Taylor Momsen is a rockstar—and we need rockstars in rock and roll! Taylor and her band The Pretty Reckless represent one of rock music’s most authentic and inspired bands to emerge in the past sixteen years. The Pretty Reckless writes and records their music when inspired. They don’t chase trends, and they don’t rely on chart positions. Notably, they have broken numerous chart position records, earning four number one singles out of the box.
Furthermore, they hold the record for the most number ones for a band led by a woman. Recently, they grabbed their ninth number one with “When I Wake Up.” They are the real deal—a true rock band with a powerhouse frontwoman who is rock and roll.
The band’s most recent release “Dear God” is a self-proclaimed look into Taylor Momsen’s diary, crafted with her longtime writing partner, collaborator, co-producer, and band guitarist Ben Phillips. Moving through her life via songs, the record is true and honest. It doesn’t sound like anything else and isn’t afraid to take chances. Moreover, the album brings listeners into different colors and textures. The release is described as one “our fans get.” Terrie Carr wanted to have Taylor on the Carr Stereo Podcast. She was glad to have the chance now, over a month into the album’s release. So far, it’s her record of the year.
*Editor’s Note: Answers have been edited for clarity and length.*
Terrie Carr: Taylor, congratulations on a beautiful piece of music with Dear God.
Taylor Momsen: Oh my goodness. Thank you so much, Terrie. How are you doing?
The Release Party and Musical Direction
Terrie Carr: I’m well! And I was at your record release party. So here we go with the official Pretty Reckless napkin.
Taylor Momsen: We are SO official.
Terrie Carr: I’m so grateful that your record label did this. I thought it was a beautiful night for people just to get together and celebrate music. Fans were there, and I got to see people I know from the industry. We got to see you guys performing. It was beautiful—coming at us in that church in Brooklyn.
Taylor Momsen: It was very fitting to have it in a church, which part of me thought that I was going to burst up into flames. (laughs)
Writing From Inspiration, Not Trends
Terrie Carr: You came into my head even before we hooked this up because I did an interview with an artist last week. It was actually Linda Perry.
Taylor Momsen: I love Linda.
Terrie Carr: I said, ‘Linda…where do we go in music right now? Like we’re kind of in a f’d up situation.’ And she’s like ‘Artists aren’t writing when inspired.’ I thought of you. The Pretty Reckless does not do that. Taylor and Ben do not do that. They write and they record when they feel inspired. So talk to me about feeling inspired to put this very personal record together.
Taylor Momsen: The thing about inspiration is that there’s no process to it. That’s what makes it challenging. There’s no formula to inspiration. There’s this very long—well, sometimes it’s fast—but there’s this process of waiting and patience and living life. That can be torturous, for lack of a better term, because you don’t know when or if it’s going to come. I always wait for inspiration to strike because I never want to craft you a song. That is never my intention with music. I understand how it works. I’m very capable of doing it. You give me a topic and a style and say ‘Go write me a song,’ and I go, ‘Sure, I got you.’ I can do that if I have to.
But that’s not the kind of music that I want to make. I want to make music that’s coming from a very real place. It has layers and depth. It’s something that I want to express and I even want to need to. That’s why I write songs. I write songs to process my life and see things clearly or attempt to. I do it for myself as an outlet. Eventually, they turn into records.
This process for ‘Dear God’ was, in one way, no different than any other record. But the writing itself and what poured out of me at the end definitely had a different quality. It was very apparent to me—it was so brutally honest. Everything was directly ripped from my diary in a very matter-of-fact way. That created a very unique record for us. You’re getting a very intimate look into how my mind works and what it’s like to be me.”
The Sound of “Dear God” and Producer Collaboration
Terrie Carr: There’s so many textures and so many flavors on this record, and it doesn’t sound like anything else that is out there. It’s very unique. You worked with Jonathan Wyman. He worked with you and Ben crafting the sound. He’s a really unique crafter of your sound too, and has fit with you guys in the past. Talk to me about that relationship.
Taylor Momsen: John is the only person we’ve worked with other than Kato. So when Kato passed away, Kato was essentially the fifth member of the band. He just didn’t tour with us. And so when we lost him, we were very lost. We didn’t know where to go and where to turn from that. After that, and luckily, I knew one other person—John—who’s a fantastic engineer and a very dear friend of mine. And so I called him up because I’d written Death by Rock and Roll and needed to get it out.
We didn’t have a process in place for how to record without Kato. (Kato Khandwala was the band’s longtime producer and partner who died in 2018 in a motorcycle accident.) John was there through that entire learning process. He understood where we were at mentally. He was very supportive. And he gets our band. He’s family. John created a very comfortable environment for us. He allowed us to be who we were at that time, which was not great. In the grand scheme of music, Ben and I have always lived under the ethic of wanting our George Martin. We want to build upon what we did previously with the same team. Switching from producer to producer and having someone impart their own sound onto what we do has never felt right.
The AC/DC Tour and Rock and Roll Brotherhood
Terrie Carr: Speaking of symbiotic relationships, you’re back out with AC/DC! And we will grant them this—they did interrupt the recording and crafting of this record! We understood as fans. You take your break from recording for AC/DC. You say ‘yes, guys, we will come out on the tour that we never thought we would see.’ The Rolling Stones called too, which is also amazing. Crazy. Just crazy. What is it like to have these guys now as your brothers, your friends, your big bros? But they’re not even your big bros. You guys are bandmates! Tourmates! Is your family freaked out? Your dad? (Who is a big rock fan.)
Taylor Momsen: Totally freaked out! My dad just came to an AC/DC show. He came to a headline show and then an AC/DC show. He’s been to them before. But the thing about AC/DC is they’re one of the inventors. They’re so primal with it. They’re so rock and roll through and through to their core in the most genuine, unaffected, unpretentious way possible.
When you see their show, even if you’ve seen it before, it’s affecting. It’s so loud and so guttural. It just moves you in a way that nothing else does. Every time my dad comes to a show, his mind is just blown. My mind is blown! It’s blown every single night we’re on tour with them. I get to watch it every night, and it never gets old. It always has this fire to it that’s different every night but equally passionate. Angus is running around that stage like a maniac. It’s just awesome.
For the full hang with Taylor Momsen check out the video and audio versions of Carr Stereo.
Taylor Momsen with TC On Streaming Platforms
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