Audrey Hobert on Touring, Learning From Gracie Abrams and Malcolm Todd

As Audrey Hobert took the stage at The Wiltern in L.A.’s Koreatown on Tuesday night, she was met with cheers of excitement that grew louder when Hobert appeared onstage, decked out in a trench coat with a banjo in hand. Oh, did we mention she was on stilts?

It’s the sort of circus-like gambit perfect for an act currently in support of a debut album called Who’s The Clown, and not the only schtick Hobert pulls out during the night. One band member on the road with her has been tasked with handling her props.

Later in the show, she breaks out a trampoline for a rendition of her song “Sue Me.” She bounces along to the song’s opening notes and whips her legs up to hit several splits in a row — all while in a dress — before dismounting to begin singing. Hobert ends the show with a literal encore of the hit track, in which she instructs the audience to put their phone down for the second round. The crowd, screaming along with nearly every word, loves it, so clearly those ideas are working out.

“Nothing is as fun as having my own ideas and then trying it and seeing what works,” Hobert tells The Hollywood Reporter on a Zoom just before the tour’s kickoff. If there’s something her show makes clear, Audrey Hobert is firmly in the driver’s seat in every facet of her career.

The pop singer-songwriter, in the midst of her Staircase to Stardom tour, has been at the head of planning the nearly hour-long stage show. “It’s hard for me to hand off anything,” the 27-year-old admits. She’s not doing it all alone, though; she credits her “strong” and “funny” team for helping bring the show to life.

Last year, Hobert released Who’s the Clown, and it was quickly met with critical acclaim for the album’s catchy tracks and relatable and earnest lyrics. “Sue Me,” the album’s most popular offering, is a perfect example — “Sue me, I wanna be wanted,” she repeats throughout the song’s chorus.

Hobert’s success should come as no surprise to anyone who had been paying attention. The singer has been immersed in entertainment her whole life. An NYU graduate and daughter of television writer Tim Hobert, Audrey started her career writing for TV before pivoting to songwriting. She teamed up with her childhood friend, Gracie Abrams, to pen several songs on the singer’s second album, The Secret of Us, including the hit song “I Love You, I’m Sorry.” Her brother, Malcolm Todd, is similarly one of the fastest rising acts in the industry.

As Hobert continues her tour and moves towards a hearty Grammy campaign, she spoke with THR about crafting The Staircase to Stardom tour, what she learned about understanding her own career from Abrams and Todd and her recent “devastating” recent tarot card reading.

Your live show is definitely growing in scale. How have your previous live shows influenced the direction of this tour?

It’s all about getting your sea legs. You can be a natural [and] you might have seen a lot of concerts, therefore feel like you would know how to do your own. Those are definitely two things I felt. But until you’re up there doing it, you don’t really know what’s going to land. My goal and the thing I’m most interested in is getting people in and out, for the time I’m on stage having their attention and being as in control as I can possibly be without taking away what’s amazing about a concert, which is you’re there having your own experience. I’ve learned a lot, and I’m implementing it into the rest of the year. I also figure that changing stuff, adding stuff or taking things out, it’s only going to lend itself to me having a better time. I just want to keep it as fresh and exciting as I possibly can for myself and for everyone else. It’s interesting to watch what everybody else does, and then take that into account too. But nothing is as fun as having my own ideas and then trying it and seeing what works.

How are you feeling about everything these days going from TV writing to making music with Gracie Abrams and now for yourself?

I don’t know. Anyone knows as well as I do. I like to plan. When I jumped into this about a year ago, I recall a time before I’d signed any sort of deal. My lawyer said to me, “Audrey, you have to be sure you want to do this.” I was just kind of like, “Yeah, of course. No questions. Yes. Duh.” It’s interesting, a year later, noticing the lifestyle, mental repercussions, the capital P-pressures and having to just digest it all without becoming a narcissist. I don’t know what’s going to happen.

As a writer, you’re a bit removed from the outside. But when you’re making music for yourself, you don’t really have that.

I’m so glad I’m the face of it. I had a devastating tarot card reading the other day at an event. Who knows, but she said, “You’re going to have to be out in the world a lot this year.” I thought, no, no, no, no, no. I don’t want to be out in the world. I want to go away. I’m ready. And you don’t have a choice. You have to figure out how to do both.

How do you deal with that? Suddenly people are in your business and commenting on you.

I’ve also seen it with my brother. I’ve seen it with Gracie. I know that response is a thing. It was not something I considered beyond being so excited for people to love my music. But there are tips and ways you can just kind of ignore it, straight up. You control how much time you spend online. That was something I figured out pretty early on, that if I’m alone in my house, I can actually be alone in my house. All I have to do is not look at my phone, which seems like a tall order these days. It also seems it’s become pretty integral into a fast track to success. You just have to decide if you want it or not. This job can go any way you want it to. All you have to do is know what you want.

You previously spoke about being on The Tonight Show and having people say they thought you were doing a shtick or a bit. But you said you were trying hard because you didn’t know if it was going to happen again. We’re in a weird time where trying hard can be seen as uncool. How do you feel about it all?

I realize that I can often bring up a perception of me on my own volition, and as each day goes by, I feel how little it matters. I do also think there is some truth to what you said, about it sort of being not as cool to try hard. I mostly see it as cycles of something that could be in. I think that there is this evasive, provocative, abstract… There’s something prevalent about that right now in music. That doesn’t mean it’s bad. That person can be trying as hard as they possibly can, but I think you don’t become successful unless you try hard. It’s just what’s in, what’s not in. I don’t think that really applies to my Jimmy Fallon performance necessarily, but I had a lot of fun. It’s true that I was going to do exactly [what I wanted]. I knew I wanted it to be scaled down. I knew I didn’t want a lot of lot of production going on behind me, so that’s just what I did.

Are you able to write these days as you’re heading out on tour?

Yes. It’s super important to me. It’s also kind of impossible to explain what it’s like to do something for a second time without sounding like, again, narcissist. There are some choice people in my life who I try and talk to about the neuroses. Otherwise, I just want to spare people from, perhaps, what my true personality is, which is totally concerned. Then, sometimes, at the drop of a hat, I’m not concerned at all.

Do you still have intentions to write for others even as you continue to write for yourself?

It depends on how it comes about. I always love writing with people who are really good. It’s fun in a different way than it is to write alone, so I could so see it happening.

Would you want to do theater or even something outside of the theater space?

Totally. I feel open. It would just have to be the right thing. If anyone thinks of me for anything, just let me know.