Young Hollywood. Oh, this is our stars. Lightning strikes the heart. It goes off like a gun. Brighter than the sun. What's up, guys? Nikki Novak for Young Hollywood with Grammy winner Colbie Caillat. How are you?

I'm good. How are you?

Good. This is such a pretty setting. Isn't it beautiful?

I kind of grew up like this, right? In the beach. I did. I grew up everything being outdoors. I grew up I was born in Malibu. We have been going to Hawaii my entire life and so I just feel best in nature, outdoors, in the sun, by the water. I love it.

It's reflected in your songs too. Your songs are very happy and very bubbly.

Yeah, exactly. I think I mean, I write from my experiences and what inspires me and being outdoors and at the beach and living that laidback lifestyle.

You've got a really interesting start in the business where most artists they struggle, they put themselves out there for years. You had somebody put you on MySpace and then everybody sort of came to you. What was that like?

Um, you know, it's it was crazy. I uh I knew I wanted to be a singer and I was writing songs and I was recording, it was fun, but I didn't I didn't put the two together that I was going to have to be an artist. I you know, I just didn't I didn't get it at that point. And my friend made me a MySpace page and put my songs up and after like eight months or something like that, I had grown a fan base and become the number one unsigned artist and then I got a record deal and it was just all so fast. Uh I was so young. I was 20, maybe 21. And um so I wasn't ready for it.

And what's this I heard about you tried out for Idol and they said no. Is that real?

Yeah. Yeah. I auditioned for Idol twice. Um Wow. And yeah, but you know, I get it. Like uh I was really nervous. I was shy. I didn't give a good performance. I auditioned with Bubbly, the um yeah, the second time and so it it's funny that I've met them now when I went on Idol and watched the show and they all you know, they're all a little upset that their producers didn't let me in, but I tell them I was like, don't worry. It's okay.

Your dad is a producer and I heard that when he gave you some advice. He said the first thing you should do if you want to be a singer is to write your own music. And you got a good you had a guitar and you knew four notes and you wrote a song. Is that true?

Yeah, um I mean, when I was I started singing when I was 11 and my parents wanted me to take piano lessons and I would like when I was younger, but I just I wouldn't practice and I wasn't there. I was too young. I just I wasn't I wasn't interested in it. And finally, when I was 19, I after years of them telling me to write a song and pick up the guitar, we have guitars, we have pianos, everything, just play it. I finally did. I took my first guitar lesson and um I had learned four chords and I went home and I wrote my first song and it's called Someday.

Do you think it's different when you do write your own stuff to connect to it in a different way than if people, for instance, are covering other people's music or other people write for them?

Definitely. Yeah. I mean, it's great with my fans because they can relate to what I'm going through and I'll at meet and greets or at shows, they'll tell me that one of my songs helped them through their divorce or helped them fall in love or, um, you know, whatever story it may be. It's really cool that they know that they're not alone and I know that I'm not alone. Other people are going through that also and it helps you connect to the the fans and them connect to the artist.

So tell me about the new album.

Um, my new album I love so much because it is uh a huge leap for me. Um it still has my same acoustic summery sound like Coco and Breakthrough had, but um there's more uh programmed beats in in the tracks and um underneath the real instruments. Uh the songs are more up tempo and I wrote with amazing writers and um had them produce the songs because we have more of a visual of how we want them and we write them and I did a collaboration with Common and Ryan Tedder called Favorite Song. This record, the meaning of the album title, all of you, is about giving all of yourself, being completely honest and present in every situation, um, not holding back your thoughts from someone, um, and not being on your cell phone all the time. Like I've I'm noticing all these things that I do and other people do that you want to be more present and it makes the other person feel good and the relationship more just real.

Hi, this is Colbie Caillat, and you're watching Young Hollywood.