rogers
There's grudge holding in the lesbian community. Come on, let's go.
Brandi Carlile
I mean, I don't hold a grudge because I'm actually so judgmental that I would judge myself for holding a grudge.
Matt Rogers
Oh, gotcha.
Brandi Carlile
So what I do is worse than grudges. It's very intense judging.
Matt Rogers
I wanted to ask you about being judgmental because in the song Joanie, you speak about how she laughs at all the pop stars. So do you and Joanie privately just rip the shit out of the pop girlies, or do you love everyone? I'm asking privately. And I'm not asking who.
Brandi Carlile
Like, you know, my late millennial feminism won't let me rip the shit out of any pop girlies.
Bowen Yang
Oh, God bless you.
Brandi Carlile
I'll rip the shit out of some pop guys with her.
Matt Rogers
I love it. So do we see we actually are the same. Like, the pop girlies. Love them all, love them all. But the pop boys look the fuck out on this.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, exactly. Fair game.
Matt Rogers
Yeah, absolutely.
Brandi Carlile
And if she gets on them, I'm like, oh, Joan, they're really young. I mean, let's think this through, you know.
Matt Rogers
But she gets on them.
Brandi Carlile
I mean, she does not.
Matt Rogers
I love that though. If anyone's like, full. If I'm a pop girly, I wanna hear Joni Mitchell drag me.
Bowen Yang
Cause she seems.
Matt Rogers
I do.
Brandi Carlile
She's dragged me. She drags me like all the time in front of my face.
Matt Rogers
It's probably a term of endearment.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah. Oh, no, it's heaven. Yeah, it's heaven.
Bowen Yang
Some of these, Joanie, between Joanie and Elton, they. They get on your ass.
Matt Rogers
You didn't pick the easy ones.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, yeah.
Matt Rogers
Like you picked the icons of art.
Brandi Carlile
The most formidable and intimidating but soulful and just here. Human beings, like, they're so here. Like, they are so present. They do not play by the same rules we play by. And it's a powerful presence to be in. Let me tell you. What. What?
Matt Rogers
Wow.
Bowen Yang
I loved because I finally. Because I watched the doc, but like, after the last time you came to SNL, I watched. I watched the like 30 minute film of you and Andrew Watt and Elton writing together. I loved. There was a Laura Nero song that you guys covered that I fucking love. Because people forgot about Laura Nero.
Brandi Carlile
I feel she would be a Laura Nero fan.
Matt Rogers
I fucking love Laura Nero.
Brandi Carlile
Such a sad gay.
Bowen Yang
I'm a sad gay.
Brandi Carlile
I feel like sad gay is a thing. Like it's becoming a thing. Like, we talked about Girls Just Wanna this last year I saw more gay men at Girls Just Wanna than I have ever seen.
Matt Rogers
We're sadder than ever.
Bowen Yang
We're sadder than ever.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, we're not doing that. And I love it because, well, the taste in music is just off the charts. It's an awesome.
Matt Rogers
We're see them all at Ethel Kane this weekend.
Bowen Yang
She's going on the same time as Sabrina Carpenter, so. No, we're not.
Matt Rogers
Oh, that is. Wait, can I say that might be my. I don't think so, honey. At the end of this episode is the Coachella set. Times have come out and we're going this weekend. I can't believe making people choose between.
Bowen Yang
I know, it's tough.
Matt Rogers
Twigs and Lefe.
Bowen Yang
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Matt Rogers
Why should people have to choose?
Brandi Carlile
Well, no, that got very high pitched.
Matt Rogers
I haven't even warmed up. You're looking at two counter tenors.
Bowen Yang
I am not a counter tenor.
Brandi Carlile
I.
Matt Rogers
Well, the joke's on you. Cause you are.
Bowen Yang
Wait, we're just inviting ourselves to Girls tjswana. You don't have to put us. It's your hosting vibe.
Matt Rogers
We promise to be sad if you
Brandi Carlile
come to girlsjewswana with me next year. You will be, like, my guest. We will have such a good time. And we will sing on Night of the Living 90s. We'll come up with one 90s song. It can be as sad or as gay as we want.
Matt Rogers
Yes, we'll do it.
Brandi Carlile
Oh, yeah. We're like Meredith Brooks. We're talking, you know, some Lilith Fair moment.
Bowen Yang
Yep.
Matt Rogers
This is what we needed back. And you knew it.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Matt Rogers
You knew it.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Matt Rogers
Because, you know, so I am of the experience of. My parents did not let me watch MTV.
Brandi Carlile
Okay.
Matt Rogers
So VH1 defined me, and they were the ones in the late 90s giving all the love to Lilith Fair. Like, my idea of sexuality is not, like, you know, Christina Aguilera, like, writhing on the ground. Like, I appreciate that, but, like, my idea of sexuality is like Shania Twain walking on the beach.
Brandi Carlile
Oh, yeah.
Matt Rogers
While, like. Like someone strummed a guitar. And that was then Lilith Fair. And it was like all, like. It was like. Oh, my God. Like, yeah, like you said, like Meredith brooks and like, McLachlan and like, like Natalie Imbruglia, like, at that time, like, you know, God, there was also another one. Oh, my God. No. Natalie Merchant.
Brandi Carlile
Oh, yeah, Natalie Merchant.
Matt Rogers
Like this. Open the door.
Bowen Yang
Yeah, so it's that. It's that.
Brandi Carlile
That's sad gay. That is a sad gay.
Matt Rogers
Sad gay.
Brandi Carlile
You don't have to be sad. But that being your, like, you know, proclivity, that is you.
Bowen Yang
Yep. Being a sad gay.
Matt Rogers
And you are.
Bowen Yang
You welcome them with open arms, too. To girls who Swanna.
Brandi Carlile
Oh, yeah. Because it's made for you.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Bowen Yang
Mexico's such, like, a. Like a fun, lively place.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah. Well, that's the thing. It's like. It's. That's what. That's what the sad gays do. And by the way, a straight person can be a sad gay. It's like. It is like, mixing, like, unabashed, shameless expression, you know, of emotion unguarded with just, like, lightheartedness and overused word. But joy.
Bowen Yang
Yes.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
Just arms up over your head, dancing under the stars and screaming and yelling like there's no tomorrow. And. And then being able to, like, listen to a Jewel song from, you know, 1994.
Matt Rogers
Oh, God.
Brandi Carlile
Laying on your bedroom floor just crying to Everybody Hurts by R.E.M.
Matt Rogers
oh, my God.
Bowen Yang
Thank God.
Matt Rogers
By the way, Jewel. Just by the way, Jewel.
Bowen Yang
Just by the way, Jewel.
Matt Rogers
Like, Foolish Games. That's my karaoke song. I need to be a girls Just want.
Bowen Yang
You guys should sing Foolish Games together.
Brandi Carlile
Me and Jewel or me and Matt?
Bowen Yang
You and Matt?
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, I think me and Matt, too.
Matt Rogers
I think that would be really amazing. I'm not very emotional, but you were meant for me. I remember, like, I chemically altered. I loved Jules.
Brandi Carlile
It was the pause before the I was meant for you is the pause for that last word.
Matt Rogers
And there's also, like, she had indoctrination. She had released the album and then the single version. Like, there's a different version of youf Are Meant For Me and there's a different version of Foolish Games. And, like, they do that.
Bowen Yang
They would do that back then.
Matt Rogers
Back then, there was, like, three versions of everything. Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
When I listen to it now, she has so many voices, like. And there was such an emotional.
Matt Rogers
So many voices.
Brandi Carlile
But what I think when she goes into the bit where she's like. I'm like, how did she not lose this? But it's like, I felt the emotion from that.
Bowen Yang
Yes.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
But it, like, for some reason, it goes into something where it sounds like it could almost be parody and then is working. Yes. That's fearless singing.
Matt Rogers
Yeah. Well, I think she literally replaced her voice. That must have been what it was. And then it's so different.
Brandi Carlile
There's some Shakira in there. That may be the origins of the yawn, you know, that was the yawn.
Bowen Yang
That's the Shakira yawn.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Bowen Yang
Is that what you're referring to?
Brandi Carlile
I mean, there's like a yawn, you know, the.
Bowen Yang
What is the general yawn?
Brandi Carlile
The yawn.
Bowen Yang
Do you yawn?
Brandi Carlile
No, no. I'm a grown woman.
Bowen Yang
That's for the little pop girls to do.
Matt Rogers
Yeah. What are your thoughts on cursive singing?
Brandi Carlile
Oh, that's the other thing that does.
Matt Rogers
Jodie ripped that up.
Brandi Carlile
My thoughts are. Where did it start?
Matt Rogers
Well, what started it?
Brandi Carlile
I can't find it. Like, I can find the origins of all kinds of singing that turned into a thing. Right. And then the originator of that singing doesn't bother me. Whereas, like, the ripple effect of it does, of course.
Matt Rogers
Correct.
Brandi Carlile
But I can't find the origins of that. I'm talking early 2000s is when I first started hearing Instead of Love live.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
You know what I mean?
Bowen Yang
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Matt Rogers
No, I'm also trying to find it, but it is. It took over.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, it took over.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
And it became a thing. Like no one can say Birds. Everybody says bites, bites, bites. Yeah.
Bowen Yang
My thing, my pet peeve. And look, some of our favorites do. This is just saying the word God damn to. To fill in the scansion and the syllables. I think I've done that.
Brandi Carlile
I think I've done that.
Bowen Yang
No, no, no, I think it's fine. I just think it's been popular. I never. I never.
Brandi Carlile
Like, I never aware. But I'm sure I did. No, I did it. I remember now. It's in the. It's on the album. What album is it on? Goddamn liar. I say could have said anything, but I said goddamn pissed on.
Matt Rogers
Do you agree though? Is goddamn a placeholder or do you stand ten toes town in your use of goddamn?
Brandi Carlile
I don't know. I think it's like vacation, Bible school, Sunday school, Awana's language for like the worst thing you can say. So as soon as we get punk rock, we put it into any. But that's probably just a 90s baby thing. I don't know. Is it not? God damn. It's like the worst thing you can say.
Matt Rogers
I wasn't allowed to say that.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah. No, cannot say.
Matt Rogers
What words could you not say?
Brandi Carlile
Okay, so when I was really young, it was weird things like dang and heck.
Matt Rogers
You were not permitted to say dang?
Brandi Carlile
No, it was weird. It's. It's totally weird because, like, my parents are not strict people at all. In fact, I'm very free range human being. But like for a minute there when I was like really young, there were like. Like you couldn't say. You didn't like something you had to say. You didn't care for it. You couldn't say dang. You couldn't say heck. You couldn't say shoot. Anything that was like reminiscent of a curse and it was this weird, odd thing.
Matt Rogers
So sucks was off the table.
Brandi Carlile
Off the table.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
No, but now that I have kids, you know, I wince when they say dang and heck. And I'm like, keep your mouth shut. That's some dysfunctional shit you do not need to carry forward.
Bowen Yang
Interesting that it's still.
Matt Rogers
Let them say dang and heck.
Brandi Carlile
Yes. For God's sake.
Bowen Yang
If your parents are playing a prank on you, huh? Do you think your parents are playing a prank on you?
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, because right now I cannot imagine my parents having a rule of any kind.
Matt Rogers
Oh, good.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Bowen Yang
Because they're. Because they're just like. Just let the kids say what they want.
Brandi Carlile
I don't know what that was. That was some weird. Like that was some weird, you know, 1984, how Lindsay Lake, great Planet earth, Heaven's gate cult religious movement that happened in the late 80s and early 90s and led the people of my parents generation to go fucking nuts.
Bowen Yang
Yes, Heaven's dead.
Brandi Carlile
And we're seeing the repercussions of it.
Matt Rogers
Well, it's interesting that you just mentioned entering into the 90s because we are now at the point of the show where we ask you about your culture, your formative culture. So, Brandi Carlisle, what was the culture that made you say culture was for you?
Brandi Carlile
Well, there were so many things. I feel like I had such a rich era to sort of come of age in. I was born in 1981. So in 1992, 93, country music sort of got big boot scoot and boogie came out.
Bowen Yang
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
Okay. And while country music is getting big, there is a lot happening in gay culture. Tom Hanks and the Philadelphia films, the Indigo Girls, the first time in that soundtrack you had k. D. Lange and Cindy Crawford on the COVID of Vanity fair. And Katie Lang's getting her face shaved by Cindy Crawford is like one of the sexiest gender bending photos of the 90s. And then Katie Lang crosses over into country music because she was a country music singer, like an opry queen, Lawrence Welk show, big boned gal from southern Alberta. Just couldn't call her small. She was like. She was the queen in that sense for me. And so there's this intersection happening between queer culture and country music. You know, Melissa Etheridge comes out with Yes, I am. What else was going on? I mean, everybody says that, you know, the Ellen DeGeneres coming out moment in 1997 was monumental. But there was even stuff before that that was happening in tv, but nothing as important as Ellen coming out. But you guys remember the audacity of the Roseanne kiss?
Matt Rogers
Oh, absolutely.
Brandi Carlile
I mean, at least it was a wild thing. There was all this controversy around, like Roseanne Barr getting kissed on her show. So all this queer stuff was happening between 1993 and 1997 while country music was coming up. And then country music did this weird thing. It got queer. And I'm not even sure that the mainstream like the rest of the world
Matt Rogers
knew it, but they Weren't clocking.
Brandi Carlile
We were dressing like cowboys. All of our gay bars turned into getting names like Timberline and the Trucker and Tracks. And next thing you know, there's all these gay people line dancing.
Bowen Yang
To this day.
Brandi Carlile
To this very day.
Matt Rogers
Well, it had, like, a boom again.
Bowen Yang
Stuck country and stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Brandi Carlile
And so I feel like between the era of, like, 1993 and 1997 was the birth of the rural queer.
Bowen Yang
Yes.
Brandi Carlile
And so that is a formative moment in my life because he showed me that two seemingly diametrically opposed things can coexist.
Bowen Yang
And that's, like, the queerest thing possible.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, exactly.
Bowen Yang
Like intersecting these things that no one would ever think to bring together. And then that paves the way for Brokeback Mountain and for.
Brandi Carlile
And then inevitably. Exactly. It led to Brokeback Mountain in the
Bowen Yang
early 2000s was boys don't Cry. I mean, I don't know if you would call that, like, country necessarily, but there's something rural about it. There's something like.
Brandi Carlile
It was right in that moment. It challenged people's sensibility. There was also. There were a lot of things that came out during that time that were really important. Boys on the side came out. Drew Barmore and Whoopi Goldberg.
Matt Rogers
Wow.
Brandi Carlile
And. And Mary Louise. Mary Louise Deripers was in that, too. And then.
Matt Rogers
Oh, my God, Was that also L Word time?
Brandi Carlile
It was just before it was Queer as folk.
Matt Rogers
Yeah. 2000s, right? Oh, queer as Folk.
Brandi Carlile
Queer as Folk. L Word came after that. But the Birdcage with Nathan Lane.
Matt Rogers
Oh, huge.
Brandi Carlile
I still. That is the movie I put on if I need to, like, have a laugh.
Matt Rogers
So wild to know that he remained closeted publicly through even the premise.
Brandi Carlile
I didn't even know this.
Matt Rogers
Yeah. Well, it was like he would go out for interviews alongside Robin, and they would ask uncomfortable questions.
Bowen Yang
Oprah asked Nathan Lane, like, so, like, just. I forget what she asked specifically. Robin Williams, like, gets in there, and the most respectful way to all involved is just, like. That's just, like, not. You know, we're just here portraying, like. We just had so much fun portraying this couple. Like, let's. I mean, it's.
Matt Rogers
It's enlightened the atmosphere and made jokes out of it. Like, he would to, like, you know, steer away from what was completely uncharted terrain. It's just so funny to think about how maximalist country music was at that time, too.
Brandi Carlile
Well, we had so many divas. That's the other thing, too, is, like, there was, like, you. We had your bet. Share.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
You know, your bet Share pop moment.
Matt Rogers
And then we had country, had.
Brandi Carlile
We had Reba, and we had Wynonna Judd, by the way. Wynonna Judge.
Matt Rogers
Yeah, everything.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, exactly. And so we. We definitely had these kind of country divas, which led to Shania Twain.
Matt Rogers
Yes.
Bowen Yang
You know, another Canadian legend. Like, Kinky.
Brandi Carlile
Another Canadian legend.
Matt Rogers
And also, you know, like, I just remember, like, oh, God, one of the best ever is. Does he love you? He loves me.
Brandi Carlile
Does he think of you when I make him feel?
Matt Rogers
And then, oh, so good.
Bowen Yang
That music video. Oh, those looks.
Matt Rogers
No, that's what I mean. Like that gay ass song like that. You know, every drag queen is trying to get their other drag queen to do it with them, but it's like, what is this? Like, you got. If you know, you know, if you know, you know.
Brandi Carlile
And that's what I'm talking about. That is the culture. That is the cultural moment that most impacted me because it created a different kind of thinking of expressing yourself.
Matt Rogers
Have you connected with Kelly Clarkson about this?
Brandi Carlile
We never talked about it, but every time. I love it.
Matt Rogers
You guys are right there.
Brandi Carlile
Oh, are we?
Matt Rogers
Yes. And I also feel like you.
Brandi Carlile
That's what I mean when I sing.
Bowen Yang
Only in terms of the same thing. You're right. You're right.
Matt Rogers
You're really like. I feel like when I listen to her, I listen. I feel like there's, like, you guys sing from a similar.
Brandi Carlile
She can really sing.
Bowen Yang
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
I mean, that girl, she's a freak. She is an actual freak. Her mix, like, her ability to be up and she doesn't actually have a head voice. Like, it goes all the way to the top. She's crazy where her head voice would be, and there's no break in it. And it's incredible what she can do, how she can control it. She's steady, too.
Matt Rogers
I bring her up.
Brandi Carlile
I send it on one thing.
Matt Rogers
Oh, gosh.
Brandi Carlile
I'll send it to you.
Matt Rogers
Dustin, please. The best ever. Because she had again, like, I was like, 11 when Kelly was on American Idol, and American Idol exposed me so much to the other genres of music because I think it did for so many kids. I did too, that age. And she sang does he love you? With her idol, Reba McEntire, on American Idol. Years ago, after she had won, they did like, a special, and it was like, now Kelly's gonna sing with her idol. And it was Reba McEntire. And they sang does he love you? And Reba did her part. And, you know, like, it was. It was just so great. And so hearing you talk about them. I just wondered.
Brandi Carlile
Oh, I'm gonna tell you something. So much fun. Then here's a little bit of inside ball for you about Rebecca McIntyre and Kelly Clarkson. So I went to the wedding of Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert.
Bowen Yang
Wow.
Brandi Carlile
I sang them down the aisle with the story.
Matt Rogers
Another era.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah. Back in the day. Not everybody knows this. Yeah. And they had a party at the end, like you would expect. And there was karaoke.
Bowen Yang
Oh.
Brandi Carlile
And everybody was, like, getting drunk and singing karaoke. And Kelly Clarkson was there, and Ruby McIntyre was there.
Matt Rogers
Stop.
Brandi Carlile
And they started singing together. And then they just, like, didn't get off the stage.
Matt Rogers
Well, that's not.
Brandi Carlile
Like the party was over. And we had to take these, like, shuttle buses to, you know, back to the hotel. And I remember the whole shuttle bus was waiting for Eva McEntire. And I could hear her singing Fancy from the bus, singing her own songs on stage, karaoke ing with Kelly Clarkson doing harmonies. And I was like, these bitches are everything Everybody hopes they are. And no one knows.
Matt Rogers
No.
Brandi Carlile
But now you know.
Matt Rogers
It's so good.
Brandi Carlile
So rap.
Matt Rogers
Also, Kelly's cover of Fancy at the Kennedy Center. Forget it.
Brandi Carlile
I remember it all very well. Looking back, it was a summer I turned 18.
Matt Rogers
You gotta do it.
Brandi Carlile
I know every word.
Bowen Yang
Have you. Has this been recorded? You singing Fancy?
Brandi Carlile
I get drunk and sing this all the time. Yes, but not when you're touring all the time. And I don't even look at the screen. I don't even glance at it. I know it so well.
Bowen Yang
In your bones.
Brandi Carlile
Yes.
Matt Rogers
That's one of the best songs ever.
Brandi Carlile
Ever. It's so dark. And Bobbi Gentry. That's the night the lights went out in Georgia. Same thing. All that. That whole. She was gonna. No one knows where she is, by the way. Bobbi Gentry. What do you not know that she missing. She's totally missing. She just went poof and, like, disappeared. And people have said that they found her and, like, no one knows where she is.
Matt Rogers
Oh, my God. That's dark.
Brandi Carlile
I feel like she was the OG Lana, actually.
Matt Rogers
Oh, yeah?
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Matt Rogers
Sometimes the butt goes through a lot. When the butt speaks, we listen.
Bowen Yang
Preparation H is the butt care expert known for helping people care for their hemorrhoids with confidence.
Matt Rogers
And because every situation is different, Preparation H offers relief in multiple forms that adapt to needs.
Bowen Yang
Medicated wipes formulated with witch hazel, aloe, and vitamin E to help keep things calm, cool, and collected, even in the case of dreaded hemorrhoids.
Matt Rogers
And for moments that feel a bit more dramatic, the rapid relief Spray with maximum strength. Lidocaine provides fast relief from itching, burning and swelling.
Bowen Yang
There's also a multi symptom relief cream when broader support is needed.
Matt Rogers
It all works together as a simple system. A wipe, a cream spray helping make life feel manageable again.
Bowen Yang
I would love for that Preparation H treats the issue rather than just masking it. No shame here, only solutions.
Matt Rogers
So if a butt has been begging for a little kindness, wipe and treat for better relief with the number one doctor recommended brand, Preparation H. All right everybody.
Bowen Yang
We need to discuss a vacation that's not just a vacation, it's a statement.
Matt Rogers
Virgin voyages. Adults only. Yes. A child free sanctuary at sea. It's giving serenity. It's giving sexy European summer. It's giving. I deserve of this.
Bowen Yang
They're sailing the Caribbean and the Med, obviously. But now they've added nyc, the west coast and Alaska. So whether you want golden hour off California or full cinematic glacier core main character energy. They said range.
Matt Rogers
And the awards. At this point, it's less award winning cruise line and more. Do we just engrave their name on the trophy Already? They've won so many travel awards, the ships might sweep our culture.
Bowen Yang
Awards over 20 eateries, Epic Entertainment, fitness classes, Wi fi, all including luxury without the nickel and diming virgin voyages. Sailors, consider yourselves called. Imagine never buying gas again. EVs are as easy to charge as your phone and perfect for everyday life.
Matt Rogers
Drive daily with confidence everywhere you go. Most Americans drive 40 miles a day. Did you know that most EVs are equipped with 200 to 400 miles of range?
Bowen Yang
Here's the thing. They've got fewer parts, fewer repairs and fewer headaches.
Matt Rogers
With hundreds of new and used EV models available today, there's an EV to fit every lifestyle and every budget. The way forward is electric. Learn more@electricforall.org M M's Popped Caramel do sound different.
Bowen Yang
Oh no.
Matt Rogers
People are going to be obsessed. What do you mean? People hate the sound of chewing. Maybe they won't like the crunch. Maybe we're saved.
Brandi Carlile
Wait a minute.
Matt Rogers
Yellow.
Brandi Carlile
Have you been eating them this whole time? Mmm.
Matt Rogers
So tasty. Hands off us. M&M's popped caramel. It's more fun together. You can't spell culturistas without R I.
Bowen Yang
That's right. Rhode island is the perfect place. Not just for the culturistas of the world, but all the other Easters too.
Matt Rogers
We're talking about the foodistas, the theateristas, the nature Easters, the luxuristas. Whatever you're in Easter for, you' it in the Ocean State.
Bowen Yang
So start packing those bags and be the best Easter you can be.
Matt Rogers
Rhode island, all that.
Bowen Yang
Plan your trip atVisitRhode Island.com. that's VisitRhode Island.com.
Matt Rogers
we were down in New Orleans. New Orleans. And we were there for a bachelor. Bachelor party. Joel Kim Boosters bachelor party. And we were going to go on a swamp tour. And we thought, do we go the extra hour out of our way to get Lana Del Rey's husband to give us a swamp tour?
Brandi Carlile
Yes. Yes, we do.
Matt Rogers
We didn't, but we should have.
Brandi Carlile
You really should have. I know. No.
Bowen Yang
Is a swamp tour your vibe or. No, that's just a bridge to.
Brandi Carlile
I've done several swamp tours.
Matt Rogers
Yeah, I was gonna say you'd love
Bowen Yang
it, but Pacific Northwest is nice. Where it's like the humidity is not oppressive in the way.
Brandi Carlile
No, no, the Northwest is beautiful. But when you go down to Louisiana, you gotta do swamp tours.
Matt Rogers
You gotta get on the swamp tour.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah. Yeah.
Bowen Yang
So I loved.
Matt Rogers
Was pouring too, but it was kind of good.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Bowen Yang
Cinematic.
Matt Rogers
The way they. The crocodiles. Crocodiles. The way the alligators come up like dogs.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Bowen Yang
So scary.
Matt Rogers
Cause they're like, it's time to eat. I mean, just go. It was freakish. I couldn't believe a dinosaur was on the boat.
Bowen Yang
Was on the boat. But they were so endearing.
Matt Rogers
No, they were great.
Brandi Carlile
Well. And you see them and the primitive part of you knows that they're prehistoric in a way. And you just know you're witnessing something really interesting. People live down there. They're just like fish to them.
Matt Rogers
No, my favorite was our boat captain was like. Someone asked, so how long have you been friends with this alligator? And he goes, oh, we're not friends. We're not me. He will be my finger off.
Bowen Yang
And then shows us his pinky with one knuckle.
Matt Rogers
He would get me. He would get me.
Bowen Yang
Didn't want to. Bit my finger off. And then we were like, oh, my God. It was.
Matt Rogers
They are.
Bowen Yang
These are. These. These people are incredible.
Matt Rogers
His name was Kelly.
Brandi Carlile
Kelly.
Matt Rogers
Captain Kelly. You get me.
Brandi Carlile
I feel like he is one of my family members. Yeah, that feels like.
Bowen Yang
Yeah.
Matt Rogers
He fel family to us by the end.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Matt Rogers
He was surprisingly accepting of our homosexuality.
Bowen Yang
I feel we were gay guys.
Matt Rogers
We were gay guys on that boat.
Brandi Carlile
Okay.
Bowen Yang
And he was very.
Brandi Carlile
Did you play it up for him, too?
Matt Rogers
It wasn't played. It didn't need to be like when a. When again. I almost said crocodile. When an alligator hops on the boat, gay guys are going to scream that's culture number six. When alligator hops on the boat, guys
Bowen Yang
are going to scream.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, yeah, it's true. That has to be the first time you said crocodile. He knew right then.
Matt Rogers
He was like, it's a thunder word
Bowen Yang
to say, no, alligators just. It doesn't.
Matt Rogers
Not a good crocodile is the gay alligator. And that's roller culture number nine. Crocodile is the gay alligator. It's just crocodiles live in a different part of the world.
Bowen Yang
That's right. Now, do you get, like. I'm gonna say the word. Fussy about, like, wildlife identification? Cause I feel like since you're a fisherman, you can, of course, you have to be like, well, that's a cod, and that's a this and that's a that. I'm like, it's. It's all fish.
Matt Rogers
It's all in the water. So are you offended?
Bowen Yang
Are you offended when we. When we say crocodile?
Brandi Carlile
I'm fundamentally offended. Not about the crocodile thing, but when you say it's all fish, it's like, that's crazy. That is a diverse spectrum.
Matt Rogers
That's crazy.
Brandi Carlile
Sea life.
Bowen Yang
Walk us through. Because it's not my culture yet.
Matt Rogers
Walk us through the ocean yet.
Bowen Yang
But watching you pull up these. These fish, it's. It's incredible.
Brandi Carlile
I. Fishing season starts today. Today. And yes, this is my pains. And I have. My RV is running at home. I will be in that RV the minute I land, and I'll be headed out to the straits of Juan de Fuca to go and catch lingcod and rockfish. So there are entire seasons around these species, and they can live, you know, the fish I'm talking about live in 20 to 60ft of water. Like, by July, I'll be out in thousands of feet of water fishing for halibut on, you know, Underwater plateaus of 500ft with electric reels. And then it's gonna be spot prawn season, and I'll be dropping, you know, spot prawn cages 400ft down and catching, like, 900.
Matt Rogers
You'll be dropping them.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, yeah. And then it'll be Dungeness crab and.
Matt Rogers
Oh, I love Dungeness crab. The best crab.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah. So this is what we do. Come. Come up to the Pacific North.
Matt Rogers
I used to work at a crab restaurant.
Brandi Carlile
Okay.
Matt Rogers
And Dungeness crab, by far the best from the Northwest. I didn't know we had a Kumamuro oyster. Kum. A Kumamoto oyster, maybe.
Bowen Yang
Is that pnw?
Brandi Carlile
Well, it's. Originally, it would be in Japan, but we. We farm them and we have them around and they share, of course, some spots.
Matt Rogers
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Brandi Carlile
It's conducive.
Bowen Yang
You were. Sorry, you were in the zone. You were. You're talking electric cages. Electric.
Brandi Carlile
Oh, yeah. There's.
Bowen Yang
I. I'm. I'm wrapped.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
Well, there are so many different seasons and so many different fish and ways to catch them and places to go, and then all the things that happen around that little ritual, like, oh, you know, it's halibut season. We're gonna go out here and we're gonna get halibut. But when you're out there, that's when you see the orcas, or that's just off the Olympic mountains enough to where you get this beautiful mountain view all the time. But you have to take Dramamine because you're in the swells. So everything has little details, like, associated with it. And that's why fishing is, like, such an immersive culture that you get into and you just, like, you speak to people on the dock in a series of grunts instead of words. And everybody gets called captain and nobody's a singer or, you know, it's like
Matt Rogers
everyone's on the same level on the opening.
Brandi Carlile
Everybody's in the same level on the open seas.
Matt Rogers
You ever come face to face with a great white?
Brandi Carlile
No, we don't really do the shark thing out there.
Matt Rogers
I hope not.
Brandi Carlile
We see a lot of orcas, see,
Matt Rogers
and they're just as dangerous.
Brandi Carlile
They are scary. They are, but they're beautiful. They're so beautiful.
Bowen Yang
You've got sea lions out there.
Brandi Carlile
Oh, yeah. They're huge. Huge.
Matt Rogers
I love them.
Brandi Carlile
They're amazing.
Matt Rogers
I like.
Brandi Carlile
They just flop everywhere.
Matt Rogers
I agree.
Brandi Carlile
They just, like, slug into the water.
Matt Rogers
What say you about that phenomenon that was happening with the orca whales a couple years ago where they started to sort of strike back?
Brandi Carlile
Yeah. They're doing that in Europe. I do not know what to say about that. My suspicion is that there are many things called orca whales and that these are totally different groups than what we see up in the pnw. So that's what I tell myself when I'm offshore in my own boat.
Matt Rogers
Right.
Brandi Carlile
But we have not seen a single aggressive tactic from an orca whale ever.
Bowen Yang
I should hope not. So you love this culture because it is completely outside of what you do professionally, let's say.
Brandi Carlile
I think so.
Bowen Yang
And that is refreshing. And so therefore, it would be just a complete adulteration of the beauty of fishing if you were to write music about. About it. Like, if you. If you were like, is there A fishing album in the future. I think if you. If Brandi Carlisle came out with, like, a yacht rock fishing album. Wow.
Brandi Carlile
I could do that.
Bowen Yang
Yes, you could.
Brandi Carlile
Could do it. I did.
Matt Rogers
See, I'm gonna do it first.
Brandi Carlile
He's, like, trademarking anything that. It could be my fishing album idea. No, I think it would.
Matt Rogers
It.
Bowen Yang
It would.
Brandi Carlile
I want fishing to come into my. In a different way. I think I've been thinking about it, about what I could do to make fishing a part of my job.
Bowen Yang
A barge concert.
Brandi Carlile
A barge concert.
Matt Rogers
Well, thoughts on Jimmy Buffett.
Brandi Carlile
Oh, my God. I loved Jimmy Buffett.
Matt Rogers
We're a Parhead family.
Brandi Carlile
Oh, my God. So me, I got to be friends with Jimmy Buffett toward the end of his life.
Matt Rogers
That rocks.
Brandi Carlile
And I sang at his memorial.
Matt Rogers
Oh, you did?
Brandi Carlile
Come Monday. Yeah. Oh, you sang Come Monday. I did. I did.
Matt Rogers
Oh, God.
Brandi Carlile
And before Jimmy died, I could text him from anywhere in the world, and I could say, hey, I'm in. You know, I'm off of St. John, and I want to go northwest, and I want to get some tuna. What do I do?
Matt Rogers
He would know, and he'd go.
Brandi Carlile
Go to bed early tomorrow morning. I got my guy coming to pick you up. And there'd be somebody to take me on a boat from the. Sent by Jimmy Buffett, or I was sent in boats by Jimmy Buffett to catch fish so many fricking times that he couldn't even come to because he was doing concerts or on the road. But he just wants other people to be able to fish.
Matt Rogers
Wow.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah. And then I would get, like, phone calls and texts from, like, random lesbians, and they'd be like, I hope you don't mind. We got your phone number from Jimmy Buffett. And it's like, that's how he would make friends with random lesbians, like, on the water. He'd, like, meet, like, a lesbian couple, like, unloading their boat, and he'd be like, y' all know Brandi Carlisle? Yeah.
Matt Rogers
Just like, there's lesbians. I love it. Y' all must be brave. He was spreading the gospel.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Matt Rogers
Oh, man.
Brandi Carlile
I loved Jimmy Buffett. And I love, love his wife Jane.
Matt Rogers
Yeah. Yeah. I just, like, he was a fixture in my life growing up, and my dad was such a parrot head that we. I don't think he knew this was happening, but he collected parrots to the point where our whole back room was just a parrot room. And I would.
Brandi Carlile
Friends come in honor of Jimmy Buffett.
Matt Rogers
You saw it?
Bowen Yang
I saw it. It was gorgeous.
Matt Rogers
It was. I mean, there Was so many parrots everywhere. And then I think he's. I think he was like, maybe I have to take some parrots down because Matthew keeps bringing his friends home and they laugh at the room.
Bowen Yang
No, it's not that we. No, we didn't laugh.
Matt Rogers
It was just a laug of parrots.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, it was just.
Bowen Yang
It was just a shrine to Jimmy. Yeah, it was amazing.
Matt Rogers
He's a way of life.
Brandi Carlile
Did his family get you into Jimmy Buffett too?
Matt Rogers
Do you know any songs?
Bowen Yang
I don't know too many Jimmy Buffett songs. I love. I love. I love a Margaritaville.
Matt Rogers
But I'm talking about the deep cuts.
Bowen Yang
I'm talking about.
Brandi Carlile
He's kind of like Kenny Rogers in that way. He has like all this other stuff. It's like folk music that's just. That's kind of will really take you by surprise. But he didn't. He didn't worry about telling it how it was in a song. Kind of like with Julie Nelson. Yeah, yeah.
Matt Rogers
Bowen. Even as someone who does know where he's gonna go when the volcano blows, still doesn't know it's so good.
Brandi Carlile
He did not take himself too seriously. Brilliant man.
Matt Rogers
I love that. I feel like we're missing. Well, you know, that's actually kind of not true. That got high again.
Brandi Carlile
I was gonna say why am I.
Matt Rogers
And now I'm warming up around you. No, but I feel like I do like in lyrics. That's why I like Sabrina Carpenter so much. I love it because she just will fly. And Charlie does this too. It's like you can tell they were just having fun and following the fun lyrically. And I think that's what gets people singing your songs forever. Like, I'm working late cause I'm a singer. Sounds like a Jimmy Buffett lyric.
Brandi Carlile
It does.
Matt Rogers
You know what I mean?
Brandi Carlile
Are you guys into CMAT yet?
Bowen Yang
Yes. Oh, I think she's opening for you.
Brandi Carlile
Because I'm obs. I mean, I watch everything that that band does. I think she is such a star.
Matt Rogers
Yep.
Brandi Carlile
We have her for like five seconds and then she will be untouchable to. To all of us.
Matt Rogers
Isn't that a great feeling, though?
Brandi Carlile
Yeah. Because I really don't think anything can stop her. I think she's a once every 500 years star.
Bowen Yang
It's unlike anything I've heard and. Well, I haven't heard anything like her Euro country album like, in so long.
Brandi Carlile
No, Coachella.
Bowen Yang
Yeah, at Coachella. And then Jensen McCray's opening for you.
Matt Rogers
We love Jensen. We love Jensen McCrae.
Brandi Carlile
Oh, man, you want to talk about lyrics? Lethal lyricist. Lethal lyricist.
Bowen Yang
So good. That whole.
Matt Rogers
Had her perform Massachusetts on the Culture Awards last year. We gave it a record of the year Nom. I literally got in her dms. I was like, hi, I'm a huge fan. Can you perform on the show? She came, her brother accompanied her. She looked absolutely beautiful performing. So amazing.
Brandi Carlile
She's got four voices in one voice like Jewel too.
Matt Rogers
She really does.
Brandi Carlile
Yes.
Matt Rogers
She's fab.
Brandi Carlile
We did a song together actually.
Matt Rogers
Oh, really?
Brandi Carlile
Yeah. God has a hitman. It's really great song. Yeah. Oh, also we cover Dear Mr. President.
Matt Rogers
Yes, I remember that from Pink. Yeah, yeah, Pink and the Indigo Girls.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, she's always a girl. Just wanted you guys. This. You got to be there. This.
Matt Rogers
We're definitely coming. Oh, that's. That's gonna be at my.
Bowen Yang
But then you're gonna be. You're not gonna be drinking. We're gonna get.
Brandi Carlile
Oh, no, no, I did that.
Matt Rogers
Yeah, we throw it out the window there. Your girls just want a drink.
Brandi Carlile
By the end of that, I'm so red and bloated. The tequila fully has permeated my being at that point.
Matt Rogers
Because where are you though? Where are you?
Bowen Yang
Because where in Mexico is it? City?
Brandi Carlile
It's Playa de Carmen.
Matt Rogers
Oh, Playa.
Brandi Carlile
It's so Feb. It's so good. And everybody there is like. It's just really. It's such a free place. Like, I can't tell you. It's like everybody there is getting a break from something that holds them back at home. Whether it's like body consciousness or a lack of safety or acceptance or there is something that everybody is going to get a temporary break from that weekend and then they're going to recharge their batteries and they're going to go home and get to work. But it's that kind of an environment. That's what it's for. We don't ignore what's wrong with anything or anyone. But it's not a place to feel self conscious or inhibited. And so it makes it really wild.
Matt Rogers
It's a cathartic community experience.
Brandi Carlile
It is. Yeah. And it's wild. Like, I'm not going to say it's not wild. We go crazy. But then somebody said about it, but it's the kind of place where if you lose your child, they're going to come back to you fed with sunscreen,
Matt Rogers
green on, more educated, with a better sense of the world.
Bowen Yang
Yeah, I'm having a kid just so I can lose them at girls. Just wanna. That's amazing.
Brandi Carlile
When I was 17, I was at Lilith Fair, which was in 1997, and I was just a little punk ass baby dyke with, you know, an inch and a half of bleach blonde hair. Now I have about 3 inches, and I had like a big bucket of, of Mountain Dew. And I was like, going back up to my, like, the Mountain Dew hut to, like, get my free refill of Mountain Dew. And this, like, some lesbian standing behind in line behind me, and she sees my sunburned shoulders and she's like, what are you getting? And I was like, I'm getting my Mountain Dew refill. And she's like, no, you need to drink some water. And I was like, well, that's expensive. The refill's free or whatever. And she's like, I'm gonna get you some water. And just hold still. I need to get some sunscreen on these shoulders. And I mean, that was my experience of Lilithaire. I thought I was being so punk. Rocket. And to go to that festival when you go.
Matt Rogers
I dated her for 19 years, and
Brandi Carlile
then I dated her. We actually got married kind of. Exactly. Well, yeah.
Bowen Yang
I mean, we'll be there. We gotta go.
Matt Rogers
We have to catch the vibe that girls just wanna. Especially because, you know, Coachella's gonna make it difficult to see everyone. It's actually time. It might be time.
Bowen Yang
It might be time to do anything, transition into.
Matt Rogers
I don't think so, honey. Cause I'm hot on this now.
Bowen Yang
Okay.
Brandi Carlile
All right.
Bowen Yang
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
Maybe you guys have about one more year of being coaching Coachella gays. And after that, I know.
Bowen Yang
I, I, I feel. I'm not.
Matt Rogers
You're right.
Brandi Carlile
You got another decade. You got another decade.
Matt Rogers
I see. That's the thing, too, is like, I love, I love. What I love about it is that you see everyone. Like I loved a couple years ago, Debbie Harry was playing Coachella. And I was like, it was clear that, like, so, so many people were there just to see Debbie.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Matt Rogers
And I loved that about it. I was like, all you really need is to follow the one artist, sort of see them.
Bowen Yang
Yeah.
Matt Rogers
Yeah. And what I also loved is like, like every year, without fair, without fail,
Bowen Yang
I don't know why I can't speak to Lilith Fair.
Matt Rogers
Yeah. Every year, without fail, I end up discovering someone who's huge. Two years later, like, two years ago, we were walking and I was. It was the go 10. And I was just like, I like what I'm hearing over here. And it was Olivia Dean.
Brandi Carlile
Oh.
Matt Rogers
And now she's like, truly international.
Brandi Carlile
Johnny loves Her.
Matt Rogers
Really? That's great.
Bowen Yang
What a. What a huge vote. Of course. Confidence. My God.
Brandi Carlile
And like, she doesn't write an essay on it. She just saw her sing and was like, that's great.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
Wow.
Matt Rogers
What do you think it is that gets her? Is it the thoughtful singing? Is it the lyrics? What. What pings, Joanie?
Brandi Carlile
I wish I knew.
Matt Rogers
You don't know.
Brandi Carlile
I don't know. Like, there's just certain things, like even, you know, we. I watched the whole Grammys with her sat next to her, you know, which is harrowing because he puts the camera and there were only just. There was a few things where she was like, wow. And Olivia was one of them.
Matt Rogers
I love that.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, I love it too. So I actually never know. I think it's like some kind of a weird lie detector she test she has for authenticity or something like that.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
Which is what I hope it is, you know? And I think that's pretty powerful.
Matt Rogers
Yeah, totally.
Bowen Yang
And like, at the risk of sounding like, horribly ageist, it's like, well, that's proof that, like, her, like, her meter is, like, very attuned. It's like she still can watch something, receive it, and be like, that's good. That's unremarkable.
Brandi Carlile
Whatever, you know, and she's beholden to nothing. She's not beholden to my opinion of her opinion. You know, it's just whatever she thinks. I will say she is obsessed. I'm not gonna say obsessed. Cause that's beneath Joanie to say that word. But she really loves Bruno Mars.
Matt Rogers
Of course she is.
Brandi Carlile
Absolutely loves. Bruno Mars. Would not leave until Bruno Mars has played and was just like, you know, it's not like Joanie can just get stand up, but she was like, I'm standing up.
Matt Rogers
Yeah. Spiritually, it was rad. Dancing to Upatu. Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Matt Rogers
She loves it.
Bowen Yang
That's her favorite Bruno song.
Brandi Carlile
Well, she likes the silk Sonic stuff. Well, all the time. Getting ready and stuff.
Matt Rogers
That's the thing is ultimately, it is great.
Brandi Carlile
And she always goes, I'm a dangerous man with some money.
Matt Rogers
That's kind of Joanie.
Bowen Yang
Don't believe her. Just fine.
Matt Rogers
With some money in my pocket. Keep up.
Bowen Yang
I love that song.
Matt Rogers
All right, we gotta do. I don't think so, honey. This is. If you don't know now, you know, our one minute segment where we take something in culture that's not so great or that we feel away about. We work it out on the remix, AKA the podcast. I have something.
Bowen Yang
Okay, great. This is Matt Rogers. I don't Think so many times. Starts now.
Matt Rogers
I don't think so, honey. Coachella, because the set times have come out by now. It will already have happened, so I'll already have figured this out. But I don't wanna decide between some of these artists. And you don't make it easy too. They're very far away, so I can't split time at the Sahara and the Mojave. It's like a true journey. And I don't think so, honey, that like Sabrina Carpenter is also not last on Friday. You know what I mean? They have to take a whole bunch of stuff happens. You were excited about disclosure after Sabrina 30 seconds.
Bowen Yang
That could be fun.
Matt Rogers
He wants to catch a vibe. But basically I'm not actually upset because I'll just get there and I'll kind of vibe out and I won't. And I'll only 40% be here on the physical plane, so by the time everything happens, I'll be fine. But Coachella, just make it a little bit easier. There's a big, confident Duke Dumont and Major Laser that shouldn't be at the same time. And that happens again and again. I don't think so, honey. Coachella, for this reason, I do think so, honey, that you give those water bottles out, there's only $2. And you can re. You can refill them. You know, you could be charging $19 a water bottle and you don't do that. So thank you, Coachella. I'll give you credit for that. How much time do I have?
Bowen Yang
Yeah. Then that's it.
Matt Rogers
That's it. That's it.
Bowen Yang
I don't think so.
Matt Rogers
Yes, it was okay.
Bowen Yang
If it were Europe, the water would be free.
Matt Rogers
$2 water bottle at Coachella is not bad, though. It's refillable. Like, you know, they could be.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, a lot worse.
Matt Rogers
Throwing the girls under the bus.
Bowen Yang
Yeah, we'll put in money for free Waters at Girls just wanna.
Brandi Carlile
Okay.
Bowen Yang
Unless you're already doing that. No.
Brandi Carlile
Well, you know, we definitely have fill stations.
Matt Rogers
You hydrate the community.
Bowen Yang
All those things you have. I'm very concerned about a doting lesbian giving sunscreen. And because of that person who had that advice.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah. There's a fleet of them. They're all my exes.
Matt Rogers
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Brandi Carlile
They're all 60.
Matt Rogers
You can trust all of these people. I've had 10 plus year relationships with each and every one of them.
Bowen Yang
And that's community. Yeah.
Matt Rogers
Hello. Okay, are you ready? I'm ready. This is Bowen Yang's. I don't think so, honey. His time starts now.
Bowen Yang
I Don't think so, honey. Lesbians not being in the audience, I think that they are. They are the true perfect receptors of art and culture. I think anytime there is not a lesbian in the art, I think we would not be where we are without lesbians in the crowd.
Matt Rogers
No.
Bowen Yang
I think without that beautiful sort of frequency in the communal space, in the collective consciousness that we experience in performances, we would be nothing. We would be nothing. And I feel like as gay men, we kind of are. We put our blinders on and we kind of just are performing to other gay men. So sometimes. And I think we need to let that go. And I need. This is sort of a self call in, a self check in a self call out that I. We need to sort of.
Matt Rogers
15 seconds.
Bowen Yang
Really extricate ourselves from this sort of potentially toxic dynamic that I'm in as it relates to other gay men. I think this is five seconds. Something that I am really willing to intentionally explore more with you. Not that we haven't done it before, but I think as we plan our own live shows, let's really talk about that. Not in a pandering way, of course.
Matt Rogers
Well, that's one minute I have. First of all, the only concerts I ever go to are Muna, so I don't know what you're talking about. They know the. Those munas, they see me every show
Bowen Yang
and they hate to see you coming. Are you a fan?
Brandi Carlile
I'm. Of course they did. Girls just wanna. I love them. We did. Oh, guess what song we all did together.
Matt Rogers
What?
Brandi Carlile
I'm a bitch.
Matt Rogers
I'm a murder.
Brandi Carlile
I'm a child. I'm a mother.
Bowen Yang
All right, everybody, we need to discuss a vacation that's not just a vacation, it's a statement.
Matt Rogers
Virgin voyages. Adults only. Yes, A child free sanctuary at sea. It's giving Serenity. It's giving. Sexy European summer.
Brandi Carlile
It's giving.
Matt Rogers
I deserve this.
Bowen Yang
They're sailing the Caribbean and the Med, obviously. But now they've added nyc, the west coast and Alaska. So whether you want golden hour off California or full cinematic glacier core main character energy. They said range.
Matt Rogers
And the awards, at this point, it's less award winning cruise line and more. Do we just engrave their name on the trophy? Trophy? Already they've won so many travel awards, the ships might sweep our culture.
Bowen Yang
Awards over 20 eateries, Epic Entertainment, fitness classes, Wi fi, all included. Luxury without the nickel and diming.
Matt Rogers
Virgin voyages.
Bowen Yang
Sailors consider yourselves called. Imagine never buying gas again. EVs are as easy to charge as your phone and perfect for everyday life.
Matt Rogers
Drive Daily with confidence, everywhere you go. Most Americans drive 40 miles a day drive. Know that most EVs are equipped with 200 to 400 miles of range.
Bowen Yang
Here's the thing. They've got fewer parts, fewer repairs, and fewer headaches.
Matt Rogers
With hundreds of new and used EV models available today, there's an EV to fit every lifestyle and every budget. The way forward is electric. Learn more@electricforall.org M&M's Popped Caramel do sound different.
Bowen Yang
Oh, no.
Matt Rogers
People are gonna be obsessed. What do you mean?
Bowen Yang
Hmm.
Matt Rogers
People hate the sound of chewing. Maybe they won't like the crunch. Maybe we're saved.
Brandi Carlile
Wait a minute.
Matt Rogers
Yellow.
Brandi Carlile
Have you been eating them this whole time?
Matt Rogers
Mmm. So tasty. Hands off us. M&M's popped caramel. It's more fun together. You can't spell culturistas without R I.
Bowen Yang
That's right. Rhode island is the per. Perfect place not just for the culturistas of the world, but all the other Easters too.
Matt Rogers
We're talking about the food Easters, the theater Easters, the nature Easters, the luxuries does. Whatever you're in Easter for, you'll find it in the Ocean State.
Bowen Yang
So start packing those bags and be the best Easter you can be.
Matt Rogers
Rhode island, all that.
Bowen Yang
Plan your trip@visit rhode island.com that's visit rhode island.com.
Brandi Carlile
we're the most soulful siblings on, on the planet, lesbians and gay men. We need each other. I, you know, we've, we kind of complete each other.
Matt Rogers
Do I think there's been less conflict though, as of like, I think in the Trump presidency, I don't think we fight as much. I don't, I don't, I don't think there's like, I don't think we're rubbing up against each other.
Brandi Carlile
No, it's a lot less. There's been some cross pollination and I, I, I would, I would attribute that to the younger generation. We got like Chapel Rome bringing us together and shit, you know.
Matt Rogers
And you must love the chaps.
Brandi Carlile
I love her.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Bowen Yang
Because Elton, Because Elton was actually one of the people who was just like, that is special. And you're like, well, fucking very early on.
Brandi Carlile
Very, very, very early on. And then I got to, she asked me to interview her. I interviewed her and it's not like the easiest thing in the world to interview Chapel Roan, as you guys know.
Matt Rogers
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Brandi Carlile
And I loved it. It made me want to interview. Because she's just a true artist, you know, she's like, you know, she's one of those. She's not inaccessible, but she's like, Seattle, she's gonna make you work for it. She's like Kate Bush.
Matt Rogers
You should be the, like, singer songwriter producer that is interviewing other singer songwriter producers, though, because you have vocabulary for every genre. You have, like. I don't know, I feel like also, like, someone from Seattle should be the person doing that. I feel like you're the reach you have for conversations you could have with people. You should consider it.
Brandi Carlile
I will. I will. I will consider that because it's such a conversation compliment, and I think I would really enjoy it. I'm so interested in them. Yeah. You know, and interested is interesting. And I think that that would be a really fun thing to do with some of my time.
Matt Rogers
Just to hear you talk to Chapel about, like, I don't know, all of it. What I think what it would get at something. Because, you know, you're right. I feel like there is. And people shouldn't be afraid to be interviewed. You know what I mean? Like, it's got such a weird thing because now we're having the conversation about who should be doing these interviews or like. Or what journalism is now. Like, should people be challenged, et cetera. I don't think it's about that. I just think it's about we should have people who are genuinely interested in their subjects.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Matt Rogers
That's why this is what it is.
Brandi Carlile
That's why this is a great podcast for that reason. Because you guys are just so, you know, communicative communally. Like the fact that you are. We're so interested in each other. I feel like this isn't going to end when we stop.
Matt Rogers
No, absolutely not. I'm just. Just the fact that someone at your I know. Level wants to kind of hang out with us.
Bowen Yang
You don't remember this, maybe, but you hung out with me and my friend Josh Sharp at an after party once, and then we tried to coax you to come out to Ginger's One Night in Park Slope. The lesbian bar in Park Slope.
Matt Rogers
Oh, my God.
Bowen Yang
Everyone.
Matt Rogers
Everyone would drop.
Bowen Yang
You would be mobbed. And so it's. It's. It's for the best.
Brandi Carlile
I'm into that. I've been going out to lesbian bars after hours recently.
Matt Rogers
Really?
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, I've been doing it.
Matt Rogers
Do you enjoy a good mobbing?
Brandi Carlile
I love it. I love people, you know me. I like to be alone.
Matt Rogers
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Brandi Carlile
You're sad.
Matt Rogers
People come up. Let's have a picture come up and say the thing.
Brandi Carlile
I don't care. It's Fine.
Bowen Yang
Say the thing.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
No, like, by the way, I don't understand. Like, nobody ever picked up a guitar and learned how to sing. Trying to sing like Freddie Mercury so that nobody would come up to them and go, I'm a fan.
Bowen Yang
Of course. Of course.
Brandi Carlile
It's like, the audacity in what I do is because I want to draw people.
Bowen Yang
Of course, to me, people have personal boundaries on an individual level. But I think I always say, someone asked me, they were like, are you like, how is it for you? I'm like, 99.99999% of people are kind.
Matt Rogers
So great.
Bowen Yang
So great. Generous. Have nothing but lovely things to say.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Bowen Yang
And it's like, why would I. You would never complain about that.
Brandi Carlile
No.
Bowen Yang
Anyway, it's not.
Brandi Carlile
It's not always fun, though, to have somebody put their phone in your face. I'd say, like, will you talk to my friend? Will you sing my friend Happy birthday? Will you say hi to my friend?
Matt Rogers
Coming up with the phone, like, this is sort of like, all right, so now I. Now I feel like it's become Pokemon. And when it becomes Pokemon, I'm like, I'm out.
Bowen Yang
Wait, I'm so. I'm so in a reverie. Have we gone? Have we done brand new?
Matt Rogers
We do it. We're doing.
Brandi Carlile
I know.
Bowen Yang
All right.
Brandi Carlile
Okay. But I can't decide between two things.
Bowen Yang
Okay.
Matt Rogers
Do you want our help, or do you want to go with your heart?
Brandi Carlile
Okay, I'm going with my heart.
Bowen Yang
Okay. Okay.
Matt Rogers
This is Brandi Carliles. I don't think so, honey. Time starts now.
Brandi Carlile
I don't think so, honey. To people that dodge high fives, that are too cool to do a high five.
Matt Rogers
Right.
Brandi Carlile
Do you know what I mean? Like, if you put the hand up for a high five, it's, like, so earnest, and it's, like, kind, and it means, like, an enthusiasm, like, a connection is gonna happen. And if they go to fist bump you or give you a hu or something, I call that, like, indier than thou or, like, nonchalant. It's a very indie thing to do to not high 5/30. And I hate that because I just think that, like, when somebody is. Is kind of being rejected for being overly eager or uncool or whatever, it triggers me, like, the deepest part of myself. So if I ever put my hand up to you, let's just go for the high five. Even if, like, high fiving is not, like, in your thing, you gotta. You gotta high five, and we gotta connect 100. And, you know, the. You Know the rule at high fiving right elbow to make sure elbow. You look at the elbow five seconds, and then you got that smack every time. Earnestness, goodness, kindness.
Matt Rogers
And that's one minute I could cry. That real? Because high fives are so back. We've been high diving a lot.
Brandi Carlile
High five. I have never seen. Ever seen. I have never seen a gay person and not do a high five.
Bowen Yang
Obviously, if you are sensitive to, you know.
Matt Rogers
You know who I'm not talking to.
Bowen Yang
Yes.
Matt Rogers
I'm not talking to the immunocompromised. Okay. So don't make it that I'm gonna get a DM about this.
Brandi Carlile
We stayed home.
Matt Rogers
We stayed home. I was home the whole time. I was watching Survivor, gaining 25 pounds.
Brandi Carlile
You know, one time I was on a boat and this guy I know wouldn't do a high five. I was on a boat one time.
Bowen Yang
Your boat?
Brandi Carlile
My boat. In the pandemic. It was like, new boat. I was in the middle of the ocean. I couldn't see land, you guys. And I saw a kayak go by all alone. And in the kayak was a man with a mask on.
Bowen Yang
Bless his heart.
Matt Rogers
Dear God. I don't know.
Bowen Yang
It was Tom Hanks in March.
Matt Rogers
That's. He's like, I gotta get my paddles in.
Bowen Yang
Paddles in. That's amazing.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, he was just paddling, you know, paddling. You can see what I believe, right?
Matt Rogers
We're liberal out here.
Brandi Carlile
You know what I'm voting for. Yeah.
Matt Rogers
Oh, my God.
Bowen Yang
Well, damn. Okay. We didn't say this up top. Brandy's going on the Human tour.
Matt Rogers
Yes.
Bowen Yang
City near you. The new albums that we didn't talk about the new album. The new album's amazing.
Brandi Carlile
So is it in the subtext the whole time?
Bowen Yang
It was.
Matt Rogers
And also, congrats on the doc. I mean, I got nominated for a goddamn Academy Award, and it's so spectacular. It really is.
Brandi Carlile
I know. It's just like it's a part of me now, you know, it'll always be referred to in my poetry. And the way that I interact with my. Within my marriage, you know, and also the way in. Interact with my. With myself. For anybody that. That doesn't know what you're talking about, that's. Come see me in the good light.
Matt Rogers
It's on apple.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah. And this incredible poet, Andrea Gibson.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
Passed away. Left us way too early from cancer. But they did this amazing thing where they sort of documented that journey. And it's not like an end of life documentary.
Matt Rogers
No.
Brandi Carlile
You know, Andrea's actually still Alive at the end of the doc. Andrea's gone now. But there were so many unintended things, messages within that documentary, I think, that
Matt Rogers
weren't all the best ducks.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah, there was like complicated religious stuff. There was body image stuff. There was complicated family dysfunction stuff. There are different things surfacing like they would in an end of life scenario. But I think that the most impactful thing for me was that moment. There's this moment where Andrea and their wife Meg, they get that filter going on their phone where it shows you older and Andrea's looking at themselves as an old person and recognizing that they'll never know that person. That'll never happen. And is like laughing and crying at the same time because they're in love with that image. And then Meg, you know, their wife comes and they're getting to see their wife as an old woman. And it's so beautiful because it just shows you that aging is such a privilege awarded to so few. And it changes my perspective on aging and my own face and just kind of like how I'm gonna enter into that chapter of life. So that documentary just. It took me out, dude.
Matt Rogers
Really beautiful. Really, really beautiful. And just that you are attached to that project is so. It's just a no brainer because it's like spiritually, it's so many of the themes. It's connection, it's catharsis, it's love, it's togetherness. It's just so many things and so many things beneath the surface, which is just in all of your albums. It's just. I feel like you and Sara Bareilles, it's like I could listen on Non. By the way, where is your musical?
Brandi Carlile
Oh, well, I was approached about doing one that's kind of like. I don't know if it's on hiatus or what's going to happen, but. But it seems like to do the music and be a part of a musical of Fried green tomatoes, which.
Matt Rogers
Oh, that is so fab.
Brandi Carlile
How perfect would that be?
Matt Rogers
Oh, that would be. No, that's like. That is. I was thinking, I was like, what's the property? And then you just said it. Oh, that makes me so happy. I hope it happens.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah. So if it's on hiatus, guys, let's get it going. Well, this is the place table permanently. Let's start something.
Bowen Yang
No, no, we're manifesting here. This is the place to manifest, have a way of happening.
Matt Rogers
Okay, we're very happy to hear it.
Brandi Carlile
How great is Sara Bareilles?
Matt Rogers
The best. I mean, did you see her in into the Woods.
Brandi Carlile
No, I didn't see.
Matt Rogers
Just. She's just so perfect for Sondheim because I was saying at the time, she's such a thoughtful singer and that his songs are so full of thoughts that, like, she lands everything so cleanly. She's an instrument walking instrument, like you. And that's why I was just like, you know, both your music. It's just me.
Bowen Yang
But then somehow she's like an amazing, like, sitcom actor. Like on Girls five, I'm like, God,
Brandi Carlile
I'm gonna send you guys this. This video of us doing she Used to Be Mine.
Matt Rogers
Oh, God.
Brandi Carlile
At Girls Just wanna. It was like, honestly, one of the most blissful musical, like, moments of my life. Like, I don't know what happened. Something happened out there. Something happened.
Matt Rogers
That's one of those forever songs.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah. And you know, she said that she was influenced by the story when she wrote it.
Bowen Yang
That makes total sense.
Brandi Carlile
I can kind of hear it. And the melody, now that I think
Matt Rogers
about it a little bit, that really reads.
Bowen Yang
God.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Bowen Yang
I mean, like, just that. Just that. I don't know. Yeah, I see it. Whatever. It's amazing.
Matt Rogers
And the fact that every singer that does it, like, because it's so beautifully written, it almost feels like every singer that does it is making it their own without even really trying. It's just like they connect to it.
Bowen Yang
It's.
Brandi Carlile
Cause the lyric.
Matt Rogers
It's the lyric.
Brandi Carlile
It's like suddenly that lyric becomes yours tattoo. And it means something to your life. And so you're emphasizing different words and different moments and you make it your own. That's what. That's. No great lyric can be emulated. No, not if it is able to really get. Get through to a person.
Matt Rogers
It's like defying gravity and that. It's one of those Broadway songs where you could just watch a YouTube. If you're a gay guy, you watch a YouTube compilation of just everyone doing it, and suddenly you're 17 minutes into a YouTube video watching Jordan Spark Marx's rendition of she Used to Be Mine, and you're still crying like, the same way you were when Shoshana Bean did it. It's like these names are just such dog whistles as well, but loud and dog whistles. It's one of those.
Brandi Carlile
The greatest YouTube rabbit hole that I can go down and I can do it for hours. I'll get on a flight now that you can, like, stream.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
And I will just be like, five hours of Celine Dion.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
And that's it. Five hours of Celine Dion. Good moments. Bad moments. Just.
Bowen Yang
No, there's no such thing.
Brandi Carlile
Interviews, anything. It's just all Celine Dion all day or Whitney. Those two rabbit holes are like. I could live in those rabbit holes.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Bowen Yang
Gorgeous, gorgeous rabbit holes. We're going to Paris to see her.
Matt Rogers
We definitely are at this residency. Yeah, we're not gonna miss win, because
Brandi Carlile
I'm not saying I won't join you if you have.
Matt Rogers
Let's go. Oh, my God, it's like the whole mafia.
Bowen Yang
You're doing your Red Rock show in September, and then we're gonna meet you in Paris or where we'll pick you up or something.
Matt Rogers
Oh, you'd be perfect. I never been to Red Rocks.
Brandi Carlile
I'm so dead serious when I say that this has to happen.
Matt Rogers
I would love that.
Bowen Yang
Would love.
Matt Rogers
Let's plan for it.
Brandi Carlile
If I could go to Celine with you guys.
Bowen Yang
Don't even play.
Matt Rogers
It was like the great regret of our life because we were supposed to go see her and then we were working or something and being like, oh, well, you know, Seline will always perform in Vegas. Dumbest sentence ever. And then the pandemic happened and we lost our opportunity, but we had tickets.
Bowen Yang
And as someone who grew up in Montreal, like, this is my. This is. This is what my life has led up to.
Brandi Carlile
I'm telling you, it actually has. Have you met her?
Bowen Yang
No. Oh, my God.
Brandi Carlile
I bet she would come on. I bet she would come on and she would be so outrageous.
Matt Rogers
We've now said for, like, probably over a year, right? Like, she's our, like, now. Because we've gotten so many bucket lists. Like, Mariah Carey came. I know.
Brandi Carlile
I loved that one.
Matt Rogers
I mean, I could go down a
Brandi Carlile
Mariah Carey rabbit hole too.
Bowen Yang
I met her.
Brandi Carlile
I met her, her once. And I know you guys have met her because you had this amazing, amazing pod. And I listened to it actually just yesterday, but. And I saw the clips on Instagram. But when I met her, it was at the Clive Davis party and I was, like, summoned to her.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
I had someone to get me.
Matt Rogers
Yeah, well, she. She knows what's real.
Bowen Yang
She's not coming to you.
Matt Rogers
Yeah.
Brandi Carlile
Oh, my God. I've written. I've written Ryan Carry two letters. I wrote Mimi twice.
Bowen Yang
You did?
Brandi Carlile
Yes.
Matt Rogers
When?
Brandi Carlile
Like, once when I was a young girl, like, 22, 23. And then once again, when, by the way, I forgive you came out.
Matt Rogers
I summoned.
Bowen Yang
Oh, my God.
Brandi Carlile
People don't understand. There's crossover here. I'm massive Mariah Carey. Yes.
Matt Rogers
Oh, see, but of course you are.
Brandi Carlile
So I get, like, summoned to Mariah Carey. And of course, I walk over there in my suit, you know, with, like, my haircut, and she's, like, sitting in her chair, and she didn't stand up. She just goes and looked up at me, and I'm like, cool. I'll get down on my knees from Mariah Carey, like, any day. And. And she goes, my bra strap is really cutting into my shoulder. She's like, can you get it for me? And so I got to maneuver Mariah Carey's bra strap and make her more comfortable. And then I got down on my knees to talk to Mariah Carey. And as soon as I did that and she asked me to move her bra strap, I was like, I knew you were a real Mimi. And she goes, thank you. So she summoned me to fix her bra and to thank her for summoning me. I love it. And then we got the most iconic photo, and, I mean, that was our whole interaction.
Matt Rogers
She never stops being iconic. Iconic.
Brandi Carlile
And she doesn't even try.
Bowen Yang
No. And talk about no great lyric can be emulated. She's full of them. Oh, my God.
Matt Rogers
This isn't the year. This is what I should have done. I don't think so, honey. On preemptively. If they snub her at the Rock and Roll hall of Fame this year, I'm burning it down. I'm burning it down. She's not right.
Brandi Carlile
You should induct her. You should be the one to induct her.
Matt Rogers
Whenever I repost a story, I say, hello, Tag the Rock and Roll hall of Fame. I said, this is the year.
Brandi Carlile
This is the year she even did alternative music.
Bowen Yang
Yeah.
Matt Rogers
Oh, on this podcast, we said to
Bowen Yang
her, we brought up the grunge album.
Matt Rogers
Release the grunge album. And she said, I know, right? I should do that. I. I don't know if she forgot. And then she was like, what label do I really sit on? I'm like, the one of your choosing.
Brandi Carlile
Let's go full Sub Pop.
Bowen Yang
Oh, that would be amazing.
Matt Rogers
Sub Pop would be Sub Pop. Come on. That'd be so good.
Brandi Carlile
Come to Seattle. Do it at the Showbox.
Matt Rogers
I even said, she will restart a label. She was like, maybe. I was like, don't threaten us with the time of our lives.
Brandi Carlile
She just doesn't know how much crossover she has into everything.
Bowen Yang
Right.
Matt Rogers
This has been a joy and a hell half for me.
Brandi Carlile
It's been a joy and a half for me. I wanted to do this for such a long time.
Matt Rogers
I love you so much.
Brandi Carlile
I'm such a fan.
Matt Rogers
Well, we just were there we're just beyond to hear that and like you guys have met several times but we met briefly at SNL50 and I was floating after that interaction because you're just so good. So thanks for coming.
Brandi Carlile
You guys are so good. Well, I guess I'll see you when we go see Celine together.
Matt Rogers
I guess. And speaking of of her, we end every episode with a song that really set us up for that one.
Brandi Carlile
Yeah.
Matt Rogers
Which one do we pick? You were my strength when I was weak Diane. You were my voice when I couldn't speak should have won for this were my eyes when I couldn't see Saw
Brandi Carlile
the best there was me lifting me up when I couldn't speak Gave me strength Cuz you believe I'm everything I am because you love me.
Matt Rogers
Remember that.
Brandi Carlile
It's got to be like
Matt Rogers
blend it there. Yes.
Bowen Yang
Las Coles is a Production by Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and iHeartRadio Podcasts
Matt Rogers
created and hosted by Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, executive produced by Anna Hosnier and produced by Becca Ramos, edited and
Bowen Yang
mixed by Doug Behm and our music
Matt Rogers
is by Henry Komirsky.
Bowen Yang
Imagine never buying gas again. EVs are as easy to charge as your phone and perfect for everyday life.
Matt Rogers
Drive daily with confidence everywhere you go. Most Americans drive 40 miles a day. Did you know that most EVs are equipped with 200 to 400 miles of range?
Bowen Yang
Here's the thing. They've got fewer fewer parts, fewer repairs and fewer headaches.
Matt Rogers
With hundreds of new and used EV models available today, there's an EV to fit every lifestyle in every budget. The way forward is electric. Learn more@electricforall.org you can't spell culturistas without R I.
Bowen Yang
That's right. Rhode island is the perfect place not just for the culturistas of the world, but all the other Easters too.
Matt Rogers
We're talking about the food Easters, the theateristas, the nature Easters, the luxuries. Thus, whatever you're Easter 4. You'll find it in the Ocean State.
Bowen Yang
So start packing those bags and be the best Easter you can be.
Matt Rogers
Rhode island, all that.
Bowen Yang
Plan your trip at visit rhode island.com that's visit rhode island.com M M's popped
Matt Rogers
caramel do sound different.
Bowen Yang
Oh no.
Matt Rogers
People are going to be obsessed. What do you mean? People hate the sound of chewing. Maybe they won't like the crack crunch. Maybe we're saved.
Brandi Carlile
Wait a minute.
Matt Rogers
Yellow.
Brandi Carlile
Have you been eating them this whole time?
Matt Rogers
So tasty. Hands off us. M&M's popped caramel. It's more fun together. Sometimes the butt goes through a lot. When the butt speaks, we listen.
Bowen Yang
Preparation H is the butt care expert known for helping people care for their health. Hemorrhoids with confidence Medicated wipes to help keep things calm, cool and collected.
Matt Rogers
The rapid relief spray provides fast relief from itching, burning and swelling.
Bowen Yang
There's also a multi Symptom relief cream when broader support is needed. Preparation Age treats the issue rather than just masking it. No shame here, only solutions.
Matt Rogers
So if a butt has been begging for a little kindness, wipe and treat for better relief with the number one doctor recommended brand, Preparation H. This is
Brandi Carlile
an I Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.
April 29, 2026 | Big Money Players Network, iHeartPodcasts
In this heartfelt and joyfully chaotic episode, Las Culturistas hosts Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang welcome Grammy and Emmy-winning singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile. The trio dig into formative queer and pop culture moments, Seattle’s unique cultural aura, vocal artistry, and the intersections of country music and queer identity. Brandi shares insider stories from her career, reflects on her community-building projects, and bonds with the hosts over “sad gay” anthems and icons. The episode flows with wit, vulnerability, and a lot of deep-cut music references.
[02:59–11:12]
[10:54–14:11]
[15:46–17:34]
[19:26–22:31]
[29:36–30:33]
[30:41–31:53]
[36:22–38:45]
[41:16–41:51]
[44:20–46:28]
[48:46–52:02]
[59:09–62:46]
[63:31–65:45]
[68:05–70:07]
[80:02–81:44]
The episode is a kaleidoscope of queer history, music nerd-out, and deep friendship. Brandi’s authenticity, Matt and Bowen’s fan enthusiasm, and the blending of humor with cultural analysis make for essential listening—especially if you appreciate conversations where Joni Mitchell, rope climbs, and parrot-themed rooms coexist. Community, vulnerability, and cultural touchstones—whether country icons or 90s sad girl anthems—bind these “soulful siblings” together in a spirit of celebration.
If you love queer and pop culture, and want to feel seen, this episode is a love letter you’ll want to re-read.