Saturday Conversation: Haley Reinhart And Kris Allen On Collaborating

Forbes Lifestyle Arts Saturday Conversation: Haley Reinhart And Kris Allen On Collaborating Steve Baltin Senior Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I write about music and the business of music. Following Aug 26, 2023, 04:27pm EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Kris Allen and Haley Reinhart have teamed up for a cover of LSD’s “Thunderclouds.

‘ Max Thompson Kris Allen and Haley Reinhart were initially connected by both being on the singing show American Idol . But for each that was a lifetime ago. So now when the two of them recently united for a magnificent cover of the LSD (Labrinth, Sia, Diplo) song “Thunderclouds,” it’s for a shared ethos and sensibility that far transcends a show they were on years ago.

As Reinhart shares when I speak with the both of them via Zoom, she sees her and Allen as rebels of the show. They are both independent, platinum artists in their own right now. And more importantly, they have done it on their own terms.

So when I speak with both of them I find two artists very comfortable and confident in their place in the music industry. And hopefully this duet is, as they say in Casablanca , “The beginning of a beautiful friendship. ” During the course of our conversation we discuss the possibility of the pair doing a duets album or tour together.

I spoke with them about future plans, their friendship and much more. Steve Baltin: You have known each other for years, right? Kris Allen: Yeah. Baltin: When you came to work on this record, I imagine you both found you had learned a lot individually you could bring to the table working together.

Haley Reinhart: Yeah, I could see that. MORE FOR YOU Apple Leaks iPhone 15 Pro Details In New iOS 17 Release New Apple Exclusive Reveals iPhone 15 Price Shock Google Introduces Much Needed Enhanced Google Photos Features Allen: I think the thing that maybe that I learned and I’ve been trying to take advantage of mostly is not being afraid to ask. And, ’cause I think for so long I was like, “Would this person want to do this or not want to do this, or whatever?” So, but I’ve been so just willing to ask in the past couple of years, like, “Hey, would you want to write or would you want to sing on this?” Or “Would you want to play bass on this song? I don’t even know you, but I love what you do.

” So, that’s something that I’ve learned. ‘Cause a lot of people have said yes, which is cool, and I’m glad Haley said yes. Baltin: How long have you actually known each other? When did you first meet? Allen: Haley, when did we meet? Reinhart: It was at one of the finales, I think.

And I don’t know if it was mine and, or, we also did a show together in Florida. Was that the one where it was pouring and I almost got electrocuted? Pretty sure. Allen: Yes, Haley.

Reinhart: We kept going, there were like buckets of water in our amps, but I was like, “Hey, rock and roll. If this is how I go, then I’m not mad at it” [laughter]. That was in Florida.

So Kris and I haven’t had like a gazillion meetings or anything like that. But I feel like we’ve always really seen each other and we both now hail from this carved-out path career where we do strip-down songs and let the song and the voice speak for itself. So, especially when Kris showed me this song, which is an LSD cover, I love Sia, I love Labrinth.

Like ”How cool is that? Like a whole conglomerate. ” But then Kris taking it with just guitar and his beautiful vocals, it gave me chills. It was very reminiscent of the same kind of feeling I get when I hear “The Chain” from Rumors from Fleetwood Mac.

And that’s 1977. And I’m always hoping and looking to not only cross genres but cross decades and, eras. So anything back in time like that.

I got the same feeling when I heard the song and I was like, “Hell yeah, I’m totally in. ” Allen: Awesome. Baltin: When you went into the song, were there things that really surprised you about it? Reinhart: Yeah.

How’d you get to that point, Kris? You’re the one that broke it down. I didn’t even know the song really. I loved their group.

But I knew yours more than I knew their version, which I loved knowing yours first and not having premeditated thoughts attached to how to do it. Allen: I love the craft of songwriting a lot. And, especially with straight-up-the-middle pop songs, some of them are masked in the production elements of it.

This song, there is a lot happening in that in the original song, but I could always hear this is a great melody, this is a great idea, great lyric. They’re singing their tails off. And I could just hear it.

And I feel like that doesn’t always happen. But I’ve had this in my brain to do something like this for a while, since I heard it the first time. And, I even made a little version of it for myself.

I was like, “This is kind of fun. ” I was like, “I want to put this out, but I don’t want to do it by myself. ” So that’s when I was like, “Who would sing? Who would I want to sing this with?” And then my wife is just an uber fan of Haley.

And so it was so easy. I thought our voices sound good together. Reinhart: That’s sweet.

Baltin: Will we see this expand into other projects? I’m very friendly with both PJ Harding and Noah Cyrus, and I love their collaborations and the way they work together. And we’ve talked a lot about the fact, for some reason everything now has gone into features, but of course, there’s such a timeless tradition of male-female duets. So would you guys see yourselves doing more together in the vein of like a Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell or George Jones and Tammy Wynette? Reinhart: I can see it.

Allen: I could totally see it. Especially for the way that this was done, it was fairly easy. Reinhart: Besides the fact that you’re so hard to work with.

He’s the easiest dude to work with. So it was easy. Baltin: Do you feel like you balance each other out then and bring in different musical tastes? So if you were to do an album together, do you feel like you would have a different background to bring together that would make it really interesting? Allen: Are you funding this project between me and Haley right now? Reinhart: He’s a connector of thoughts.

Baltin: Yeah, just make me an executive producer and sure [laughter]. Reinhart: I love it. Allen: I’m in to it.

Baltin: Haley, what one song would you choose to do with Kris? Reinhart: It’s really interesting because I don’t typically ever go to doing modern songs. The only real super modern song that I did some years ago with Postmodern Jukebox was “Habits. ” from Tove Lo.

And I got to completely reinvent it and make it super jazzy and quirky. But I always pick “Creep” or everything older than “Creep” because there’s songs that I deeply connect to. And there’s not a huge amount of super-polished stuff that’s on the radio that I’m like, “Oh, I want to reinvent this.

” But, it’s kind of a hard question ’cause could we also do something from back in the day and also I think whatever it is, it’d be nice to continue to strip it down. It’s just his guitar and our voices and the song and the voices are the hero. And I feel like if we continue to do stuff, I would like to do it that stripped down to let it just breathe.

Yeah. Maybe we should do “The Chain,” Kris that’s what it reminds me. Allen: I’m super into something like that, and I sent Haley a Leonard Cohen song a while ago.

I was like, “This would be fun, too. ” It’s called “Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye. ” And there’s a girl [Julie Felix] that’s singing with him.

. I was like, “Her voice is crazy. ” And I was like I feel like Haley kind of sounds like this.

Baltin: So yeah, now we’ve just got to find someone to fund this, but I don’t think that’s going to be that hard [laughter]. Reinhart: I love it. What I really also want to hone in with this is that Kris is so easy going, I don’t necessarily want to talk about Ido l, but he won the damn thing.

I get third and we both kind of pave our own way and never to use that title as a crutch. I feel like we’re the rebels of the show in our own way because we have made our own labels. We’re both platinum recording artists, and it’s I want to send the message out this is possible.

We’re still winning. We’re winning a lot, and we’re doing it our way. Baltin: Haley, you say you’re the rebels from it.

Isn’t that the nature of music inherently to be rebellious? I think you have to be authentic to be a successful artist. And I think you have to be rebellious. Reinhart: Couldn’t agree more with both of those two aspects.

Allen: I was just going to say that authenticity I think can be rebellious. I don’t think in my heart I’m like, “Oh my gosh, I have to do something, I have to rebel against anything in particular. ” But I do think that being authentic is my way of being rebellious.

Reinhart: I love that, and the reason that word came to my mind is because the easy thing would be to use that show and that title and headlines as a crutch. But I’m here asking people not to use that in the headlines and to make that a milestone of our careers that is on a list of other things. I’ve worked really hard to separate myself.

And to be able to say like, “Yeah, I used to be with Interscope, Concord, X, Y and Z. ” Not saying I wouldn’t ever be with a major or another label again, but why not just make my own and do exactly what I want to do without somebody right over my shoulder. And I know there’s so many kids out there and people that are wanting to do it their way, but [they] get stuck because they think there’s only one boxed up way to do this and be in this game and it’s just not true.

Allen: There are no gatekeepers anymore. Or at least say it doesn’t seem like it, you can get into the party just by making music and you can put it out there, which I think is really cool ’cause I think that’s why sometimes you see just good stuff winning and I would hope that that’s the case [laughter]. Baltin: Are you guys going to do any dates together? Allen: I would love that, I think it’d be really fun.

I’ve seen Haley play, she came into Nashville and I came to her show and it was unbelievable. I think I would just want to watch every night. So it’d be interesting to be on the same bill, I’d be happy to do it, it’d be so fun.

Reinhart: That would be fun. Follow me on Twitter . Steve Baltin Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions.