KROQ host Megan Holiday is joined today by one of her favorite humans on the planet, Bishop Briggs, discussing her brand new album, Tell My Therapist I'm Fine, finding inspiration in unlikely people and places, and more.
LISTEN NOW: Bishop Briggs talks new music with Megan Holiday
Briggs recently got the chance to perform on the world-famous 737 plane stage at San Bernardino International Airport, a mind-blowing experience to say the least.
“Oh, my gosh. Well, I got to go out on the wing which, you know, of course, like the me that isn't performing looks at that and is like, ‘Huh, I won't do that.’ And then the me on stage is crawling down it and pointing at people. I don't know what happens when I get on there -- but it was great. It was so epic,” she tells us.
Five years since her last album, 2019’s Champion, Bishop Briggs has returned in full force with Tell My Therapist I'm Fine -- on shelves and streaming services October 18 -- her most vulnerable and personal album to date.
“The whole origin of the album really began with this session with Travis Barker of all people… Crazy… and it was probably my last session before lockdown, just to give an idea of how long this album has taken,” Bishop explains. “I remember leaving that session being like, ‘Wow, that was so liberating to sing in that way, to write in that way, but this must be for a different artist.”
“I actually got the chance to play that song for my sister, she had just started treatment, and I got to see her reaction to it,” she adds. “I think consciously, or subconsciously, I found myself kind of chasing that feeling throughout the making of the album.”
Her sessions with Travis came about as she was working with Benji Madden of Good Charlotte’s MDDN at the time, “which is just so cool,” Bishop says. “I mean, me and my sister just freaked out over that… There was something about that that made Travis think I'm sane, I believe, and so then I got invited to a session and I was just in disbelief the whole time.”
“I think my biggest takeaway from it, I maintained my cool for a little bit and then when he played it was like, ‘OK, it's done,’” she says of the experience. “A tear came down and I was just like, you're so good at what you do. I mean, he is just so incredible, so respectful. I felt so safe working with him, which as you know, as a woman is so weirdly rare and I think my biggest takeaway was just whatever you are most passionate about, become an expert at that."
“I loved writing with him,” Briggs adds, “but seeing him play was like a whole other version of songwriting. The things that he came up with on drums, I would have never thought of. Really, I couldn't come up with any of that. So, it was remarkable. He's so down to earth too. There was something that we were going to add at the end of the song. And again, somehow thought I was sane, so I had his number through a mutual friend of ours and I just wrote to him and said, ‘Hey, no pressure at all. But we'd really love to redo this end part. We're thinking of building it up,’ or whatever it was at the time. I truly blacked out, and he wrote back like, ‘I'll get this to you in an hour, dude.’”
During her airplane set, Bishop briefly spoke about how a lot of the album was inspired by bands that she would listen to with her sister. “My Chemical Romance is a huge one,” she expounds. “Paramore, No Doubt. I think it was interesting, growing up I was really into Motown music; There was a lot of Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, and then as I got older and the music that my sister introduced me to, I found that I was still drawn to these truth-tellers, but in a totally different way, you know, more of like a Janis Joplin vibe.”
“I mean, I've covered those bands for years and yeah, I'm just such a huge fan,” she adds. “Good Charlotte being one of them as well.”
Don't miss Megan Holiday's full chat with Bishop Briggs above -- and stay tuned for more conversations with your favorite artists right here on Audacy.
Bishop Briggs – Tell My Therapist I’m OK tracklisting:
My Serotonin
Hurt Me Now
I'm Not A Machine
Good For Me
Mona Lisa On A Mattress
Here Comes The Flood
Growing Pains
Shut It Off
Isolated Love (Ft. Travis Barker)
Undone