Andy Grammer: 'When terrible things happen ... there's always something that comes out of it'

Pop singer-songwriter Andy Grammer graces Memorial Hall’s intimate stage on Tuesday, June 14. With songs like the triple-platinum “Honey, I’m Good” and “Good to Be Alive (Hallelujah),” his music focuses on upbeat feel-good lyrics backed by danceable shiny production.

His fourth studio album, “Naive,” released in 2019, builds on his works’ positive self-help message and includes collaborations with Andy Mineo and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Recently, we chatted about his early days busking in Santa Monica, his lyric-focused songwriting and how he chooses producers for collaboration.

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Question: Have you had a chance to explore Cincinnati before? 

Answer: Many times. We've done tons of shows. It's one of my favorite cities. We've done a lot there raising money for breast cancer research and awareness. Ohio has really good music fans. 

Q: I read you were discovered as a busker in Los Angeles. How did that experience inform your writing process?

A: It raises the bar on how good something has to be, or how much it has to move you. When you're out on the street performing for strangers – to get someone to actually go into their pocket and take out their wallet, it trains you to what your goal is and how hard it actually is. I don't know how many times you've stopped for a street performer and thrown a tip in their jar, but usually it's because they're pretty good and they've done something beyond your expectations. 

So it set the bar at the very beginning of my career really high. I bring that level of intensity into most things. When it comes to shows, when it comes to songs, when it comes to anything. It has to be so good that it can affect someone. Taking that to the radio, it's like, when was the last time you heard a song on the radio or on a playlist or something and you had to go and tell your friend about it? It has to be that good.

Q: You have a minimalism that focuses on pop vocal melodies and lyrics. You could just as easily hear your tunes produced and spacious, or sitting on a porch, or by a campfire played on an acoustic. Is that an intentional choice you made about your songwriting?

A: I start with lyrics. When lyrics are the main focus, I think it should work on a guitar. When the melody and the lyrics are good enough, then I'm really open to a lot of different ways to present it. Until the lyrics and the melody are good, I don't care about anything else. But once those are good, then I'm open to what it sounds like.

Q: How hands-on are you in the production process, and how do you choose who to collaborate with?

A: I've learned over time. I'm hands-on enough to understand vocabulary and know what I like. If you're a producer, there's nothing worse than someone saying, “It's just a little too watery. It feels a little yellow.” I'm definitely at the place now where I know how to speak the language. That helps a lot. So I am involved to that amount. I’m always just trying to figure out how to make a lyric fit more because I think the music is there to support the lyrics.

Q: So how did you come to choose R3hab as a collaborator recently?

A: We've done about four together. Usually, I send a song that I'm loving and he throws stuff on it, and we go back and forth a lot to get it exactly how we want it. It’s really worked for us, and both of our fan bases seem to enjoy it.

Q: You've released music over the pandemic and since. How did you maintain your positive outlook over the past few years?

A: I don't think I did. I went down real hard and got into therapy, and that's what brought me around. I wasn’t super positive. I broke down pretty hard, and that has informed some of my art, but I still come at it from a place where I think we're here on Earth to grow. When terrible things happen, at the end of the day, no matter what, that's a heavier weight in the gym that you're supposed to lift. There's always something that comes out of it.

Andy Grammer: The Art of Joy Tour

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 14.

Where: Memorial Hall, 1225 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine.

Tickets: $45-$70.