I overheard you saying you do your own makeup at shows. I think that’s amazing, but why is it important for you?
Well, it’s budget-conscious, for sure. I’ve also found a real appreciation for the ritual of spending 30 minutes to an hour by myself before the madness. I like to listen to ambient music and zone out a little bit, or call my mom and catch up while getting ready for the show. And I think, like any other ritual, if there’s consistency and routine regardless of how many places you might be in in a week or a month, there’s something grounding about that. So I’ve appreciated it a lot for that reason as well. And when I’ve found products that I love, it doesn’t feel like I’m clogging my space up.
Are there any tricks you’ve learned from makeup artists that you can impart to us?
I feel like the luckiest person ever to work with Emily Cheng, who I’ve worked with over the past few years. She is able to make the people she works with look most like themselves. She’s just a great friend, also, but I ask her a trillion questions and I’ve learned so much about how she applies product. For instance, instead of putting concealer from the tube directly on to your face, put it on the back of your hand and either use a brush or a finger to apply it so there’s more control. That’s very exciting to me as someone who isn’t a makeup artist but tries to be on the road.
You mentioned your mom, Katie McGrath. What’s the best beauty advice she’s ever given you?
She doesn’t wear much makeup other than tinted lip balm and mascara, so I feel like I probably get my clean skin appreciation from her. But growing up, she was always [preaching] the importance of SPF.
Since you are on tour so much, is there a city or a country that gives you the biggest beauty inspiration?
I couldn’t ever possibly pick because I do think the gift of touring is the ability to look out into the crowd and see the faces of people from all over the world. They show up with their best friends, and they feel like they can be vulnerable in this space and know it’s a safe environment to be that way. There’s such beauty in that.
Also, there’s not a single show that goes by where I don’t see a large handful of people in the crowd where I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I love how he wore that shirt or her hair looks really rad that way or his eyeliner is incredible.’ There’s so many examples of all different kinds of beauty in every single one of our crowds. So I’m just always admiring them.
Do you buy any tchotchkes from each city that you go to as a little reminder?
We do collect things everywhere. One of our items is local hot sauce. [Laughs] I’ve also scrapbooked on this tour. I’ve been more consistent with documenting it.
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