Grace Weber’s journey in the music industry has been an amazing ride. From her appearance on Oprah in college to collaborating with Chance the Rapper and winning a Grammy with him and Kanye to signing with (and parting ways with) Capitol Records. And now, with the release of her new album “Paper Flower,” Grace continues to evolve and make waves in the industry. We also talk mental health and go behind the scenes of the music industry. We cover it all and more on this episode of Milwaukee Uncut that you won’t want to miss.
Milwaukee Uncut is produced in the heart of Walker’s Point by Story Mark Studios: https://storymarkstudios.com/
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Transcript
Grace Weber: I got surprised by an Oprah camera crew. A week later, I was on Oprah, and Oprah gave me like a side hug. No Chance walked into the room like a few weeks into working on the project and ended up asking if he could put it on his album, and it was all we got with Kanye. He wins a Grammy, I win a Grammy because of it.
Richie Burke: Hey everyone, it’s your host Richie Burke and welcome back to this episode of Milwaukee Uncut. Today we have Grammy award winning musician Grace Weber who was nice enough to drop by the studio while she was in town performing at the Pabst. She’s got some mind blowing stories from going on Oprah while she was in college to collaborating on multiple shows.
the rapper to getting signed and eventually parting ways with Capitol Records. She’s even got her own mural in Milwaukee and a new album, Paper Flower, that recently came out. Also want to give a shout out to her amazing dad and Milwaukee legend, Ralph Weber, Raweb, who was in the studio for this recording.
It was, it was great seeing him. Big fan of that guy. Before we dive in, just a reminder that Milwaukee Uncut is produced by Storymark Studios, right in the heart of Walker’s Point. In partnership with on Milwaukee and sponsored by central standard distillery I did go to the central standard craft house for dinner before grace’s concert when she was in town Had a nice date night with brie highly recommend the craft house then going to an event combo had a great time And some more milwaukee uncut news.
We’ve decided to bring on another sponsor Nicolet law fear the beard The guy on the billboards, he’s a, he’s a real human being, Russell Nicolay. He’s not just a cartoon. I had some conversations with him and learn more about his brand, what he’s building, and we are excited to announce Nicolay Law as a new sponsor of the Milwaukee Uncut Podcast.
We’ll have some fun segments with him in the future. Thanks again for tuning in today. Let’s dive in with Grace Weber.
Grace Weber: So born and raised in Milwaukee, Wauwatosa. Honestly, like I don’t even remember when I started singing like I feel like I was singing around the house by the time I was like three my dad can attest My siblings, you know, I’d be singing in the shower like Constantly before school and like taking up the shower time, you know of like needing to get ready for school And i’m just in there like And they’re like stop singing I need to get in the shower so it’s just been like a part of who I am since forever and my Grandpa is super musical was super musical.
He had 10 kids. My mom was one of 10. My dad is one of nine. So I have like literally I think I have 70 cousins with all of their married. Partners, so But yeah, so all my aunts and uncles learned instruments growing up. So christmases and thanksgiving was always singing around the piano So it was always, you know music was a part of my family.
Growing up experience and then You When I was nine, eight, nine, I performed for the first time at my school talent show. I went to St. Jude’s. And I’m going to sing a Celine Dion song. I actually peed in my pants a little bit, which was a very exciting moment for a seven year old. No one knew, but it was a moment that I recovered from through a lot of therapy.
No, I’m just kidding. But but yeah. You
Richie Burke: just hope no one notices.
Grace Weber: Yeah, no, I was like, if I can get through that, I can get through anything, you know? I was like, okay, now I can sing on any It is good to overcome adversity at a young age. At a young age. But I sang a Celine Dion song and my teacher came up to me afterwards and she was like, She was crying.
And I was like, why are you crying? Oh my God. And she was like, your song and your voice moved me. And I just remember it sort of being this like, aha moment of, whoa, like music is really powerful. And from there, you know, I sang national anthems in the city, at the Panther Arena and, you know, the Bucs Arena, or Bucs Stadium and everything.
And I joined the Central City Youth Choir here, which is a huge moment for me, like where I really, Discovered myself as a singer and what I loved about performing because in the gospel choir, it’s very interactive So, you know you’re singing and the audience the people, you know in the church are singing right back with you And they’re saying yes go do and that’s just what I loved and love about performing I really like, you know, getting the audience to sing with me and getting you know to know them throughout the show So yeah, Milwaukee You Maki is my home.
It’s where I literally became the singer and the person that I am.
Richie Burke: Did you go to college or did you just start singing right away and know you wanted to do this professionally?
Grace Weber: Yeah, I mean I knew I wanted to do it professionally, but I did go to school. I went to NYU and I was in the musical theater program.
And then I realized that, you know, musical theater wasn’t really what I wanted to do. So I switched into Gallatin at NYU, which is like the music Well, actually, Gallatin, you can make any major that you want. And so I made a major around like music business and visual art and singing. And going to NYU and living in New York was a huge part of my career.
development to being able to be a professional singer and artist, because at the end of high school, like I wasn’t ready for that. I didn’t know myself yet. I wouldn’t have been able to handle the industry and all these things. And so college was super important for me. And it’s where I, you know, started performing in New York at all these cool venues and just starting to like, I had my first band and started writing music.
And it was just such a, you know, My development was, I wouldn’t be here today with not, like, living in New York and going to NYU and just becoming who I am. What was
Richie Burke: that like, going from Milwaukee to being in your late teens, early 20s, performing at, I’m guessing, kind of hole in the wall venues in New York City, but it must have
Grace Weber: Oh yeah, it was so cool.
I remember the first week I was there in New York, I called my mom like crying and I was like, I can’t do this, New York is like so intense or whatever. And she was like, you know, just dig into it, you got this. And so once I sort of like committed to being a New Yorker and like really like digging my feet into the city like, I loved it.
I loved New York. I loved living there. And yeah, I performed at the Bitter End in the West Village. That was like one of my first cool performances when I was in college and it’s a legendary venue. It’s very like gritty, you know, it’s it’s all these cool performers that perform there. It’s one of those bars, you know, you walk in it like It smells like beer, but it just like feels so good, you know, and yeah, it was so cool to start feeling like, okay, I can do this as an original artist, you know, someone who’s writing their own music.
I think up to that point, I had had so many cool experiences as a singer you know, singing on Oprah and show Timothy Paul and all these cool things, but living in New York and performing at these venues was where I was like, Oh, okay, I can be an artist. Like, I can really. do this outside of just being a singer.
So, yeah.
Richie Burke: You just glossed over performing on Oprah. Yeah. Which is kind of a big deal. Yeah. Was that while you were in college or when did that happen and how did that come about?
Grace Weber: Yeah, it was crazy because Oprah so she had this, this You know, we’re at the end of the episode. She was like, I’m doing a karaoke challenge.
It’s called Oprah’s karaoke challenge. I want you to apply, go to the website, you know, upload a video of you singing and you might get a chance to be on the show. And so my friends were like, you got to do it. You should do it. I was like, okay, whatever. So I uploaded the video of me singing natural woman, Aretha Franklin.
And I remember even when I hit the upload button, the website kind of like glitched or something. I didn’t even know if it for sure went through. Yeah, I guess it was, yeah, like 2009 maybe. And so I didn’t even know if it went through. I was like, yeah, well, whatever. And then a few weeks later I got surprised by an Oprah camera crew in the subway, New York City subway system.
And they were like, you’re gonna be on Oprah! There were all these like lights and stuff. I was like, oh my god, like I’m gonna be on the Oprah Winfrey show. And then a week later I was on Oprah and Oprah gave me like a side hug and it was amazing and like, boom! Completely terrifying and life changing and, and all the things.
Yeah, You
Richie Burke: didn’t know it was coming? There was just a camera crew in the subway? There was
Grace Weber: a camera crew. Well, my
Richie Burke: Waiting for you?
Grace Weber: Yeah. My college roommate got contacted by the show, because I had to put like two contacts in there, and I think it was probably my parents, and maybe they called my roommate. I don’t really remember exactly how it worked, but they set up the surprise through her.
And so actually, she like walked me to the subway because she wanted to get like lunch or something. Right before we went down the stairs, she was like, okay, listen, I have to tell you, like, like there’s like an over camera crew down there. I was like, what are you saying? You’re just like, yeah, you got picked for that thing.
And so I like was kind of prepared for it, but also like even more like, Oh my God, how the heck am I going to handle this? And, well, yeah, it was, it was incredible. It was funny, fun, random, amazing. All those things. How
Richie Burke: nerve wracking was that going on there?
Grace Weber: It was terrifying. Like, it was my first big performance like that, like, on a TV show like that, like, Oprah Winfrey.
And, you know, I was on all the, like, local news stations here doing interviews and, you know Billy Ray Cyrus was one of the coaches, Gladys Knight, Ashford and Simpson, and it was, it was also, like, a karaoke challenge, so they were, like, judging you, and And they picked winners and stuff at the end.
And so How many
Richie Burke: people and coaches got on this thing?
Grace Weber: There were like, I want to say 13, 12, 13 of us from around the country. And they actually gave us names. Like there was like, The cowboy, the Midwestern girl. I was the mid Midwestern girl.
Richie Burke: That was That was your nickname? That was my nickname.
Literally the Midwestern girl. The Midwestern girl. Nice, nice. So like my favorite, like very creative. Yes,
Grace Weber: I know, right? I was like, and they, that my backstory was very Midwest. It was like. You know, she basically like I grew up on a farm even though I did not grow up on a farm But they they really you know honed in on that but did ralph make
Richie Burke: an appearance in the trailer ralph
Grace Weber: Yeah, ralph.
Oh, yeah ralph made an appearance on the show. He was in the audience with my mom you know, they panned to the To the parents you have to have the parents moment and they were very proud. What do
Richie Burke: your friends call him again?
Grace Weber: raw web
Richie Burke: Okay I went raw off which was incorrect. So yeah It’s like
Grace Weber: Raw web, he’s just he’s the boss.
That’s what they They think he’s just they think he’s like just such a baller. He has that energy We can mic him up
Richie Burke: if we need to and bring him off the bench
So you got on there you didn’t you did not make it through but you still walked away with like 25 grand, right? Yeah,
Grace Weber: that was the other crazy thing. Is that at that age? That’s pretty sweet. It was nuts and we were surprised you know, like so we I made it through like the first round and and When we did the moment of like, you know, say goodbye to this, these guys, whatever.
She was like, and I have a surprise for you. And she’s like, you each are getting 25, 000 and people, someone walked out with a check, the 25, 000 check in their hand, and we were all like, what the hell? Like, it was insane. And it definitely was, like, not that it wasn’t worth it before that, like, it was, you know, Incredible, but then that moment like the level was already here I didn’t think that it could go up and then it went like, you know, 25 000 above that And I wrote oprah a thank you note For the money, I don’t know if she ever got it, but I was like, dear Oprah, thank you for the experience and giving me 25, 000.
I think I sent it to like, the Oprah network, you know, if you’re watching Oprah. I’m sure
Richie Burke: she has it framed somewhere. Yeah, some, someday we’re
Grace Weber: going to meet, she’d be like, oh, you’re the one that wrote me the thank you note. Yeah, it’s framed. That’s
Richie Burke: very nice of you.
Grace Weber: You know, you’re supposed to write a Someone 25 grand, you should write them a nice thank you card.
Yeah, I was raised for that.
Richie Burke: What did that do to your career right after? Did you get the flood of attention that people think you get after you appear on a show like that?
Grace Weber: Yeah, yeah, I mean it was, it was a lot of pressure that I don’t think I was like ready for at that point. And like people in my class were like, you know, you were on Oprah, like my teachers were like, This is the girl that was on Oprah.
And so, and it kind of became like a, not like a shtick at all, but it was just like, like you’re on Oprah. It’s just such like a, a random, amazing thing. And so, yeah, I did like label meetings. I met with Universal and I had like managers kind of coming out of the woodwork and it was amazing because it gave me like this lesson, life lesson of like, My first introduction, introduction to the industry, but it was also kind of this learning moment of like, okay, like this is intense.
And like, how do you get yourself in the right head space and like, you know, art space and heart space and all these like, you know, physical and mental spaces to be able to handle that. Yeah, and it was so fun and that kind of launched everything from there. That’s how I. started a real career and got a team around me and yeah, it was awesome.
Richie Burke: And how did your career progress from
Grace Weber: there? From there, I mean, one of the, the big like turning points for me was when I met the Social Experiment Chance’s production crew. So it was Nate Fox, Nico Siegel, and Peter Cottontail. And they produced Acid Rap by Chance, which was like his first really big project that he put out.
Maybe this was in. 2015 I think he put that out and I heard the project And the first song in the project is called good ass intro and it’s like this gospel Gospel choir sounds with like hip hop and R& B and like everything that I was Hoping to put into my music and trying to figure out, you know, how do I incorporate like gospel sounds not in a religious way but like Just that those types of choral sounds with the r& b thing that I want to do And with like a current a current sound too.
Like I think up to that point I had really been Doing more of like an old school soul thing kind of like Adele or like really trying to find my sound that was like who I am as an artist. And so when I heard Good Ass Intro on Chance’s, you know, project, I was like, Who are these producers? This is who I want to work with.
This is who I want to develop my sound with. Like, I don’t want to sound like anyone else except for me. So I put some feelers out and I was like, do you guys, does anyone know like the social experiment? You know, Nate Fox, whatever and none of my friends knew them So I kind of just like put it out into the universe and a few months later I was in LA and a buddy of mine texted me and he was like, hey, I’m going to the studio If you want to come through like here’s the address whatever you didn’t say who was there and I was so tired and I was one of those days where I was like Should I go?
Should I go to bed? Whatever. And then I was like, no, you gotta go, you gotta rally. So I went and I met these guys, Nate and Nico, and I didn’t really know what they looked like. They were just kind of this like the social experiment. And it was kind of a little, this was like 2015 when I met them. And so like Instagram wasn’t that big of a thing.
Like and so I didn’t, and Nico went by Donnie Trumpet at the time. So I just like, didn’t put it together that I was meeting The guys that I had been wanting to meet this whole time. And so they pulled up this track. It was amazing. Like this, it just sounded so good. And I was like, Hey, can I sing on this?
Like, let me get in the, in the booth and sing. So I got in the booth. I sang like it was. It’s so dope, like it sounded amazing with me on the track or whatever and so I got out of the booth and the guys were like, yo, you’re so dope, like who are you, whatever. And you know, told them who I was and I was like, who are you?
Like, what do you guys do? They’re like, oh, we go by the Social Experiment. I’m like, no way! I was like, I’ve been trying to meet you guys, this is crazy. And so then like, I literally asked them, I was like, do you want to produce an album? an album with me and they said yes and so that was really a huge moment because not only did it you know help me develop my own sound but you know Chance walked into the room like a few weeks into working on the project and he heard a song that we were working on for my album And ended up asking if he could put it on his album and it was all we got with Kanye West and so all of a sudden like i’m on chance the rapper’s project like He wins a grammy.
I won a grammy because of it and then you know All this buzz was around me and all these because the social experiment chance were so buzzy and whatever and you know I released a song from that project in 2017 that john mayer tweeted and it kind of went viral and You And then I got signed to Capitol and all these things.
So it was like, that moment, I think like, Oprah, Show Timothy Paolo, like, all these, going to NYU, like, performing at the Bitter End, all these things were preparing me, like, for that moment. And I think when that happened, I was so ready to step into that and just was so happy, like, I loved it so much. I think before that, I was kind of scared, you know, like, I didn’t want to be too vulnerable You know, get like boot off the stage or whatever.
Then when I was in my mid twenties, you know, I was like, okay, cool. Like I got this, I know who I am and I feel confident to do this. Yeah.
Richie Burke: Were you in shock at all when this was happening or did you feel like you belonged, what was that like?
Grace Weber: I felt more like I belonged like, cause it was, it was really magical.
Like being in that studio when Chance was working on coloring book and when those producers were just So in their zone creatively like they were the type of guys I had never met anyone like them like the producers that I had been working with up to this up to that point were sort of like older producers, people who had worked on like joss stone projects or like or like Not adele literally, but that type of like, that type of artist and so yeah, they were kind of in their like Late fifties, early sixties.
And so the vibe in the studios were always, you know, chill. It was usually in like pretty big professional studios, sort of like a high pressure situation. Not like the most loose. And when I met Nate and Nico, the studio that I walked into LA in LA was like filled with weed smoke. Like you just walked in and you’re like, I was like, okay.
I like every, there was like a ton of people chilling in there, just smoking, And I remember just kind of sitting on the couch and being like, okay, this is cool.
Richie Burke: The Midwest girl. Oh, for sure. I was totally the Midwest girl. Living up to your
Grace Weber: name. Oh, big time. Like I had never been in like that cool of a setting before.
And and Nate, you know, up to that point, like when I was in the studio, you come with a song prepared and then you record it. But with Nate and Nico, like we were making the song as, making the project together as we went along. And so when we, the first day, when we got started. he just handed me a mic. I was sitting on the couch and this was their studio is like this really cool space, like a house basically.
And he just handed me the microphone was like, yeah, just start singing when you feel like it. So they’d pull up this beat and I’d start singing. And, and so they were just in there like creative high point chance was just like killing it. Everybody was so a part of this moment of like, You know, Chance is going to win Best New Artist, like, just everything was happening and so being there, like, I felt like I was supposed to be there at that moment.
Because of just how, like, I don’t know, it was just so magical. It was amazing, yeah.
Richie Burke: And then you get signed to Capitol.
Grace Weber: Yeah.
Richie Burke: Tell me about that.
Grace Weber: Yeah, Capitol was awesome. I actually, like, So I got signed in 2018 and it was a pretty crazy process because so they were interested in me because this song went viral when John Mayer tweeted it and all these things and like because I had just won the Grammy and And the Social Experiment guys were like probably some of the biggest producers at that time.
Richie Burke: And you still don’t have your debut album out at this point, right? Correct, yeah. You just were collaborating with the Social Experiment. Were you putting out your own music as well on top of that? I had
Grace Weber: put out some stuff like a few years ago but then I took it down because it wasn’t really like who I wanted to be as an artist.
Yeah. It was sort of like that exploratory phase and so I didn’t really have anything out at that point. So what are you listed
Richie Burke: at as an unlike chances? This may be a dumb question music wise. I’m just curious
Grace Weber: Writer got it saying on it too. So you if you like listen to it, you’ll writer vocalist. Yeah writer vocalist.
Yeah And they, and by being that, because he won I think he won best new artists and best hip hop album. But you get a Grammy because you’re part of the project. Yeah. So yeah, so capital, you know, they were interested, you know, they started hitting up my manager and like the conversation began and then they, like the head of A& R from capital came to see me live, he loved it.
And then, you know, the process began of like, we want to sign her. And I ended up officially signing in like the summer of 2018. And it was really cool. It was crazy. I mean, it was like definitely the next level when the first meeting that I had with the label, there’s like, You know, 10 people sitting in a circle talking about, you know, your project and what, and at that point I had the project like almost ready to go.
So they had heard the whole album. Chance was on the project. We had Westside Boogie on the project, like some huge features. And so Vic Mensa was on it. And so for them, that was also really exciting that they just loved the album. And that’s really why I got signed is because they were excited to put it out.
And yeah, it was, it was crazy. You know, you get a big advance, you get all these like fancy people around you. And, and I think it was a learning experience because it really showed me like, okay, this is how the major labels work
Speaker 5: and I
Grace Weber: loved it actually. Like the harder times for me around that time was I was kind of like, Switching up my own team.
And so going through that was kind of like the trial, I guess, in that time. And being on Capitol was really cool. And when they ended up dropping Muse and 2019, and it was just because we put out one song with Vic, it didn’t really do that well. And they were kind of like, you know, we could keep investing in this and you might be like shelved or we don’t know what’s going to happen because the first song didn’t, You know, the return wasn’t as big as we wanted it to be based on the investment.
And they’re like, so we think it’d be better for you to like, go your own way and we’ll give you back your masters, which was also insane, like very unheard of that they gave me back my masters after paying for the mixing and mastering and like the advance and all these things. So that was so cool.
That’s
Richie Burke: a classy move.
Grace Weber: Yes. It was amazing. So I left the
Richie Burke: whole Taylor Swift feud is about right. She didn’t have that.
Grace Weber: A hundred percent. If they hadn’t given me back my masters, I wouldn’t have been able to release the album with Chance. That whole first project would just be sitting. In a box in capital so for them to do that was huge and i’m so grateful and that’s why I only have good things to say about capital really cool people who worked there super supportive and just like Incredible that they believed in me enough to give me back my masters.
I think was pretty cool
Richie Burke: Hey guys, it’s your host richie burke. I just wanted to take a moment to thank our sponsor central standard distillery As I mentioned in the intro brie and I went to the craft house before the grace weber concert You Brie thinks their fries are like McDonald’s but better.
There’s no higher compliment that she could potentially or possibly pay to a restaurant. They are good. Their old fashions are good as well. So if you’re looking for a nice date night spot, I highly recommend Central Standard. Or if you’re just looking to get after it a little bit and have a good time, highly recommend going with Central Standard.
Also, got some really nice Milwaukee uncut hats coming in. Not, not like cheap ones, like legitimately nice ones. Our friend Ryan from AKA Custom Lids created. So if you do subscribe and you leave a review, we are picking one person a week and sending one of these out to just leave your Instagram handle or your email at the end of the review, and we will reach out to you.
If you are the one randomly selected. Alright, let’s get back into the episode with Grace Weber.
Grace Weber: The album is out. Listen to it. It’s, I love it. I love it. It’s all love songs. I haven’t really written a lot of love songs up to this point, and I wanted to make a project that was all love songs, different points of view on love.
There’s a self love song, song about my husband, who’s also from Wisconsin, Madison. We met at summer camp when we were 13, Camp Minakani, shout out. And yeah, I love it. I’m so happy. It’s doing really well. We have amazing people on the project, work with amazing people. Yeah, I love it.
Richie Burke: So you met your husband when you were 13.
Yeah. When did you start dating when you were in college? Did I hear, I did some homework on, on your life, obviously, before the interview, but.
Grace Weber: Oh, yeah, freshman year we started dating. We went to prom together though, senior year of high school, but when he walked in the room, like at summer camp, you know, I remember it was like slow motion, like seeing him walk into the dining hall and just being like, who is that boy?
Like just instantly in love. But yeah, so I had a crush on him forever. And then. In high senior of high school. I was like I’ve always had a crush on you and he was like i’ve always had a crush on you and then the rest is history You know
Richie Burke: nice How hard is it maintaining a relationship in your 20s in the industry you’re in?
Grace Weber: Yeah, honestly it is Hard unless you date someone like my husband who is so trusting chill like so supportive of my dreams like You He just never ever ever wanted to hold me back from anything, you know, whether I was in I would stay in LA when I was working on the project for like a couple months And he never made me feel bad like He was just always so trusting supportive and loving and you know I was like that to him as well.
And so because we just had this friendship and partnership, you know, we were able to Do that, but it is hard because you’re around, you know, so many people all the time the studio can be sort of like Wild, you know lots of like In your twenties, like lots of, I didn’t smoke, but I would always get contact high because they all smoked so much.
They smoked a lot. But yeah, so yeah, for me it was, it worked.
Richie Burke: What, what would you say the single biggest break you’ve had in your career has been? Was it Oprah?
Grace Weber: No, it was the chant stuff. Like that was, That was huge because and it was
Richie Burke: serendipitously showing up to the studio when you didn’t want to show up If you never did that that never would have happened
Grace Weber: a hundred percent.
Richie Burke: It’s good lesson to people to show up
Grace Weber: That’s and that’s what I say there. I met some kids last night. At the that might be is that raw web? Raw web.
Richie Burke: Raw web, right in the middle of a good story. Right in the
Grace Weber: middle of, I was just about to pour my heart out.
Richie Burke: When you’re, when you’re a boss, you can do that.
When you’re a boss, the rules don’t apply to you. The rules don’t apply. You were with some kids last night. A girl came
Grace Weber: up to me, she’s like, I want to be a singer. How do you get started? Like, what do you do? And I was like, honestly, like, it’s showing up, you know, like, Putting yourself in positions to be there like when lightning strikes because there’s so much that you can’t control in the industry like you can do everything right and that’s just you can’t quite get to the places that you want to but if you just like trust, you know, like I put a video up on Oprah’s thing just because like, okay, you know, and that led to this huge thing or, you know, I went to the studio and that led to this.
And so I told her like, you know, you hitting me, she was a string player. She was like, you even talking to me right now? I’m like, Asking me questions. Like now I know what you want to do if I’m in Milwaukee. Like maybe I need some cello on a song. I’ll think of you because you came up to me and we know each other now.
You’ll come in the studio. Maybe, you know, chance a rapper will be there. And then all of a sudden you’re on this huge album. So it’s all about just like putting yourself out there and being willing to take risks to like, you know, fall on your face and just be okay with that and get back up and, And yeah.
Richie Burke: Yeah. A hundred percent. I’ve gotten a, a number of clients showing up to events that I did not feel like showing up to. And you meet some person that leads to something else
Richie Burke: yeah, showing up is very important. What would you say the biggest struggle that you’ve ever had in your career has been that you’ve had to overcome?
Grace Weber: Like not feeling good enough or feeling like I am trying to make it in this like on this level that I don’t even know what that means, you know, like, I feel like in the industry, there’s such a thing of like, you make it or you don’t make it. And so when you’re growing up, there’s this concept of, And it’s sort of this like ethereal thing that’s like, okay, at some point I’m going to feel like I made it because I’m doing X, Y, Z.
And I think because you’re so focused on that, which maybe it’s, you know, singing to a sold out, you know, 5, 000 seater venue, or maybe it’s, you know, like singing on Oprah, it could have been a made it moment for me, but I was so focused on like, I don’t know this feeling that I was supposed to feel of like making it that I forgot to like Embrace every single moment that was very special in that moment And you know Oprah was actually a big moment where I realized that because I was so nervous to be on the show That I kind of like Blacked out not really literally, but I barely remembered it and I was like, I don’t want that to happen again We’re like I’m in a situation and I can’t really remember it cuz I’m so like scared to mess up But yeah, so I just really focusing keep reminding myself like, you know last night was a moment that I want to remember and I want to cherish and like I don’t want to judge it as being, you know, good or bad.
Like, I just want to be in the moment with it. And I think trying to getting over that, you know, and like getting over your ego kind of like, Oh, like, if so, this many people show up, like, does that mean that I’m not good enough or dah, dah, dah? Like, just letting go or like, if I don’t get this award or whatever, like, Letting go of all of that stuff is what has helped me just fall in love with music and with being an artist.
And so that was a process. It’s still a process of getting over. Yeah.
Richie Burke: I’m sure. I want to dig a little deeper into that because you’re in such a kind of high trigger environment for that, where every piece of content you put out, you’re getting judged by how many views it has, how many people show up to your shows.
It’s just the nature of it. And there are real consequences if you don’t get a lot of views. Like. Getting dropped, or if you get a ton of views and new opportunities can open up. So that stuff does matter, but it’s not healthy to pay attention to it or keep clicking refresh, which I’m sure is really easy to do.
What do you do? I also not to go on a tangent, but I was listening to your. Podcast episode with Charlie on his Christ cast, which would have been probably two and a half years ago at this point in time. But you talked about mental health and doing meditation and Buddhist chanting and stuff, stuff, stuff like that.
So I’m just curious how you manage that because it is, it is a real thing, especially in your industry and in a lot of people’s work lives, even there. They’re getting judged on output and metrics and
Grace Weber: yeah, I mean, it’s really tough like Instagram I think has done a number on all of our mental health because like it’s like you’re getting likes it and like in you you start like tracking your self worth based on like how many likes you get on a post and like It can feel especially when you put so much effort into a post or something and then you feel like oh It didn’t get received or people didn’t like it.
Like it’s, it’s so sad that like social media has done that to us. There’s also like so many beautiful things about social media. Obviously for careers have been made, you know, beautiful stories are told, but the negative sides are, are really hard to get over. And I think like for me at the beginning of my tour, I was really stressed because ticket sales weren’t as high as I wanted them to be.
I was super nervous to let the venues down. Like, I didn’t know if yeah, like if it was gonna be good enough. And at the first show I felt sad and it wasn’t like, I wasn’t in this mindset of like loving being on stage and in the same way that the Oprah thing was this turning point of like, I don’t ever want to not remember a special moment.
The first night of the tour, after I got off the stage, I was like, I don’t want to, like, not enjoy this. I don’t want to like not have fun. I don’t want to not give myself a hundred percent to the audience. So what do I need to do mentally to like get in a space where I can be more present and be happy and have fun?
And so for me it was like a practice of switching the mindset from like, you know, how can I control people getting in the room and like all these things that don’t really matter to like, you know, what can I Control and that’s actually letting go like I can just let myself let go I can You know, meet people who told me, you know, your song got me through breast cancer or DMS where it’s saying you know, someone told me my life is in pieces right now.
I’m getting to be at your show for an hour, like gave me a break and show me that I can make it through. And so focusing on that was like so freeing and it. makes you realize, like, every single person that you can touch and who can touch you, that’s what matters, not, like, how many likes you get. And that is a practice, like, Buddhism has helped me with that for sure.
Like, to desire nothing is the The art of life or something, but yeah, it’s a process. It’s a focusing on just like what you love, you know, instead of everything else and, and practicing that, I think is the biggest thing. Also my, I always tell people this for performers, like there’s this thing that you can do.
Where you like, check after the show to see if it was good enough. Like, oh, what did you think? Like, was it good? Did that, did I do that one part? Did you notice when I messed that up, da da da? And I used to do it in my 20s and I realized that there was a moment where someone was like, Oh, I thought it was really good.
You didn’t think it was good? And then I kind of was like, Oh, I took away your experience from the show kind of like, like you thought it was, you had an amazing experience with it. And now I’m coming and sort of, Telling you all the things that I’m overthinking and I’m kind of taking away from your experience at the show And so I stopped doing that.
I stopped checking if the shows were good enough Like I just walked off stage and I was like, okay cool. I did that. That was like an hour That was really fun. And now I move on to the next thing and because of that I started enjoying the show so much more because I knew I wasn’t going to overthink it afterwards.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Grace Weber: And I could take in people’s reactions better. Like, I would, you know, meet people after the show and they’d be like, You were amazing, I loved it. And I’d be like, Thank you. Yeah. Instead of, Are you sure? You know, it’s just a different way of experience, or like, experiencing the before and after shows.
And that has been, if you’re a performer and you are looking for a breakthrough, that has changed my life. To just say, Thank you. To, to just wake up in the morning. Yeah, that’s a lot of why you got into
Richie Burke: it in the first place too, and it’s, it’s tough when you’re doing it for a living and numbers matter and how many people show up matters, but it can take away from it.
We have a performance consultant coming on a couple of weeks. His name’s Raymond Pryor. He works with a lot of top musicians and athletes and his whole thing too is like acceptance and letting go. If you can accept any outcome, then you’re going to go out there and perform a lot better, whether it’s sports or you’re going on stage and.
I found that valuable opposed to just Yeah, worrying about the, the outcome while you’re doing it
Grace Weber: a hundred percent. Well, and last night, like the mic didn’t work when I walked on stage, I was going to ask you about that. You handle,
Richie Burke: you handled it so
Grace Weber: well because it’s like,
Richie Burke: you walked out there in front of your hometown audience and you just start singing and nothing comes out.
I’m sitting in the upper deck right behind raw web and I was like, Oh no. And you had a smile on your face. You like made light of the situation and it came on. Yeah. Fifteen seconds later and you killed it.
Grace Weber: Cause it’s funny, it’s fun like the light hearted energy of it too, like, yeah, it’s like, this is supposed to be fun.
It’s not like Yeah, so that was that was fun.
Richie Burke: What was going through your head when that happened and there’s like five or ten seconds
Grace Weber: I thought it was funny It’s like cuz I was like, what’s up? And like nothing came out and I first I was like, is that just my like in ears or the monitor? Is there no sound there?
But then I could tell that it wasn’t coming out in the theater but then I was like and then I was like I know that the sound guys are freaking out right now because they’re like You Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. So then, I had like empathy for them because I could only imagine how stressed they were.
But I was like, okay, it’s going to come back on in a second, like just roll with it. And then I was like, I get so lonely, and it still wasn’t on. And I was like, all right, like what’s the, what are we doing here? Like, and then I just was like, okay, let’s just take a pause. And yeah, just said, okay, we’re going to start that over.
And I was looking over at the sound guy, like watching him freak out with like wires and stuff. And I could tell that he like, Just had figured it out and then it came back on and it it was Again, like moments like that are kind of funny, especially because i’ve never experienced that before And so now I had the moment where a mic wasn’t on and I Realize that it wasn’t that bad.
Yeah.
Richie Burke: Yeah, you handled that very well. Before we get to the standard five, five quick questions sponsored by Central Standard. To end the show, I do want to dive a little bit deeper. What are you doing right now for your mental health and physical health? You look like you’re in great shape as well.
I think both of those things are really important in business life.
Grace Weber: 100%. Working out a ton has changed. What do
Richie Burke: you do?
Grace Weber: I am a Peloton fan. Toonday is my girl. I love her so much. She’s my favorite. Do you
Richie Burke: do the spinning and the floor workouts?
Grace Weber: I do, like, the spinning and the arms. And then I do abs with Mad Fit on YouTube.
She’s also my other girl that I love. And, I, yeah, I joined, I got a gym membership. Because I live in downtown LA, which is kind of like, intense ish. If you’ve ever been down there, it’s a little Gnarly, but it’s I also love it because you can like walk everywhere It kind of reminds me of New York a little bit but my husband and I got a gym membership and that like changed our life because we had a place to retreat to there’s like a sauna and a steam room and And the more I worked out, the more that I felt like mentally calm.
Cause the one thing about control, like I’ve learned to let go. That’s where I feel the best mentally, but working out like you actually do have control over that. Like if you want to feel that in somewhere in your life, like you can get on the bike, you can lift weights like, and you can go into a space for that hour or two hours or whatever, and be focusing just on like, The physical process of lifting 10 pound weights.
And so that, and Buddhist. You still, you still chanting? I don’t chant anymore. I D I did what is chanting because there was a time like in 2019, 20, yeah, 2019 where I just had gone through some crazy stuff that we’ll talk about after the podcast. But I needed. I needed something to like pull me out of that.
And it was also kind of the serendipitous thing where I, I googled like Buddhist stuff. I don’t even remember what I did. And like this thing came up on Google maps and it was like, come join the Buddhist chanting thing in Topanga Canyon. So I was like, okay. So I went to this thing, it was like all these like old hippies living in Topanga Canyon and they were like Buddhist chanting.
And I’m like, all right, this is weird and cool. And, but that was like a moment in my life that. Was great and now I just kind of try to I go to therapy. That’s very important for me. I have a great therapist Nice. Yeah, that’s something that like when I’m when I start going into a place of like overthinking or Worrying about all these things like I’m kind of like, okay.
I need to check in With my therapist and then I she does a little tune up and we’re back.
Richie Burke: Yeah, no shame in that I was in therapy for a while I had a really bad panic attack on an airplane like six seven years ago And another one like three weeks ago for the first time in a while. I get bad when planes are stalled But anyway, I went I had experienced a lot of anxiety issues I never had after that for the first time and was in therapy for a while and she had me doing exposure therapy And that’s when I first got into breath work, because I thought it was very weird and far out there before.
It’s made a huge difference. There’s a bunch of other healthy habits, so.
Grace Weber: Panic attacks, I’ve had panic attacks, a lot of them over my life, and it’s Not fun. It’s not fun. It’s very stressful. And it’s scary. It’s like a very scary feeling. And so getting to, like, work on that with therapists is like, Life changing to be able to know how to handle those moments for sure
Richie Burke: absolutely all right on a more light hearted note We’ll move into the standard five sponsored by Central Standard I’ve been curious what what percentage of artists drink or smoke before going on
Grace Weber: A lot.
Probably not smoke, like singers probably don’t smoke that much. I used to drink before every show, like I used to have beer because I was too afraid what like hard, like I didn’t want to be drunk on stage, but I kind of wanted to take the edge off. Interesting. But I stopped, so it helped me feel like looser on stage.
Did you have
Richie Burke: like a couple beers where you were kind of hitting that perfect alcohol level, not over the top? I would kind of plan it.
Grace Weber: I’d have like one before stage and then I’d have one on stage so that I kind of knew like how loose I was gonna be. But then I stopped doing that because I realized again like I want to see what it’s like to be totally in the moment, you know, and, and not have to need something to loosen up.
And at first it was like terrifying. I was very aware of like every mistake that I was making. I actually started, this was like a year ago, I started doing the like checking thing again where I was like, was that good? Because I was so present. Like when I would drink afterwards, I’d be kind of like, and I’m like, whatever.
And so it was a good practice of like, okay, let me. let me get over needing to Need something to feel free like because now I feel like I don’t need anything to get like in the zone and feel really relaxed on stage and that is such a freeing feeling of like And now like even socially like I don’t feel like I need to drink as much and that also makes me feel more confident and Yeah, so not to say that I Don’t think alcohol is awesome.
Central Standard, I am having some of
Richie Burke: their gin right now. I
Grace Weber: know, I’m
Richie Burke: like, and Slightly hung over today since because of you I went to your show last night. I usually don’t go out during the week So I’m having a drink To be lively on the show to try and hit that level But
Grace Weber: yeah, we have a bottle of tequila in the green room The band usually takes a shot before like it’s it’s definitely a thing.
Richie Burke: Yeah What is the single coolest moment of your career?
Grace Weber: Single coolest moment. Oh my god singing the national anthem at the Packers game a playoffs game in January. It was 2020 when was that 2021? A year ago. That was only a year ago?
Richie Burke: Raweb knows exactly when it was. Raweb.
Grace Weber: Well, so he came. It was so cool because first of all, it was It was the
Richie Burke: game they lost.
Yeah, it was. Yeah, that was a bad game.
Grace Weber: Yeah, it was. Lil Wayne was there. I got to meet him. No way. He was in the box like right next to us. It was so cool.
Richie Burke: Oh, that’s so cool.
Grace Weber: That was just so fun. Like to get to sing at this middle of Lambeau Field. For a Packers game and like my dad, you know got to be on the The home field what’s called the field sideline sideline.
Thank you Like what’s it called the sidelines, you know Dane was there like it was just so cool and then to like be Nail it, you know, in this big setting and I actually practiced in a freezer, in a walk in freezer because I wasn’t sure what it was going to be like to sing in like freezing temperatures.
Cold
Richie Burke: exposure is good for you. I got into that last spring.
Grace Weber: Yeah, it’s great. It’s very refreshing. Yeah. So go stand in the middle of Lambeau Field when it’s 10 degrees and you’ll feel very alive afterwards.
Richie Burke: If I remember correctly, Raw Web, you may remember this as well. I think they scored a touchdown on their first drive.
Grace Weber: Yeah, they did and
Richie Burke: did not score after that probably inspired by grace weber and then the rest was kind of the downfall barrett rogers
Grace Weber: Yeah
Richie Burke: before he made it to New York, but
Grace Weber: yeah,
Richie Burke: yeah, that was a good That was a great five minutes and Packer history between your national anthem and the first drive right there
Grace Weber: Yeah, especially because the drive was inspired by me.
Richie Burke: What is the most star struck you’ve ever been?
Grace Weber: Chad Smith, Red Hot Chili Peppers, he was friends, or is friends with someone I worked with. And so I got to like stay at his house and like become friends with him, which is really cool. And I got to like be side stage when he was playing in South America when I was touring with Chance.
And I like got to go hang with like Chad Smith, the drummer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, which was cool. That Chance was, has like a very, very, You know, magnetic star quality. So when he walked in the room for the first time, I was like, well, chance is very like buzzy, but yeah, I think those Guillermo del Toro is a fan, the filmmaker.
That’s
Speaker 5: cool.
Grace Weber: I haven’t met him, but he like followed me on Twitter and I was like, Hey, Guillermo, you know, maker of Pan’s Labyrinth. And he was like, I’m such a fan of your music. Like the light singer, songwriter, soulful person. It’s cool
Richie Burke: to get those random messages. I’m sure you’ve gotten. Several over your career didn’t I was listening to something else didn’t Dwight Howard like reach out to you and come to the show Which would be very hard to miss as he’s just a jacked Seven foot one guy.
Grace Weber: Yeah, I like what I think I when I gave him like a hug I was up to his like hip but yeah, probably so you’re not that short either Oh, i’m pretty five two.
Richie Burke: Are you only five two?
Grace Weber: People think i’m tall. It’s weird.
Richie Burke: Maybe it’s the stage presence You play above that.
Grace Weber: Yeah, i’m I play six Two, but I’m really
Richie Burke: yeah more than five two.
Grace Weber: Yeah
Richie Burke: What is the craziest thing that’s ever happened to you on tour?
Grace Weber: Craziest thing that’s ever happened to me on tour. i’m trying to think of like some of the like when I was Well, i’ll say when the mic didn’t go on last night. Just kidding. Not really, but I have never experienced that but When I was touring so I sang backgrounds for chance in south america And when he was doing the Lollapalooza tour, and there was a show in Sao Paolo, Sao Paolo, Sao Paolo, I can’t think of things today.
And there was like 200, 000 people in this like festival setting cause he was opening for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. And so him plus them, like I’ve never stood in front of that many people and witnessing like the intimate moments where it felt like we were in like a, Cafe was incredible and it was one of those Moments that I’ll never forget of just like the power of music connecting with and Touching like 200 000 people.
It was nuts. Yeah.
Richie Burke: Yeah, that’s crazy. It was awesome what’s your favorite place to go to when you’re back home in milwaukee?
Grace Weber: Ghillie’s ghillie’s ice cream.
Richie Burke: Nice.
Grace Weber: Yeah, i’m the biggest fan of their custard burgers fries I like, I actually haven’t gotten any ice cream yet, or custard, that’s very important, custard.
You’ve got a few more days here. I know. Oh yeah, it’s definitely happening. Like, I literally can’t leave without having Achilles cone. So yeah, that, but, you know, my parents house, all those special places. In Tosa. Yeah, Tosa, represent.
Richie Burke: Yep. Last question, what do you love most about Milwaukee? Milwaukee.
Milwaukee.
Grace Weber: I love the energy here. I love like the kindness of people. I love just like, yeah, like how warm it feels here. I love, I was getting, you know, a beer last night with my friend from high school and it just felt like, you know, we haven’t seen each other in like a year or so and it just felt like we saw each other yesterday and I feel like that’s what’s so cool about Milwaukee is that you can really form these like Lifelong friendships.
There’s so many things here that you can connect over like The Packers or you know cheese like these things that don’t seem that like monumental but then they are because they’re so like bonding and in a weird way that Makes you feel like very close to people. There’s there’s like a pride like a Milwaukee, Wisconsin pride that I I think it’s really cool.
Richie Burke: For sure.
Grace Weber: Yeah.
Richie Burke: Thanks so much for coming on today. It was great meeting you.
Grace Weber: Thanks for having me on. This was awesome.
Richie Burke: Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of Milwaukee Uncut with Grace Weber. Just a reminder, subscribe and write a review and leave your email or Instagram handle at the end of that review.
To enter our weekly drawing. We’ve got some really nice Milwaukee uncut hats and some other prizes coming in. So if you do subscribe and leave a review, we’ll be picking one person a week as a winner. This episode was produced by Story Mark Studios right in the heart of Walkers Point in partnership with On Milwaukee and sponsored by Central, Standard Distillery and Nicolet Law Offices.