Taylor Swift brings bread & a wedding invite to Greg James | The Life of a Showgirl Interview

Taylor. Buddy. I just, do you know what? I just knew, a few weeks ago I said, I just feel like it's going to happen again. Yeah. I just was like, I think she's going to want to do a chat. I was like, we got to, we got to call Greg. We got to, we got to do something. It's been too long. It. Oh, I see what's happening

now. The ASMR of the bread bag. Would you like to explain? Yeah. So I've been baking and so I brought Greg some sourdough because it's lemon blueberry, which I think is like a really nice variation. Fantastic. And you've put the fate of dophilia. Yeah. You know, the bread puns, like I think the worse they are, the better. Well, do you know what? Obviously I listened to the New Heights podcast.

You did?

Of course I did.

I'm so glad. Are you joking? Of course. I'm so glad. And by the way, baller move to announce an album 90 minutes into a football podcast.

Okay.

No, you're like, weird flex, but at 90 minutes, you talked about everything and he went, by the way, here's a briefcase, here's the album.

Well, I'm always trying to surprise people with how I announce albums. I've done a few album announcements on award shows and so, you know, you do something one time and people are like, I know what she's going to do next, she's going to do the same thing she did before. on a football podcast and announce an album. I love the kind of polarity of the masculine feminine there.

Well, it's very funny because you are very funny and you like silly stuff, essentially. And I mean the bread. So you did your sourdough chat and then you talked about the album.

I think I talked about bread for I think maybe 320 hours.

Well, longer than about the record.

People were like, OK, if she doesn't stop talking about sourdough, because it's like, I'm, it's a, it's a danger for me to start because I cannot stop talking about bread when I start. And it has nothing to do with music. It's the most musically irrelevant that it's completely separate. But it's nice. It's nice. And I'm so grateful because it's got lots of cat stickers on it as well, which I really like. I chose them very carefully for what your sense of humour is in my approximation of it. I've known you for as long as I have.

You've nailed it. You have nailed it. By the way, when you were doing the puns of your songs and bread, you did miss bake it off.

Well, I just thought it was too easy.

But you like, I mean, Dolphelia is..., that's I just thought it's too easy. No, but you like that. I mean don't feel years

But that's current. That's current. It's current. Sorry

That's the one thing that makes it relevant to our conversation. So the album's out. The album is out and I and I have such Uncomplicated feelings of joy about it. Yeah, I do not feel any twisty tortured way about it, which is not how I felt about the last album because there was such a lag time between, you know, when you make music and then you put it out, there's oftentimes your life can make drastic changes in those times. With this album, my life is in exactly the same spot as when I wrote the record.

I'm so pleased to see you and I'm so pleased to see you happy as well.

I feel the same way about you.

And the album reflects your mood, which is, I think you're probably feeling quite giddy. I think you're feeling bright and happy and sweary, which I really liked in some of the tracks on the album. It's just, it's big, happy pop. And you're clearly, you're in love. It's kind of gross. No, it's sickeningly. It's not. It's

lovely. I don't know what you heard. It's not that kind of album. But it's but it's lovely and bright and happy, but it's got teeth to it. Absolutely. So like, I'm proud of that too, because it's a full picture of like the full life experience, which for me is like there's always some element of drama that someone is forcing into my consciousness, which is fun to write about too.

But by the way, I love being sickeningly in love.

It's so nice, isn't it?

It's wonderful, it's wonderful. It's like, I used to kind of have this dark fear that if I ever were truly happy and free being myself and nurtured by a relationship and what happens if the writing just dries up? What if writing is directly tied to my torment and pain? And it turns out that's not the case at all. And we just were catching lightning

in a bottle with this record.

But it's nice because you're from a place of happiness and love, you can go back to those places, you can look forward to other things. And that's what the record feels like, is that you're still able to access those feelings of frustration, of anger, of really good stuff.

Yeah. And you basically, like, I think, you know, I made this album with Max Martin and Shellback, who I hadn't worked with in maybe seven or eight years. And in the time that we kind of took a break from working together, we were all out there honing powers of of of different types. And one of the things I was really playing with in our time away was writing in character and kind of developing these characters and these character arcs and things. And that's that is present on this record even though it's about my life sometimes you cosplay like this is a love song through the lens of Elizabeth Taylor's life. There's different motifs that I think we're

trying out on this record that are sort of a culmination of me practicing and and working up to the point where I could make this kind of album.

When did you start playing it to people? When did you play it to Travis, to Big Trav? Can

I call him Big Trav? Yeah, you absolutely can. He responds to pretty much anything. He's great. He's a really easy going guy. You will absolutely love him when you meet him. But yeah, I would play it for him as soon as I'd come back from Sweden. As soon as I come back from Sweden, I just like play it for him. And I knew that this was the kind of album that he was going to love the most. He's like so supportive of all of it, but like he's a real vibes guy.

He's a vibes guy. Well, you described him as an exclamation mark.

Yeah, he is.

That's such a lovely way of describing someone. Thank you. I feel like I should, I need to just check that, except the vibes are strong from him. I think he's a great guy, but I need to check for sure. I just want to play catch with him.

No, he would do that. That's all I want to do. You'll love that. Like all of my guy friends are like, I just want Travis to like pick me up throw me over a roof or throw me in the pool. I could do that, I'd love that. Yeah, yeah, it's really because it's like, you know, he's six foot six, but it's also, you know, the width of the shoulders is also like, seeing him walk through a door is genuinely a privilege.

Yeah, okay, well, that's, that's great. I'd like him to maybe just do a wrestling move

on me into a pool or something would be great. The way that he's going to do that as soon as he sees you at our wedding is like that's going to happen. Like he's just going to...

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Oh, did I?

Am I coming?

Obviously.

Is it a destination wedding?

People don't think that we're actually friends. It's been absolutely amazing having you in Swansea. We'll see you very soon. It's nice to see you. I think you need to have a shower now. I agree. And I'm not offended that you said that. There's a lot going on and none of it's good here. I do vaguely remember that. Yes. I vaguely

remember it because it's on my TikTok every single day. Oh no! It keeps... I thought it might go away.

No! I was gonna correct people but I thought it would make it... people are like, no, that'll make it worse and he'll hate that even more.

No, I didn't hate it. I quite enjoyed being cancelled for fun.

It's the funniest way to be cancelled. Right. For like making a joke about me being sweaty after a very sweaty performance.

Yeah, but look, you love a bit. It was a bit. There's nothing I love more than a bit. It was a hot day. It was a... and you said... Yeah, it's not... Okay, once and for all. Okay. By the way, thanks for the invite to the wedding. You're so welcome. I don't normally like a destination wedding, but for know? I will let you know. I'm going to let you know at a different time. Okay, not on the radio. Fine. But it's a yes, please. And thank you. But once and for all, were you upset that I told you to go and take a shower?

No, it was important. And also, I had already arrived there on my own. You were just reading my mind, as good friends do. Right. Right? I was not upset. Okay. I was, I actually laughed. Okay. Like, do you know what I mean? I know, I knew what you mean. I was what- People don't need to bubble wrap me in their minds as much as they do. Do you know what I mean? I was just, I was, I keep, I kept watching it. I was like, it was out of context. I'm a pretty tough broad. And also that wasn't even weird.

Yeah. Anyway, it's not like I said you smelt.

No, and you could have and it would have been funny.

But because you did.

Yeah, it was.

I was wearing leather.

OK, right. So Hamlet is who or am I reading too much into all of this? And what did you reread Hamlet before writing the song?

Didn't really need to reread it. I kind of like I wanted to sprinkle some references in the bridge. So like the bridge references kind of some paraphrasing of some some lines from Hamlet. So I did like do a little brush up. But I just love the idea that like, you know, you saved me from love driving me mad. Right. Because that's what happened to Ophelia. Spoiler alert.

Oh, is it? And it will be a spoiler to some people as well. But that's the that's the reference of you drowning as well on the front cover and all the rest of it. It's a brilliant,

a brilliant, brilliant, brilliant album. Thank you for appreciating that the album cover is a reference to the famous Ophelia painting which then ends up being referenced in the music video which ends up, there's more references to this painting. I directed the music video which was so fun to write and direct and it's actually debuting in theatres. Yes it is. Cinemas.

Cinemas. Cinemas. Cinemas. The cinemas. Or, as you would say in the old days, the flicks.

Or the pictures.

The picture show.

The pictures.

The picture show is nice. Go see the pictures. We have some wonderful radio listeners who are also your fans who just wanted to send a few messages to you. these and see what you make of these because when obviously when people found out you're on The Breakfast Show they were going, they were going for no one else.

They had things to say.

Yeah, they have things to say.

Fantastic.

If I could say anything to Taylor, I think I'd be like, how, how'd you do it?

How'd you do it? Simple question.

How'd you do it? That's a really beautiful question to ask somebody, my God. That's first of all, just like, thank you for the tone of that. Thank you for the lovely way that you asked that. It was like very nice.

That's lovely Emma.

Lovely Emma. I mean, I really I'm very lucky to get to do what I love. I really love making music. I love the fact that I'm lucky enough for people to care about it enough to me to make these like sort of Easter egg, sort of Zodiac, weird cryptic hinting that I have started to do with my fans.

Yeah.

The fact that I can do that is because they actually care about lyrics. So we can we can kind of play and have fun with the way we release music. And so how is the fact that you guys have been nice enough to care about the music at all for me to be able to have this much fun with the way I get to put it out?

I really care about the lyrics as well.

Thank you.

So that I mean, there's so the lyrics of in wood. A lot of them I can't my favorite lyrics I can't really talk about. But the opening of the thighs. Father figure.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wow. Yeah, that was a fun one to write. Yeah. And we love a song with a key change. Father Figure was in, what's the show? Was it Baby Girl?

The Nicole Kidman thing? Yes. Did you get it from that? Did you think? No, we had written

it before. Oh, had you? We had actually written it before that, but it was kind of, I thought it was kind of fun, like a fun coincidence. Yeah, that was great. Because it's a very different way of using the idea of a father figure to kind of talk about power, power structures and the flipping of the power dynamics.

Yeah, well, I can't say, well, I'm just gonna say it, the dick's bigger bit I loved.

I mean, you gotta say the whole line. It's like, I can make deals with the devil because, you know? My dick's bigger. Yeah. Yeah. So that was... Those aren't my... I'm paraphrasing. Pretty proud of, pretty proud of that line.

Inophilia, keep it 100, just love that. Just like, just a nice reference.

Yeah, keep it 100 on the land, the sea, the sky.

But that's you in, that's you in Big Trav. Yeah. Because 87, 13. Yeah. Lovely. Yeah, right? 87 plus 13 equals 100, so numerology again. Can't stop. And in Opelight, is it wrong to say weirdly kind of Christmassy? It feels very sparkly, like very sparkly and beautiful and Christmassy.

Twinkly.

Twinkly. That's so sweet. I really like that. Yeah, and it's positive, which is, we tend to gravitate towards positive Christmas music,

don't we? Yeah. You positive Christmas music, don't we?

Yeah. You're a Sag, aren't you? Yes. Yeah, me too. It's your 13th, I'm 17th December. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sheila's next.

Hi, I'm Sheila and if I could say one thing to tell you it would be that I think about

the Ears tour every single day. That was unbelievable.

Oh, I'm so happy to hear that. Every day, it's such a nice impact. that. I think about it every day too. I had so much fun on that tour. It was obviously the most exhausting challenge ever physically, but you know, I'll never forget seeing what I saw. I could see everyone from the stage, you know, I don't think they know that. I

have incredible vision.

Well, they've been done, haven't they?

Yeah, I've gotten LASIK. Yeah. And so I can see, I could see miles past. That's so sweet. And so it was like I could see their experience and their joy and that fed me like that fueled me even when I was exhausted and tired.

But I bet you don't, I was gonna say, I bet you don't miss the regime and the exhaustion.

I'm so good right now. Like my joints are good. She's back baking. I have hobbies again. I could only do the Eras tour when I was on the Eras tour and that's two years of just having no other hobbies. So now I have the hobbies again, as you can see.

Let's have one from Jason.

I'm looking at everyone's problem.

No, this is not a problem. I will be eating this.

Okay, good. I'm pretty sure it's going to be really good. It's Jason. And if I could speak to Taylor, I would say how much she means to me. I was so fortunate enough to go to the Eros tour, which was one of the best moments of my life. And I just want to say that I love her so much and I'm so grateful that she exists. And I'm so happy that she's releasing new music and making the world a better place.

That is the sweetest. Good old Jason. Thank you, Jason. It's very sweet. That's so lovely. I you know The fact that you could ever be a part of something like the heirs tour Like for me it feels like such an honor that the fans made it into what it was because it was truly Astonishing for all of us who were on that tour. We were like what is going on? What it turned into something very quickly that we that exceeded any of our expectations for what the tour could have been So the fact that it meant something to you like that

It's it's just a wonderful walk down memory lane

I'm probably one of those things that you can appreciate a bit of it in the moment, but really you need some distance

No, I really did appreciate it in the moment. Like I knew I knew it was crazy. What was happening? We have never had anything happen like that. I've been with my band for a very long time. Like my crew, my touring family, my team, we're all very close and have been forever. And none of us have ever had anything like that happen.

We all were looking at each other the whole time going, this is absolutely nuts.

Have you got the itch for another something soon?

No, no, I'm just going to be really honest with you. Like I am so tired. Like when I think about doing it again, because I would want to do it really, really well

again. Yeah, of course. You know, Taylor, it's been such a treat. I mean, so I could talk to you for hours and you know, one day we'll do a proper sit down, maybe just in

a pub. That would be nice. That would be so good. We don't have to record it. Yeah, we don't have to. We don't have to record every chat.

Oh my gosh.

But I wanted to just get a definitive answer on the versions, right? Because the Masters thing is a huge success and congratulations on owning all your music. Thank you. First of all, I want to say thanks because I'm actually the CEO of Shamrock Capital.

No one knew that. Thank you so much. I'm so glad I figured it out finally. Yeah, so thank you for the deal. No, it was an amazing thing. They were so great to make that deal with me because they never had to sell my music to me.

They never had to do that. But it gave radio presenters across the world a dilemma. Which one are we playing? Whichever one you want. Well look, what we did is when we celebrated the news, we went bananas by the way. Oh thank you. We're free, we can play all the versions! Thank you so much! Because whenever we played a Taylor's version, all the listeners would go, that better be Taylor's version! Oh my god, I love that. Of course it is! Thank you. They got

your back. Yes, and I appreciate that so much because that's partially probably what got this done. But so have I. So I was like, of course I'm going to play the Taylor's version. But now... Thank you. Now you can play anything you want.

But we've been playing both at the same time. So look.

What's that like?

Okay, ready?

Oh my God.

I've got to get it right.

Oh my God.

There we go. So that's both. Can you hear that? I mean it's like the same. I'll go between the two, ready? Oh nice. See, yeah I crushed this. They're the same. Look at this. I'm always going to look back on this time and be like we just redid everything.

Yeah, so well. Can you tell the difference?

Which one am I playing now?

No, I can't tell.

That's younger.

No, older. Is this... I can't tell.

Tater's version. Original. No, it's the same.

Anyway.

It's the same.

Yeah.

I'm so stoked about that whole process, right? Like the whole process of... Actually, you know, like there's a lot of stuff that I never speak out about, right? Like the whole process of, actually, you know, like there's a lot of stuff that I never speak out about, right? Like people try to provoke me all the time, right? Because it would be valuable for someone to like,

get under my skin, have me clap back, then they get like, I don't know what, you get like a bunch of followers out of it. It's like, I'm not interested. Like the shower thing. What if you were just rage baiting on purpose for followers? But with this, I was like, you know what? I don't speak up about many things. But this

matters to me. This whole thing actually matters to me. And I feel like if I talked about it, people in the industry might learn from it. And the way it played out, it was really infuriating at times, but the way that it has all culminated in sort of there being more awareness for artists about their ownership. And then I got it back, I got to buy my music back. It's still pretty crazy that all or any of that happened. I'm very grateful. It's a great thing, all or any of that happened.

I'm very grateful. But it's a great thing, but it will inspire other artists and other people just to make sure that the thing that they've made, they are in charge of. That's a nice thing.

If it matters to them, you don't have to care about this, but maybe look into it and see if you care about it.

If you care about it, try to get that to happen. It's nice that you're leading it as well. I think that's such a nice thing. Thanks. Yeah, it's cool. Thanks. Well, look, it's been a pleasure as always.

Thank you so much for having me on and just over the years, just being so supportive, being so lovely. And I really just have loved coming to check in with you and congrats on the book. Thank you. And the wedding. And the wedding. Hey, look at us, we're all grown up.

Yeah, it's cool. My invite got lost. Oh, it was all... I'm joking. It's a joke.

Well, look, if I get married again, you're first on the list. No, no, but you never knew this. If you renew your vows.

Sorry, I should have said that first. Thank you. Shall we play one of your live lounges and I'll let you go? We need to, we must.

What do you want then? Do you want, you need to calm down, do you want to shake it off, do you want Riptide? Do you want to do Lover?

I, uh...

What are you feeling? Oh, oh my god. Riptide or Lover, either one. Those were fun. Well, maybe it works playing both at the same time. No, please don't.

No, it might do.

No one wants it. No one wants both.

No.

Oh, lovely. Oh, yeah.

It's not bad, actually.

It's not bad.

Hang on, fade it in slowly. I'm Max Martin now.

This is not what Max Martin does. Hey, come on.

That was great. I didn't expect it to go so well.

We'll see you soon. Thanks so much. We'll see you soon. Thanks so much.

See ya. Thank you so much.