Selena Gomez: Emotional Interview
Learn English with Selena Gomez. Selena Gomez sits down with Zane Lowe to speak about her major milestones in the music industry and the unique challenges she faced in the process of achieving such a feat. She discusses her struggles with anxiety and dealing with being exposed to the public eye for so many years as well as overcoming that struggle by channeling it into two new singles, ‘Lose You To Love Me’ and ‘Look At Her Now’. Selena also speaks about how her decade-long friendship with Taylor Swift has been truly inspirational to her especially during her tough times when she feels like giving up.
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Selena Gomez:
“I live my life and nothing is going to dictate how I feel unless I let it.” Selena Gomez
Selena Gomez – FULL TRANSCRIPT:
“Zane Lowe:
You said it happened by accident. You said the songs just, I guess, got finished and in this day and age, why hold on to them?
Selena Gomez:
I had been working on the album for four years. I didn’t want to release anything that was mine just because I didn’t feel like it was the right timing. I learned a lot from the last album and I wanted to take what I’ve learned and turned it into something even better. And I’m glad I did, because this year, everything kind of just started pouring out of me. I started saying things and in a way that I’ve never been able to articulate them before. So it was actually exactly when it needed to happen. Like I told you earlier, we shot the videos just a week ago, and that’s really unheard of.
Zane Lowe:
What got you to a place where you could start to tell your truth?
Selena Gomez:
I’ve… I’ve been in therapy for years. I’ve also taken breaks and gone places to recollect my thoughts and my emotions and my well-being. And but I’ve always been pretty transparent about what I’ve what I’ve gone through. I just… I just choose how I’m going to do it. Because it would be inauthentic for me to just not say what I felt in the beginning of the year or last year, or it just wouldn’t seem real to me.
Zane Lowe:
Lose You To Love Me right here. Beautiful video. If you haven’t seen, you must go do it or shot on iPhone. We’re proud to be able to play a part in that. Shasta, David, Tyler and the whole crew.
Zane Lowe:
Yeah, it’s it’s a beautiful, honest piece of music, and I wonder what your relationship is like when you’re writing a song like that, knowing that the kind of human being that you are with the level of passion that you are still in your fanbase and also the level of attention that comes with that. If that ever affects your creative process, I know you try to block it out, but does it sneak itself in?
Selena Gomez:
I mean, I’ve spent years living in fear of speaking up or saying things, and I guess that’s just the people pleaser in me. And there was a huge moment where I just… I just kind of stopped caring. And I can’t tell you when that moment lies, I really can’t. But, it’s not that I’m trying to make it specifically about just one subject in my life, it’s more just how I embody all of the experiences into one.
Zane Lowe:
We spoke a little bit about some of the artists in the music that moved you when you were younger and you mentioned several timeless influences Brad, Fleetwood Mac. How does a young artist or young person who loves that kind of music find themselves in this whirlwind of fast-paced pop culture, where that’s… where it’s bright and colorful and sparkly and smiley? Those are artists that break hearts.
Selena Gomez:
My mom was in theater and she, I mean, she just had this, this huge music library. I mean, from Ella Fitzgerald to Reba McEntire to, you know, then again, going to Frank Sinatra, the Eagles and all of that, my mom, Rolling Stones, she was very much…
Zane Lowe:
She’s a song fan.
Selena Gomez:
Oh, for sure. And I definitely get some of that from her. But then my dad was a deejay. So he, he would do all kinds of stuff, and he was on the radio for a bit doing Tejano music and so I had this experience in my life where I experience the beautiful colors of music and where it can take you. And I think it naturally happened for me. I remember I wanted to be like Paramore at one point. I thought, “This is my lane. I feel it.’ That lasted about three months.
Zane Lowe:
We’re big Paramore fans here.
Selena Gomez:
I literally love her.
Zane Lowe:
So I guess we should focus on that song, Look At Her Now. I mean, that really is the that’s a moment of absolute self-empowerment. You need to know who you are that moment in time to make that song believable.
Selena Gomez:
Yeah. I just got weird. I just got really complicated. And I started noticing that my life just became a story. And it was entertainment. And I was really, I was, I was just not OK with that because it was real and it was very real to me. That’s the time I needed to just say, I’m not going to be a part of this anymore. How am I going to not be afraid to share what I feel just because I’m mad at what the world is doing? It’s, it’s not really going to get me anywhere, and everything that I do is with good intention.
Zane Lowe:
I’m going to play something right now, which I think is going to qualify that now. This is good. So I’m going to take my mic down for the purposes of it and then reflect in a second. But you know, this voice.
Taylor Swift:
It’s the best thing she’s ever done. She came over. She played me the video. It’s just, I’m so proud of her. She’s been through so much. I’ve watched so much happen in her life and had a front-row seat to so much, and I’m so proud of her. I’m really excited because when somebody has had great life experience, has had, you know, really tough things they’ve had to go through and they can process that and make art that’s going to help other people. That’s what kind of song this is. I’m stoked.
Selena Gomez:
Taylor… You know, that was very sweet.
Zane Lowe:
You’ve known each other for a long time?
Selena Gomez:
Yeah, about 13 years.
Zane Lowe:
The challenge and the triumphs of sharing these things with friends. I mean, without them, where do we go?
Selena Gomez:
I don’t know. And I really don’t.
Zane Lowe:
Know what kind of friend has she been to through those times?
Selena Gomez:
Amazing! For sure, she was frustrated when I was frustrated. She was sad and I was sad. But more than anything, my friends stood by my side when I think they’ve, they visibly saw me in so much pain. And they didn’t want it for me, but they… Sorry…
Zane Lowe:
Oh no, it’s…
Selena Gomez:
They never stopped loving me. And I played her the song, and I played it with her mom and dad, and I showed her the video and her mom and, and Taylor started crying. And it wasn’t because the song was emotional. It was just because the first thing they said to me was, ‘We’re so happy that you’re here.’ After seeing all of that, this is such a cool moment. And that’s, that’s, that’s a huge thing for me. So down to my friends back home, my family, my papa crying, saying, ‘I hate that you went through what you went through. It breaks my heart, but I’m so proud of you.’ So…
Zane Lowe:
This is real-life stuff. So much of what you go through as a person ends up in these three or four-minute songs and we forget you there. And what takes to get to a point where that piece of music matters to you enough to share it?
Selena Gomez:
Yeah. That’s the topics I’m interested in. You know, I have another song that’s strictly about vulnerability, and that was a version of me actually having fun with it, saying ‘I could be knocked down repeatedly, but I’m never going to not be vulnerable.’ And, you know, I always say this, you know, one of the worst moments of my life ended up being the biggest blessing that I’ve ever had. I was set free and I and I think even from stuff that I had been experiencing…
Zane Lowe:
Do you think is wrong to me to ask what that was?
Selena Gomez:
I mean, but here’s the thing it’s not anything like we’re going to dissect. It’s more my life. It’s more actually working since I was seven. Being away from my family, moving from Texas to here, experiencing fame, being awkward because you’re growing up. And I think, I think I was scared of it and I probably hated most of it. But with that time that I’ve been given, I’ve just been able to come out on the other side and be OK. I don’t really know how, other than all the work that I did. Meaning, brands, therapy, taking time off, going back to Texas, just enjoying what’s right in front of me. I don’t crave needing more. I don’t need more of anything. But it’s it’s actually been great because that means I’m doing something good. And yeah, you know, that’s all I can do.
Zane Lowe:
You don’t crave or need more of anything like, you don’t crave a bit like Häagen-Dazs? I crave so every cheesecake.
Selena Gomez:
Whoa, whoa, whoa. If we’re talking about cravings, of course I do. I mean…
Zane Lowe:
What’s your ice cream flavor?
Selena Gomez:
Rocky Road.
Zane Lowe:
Standard.
Selena Gomez:
Wow, you’re really going to hit me with that?
Zane Lowe:
Well, man, you got to go for like the Deluxe Edition with a little crunchy bits of biscuit.
No, because… You can add brownies and you can add whipped cream, and you can add all different types.
Zane Lowe:
Oh! You don’t put whipped cream on your ice cream.
Selena Gomez:
I 100% do, and I’m not going to let you judge me for that.
Zane Lowe:
I’m judging. I’m judging.
Zane Lowe:
Then I judge you for the stain on your shirt.”[/read]
Selena Gomez
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