Hanna Meets Sabrina Carpenter | Backstage Interview
It’s a
rainy day in May. A typical, British, rainy day. I was bouncing off the walls
though. No amount of dullness was about to gloom my sparkle. Not today. Why,
you ask? I was invited to meet Sabrina Carpenter backstage, while stopping off
at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham as part of her tour with The Vamps. While
supporting the group, she was also on her own EVOLution World Tour, for which
she headlined dates across Europe. She was basically on two tours at once!
Sabrina is
known for playing the role of Maya Hart on Disney Channel’s hit show, ‘Girl
Meets World’, the spin-off to 90s show ‘Boy Meets World’. I’ve been a fan since
the revival aired in 2014. Sabrina is also signed to Hollywood Records, having
released two albums, ‘Eyes Wide Open’ and ‘EVOLution’.
With my
iPad on my lap, and my bag on the seat beside me, I stared out of the window of
the car, my copy of EVOLution playing in the CD player. I was watching the rain
fall outside, still not quite being able to process the fact that I was going
to meet Sabrina Carpenter, and only down the road in Nottingham! After around
half an hour of driving, we reached the arena. It was almost as if the rain was
falling like confetti to celebrate what was about to happen, like it knew how
much today meant to me.
I sheltered
my head with my brother’s jacket, so to protect my hair from the danger of
encountering the rain. I couldn’t meet Sabrina looking like a Furby now, could
I?
It took a
while for the staff to direct me in the right place. 4pm arrived and we were
waiting at stage doors in the fierce rain, waiting for Sabrina’s tour manager
to welcome us in. He arrived soon after, and the gates opened. My three-year
dream to meet my inspiration was almost about to come true.
Walking
through the auditorium, I saw Sabrina’s name on a sheet on a door and before I
knew it, I was being guided through a corridor backstage. I was shown into a
little room with a table and a few chairs and was left to wait for Sabrina to
come in and meet me. I set the table up with my Seventeen Prom magazine, which
Sabrina recently graced the cover of, and my copies of her two albums.
I was so
nervous: between you and me I was secretly practising what I was going to say
to Sabrina. I noticed Caleb (Sab’s guitar player) walking down the hall. As we
were waiting for Sabrina I heard her talking from the room next door, I could
hardly contain myself. It felt like a second went by when I turned to see
Sabrina standing there in front of me, and might I say I was star struck. The
moment I’d been waiting for had arrived. She was wearing a gorgeous vintage
sweater. First thing she did that morning? “I went to a vintage store and
bought this sweater! I love vintage stores”.
Before
getting into the questions I had for her, she commented on her “love” for my
Sabrina iPhone case as we sat down * shocked face emoji *. Then it was
time to begin discussing the tour.
A transcript of this interview is available to read below.
So, there you have it! My interview with Sabrina Carpenter. She said I was probably “one of the best interviewers” I’ve ever had. Well, I can honestly say I have met a lot of people who inspire me and Sabrina is definitely one of the kindest, most down-to-earth people I have ever met.
I had also booked tickets to Sabrina’s meet and greet session which followed and she performed an acoustic version of ‘Mirage’, just for me. Then I saw the show (front row!). It was absolutely amazing and Sabrina smashed it! She rocked hits such as ‘Eyes Wide Open’, ‘Thumbs’ and ‘On Purpose’, as well as some other amazing tracks from EVOLution. You can download the album here.
Follow me: @SabrinaCarpenterUK on Instagram.
Transcript:
Me: How does it feel being here?
Sabrina: It’s been one of the best experiences of my
life so far, because I haven’t really been able to tour for a longer period of
time outside of the U.S. and you guys have been so kind to me! I love the fact
that I can learn more about where you guys come from is a really amazing thing
for me.
Me: So you’ve been here for a few weeks now…
Sabrina: Yeah! I’d only been to London once before,
which is where I shot the ‘On Purpose’ music video, but since then I haven’t…
Me: We love that video, by the way!
Sabrina: Thank you! I think the coolest thing about it
for me was that I hadn’t really been to the UK before and hadn’t had the chance
to meet any UK fans. When I released that video they could almost feel like,
you know, you guys could feel a part of it. It was a really special thing for
me. It was probably my favourite video so far.
Me: The video was personal too…
Sabrina: It was, and literally how we filmed it was
with one camera guy and me running around with my mum.
Me: …and in the back of a cab!
Sabrina: Yeah! The back of a cab all day – it was as
casual as it looked. I dressed myself and did my own hair and make up, and it
was fun! It was just kinda like a day in the life.
Me: What has been the highlight of your trip to the UK?
Sabrina: That’s a really hard question…I’ve had a lot
of highlights. I’ve been getting to explore with the most incredible people.
The crew on this tour is so fun and they’re amazing, and my crew that’s
travelled with me, we have a lot of fun. We’ve gotten to explore a little bit.
[The tour] has been all around the UK and Ireland…we got to go on a hike in
Dublin – that was beautiful. And then we got to explore a little bit in
Glasgow, when I was there for a show [headlining her own show as part of the
EVOLution tour]. In London, we obviously got to explore a little bit which was
really fun, because my sister [Sarah] hadn’t seen half of the things that I got
to see the first time I came, like Baker Street and Abbey Road, and all that
good stuff.
Me: I’ve seen videos of you performing, all over my social media! What
would you say is your favourite song to perform?
Sabrina: On this tour, ‘Thumbs’ has been really fun. Because of the fact that
it is one of the ones that seems to be familiar to people. They get really
involved and it’s cool because I think my job is to get the crowd excited and
that’s just a kind of song that hold a lot of energy. People like to jump and
go crazy. It’s really fun to perform.
Me: I can’t wait to see that tonight!
Sabrina: Aww, thank you!
Me: We love the video for that as well. How it’s shot is amazing!
Sabrina: Thank you so much!
Me: The set of the video, is this the same used for scenes in Girl Meets World?
Sabrina: (smiles) No, it’s so funny because they
make…I don’t even know how many subway cars they have in Hollywood, but there’s
hundreds and they all look very, very similar depending on the decorations they
put on it. But, no, we filmed that in a basement of a studio in LA, so not even
New York. I know…the illusion is shattered now!
Me: Spoiler alert!
Sabrina: I know, right?! But, I would say that it
turned out to look really great and it looked like an authentic one.
Me: …especially when the lights turned out and the flashing…I loved that bit.
Sabrina: It was so fun for us! We rehearsed the entire
morning because we could only do it one take through. You couldn’t see me
behind the camera, I was literally running to the next place. Whenever the
camera went off me for a second, I was like climbing over people! If you saw
what happened behind the camera, it’s an even better video! I think it’s really funny.
Me: I watched the making of it! I was interested to see how they did it!
Sabrina: You did? Yeah, I know it was really
interesting (laughs), it’s crazy.
Me: Being here in the UK means you’ve played the UK’s biggest arenas, like
the O2!
Sabrina: You know, it’s funny, people that didn’t know
me before I performed the other night were like “is this your first time
performing in London?” I was like “yeah! I guess!” The O2 is a pretty good
venue to start off in. It was legendary, and beautiful! I was just skateboarding
all day. The boys in New Hope Club [another one of The Vamps’ supporting acts]
got me a penny board for my birthday, so I’ve been practicing, giving people
heart attacks all over the stadium! It was one of the best shows so far.
Me: Yeah, I saw that on your Instagram! That was quite cool! I’ve seen
Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus at the O2 and I hope the next show we see there
is going to be your headline tour, Sabrina!
Sabrina: Thank you so much! Thank you, guys.
Me: Going back to your first album, ‘Eyes Wide Open’ [at this point Sabrina widely
opens her eyes!], there’s quite a few references to faith. A lot of your
Carpenters [that’s what we Sabs fans are called] would like to know, what does
faith mean to you?
Sabrina: Faith, I think so much of it is what you
believe in strongly. I think it’s very personal to what you believe in, how you
were raised. My family was raised in a lot of different ways. I’ve always had a
faith. So that song [the song ‘Eyes Wide Open’] was able to connect with me in a way that
was also able to connect with my family. Which why that line talks about my
grandfather is very special to me. That was a song on my first album that I
didn’t write. But when I first heard the song it was like when you hear
something and you didn’t write it but it almost sounds like you did, it feels
like you did. It feels like it came from yourself. The first line was
“everybody loves to tell me I was born an old soul”. I was like six years old
and I would be like “yeah, I’m an old soul! I don’t know what that is!” but
everyone told me that. When you’re a kid and you hear something that’s a bit,
you know…I guess more mature, you hold on to it because you wanna be able to
know those things. I always held onto that. Then later on, when I heard that
song it was very special to me. I hope that people carry that and I hope that
song inspires them.
Me: We talked about you graduating, how does that feel?
Sabrina: It’s funny, I guess I casually mentioned it
the other day because I totally forgot. My teacher – well here’s the thing
*don’t tell anybody* but I graduated early and I wasn’t supposed to tell
anybody; I was supposed to graduate on time with everybody else but I wanted to
get it done before I left because I thought it would be easier without having
to do both [exams and the tours], so, I finished all my work on time. I worked
really hard and finished early. So my teacher said I wasn’t allowed to tell
anybody until everyone else graduates, so that’s why I didn’t tell anybody.
Me: It’s a secret…
Sabrina: Yeah it’s a secret! It felt so nice when I
finally graduated, because I’ve been balancing work and the show and then
recording and writing so it was kind of a relief. But at the same time, it’s
quite scary because with school you have legal laws where you have to work a
certain amount of hours and do school a certain amount of hours a day so
whenever you’re on set everybody would be like “Okay, kids you have to go back
to school.” So you always have that time where we get back to our head space
and where we actually were and just focus on other things than filming a TV
show, which is weird. You know, it’s a weird way to grow up, so that was just
kinda like my safe place; now my safe place is…my bed (laughs).
Me: That was a huge milestone in your life, and Girl Meets World was also a huge milestone.
Sabrina: Thank you.
Me: How do you feel about it ending?
Sabrina: I think for all of us, we were in a place
where most of us on the show – we’re all around the same age, turning 18 or in
our late teens and it was a time where we were super lucky that we had three
seasons because so much of this industry is kinda like, you live day by day and
hope for the best. The fact that we got to do 75 episodes and grow up together
for four consecutive years and learn so much from each other, we just had to be
grateful, I mean there’s no other way to think about it...or else you’ll get
yourself in a very sad place and I think for us we just had to be optimistic
about there’s so many things coming and we were so lucky we got to start on
something that made an impact on peoples’ lives and, hopefully, help people.
We’ve gotten to meet so many people whether they were Boy Meets World fans or Girl
Meets World fans or parents of fans of Boys
Meets World that got to watch it with their kids – just to know we had any
kind of impact on people’s lives, it’s just, you have to be very grateful.
Me: Well, it helped me take on the world.
Sabrina: It did? Well, obviously, because you’re doing
pretty well.
Me: Hands (The Vamps, Sabrina Carpenter and Mike Perry)
is out!
Sabrina: The next one is gonna be legs, actually it
would be shoulders knees then toes.
Me: Yeah, I was going to ask if there’s a pattern going on here, first Thumbs,
now Hands.
Sabrina: You know it’s so funny. No, there was no
pattern, I thought that Thumbs was such as unique concept because when you hear
Thumbs you think, ‘what the heck could that be about?’ So that was such a cool
thing and then Hands, when I heard it I wasn’t even thinking about that, to be
quite honest, but I just loved the song so now I’m just going to have to
physically write an album about anatomy.
Me: Can I just suggest: can we have Mirage as single?
Sabrina: Can you have it? Sure. What if I was just
like, “yeah I’ll call up the label.” You’re so sweet. I love that song too. Actually,
that was one of my favourites from EVOLution because it just, it felt very
different from the rest of them but it also came from a personal situation,
where I went into the session like, something had happened to me recently
where, I guess people say, like, someone “threw shade”. I don’t like being
specific about things that happened to me, I like to make it relatable to
everybody so I tried to find and tie in a concept that I thought everyone could
relate to which was people being fake, I guess. In the town that I work in, in
Hollywood, there’s a lot of masks and there’s a lot of pretending to be people
you’re not. So the best way to describe it was it’s all just a Mirage and I
liked the title.
Me: I think I completely agree with that.
Sabrina: Thank you.
Me: There’s a line from Smoke and Fire about rumours…
Sabrina: “Rumours spread like wildfire.”
Me: One of the questions I wanted to ask you was, are there any rumours
you’d like to clear up?
Sabrina: About myself? For the rest of my life I’m
sure I’ll have to. What have you heard about me? Let’s clear it up…
Me: To be honest, I haven’t heard anything.
Sabrina: No dirt?
Me: No, not much…
Sabrina: Not much? Well I guess there is a couple of
things but not much (laughs).
Me: I was gonna ask, what’s the weirdest rumour you’ve heard about
yourself?
Sabrina: That’s a good question. I think the weirdest
thing is actually, it’ll be so funny, like, I’ll post a picture with my hairdresser
and everyone will be like “is that your boyfriend?” So I think that’s like the
funniest thing, the ridiculous dating rumours. He’s 40 but yes, he’s my
husband. But, so, no I’m not dating my 40-year-old hairdresser, just in case
you’re wondering.
Me: So, I’ve got a fan account for you on Instagram…
Sabrina: What is it? Do I follow it?
Me: No…
Sabrina: I will today. What’s it called?
Me: @SabrinaCarpenterUK…
Sabrina: @SabrinaCarpenterUK. Wow, very official!
Me: And I thought I could ask a few other Carpenters if they have any
questions for you.
Sabrina: Amazing.
(Sadly we
only had time for one fan question)
Me: This one is from @SmokeAndSabrina and she’s stressing about exams.
Sabrina: She’s stressing? I get it.
Me: Is there advice that you can give to your Carpenters who are currently
taking their exams?
Sabrina: Any advice if you’re taking exams, right now?
Sleep as much as you can, I know it’s crazy but I’ve learned how vital it is to
your health and just being in a clear state of mind. Sleep as much as you can
and don’t worry too much. I’ve never been a great test taker but I’ve always
been a good student so just know that everyone messes up and imperfection is
normal and you’re gonna kill it!
Me: Shall we go onto the emoji challenge?
Sabrina: Yes, let’s do it!
THE SABRINA
CARPENTER EMOJI CHALLENGE
Me: Thank you so much, we are so excited to see the show tonight.
Sabrina: Dude, I’m so excited that you guys got to
hang out, a bit and I’m so excited that we got to meet. I’m gonna follow your
Instagram and would you like me to sign these.
Me: Yes please…
Sabrina: Oh and good luck with your exams.
Me: Thank you.
Me: Here’s a funny story actually, we didn’t know we’d be getting the
interview so we booked some meet and greet tickets.
Sabrina: Oh, amazing then I’ll see you in a little
bit. Should I do a Mirage acoustic today? I’ve been practising it, would you
like that?
Me: Yeah, just for us! Thank you so much… we really appreciate it.
Sabrina: Thank you so much, guys.
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