Charlie Puth on New Baby Boy Jude, Playing Music in the Delivery Room & Working with Amazing Artists

Popular singer and songwriter who can play any instrument he could write a symphony with a hammer and a light switch This is his new album. It's called whatever's clever. It comes out tomorrow. Please welcome Charlie Puth What does it feel like to be a dad now for almost two weeks? It's Very fun. Yeah, because my son just happens to love the piano. Does he really at 13 days? Well, you know babies are trying to figure out their Digestive systems. Oh, yeah. Yeah, they're trying to figure out that like they don't know yet that you don't have to squeeze so hard to make something happen and What ends up happening whenever I play You know some Beatles like hey Jude, which is convenient Which is what you yeah when you posted about the baby on Instagram loves it on a in a flat major like I play So he's kind of a he's playing a wind instrument while you're playing the yeah, yeah pianos for poops Are you very hopeful that he will have this ability that you have? I mean sure, but Didn't grow up to be whatever he wants to be. But yes in the back of in the left hand. Yeah in my mind I secretly hope that he'll enjoy it. It's fun. Right you share that and to have that experience with him Yeah, yeah, and are you gonna name all your children after Beatles songs? I don't know. Um, my wife was in my ear before she was like, don't don't give away any more names Oh, yeah, did you give this one away earlier? No accidentally, but like it's all how is your wife Brooke is your wife? How's she good? She's at home with Jude right now. I get to Go see him right after this in her after this her mom's there, too Oh, you really didn't take any paternity leave at all. Did you not really I'm going on a world tour. Yeah Like did you you guys were you in the delivery room or just right there in the recording studio I Was I was in the delivery room I burping Jude and eating a Taco Bell much to the dismay of my trainer and You know, it's stressful. I wanted to some comfort food. That's right. Um, but yeah in the hospital I bought all the nurses and doctors McDonald's and Domino's and other you did Just to get a little extra special attention there just in case we hit that call button But you know, it's we were the only ones in the we were the only ones in the section of the oh, that's nice That's nice. Did you play any music in the in the delivery room? Yes, it was a But it's it's so funny. This is you. Yes What my what my life feels like two weeks as a dad even before I was feeling this too Everything has lined up so well Musically even at the Super Bowl I wanted to I wanted to I wanted it to sound the national anthem to sound just like I it sounded in my head and I knew that when Jude was born we were gonna play. Hey Jude in The delivery room and all the nurses and doctors are gonna sing And that's exactly that's exactly what happened You were great with the national anthem that your national anthem was really beautiful, yeah Well, you really I can see you're getting emotional thinking about it well because it's it's really music is such an amazing thing and I've the whole reason why I make music and make albums and Go on world tours weeks after my first child is born is because I want to spread the word that Making art is the most important thing that you can do Well Your tour will start in a few weeks, right? Yes So will you go along with you and not in the very beginning? But maybe a couple you're gonna have a hard time with that. I know I can tell right now it's gonna it's what what being away From him. Yeah. Yeah Yeah, you're gonna have to play only happy songs on this tour because it's gonna be difficult Otherwise, so so grateful that I wrote so many breakup anthems in 2018 What was your what was your first concert that you went to as a kid? 1997 at the Garden State Arts Center, James Taylor James Taylor is one of my very favorites and you have a great song with James Taylor I do we wrote a song called change on my second album voice notes and I got to see James and his band recently He's just he's the best voice ever the best voice ever and just the best guy ever also, right? There's a lot like the the best guy ever Let's see shovels his own snow in his house in the Berkshires and even in summer. He does that even even in summer But like I'm obsessed with like 1988 1990s James Taylor me to copper line ever die young ever die. Yeah. Oh, yeah Oh, yeah, we could really get go deep on this you and I yeah I feel like you're living like if I could sing at all or had any musical ability I'd be doing exactly the things that you're doing singing with James Taylor Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins is on the new on this album I know and by the way, I said when you should gave a little snippet of that on Instagram a few months ago Yeah, I was out of my mind excited. I think I wrote something. I saw your car. I almost never do you know? Is like I woke I was sleeping I woke up and I knew I had to go to my phone and do that Look was like Jimmy Kimmel just commented on your post Person out of ten people and all the superfans and and Jimmy well I'm excited about her night and this song is really great, too It's not just a like oh you just did it with with those guys. How did that come together? well Mike and Kenny kind of lit we all live in a similar area in Santa Barbara and We all just it's kind of an anticlimactic story we just like texted each other and like you want to come over and write this song Mike was like can we get coffee first and We got mochas and oh, I just I started playing this little pattern that they were I mean They're used to recording with like, you know band and everything was just me and my computer. I was typing in the drums like So we had that beat and then I started playing this thing Like doobie brothers right in there like we kind of did that already and then Kenny And then Kenny came up Kenny came up to me and whispered kind of loudly in my ear and was like I think you should let Mike play And I was like, okay. Yeah, and Mike got on my Rhodes 88 keyboard and started playing And he started he started singing what change and I'm like what change you like what change we started communicating in song Like I thought you were yeah, I thought you were with it that's like And we just started we just brought we because I started producing hip-hop when I was like 15 years old So I always anytime I'm producing a pop record country record anything. I always have the hip-hop sample based approach. So I found myself Taking Mike's keyboard and then dragging it like I would when I'm producing like a Hip-hop record and looping it and looping it over and over again and we're suddenly writing a song like I'm writing a song with Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins like like they used to write in the 70s But now it's just instead of the band right there. We ended up replaying everything with a band but well, you've really the two patron saints of Yachtrock you've sung with yeah, Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins. You've got to do something with a Christopher cross next I think I I definitely would oh, you know the story about how the the sailing song came about they accidentally the you know how that's sailing You know how it starts off with the Yeah they accidentally Took the tape when they use tape and put it over here and it and it just happened to fall perfectly on beat So it was a happy accident It's probably one of the best songs ever written all Just because of an accident and I realized that a lot of the best pieces of music came about because of happy Accidents because we're not it's they say to write a song you have to like not write a song You're not really like you're kind of tapping into your subconscious. Yeah, am I losing you? No, you're not the opposite of losing me I Your son's a lucky kid I will say that you um, is there anybody else like on your list that you're like Oh my god I mean because I would think that this would be a very positive experience for them because I think you approach this in a very different way than then Anybody does absolutely. I mean music is my manifestation tool So if I if I want Kenny G Kenny G's on the album as well, right Kenny G to play a saxophone solo I take a YouTube video of Kenny Playing from like 1995 and then melodyning the notes And like then sending it to him as an example of something that he could play way better That's that weird little like Japanese horn thing was a soprano saxophone. I don't know if it might be Japanese. I don't know Yeah, I sent it to him and then he got really excited by it and and played the same thing with Jeff Goldblum Jeff Goldblum is also on the album I just you just explain musically what you want to happen and then these artists were like, yeah, well, I'll do it one better Um, I I haven't done that with a Billy Joel though. I would really love to that would be great I bet you and Billy would get along really well. I think so too. Yeah, I opened for him in 2016 Supposed to open for him twice, but the the second show got rained out. Wow. I'm starting to sound like unk. I have some stories Listen the second show getting rained out could be where you start with the song with Billy, you know, yeah Yeah, and I'd love you to include me in that Well, it's great you're gonna sing for us a little bit later with Coco Joe Coco's here this is the album It's called whatever is clever. It comes out tomorrow