Frankie talks with CHANNEL Q's Corey Crockett about his new single, Rhythm of Love and so much more
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00How lucky are we to spend some time here on Channel Q with the one and only Frankie Grande,
00:06who is very busy. Lots to be excited about. First of all, hi, hello, welcome.
00:10Hi, how are you? I'm so excited to be here. I love Channel Q. You guys are the best.
00:13Thanks for all the support. Oh my God, it makes me emotional.
00:16Oh, we love you back. Congratulations on the new song. It is called Rhythm of Love.
00:21I want to talk about the Pride Anthem aspect of it all, but first I want to start with
00:26the writing process, because obviously you come from a musical background,
00:30but you were in the room with some very high pedigree writers who people listening to Channel
00:35Q would also know some of their work. I feel like that must have been a surreal experience for you
00:40to create something through that process. Walk me through it. Yeah, I'm very fortunate and very
00:45blessed. When I originally started this project, it was just me and a producer friend, Gregory
00:51Dylan in a room. And then of course, when I got to play the music for Republic and for Wendy
00:56Goldstein, all of a sudden that room just got bigger and I just got access to all of these
01:00other collaborators and I've just been having the best time. And I think what I've learned is that
01:08it comes with what energy am I bringing into the room, right? What story do I want to tell
01:13today as I'm sitting in a writing session? And the cool thing about this project and me releasing
01:19my debut album at 42 years old, seven and a half years sober, is that I have a lot of life
01:25experience to draw from. So as Prince is sitting there and coming up with beats and starting to
01:30cook in the kitchen, we're sitting there with the writer's circle and being like, what does this
01:36evoke? Which page in the book of your life, Frankie, are we going to open to today? And what
01:41is pouring out of you? And it was such an emphatic process. There's a song on the album where when I
01:48heard it finally played back to me, I just started weeping uncontrollably. And it's a dance song,
01:53so it's really special and I'm really grateful. And yeah, it was an awesome process to write.
02:01Really cool. I love it. I'm definitely like hooked in terms of all the things that I've
02:06done in my career. I think this is going to be the most fun chapter. I'm pretty sure.
02:10I love that. Tell me about Rhythm of Love. What was the emotion you were trying to provoke? What
02:16was the story that you decided to tell that day that brought this piece of work?
02:20So there's a time in my life where I was still drinking and using, but I understood sobriety
02:25was an option. A year before I went on Big Brother, I decided with my therapist that it
02:31might be a good idea to try to get sober. And I was like, every single therapy session started
02:36with, you know, I was at the box until 7 a.m. and then I woke up at 7 p.m. and I felt really
02:43against this person. And she was like, cool. Every time you talk to me, you say you were at the box
02:49till 7 a.m. Why don't we try to not do that for a bit? And I was like, hmm, fine. And you know,
02:56that's why in the video for Rhythm of Love, we're at the box in New York City, because that is the
03:00scene of the crime. So I had to go back there. And so I got sober. I only could do 90 days,
03:06that was the most my body could handle before I started drinking and using again, and then
03:10repeated the process before Big Brother, and then didn't do it again until 2017. And that's
03:15when I got sober. So there was this time in my life where I knew sobriety existed, but I wasn't
03:20ready to make that choice. And that to me is what the Rhythm of Love is, that's lifting me up deep
03:25into the night. You know, it's a time in my life where I was like, still drinking and using and
03:29partying and thinking everything was maybe going to be okay, but I knew better. I knew better,
03:34and I wasn't ready to make that choice. And so again, but it's a fun dance song, right? It can
03:39be about a relationship, it can be about like you being, we made the video about like that boy in
03:43the club who you're obsessed with. And you're like, we made out in the bathroom. And now I can't find
03:48him. And now he's talking to that other guy. And like, maybe he's talking to that girl and like,
03:52Oh my god, and like, just have fun with your friends. Just enjoy your night. But you can't
03:59sometimes obsession is just something that you just cannot get out of your head. And so that's
04:03what the song's about. For me, it's so relatable. The story you're telling walking people through
04:09I suggest watching the video because you will relate to it. You're telling the story about
04:14your sobriety journey. How did you feel going back to the scene of the crime as you called
04:19the coolest thing experienced in my entire life? Because I was back in the box. I was, you know,
04:25performing, being high and performing these experiences that I had when I was fucked up,
04:33but except I was doing it sober. So it was like, I remember it. And so it was like, it was really
04:39fun. It's like, it's hard to describe. But like, I was like, this is so cool, because I'm reliving
04:43these moments of my life that I don't really remember, to be honest, because I was so fucked
04:48up. I mean, bleeped up. I was so bleeped up. And yeah, so it was it was really, really cool. And I
04:54actually had a really fun time and actually was like talking to the girls at the box and being
04:58like, Oh my god, is this person still around? Is this person still around? Like, and it was just
05:02it was like fun reminiscing about my past life, but in a sober way. You know, since getting sober,
05:10I've gotten married at the box. I've done GLAAD benefits at the box. Now I shot my first debut
05:15single at the box. So like, it has become a place of celebration and joy and sobriety for me,
05:21as much as it was a place of debauchery in my using days.
05:24You talked about the album and the excitement that will follow. Congratulations on that,
05:31expected later this year, you're putting out, you know, this, this album that comes from a
05:37very authentic place at a time when authenticity in the LGBTQ community is under fire. Is that
05:44is that something that's on your mind as you're writing and recording this project?
05:49Oh, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. That's the only reason I started doing music, to be honest.
05:54Like, yeah, I was like, I'm on the board of GLAAD. And you know, I realized that I am
06:00such a unapologetically gay human being. And it's like, I've done it on so many mediums, right? I've
06:08been queer on TV. I've been queer on Nickelodeon. I've been queer on reality TV. I'm in movies.
06:14And now, where else can I go be really queer that can maybe reach some more people and inspire them
06:19to be themselves over these next four years where we are under fire and under attack? And it was
06:23just so obvious. It was like, do music, man. You got to do music. And so, yeah, it is at the
06:30forefront of the album. You know, my authenticity, my unapologetically gay self, like, is going to be
06:36the star of this piece. And yeah, I am not playing anyone other than myself,
06:42which is really fun. Really fun.
06:44You shared a video of Ariana singing the song or whistling the song or something as she was
06:50walking through the hallway. I do have to ask, is there a chance at a remix, a collab, some sort of
06:57duets between the two of you?
06:59There's always a chance. When there's a will, there's a way. Yeah. She's been unbelievably
07:04supportive as everyone in the world has seen. And she's so proud of me and she's so proud of
07:09the project. And it's just, it's unbelievable. You know, I wouldn't have done it without
07:13her encouragement. You know, I kept the project very secret. I didn't play it for anybody.
07:18And then I played her a song and she just started weeping. And it was like, I didn't want to do it.
07:24I was like nervous. I was scared. My friends encouraged me to do it. And she was like,
07:28you have to keep going. You have to keep doing this. You have to write more.
07:32And so her encouragement is the reason why I kept going. You know, it was, it's pretty,
07:36I think she's the greatest writer and pop star that we have today. So like having
07:40her co-sign what I was doing, I was like, okay, great. I guess I'm onto something.
07:44And I guess I'm going to keep pushing.
07:45For your first time doing this, does she give you any advice or is she?
07:49Yeah. I've been asking her advice constantly is she's the, I mean,
07:52I have the source, you know what I'm saying? Like, it'd be crazy not to ask her a thousand
07:56questions a day. And she has been unbelievable. Yeah. I've been, I've been getting a lot of
08:01mentoring from her, which has been awesome. You know, it's so lovely to have, you know,
08:06I was always the bigger brother, the big brother who, you know, was on Broadway when she was
08:11aspiring to come be on Broadway and things like that. And now it's the complete opposite. And
08:14it's just so lovely having the tables flipped in this way where I'm just like, Hey, how many,
08:20can you help me with this? The structure of this? Like, what do you think about this? Should I put
08:24this over here? What do you think? What do you think about this? Do you like the way that this
08:27resolves at the end of the phrase? Like, help me. It's awesome.
08:30Both of you are multi-hyphenates and your career contains multitudes of you, as you've talked about
08:35you, of course, a former big brother player. I feel like right now there's a bit of a reality
08:41game show kind of Renaissance with the traitors and Survivor is buzzy again. I was just watching
08:49Deal or No Deal Island and was like more invested in that than I thought I was going to be very
08:53quickly. Would you entertain going back on to a reality show and bringing your big brother skills
09:00somewhere else? Absolutely. I would, you know, I think, I think it's all going to be scheduled now
09:04because of music is going to be taking the, the front driver's seat, if you will. Reality
09:10would probably be passenger side for a second. But I would of course do it. I, you know, I think
09:14that that's the beauty. I have an amazing team behind me that really understands that I'm a
09:18multi-hyphenate and doesn't want me to, doesn't want to push me in any one way, shape or form
09:22and be like, deny you the ability to go play traitors or to go do Survivor. I think it's just
09:29going to be about scheduling, you know, and fitting it into all this stuff. You know, I just announced
09:35that I'm going to be doing Out Loud. I'm doing We Hope Pride on May 31st. And that is breaking
09:40news as of today. Yes, today, today. We're breaking that here on channel Q. Yes. And I'm really excited.
09:46It's going to be my very first music festival performance and I'm really excited. I'm doing the
09:50dance stage, which was my request. I was like, can I please do the dance stage? I just want
09:56to be, you know, the summer, summer tramp dance sketch. I just, I just remember being at Coachella
10:03the year that Madonna did the dance stage. And I was like, that is so my vibe.
10:10And We Hope Pride, like this is the real deal. Like, you know, and especially like we talked
10:16about at a time when I think people attending prides will be feeling something extra this year,
10:23right? Is that something that's on your mind as you're thinking about performing in front of,
10:28in front of people who, who are looking to you for maybe an escape, maybe a message,
10:33like there's a lot of different ways you can approach that. What's on your mind as you go
10:36into that? Yeah, I think the beauty about, you know, my music that's coming out is that there
10:42is a message, but it's also, it is also a place of escape. Like you can escape into the music.
10:48And under, in the past, when our community has been under attack, the place we've always found
10:55refuge is the dance floor. And so I'm really happy to be able to provide that. And I'm really
11:01grateful that we're going to be having all these lovely, beautiful, safe spaces that are coming up.
11:04This pride is going to be more important than any other pride. And so I can't imagine being
11:08anywhere else than, than with my community. And I'm so grateful that I get to share my message of,
11:14it's going to be fine. We're going to dance through these next four years and it's going
11:18to be fine. We're going to be fighting simultaneously, but like we got to also party
11:24and dance and live our best, truest lives. Because if they take that away, then we have
11:28truly lost and we can't, we can't do that. I have a feeling we're going to be hearing
11:32your music on, on many a dance floor and at many a pride and many a music festival.
11:37I don't know if you can tell us yet, when can we expect the full album?
11:40It will be this summer. Yeah. And it will be in time for pride. So.
11:45Okay. Do we have a, do we have a, do we have a title?
11:49We do have a title. I don't know if I'm allowed to say it yet, but there is a title.
11:52I won't get you in trouble. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm really excited.
11:56It is, it is a beautiful title and it is the title. I would say the title reflects the heart
12:01of the album, which I'm really excited about. You know, we are, we're excited to hear it.
12:06We're excited for the first taste that we've gotten in rhythm of love,
12:09streaming and everyone now and on channel Q and the music video out now.
12:12Yay. Congratulations.
12:13And thank you for this time. And thank you for sharing particularly your sobriety journey with
12:18us too. I'm, I'm so appreciative that you opened up in that way and kind of gave us a little,
12:23a little insight into that and how it played a role in your creative process. I appreciate it.
12:26Thank you again. Like, I think it's all, it's all about authenticity, especially over these next
12:31four years. It's just be yourself, man. It's going to be okay. No matter who you are,
12:34no matter what your truth is, if you're going to live it we're going to come together as a
12:38community, ask for help when things get hard, because it will be hard for our community,
12:42especially for our trans siblings. So just ask for help and we're going to come be there to
12:47support you. We're going to stand shoulder to shoulder with you and I'll see on the dance floor.
12:52Frankie Grande. Thank you.