I think that in the end, the fans know the difference to when it feels live and when it doesn’t. It may sound great, but it’s really not that satisfying. So often as a singer in this day and age of technology, you’re singing the songs to a demo and then you’re basically sitting in the booth watching the orchestra play over your voice. The imperfection is what was interesting to us, the idea of a live moment, to get in the room with the guys and have 60 instruments and just playing it over, over and over again.
So much of it was about the live performance and capturing the performance in the room - not just tweaking in a non-organic way for the sake of the product. Josh Groban: Certainly it was made in a way that I’d never made a record before. SheKnows: I read that you said you’ve never made a record like this before, is that what you’re talking about?
We just tried to write and record the most beautiful, pure-sounding record. In the end, we made an album that would make David really proud. To work with Rick was a big change for me and a great honor to shift gears. It was a huge risk because I’d worked with the wonderful, brilliant David Foster for so many years and that was kind of my safety blanket. He said he didn’t want to do anything halfway. Josh Groban: We started talking about the idea of what we could do together. SheKnows: How did that turn into a full-fledged album? He said to me, “Look, I’d be happy to listen to the songs you’ve got, once we have some songs.” We had more in common, based on the idea that we probably wanted to make music, and what was important about making music. When we started talking, we realized that we had more in common than we thought. We met through mutual friends and we wanted to meet just to be buddies. But, when we first met, we weren’t planning on working together. So my first thing, I was nervous not only because I respected his accomplishments but because I felt like what I did was not really in his wheelhouse. It’s impossible not to have preconceived notions and not to wonder before going into it what he was like as a collaborator. He said, “You’ve got a good voice.” He actually said, “I want this record to be yours” and I was very honored that he said that. Josh Groban: Well as far as the writing goes, Rick was amazing because he pushed. SheKnows: How did you find working with Rick Rubin? How did your expectations differ from the experience? It’s kind of a rush once you start doing it. The singing is an outlet in itself but to be able to sit down and write, is so unbelievably yours. I had to hone it, know what I was looking out for, and know what the magic formula was. It took me a while to figure out that what I was doing was actually writing. I thought to myself, “Well don’t be lazy, if you’ve got something to say, say it.” So instead of writing journal entries, I would sit down at a piano and just play. As I started getting more confident and more comfortable with what it was I wanted to say and what it was I wanted to sing, songs that were coming in just weren’t as satisfying for some reason. I enjoyed interpreting other people’s songs. Josh Groban: I started primarily as a vocalist and sang other people’s music. SheKnows: What inspires you and does it change from record to record? Groban visits with us exclusively to discuss the challenge of songwriting, how his influences have changed over the years and what his fans can expect from the 20 million record-selling superstar. As soon as he stepped onto the Grammy rehearsal stage, it was clear, this voice was one of America’s best. Before Josh Groban even had an album, in 1998, Foster asked Groban to fill in for an ailing Andrea Bocelli at a Grammy rehearsal of Bocelli’s song with Celine Dion, The Prayer. Producer and composer David Foster learned of Groban through a tape that had fallen into his hands. The big break for Josh Groban arrived in the most unlikely of circumstances.
0 kommentar(er)
