Building LEGO in LA with Olivia Rodrigo

100 lucky Los Angeles fans are playing with Olivia Rodrigo. They’re swinging her back and forth on the moon, watching a honeybee fly overhead, head-banging her dark hair up and down. These Olivia Rodrigos, however, are only about one-inch tall and made of plastic—the pièce de résistance of her new LEGO Editions collection, five collectible LEGO sets all inspired by her musical history. For the occasion, LEGO took over Licorice Pizza Records for a one-of-a-kind fan experience complete with all five sets on display, a life-size installation of the GUTS Tour floating moon (also a set!), and lots of purple. The location was no pure coincidence—the event also served to kick off a global treasure hunt to find 333 limited-edition brick-built LEGO vinyl records hidden in record stores around the world.

This was the only record store, however, that held the actual Olivia Rodrigo. About thirty minutes into the event, Rodrigo had secretly arrived and was hiding out in a green room upstairs before she headed downstairs for a fan Q&A—and, after a brief mic snafu, an impromptu singalong. There, she chatted exclusively with NYLON about designing the collection, being nostalgic for her past records, and her amazing summer.

First of all, have you been downstairs yet? It’s so cute.

Not yet! I’ve been here [at Licorice Pizza] before, but I haven't seen it all decked out.

You’re in for a treat. Building your own world in bricks is such an interesting exercise. What part of yourself felt easiest to recreate in LEGO, and what felt impossible?

We’ve been working on it for the past year and a half. I feel like it's [become] quite a big thing. It's super fun to get to collaborate with the LEGO geniuses that make all these incredible sets, but I was really excited about the mini figs, too. It was interesting to see my tour outfits and my music video outfits put into mini fig form. That was very exciting. And to come up with little details to incorporate into the backstage area, like the guitar, or where you can put a little picture on the record player—all of those little fun ideas were a real joy to come up with as an experience. [For the hardest], I'm just so impressed with the record player that they made that actually spins. I just don't really know how they did it, and it's very miraculous.

Did working on these sets make you realize there are symbols or objects you've unconsciously returned to throughout your career? When you are in the moment, creating these albums and their visual identity, do you think about your own mythology?

It is kind of really interesting because the outfits that I wear, the stage design that I do, it just feels very intuitive at the moment. And then to see it kind of get memorialized in LEGO form is really fun. It really brought me back to going on tour.

Now that you’re on album three and can see the lasting impact those choices in costume or stage design make, do you have to think harder about those decisions?

There's so many little decisions that I get to make in my life as an artist, and it's really interesting to see the way that it expands and the way that it lives on after that set performance or that outfit. I try not to think about [any pressure].

Having LEGO designer under your belt now, does that get you thinking about other creative roles you’d like to take on?

I mean, I love little crafty things and I think that's why LEGO is so fun because it's really great for people to do things with their hands. We're all on our phones so much and it's really nice to just have something that's relaxing and creative that is tactile. So I don't know, maybe more stuff like that would be interesting. I was really obsessed with dolls when I was younger, and so maybe something like that.

“There's so many little decisions that I get to make in my life as an artist. It's really interesting to see the way that it expands and lives on.”

I was talking to one of my colleagues ahead of this interview, and he was like, "I am so obsessed with LEGO, it’s the only way I could turn my brain off." Do you have a brain-off activity?

A great question, and I don't have a very interesting answer. Just going on walks, I will walk forever. Putting my headphones in and just wandering aimlessly is my favorite thing in the world.

Do you go podcast or music?

Mostly music. I should listen to more podcasts. I was listening to a lot of true crime, and then I was like, "Why am I so anxious?"

I used to listen to them as I was falling asleep and then was like, “Why am I having such weird dreams?”

My best friend does that too. She'll listen to the craziest true crime podcast as she's going to sleep.

Which musician’s LEGO set would you immediately add to cart if they made one?

I'm really into Debbie Harry’s outfits right now. So if I had a Debbie Harry look in a mini-fig, that’d be really cool. I just love her in her little T-shirts and leather shorts. I have a photo of her in my house of her in a pink cardigan and tight pink pants, and she's just the coolest girl ever. I don’t know how one person is that cool.

Fully agree. Do you collect anything?

I go to a lot of concerts so I’ll collect the little lanyards that I get. Then I can just look through all of them and be like, "Oh, I remember that show. I remember that one." Sometimes I collect hotel key cards too, especially when [I] had a particularly fun time in a city.

What was the last good concert you went to?

I went and saw Oklou in Brooklyn the other day. It was incredible and the set was insane and I love so many of her songs.

“You seem so pretty for a girl so in love” has been a lot of people’s summer soundtracks, so what has been yours?

I love Audrey Hobert. She makes me really happy and feel really confident and I enjoy just turning that on. I love the song “Silver Jubilee” a lot. “Sue Me,” obviously; “Phoebe.” I love “Sex and the City.” So many.

Are there any new releases that you’re looking forward to?

Ooh, I’m trying to think who is coming out soon.

The new Phoebe [Bridgers] is out in a few weeks.

Oh my God, I can’t wait. Have you heard it?

Yeah, I went to her acoustic show at MSG.

Gosh, I'm so jealous. I'm so proud of everyone that nothing leaked from that. She's just such a great songwriter, one of the greatest. I'm jealous that you went. I love “Lost Boys.”

How much work versus play have you had this summer, between the album in June and Daisy Chains coming up?

I did a lot of press before it came out, so when it did come out, I kind of got to enjoy [my summer]. So summer's been amazing. I've been in New York loving it.

New York is the best place to be this summer in particular.

There’s something in the air! It’s the Knicks, it’s the World Cup, everyone’s going to the bar and watching the game.

Were you in town when the Knicks won?

I was in Las Vegas and so sad about it. I wanted to be in New York so bad; the pandemonium that happened on the street was just so fun to watch even in the videos.

How about the World Cup?

I went to [the] France-Sweden game. I got so into the World Cup this year in a way that I never have before. It was just so fun. It was so fun to just see everyone put their differences aside and do something communal. [I] know way more about soccer than I ever have.

What’s still on your summer to-do list?

I haven't been to the beach in California yet. I’ve been [on the] East Coast, but not California. That's on the list. Just driving with my friends, a little picnic on the beach, that's just the best thing ever.

What would you say is the difference between East vs. West Coast beaches?

I don’t know enough about East Coast beaches, but there is a specific charm to an East Coast beach that I love, like the lobster rolls. There's something so nice about going to the beach on the East Coast too, because you know that you can only go in the summertime. You can go all the time in LA because the weather's always perfect, so it really makes you enjoy it way more.

Are you in crunch mode for the festival now that we’re a month away?

We’ve been working really hard on it. It's going to be really emotional to see it all come to fruition. I feel like I'm across every little detail of it, so to get to walk through the venue and see all the artists, it's going to be really special.

One final LEGO question for you before we head downstairs and you see it all: looking back at all these tours and moments from past albums, do you feel a nostalgia for them?

I mean, looking at the LEGO sets, there's a lot of GUTS-themed stuff. It really reminds me of being on that tour, and I had so many awesome memories there. That’s definitely a very succinct, special period of my life to have commemorated.