An Evening With Hilary Duff

Oh my god. Standing ovation already. Oh my gosh. Hello. Hello. Hi guys. This is so fun. Okay. All right. Thank you for that warm welcome.

Okay. Was that a pun?

Having my fourth child and being like, I'm just like spit up on and like I don't know. I've organized the playroom so many times. I'm like done with this. Not done with, but like I need more.

Yeah, I'm I'm ready to be a pop star again. Um, I think that it it's such a weird moment to it wasn't just like, okay, I'm doing this. I'm ready. Like, of course, I I got to that point where I had to really talk through what that actually meant and what like I wanted the desired outcome to be. And like it was so very layered like being an artist for such a long time and being like, you know, a teenage young adult pop star. Um, is like, you know, I had such massive success and like such big wins and I was so lucky and I I worked really hard. But I think that part of getting back into music was like really just removing myself from comparing to my old successes and being like whatever will be will be. Like of course I'm going to work hard. I am a Disney dog trained trained really well to to grind but um you know I was like I and and you know breathe and breathe out like not not my most successful record but like I loved it and and it was an important record for me to make and I think maybe if I hadn't have made that record I wouldn't have made luck or something. So, um, it took a really long time to wrap my head around. And I think I just remember one morning like Matt was going to work and it also helps having a super talented songwriter and like producer and just like partner in Matt. Um, but you know, he was like going every day to the studio and gets to like flex creatively every day. And I was like I just had our fourth kid and like I'm nursing and like jealous. I think I was a little jealous and I just told him I was like I'm jealous of you and I think I want to make a record. He was like okay let's do it. So it was it was just like a little casual conversation and you know he takes me really seriously and he knows when I get my mind set on something I'm pretty impatient so I typically mean it. Um and and it and it just started from there.

I was really starting from scratch. I'm not really um a big like journaler. And I'm honestly not even really a songwriter in that way where I'm like out in the world and some like an idea can spark, but I'm not like that melody popped into my head and I've got to hang on to that. Like if I'm in the studio and I like sing a melody, I'm like, I hope someone heard that cuz I'm not going to do that again. Like it's it's it's not I'm not the person that like gets that epiphany in the shower. Um, but thematically I really knew what I wanted to speak about and I knew that the kind of big important moments in my life that have made the biggest marks were were definitely what I wanted included in the record. And that really helped spark the ideas for the themes and the songs and and getting to where I wanted to be.

But usually it starts with like a conversation. I'm not like, "Oh, I hear this beat and let's go." Like I'm like I want to talk about this and this is why and here's a line that I like and here's this like grouping of words and like then it starts to like form.

Well, I think time is exactly what contributed to it. Um, growth and a life journey like you know I have had a lot of I mean a lot of [__] goes down between 12 year in in like the 12 years since making um breathe in breathe out like a lot of like life has been lived and I think that's exactly what it is you're just kind of more in your body and in your shoes and comfortable with your story and don't care as much about what people think. Um, I said before it's super helpful to have someone like Matt in your corner who one also I think something else outside of the creative realm of us making this record together was like him knowing the industry so well. Like I am not like up on anything tech or like everyone's talking about the new iPhone and like oh my god that thing and I'm like I want less like give where's the thing that gives me less like I don't want a laptop in my hand. I don't even want my laptop. So like unless I'm watching a show on it I'm not interested. So, um, it it was helpful even just to have his knowledge of like the music industry because he just has never left it. And so, you know, the the the landscape is just completely different and and a thing to wrap my brain around, you know, creating content non-stop is like a full other job and so much work. Um, but really fun, you know, and and and um I don't know. I I guess I got off on a on a different path, but I think that exactly what helped make this record great and and maybe my best work was working with someone who I felt really really safe with and getting to a point in life where you just give so much less [__] and you can say what you mean and want to say and not care like, you know, it was so fun to get into my car and and have my record as a whole before putting it out into the world and being like this is sorry that I'm cursing so much but like I [__] with this like this is what is cool you know what I mean and just being like you know it's it's so nice to sit in your car and complete something and be like I'm ready and then you give it out into the world and you know people obviously have so much to say about it and this time around it was so super lovely um but you know I even if it wasn't lovely, I would still be really proud of the work.

Yeah, definitely. Roommates was I was like so shy for my mom to hear that song. I was like, and like I have kids and obviously a lot of people on the internet was like, is she going to let her kids listen to that? And I'm like, yeah, of course I am. Cuz someday I'm going to be explaining it. Not now. But yeah, it is funny that they gravitate towards the songs that they don't know what they're about. And I'm just like, hope we're blowing over that lyric right now. Um, but you know what? It was fun. And and for anybody who was like, "Oh my god, she's saying that or whatever." And I was like, "It's just so not trying to be risque or trying to like provoke shock. It was so like vulnerable and raw to remember or yearn for something like and have a cry for help, you know?" And it and so many people were like, "Oh my god, I can't believe you would talk about that with your relationship with Matt." And I'm like, it's not always just about with Matt or it's like, you know, it's not a a huge theme in our relationship, but like we've had three kids and we've been like married for almost eight years. Like, you know, things eb and flow. And the song was like so cathartic to sing about if you feel stuck, you know, ever and yearn for like a slightly wilder time. Like I don't want to go back to that wild time. I don't like it's getting close to my bedtime right now. So, just in case you guys were thinking I was cool, I'm not.

I'm genuinely like thinking about the track list right now and that this happened like almost two years ago. So, of course, there's things that that you get like stuck on. Um, but I would be curious to know what what Matt thinks about that. He definitely has to like do most of the track work and he'll like fry his brain for days on end trying to like crack a code. And I'm like, "Sounds great." Until I like five days later and I'm like, "Actually, I don't like this one little thing over here." Like I get to like we he says it the best where he's like you one he thinks I'm like the best A&R person which is so kind and nice but I'm also like an interior designer like I need to like I'm not like a oh here's a huge whole thing delivered like I go in and like tweak tweak make all the not not just tweak but like make it look pretty I don't know like um but I don't what future tripping was actually a kind of a in interesting song to try to crack because the the lyrics a lot of the lyrics were there. Like the the chorus was there and then the song was about like microlastics and like all the things that like really freak me out and and the things that like my algorithm was feeding me that like we're all going to die and like it was just an anxiety-induced cloud. Um, at first this song and I loved it, but it was kind of niche and um, after a while of living with it, I was like, "This has to be a love song. Like, this has to be like we've got to turn this into like a relationship vibe because I feel like more people will relate to it." Um, but I think that one was kind of kind of hard. And and then the like the more, you know, personal songs. Um, Optimist was a tough one to get through for sure. Um, and uh, We Don't Talk was a was a tough one. So, yeah.

Thank you.

The lyric came first. Okay. Yeah, the lyric came first. Um, and it was it it was like a weird kind of conversation between Matt and I. And it it just made sense because it was kind of coy, which I feel like is very me. And it was a little like it was a little tongue and cheek just like trying to like reflect back on my career in the music industry. And you know, I I feel like I never totally got treated like a real artist. Um, especially when I was younger. Um, but I sold like so many [__] records and toward the world and did a bunch of really like cool important things. And um but I think maybe because I was so young and and other factors like I it's it's a little tongue and cheek for it just being luck or something. And um and then the other kind of aspect was that I always get asked like how are you so normal and how are you okay? Yeah. And um uh so it's kind of toying with that conversation as well.

I think there's like Well, I've said this before, but like the weight of it is like in the dot dot dot. Like there's so much. Yeah.

Yeah, I can't even remember what it was. It was something I really liked.

Okay. I don't like to admit this because I know it's like super controversial and I'm If we were talking about luck and luck, sorry, not not luck or something, but future tripping and microplastics and AI and like all the things that really really scare me. But once I asked my chat to roast me and it was like it told me that I was like a golden retriever that just heard a string cheese being opened and I was like, "Yeah, that that that's right." I just like bounce from one thing to another really really fast. But I also have four kids and like four of their schedules in my brain at all times. So I lose my train of thought a lot.

And my own stuff. But I let everybody else worry about my own stuff and I'm just like, "Where am I going? What do I need to be prepared for?"

Yeah. I just show up. I can't like know too far in advance what I'm doing. Sometimes you guys will actually tell me and I'm like, "Oh, yeah. Yeah, I heard I've been doing that." Okay.

Yeah.

They have evolved. Um, I don't, you know, I got to be honest with you. I I know I'm talking about my kids a lot. They dominate the radio in the car. I said radio. They dominate what we listen to a lot. And um so my musical taste is very all over the place, but it's very much like what I grew up with and what like feels good. Like nostalgia is so real. And honestly, like today, I don't know if you guys heard the news about Dashboard Confessional, but like just bangers in there. And like and so I just put on that radio and it was like serving me all of this like early 2000s like emo pop punk glory and it was so lovely. Um, but like I love a lot of old music. I love like kind of what my mom raised me on and yacht rock.

It always hits.

This is this this question is so so funny to me. I I don't think I've ever sat with another artist and like gathered advice from them. And I don't know we don't like run in crazy circles of like people that do what we do. Like we we we have some friends that are like, you know, in the industry and stuff, but like we're not talking about work with them too often. So I'm not like guide me or help me or you know like if anything I think I was just met with like a lot of encouragement and like excitement about my return to music. But um one of the things I love about this record, it was a very like it was like Matt and I. Like I didn't have a manager and a label and any like I had no one except for him. And it was so nice to make the record and not have outside noise and outside like pressure. Um, and that isn't just about making the record. That's talking about like the approach to putting it out and like the plan, you know what I mean? Like it was like very I'm not saying people didn't get involved because obviously they they did and I had like such a fantastic team, but like the bulk of it was like us and and I really liked that. It wasn't like hearing other things. I was like we're doing this our way, my way.

I think that's right. I think that's absolutely right. Um, and it it was it was really nice to feel like I had the power to do that and I had, you know, someone beside me that was like, "What do you want? What do you like? How do you want to do this? What what do you imagine it looking like? What like?" And I had those conversations before, but I I think I just didn't quite know and didn't like have enough confidence to steer the way.

Thanks. Also like you guys like made this whole movement around the the album and the tour and you know I think that the unfolding of it and the plan was like really top-notch and dialed and executed super well and I worked super hard but it it comes down to if you guys like it or not, you know, and want to want to get behind it and support it. So, it was really cool to like go into this again with kind of like dough eyes and like knowing what I want to do and what I'm comfortable with, but also like, okay, like let's let's fly.

Just a dream. Yeah, just a dream. Honestly, um I've said this a lot before, so I hope it's not too repetitive, but I I just mean it. Like when I, you know, I just came off of eight weeks of longer than that, but if we're talking like the the North American leg of the tour, like eight weeks of shows and just feeling like I'm in a rhythm and kind of in a flow state with with putting on shows and not so terrified. Um, connecting with people and watching like adults who are my age now and have grown up alongside me like connect on this level of like understanding and going through the same stuff and you know it resonating like it very clearly resonating with them has been really important and really healing for me because you know I know I made an impact at a very important pivotal moment in a lot of people's lives and it's hard to like do that again, I think. And I feel like I did it so um or I did it in my own way, you know. Um, and so that old stuff that used to kind of bog me down is like very celebratory to sing again and do that again with everyone when I get to have the balance of like me as an adult doing it and that also resonating with people.

Yeah, it's so it's so so so much fun. Honestly, I can be having a tough day and I'm like, "Oh, show tonight feels really hard." Yeah. You know, like I I had my kids on tour this summer and I was like, "Okay, I'm really this is I'm really showing myself what I'm made of to like mom all day and and we have help and we have nannies and it doesn't matter how many hands you have on deck. Like your kids want you and I want them. Like I they were so now they think they deserve to come on stage all the time. I'm like, "It's about me." Kidding. They're so sweet. They're so They're so They just want to be at all my shows. They're so upset they're not here tonight. I know. And I was like, "No, it's a school night." No, I know. Um, thank you so much. I love them. They're awesome. It's easy to be a good mom when you have good kids. Um, but I I wanted just to say that like getting back on stage again and doing that night night after night and you know people being like, "Oh my god, it's so much fun. It was so healing." Like it's healing for me and to get to exercise that part of my life and kind of un-wipe the dust off of her and get back out there again is is just been like just absolutely unbelievable.

That was just a little taste.

Honestly, I've known about the dates for such a long time, and it sucks to keep a secret. It sucks to keep a secret from you guys. I hate it. Um, but you know that that that's a big part of me kind of being in the driver's seat and being like, here's what I'm comfortable with and here's what I can do because I do have a family and they're so important to me. I don't get to tour like a a a I don't want to say a normal artist because lots of people have families, but I don't know if they have kids as young as me or whatever factors for our family that you know is something that stresses me out and kind of makes me worry about our family like as a unit. Um, so I'm like two weeks, take a break. Two weeks, take a break. Two weeks and that feels digestible to me, you know? So the scattering of releasing dates and planning. It's taken so much planning. I feel so bad for everybody on my team.

That's so great. It's so great. But the poor the poor people that are like just splitting hairs trying to like figure out how to make it all work is is um is, you know, over my I can't compute all that stuff. But um...