Conan Tricks Michelle Zauner Into Giving Him Guitar Advice | Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend

what's your process I've never written a. song I play guitar I often have a guitar. with me I play guitar all the time I. love it I'm always playing other. people's music I've never tried to write. a song and I I think I have a block. against it I don't think I could be. emotionally vulnerable and write a song. If I wrote a song it would be there's a. lot of people that aren't emotionally. vulnerable and in their song that's true. like a Chumbawamba. knocked down yeah I mean like I don't I. don't I guess that has vulnerability in.

it no now that I think about it like do. you think WAP has a lot of vulnerability. uh like you could have like a hype. Anthem like maybe that's more of your. maybe that's more like a bragging yeah. I'm all that yeah no one wants to. probably hear me open up about my inner. hurt no I mean maybe. no they don't have any you know oh my. God you know what I also saw I mean I. know this has probably been commented on. a lot but we went and saw we went over. and saw Megan thee stallion yeah perform. and there's a woman doing sign language.

oh yeah I'm sure they all notice this. and it's been talked about in their. videos but I was in the crowd watching. this woman she's singing lyrics yeah. she's singing the lyrics and it is. Hardcore and this woman who looks like. she would you know break into a. telephone on PBS say if you'd like to. get your tote bag the number is one. three two three 44. This Woman's there. and she's. acting out with her hands yeah the most.

graphic stuff with no expression on her. face oh no no some of them are really. like stoked though like they have like. their own performance style right that's. a whole other thing they might dance. along I've seen those those are fun yeah. yeah yeah especially at Rapids they're. amazing because they know all the stuff. beforehand and they get really into it. right I mean you could go down in. YouTube rabbit hole of sign language. interpreters I was blown away by that I. mean I couldn't I had a hard time paying. attention to making these stallion I. just because I my eyes were riveted on.

this woman I was just amazed by and what. she was her dead band like yeah I mean. she wasn't exactly dead pen but also she. also looked like I might have to leave. soon to close the library. you know it's. but I don't know how you do you. consciously sit down to write a song or. does something come to you yeah I feel. feel like very uh when I was younger I. feel like I I was like waiting for the. spirit. um to possess me or something but now I. feel like it's more of like a faucet you. know like I feel like I I put myself in.

an environment that I know is is going. to be conducive to like writing like I. go into like a forest or something like. a like a cottage in the woods and write. songs and you write on the guitar I do. usually write on the guitar for the last. record I I kind of tried to like find. new ways to um push myself out of my. comfort zone and ride on piano or you. know sometimes I actually just draw like. on a midi Board of like because I don't. have like a very strong Theory knowledge. so if I could like hear the chord I want. it's actually really helpful you can.

like drag a bar of like a do you know. what midi is I don't uh it's it's just. like a like I don't know like you can. like drag a note sort of like on a graph. and like it'll make a sound is it a. program. um. can you please explain that yeah it's a. language yeah so it's like a computer. language that allows you to write music. you can transpose every note or chord. via this midi language and it'll spit. out the note and you can make chords and. it's the way all modern music is now.

mostly made you know via computers oh so. you could say if if you knew okay it's. it's a g but it's not a g I want it to. have something I want it to have a. slightly different you could on midi. maybe play with the G and get a g. suspended seven right right ninth yeah. without knowing that that's what you're. getting exactly okay that's cool yeah. yeah so you can like have the G on the. bass and then like with another note. like drag it until it makes the sound. you're like oh it's that chord and that.

sometimes that would take me a much. longer time to find on the guitar with. my personal knowledge do you think that. it might learning theory might actually. get in the way of your creative process. ever yeah I mean I started taking some. lessons I mean I hear that uh like but. in in my experience like even just like. learning a very very small amount of. theory has been really help helpful for. me because you're just like oh I can't. believe I got this far without like. knowing what makes certain songs I'm. just curious because I've never had any.

of that and I'm I'm now even at this. stage life thinking I think I need a. teacher now I mean yeah you know it's. been years and years and years of me. having people kind of show me songs I. want to play or riffs I want to play and. so I I think I have a jukebox in my when. I pick up a Guitar there's a lot of. songs I can play yeah but I don't know. what how the hell it all works right. right and maybe knowing how it worked. would be fun for me at this stage I. think so and I think that like even if. you learn too much in a way that.

inhibits you there's always ways to like. kind of unlearn it like I found that I. took you know some more guitar lessons. and found that was helpful and then when. it was no longer helpful then you can. just like put a capo on or change the. tuning and then you just you don't know. any anymore what you're doing so I feel. like there are weird tricks to like get. to protect yourself from from that. ruining something but for me I found it. to be really helpful and I feel like. when you listen to music I mean there's. a way to interact with music that's like. oh that's like hunting or that's. interesting or then you know or that's. just like a minor third you know I feel. like you're all like chasing they're.

just like different ways to like Chase a. feeling or something all I ever heard. when I was first playing guitar some. some guy told me minor chords are the. ones that make girls fall in love. and I was like really and then sure. enough you play an A Minor and you're. like well I did and nothing happened no. one was interested but you could kind of. see like oh I see how what minor chords. yeah yeah you know e is like yeah yeah. but E minor he's kind of dreamy.

well I basically just tricked you into. giving me guitar advice well this has. been a joy it's been an absolute Joy. thank you for giving me street cred with. my daughter oh I'm so Nev I'm gonna Lord. this over her and she actually last. night because I had read your book and. uh had been listening a lot to your. music and then she called me last night. to just make sure that I didn't screw. things up she sounds so cool I'm very. she's I feel very indented to her she's.

very cool but I'm indebted to her for uh. for bringing me to Coachella so that uh. I got to see you do your thing and I. love that you came in and talked to me. this is amazing thank you for having me. thank you all well don't thank them. find midi which was incredible yeah but. he's basically he's been watching my own. like Miss Pac-Man just like melting down. mini it's kind of a free.

and we gotta write that song what is it. yes. I'm telling you that's going to be huge.