The recording studio is a place of magic and mystery, where artists find their creative groove and produce the music that resonates with millions around the world. Each artist has their unique ritual to get into the zone. Kelly Clarkson opts for a shot of olive oil to soothe her vocal cords, Stevie Nicks prefers the warmth of tequila, and John Legend indulges in a hearty rotisserie chicken. But what about Olivia Rodrigo, the breakout sensation of 2021? Her approach is refreshingly unconventional. Instead of relying on traditional rituals, she simply asks her producer, Daniel Nigro, to film her singing.
At first, Nigro couldn’t quite grasp the logic behind this unusual request. He explains, “I’m a person who buckles under pressure. You put me on camera and all of a sudden I get in my head and I can’t perform. But with Olivia, it’s the exact opposite. You’d say, ‘OK, we’re filming you, people are watching,’ and all of a sudden she gives the performance of a lifetime. It became a bit of a joke between us.”
Rodrigo’s approach is rooted in her background as an actress. She began her career in acting, starring in the Disney series “Bizaardvark” before moving on to the hit streaming show “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.” This background in acting has given her the ability to switch seamlessly into performance mode when the red recording light goes on.
“Acting definitely comes into play for me when I’m recording,” she admits. “I’m so into it; I will screw up my face and act out every word I’m singing.”
But don’t mistake her acting prowess for a lack of authenticity. Every note Rodrigo sings is steeped in raw emotion, and this authenticity is what sets her apart.
One of Rodrigo’s defining moments came with her debut single, “Drivers License.” Released in January, just a few weeks before her 18th birthday, the song quickly became an instant classic. It captured the heartbreak of Rodrigo passing her driver’s test, only to drive past the house of her ex, with whom she had once planned to celebrate. The song’s quietly heartbroken melody resonated with listeners worldwide.
In fact, “Drivers License” broke Spotify’s record for the most streams in a single day (excluding Christmas songs) and then surpassed its own record the following day. In the UK, it held the top spot on the charts for an astonishing nine weeks, and in the United States, Rodrigo became the first female artist to debut at number one since Lauryn Hill in 1998.
The weeks following the release of the single were a whirlwind for Rodrigo. She recalls, “There’s a feature on Spotify where you can see how many people are listening to a song at any given moment, and I remember going, ‘Oh my God, 60,000 people are listening to ‘Drivers License,’ right now.’ That was insane. I couldn’t wrap my head around that number.”
While some attributed the song’s success to the intrigue surrounding the lyrics, with fans speculating that it was about Joshua Bassett, Rodrigo’s co-star on “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” and a romantic rival described as a “blonde girl” who’s “so much older than me” (potentially Disney star Sabrina Carpenter), most listeners simply connected with the exquisite anguish in Rodrigo’s delivery.
“I personally always felt such a connection to that song,” she says. “I would listen to it in my car alone if I was feeling sad because it perfectly captured how I was feeling, in a way that songs I’d written before didn’t.”
The fact that millions of others felt the same way “reaffirmed this hypothesis I’ve had since I was a little kid, that vulnerability is always the most attractive thing in songwriting,” she adds.
A Natural Born Performer
Olivia Rodrigo’s journey in music began as early as she can remember. Growing up in Temecula, California, she would passionately sing along to songs like No Doubt’s “Bathwater” and the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army,” introduced to her by her mother, Sophia, a school teacher and an alternative rock fan.
She started taking vocal lessons as early as kindergarten, and by the age of eight, she was a regular participant in talent shows. Even at a young age, her ability to fully immerse herself in a song was evident.
“I was so dramatic,” she recalls with a laugh. “There are videos on YouTube of me singing, and I’m so into it. I act everything out, and I’m so performative. People always told my mom, ‘You should put her in acting lessons.'”
Before long, the family was making the 90-mile trek to Los Angeles for auditions. In 2016, at the age of 12, Rodrigo was cast in the Disney Channel series “Bizaardvark,” where she played Paige Olvera, a teenager who posts humorous songs and videos online. This role required her to learn to play the guitar, a skill she would later carry over to her role in “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.”
When the creators of the show discovered Rodrigo’s budding musical talent, they encouraged her to write songs for the series. One of her songs, a powerful ballad called “All I Want,” garnered millions of streams and became a minor chart hit.
However, it was a different song that set the stage for her extraordinary solo career. In January 2020, during a break in filming, Rodrigo sat down with her guitar and penned a lyric about watching her ex move on.
“Find someone great but don’t find no one better / I hope you’re happy, but don’t be happier.”
She posted a clip of the song on Instagram, where it caught the attention of Daniel Nigro, a songwriter and producer who had previously worked with artists like Lewis Capaldi and Carly Rae Jepsen.
Nigro remembers the moment vividly, saying, “It was a combination of the way she sang it, the intensity in her voice, and the lyric. It just hit me, and I was like, ‘This is it.'”
He immediately sent her a direct message, and they quickly arranged to work together. However, their collaboration was temporarily put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several months later, amidst strict safety protocols, they finally came together in Nigro’s home studio to bring Rodrigo’s song sketches to life. One of the key aspects of their working relationship was Nigro’s honesty and willingness to push Rodrigo to do her best.
“Dan was one of the only people I worked with who told me, ‘You can do better than that. That’s not your best,'” Rodrigo recalls. “And I was like, ‘Oh wow, OK, this is how I’m going to get better as a songwriter.'”
Nigro emphasizes that Rodrigo’s attention to detail is extraordinary. The initial draft of “Drivers License” that she brought to the studio was nearly complete. They collaborated to refine the chorus for a more significant sense of release, and they crafted the spine-tingling middle section (“red light, stop signs”) to set the stage for the final, emotionally charged chorus. However, the essence of the song remained largely unchanged from what listeners heard on the radio.
“She takes songwriting more seriously than anybody I’ve ever met,”