Original subtitles

Sure, I'm not. This isn't for clout. This isn't for like, oh, he's so funny.

I'm in pain.

Hey, what's going on, everybody? For First We Feast, I'm Sean Evans, and

watching Hot Ones. It's the show with hot questions and even hotter wings.

And today we're joined by Charlie Puth.

He's a four -time Grammy Award -nominated singer, songwriter, and

latest album is called Whatever's Clever, and it's scheduled to release on

27th. Check out the singles, changes, and Beat Yourself Up out now, as well as

the Whatever's Clever world tour to follow.

But in the meantime, it's a go -round with the wings of death. Charlie Puth,

welcome to the show. Thank you for having me. I'm a little... I haven't

this nervous since the Super Bowl. I'm going to be completely honest.

Are you not much of a spicy food guy? No.

I actually haven't had spice in probably a couple of years.

The smell itself.

Kind of smells spicy.

This one here? Yep, that's the one.

This one, okay.

Ready?

Mmm.

Wait, hold on, that's not that bad.

That's actually good.

So, from Jeff Goldblum, hot.

I think I'm going to be good.

So from Jeff Goldblum to Atada, even a saxophone solo from Kenny G, the

on your new album absolutely rule.

Thank you. Can you talk me through the origin story of a song like Love in

and specifically what it was like to record alongside yacht rock legends

McDonald and Kenny Loggins?

We just got together, had a couple of mochas.

Kenny was like, okay, the song is called Love in Exile. I'm like, that sounds

like a book. That sounds like a novel.

I was playing something. I'll never forget this. I was playing something.

And then he whispered in my ear quite loudly, I think you should let Mike play

the keyboard.

I'm like, say less.

Michael McDonald walked over to my Rode 73 and just played.

I'm like, ooh, a shuffle.

It hurts.

You'll hear it, but it's kind of like a modern -day yacht rock anthem.

How would you describe yacht rock? Are there qualities that make a song peak

yacht? I think what makes a song peak yacht is the jazzy chord

structure. You listen to Ambrosia, it's not just a regular F chord. It's like an

F suspended chord, which is a fancy word for a little bit more notes in the

actual chord.

If a triad, C, E, G.

Looks like this. A yacht rock chord would be C, D, E, G, B, D, F, G.

So it's just more colors in the chord structure and a lot of dry drums. Like

you listen to a record by Steely Dan called Asia.

It's some of the best production ever because they kept the drums dry. They

of hit you in the face. And I think it might have been one of the origins for

hip -hop and early New York -based hip -hop where the drums are really just in

your face. Early LL Cool J, Mama Said Knock You Out. Those drums are all just

your face and everything behind it is wet. I think that's what Yacht Rock is

well.

Does it have an exciting flavor like garlic in it?

It does have garlic in it. This is a pickled garlic sriracha. Okay, talk to

I'm going to go to this end.

Mmm.

Wait, I'm, like, really confident all of a sudden.

This is not bad at all.

So I understand that in college you do weekly hustle days, which was bringing

your music on the train with you and then sitting outside record executives

doors for hours on end. Yeah. What stands out as like your best or most

productive hustle day? And is there another one that stands out in your

for being the harshest feedback or door slammed in your face? Ooh.

I think the most successful hustle day was when I successfully got into the

Universal Music Publishing building on Broadway and successfully finagled my

into a session with some up -and -coming songwriters. When I had nothing to my

name, I was just making beats at my parents' house in New Jersey. The

advice... It was from Cara Diaguardi when she told me that my lyrics weren't

good. And I did not take – 20 -year -old me did not take that very well. But it

ended up being the best advice I could ever get because it introduced me to the

idea of collaboration in music.

And all my best songs, in my opinion, have been made through collaboration.

Attention, written with Jay Cash, and See You Again, written with – different

brains make a great song.

I hear my sister laughing in the background because she knows what's

happen.

All right.

Mmm.

Mmm.

Holy moly, wait a minute.

Maybe you're a hot sauce guy all along, Charlie. Do we ever... Mmm.

I'm feeling pretty good right now. And you should. Oh, wait.

Okay, no, it's just like a little, a tickle. Mm -hmm, yeah.

Nothing you can't handle, though.

So I've heard you say that your goal with any hook is to find the balance

between too boring and too annoying.

Can you talk me through what that tightrope walk is like for a songwriter?

I think a song that will resonate with people

the most is a song that has little bits of repetition.

My Sharona, I want to dance, dance, dance, dance. I came to dance, dance,

There's just a fine line.

If like a little bit too much in the glass, it's starting to get really hot.

little bit in the glass, too much in the glass rather, starts to kind of pour

over and then it becomes annoying.

There's just, it's like you can't go 51%. You have to go 50%.

My heart's racing all of a sudden.

Mm -mm.

Mm -mm -mm. Double bites.

Yeah.

Oof. Okay.

I've heard you describe your production process as being inseparable from your

process as a songwriter. Mm -hmm. Can you give us an example of a specific

choice where the sound was the lyric? Like, what does the texture of a synth

say? Ooh.

See, I like your question. It makes up for the tea.

I think...

If you listen to a song like We Don't Talk Anymore, that can't have anything

the guitar.

Like when you press play on the song, the first thing you hear is... If that

a piano, it'd sound too delicate.

If you take that guitar out, it messes up the lyric. It doesn't make you feel

impactful.

It's weird. It's a weird dichotomy because I really... Oh, God. I really

these. I really like these questions.

But unfortunately, it has the caveat of being attached to this format where the

deeper and deeper we go, the hotter and hotter it gets. I understand why you do

this, by the way, because when I worked with Pharrell, we worked at 5 o 'clock

in the morning and we used a different part of our brains because we were kind

of half awake.

I'm not half awake, but...

I'm like half in pain, so my answers are going to be really honest.

That's the point. Yes. All right, so this one is Tropical Amarillo, and you

be proud of yourself officially at the halfway mark.

Excellent.

Okay.

So I feel like most people have had the experience of hearing a song. Yep.

Oh, God.

Of hearing a song that makes them sad, even if nothing is sad is happening in

their lives. I look kind of sad right now. Yeah, you do.

Well, make sure that we bet it accordingly.

Go ahead. Sorry.

What is it about the notes themselves that trigger that kind of emotional

response in listeners' brains?

The notes themselves that trigger the emotional response. Well...

It has a lot to do with frequencies.

Do you know the song, I thought I saw a man brought to life?

The theme to know, the theme to care. Yeah, I'm familiar.

It was another song originally in 1993. Oh, my God.

It was a punk rock song, and forgive me, I don't remember the name of the band.

But in the late 90s, they reproduced it to make it sound like a breath of fresh

air because the lyric itself is very sad, but when you accompany it with it,

the melody rather, that's what I meant to say. The lyric is sad, but the melody

is really happy.

I'm torn, I'm a little late, la la la la la.

When you mix happy with sad, you get a mix of emotions, potential mix of

emotions from the listener.

And that's something I love to do in my music. So the melody is very important.

And it can actually say the lyric without the lyric being there.

I'm going to take a bite of this yogurt.

You've earned it.

I've had obstacles throw my way before, but I always push through for music.

That's exactly right. I love music, even if it means being in pain.

This is... Homegrown hell is what this one is called, for better or worse.

Okay, this one... Oh, my God.

Okay. You got it.

Yeah. Okay, I'm good.

As we've covered today, you have this well -documented ability to deconstruct

exactly what makes a song work. I wonder, when you look at the current pop

landscape and you think about the sounds that define it, what excites you the

most, and is there anything you think the game is missing?

What excites me? We'll start with what excites me the most right now. I like

fact, on a logistical standpoint, that there's no longer people telling

you, what song you have to sing in order to get played on this radio station, in

order to get played on Spotify, in order to get played on Apple.

It's just best song wins, which is what I've always wanted.

I love artists like Sombra who are putting a lot of reverb on their vocals.

I do think pop music, in my opinion, will expand because of hip -hop. It's

always expanded because of hip -hop.

Katy Perry, Dark Horse would...

not be here without Juicy J, Three 6 Mafia, and Memphis, Tennessee.

Maybe I'm just not keen to or hip to what's going on underground right now,

I'm really waiting for something to raise its hand and change pop music

I mean, I feel like that's always how it goes.

The nightmare continues here.

Oh, God.

That's a good title for hot sauce. The nightmare continues.

No, on the fifth one, I was a little... It was a lot, but this is...

Don't be too soon, though.

Oh, God. Okay.

Is the yoga helping at all?

No.

How has your pizza palate evolved over the course of your career? Like, do you

ever think about how you went from Nelly's Pizzeria in Rumson to Lucali?

Do you ever think about the journey?

Oh, Nelly's fat blunt was a good sandwich.

And Mark Lucali's a good friend.

Best place in Brooklyn.

Hold on a second. Yeah, take your time. Take your time.

I don't know. I still like a $1 .50 slice from Two Bros.

It makes your pee burn.

I love pizza chefs in New York and how hard they work.

And I love pizza in New Jersey. I love pizza in Connecticut.

I love Pete and Elda's.

Would you like some ice cream, by the way? I love Seabright pizza. I would.

Come on in.

I love sea bite pizza. Shout out to Kono.

I love La Industry.

Oh, my God.

How good does that taste?

I started having an anxiety attack a little bit. I'm, like, actually serious.

I just need a second.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

The sibilance hurts.

The more I progress in my career, I don't become a pizza snob.

I still will go to the shore.

First slice, I still will go to Luigi for a square slice, no matter how greasy

the bottom of it is.

I'll eat, I'm not a pizza, I'll go all around the world and eat pizza.

No matter how successful I may be.

I can't believe I got to go to JFK on a Thursday after this.

I think I... Okay, so this one? Da Bomb Beyond Insanity.

This one will be immediate.

This one's tough for me. What makes the Spongebob episode Band Geek one of the

greatest pieces of television ever made?

It's the best... It's the best cartoon

episode.

Oh, my God. Yeah. No, I get it.

It's the best.

When you see the bird's eye view of Pearl, Mr. Krabs' daughter,

being so huge amongst these

nematodes and fish, it's the most genius thing.

Oh, my God. Yep.

It's the most.

Steven Hillenburg, God rest his soul.

My personality is based off that show, and so is my wife's. You're an alum of

the New England Music Camp.

Yeah, how did you know that? You're a band geek yourself.

Do you have a most treasured memory from that experience?

Having my first camp girlfriend and being 15 amongst other

music nerds and weirdos.

I was in percussion group.

I played the xylophone. I was horrible at it.

Oh my god, sorry.

Okay.

What else we got?

So up next is a Squash Reaper X from Vermont.

Where

in

Vermont?

Bear? Oh!

Fair Vermont?

Yeah.

I don't ski very well, but I like to ski there.

So fond memories.

And on top of the sauce, too.

The trick is to have the ice cream right away.

Okay, you're learning things along the way.

It's getting better.

What makes a song like The Star -Spangled Banner so exceptional? I've

describe it as the hardest piece of music ever written.

Constant tension and relief.

Oh, say, can you see? I can't even bother right now.

Just look it up. Listen to it.

A song like the... Oh,

God.

It's constant tension and release. It's major chord, minor chord.

And it just has... I don't know. It just has a melody that soars. And when you

put it in 4 -4 timing...

This is good.

So typically, we dab the last wing.

I'm going to not make that an option.

Okay. Why? Is it really bad?

Let me just look at doing it.

All my friends are going to make fun of me. No one's going to make fun of you.

No, no, no. Mike and Adam are going to because they've known me since college.

They've seen me throw up in the bushes for eating something too spicy in

Whoa.

I thought it was like cinnamon.

I'm not going to put that much here.

Can I smell it?

Yeah, go for it. I'm not sure it's going to help you.

I'm like shaking.

Okay, I'm just going to do a teensy tiny bit. Yep, me too.

Okay. Wow, incredible, Charlie.

JFK. JF to JFK.

To airport rides. Oh, my fucking God. Mm -hmm.

Hold on. No, hold on.

Mm -hmm.

Okay, Charlie Puth, to close things out, I understand that early on in your

career, you would cold message YouTubers and offer to make them a theme song for

their channel at $50. Yeah. I'd imagine you've added a few zeros to the

remittance since then, but I was wondering...

If under these ridiculous circumstances, you can maybe beatbox a theme song. I

got the 50 on me.

I did used to do that for YouTubers because

it was a way to promote myself on

the internet and have them shout me out.

And I enjoy doing it, too.

I can't even use my lips.

I know.

There's a lot going on.

It's getting worse.

Listen,

for the first time, you got nothing out of me, physically.

You're just going to have to use some stock music.

You know what? You've given us more than enough today. And look at you taking on

the wings of death, living to tell the tale. Now there's nothing left to do but

roll out the red carpet for you. This camera, this camera, this camera. Let

people know what you have going on in your life.

My new album.

Which camera do I look at?

Whichever one you want. My new album, Whatever's Clever, is out March 27th. My

son or daughter.

is going to look at this one day and laugh or be embarrassed.

Hold on.

Come see me at Madison Square Garden if you're in New York.

We have Coco Jones, Raven Linnaeus, Jeff Goldblum, Michael McDonald, Kenny

Loggins, Kenny G, all on Whatever's Clever, which is my new album.

This has been horrible, but again, I will do anything for music, and I want

inspire all of you to make music.

Just put your thoughts into art.

Great job. Thank you.

Thank you for the nice questions.

I've watched almost every episode.

Yeah. Oh, really? Yeah. No, I'm a big fan. I really wanted to do this. I'm so

happy you guys reached out.

I really, really am.

Well, we love the album. It turned so many people on to it. Thank you. Yeah,

yeah, yeah.

This was like a big deal for me getting here. Yeah. All seriousness.

Really wanted to do this for a long time.

Was it worth it?

Yes.

We'll take it.

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