Keith Urban is one of the most prolific and talented musicians, of any genre, but he didn’t always consider himself an achiever. The 52-year-old was asked if he helped his daughters, 11-year-old Sunday Rose and 9-year-old Faith Margaret, with their schooling while they were home due to the coronavirus pandemic, and revealed that academics aren’t necessarily his strong suit.
“I decided I’m not very good at homeschooling,” Keith acknowledged on Australia radio station 101.9 Fox FM Melbourne. “I should leave that up to the professionals. The kids have been good. We travel a lot anyway, so they’re used to that kind of thing. But I’m glad I’m not in charge of it, because I quit school at 15, and failed every subject, including music, which is really embarrassing but it’s true.”
Keith has been soaking up family time with his daughters and wife, Nicole Kidman, but he has also been using the time to be creative in his home studio, which is where he finished his upcoming album, The Speed of Now Part 1.
“The studio space I have here at the house has these big windows back just behind me, so there’s tons of light that comes in,” said the singer. “It’s a really good vibe in here. I did a lot of work in here on Ripcord and Graffiti U, but hadn’t been in here in a while, so it was sort of a rediscovery of how much I loved being in here.
“It’s been amazing, because I don’t know how I would have gotten everything finished, honestly,” he continued. “I couldn’t go into a traditional studio to keep working. I couldn’t work without musicians. But I’ve been able to be in here and just keep working on the album.”
Keith admits it was a struggle for him at first, when everyone was forced to self-isolate at home, but he adjusted to being off the road, and even found ways to be more creative than he ever had in the past.
“The first week to couple weeks, I didn’t feel creative,” Keith admitted. “I hate the words ‘crazy’ and ‘strange,’ because they just sort of are almost inappropriate for how horrific the reality is for so many people. But I was sort of thrown creatively. We were in the midst of touring. I was making my record, but also touring, and suddenly it just stops. You’re like, ‘Well how long is it going to be stopped for?’ It’s like, ‘Who knows? Maybe the rest of the year, or maybe longer.’ You’re like, ‘The rest of the year, or longer?’
“It was a very, very weird feeling for me, so I didn’t do anything for a couple of weeks,” he added. “And then I slowly came back down to the studio, and started to get creative again. I have to be creative on my own here. And I’ve been doing an enormous amount of work here in the last couple of weeks.”
