Almost Famous: A talk with Noah Cyrus

Interview and Photography by Andy Gorel

Andy: You grew up under unique circumstances to say the least. Would you say they played into your decision to pursue music?

Noah: I don’t think I would’ve fallen in love with music as hard as I did if I wouldn’t have come from this musical of a family. I wouldn’t really know how deep I should appreciate music because now I really eat, sleep, and breathe music. For me I wanted nothing to do with it in the beginning – from the time I was maybe nine until November of last year, I was a horseback rider and I wanted nothing to do with music. When I was fourteen I started to want to write music. I kind of knew I was going to have a career but I didn’t know it was going be opening up for Katy Perry within a couple years. At fourteen I really wanted to go into what is now my management, Maverick, and just see what this is. They were like “Let’s start sessions”, so I’ve worked on this album from then until now. I’m still working on it.

Then I fell in love with it along the way after hearing Ben Howard’s album, “I Forget Where We Were” when I was fourteen. That’s what made me really want to do it. Up until I was fourteen I was like “No fame for me.” I even hate the word “celebrity”. I hate the word “famous.” I wanted nothing to do with fame, because I had it growing up and I knew how tough it was. At ten years old I was like, “I wanna ride horses!” And I did that. I went every single weekend to a horse show and rode horses for seven years, religiously – every single day. Then when music started speeding up in November I had to slow that down and commit myself to it. Now, because I did that – stopped doing something I loved – I’m now opening up for Katy Perry and love it equally as much.

“Up until I was fourteen I was like “No fame for me.” I even hate the word celebrity. I hate the word famous. I wanted nothing to do with fame, because I had it growing up and I knew how tough it was.”

Andy: Were there any other passions you thought you wanted to pursue as a kid? “I want to be..”

Noah: It was “I want to be a horseback rider.” I wanted to end up being a horseback riding trainer, and go to the Olympics, etc. I still want to do that. If I could do both – if I could go to a horse show, then leave and come open up for Katy Perry, I would do that. Because I really do love my horses. I keep my horses – I never sold them or anything. I still love them. I visit them when I go home, and ride them when I can, but I would definitely say my other passion is still horses.

Andy: As you started to do music though, it had to be helpful to have great advice on the business/the art built right into your family, right?

Noah: Yeah between my family and my management – my management’s advice was “There are definitely things you can get caught up in. Just don’t do that.” Actually, my manager tried convincing me for a solid six months before “Make Me (Cry)” came out – “You don’t want to do this! You don’t want to put music out! Really, I know it looks great right now, but are you sure you don’t want to just keep being a normal kid, and keep riding horses?” I was like, “Nope, done.” That was the first six months of being signed to his management, when I was fourteen or fifteen.

My family, the advice they give me – my dad is always like, “If it feels like you’re working then you don’t love it, but if you love it, and it’s your passion, then you should never feel like you’re working.” And every day I’m like “Do we have an off-day coming up?” And they are like, “Well, we have a show tomorrow, and then an off day,” and I’m like “Okay the show is an off-day to me.” I just don’t feel like I’m working whenever I’m here. I love it so much that I feel like every day is just hanging out.

“I just don’t feel like I’m working whenever I’m here. I love it so much that I feel like every day is just hanging out.”

Andy: What about growing up in LA? Did that come into the equation at all?

Noah: Well I moved to LA when I was young because of everything my family was doing. It’s just like home to me. I actually love LA. I have the best friend group I could ask for. Like normal friends who don’t need anything from you, and don’t try to use you. I didn’t even have many friends when I met them. I probably had my one best friend, Francesca, who I’ve known since I was seven years old. She’s been my neighbor for the last ten to eleven years. I love her to death. I met my friends at a coffee shop, and started meeting their friends, and their friends etc.

For a while I didn’t like LA, and I didn’t have friends in Nashville either because I was so young. When I’d go back, I’d have a few friends that I made, but LA is where I can’t wait to get back to. Anytime my friends from LA call me while I’m gone, I think it’s the best thing ever.

But I’m definitely not jaded from LA. I love living in LA, and I couldn’t have asked for a better childhood. Still I go back and forth to Nashville all the time. We still have our house there. So it’s nice that when I’m on tour, and I’m going to Nashville for nine days that I’m not cooped up in a hotel. I get to be with my farm animals and my horses. I love Nashville.

Andy: The inspiration for your songs, has it changed as you’ve started to grow up?

Noah: Yeah. Well, no actually because I’ve always wanted to sing about love. But when you’re 14, you’re kind of going off of everything you’re seeing. You get the gist of it, but when I really started to experience it as I got older and started having – you know my first boyfriend, and being together a little while – about a year, maybe a little less. That was tough for me. When we broke up I wrote a song called “Almost Famous.” That was the beginning of 2016. It was about “right face, wrong time,” type of thing.

Now I recently just went through a breakup, I was with someone for a year, and I realized that pain was a lot worse than the first time around. As I thought my first relationship was serious, I realize this is what true love really was. I experienced my first time really falling in love with someone, and finding out that they did me wrong in a way – and learning how to forgive them for that. “Do I want to stay with this person? Do I not want to stay with this person?” I didn’t. We broke up the first night of the Katy Perry tour.

Andy: So it’s still fresh. Sorry to hear that.

Noah: Yeah, it’s pretty fresh. So it’s been nice to be on tour. It’s been keeping me busy. If I was home I know I’d be a lot worse. But at the same time it’s nice that I get to focus on me now, because I think when you’ve been lied to and manipulated for a year, you don’t know how to take care of yourself. It’s rough. I don’t regret anything. You always love the person. Do you know what I mean?

Andy: Yep.

Noah: So I’m always gonna love him, but it’s time to take care of myself. I definitely pull my inspiration from experiencing those things.

“Ben Howard hands-down is my musical savior in a way. I heard him for the first time when I was 14, and I was immediately like ‘I want to write songs like Ben Howard.'”

Andy: So here’s a question I’m really curious to know. Everyone is always like, “Yeah, I love Bowie, or Prince, etc.” but I feel like his music is starting to get younger, people like you and me are coming up with different influences than people five to ten years older than us. As someone who’s younger, who are some of your influences?

Noah: Ben Howard hands-down is my musical savior in a way. I heard him for the first time when I was fourteen, and I was immediately like “I want to write songs like Ben Howard.” I just fell in love with the way he writes for himself, and it relates to you in a way, but you know it’s him writing, and you know it’s about him. I don’t know. It’s just something. He’s just so passionate. Even if it’s just a melody he’s playing on guitar, it makes me want to cry. I’m obsessed with Ben Howard.

Lady Gaga is another huge influence to me. I’ve looked up to her since I was a little girl. And my dad obviously, is probably my biggest musical influence. I’ve definitely grown up with some pretty great mentors in the house. So it’s kinda cool to be able to go from when Trace started Metro Station, to Miley doing her thing, etc.

Andy: What has it been like trying to carve your own path coming from that background?

Noah: From when I was little, I wouldn’t like being called – when people came up to me…

Andy: You’re Noah. Not Miley’s sister.

“I’m not Miley Cyrus’ sister. While I am, in a sense, Miley is Noah’s sister too. But people don’t see it from my perspective – how that made me feel as a little girl – up until now.”

Noah: Right! I’m not Miley Cyrus’ sister. While I am, in a sense, Miley is Noah’s sister too. But people don’t see it from my perspective – how that made me feel as a little girl – up until now. To have people going up to you saying “Are you Miley Cyrus’ little sister?” To the point where you almost want to respond with, “No. No I’m not.” And when people ask, “Can I have a picture with you? You’re Miley Cyrus’ little sister.” You almost want to be like, “No. My name’s Noah.” It makes you feel really low that no one really cares enough to call you by your name.

Andy: Even if your sister isn’t a celebrity. That’s just people-to-people. Call someone by their name.

Noah: Exactly! Carving my own path has been pretty easy for me, because that was something I wanted to do from the get-go. I never wanted to seem like I was getting anything from that. And I wanted people to know that I really have been in the studio, working my ass off in sessions since I was fourteen years old. This is not just something where it’s like I want to be famous. I want it to be like “If I never got famous. I did this for the music.”

I do this to carry my emotion across to people. I want to help people. It’s not about money. It’s not about fame for me. It’s really just about – I hope whenever I sing, opening up for Katy Perry, that I’m helping somebody get through a breakup. Because of what I’m going through right now, when I sing them “Almost Famous,” it will help them move on. And that’s what I want to do with my music.

I think it was difficult for people to see me as something other than Billy Ray’s daughter or Miley’s sister, but I think we’re getting past that now. Because I’m not…

“I wanted people to know that I really have been in the studio, working my ass off in sessions since I was fourteen years old. This is not just something where it’s like I want to be famous. I want it to be like ‘If I never got famous. I did this for the music.'”

Andy: Well your songs are standing on their own.

Noah: Thank you! I feel like people are starting to see how much I really care, and what it actually is to me. It’s so serious for me.

Andy: You’ve got an album coming out soon. What can people expect?

Noah: The album just tells a story about all types of love I feel like. Since my recent breakup is so fresh, I think the songs about being in love were about that relationship. There are some heartbreak songs from a relationship I was in two years ago, and they still mean a lot to me. You’re always going to care for that person. I’m not the type of person that’s going to write a song about somebody, and be like, “Oh, that can’t be on the album.” I think songs can change meaning for you. I had a song that totally changed meaning in a matter of years for me. That’s what’s cool about writing an album over two and a half years. It’s about love, falling out of love, breakups, but also there are songs like “Stay Together,” that are about hanging out with your friends, and having a good time.