Alex Warren: The Grammys, Hype House & Homelessness

Join Alex in the studio for an interview with Alex Warren. For the first time, Alex opens up about what happened during his Grammy performance and how he felt in the immediate aftermath. He also discusses falling in love with his wife, his chaotic experiences in the Hype House, overcoming past insecurities, and navigating grief. Alex also gives an exclusive preview of an unreleased song. Enjoy!

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Alex Cooper?

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• 1:26Alex Cooper?

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• 2:08Alex Cooper?

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• 2:26Alex Cooper?

  What is up Daddy Gang? It is your founding father Alex Cooper with Call Her Daddy.

• 2:35Alex Cooper?

  Alex Warren, welcome to Call Her Daddy.

• 2:37Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 2:38Alex Cooper?

  You have had, I was gonna say you've had the craziest year, but then I feel like it all started really in COVID for you.

• 2:45Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 2:46Alex Cooper?

  Your life has just been upwards since then. It was Hype House to now Music and you've just blown up into this superstar and you have this fandom.

• 2:56Speaker 01

  Heck, yeah.

• 2:56Alex Cooper?

  You're like, yes, keep going, keep going.

• 2:58Speaker 01

  I sometimes get extra spread with my in and out too, so.

• 3:01Alex Cooper?

  You're so high maintenance.

• 3:02Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 3:03Alex Cooper?

  Um, does it feel real?

• 3:05Speaker 01

  It does feel real now. For a lot, for this last year has felt like a dream and then I actually got a second to like look back at it and, and it does feel like, I guess it's a little shocking, but I guess it feels real now. I don't want to be in South, I won't be like, oh.

• 3:19Alex Cooper?

  No, no, no, I get it. It's like you can only, you can only fathom as much as you can because you're also still living it and you're also still growing, obviously as an artisan, as a person, but it is really cool to see your success. Um, I also realized I'm welcoming you back to LA.

• 3:36Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 3:36Alex Cooper?

  Because you used to live here, then you moved to Nashville.

• 3:39Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 3:40Alex Cooper?

  What inspired that move?

• 3:42Speaker 01

  I technically live outs, I live in Tennessee, not in Nashville. I think the city, I, I don't like major cities anymore.

• 3:48Alex Cooper?

  You're done.

• 3:49Speaker 01

  I just, my wife want, want, her dream was to have horses and that was one of the things where I, I'm from San Diego and I love surfing and everything. So I, I have a place here that I surf and, and skateboard and get away after tours and stuff, but, I wanted my wife to have that farm life that she wanted. And it was also, it's also nice because I live so far away that no one knows where I live.

• 4:08Alex Cooper?

  Okay, but to go from a San Diego surfing kid to being kind of in the middle of nowhere, what has been like the biggest culture shock for you?

• 4:17Speaker 01

  It's so funny. There isn't really a culture shock. San Diego, the only thing is you're not by an ocean. Like San Diego, especially everyone's nice. You walk around and everyone's greeting you. When I lived here, I went and introduced myself to the neighbors and they were like, why the are you introducing yourself? Who cares?

• 4:30Alex Cooper?

  They're like getaway for months.

• 4:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, like everyone's, you know this, it's like these houses are next to each other and I love, I grew up in like the cul-de-sac vibe of everyone knew each other and said hi on walks and I try to wave at everyone when they're on walks and they just ignore me here.

• 4:42Alex Cooper?

  That's actually such a good point. I grew up on a cul-de-sac too and I thought that was the norm. Then you get to LA and everyone's like, don't bring me cookies, don't welcome me.

• 4:50Speaker 01

  Oh my god.

• 4:51Alex Cooper?

  Fuck you.

• 4:52Speaker 01

  Right. My wife made, my wife made sourdough for like everyone in our cul-de-sac and it was crazy where like we left it on our doorstep when people in LA and we would go back the next day it was still there. And here, or in Nashville, they'll, they'll give, they'll take it and they'll see that and then they'll make you another one. It's really cool.

• 5:08Alex Cooper?

  Are you leaning in? Like, are you wearing cowboy boots?

• 5:11Speaker 01

  I've worn boots for a little bit on tour, but that's more of like a, I stole that from Benson Boone.

• 5:16Alex Cooper?

  Love that.

• 5:16Speaker 01

  He, I still don't look like him. I'm still trying that part. But no, I, I, right now, I've just been, I've just fully embraced that I'm, I don't look like I belong there and it's been nice.

• 5:27Alex Cooper?

  Well, I'm so happy for you guys and I'm so happy for you. You have new music.

• 5:33Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 5:33Alex Cooper?

  You have an arena tour coming up. You were recently nominated for your first Grammy.

• 5:39Speaker 01

  Thanks.

• 5:40Alex Cooper?

  What has been the most exciting of all of those?

• 5:44Speaker 01

  Wow. Uh, I think the Grammys was the most exciting. The, growing up, I was such a, I was not a good singer growing up and especially that I did choir and court, like I think it was called chorus and, and the teacher was like, you know, you should probably try something else. And I would always do talent shows and no one cared and I, all the friends, all these kids would make fun of me. And so I think the Grammys being nominated for a Grammy was like, oh, cool. Like I'm supposed to be doing this.

• 6:09Alex Cooper?

  Can you take me to that moment where you got the phone call and you found out though that you were nominated? Like where were you? What were you wearing? What were you doing?

• 6:19Speaker 01

  I totally did not like, and I mean this when I say this, I did not think I was getting nominated. I think especially I've had a lot of proof in this industry coming from social media. So for that, I was like, oh, like they're gonna, they're gonna show me that I don't belong and I'm gonna get really sad. Um, my friends, they all flew out and surprised me at my house and were like, we're gonna watch it together. And I was like, are you crazy? This is the worst. And so I left and then I came back right in time. Um, thankfully, and I sat down and they were all filming. And when they said my name, I was the second to last person. And I just remember breaking down and crying. There's a video of it. And I just remember breaking down, crying with my wife. And it was, uh, it was really cool. And then I went and ate sushi.

• 7:02Alex Cooper?

  Okay. So you get to the Grammys.

• 7:04Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 7:05Alex Cooper?

  Who were you the most starstruck by? Cause you see it on TV growing up and then you get in those rooms and you're like, oh, it's real. Like everyone's just rubbing shoulders with everyone and I'm here.

• 7:16Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's a little bit intimidating.

• 7:18Alex Cooper?

  It is.

• 7:18Speaker 01

  I, I think there's these, I don't, wow. Uh, I was, I met Billie Eilish, which was really, really cool. She's so sweet. Um, I think I go into every room thinking everyone hates me.

• 7:31Alex Cooper?

  Why, Alex?

• 7:32Speaker 01

  No, I don't know. I went into this room and I like, I, I'm, I'm, they were very sweet. Uh, Chapel Rohn came up to me. I had a malfunction during the show and she came up to me and she was, she was like, dude, like if anyone understands it's the people in this room and you sounded amazing. I totally, we'll get into it.

• 7:51Alex Cooper?

  Yes.

• 7:52Speaker 01

  I, I was, I was down and I think she could tell. And she came up to my table and was the sweetest ever. And I was like, I love you.

• 7:59Alex Cooper?

  You saying that you walk into a room and you think everyone hates you. Is that you think in this industry or in life?

• 8:05Speaker 01

  In life. I, it's funny. It's, it's truly, I.

• 8:10Speaker 01

  I don't, if I had a therapist, they'd probably diagnose me with so many different things. I, I don't know. I, I was a heavily bullied kid. Like I got kicked out of parties all the time and

• 8:20Alex Cooper?

  Parties?

• 8:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, I would walk into a party because my friends would be invited and I would walk in and everyone would be like, calling me a lot of words that you can't repeat today. And I think it's just because I did social media and I sang, like I was, I would sing in bathrooms and in, at my house and I would just post them on the internet and I wanted to do this so badly. And I think you're really lame until you make it in this type of stuff. And so like everyone would just, I was not a cool kid. And so as this stuff started happening, you know, ordinary, I would look for the hate comments. I'd go on Twitter and I'd be like, okay, well, everything's going really well in my life. What could go wrong? And I looked at my name on Twitter and everyone's calling me these different things. And I was like, so it is true. I'm still this, you know? And so I, yeah, it

• 9:04Speaker 01

  was, it was just, now I carried on. I think every celebrity has seen my TikToks and thinks I'm just some cringey, uh, one-hit wonder and yeah.

• 9:13Alex Cooper?

  Alex.

• 9:14Speaker 01

  It's, it's fine.

• 9:15Alex Cooper?

  No, but it is like, I guess what is so crazy is how we all internalize, obviously the focus on ourselves of like what we, and, and to your credit, like getting kicked out of parties, like being the person that people were always like, get him out of here. We don't want him here. That's going to stick with you. But then it also is like you've evolved and you've grown as a person.

• 9:35Speaker 01

  Right.

• 9:36Alex Cooper?

  And sometimes too, we still have self-beliefs about ourselves that don't, never existed.

• 9:42Speaker 01

  Right.

• 9:42Alex Cooper?

  And a lot of people, when you're walking into these rooms, have no idea about your TikToks, but we're our own worst enemies. And so you're walking into these rooms and you're like, oh my God, they must know when I was doing the Renegade. And it's like, no one, no one knew.

• 9:54Speaker 01

  Oh God, I get chills thinking about that.

• 9:56Alex Cooper?

  Do you still remember how to do the Renegade?

• 9:58Speaker 01

  I never learned it. That was the thing. I never, I was a chubby little, I don't even know what I was. I was behind the camera all the time, you know? And like, that was like, for me, I would film my wife. And I thought my, I, I still to this day think my wife's one of the funniest people ever. And she's, that was my content. I was like, well, I want to show everyone who this woman is. And it started doing really well. And that's why when I started doing music, I was terrified because I was like, they didn't sign up for this. They didn't sign up for me. So all of a sudden I'm like, hey, I make music about my dead parents. And people liked it. And I was shocked. And I was like, wait, people finally like me. Something has to be wrong. And that's when I went to Twitter.

• 10:34Alex Cooper?

  I love how instead of like a lot of people in your position, I feel like would be like, oh my God, people finally like me. I'm gonna hold on to this for dear life. Right. This is the best feeling in the world. You're like, what's wrong? Who's pranking me? No, I don't believe any, literally. Um, can we go back to the Grammys though? Because you obviously mentioned Chapel's advice and obviously this was huge. People were so excited for you to perform at the Grammys and then it broke our hearts when we saw you essentially have these technical difficulties during your performance. Now that you've had some time away from that moment, which was such a huge moment for you and your career, how did you feel about that night? Can you just kind of take me through it?

• 11:22Alex Cooper?

  Call Her Daddy is brought to you by Southern New Hampshire University. Daddy gang, let's get real, okay? We like to make our own rules. Southern New Hampshire University gets it. They let you learn what you want with over 200 career-focused programs, where you want with 100% online courses and how you want with no set class times. Basically, you get to call the shots from day one. Visit SNHU.edu/callherdaddy to learn more. This is a paid ad by BetterHelp. So anytime that I am finding myself having a habit that I just cannot kick, I'm like, okay, I need to talk about this in therapy. Listen, guys, everyone has habits, mindsets or patterns that don't serve them,

• 12:04Alex Cooper?

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• 12:48Alex Cooper?

  family therapists to social workers and counselors. So Daddy Gang, if you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. Sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp.com/daddy. That's better H E L P dot com slash daddy. Call Her Daddy is brought to you by Shopify. Daddy Gang, you know, I'm a little skeptical of the internet at times, aren't we all? But one thing I absolutely love is how much easier it has made starting a business. No matter what stage you're at, Shopify is the best place to start and grow a business. With Shopify, you get to own your storefront while still

• 13:31Alex Cooper?

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• 14:09Alex Cooper?

  to add entrepreneur to your list of accomplishments? Head to Shopify.com/daddy. That's Shopify.com/daddy. Now that you've had some time away from that moment, which was such a huge moment for you and your career, how did you feel about that night? Can you just kind of take me through it?

• 14:29Speaker 01

  I've never talked about this. It was horrifying. We had rehearsed it all week. All week we rehearsed it. It was perfect. It went well. And I To this day, I don't know exactly what happened. Right when I, so the way it works is the medley's happening. So in my ears, I can hear whoever was singing before me, right? Something happened and everything cut out. And they're like 30 seconds. And I said, I can't hear anything. I can't hear myself. And the guy's like, it's live TV 25 seconds. And I go, guys, something's wrong. Something gets blasted into left ear and right ear. I hear nothing. And I go, guys, I can't hear. And so they start, someone was filming this backstage. Like, there's definitely a video that exists. They're messing with my pack, messing with my ears.

• 15:13Speaker 01

  They're like, it's your ears, it's your ears, it's your pack, it's your pack. 15 seconds, 10 seconds. And in my head, I immediately go, I look up in the sky and I go, this is meant to happen. And I just go, let's do it. And so they can't fix it. They blast it to see if anything is happening. Maybe it's just low. I start singing and all I'm hearing is what's from the other room, like a crowd mic is on or something. And so, once I start getting into the hallway, there's this hallway in the performance. I get the left ear blasting again. And so it's just the left ear, right ear is gone. And in the left ear, it's, for anyone who understands audio, it's mono, it's not stereo. So it's blasting and it's not good quality. There's no mix to it. And so all I'm hearing is my voice super loud.

• 15:58Speaker 01

  I get down to the steps and then immediately I start hearing echoing on the right ear. And so I take it out and then that made it worse stupidly. And so, once I get onto stage, I hear a click and my ear gets a click again and I put it right back in and it's fixed. So I think it was an RF issue. When we rehearsed it, they weren't expecting 20,000 phones to be in and everyone was filming. And so the RF cut it out. And then, once I got to the stage, because there's two fins, I would assume, once we got to the stage, I got it back.

• 16:27Alex Cooper?

  When this is happening in that very moment, because I didn't realize you had a little bit of panic behind the scenes that we didn't see. When you're walking down those steps, did you at all think like, can we stop? Should I just stop this?

• 16:43Speaker 01

  Wow, I, I, to be honest, during that part, I'm supposed to be engaging with the audience, by the way. So when I'm walking down, I'm supposed to be like, hey, guys, I'm at the Grammys. This is cool. And instead, you see pure horror in my eyes. I truthfully was just trying to find the count. And so I did not think, should we stop or anything? Because I, there was part of me that's like, okay, I can't hear myself and then just stop. But imagine what would have happened there. Because the time is slotted, it's live. So it went through my brain as I left the tunnel, should I stop? But then I thought, then this would be the most awkward social moment in the world, where it's just a camera on me, standing there, crying.

• 17:23Alex Cooper?

  Right. You're like, all right, let's pause. And then you're like,

• 17:26Speaker 01

  I just wanted to get over it. And once I got over it, and once we were at the top, keep in mind, I'm terrified of heights. I'm horrified of heights. And that entire time, I wasn't thinking about I was in the air. I was thinking, please get me back on time.

• 17:38Alex Cooper?

  Oh, wait, why did you agree to do the heights?

• 17:41Speaker 01

  I wanted it to be special. Now I'm realizing it was a bit mega church.

• 17:48Alex Cooper?

  I love how you're like, so you had this whole vision for this whole thing, and then nothing went as planned?

• 17:53Speaker 01

  No.

• 17:54Alex Cooper?

  Okay, Alex, then I can't help but also think, like, you end the song. What is your immediate dominant emotion in that moment, once it finishes?

• 18:04Speaker 01

  Don't cry on live television. So I waited until the camera went off on me, because I knew that there's a moment where the camera's on me. But I was like, holding my tears, because I looked to my left and right, and everyone was like, you did so good. And everyone's screaming. And I was like, wow, this is like, really, really emotional. I get offstage, and I just run up the stairs. And there's a little room for change, because, keep in mind, they're announcing the winner right after this. So I have to get to my seat. I have three minutes. And they're like, you have to get to your seat. And I'm like, do I have to go out there? Like, I, like, do I have to stay here? And they're like, just stay as long as you think you can. And so they change me. I rush down, I'm wiping my eyes, I sit down, and immediately, it goes into the nomination for Best New Artist,

• 18:46Speaker 01

  which I was up for. And immediately, I'm like, I'm so destroyed. I'm, there's no shot I'm winning this. I just messed that up so bad. And I'm sitting there, and Olivia Dean won. And I was like, oh, my God, like, I mean, I was really happy for her. She deserved it 100%. But that was, once that happened, I was like, damn, I want to go home.

• 19:04Alex Cooper?

  So did you have time to cry?

• 19:06Speaker 01

  No, no, no, no. So I guarantee you there's videos the whole time, the whole entire Grammys. My head was on my wife's shoulder the entire time. I did not want to look up. I did not want to talk to anybody. And like, there was just a few moments, like again, Chappelle 100% saw that I was like just distraught. And she came up to me and it was this sweet, like I will never forget how sweet she was because of that. And um, yeah, it was, it was, uh, it was really bad.

• 19:32Alex Cooper?

  What did your wife say to you when she?

• 19:34Speaker 01

  She's the most supportive person in the world. Like literally, I, it sucks because I expect it so much that I'm kind of just like, ah, you're just saying that. Like, I was like, my career is over. I literally over and over and over again said, my career is over.

• 19:47Alex Cooper?

  When you were sitting in the seats with her?

• 19:49Speaker 01

  Muddling it out. And I was not entertained. The, the, I would watch the Grammys camera guys come up to me and then just move away because they didn't want to do it. Like it was, it was, I was not doing well.

• 20:00Alex Cooper?

  And then when you're sitting also in that seat, I can't help but think you are someone who is obviously so heavily on social media. Your career started on social media. What did you think that people were saying online about you before you got to check your phone?

• 20:14Speaker 01

  I deleted everything that night. I deleted Twitter. I was like, there's no way I'm going to do that to myself right now. I'm fully like, that's off my phone. Um, but I was like, you know what? Like this should be, I should show people what I went through, what it was. So I filmed the video and I wanted to be like, oh, this is exactly what I heard in my ear. This is what it was like. And I posted it and I threw my phone and I didn't look. And the next day I checked it and ever, it had 50, 60 million views on the internet.

• 20:40Alex Cooper?

  And everyone was fully supporting you?

• 20:41Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 20:42Alex Cooper?

  How did you pull yourself out of, you know, first you're sitting there saying my career is completely over. How did you pull yourself out of it?

• 20:49Speaker 01

  Leveit called me and she, she called me and she's like, she gave me the coolest pep talk in the world. And I think that was like the right room to even do that. Cause like, if anyone gets it's musicians. Leveit called me and was just like, I'm so proud of you. You don't realize how many people you just helped. Imagine every kid who goes to a, a, or does a, a talent show, or every kid who does a theater show, or

• 21:16Speaker 01

  As a performance and someone this happens to them and they think wow, this can happen at the Grammys. This can happen like, you know, I think it gives someone um some some motivation and know that it's okay. And it's that stuff happens. And so she she gave me that pep talk.

• 21:29Alex Cooper?

  I mean, it's a great pep talk because it's also such an indicator of there are things that you cannot control in this world, right? You prepared for it. You rehearsed it. There were no problems in rehearsals. You have a beautiful voice. You were ready to go and then tech failed you and you're like, oh.

• 21:47Speaker 01

  I think it sucks because it wasn't my fault. Like I can live with the fact that like, oh, I messed up. Like, I hate the fact that I I didn't, you know what I'm saying? But I also think for the circumstances that I it took me a lot of like, looking at the scenario and watching the video of just like, okay, I did everything I probably could have.

• 22:04Alex Cooper?

  You really did. Were there any other celebrities other than Chapel that came up to you?

• 22:07Speaker 01

  Noah Khan. Noah came up to me and he's Noah and I have just been friends in passing. Like, we always just run into each other. And he lives in Tennessee. And so like, we just, we literally will run into each other like at a supermarket or whatever. And he comes up to me and he's the sweetest, sweetest boy. I love him so, so much. He was really kind. Billy Billy was really, really sweet and I'm obsessed with Alex Wolf and he was really sweet.

• 22:32Alex Cooper?

  I feel like those are the perfect people that came up to you. Also, why do I feel like Noah Khan? I'd just be like, can you just hug me? Like, he's so cozy.

• 22:38Speaker 01

  I got a hug and he was very cozy.

• 22:39Alex Cooper?

  Okay, good.

• 22:40Speaker 01

  That beard is very nice.

• 22:41Alex Cooper?

  Perfect.

• 22:41Speaker 01

  Perfectly groomed, if you think about it.

• 22:43Alex Cooper?

  Love that. So it made you feel better?

• 22:45Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 22:45Alex Cooper?

  An old, I don't know if we should call her a friend or a colleague, was also at the Grammys with you, Ms. Addison Rae. I think it was so fun to see the internet just freaking out that the fact that these two people who started on TikTok were both at the Grammys together.

• 23:01Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 23:01Alex Cooper?

  I know that you FaceTimed her when you guys found out you both got the nominations.

• 23:05Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 23:05Alex Cooper?

  What was that conversation like and kind of that full circle moment like?

• 23:09Speaker 01

  I I was, I'm an emotional wreck, I guess. Like, I I really am. I FaceTimed everyone and Addison was the first to pick up and she. She was just like, it was the same thing. We were on Cloud Nine. I, I, none of us, I think, were expecting it. And so the fact that it happened was really, really cool. She, of course, was in some huge fur coat somewhere on and with snow behind her in the middle of, of, I think it was November. I don't remember or September. I was like, what is happening? And she's like, it's foul. I was like, no, I believe you. I, but it's crazy that like, I, it's just this whirlwind. Right. Like you, like you said, we're both 19 years old when we met and we're filming these videos. I think 18 even.

• 23:48Alex Cooper?

  Were you guys close back then?

• 23:50Speaker 01

  I, I wouldn't say so. I would say like, as close as you can, you live with these people, right? And so, but it was weird during Hype House. It was very much like a hierarchy. And especially because I wasn't a good looking, um, buck boy, um, who made thirst traps. I was at the bottom of the pole. And so not a lot of people even knew I was in the Hype House. And that was, I was fine with that. I loved that. I wanted to be a musician. When we created Hype House, I even said, I don't want to be attached to this in any way. I just want to make music. And so that was how it was. And then things obviously went, went on. But she, she was always just, we were always friends.

• 24:28Alex Cooper?

  And then do you think you guys ended up getting closer as you guys almost left the Hype House?

• 24:34Speaker 01

  I think everyone got closer after.

• 24:36Alex Cooper?

  Why do you think?

• 24:38Speaker 01

  It was so, everyone told everyone that you were special. Everyone, every day was like, you're the next this. You're so hot. You're going to be this. You're more famous than this person, or you suck. You're not this. You're not that. And like, it was a very weird, um, place where like, you know, you had a video do really well that day. And so you were awesome. And then the next day or two days later, maybe you're going through something. We were 19 year old kids, 20 year old kids. Like that's, we were doing whatever. And you know, you have personal things. My mom died. And I was like, this is happening here. And I think it was just like a weird, um, thing where it's like, okay, well, that person is gonna start staying over there. And we're not gonna invite that person out to dinner because of this. And like, this person's doing really well right now. So, and so after, I think everyone just was like, fuck, I need a break.

• 25:22Alex Cooper?

  Right. It's almost like you allowed all of the competitive dynamics to kind of dissipate. And then you could just look at each other being like, wow, we have this shared experience. And I now have such empathy for all of us.

• 25:32Speaker 01

  Right.

• 25:33Alex Cooper?

  If there is someone who for some reason is watching this and does not know what the Hype House is, first of all, does that make you happy or sad?

• 25:42Speaker 01

  I think it makes me happy.

• 25:43Alex Cooper?

  Okay.

• 25:44Speaker 01

  I think it makes me happy. I think the beginning of Hype House, it would make me sad. I think that it was, it was clinged on to for so long that it was kind of like, what the fuck is this turning into?

• 25:56Alex Cooper?

  So can you explain to someone who is not familiar what the Hype House was?

• 25:59Speaker 01

  It was a group of night, like 17 to 21 year olds where all of us, and this concept was so foreign, was just a bunch of kids started renting a mansion together. And keep in mind, none of us could afford shit. So like, these houses weren't furnished. And that was like the thing. So like, we would film in these empty mansions that were not furnished. And imagine you and all your friends during your college years decided to go rent a frat house that was fully empty, but really nice. And your job was to film thirst traps and I don't even know, you're like, that was like, you had to make up a job. One day you woke up and you go, what do I want my job to be today? I'm gonna look at my camera and bite my lip and do this.

• 26:42Speaker 01

  And that all of a sudden, you could buy Lamborghinis. That was, that was that.

• 26:45Alex Cooper?

  Wait, and you guys actually were the ones that were funding the house? Or were there like random agents and managers that were paying and then taking a percentage?

• 26:52Speaker 01

  It depended on the month. Like, it really did. Like, it depended on the month of like, what was innovative at that time. Cause there was not a thing like that. And so every single month, we'd get like, like someone would come down and say like, hey, by the way, now you have to film 10 TikToks per month if you want to live here. And then the next month it was, hey, you gotta film four TikToks and shout out this energy drink and you can live here. And it was like, very much like, oh, cool. You get to live in this house. You get to live rent free. And, um, and then all you have to do is make these videos. It was fucking the best gig ever.

• 27:23Alex Cooper?

  Can you describe your experience living in the Hype House in three words?

• 27:28Speaker 01

  Jesus.

• 27:30Speaker 01

  I don't want to like make it like it's, it was great.

• 27:32Alex Cooper?

  No, it was great. It was great.

• 27:34Speaker 01

  Um, fun.

• 27:38Speaker 01

  Traumatic.

• 27:41Speaker 01

  This is the synopsis of my biography, by the way. And rewarding. I would not be here without it.

• 27:48Alex Cooper?

  I love how traumatic just sits like right.

• 27:49Speaker 01

  It's right there and then it's a very, it's like if you put like, you divided it traumatic.

• 27:53Alex Cooper?

  Yeah, yeah. What age do you think you guys would be down for a reunion? Cause I feel like you guys like need a little distance.

• 28:00Speaker 01

  Wow. I don't know if some members would ever be down. I think depending on who you are, like Charlie, like I don't think Charlie should ever do that. I think Charlie was such, she was so young. And like, especially Culver was so protective of her and I, it's really. I don't know, like that girl's been through a lot.

• 28:22Alex Cooper?

  A lot.

• 28:23Speaker 01

  Everyone saw Charlie and especially when she did really well and was just like, oh, let me go film with her. And like, I felt like that was such a transactional fucking weird thing and probably not.

• 28:32Alex Cooper?

  Yeah, probably not the healthiest.

• 28:34Speaker 01

  Probably shouldn't.

• 28:34Alex Cooper?

  Maybe one day, maybe when you're like 60.

• 28:36Speaker 01

  We go to the zoo, it's our favorite.

• 28:37Alex Cooper?

  Perfect. Okay, we're gonna do a quick rapid fire to close out Hype House.

• 28:41Speaker 01

  Okay, cool. Oh, God.

• 28:43Alex Cooper?

  You're like, cool, then you're like, wait, traumatic again.

• 28:45Speaker 01

  No, let's do it.

• 28:45Alex Cooper?

  Um, okay, what was the most reckless thing you ever did for a video?

• 28:49Speaker 01

  Oh, um, we were playing hide and go seek tag and I, I, I, um, I hid in a helicopter.

• 28:57Alex Cooper?

  Okay. Was it just casually sitting outside of the Hype House?

• 29:00Speaker 01

  Yeah, it was on the driveway.

• 29:01Alex Cooper?

  This is like very indicative of the times, the fact that there's just casually a helicopter sitting outside of the, okay. What's the most embarrassing thing you ever posted on the internet?

• 29:09Speaker 01

  Oh my God, I deleted a lot of them.

• 29:11Alex Cooper?

  You did?

• 29:12Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 29:13Alex Cooper?

  Couldn't you monetize that though?

• 29:14Speaker 01

  I don't care. I do not care. I don't want my kids seeing that.

• 29:18Alex Cooper?

  Wait, give me an example.

• 29:20Speaker 01

  I, just a lot of the, I'll get there. We'll get there.

• 29:26Speaker 01

  Wait, what is an example? What's the most what embarrassing?

• 29:29Alex Cooper?

  The embarrassing video you posted on the internet?

• 29:31Speaker 01

  Uh, there's a video that I, a friend of mine, or Dixie, Dixie would dress, um, she would dress, uh, in, in clothing. And then I would, I asked to borrow her clothing so I could dress like that. And realizing that I did not look good in a thong. So I deleted that. Probably look great now, but just back then I didn't.

• 29:50Alex Cooper?

  You know? Yeah.

• 29:52Speaker 01

  It's scarring.

• 29:53Alex Cooper?

  I'm just trying, I'm not actually, I'm not trying to picture it. I'm just trying to, yeah, okay.

• 29:59Speaker 01

  Sell that later.

• 29:59Alex Cooper?

  That's good. It's in your drafts now.

• 30:02Speaker 01

  It's somewhere. My wife is, it's her wallpaper, but it's fine.

• 30:05Alex Cooper?

  Cover, we love you. Who in the hype house at the time was the most annoying?

• 30:11Speaker 01

  The most annoying? Is there like a shot that I could drink besides answer that question? The most annoying? I want to be honest, so I'm trying to think. I think the most annoying person had to be Vinnie.

• 30:25Alex Cooper?

  Okay.

• 30:25Speaker 01

  And it's because Vinnie's so good looking and didn't try. Does that make sense?

• 30:30Alex Cooper?

  Yeah, he's just coming around.

• 30:32Speaker 01

  No, but the guy eats burgers. Like, that's the thing. Like, he eats, the amount of money that man spent on Taco Bell alone. And then he'd be like, yeah, I just have a six pack.

• 30:41Alex Cooper?

  And so you're sitting there looking at these guys and you're like.

• 30:44Speaker 01

  Do you know how badly I wish I could have done that? Are you joking? Are you kidding?

• 30:49Alex Cooper?

  You're like, I didn't want to put on the thong.

• 30:51Speaker 01

  That's what, I'm not kidding. Every day I would watch what these guys ate, trying to replicate it, thinking that like, I swear, I have like an underlying eating disorder. After living with these guys, all they ate was Taco Bell. Every goddamn meal was Taco Bell. Like, I was diet, I was keto, I was Ozempfied, I was on everything and I couldn't lose the weight. And these guys were fucking stuffing Taco Bell and smoking weed 30 times a day. It was crazy.

• 31:15Alex Cooper?

  Yeah, that's really fucking annoying.

• 31:17Speaker 01

  Playing video games.

• 31:18Alex Cooper?

  Okay, what is the craziest rumor that spread online during that time?

• 31:22Speaker 01

  Oh, everything. I would, I remember like, cause paparazzi, that was real like, I bet a lot of them called paparazzi. But I would wake up half naked and remember like there was the hype house that was with all glass? And I would look out the window and there's 400 kids waiting there trying to get pictures with whoever. And paparazzi there. And I don't even remember the question, I'm so traumatized by this.

• 31:46Alex Cooper?

  No, what was the craziest rumor that was like spread online at that time?

• 31:53Alex Cooper?

  You're like, I'm waking up naked in a glass house.

• 31:56Speaker 01

  Sorry, just unlocking memories. Um, I don't even know. I think a lot, like a lot of the time it was like, people would like screenshot shit and like just make up things that like I was not like I was texting other girls or stuff like that. And I was like, I was like, have you guys looked at me? Like I'm, I'm questioning what my wife sees in me. You think I'm gonna go find someone that's naked? It was just like a weird thing where like, I think everyone especially was just trying to like, tear you down, which I get it. I, looking back at it, it was a weird fucking time.

• 32:24Alex Cooper?

  It was so, do you remember Saddle Ranch?

• 32:26Speaker 01

  Oh my God. I was there the other day.

• 32:28Alex Cooper?

  Why?

• 32:29Speaker 01

  I was there, the Grammy after party, someone was, I was across the street and I looked over and I was like, wow, that's fucking crazy.

• 32:34Alex Cooper?

  Oh my God, you were at Sunset Tower?

• 32:35Speaker 01

  Yes. What is that place? What is that place?

• 32:38Alex Cooper?

  You've moved up. You used to be at Saddle Ranch, now you're at Sunset Tower.

• 32:41Speaker 01

  I would watch all the cool kids go to Sunset Tower as I was answering, you know, paparazzi questions in front of Saddle Ranch and I'd be like, I wanna go there. And it was like, you couldn't go.

• 32:48Alex Cooper?

  Well, now you're there, Alex.

• 32:50Speaker 01

  I'm really not. I'm like waiting outside.

• 32:52Alex Cooper?

  You are. You were nominated for a Grammy. Shut up. Um, what is, last one, what is the most money you ever spent on a video?

• 33:00Speaker 01

  Oh. If it wasn't my own money, it was branded money. It was like $75,000.

• 33:06Alex Cooper?

  Oh, wow.

• 33:07Speaker 01

  And keep in mind, I was homeless. So like that, that is like, wanting to keep that money was such a thing where I just didn't want to even post the video. But it was like, I had signed a deal saying I will spend the money that I was given for the video, right? Or like you get credit for things?

• 33:22Alex Cooper?

  I see. And like, what was the video?

• 33:24Speaker 01

  I had, it was like something in Target or, or not Target, it was a, I had to buy like a bunch of inflatable stuff to do like a, a thing where I surprised the whole house inside of it with like a water park and all these different things. And this was the budget to spend on the video for the brand. And I remember at that time I had not made any money yet. And I, when they sent me the, the credit, I wanted to keep that money so badly and I spent it all.

• 33:52Speaker 01

  I didn't get, I, I literally, I, I was betting on the monetization and that video got demonetized.

• 33:56Alex Cooper?

  Oh, and you're like, motherfucker.

• 33:59Speaker 01

  Do you know how many times I wish I, I saved that money?

• 34:02Alex Cooper?

  But now you know, and you learned your lesson.

• 34:04Speaker 01

  I did.

• 34:05Alex Cooper?

  But there was a lot of money floating around at that time.

• 34:08Speaker 01

  Too much, too much. And especially like, you have to think like a lot of us at that time, like I was a 19 year old kid. I was homeless at 18. Like I was, that was right after and I'd never seen that much money ever. And it hit your bank account, you have to spend it.

• 34:19Alex Cooper?

  Can we talk about that for a minute? Because I'm thinking about you talking about how you're living in this house that is this glass mansion. And yes, some people were saying, you know, it was a dream and you're saying it was a dream, but it, yeah, it feels like it clearly had a little bit more weight to you because you were homeless before moving into the hype house.

• 34:40Speaker 01

  Right.

• 34:41Alex Cooper?

  Your mom had kicked you out. Can you, for anyone who's not familiar, can you just like tell that story?

• 34:45Speaker 01

  Dad passed away when I was nine to cancer. My mom spiraled ever since then. I mean, rightfully so, single, four kids, right during the recession, left with nothing. And she just didn't want to live anymore. And so she just drank and drank and drank, just trying to kill herself. And as time went on, I realized it was a problem and I would, um, I was a kid, I didn't know, but I would just call her out and I would pour it out. I, I thought my mom's supposed to be perfect. What are you doing? And I would just dump it out everywhere. And I became enemy number one for my mom. I was the reason why she was drinking all of a sudden. It gave her a sense of, oh, I need to drink to deal with this. And so,

• 35:20Speaker 01

  um, yeah, as time went on, I think once I turned 18, it was like that, that day on my birthday, she kicked me out and I couldn't take anything except for what I owned. And at that time it was a camera and a computer. And so I started sleeping on my friends' couches and, um, sleeping on, uh, in cars. And that's when I started filming with the camera and editing with the computer. And, um, that's when I started doing well.

• 35:43Alex Cooper?

  Do you have siblings?

• 35:44Speaker 01

  I do. Yeah.

• 35:45Alex Cooper?

  Did they stay with your mom?

• 35:47Speaker 01

  They did. My older sister was, is a lot older. So she was in college and didn't really understand the scope of things. My older brother was, uh, in a marine. So he was, Not home and then my youngest sister was too, too young to understand. I think she was just like, I think everyone growing up thinks your parents are perfect and it hadn't hit her yet. And once I left, it started hitting her and she was like, I need to get the F out of here. And eventually my uncle took her out of it. But yeah, it's, it's, it's always, I always get the questions like, what did your siblings do? Why wouldn't they, they were never there?

• 36:22Alex Cooper?

  I've had a lot of conversations with friends or people on my show where like they, they're, it's so weird when you talk to your siblings about trauma or even just childhood in general. And you have such a different experience than siblings. And I think sometimes it's hard for people to fathom that because you're like, what do you mean? You're in, under the same roof, but it's like, you really can have such a different experience with a parent than your sibling. And to eventually come to terms with that is weird. Like have you and your sister been able to talk about?

• 36:52Speaker 01

  It's so interesting. It's like you're, I have a camera on me. I literally talked to my sister about this like a week ago. I, yeah, it's, there's a lot of unresolved tension. I think it's just like, I don't know what she went through. She was so much older than me. She remembers my dad way more than I do. And I don't know what my siblings went through. All I know is they all somewhat got it. Like the moment I moved out, I remember my mom had just been wailing on me, just punching me on the ground. And I had never hit back ever. I, I just don't believe in that. And so I'm sitting there taking these punches to the face. And I remember my brother, uh, he just got home from the military, walks out, hears it and sees it. And he just puts her in a chokehold and backs up and says, you're not doing that anymore.

• 37:35Speaker 01

  And I remember just then in there, running out of the house, my brother ran out with me. And I would, I was sleeping at a friend's house and she had figured it out, called the cops and said, I hit her. And so it was just this whole thing of like, thankfully I had my brother to corroborate what actually happened or else I would have gotten picked up. But like my mom was like that and that was like a really crazy thing.

• 37:56Alex Cooper?

  Very crazy because I also remember I read somewhere you had said that your mom was the greatest woman in the world when she wasn't drinking, but the problem was she struggled with alcoholism every single day. Like, how did you reconcile those two complete different versions of her because you had experienced her without it?

• 38:18Speaker 01

  My mom would drink at 5 a.m. and sleep all day. So she would start drinking at like 3 or 4 a.m., stay up all the way to take us to school, and then she would sleep all day from there and consistently miss us from picking up, you know, at school, but then would be alive and well at like 8 p.m. So around that time, I knew there was a window where like, keep my mom drunk would like write suicide letters and then show me and go, I just wrote this suicide letter and I'm telling everyone it was your fault. And then literally that same day at 8 p.m., it would be, it would be, I just want you to know you're my favorite son. And like, she would be so kind and so genuine and like want to like cuddle and like watch a movie and like spend family time. Let's go out or on New Year's Eve, let's bang the pots out back. And

• 39:03Speaker 01

  like that was like all of a sudden, like from, you knew a window, right? But then all of a sudden, I think I turned 15 and that window just never existed anymore. And it just became her.

• 39:13Alex Cooper?

  Have you been able to, in processing like the loss of your mother and time away from it, like tried to wrap your head around like where you think the like vitriol and hateful moments towards you came from in her most painful moments?

• 39:29Speaker 01

  And I, I figured this out. I think I have it figured out. My mom, my mom was so, I misunderstand my mom so much. My mom was so in love with my dad, so in love with my dad that she could not imagine a world living without him. And so she didn't. She just survived. She did not, like she died right when all of us left. Like my, my little sister was the last to go. And once he, she knew she was taken care of, she died. And truly that entire time, my mom, I don't think my mom cared about having kids. I think my mom cared about having kids with my dad. And once that disappeared, it was just, okay, I hate this. I hate my life. I hate

• 40:11Speaker 01

  my kids. I hate the things that I'm in. And I don't think she meant it in that way, but I truly just don't think that she wanted to live anymore. And so she did what she had to do to survive, and that was to drink her life away. But I could never put myself in that position. I could never say, I could never be there and and try and imagine that just because like imagine, imagine being four, having four kids, your husband of your life and a recession hits, he dies, you're in, over your head in medical debt, you have no money to your name, you're three hundred to four hundred thousand dollars in debt, and now all of a sudden, you've never had a job and all of a sudden you have to just live? I couldn't.

• 40:51Alex Cooper?

  It's also so hard too, because when you then now are becoming an adult and you're married and I know you earlier referenced like maybe one day having kids, like all of these things you've become really like cognizant of, of like what you would want to do differently. And you're kind of talking about how now you have perspective on your mother, like before she passed, were you able to reconcile at all with her?

• 41:15Speaker 01

  No, I, and that's, that's the, the many regrets I have. I remember, I don't know what spawned this, I was driving and I was driving and I, I literally was like, my biggest fear is dying alone. And I don't know why I started thinking about that. And I was like, wow, dying alone, I could not imagine. And I started thinking about my mom and I said, she has no one. I mean, like, there's no one there to even help her take the trash out. So I texted her and I just, I was like, hey, just thinking about you, wanted to send you this picture and, you know, whatever. And never delivered. And it turns out that she was already pretty much dead. And I was like, fuck, like, that's like, we, I remember going to, going to the hospital and she was, they, they tell you that she can hear you,

• 41:59Speaker 01

  but she's yellow. Like, I don't know if you've ever seen it, but someone dying from liver failure is probably top fucking five worst things to see. And they're just, they don't look like a human, they look like a zombie. They're yellow and purple and they, no hair and their hair's all white because it couldn't survive. And so you're, you're seeing this and there's something called the death breath. That's the most fucking horrifying thing in the world where it's like, you think it's the last breath and it's like, And then it keeps going and I was oh, oh, but that was, that was something where I, I think we all had a moment where we were like, we forgive you and everyone left the room and I sat there and I'm just like, I'm so sorry. Like, I'm so sorry I let you, I let you, but

• 42:43Speaker 01

  I'm so sorry that I, I felt a sense of responsibility. I felt like, the thing is, like, say what you want that my mom did. Like, I am a son. I should have, like, whatever she did. And it could be anything. And I think like, yeah, some people could say like, oh, well, you didn't deserve, it doesn't matter. I am her son. I can't imagine what it's like dying alone, not knowing anything. And I remember the last text she ever sent me before, and I stupidly didn't respond. The last text she sent me was, I have a problem. I'm going to AA. I have something else. And, and she died. She tried, she either thought, knew something was wrong and she tried to fix it and it was too late, or she tried to fix it and she died trying.

• 43:26Alex Cooper?

  Oh, my God. I mean, Alex, like, even hearing you talk about this, there's so many layers of, you have guilt, you wanted, you obviously made an attempt to repair it with your mother, you both, which is so relatable, kind of reached out to the other person, and the other one wasn't ready to accept it or willing to accept it at the time, but you both had the same intention. You both were genuinely, you loved each other and you weren't able to show that, whether it was because of the illness she was experiencing or the anger that you had for her and you're getting physically abused. So it's like, at some points, of course, you should remove yourself from a situation. You shouldn't be there with open arms. But when she passed, I can't help but also think, like, you were alone for a

• 44:10Alex Cooper?

  lot of your life, right? When she was alive, you were surviving and it felt like you were alone because you didn't have a mother and you didn't have your father. And then when she passed, you were physically, literally alone. How did both of those versions feel different?

• 44:29Speaker 01

  I think when I, when she was alive, it fueled me of I'm going to prove this person wrong. My entire life, my mom told me that I wouldn't be a singer. It just wasn't going to happen. I suck. I sound bad. It's you need to go to college and get a degree because you need to do it this way. It's never gonna happen. Those people aren't like you. Um. So when this happened, I wanted to so badly be like, I did it. Fuck you. I think now I did it and I miss you. And I think that's, that's the hard part is like, I think I was insecure and I didn't understand it. And now it's kind of like, fuck dude, I wish I could like tell you, you know, like I, this, my friend just had a kid and she's learning how to ride a bike.

• 45:13Speaker 01

  And there's this thing he was explaining to me the other day of like, you know, it's so cool is like this person. She started riding a bike and she looked back and she says, look, mom and dad, I did it. And the thing with the Grammys and all these different things is it, it really, I wanted to look back and say, fuck yeah. You know, like my dad would do these talent shows and he was so, and this is what makes me excited for kids is I can't wait to be. Well, my dad was for me is a supportive person that no matter what, like it was just, you can do it. Like he was fighting cancer and waking up every morning just to give us these experiences just because he knew it was limited and, and to be able to do that for my kids and be able to be supportive and show them that you can do anything.

• 45:53Speaker 01

  And I think I'm a testament to that. Like this entire time and the things I've gone through, to be able to play at the Grammys and, and be nominated for Grammy with everything that I've gone through is, as I feel like is you can't, you cannot prove to anyone that it's not possible if, if you look at that.

• 46:06Alex Cooper?

  Oh, completely. Like I think the, the amount that you survived throughout your childhood and the adversity that you had to overcome, you shouldn't have had to go through it, but it only prepared you more for this chaotic fucking industry that you've now walked into. Um, do you feel safe now?

• 46:32Speaker 01

  Whoa, yeah. I, I, I, yeah.

• 46:36Speaker 01

  That's a loaded fucking question. Jesus. I, I am. Yeah. My career is a perfect example. I think where I am in my career right now. I think a good amount of people have gotten to. And I've also watched it just go down, you know, and I think that's part of me is like, I'm such in a fight or flight moment that like, I don't ever want, I was homeless with my wife. I know exactly what that's like. And as much fun as I had with my wife, I never want to do that again. I want to have kids and I want to give them the life I never had. You know, like I want to be able to be there for my kid, which means I want to keep doing this. I want to keep touring. I want to be able to provide for a child and be able to be present in their life, which I feel like is a privilege and a luxury that not a lot of people have. I didn't have that.

• 47:19Speaker 01

  And so I, I'm probably one of the most not

• 47:25Speaker 01

  in the moment person ever because of it. I'm constantly thinking, okay, how do I do this? How do I do that to make sure that I don't go back to this? And every time a song might not do well, or I suck at a performance, I'm beating myself up about it because I'm so scared that either my mom's opinion is right, or that I will go back to where I was.

• 47:45Alex Cooper?

  Right. You're like constantly in survival mode.

• 47:47Speaker 01

  Right, right, right.

• 47:48Alex Cooper?

  You're constantly on the edge of like, I could lose it all.

• 47:52Speaker 01

  I mean, the Grammys is a perfect example. I sat there the entire time saying my career is over.

• 47:55Alex Cooper?

  And do you think it's going to just take you continuing to live experiences like the Grammys? And then guess what? You're sitting here today, you've got a new song out, like everything is okay.

• 48:08Speaker 01

  I fucking hope so.

• 48:09Alex Cooper?

  I'll let you know.

• 48:10Speaker 01

  Songs out, it could go all downhill for all I know. I don't think I'll ever get out of this.

• 48:13Alex Cooper?

  Okay, we're gonna work on it. Just a little bit. Next time I see you, we're gonna be like, okay, hopefully, maybe.

• 48:18Speaker 01

  No, I've done a lot, like,

• 48:21Speaker 01

  I, I, I have an amazing wife. I have an amazing career. I make music that I absolutely fucking love. I do what I love. Like I, I get to play arenas. Like that's fucking nuts.

• 48:36Speaker 01

  I have amazing friends, like where I am today, and also I'm healthy. I love what I do. I, I work out, I exercise. I'm quite literally the happiest I've ever been and I'm able to say I'm happy with who I am today. It took me so long to do that, though.

• 48:58Alex Cooper?

  Call Her Daddy is brought to you by Airbnb. Okay, I am well into my third trimester now, so I haven't really been able to travel because I need to stay close to my doctor, but spending all this time at home has made me start thinking about all the places that I want to go. Once the baby is here, I have literally been sitting on my couch with the TV on scrolling through Airbnb and planning trips. I am nowhere ready to take yet, but suddenly my vacation priorities, I will say are completely different. Like, does the house have enough bedrooms? Is there a big kitchen? Does the furniture look baby safe? Or is every table covered in, you know, sharp corners? And obviously, we need an extra

• 49:40Alex Cooper?

  room for my mom, who has already made it very clear that she will not be leaving my side. She's like, I got you. I'm the babysitter. Okay. And now that it is October, I'm picturing cooler weather, cozy sweaters. Oh, my God, maybe a little cottage where we can escape for a little weekend. That's what I love about booking a home on Airbnb. Whether you're traveling with family, friends, or your partner, everyone has space to relax while still being together. Even if you're traveling for a concert or a game, you have one place where everyone can get together and convene after. Before the holiday season gets busy, treat yourself to one more fall getaway and check out Airbnb while you're planning it.

• 50:21Alex Cooper?

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• 51:02Alex Cooper?

  My Mochi. And when you give me that plus a good chocolate, I'm gonna have That in my freezer every single night, I'm gonna pop one in. I am obsessed. I love it so much. Taste the joy with every bite of my mochi ice cream. Look for the green and brown box of my mochi Dubai chocolate ice cream in the freezer aisle of your local grocery store. Call Her Daddy is brought to you by Southern New Hampshire University. Daddy gang, let's get real. Okay, we like to make our own rules. Southern New Hampshire University gets it. They let you learn what you want with over 200 career focused programs, where you want with 100% online courses and how you want with no set class times. Basically, you get to call the shots

• 51:45Alex Cooper?

  from day one. Visit s n h u dot edu slash call her daddy to learn more. Okay, let's talk about relationships. You said in an interview, perfect. Um, you said in an interview that before you got married, you were notoriously cheated on. What was happening?

• 52:04Speaker 01

  Right? Because I have to be the problem. That's exactly what I thought.

• 52:09Alex Cooper?

  No.

• 52:10Speaker 01

  No, I, I had a really good looking friend and he was my best friend and he's still really one of my close friends. I talked to him all the time. Very good looking. Every time I dated a girl, the test was to bring him around because he was notorious for stealing my girlfriends.

• 52:27Alex Cooper?

  This is your best friend?

• 52:28Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah. We weren't friends after this, the last one, but he was notorious for trying to get with my girlfriends or um, he was very attractive and I there was something about it, but he would, he would just, yeah.

• 52:39Alex Cooper?

  And you stayed friends with him after multiple?

• 52:42Speaker 01

  Forgiving person, Alex. It's just a thing.

• 52:45Alex Cooper?

  I'm like, wait, so this happened multiple times?

• 52:47Speaker 01

  I didn't realize until the last one. Okay, yes, yes, I had a, I had a, I had a intuition. Um, anyway, I was driving with this girl. She was texting him and they were sending like hearts and saying like a lot of shit. And I was just like, it's cool. I'm, keep in mind, I'm 17, 18. So it's pretty, it's pretty like, I've been dating my wife since I was 18. So a lot of these are elementary relationships of like, oh, my God, you cheated on me with Bradley on the swing set. Um, but no, it was just four or five times, I think, that I was like, This, these people are texting other people or actually hooking up with other people while I'm with them. And I was just a hopeless romantic. So every time I would get cheated on or broken up with, I would go to a piano and go, why me? Why are you doing this to me? It was bad.

• 53:30Alex Cooper?

  And then you'd be like, okay, I'm over it. And then you'd go to the next person and then it kept happening. And eventually you found Cobra.

• 53:36Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 53:36Alex Cooper?

  Okay. Can we go back to the first time you saw your wife with someone else's Snapchat story?

• 53:40Speaker 01

  Yes, it's a modern day love story.

• 53:42Alex Cooper?

  It is so romantic.

• 53:44Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 53:44Alex Cooper?

  Um, and you said that you immediately were interested when you saw her on this story. What was it about her that caught your eye?

• 53:52Speaker 01

  She was, she wasn't wearing any makeup and she wasn't trying and she was, she was sleeping and keep in mind, she still sleeps to this day. I'll go surfing in the morning and she finds the comfiest rock to lay on and she'll fall asleep. And I'll literally be up in the, out in the break and I look in and she's like, I know she's sleeping like this. Like she'll just sleep wherever she's so good at falling asleep places. But she was just like, she looked just naturally beautiful without trying. And if you look that beautiful without trying, I bet you look beautiful all the time. So.

• 54:20Alex Cooper?

  Who is filming your wife back then sleeping?

• 54:24Speaker 01

  My friend, she had moved to Hawaii and became roommates with Cobra.

• 54:28Alex Cooper?

  Okay, okay, okay.

• 54:28Speaker 01

  And so they were always like fucking with each other and they both had really box dyed blonde hair. And so this woman who was tan as hell, cause she's from Hawaii, has this box dyed white hair. And I was like, this is the hottest woman I've ever seen in my entire.

• 54:43Alex Cooper?

  Oh my God. Okay. So how did you guys end up talking? Like, how did you initiate?

• 54:48Speaker 01

  Snapchatting back, Snapchatting back and forth. They put me in contact. She had a boyfriend at the time and I was like, I don't fuck with that. I don't do that shit. And so whatever, it was like a week or two and they ended up not working and she started talking to me. And she's like, oh, like, you know, whatever. She flies out to San Diego with this friend, um, cause this friend's also from my hometown. And she, I remember she walks out of the, uh, she walks out of the, the baggage claim and I just, everyone looks like they're wearing the Hawaiian shirt. Very like, like very touristy and this girl wearing a bright yellow T-shirt, tanner than shit with white hair comes running out. And I go, that's my wife. And I literally, I had waited. So for four, four to five months, we were long distance without ever seeing each other. And she comes out and I had never said, I love you. And she was texting me, I love you or love you.

• 55:33Speaker 01

  And apparently love you and I love you are different.

• 55:35Alex Cooper?

  Wait, so the first time that you guys physically meet in person is she flies to San Diego to meet you?

• 55:39Speaker 01

  Yes, I see her and I'd been waiting to say, I love you. I run up to her like a movie. I kiss her and I go, I love you. It's the first thing out of my mouth. Yeah.

• 55:47Alex Cooper?

  And she say back?

• 55:48Speaker 01

  Duh.

• 55:49Alex Cooper?

  Okay.

• 55:49Speaker 01

  And then I took her to In-N-Out and then we had our first night together in a motel six that I borrowed seventy five dollars from my friend to buy. Except at the time I'm homeless.

• 55:57Alex Cooper?

  Did she know you were homeless?

• 56:00Speaker 01

  Not yet.

• 56:01Alex Cooper?

  Okay.

• 56:01Speaker 01

  That night she found out.

• 56:03Alex Cooper?

  So you were explaining the hotel six.

• 56:06Speaker 01

  We were at In-N-Out and I was like, I, I, I, we were with a group of friends. And then she's like, well, where are we staying tonight? And that's when I said, I, I got us a place. And then we went to a motel six. Keep in mind, this entire time I'm thinking that this woman is about to bail on me because this is not romantic. This is fucking horrible. And I, I looking back, I'm a piece of shit for this. But we went and I was like, this is, I'm sorry, this is what it is. And I explained it and she's like, fuck it, let's do it.

• 56:34Alex Cooper?

  So her reaction was just like, you know what? Here we go. Here we are.

• 56:37Speaker 01

  Fuck it, let's do it was her exact words.

• 56:39Alex Cooper?

  Although you were so excited to say you loved her in the airport, there must have been some.

• 56:43Speaker 01

  Terror.

• 56:44Alex Cooper?

  Terror.

• 56:45Speaker 01

  Terror. I was horrified, but I wanted, if this was going to be the only six hours I ever get with this girl that I've literally fallen in love with. I want to show her how much I love her. So this entire time I, we went to In-N-Out, she wanted to try it for the first time. And I knew this hack that you could get a burger and a water cup. And then if you got fries, but you added it a certain way, it was four dollars and thirty eight cents. Things have changed, obviously with inflation, but that was what it was. And I knew I could afford it. So I had a five dollar bill. We shared a burger. And I, my friend, all of our friends, because I didn't have a car and we had stayed in motel. And then later, the next day we sleep, slept in that same car.

• 57:19Alex Cooper?

  I started in a long distance relationship as well, and I think that there's something really, it gets, doesn't sound sexy and beautiful. But there is something really amazing about it because it really forces you to just talk and talk and talk and FaceTime and you get to really. Know each other well, like, what do you think, though, in those four months without being physically together? What was it that made you know that you were so in love with her and you were ready to tell her?

• 57:45Speaker 01

  We would be on FaceTime without even talking, like, we would just not talk and I would fall asleep with my phone as if we were sleeping together and she would be falling asleep. And so we literally, I'd wake up some days, we're still on FaceTime. And it was like, it was like, it was, I, I was, in fact, it was 3am, obviously, but like, I, I was just always like, what the fuck, like, I'm, I don't even live with this woman and I want to spend every waking moment with her. I would FaceTime her with, with friends. I was that guy who people were like, dude, get the fuck off your phone and I couldn't not talk to her. I was toxic, probably, but like, like, that's the thing.

• 58:22Alex Cooper?

  Right, you, you were really into it. And you, but then you somehow managed to kind of keep it like, I'm not telling her that I'm fully living out of my car right now.

• 58:30Speaker 01

  I'm starting to realize I'm kind of a red flag.

• 58:32Alex Cooper?

  No.

• 58:33Speaker 01

  Like, this is like, this is what this is.

• 58:34Alex Cooper?

  Down there is, and she, so she can attest, like, you turned out okay.

• 58:37Speaker 01

  I'm okay.

• 58:38Alex Cooper?

  The marriage is going well, right?

• 58:39Speaker 01

  Oh, my God, it's amazing.

• 58:40Alex Cooper?

  Okay, so perfect.

• 58:41Speaker 01

  I've never been better.

• 58:42Alex Cooper?

  Um, you get married at 23.

• 58:43Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 58:44Alex Cooper?

  Which, for some people's standards, is pretty young.

• 58:46Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 58:46Alex Cooper?

  How did you know you were ready for that big step?

• 58:49Speaker 01

  Uh, my dad, before he passed, one of the few things I remember is, he said, make sure you love the woman that you're marrying. And he, for some reason, would always say five years. Was this thing, he would always say five years. And I was like, I was like, I, the moment I met Cover, I knew that I wanted to marry her, but I knew I was really immature and, like you said, I had red flags. I wanted to make sure that through high pass, through everything, that A, if I'm gonna marry this person, I can provide for this person. If I'm gonna marry this person that, and come on, I didn't have that when we started living in a car. I wanted it to be able to do that, you know? Um, I wanted to make sure that I was emotionally and mentally mature enough to be able to be a good husband. And I wanted to make sure that, especially after marriage, comes kids, I wanted to make sure I was ready to be a father.

• 59:35Speaker 01

  And so like, that was the biggest thing for me was like, you know, I, I grew up really quickly and I, I started to live out like my childhood days or like be a little bit immature when I was like 21, where I was just like figuring out what kind of man I wanted to be.

• 59:50Speaker 01

  And so I really wanted to make sure that I had that out of just like, I, I don't wanna be married, starting to have kids and fucking, I mean, we were always practically married, but like just doing the whole thing. I wanna make sure I could give her a grand wedding and, and, and be able to have her family come out and do everything. And when the timing made sense, it happened.

• 1:00:06Alex Cooper?

  Oh, my gosh. Wow. That's really, it's beautiful to hear like how it started to then obviously the wedding and everything and where you guys are now.

• 1:00:13Speaker 01

  She hated it. She wanted to get married like two years and I was like, trust me, it'll all make sense.

• 1:00:17Alex Cooper?

  But that's sweet that you weren't rushing and you were like slow playing it because you're like, I need time.

• 1:00:22Speaker 01

  Right.

• 1:00:22Alex Cooper?

  What do you think, would you say is her best quality as a partner?

• 1:00:26Speaker 01

  I, A, I would say that the, her creativeness, just in general, I'm so infatuated about, but B, she's such a provider. Like, I, I'll be like in a session and she'll bring everyone home cooked meals. Or like every night when I do sessions, like if everyone comes to my house for a studio, because I have a studio at my house, she'll be like, okay, here's for dinner for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. And she has these horses and she like grew, like she has everything kind of planned out where, you know, oh, like nothing's impossible to my wife. And it's the coolest fucking thing in the world. She built my half pipe. So I grew up skateboarding and I was like, wow, I really want a half pipe. And she's like, oh, buy it. And so I bought it and it came in lumber, obviously. And she goes, cool, I'm gonna build it. I said, what? And she's like, I'm gonna build it. I don't know how, but I really wanna learn. So she did that. And then we, we had bought in our first home.

• 1:01:10Speaker 01

  And she's like, cool, I wanna build a rock wall. And so she went and got brick and mortar and literally figured out. And I, I come, I have photos on my phone of her on a scaffolding with knee pads and goggles with a paint machine. And she's learning how to paint walls and she built every single bedroom in my house with wood to make this cool, like it.

• 1:01:30Alex Cooper?

  Jam.

• 1:01:31Speaker 01

  Dude, she wanted to make the art. So she made all the art. She does my tattoos. She learned how to do tattoos. Like all of this is her. And so like nothing, my wife is impossible at saying, I can't do that.

• 1:01:41Alex Cooper?

  Wow. That's really admirable.

• 1:01:43Speaker 01

  Dude, it's the coolest shit. I, I quite literally trust my wife. If she really wants to, she can do anything.

• 1:01:48Alex Cooper?

  That is a beautiful quality to have as a human being and really inspiring. I can't also help but think about, you know, when you guys, you meet and then the Hype House era begins and you guys, so much of your relationship started online and then has continued to be online. Like, was there ever a time that the internet got in the way or caused problems in your relationship?

• 1:02:12Speaker 01

  Hundred percent. Like, I think that was, that was again where I was as like, for me, back when I was like 21, 22 years old, not 22, like 19 to 21 was the three years where I was just like, like, looking back at it, I was just like, oh, I want to get the clip. Like, I got so, I got so infatuated with the fact that I need to make sure I'm never homeless again, that I started to just be like, we need to film this, we need to film that. To the point where I was like, I'm not even taking her out on dates because I'm like so focused on getting a video. Like, we'd go out on a date and I'm like, oh, we should film this TikTok or whatever the hell. And like, so for me at least, I was like, okay, I need to be, I, if I, I want to marry this woman and I need to get my fucking act together.

• 1:02:53Speaker 01

  And that was right when I started music and just like kind of becoming who I am today. I think with Ordinary, I was so like, this is the first thing that's ever gone really, really well. And I want to really lean into this. And I was touring for the first time and that was really difficult for us as a couple because it was like, I've been with you for five or six years and you've never, we've never spent a night apart ever since we started sleeping together, like, you know? And so all of a sudden I have to say goodbye to you for eight months. And so she's been going on tours and we've been finding a really great medium. It's so fun having her on tour. She brings the dogs and we, she cooks and it's, it's the coolest thing in the world. I just need to get better at, at dates. Like, that's the one thing where I'm like,

• 1:03:33Alex Cooper?

  Come on, Alex.

• 1:03:33Speaker 01

  I know, I know.

• 1:03:35Alex Cooper?

  Let's, let's pop it up. Let's think of a good date night.

• 1:03:38Speaker 01

  But we, every time we plan a date night, we look at each other and we go, should we just watch a movie?

• 1:03:42Alex Cooper?

  Okay, that's fair. But what if next date night, you, even if she's out doing something, you just make the house a date night?

• 1:03:50Speaker 01

  See, that's sick. And I've thought of that.

• 1:03:52Alex Cooper?

  Like, you can do that.

• 1:03:53Speaker 01

  I know.

• 1:03:53Alex Cooper?

  Because I, I'm the same way. I'm like, oh my God, a date night is so much better when you're just at home and you're cozy.

• 1:03:58Speaker 01

  I just don't want her to try. Like, I don't want her to do anything.

• 1:04:00Alex Cooper?

  But you need to try.

• 1:04:01Speaker 01

  I know.

• 1:04:03Alex Cooper?

  I know.

• 1:04:03Speaker 01

  I know.

• 1:04:05Alex Cooper?

  Okay. Some flowers and candles.

• 1:04:07Speaker 01

  Every time I just write like a really like depressing love song about her and I'm like, "Look," and she's like, "Fuck her. Take me out to eat, asshole."

• 1:04:14Alex Cooper?

  No, you know what's so funny? It's like, Cover has like, the dream life where like, a guy is writing you these like gorgeous songs, but she's like, "I get that every day."

• 1:04:23Speaker 01

  Right.

• 1:04:23Alex Cooper?

  Let's go.

• 1:04:24Speaker 01

  She's like, "It's fine. You said that nine different fucking times. Can we go eat some fucking fettuccine Alfredo?"

• 1:04:28Alex Cooper?

  Okay. Take the girl to get some fettuccine Alfredo. When you do, post it on your story so we all know.

• 1:04:34Speaker 01

  I know.

• 1:04:34Alex Cooper?

  And tag me.

• 1:04:35Speaker 01

  I will.

• 1:04:36Alex Cooper?

  Okay, your vows.

• 1:04:38Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:04:38Alex Cooper?

  Have over 13 million likes. And I think everyone cried watching them. Everyone was like so obsessed when you post them, obviously. Um, when you look back at that day, like, what was the most important thing that you really wanted to convey to Cover in those vows?

• 1:04:54Speaker 01

  I will never write anything as good as those. And that was fully the night before. I was so cocky going into it. I was like, "I'm a songwriter. I can easily write these vows." 11:00 PM it starts and there's the cursor that's blinking on docs and it's literally to Cover, or I say Cover. And it's how it starts. And I blink and it's 3:00 AM. Nothing. Not a single fucking vow. Not a single word has been written because I couldn't fathom, how am I supposed to sum up the fact that this woman changed my life into a page and say it in front of all of our friends and family? And so I, I was freaking out. My friend at the time, he was still up working and he's like, "Step away from the fucking computer and tell me about her." And I just start talking and I just literally just start

• 1:05:38Speaker 01

  blubbering like everything that I feel about this woman. And he's like, "Write it down." He's like, "Write that down." He's like, "Write that down. That's good. Write that down." And I blink and it's just this, this, that's what the vows were, was just me not thinking and talking about my wife. And I just wanted it like, it's hard to explain. I say all these things on here and I say, oh, my wife slept in a car with me and people probably, if I was people, I'd probably just be like, alright dude, shut the fuck up. But truly, like this woman dropped out of college to sleep in a car with some 18 year old dumbass who didn't tell her and was like, I'm homeless and I want to be a singer. And this girl goes, that sounds like I want to do that. Like, how do you sum that out of like, oh, this woman is an angel who saved my life?

• 1:06:22Alex Cooper?

  No, it was meant to be.

• 1:06:23Speaker 01

  And so when I, when I read it, I couldn't, I couldn't bear, I knew it was right because every time I tried to read it, I couldn't stop crying. So after I wrote it, I never read it again. I wrote it down in a notebook, which I ended up reading during the ceremony and I never read it before I went on and I just said it.

• 1:06:42Alex Cooper?

  In the vows, you say she saw something in you that you didn't see in yourself. What were you referring to?

• 1:06:48Speaker 01

  My wife sees the good in so many people that it ends up hurting her. And that is something with me that I'm, I'm like, stop. But at the same time, I love you for it. She just sees so much good. And in me at least, I think that there's a lot of brokenness, especially when I met her. Like my mom, she was alive for, for Cover. And my mom was a horrible person to Cover. Terrible, enough to give anyone a reason to, to leave that. And she understood everything. She understood, she was, she handled it with so much grace and so, so much, so much decorum that I was like, wow, how can you handle that?

• 1:07:33Speaker 01

  And so it's just to me at least, that, that was when I was thinking about, when I was writing that, I was like, you put up with so much bullshit, so much of my bullshit, so much of my selfishness, so much of, you know, to go through whatever that was, the hype house and, and how, who I was during that, now a music career where I'm fully traveling all the time and singing and talking about us and all these things, kind of laying it all out for people like that. I can't, yes, it's great, but all the same time, there's so many cons to that, you know?

• 1:08:01Alex Cooper?

  You guys have, that's even you just saying that of like, I was just thinking about it, like one. As hard as it I'm sure was that your mom treated Cover that way. There's also something so beautiful that she got to meet her. So you are able to sit with her and when you talk about it, she's like, oh no, I get it. I was there. I lived with you. But then you're right, like the trajectory of starting from this place of living in your car and she joined you to now this extraordinary life you're living and you've got a studio in your house and you're, you know, you've got this amazing wife and you're building these memories like.

• 1:08:37Speaker 01

  Feels like a movie.

• 1:08:38Alex Cooper?

  Yes, but that also takes like a lot of communication through that growth to be able to make sure like, are we good? Are we still on the same page?

• 1:08:48Speaker 01

  Are you a therapist?

• 1:08:49Alex Cooper?

  No, but I'm just thinking of like.

• 1:08:50Speaker 01

  This is really nice. I like the, I, I, this couch is getting really comfy.

• 1:08:55Alex Cooper?

  You're sinking in farther and farther.

• 1:08:56Speaker 01

  Water and some well grate refreshments. I'm.

• 1:08:59Alex Cooper?

  But you know what I mean? Like.

• 1:09:00Speaker 01

  You got anything next week?

• 1:09:01Alex Cooper?

  Yeah, we'll be back here same time next week, but you know what I mean? Like the, the growth has been amazing on paper, but like that's a lot to handle as an individual and as a couple. So like kudos to you guys that you guys have been able to stay so connected while the thing is growing so large.

• 1:09:19Speaker 01

  Dude, it's been really cool. Like we literally go like, can you believe like we were, again, we bought our first house not too long ago. And I remember we stood in front of it and I was holding her and I was like, can you fucking believe this dude? Like it was such a, we had this such a, I wish I could relive that moment every time, or at least show Cover and Alex five years ago, six years ago, or whenever it was like we, I was saying, I was like, how nuts is this? Like this is our fence. Like we were, we were looking at the weird inanimate things that no one thinks about. Like honey, look, this brick, like we went around the house and I was like, that brick right there, that brick in between all the 500 other bricks, that brick is ours.

• 1:09:58Alex Cooper?

  You're grateful.

• 1:09:59Speaker 01

  That's dude, it's so cool. And it's been so nice too. Cause like Cover and I, especially during the whatever times like it's, we were so easy. We're so easy to please because we slept on floors and whatever the fuck. And so it's so nice. And it's really nice is when I start to get a little bougie or when she gets a little bougie, I'm like. Cover and she's like, you're so right. You're so right. I'm like, I'm like, that was kind of fucked.

• 1:10:21Alex Cooper?

  It's like finding the balance of being like, we deserve this and let's enjoy it.

• 1:10:25Speaker 01

  It's the best because that's our arguments. That's always our arguments. I was like, cover. She goes, but we deserve it. I go, that's a little stupid.

• 1:10:31Alex Cooper?

  Where you have to have like a barometer of like, are we pushing it too much?

• 1:10:34Speaker 01

  My wife and I only argue about one thing and it's fucking children name and, and a rug. And who's supposed to pay for the rug?

• 1:10:43Alex Cooper?

  Rugs are so sneaky expensive.

• 1:10:45Speaker 01

  Thousands of dollars for rugs.

• 1:10:47Alex Cooper?

  Thousands.

• 1:10:48Speaker 01

  I, I, what is that? I, I'm rugless right now because I, my, the principle is I don't want to pay that much for a rug.

• 1:10:54Alex Cooper?

  Okay. Wait. Kid names. So who has the crazier kid names? Like, are you more chill with them or is she going more chill and you're going crazy?

• 1:11:01Speaker 01

  I think it's like taming it a little bit. Like she's a little bit like, oh, well, this is really cool. And I'm like, sweetheart, but you don't want to be that, like the couple that does that. Like, I think there's originality, but there's also like, I really like that name. And she's like, if you tell anyone our fucking names that we've come up with, I'm going to murder you. And your children will be fatherless. And I said, look, I don't want to do that to them. It's, it's been a whole.

• 1:11:20Alex Cooper?

  She's like keeping them, but then you're also like, I know, but babe, like no one's going to name their kids these names.

• 1:11:24Speaker 01

  She is gatekeeping that notes app. It's got a lock on it and it's hidden and it's titled something fully fucking completely different. She is so protective of her kid names.

• 1:11:33Alex Cooper?

  Honestly, respect. I've seen a lot of women online be like, I can now tell you all the extra kid names I have now that I've named my kid.

• 1:11:40Speaker 01

  Yeah. And some of them are like Sephora. Yeah. Like, like, like bicycolette. Like it's.

• 1:11:46Alex Cooper?

  So you're not naming your kid bicycolette?

• 1:11:47Speaker 01

  No, but maybe.

• 1:11:48Alex Cooper?

  Okay.

• 1:11:49Speaker 01

  I, I did, that was right off the dome and I'm, I'm, I'm.

• 1:11:52Alex Cooper?

  It sounds gorgeous.

• 1:11:53Speaker 01

  Bice is a really great nickname that I've been thinking.

• 1:11:56Alex Cooper?

  What songs is your wife's current favorite?

• 1:11:58Speaker 01

  My wife literally just plays a rotation of Taylor Swift. Like I, I.

• 1:12:02Alex Cooper?

  No, your songs.

• 1:12:03Speaker 01

  Oh, at least to my wife. Sorry. I've been so obsessed with talking about my wife.

• 1:12:06Alex Cooper?

  What are your wife's favorite songs of yours? Although we love Taylor.

• 1:12:10Speaker 01

  Oh, oh, oh.

• 1:12:11Alex Cooper?

  Wait, what's her favorite Taylor album? Do you know this? Folklore. Oh.

• 1:12:14Speaker 01

  For sure.

• 1:12:16Alex Cooper?

  Love her.

• 1:12:16Speaker 01

  I hope that's right, but she always talks about folklore.

• 1:12:19Alex Cooper?

  Do you know what her favorite song is of Taylor?

• 1:12:20Speaker 01

  Uh, no, but she's always singing. Long live every sip that I take.

• 1:12:26Alex Cooper?

  Lights shine just for me and you.

• 1:12:29Speaker 01

  Yeah, and but I, she.

• 1:12:31Alex Cooper?

  Your songs?

• 1:12:33Speaker 01

  Her favorite of my songs, she is obsessed with one called, um, called Only Thing Left, which is a breakup song, funny enough.

• 1:12:41Alex Cooper?

  Okay.

• 1:12:42Speaker 01

  I wrote for a show.

• 1:12:45Speaker 01

  I'm like, out of all the love songs, you love that one. She loves like the ones you would never expect.

• 1:12:59Alex Cooper?

  Call Her Daddy is brought to you by Klaviyo. So Klaviyo says it's your brand's best friend. Both claim, but here's the thing. Klaviyo knows your brand, your tone, your customers, all your data in one place. Klaviyo's AI agents answer them 24/7 in your voice and build your campaigns from one prompt emails, texts, and WhatsApp. Plus Klaviyo finds your next sale before you do. It's time to meet your new CRM BFF. Go to K L A V I Y O dot com slash best friends. Call Her Daddy is brought to you by Pandora Jewelry. I love to accessorize my outfits with jewelry,

• 1:13:41Alex Cooper?

  obviously, and I feel like all the time depending on my outfit, it's going to be kind of dependent on what jewelry I'm wanting to wear that day. Discover Pandora Talisman, a new collection design to help you express every side of who you are. Because the most powerful statement you can make is being yourself, obviously. Daddy gang. They have meaningful zodiac symbols and personalized jewelry pieces. Each design tells a story that's uniquely yours. A reflection of what you stand for, what you believe, and how you choose to show up every day. Pandora Talisman, a new language of self-expression, because every version of you deserves to be seen. Shop new styles in store or online at pandora.net. You have a new single out Fever Dream. Tell me about the writing process.

• 1:14:26Speaker 01

  The people I work with today are the people I've always worked with. Like, I started with them and I stay with them, you know? And so, everything that I write is with them. And so, this song especially, you know, all of us have, are in really great relationships. And we wanted to write about this feeling of falling in love for the first time and what that is. And there's this euphoric feeling when you do, like, when you see that person for the first time. And maybe you've seen that person every single day. And then the one time, you start to be like, wait, I'm seeing you differently today. And if you get this weird, like, warm feeling and you kind of like, you get their number and then they give it to you.

• 1:14:57Alex Cooper?

  Yep.

• 1:14:57Speaker 01

  We wanted to kind of put that in a song.

• 1:14:59Alex Cooper?

  Also, I feel like I've seen in interviews, you've said, like, you wanted to get lightly away from some, like, being all sad music.

• 1:15:07Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:15:07Alex Cooper?

  So, this is fun.

• 1:15:08Speaker 01

  It's fun as hell. And like, there's still like, nine different other sad ones that you could listen to.

• 1:15:12Alex Cooper?

  Perfect. Right. You're still gonna give us that.

• 1:15:14Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:15:15Alex Cooper?

  But you were giving us an uplifting one, too.

• 1:15:16Speaker 01

  I just think it's really obvious when you hear a song, it's like, okay, Alex is crying again about his dad. Let's fuck off.

• 1:15:21Alex Cooper?

  Okay, the cameos in the music video.

• 1:15:25Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:15:25Alex Cooper?

  Paris Hilton.

• 1:15:26Speaker 01

  Crazy, right?

• 1:15:27Alex Cooper?

  Can you explain how?

• 1:15:30Speaker 01

  I'm so excited.

• 1:15:31Alex Cooper?

  I know. Like, how did you get the queen?

• 1:15:33Speaker 01

  In passing, when the Grammys thing happened, she had commented and we had, you know, talked. And when I was thinking of this music video especially, and we were writing it, I wanted it to not make any fucking sense. And when, the whole entire music video is, I'm chasing this girl that's supposedly my wife. And once I finally reach her, I get to her and it's Paris fucking Hilton. And she slaps me awake and I'm homeless, still homeless, busking because I never met my wife. So, the whole music video is just random things where like, what the hell is that? And then you finally get to the person and it's a weird, like, whoa, I was not expecting that. And then you, it's, at the end, and it's like this weird, like, Shutter Island vibe where you're kind of like, wait, what, this was that the whole time?

• 1:16:17Alex Cooper?

  How cool that you got Paris Hilton in a music video.

• 1:16:20Speaker 01

  She's amazing, by the way.

• 1:16:21Alex Cooper?

  She's amazing.

• 1:16:21Speaker 01

  She's like, her reputation, reputation precedes her of like, she's quite literally just such a sweet girl.

• 1:16:27Alex Cooper?

  She's incredible.

• 1:16:28Speaker 01

  And so intelligent.

• 1:16:29Alex Cooper?

  She's so smart.

• 1:16:30Speaker 01

  So, so, so, so smart.

• 1:16:32Alex Cooper?

  She is every, she's everything and more when you meet her, which is really cool. Um, you've had a lot of cameos.

• 1:16:40Speaker 01

  I have.

• 1:16:40Alex Cooper?

  Like, how the hell did you get Jennifer Aniston to be in that skit?

• 1:16:44Speaker 01

  She's the best.

• 1:16:45Alex Cooper?

  I love her.

• 1:16:46Speaker 01

  What a, like, to this day, I still text her and it's just, she's amazing. I had, her boyfriend and her are really, uh, they like the music. And I had, Ed Sheeran had asked if he could connect me with Jen. And I was like, Jen who? But sure. And so I gave him my number and I got a FaceTime and it's Courtney Cox and Jennifer Aniston on the FaceTime. And I was like, holy fucking shit. This is crazy.

• 1:17:13Alex Cooper?

  This is crazy.

• 1:17:14Speaker 01

  And so I played Ordinary for them on FaceTime and, um, I'm still, like, to this day, I still talk to both of them. And they are just so amazing, so supportive. And, um, I had asked her if she would be in it and she, literally, I sent her the script because I wrote it. So I wrote this script with my friend and I was like, please.

• 1:17:29Alex Cooper?

  So good.

• 1:17:30Speaker 01

  Judge this, please as you may. She goes, it's amazing. I'll do it. And she didn't change a single thing. She loved it and she acted in it and she showed up. And I've worked with a lot of people and this girl, I, I admire her so much just for how she walked in and just nailed it and goes, all right, later.

• 1:17:45Alex Cooper?

  It was the best surprise on the internet, seeing a skit with Jennifer Aniston and you. I was like, what, what is happening? It did feel like a fever dream at that point. Cause I was like, this is not making sense.

• 1:17:58Speaker 01

  So cool.

• 1:17:58Alex Cooper?

  That's, I also love how they just like casually FaceTimed you out of nowhere.

• 1:18:01Speaker 01

  No, I like, I was like, I was like, what the fuck is happening? And Max Greenfield from New Girl was on the, I texted him and I said, would you be down to be in this? And he said, I'll be there at 3pm and just randomly came. It was so cool.

• 1:18:13Alex Cooper?

  You are, you've got some good cameos.

• 1:18:15Speaker 01

  I'm so happy about it. Like, I truly.

• 1:18:17Alex Cooper?

  Really good. Um, so can we say, like, there's an album coming?

• 1:18:22Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. A hundred percent. I'm not Taylor Swift. No one gives a fuck.

• 1:18:25Alex Cooper?

  No.

• 1:18:26Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:18:27Alex Cooper?

  Okay. And how long have you been working on it?

• 1:18:28Speaker 01

  Uh, a year, I think, or so, like, it's, it's been in the making for the last few months, but like, the, the, the songs and titles and stuff have been in the making for a bit.

• 1:18:38Alex Cooper?

  Um, I heard that maybe you're gonna share something exclusive here on Call Our Daddy.

• 1:18:46Speaker 01

  Yeah, dude, anything. What do you want to hear? Where's my phone?

• 1:18:48Alex Cooper?

  I don't know. I, you're gonna play a little something?

• 1:18:52Speaker 01

  Yes. I would love to.

• 1:18:54Alex Cooper?

  Of a song?

• 1:18:55Speaker 01

  So I can give you some backstory on this too. This is a sad, sad song.

• 1:18:59Alex Cooper?

  Okay.

• 1:18:59Speaker 01

  My dad, before he passed away, wrote me a letter.

• 1:19:03Alex Cooper?

  Okay.

• 1:19:03Speaker 01

  And I have yet to ever read it. And so I'm reading it after this. I'm driving down to his grave and I'm gonna read it to him. And I had written a song about that of just like, he loved writing letters. And so I wrote him one and I wanna read his letter and then I'm gonna read him. I'm gonna cry. I'm gonna read him mine. And my wife, who's the best person in the world, she bought me. She found his sports car that he bought before he had us and had to sell it for cancer treatments. And he, she found it and bought it. And so I wrote a song, kinda just like, if he had missed anything, to keep him up with it. And so I don't, we can send you the audio too, so it's better, but I'll play you it. How's that?

• 1:19:45Speaker 01

  You can start it whenever.

• 1:19:49Speaker 01

  Intros are too long these days.

• 1:19:51Alex Cooper?

  No, I'm already emotional.

• 1:19:55Speaker 01

  I wrote a letter to you last night. Instead of talking to the dark. So much I wanna say, ever since you've been away. And I don't wanna skip a part. I went out and bought your old car. That I wasn't old enough to drive. I didn't have your help, so I taught myself. Wish that I could take you for a ride. I miss you more. The more you miss.

• 1:20:28Speaker 01

  What I'd give to hear your voice on nights like this. I'll miss you more. The more you miss. I'll play the whole song.

• 1:20:41Alex Cooper?

  Alex.

• 1:20:43Alex Cooper?

  This is.

• 1:20:44Speaker 01

  Sad.

• 1:20:45Alex Cooper?

  It's sad, but it's so beautiful like that you have this outlet in this career that you're able, because so many people are going to also be able to connect with that. So many people have lost loved ones or parents and not been able to have that final conversation they wish they could have had. Um, you were nine when he passed. So you have had a letter.

• 1:21:09Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:21:09Alex Cooper?

  Since you were nine years old that you never opened.

• 1:21:13Speaker 01

  I'm thinking about, I really want to have kids and Cobra and I are going to start trying and I, I don't know, I feel like there was a time and place that I'm supposed to read it.

• 1:21:22Alex Cooper?

  How did you throughout those years decide not to open it?

• 1:21:27Speaker 01

  I don't even know. Uh, there was no plan. It was just, it was just for me. I, I don't think I've ever been ready. I think like for everything I've gone through and how self-deprecating I am, I do think I'm emotionally pretty mature. And I think the one thing for me at least is, um, when I read it, I want it to mean everything to me. And I, I just think like right now where I am and everything I'm, I've accomplished, I think I'm proud of who I am and I want to read that in that state.

• 1:21:56Alex Cooper?

  Yeah. Did he give you this letter or did someone give it to you that they found it that he wrote it to you?

• 1:22:02Speaker 01

  The day he died, it was five fifteen in the morning. My mom comes in to wake me up and says, time, say goodbye to your dad. And I remember walking down the steps and he was dead and, um, yeah, I had just, I was sitting there just literally hitting him and just telling him to wake up and, um, after that I prayed and I, I, um, my mom handed all of us because my dad had written one for everyone. I was just thinking the other day, I was like, I, I have no idea how, I was so scared to, there, there was a, a, a award I was accepting and I was terrified to

• 1:22:46Speaker 01

  accept the award and the Grammys I was scared for. And I was thinking about it and I was like, my dad was fucking terrified, had to be. He was dying and he wrote these letters and he was strong enough and fearless enough to do that. I was like, if he can do that, I can do fucking anything. And so I just remember I read it when I was nine and I haven't read it since and I don't remember a single fucking thing.

• 1:23:11Alex Cooper?

  Are you going to play that song for him at the grave?

• 1:23:13Speaker 01

  Yeah. I played it for him already. I played it for him when I wrote it. I went, I went there after I wrote it. And I hadn't been to his grave in so long and I went and I just, I dropped to my knees and I broke down because all the graves were clean and everyone had flowers except for mine. And I, I had put, I was so selfish. I thought that I shouldn't go there if I wasn't ready. Needless to think that, but I went and I had, no one took care of it. It was dirty. It was whatever. And so I spent the day and I cleaned it and I went and bought flowers and I put it in. I sat there and I was like, Dad, I'm nominated for a Grammy.

• 1:23:52Speaker 01

  And I just, I spoke to him as if nothing ever happened and, um, and I played him the song. And now I feel like it's really nice that I get to go down there and say hi again. And, and I feel like that's like what I need at least is just to be able to like be there and talk to him.

• 1:24:07Alex Cooper?

  Yeah. Your dad, oh my God, he would be so proud of you.

• 1:24:11Speaker 01

  Hopefully, fuck.

• 1:24:11Alex Cooper?

  He would.

• 1:24:12Speaker 01

  He hated tattoos though, so I don't know.

• 1:24:14Alex Cooper?

  He'll be focused on the music.

• 1:24:16Speaker 01

  Right.

• 1:24:16Alex Cooper?

  Um, is there anything that you, leading up to rereading this, obviously I agree. Like I don't remember much at nine years old. Like, is there anything you're looking? Are you looking for anything when you read this letter that he wrote you? Are you hoping for anything to be in that letter?

• 1:24:34Speaker 01

  I think I'm.

• 1:24:39Speaker 01

  No, I, I just want, I think I spent my entire life pushing away the thought of my dad because it made it easier to digest, you know, the fact that I didn't have one. And now I'm so, this last year with Ordinary and everything and my life changing overnight. I feel as if I, I feel closer to my dad and I feel closer to my mom. I feel like I, I just want my dad, you know? And I think that's the hardest part is like, you know, I.

• 1:25:07Speaker 01

  I want to read this letter and feel closer to him. I want, the other day I read a bunch of letters that he had written, his best friend. And I just, I realized I write like him and I talk like him without ever actually being around him. So I just want to be able to read that letter and, and feel like I have a dad again, which is sad, but also, um, hopefully healing.

• 1:25:27Alex Cooper?

  I think it's so beautiful that you've been able to take this passion of yours and also pour so much of yourself into it. And, um, again, I know, like you've joked being like, oh my gosh, I always write about like my parents or all my situation or whatever. But like, again, like it is so relatable. This is, these are real life things that all of us go through. And there is no solve for losing a parent. There is no, you know, happily ever after when you're grieving something and it doesn't go away in a month or a year. Like it stays with you forever. But I think it's really inspiring to watch how you've been able to weave your passion and your art in a way that helps you heal, but also simultaneously is allowing

• 1:26:10Alex Cooper?

  other people to heal. Like for your fans who are watching this, like, is there anything you hope that they either take from that specific song or any of the songs that will come out on the album?

• 1:26:24Speaker 01

  I write the, yes, I want, everyone, especially with grief, no one talks about it, or everyone just kind of views it as something like to like shove off. You don't want to be that person in the room. You don't. And everyone always is like, oh, it gets better and all these things. And I say this all the time, it gets manageable. It's never going to get better. You will always have that piece of you missing. And there's going to be things that you remind you of them. And it happens to me all the time, but you start to, if you start to push it away and you don't talk about it, you don't consume things about it, and you don't talk about people, you start to forget the way that they smell, the way that they look, the way that they sound. And for me, if I'm going to have kids, I want them to know who their grandparents were. And so when I write these songs, it's like logs of kind of like, this is something where, at least for me, when I went through losing someone, I had no idea what that felt like.

• 1:27:09Speaker 01

  I had this feeling of this emptiness, but I couldn't explain that feeling. I couldn't, there was no outlet for me to listen to it or watch it. And so. When I make these songs, I'm hoping people who've lost someone can listen to that song and it allows them some sense of comfort. It's almost like a blanket to hold, but it doesn't necessarily make you warm.

• 1:27:24Alex Cooper?

  It's beautiful. It's, it's, um, it's become bigger than you, which is the goal, I think, whenever you're creating art, right?

• 1:27:32Speaker 01

  I love it when people play my song and they have no fucking idea it's me. Cause that means it did something. It went past whatever the fuck this is.

• 1:27:39Alex Cooper?

  And it's also just been so fun to watch, I think, for so many people, like your career and the trajectory and your story. Like, we're all rooting for you. And I think it's so fun, even with the Grammy moment. It's like, it was so in Alex Warren fashion.

• 1:27:55Speaker 01

  Right. Only that would happen to me. I literally got off stage and I was like, that only happened, of course.

• 1:28:00Alex Cooper?

  Only, of course, because it's like, you have been this like relatable, tangible person since day one, that you've been sharing your story on the internet. And so, of course, like if something's going to go wrong, the best part is that like, we all know you in a sense. So it's not like you're this like untouchable character. You're actually, you're Alex and we all are going to like, love you and cheer for you, even if you mess up or something doesn't go right. But I'm so happy that I got to talk to you today because I obviously know you've had massive success, but there's again, always a story underneath and, um, I really appreciate you opening up to me today. Cause I think a lot of your fans and my fans are going to just be so excited to hear this conversation.

• 1:28:42Speaker 01

  Not even a psychology degree? Nothing?

• 1:28:44Alex Cooper?

  Not, no.

• 1:28:45Speaker 01

  That's impressive. That's really impressive. Thank you so much for having me.

• 1:28:48Alex Cooper?

  I, I appreciate your time and congrats on all your success.

• 1:28:52Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 1:28:52Alex Cooper?

  Thank you, Alex.

• 1:29:08Alex Cooper?

  Call Her Daddy is brought to you by Klavio. So Klavio says it's your brand's best friend. Bold claim, but here's the thing. Klavio knows your brand, your tone, your customers, all your data in one place. Klavio's AI agents answer them 24/7 in your voice and build your campaign. From one prompt emails, texts and WhatsApp plus Klaviyo finds your next sale before you do. It's time to meet your new CRM BFF. Go to K L A V I Y O dot com slash best friends. Call Her Daddy is brought to you by Pandora Jewelry. I love to accessorize my outfits with jewelry,

• 1:29:51Alex Cooper?

  obviously, and I feel like all the time depending on my outfit, it's going to be kind of dependent on what jewelry I'm wanting to wear that day. Discover Pandora Talisman, a new collection design to help you express every side of who you are, because the most powerful statement you can make is being yourself, obviously. Daddy gang. They have meaningful Zodiac symbols and personalized jewelry pieces. Each design tells a story that's uniquely yours, a reflection of what you stand for, what you believe, and how you choose to show up every day. Pandora Talisman, a new language of self-expression, because every version of you deserves to be seen. Shop new styles in store or online at pandora dot net.

• 1:30:29Speaker 02

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