It had been 18 months since we last sat down with singer-songwriter Kip Moore and a lot has changed for the ruggedly handsome country music star (namely, more fans and more fame). As his second sophomore album, Wild Ones, is set to drop later this summer, we caught up with Moore, 35, to discuss how he's handling that fame, why he isn't one to settle down, and why Shania Twain missed out.
Glamour: Country star by night, surfer dude by day! Not long ago you spent a few weeks surfing in Hawaii. What kind of escape does it provide you?
Kip Moore: I try to go at least once or twice a year, and I'll go to Costa Rica a couple times a year too. It's the only thing that shuts my brain off. It's the only escape that I have. I don't think about a whole lot when I'm out there. I'm focusing on the waves and getting better. I was driven by sports my whole life, and I have that mentality that I want to be great at it and trying to get better at it.
Glamour: Switching gears back to music, fill us in on your new album, Wild Ones. You had a hand in writing every song on the album.
Kip: The sound is big. This is a very organic record. It's a very aggressive record at times, and I feel it takes you on a journey. It can be very ethereal at times, and it can feel like a dream at one moment, and then the next it can make you want to rage. I know my fan base, and I know how much they're going to love this record.
Glamour: Let's talk about the music video for "I'm to Blame." The ruffled blue throwback suits were epic. Was that your idea?
Kip: It was great—and yeah, the whole video was my idea. It's probably the most fun I've had shooting a video. I started it out thinking about all the crummy gigs me and Dave, the lead guy, used to have. That was really a conversation that we'd have at the beginning, where we'd say, "How many more of these are we going to do?" So yeah, it was a blast to do it.
Glamour: One of the lyrics in "I'm to Blame" is "No, they don't make guys like me." What are you referring to?
Kip: Exactly that. I've always been very candid, and it gets me in trouble sometimes. What a man is nowadays has changed a lot, and I feel like I have so much of my dad in me, and I want to be old-fashioned in terms of my character and what I stand for. I think that's kinda it. I think I see things different than a lot of people.
Glamour: How so?
Kip: You'd have to be around me. When the whole room sees red, I see blue. I live by my own means, and I don't worry about trying to please other people. I feel like I'm respectful to other people, but I don't live my life trying to fit into a crowd. I don't give a sh-t if I fit in, to be honest with you.
Glamour: In our last interview you told us that "I know I've crushed somebody's heart before. I don't think you can really love somebody until you've experienced both and know both sides. You're more careful with somebody else's heart if it's happened to you." Had you come up with the lyrics for"I'm to Blame" yet when we spoke?
Kip: Yeah, I think I wrote the lyrics about a year before I sat down for that interview with you. "I'm to Blame" is a rather old song, so yeah, for sure. I've had my heart crushed, and I know I've done the crushing at times, but I think you have to feel both. I've seen people bounce from relationship to relationship right after they're done with one, and they're scared to face themselves. I don't think you can ever help anybody that way. So many marriages probably fall to pieces because you don't know who in the hell you are when you get married. Not that I have the answers, because I've never been married, but I think that's a big part of it.
Glamour: Has a girl come really close to being The One for you?
Kip: Yeah, a couple times. I've had some amazing people in my life that have really changed my outlook on a lot of things. There's been a lot of people that have shown me a lot about myself. Sometimes it's hard for me to understand myself, to be honest. I'm aloof and so driven by what I've tried to accomplish with this. At times, I've wanted to disappear and surf and be by myself, so it's hard for me to juggle all that. I feel like I am caring and kind when I do decide to go down that route with someone, but it's just hard for me to mentally go there. I'm also one of those people that once I've gone there with somebody, it's going to be a long time before I'm ready to go there again. I've never been the kind that needs somebody.
Glamour: Do you think that makes girls fall harder for you?
Kip: I don't know. I definitely feel like I'm pretty straight up with whoever I'm hanging out with and they seem pretty cool about it at first, but then they're not.
Glamour: Will there be a Mrs. Kip Moore by the time you're 40?
Kip: 100 percent. Yeah, 100 percent. Well, let's take that back and put it at 99 percent. [Laughs]
Glamour: You're going on tour with Dierks Bentley this summer, and you recently pulled one heck of a prank on him—you basically filled his truck with Styrofoam popcorn and put a live goat in the back of it.
Kip: Yeah, I kinda feel bad about that now. [Laughs] I'm sure he'll get me back. I'm not scared, but I know it's coming! I'll just get him right back and it will be a continuous cycle.
Glamour: Rapid fire question time! When you have a night at home, what do you watch on TV?
Kip: NBA basketball. I'm a big Atlanta Hawks fan. I also watch the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. But my guilty pleasure is Naked and Afraid. It's like a train wreck. I can't stop watching it! My favorite TV show of all time is Breaking Bad though.
Glamour: Food and beverage of choice court-side at a basketball game?
Kip: Hot dog with relish, mustard and ketchup, and a Coke.
Glamour: The chain restaurant I'm obsessed with is______.__
Kip: Chipotle. It's the pearly gates!
Glamour: What do you prefer: selfie or regular photo?
Kip: Regular photo. I've never taken a selfie in my life and never will. I won't personally pull the trigger on it. If someone wants a selfie with me, I'll do it, but I've never taken one myself. I won't ever be one taking selfies in the mirror. There's too much of that sh*t going on with dudes right now. I won't be doing that.
You OK with candids, Kip? We hope so!
Glamour: Late-night talk show host you most enjoy watching?
Kip: Definitely [Jimmy] Fallon.
Glamour: Lip-synch song of choice?
Kip: Shania Twain. I could dominate early Shania Twain music. I could get down with it. I just love her. That's my woman. I've never met her, but I will one day. We're supposed to meet. [Laughs]
Glamour: What do you love most about Shania?
Kip: There's nothing I don't love about Shania. She's just...when I saw the "Any Man of Mine" video I was just like (jaw drops) glued to the TV. I was like, "This is my woman. This is Mrs. Moore right here." I might be way younger, but this is my woman!
__Wild Ones comes out August 21. Click here to preorder the album. __
Check out our interviews with Miranda Lambert, Dierks Bentley, and Florida Georgia Line at the ACMs recently:
