The Taylor Momsen Interview

Overview

Rick Beato welcomes Taylor Momsen for a wide-ranging conversation about life on the road, songwriting, and the music that shaped her. Momsen is juggling two tours: opening for AC/DC in stadiums while headlining her own shows in between. She says the AC/DC set is almost the easy part; the real challenge is choosing songs for her nearly two-hour shows from five albums.

Momsen and Beato marvel at how AC/DC’s seemingly simple music is difficult to pull off. Watching Angus Young perform night after night, she says, is intensely inspiring.

Life on the Road

Touring has brought some decidedly less glamorous experiences. During an AC/DC show in Seville, a bat latched onto Momsen’s leg as she performed “Witches Burn.” Angus Young dubbed her “Batgirl,” and she had to undergo a long course of rabies shots.

Later, while touring in Mexico, a brown recluse spider bite was misdiagnosed and nearly cost her her leg. Even while hooked up to IVs, Momsen insisted she needed a plan to make that night’s show. Beato is stunned by both stories. Momsen says the bat was “cute,” but the spider was simply trying to kill her.

Musical Influences and Soundgarden

Momsen’s musical touchstones include The Beatles, whose melodies first made her want to write songs and be in a band, and Soundgarden, whose atmosphere and complexity captivated her later. She describes Soundgarden as a band in which every member’s distinctive playing matters.

She recalls the joy of touring and forming close friendships with the band before Chris Cornell’s death. Performing with the surviving members at tributes and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction has been emotional. Still, she says the induction was ultimately filled with pride and happiness for them. Momsen and Beato also discuss the challenge of singing Soundgarden songs live, particularly the band’s fluid, shifting rhythms.

Songwriting and the Studio

Momsen says songwriting has no reliable formula: an idea might begin with a lyric, riff, or melody—or arrive all at once. She tries to stay open to inspiration by living among records and taking in other art, films, and books.

The studio is her “happy place,” where she and the band turn songs imagined at home into recordings. She dislikes writing to a backing track or click track, and says the band’s latest album was made with songs that could stand on their own without elaborate production.

One playful studio anecdote involves “For I Am Death”: Momsen sang so forcefully that she blew out a microphone. The take was so good that the recording team told her she was done.

Grief and a New Chapter

Momsen explains that Death by Rock and Roll grew out of grief after losing Cornell and the band’s longtime producer and collaborator Kato. For a time, she found it difficult even to listen to music because it brought back memories of the people she had lost. The album’s title came from a phrase Kato used as a kind of defiant life motto.

She describes Dear God as the beginning of a new chapter: more direct and personal, with songs drawn from her own life rather than stories viewed from a distance. Writing has been a private refuge since childhood—a way to process her life, not primarily something she does for an audience.

Music, Acting, and Listening

Momsen and Beato discuss the difficulty of mixing an album while touring and making it sound good everywhere, from studio monitors to phones and earbuds. Momsen also expresses frustration with algorithmic music recommendations. They share concern that many listeners treat music as background rather than giving it their full attention, and agree that concerts feel less present when audiences watch through phone screens.

Momsen explains that she left acting because she wanted to tell her own stories through music rather than serve someone else’s vision. She recalls the exhausting schedule of filming by day and recording at night, fueled by Red Bull and very little sleep.

Upcoming Shows

The interview ends on a lighter note with Momsen’s packed schedule, including planned performances with Soundgarden and a trip to India with Foo Fighters. Having already been bitten by a bat and a spider on AC/DC tours, she jokes that she is waiting for a third mishap. When Beato suggests a “bite of love,” she makes clear she would prefer something that won’t kill her.

Personalities Featured

• Taylor Momsen — Singer, songwriter, and frontwoman of The Pretty Reckless
• Rick Beato — Interviewer and music producer and commentator