Brandi Carlile caught up with Billboard’s Chelsea Briggs and Lele Pons on the red carpet at Billboard’s Women in Music event on Thursday (Dec. 12), chatting about her biggest challenges, how her children have inspired her musically, the importance of supporting other women in music, and why she thinks it is so important for people to be political in the current climate.
The evening’s Trailblazer Award recipient is first asked to identify what her biggest challenge has been over the years, to which she replies that she doesn’t always know when to slow down.
“I love people so much, it’s really hard for me not to engage every chance that I get,” she explains. “I think as a kid that didn’t get included in school a lot…maybe because I was queer and in a small town, as an adult, to get the attention for the art that I’m making, it’s really hard for me not to show up because it’s an honor.”
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Carlile is also posed with the question of whether or not her music has been inspired by her two daughters. “My kids were both sent here to challenge everything that I believe in, right down to being born to two mothers on Father’s Day, which is what my first born was,” she replies.
“They’ve taught me so much about the fact that time does not slow down,” she continues. “You really have to be in the moment with them because before you know it, that moment’s gone.”
In light of the evening’s event. Calile is also asked if she thinks women are still being pitted against each other in the music industry. “I do, but I feel a season change,” she responds. “I think that it is palpable, the support that women have for one another…It is such a gift to genuinely know how to know how to be happy for someone else.”
In the interview, Carlile also discusses the importance of being political these days. “I wake up every day political,” she says. “I can’t not be political. I’m married to a woman, I’ve got two female children, and I live in a country with an uncertain future around my family and its legitimacy, and I think it’s so important to use your platform for good. No matter what you do, no matter what your job is, you can always make a difference in the world, one person at a time.”
You can watch her full interview above, and check out her acceptance speech below.
