Introducing Audrey Hobert. The LA-based songwriter, singer, instrumentalist, music theatre devotee and dancer is ready for pop domination. Audrey began songwriting when her childhood best friend and then-roommate Gracie Abrams collaborated with Audrey to write songs for her album, The Secret of Us. Since then, Audrey has spent the last year crafting and concocting her debut album, Who's The Clown? out today. Created alongside producer Ricky Gourmet, the album features 12 perfectly packaged songs that showcase Audrey's clever, witty, honest lyricism, knowledge of melody, and innate expertise in creating a classic pop hit. We spoke to Audrey about trusting herself and releasing her debut album:

I just listened to your album this morning and it's brilliant. I feel like the only way I can describe it is it's exactly what I want to hear right now… it’s what has been missing in my listening. I can relate to it and hear myself in it, which I hope you don’t mind me saying.

Oh my gosh, of course not.

I think it’s probably due to your honesty and intention with it. I love the story of how you’ve unexpectedly fallen into this, and I really admire the belief that you have in yourself to know that these songs are yours and that you are good enough to be the artist behind them. When you were growing up, who were the artists you were listening to and obsessed with that infiltrated your world in those formative years?

There was the stuff my parents would play which was like The Beatles and Sheryl Crow. My mum would play a lot of musical theatre soundtracks, like Into the Woods or Hairspray. But on my own volition, I really loved Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus and I loved Taylor [Swift]. Justin Bieber, One Direction… I just loved pop.

Me too. How do you think that writing these songs and releasing them is serving you? What have you learnt through the process over the last few months?

I’ve got a work ethic and I’ve been sort of hungry to feel this kind of passion for something. My whole life, I’ve always had this boundless energy. So I feel like what I’ve learned so far is that I feel very capable and comfortable being in front of people, speaking about these songs, performing these songs, talking about what I represent as an artist. I’m cut out for it.

I loved reading about all the little moments of when these songs came to you. Is there one in particular that helped you to feel the way you are describing, to really affirm that you’re on the right path?

When I wrote Sex and the City that was the first time that I had really worked long and hard on a song. It was the fourth song I wrote and it took me a week and a half. I would work day and night on it. When I finished that song, I knew I had no choice in life but to pursue this. If I could write a song like that once, I knew I could do it again. My producer Ricky [Gourmet], who I made this whole album with, reminded me recently that every time I’d bring in a song and we’d make it, I would say to him, I think that’s all I got. And I never remember feeling that way because I wrote this album in the span of eight months, so it happened very quickly. But I have a particular fondness for when I wrote Sex and the City because it felt like the genesis of my love for songwriting.

I love that three track run: Thirst Trap, Chateau and Shooting Star. How has Ricky shaped your sonic world?

I wanted to work with Ricky because I thought he had such cool taste in music and also because of all the people I met during my time doing sessions, he was by far the coolest, funniest and most addictive to be around. He brought his musical talent but he also showed me new music the entire time we were working together that I’d never heard. The magic of our collaboration to me way my knowledge of pop, his lack of knowledge of pop but his really fun, cool taste. I wrote all of these songs by myself at home. So when I would bring them in, then we got to decide what they would sound like. It was always just us looking at each other and deciding what made us excited.

Now that you've written a whole album by yourself, do you think that next time you would be open to working with writers or is it a very sacred thing for you that you want to keep as yours?

I would be surprised if I ever want to write about my own life with anybody else. I feel like I need to be alone to say what I'd like to say. It takes me a long time to write one song and I'll work all day and get two lines and if they're the perfect two lines, then I will feel like I have done a good job. I have an interest in working with others on writing for their own projects but I’ll be surprised if I ever ask anyone to write for me.

You’ve had that affirming experience with other artists that you’ve written with, but in terms of using your voice, singing, playing instruments, do you feel confident in those abilities?

I definitely feel confident as a singer. I do play guitar. I taught myself in high school and I know all the chords you need to know to write like a million songs. But I wonder how I’ll feel once I get up on stage during a proper tour with a band. But I'm so proud of myself as a writer that I feel like that’s the thing that people will probably come to see me for. How good I am at an instrument might come second, but I do want to take it seriously and do a good job. I'm getting back into guitar lessons now, so I can just be as good as I can be.

You wrote these songs mostly in seclusion and you mention playing live. What makes a live show good to you? Not necessarily your own, but when you go and see someone, what's important to you that you will then consider in your own show?

There's so many things that can make a live show good. I'm really inspired by theatre. That is the biggest influence for me when it comes to thinking about what my show is going to be. I just saw Lady Gaga play, I found her show to just be unbelievable from start to finish. I was taken by what a performance it was, I wondered if it’s as interesting for her to perform as it is for us to witness it. Even just playing a few shows I can see maybe why pointing at the crowd and getting your words sung back to you could get old for a real performer. But I think if you’re a real performer you want to be putting on a show. It’s maybe a little less about connection and more about wanting the audience to leave feeling like they were fully entertained.

How have the live shows been that you've done so far?

They've been amazing. It’s not really what my tour is going to be because right now I'm just going up with a guitar and I'm only playing a few songs, so I have to eat up a lot of time by talking. And I like doing that too. I really like to explain my process and what each song means. It is wild to have an audience. I think everyone's been really sweet and attentive and respectful and also excited.

I like that you are going straight into a debut album and there's no messing around with EPs and a long, drawn out rollout. It feels super immediate and urgent and concise. It also makes approaching the project really fun. It just feels really easy to understand. What was your experience with creating this world for the album, especially visually? I think that the artworks and videos are so clever and it's all talking to each other.

Oh, thank you. That means a lot. Thank you for saying that. I wrote the album in the span of eight months, so there was never going to be any EP, there was never gonna be a long rollout. I feel so confident in this album as a complete body of work. I’m very sure of this as a body of work. So from the time I started writing it, I wanted it to be out. It’s going to be what hopefully puts men n the map, just the fact that the whole album is good and not just a few songs. When it comes to the creative visual aspect of it, I'm as interested in that as I am in songwriting. So every cover, the titles… it’s all coming from me. I direct and edit the music videos myself. I've always had such an interest in all of this, and the fact that I'm getting to do it is just like a childhood dream come true that I almost didn't even know I had.

Yeah, it's so special. You’ve said the intention of the project was to make people feel like they have permission to be themselves. You've obviously had such a great response already to these singles. Do you think that you're achieving that from what you're seeing? Or have you learnt through these single releases that you don’t actually care what people think? Have you let go?

That's an interesting question. I think the kinds of messages I get and what people have come up to me and told me makes me feel like it's just all coming true. What I get told most is that people feel seen in my songs and also it makes them feel like they can just go and be exactly who they are. It’s really the whole reason why I'm doing this, to hopefully make anybody feel that way. And then do I care what people think? I think it's silly to say flat out no, because I don't think anyone actually has that experience. But I don't search for it. I don't look myself up online. That's just because I'm wanting to make more songs, I’m wanting to do more artistically. And I think if you take in too much of what anyone has to say, positive or negative, it inhibits that process. So I guess in a way, no, I don't care what people think. I think in order to feel stable in all of this, If you're going to see love and hate, but only believe that love is true, and the hate is false, that's a very confusing thing on a psychological level. So I just try and not look at anything at all.

Agreed. What's something that you're passionate about right now, aside from music or something that's inspiring you, that's not music related? ‍

Oh, I’m going to watch this movie called Girlfriends that’s from 1978 tonight. I started the first five minutes earlier this morning and I can already tell it's going to set me on fire, so I'm excited about that.

Amazing. I might watch it as well.

Oh my God, do it.

Listen to Who's The Clown? HERE

@audreyhobert