Hollywood Stories: Andy Grammer

(calm music) (upbeat rock music) What up, Andy Grammer here. I'm gonna take you on the Young Hollywood bus, talk a little about some new music, show you some places in Hollywood that are special to me 'cause I lived here when things got started for me, so come check it out, let's get into it. (upbeat music) The word Hollywood to me is like my start. That's where I got started, I street performed out here. A bunch of my records were made, one of my records was actually made right up here.

We're passing this, it's like, it looks kinda busted right now and they've left, but there used to be a studio in this building here and I would just run every morning and think like, man, how the hell am I gonna do this? And that's one of the coolest things about Hollywood, is that there's this energy here of people that are dreamers. (upbeat music) So we are here at the legendary Hollywood Boulevard. I've actually street performed out here before and it was kinda crazy to go from street performing to, then, I was on "Dancing with the Stars" and we did this whole opening sequence where they shut down the street and we had like everybody dressed up like, way too extra.

(laughs) Sequins and everything everywhere. It was a wild experience with like tons of dancers and extras and all this stuff, so this place is like a special spot for me. What's funny is now I'm on album four. You think that when you get here, to go from unknown to known, is like the hardest thing ever. It's like a huge struggle. To do anything great is hard. So this album, to get good music, was actually a real struggle this time. So there's a lot of struggle on this next record, like songs like "Don't Give Up On Me". A lot of like, feeling how hard it is to create something great, and then, hopefully persevering. It was a hard one to make, but I'm really proud of it.

And I think it's gonna be my best one ever. (upbeat acoustic guitar music) For my new single, "Don't Give Up On Me", I co-wrote it with some of my friends. We wrote like four songs that day that were okay. Eventually decided, on the fifth try, to just write a song about not giving up writing songs. And then, through that, we got to this heartfelt song that means so much more to so many other people. So, in general, don't give up, ever. My first year in Hollywood I lived in a super crappy apartment, like I said. And I was a street performer, so I was like, super hustler. Like literally barely getting by with the dollars that I made from my guitar case.

I remember going to, there was a Ralph's that had a Wells Fargo. And I would take all the ones from the day and give it to the lady and I'd have to always tell her like, I'm not a stripper. (laughs) I promise I'm not a stripper! These are not dirty! But, like, just, here you go. (upbeat music) I was performing at The Grove, which is really fun. That was right when "Keep Your Head Up" was hitting, my first single. And so, I came on and the second song, all the power went out, no volume from anywhere. So I stood up on a stool and we all a capella sang "You Gotta Keep Your Head Up" and it was so awesome. Probably one of the most memorable moments of any show I've done in Los Angeles.

And also, just helps me in life. I swear to God, when bad things happen, now, I a little bit look for this might be an opportunity to make it even better, which was kind of a cool lesson to learn. ♪ Gotta keep your head up, oh, oh ♪ ♪ And you can let your hair down, eh, eh ♪ ♪ Gotta keep your head up ♪ So yeah, one of my first shows was at The Roxy, which is on Sunset. What's great about that is I used to go to The Roxy and street perform, so there would be acts playing at The Roxy and I would bring my little battery powered amp and play to the line. To me, it was just like, anywhere, anyone that would listen, I'd be like, oh, I got my amp, I just happen to have my amp here!

Let's set up, let's do this! Sunset Strip, in general, has like this history of like, a rock 'n' roll heyday. I worked at The Viper Room for a while. I would book acoustic acts and that's where I kinda like, cut my teeth. Figure out how to book a bunch of acts and then, throw myself on the night. I was just like finding any possible way to get in the mix. (upbeat acoustic guitar music) So, I think we just passed, yeah, Cahuenga. There's a place called Hotel Cafe here, which has incredible music. It's kinda like one of the good listening rooms in Los Angeles for singer-songwriters and just great musicians.

So after I'd street perform, late at night, I would go and get inspired by incredible musicians. My first date in Hollywood was, I was street performing and a girl smiled at me and put her phone number in my guitar case, which is not a bad move. We were probably just walking around. There's like a lotta, there's IOS, which is comedy. It's like improv comedy, I think we went there. What makes the new music different is, I think, as any artist, you're just on a journey back to your most authentic self.

the deeper you go, the more you can just pull back layers of trying to copy or be like anybody else and get closer and closer to what it is you authentically have to bring that is just your own, you know? And I think I've gotten the closest on this one. What I think of Young Hollywood is this search for yourself. How the hell do you make it here while still being yourself? That is not an easy thing to do. So Hollywood, to me, is a lot of like, creative energy. And my mom used to talk about the Gold Rush happened and everybody that came to California and to Hollywood were the psychos that were like, I think I can do it. (laughs) You know what? I'm goin'!

Which is infectious and everywhere you go, you go to the diner and you know that the waitress has a script that she's writing. I love that, I love to be around that. I need to be around it. (upbeat rock music)