Sabrina Carpenter took a trip to Los Angeles’ Safari Records to chop it up with oddball Canadian interviewer Nardwuar, who loaded the “Espresso” singer with a satchel full of vintage vinyl and other musical keepsakes during their ramble.
It wasn’t just a record swap, though, Carpenter, 26, also learned a few things during the chat. Nardwuar revealed that the singer’s former label, Hollywood Records, only printed up 200 vinyl copies of her 2015 debut studio album, Eyes Wide Open, to distribute to press and VIPs. “Only 200 made? They really didn’t give a f–k about me!” she laughed as she looked at the vinyl even she didn’t own a copy of.
Expertly navigating Nardwuar’s signature rapid-fire topic skipping , Carpenter took it all-the-way back to the beginning, telling him that as an eight-year-old one of the first musicians she really laser focused on while listening to her iPod Nano was Taylor Swift. “At that time I was so tapped in and I was really fascinated because it’s like you’re seeing a rainbow for the first time,” she said of her early musical discovery. “One of one of the first artists that I listened to on the school bus was Taylor Swift because my best friend Anna — who was my next door neighbor — played me ‘Our Song’ in her headphones for me. And I was like, ‘What is this?’ I was gagged.”
Not only did he engage in his typically wacky antics, but Nardwuar showered Carpenter with a series of precious keepsakes, including a 1953 vintage 7-inch Marilyn Monroe single and a vintage Monroe poster, as well as a vintage Patsy Cline album, a Dolly Parton stand-up and a poster signed by one of the singer’s favorite bands, the Blue Nile. He also piled on a Carpenter vinyl Man’s Best Friend slipmat, a copy of 1957’s Funny Face soundtrack from the film starring one of her favorite actresses, Audrey Hepburn and a Patti Smith vinyl single of “Hey Joe,” as well as the MC5’s “Kick Out the Jams” and an vinyl album of Carole King covers.
And, of course, he gave her an Earth, Wind & Fire “Let Me Talk” single in honor of Carpenter taking the stage with the legendary R&B band during her headlining set at Lollapalooza this summer. “I’ve been a fan of them my whole life and I think they have created some of the most iconic and classic songs of all time,” she said. She also showed off her “at last” tattoo on her shoulder when Nardwuar gave her a copy of Etta James’ signature song.
Given her Disney-affiliated background he handed over a copy of the 1961 Disney single “Heigh-Ho” from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, with Carpenter cheekily quipping that the phrase “has a new meaning now.” The interview ended with Carpenter asking the store’s manager to find her a particular album by 1970s soft rockers Bread, the “underrated” band she predicted would be playing at her wedding some day.
Watch Carpenter chat with Nardwuar below.