What's up, guys? This is Jacob Whitesides, and uh this is my song Broke Billionaire. I'd rather be broke here with you than flying on a jet made of gold.

Hey guys, it's Tracy in the Young Hollywood studio, and I am sitting with the one and only Jacob Whitesides. Hello. Firstly, I'm so excited that you're here because I feel like we kind of have we've talked a lot on Twitter. I don't know. We have, right? Like we go way back.

Yes. We have. You think so? I mean, I'm a big fan. I like your voice by the way. It's like mellow. There's a lot of interviewers that like, they have like really squeaky voices and they're like really perky, and you're just like chill. So, I just want to give you a compliment, I swear.

Oh, my gosh. This is off to such a good start right now. I'm feeling really good about myself. I feel like I look really disheveled and Jacob's like so put together. Like, let's talk about this outfit actually, because you are like

What about it

rocking it. You're rocking it. Black skinny jeans, gray sweater, white jacket. It's like fashion 101. On point right here.

I have no idea. People usually pick out my clothes for me. Like yesterday, I did a Disney thing, and um I was like, is someone going to go shopping for me because I don't know what to wear. So, they just like this is like leftovers from me. But I heard that you like skinny jeans.

I love skinny jeans. Right? So you're so you kind of give them tips on like what you like.

I always wear Yes, it's getting colder now outside. It's just going to switch from like skinny jeans and t-shirts to skinny skinny jeans and sweaters. So, Yeah.

Well, yeah, it's like we're we're in L. A. , and it's never there's no seasons here. So like this is a little chilly. I just pulled out the boots for the first time. It was a little chilly. I feel like L. A. people are freaking out because it is like Like 60° is equivalent to 30° for us. If it's cloudy, then it's like freezing. Um but you just performed uh firstly, I can't even get the song out of my head, Secrets and Broke Billionaire. Yes. Um so your new EP, Faces on Film, first of all, you have like a very good talent of like really pulling people's like emotional strings. Cuz I was like sitting there, and I'm like, I can't start tearing and that means a lot. Would I care to be your diamond if suddenly I'm blind? Cuz I can't buy a heartbeat with pockets full of gold. So when I see you standing there, don't let me be a broke billionaire.

Yeah, I don't know. I've always like really really enjoyed songwriting. I haven't I didn't do it a lot up until like the beginning of this year, but like I love it. And I feel like a lot of people are always like when they go into sessions and stuff, they're like listening to the charts and like trying to figure out like what's trendy, what's to write about. But, um my main focus always is just to write songs that people are going to really love and write songs from personal experiences and stuff so people can really relate. Cuz I feel like if you try too hard to be relatable, then it goes over people's heads. But, if you just write songs that mean mean a lot to you, then people people relate. So, I'm glad that you could relate.

Yes. Oh, I mean, and a lot of the songs are like based on your actual relationship, right? With B. Miller, who I love by the way. And I was saying when I was on when I went to X Factor, that was my favorite season that she was on, and she was super cute. And I was like, this girl's going to go somewhere. She left me in the dust. She was like top eight. I was like top 127. So,

Yeah, but look where you are now. So like you can look back at that experience, right? And be like, whoa, I'm very thankful. It was a great learning experience.

And did you guys meet at the X Factor?

Kind of. I don't know. We we barely talked to each other, but she was really intimidating, and I was really shy. Like I didn't talk to anyone at that point. And she was just like Queen Bee. So like,

Queen Bee. Love it, love it. So you didn't actually you saw her, and did you have like a crush on her?

No. I started actually not at the time. I ended up finding her on Facebook later, and I was watching I was watching X Factor cuz I was like, maybe I'll be on it. And I saw her performance, and I was like, dang, she's like amazing. So I messaged her on Facebook, and I was like, whoa, you're good. And then we started talking. We've been friends like really, like she's been like one of my closest friends for like three and a half years. So it's just cool that we that we started dating now. But,

That's the best though when you're like you start out being friends, your best friend. And I mean she you said that she helps you like when you're writing a song, right?

She does. She inspires me in so many different ways, not only like in music, but just like to be a better person in general. Like she's such a good person, and she's such a um she's like a deep like she's like really, I don't know. She like it goes from like a 40-year-old wise man to like a 16-year-old girl in like 2. 5 seconds. She has like no in-between. So it's like really cool to be around her. She's super inspiring. She'll like talk about the meaning of life, and then just like geek out over like an artist and like be a fangirl. So, it's really nice having both of those worlds and not like cuz you know, you get in relationships, and the person's a lot of the time is either like really mature and like really like, I don't know, like professional-like, and they don't ever like show their immature side, or there's someone that's just like acts like a kid all the time. And it's nice being able to have the best of both worlds. It's super.

That's what's more yeah, you just got to like be goofy, be yourself, right? Absolutely. Pull back the curtain, show me all you've been hiding behind the magic of the lies. No blinding lies. When you wrote Secrets, there was some story behind that, right?

Yes. So Secrets was kind of inspired. We we had known each other forever. We had FaceTimed lots of times, texted lots of times. But right before we started dating, we were like talking all the time. We were like mad in love, like FaceTiming like for 12 hours at a time. And so I actually was in Nashville writing music, and we had stayed up on FaceTime the entire night. Like until 7:00 a. m. , and I had a writing session at 8:00. So I walked into the session like exhausted. And we kind of spent like those that that entire week almost just kind of opening up to each other about some like stupid secrets and quirky things that we like. And um just stupid little things that are cool to know about people, but you never actually unless you actually ask someone, you never know. So,

Can you spill any of those secrets here? Ah. What do you guys talk about? What's one of her good secrets? What's a good yeah, give one good secret about B. Oh. That her fans might not know.

Oh, my gosh. This is hard. She We're both like such open books online. Like we have secrets, but like we we just spill everything that we think online, which is a good and a bad thing. I don't know, you'd have to come back to me on that. Secrets All I wanted to do is know your secrets. Just tell me your secrets. You're the mystery I'll never be.

I do actually have a couple questions based on Secrets cuz I want to know some of your secrets. Oh. Okay, well, first thing, what are the what are some things you can't go on tour without?

Can't go on tour without? Besides B. Gosh, I wish I could take her on tour with me. Um I always this is a stupid one, but I I always love having a really really really soft blanket. It makes me feel homey in my bunk. I don't know. I always I always I never use the same one, but before every tour, I'll go to Walmart Target.

Now you're going to have all these fans like sending you blanket. So like, oh my god, we have to go

I'm about to come out with my own blanket, so that'll be cool. It's going to be

Wait, what? You're going to come with your own blanket?

Yeah, I'm going to have my own blanket on my merch store, so My fans have been requesting them like crazy. So, I like to have like cool little things for my fans.

That's amazing. How do So you're just like just find me the softest blanket on Earth, and that will be on the tour. What is the secret to a perfect first date? Ooh. Has there been one with B that you've been on that's like this was the best date we've ever had?

Crazy enough we we like have been anytime we're with each other, it's like we're with a bunch of other people, or we're like in some city that we've never been to before. So it's like really hard to like go around and explore. And we're both super young, so we can't just like I mean, she's got her license now, but we never just like had the opportunity to like leave and go off somewhere. Um so we've literally

You went to Europe recently, right?

Cuz I saw on your Instagram that you were like 10 days in here, and you like we did, which was magical. But our like only official date ever was in like Downtown Disney, and it was like at this random restaurant, and it was I mean, I would go to Downtown Disney. That's how it would be my perfect first date would be Disney. It was beautiful. I feel like it would be Yeah. I love Disney. It's like my favorite place on Earth. I feel like the key to a first date, I don't know. I'm I'm terrible at first dates. Like I would rather just like I don't like depending on who I'm going with, if I don't know him very well, I don't like talking a lot to people that I don't know really well cuz just I'm really awkward and shy. So I would rather like go to the movies where you can just like chill.

No, that's the worst.

Yes, everyone says it's the worst. Girls say that's the worst. No, cuz you can't talk at the movie. Like if Okay. Yeah, which is perfect. So you would take it so, okay, in theory, you would take a girl to a movie on a first date? You can see how good of a kisser they are. You don't have to talk to them a whole lot. I mean, you have like the awkward like first conversation like on the way there. And then once you get to the movies, like if your the conversation's going well, at least it's not going to be awkward cuz you can just like sit back and enjoy the movie. So,

See, you just took the easy way out.

Pretty much. Yeah. But as long as you do like if it's a cool girl though then then then you could do a movie after. You don't want to get coffee first, then you can't Okay. Then a movie after might be. Actually, what am I talking about? A movie would be a great first date. Share some popcorn. Exactly. Hold hands. You can just kind of vibe out.

That's true, that's true. And then what is a a secret guilty pleasure of yours?

I love golfing. Golfing is my Yeah.

I would have so not have been what I expected you to say, but Have you gone golfing?

I'm horrible.

Me too. I actually went to play golf once, and it was like me and a bunch of guys, and I was like, oh, I got this. I got this and I was like literally missed every I It's so hard. It looks They make it look so easy on TV and stuff. I wanted to be good cuz it looked so fun, and I was like dressed up, and I'm like

That's I've been trying to get better. Every time I go home, I play like every morning. Um we have a golf course near our house. Um I'm also really into tennis and and bowling. I like all of those geeky sports.

Are you a good bowler? Are you one of those like

I'm a good I'm I'm like the best I'm really competitive, but I'm not a great bowler. I'm like right in the middle between terrible and great. I'm like right here. I'll bowl like a 120 if I'm lucky. So I will be patient. No need to rush. I won't be the one that leaves you high and dry. I am by your side. So, Faces on Film.

Yes. That's the EP. What does that mean?

Faces on Film is a song from the EP, which was my personal favorite. So I named it after the EP, and the song was just a really was a really painful time for me because we me and B were both really, really busy. It was like right when we first started dating too. Um it's mellowed out a little bit now cuz we're both starting to like work on music, and that's easy cuz we're just in the studio every day. But we were both like on tour at the same time and doing shows and having to run around. And we literally for like three months we would only see each other for like two or three days at a time. And it would be like middle of nowhere. So that that was tough. And I just kind of wrote a song about the difficulties of being in a long distance relationship, but also being in a relationship with another artist who, uh you know, she is signed to a major label. So major label artists don't usually have as much like control over what they get to do and stuff as is um indie artist, but I kind of write a lot about that. So it's one of my it was one of my favorites from the EP. So I decided to be a cool um title.

That's tough. Yeah. That is something cuz, you know, you you've talked before about how the fact that you want to stay, you know, independent because you have control.

Yeah. I mean, that's important to me, being able to decide when I want to release music, when I want to go on tour. Um it just stresses me out that some artists can um even for B, she signed after X Factor, and she didn't get to release an album until like two years later, which is like that would blow my mind. I couldn't do it. I would go crazy. And I like doing like little projects in-between like EPs and albums, like I did um a cover EP last year called The 3:00 a. m. EP. Um this year I'm working on like The 4:00 a. m. EP. And um I like doing like little little things in-between. And I feel like you don't get that that opportunity when you're when you're under contract. So,

Your fans, by the way, are like amazing. They are. And they're the ones that really And you you really communicate well with them. Like, you're all about social media.

I know. That's always been like so important to me.

Well, speaking of fans, we got a lot of fan questions for you that I have to get to because there were so many. I didn't even know I didn't even know how to choose them.