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Thread started 06/30/16 8:44am

JoeBala

Just Interviews

ALICE BRAGA

ROBERT NETHERY

06/28/16


ALICE BRAGA IN NEW YORK, MAY 2016. PHOTOS: ROBERT NETHERY. STYLING: MARINA MUÑOZ/LALALAND ARTISTS. HAIR: LAURA DE LEON/JOE MANAGEMENT USING ORIBE HAIR CARE. MAKEUP: LINDA GRADIN/ATELIER USING MAC COSMETICS.


Queen of the South
begins at the end: Teresa Mendoza, America's preeminent drug queenpin and the show's protagonist, is shot through one of the floor-to-ceiling windows of her home. "I knew this day would come," she says calmly in a voiceover. Based on the novel by Spanish writer Arturo Pérez-Reverte, USA's new drama tracks Teresa's journey from Mexico to the U.S., and her evolution from a vulnerable young woman into a powerful criminal. Brazilian actor Alice Braga, who made her film debut at the age of 18 in the Oscar-nominated City of God, stars as Mendoza. Though the show is predominantly in English, Braga is also fluent in Spanish.

While most English speakers will recognize Braga for her work in Hollywood action films such as I Am Legend and Elysium, Braga's roots remain firmly in Brazil. She owns a production company, Los Bragas, in São Paolo, the city in which she was raised. Many of her family members are in the film and television industry; her aunt and mother are both actors and her sister is a producer.

Here, Braga talks to her friend of over a decade Wagner Moura, who coincidentally stars as real-life drug kingpin Pablo Escobar in Netflix's Narcos.


WAGNER MOURA: I did my homework on you. I used to be a journalist years before we met, so it reminded me of the time I was a journalist. I think we met in 2003, right?

ALICE BRAGA: Yes. It was 2003 because I was 20 years old, and I turned 21 with you guys on set.

MOURA: You were just a girl.

BRAGA: I was a baby.

MOURA: I remember clearly the first day I met you. You arrived replacing an actress, so you got there 10 or 15 days before we started shooting. You showed up and I don't know how exactly—it was you and Lázaro [Ramos] and me—but we ended up going to the lowest level kind of bars in Cachoeira. Do you remember this?

BRAGA: [laughs] I do.

MOURA: We were drinking cachaça and dancing. When I talk about a low level bar in the countryside of Brazil, I don't know if people have an accurate understanding of what that means.

BRAGA: It's definitely very cheap...

MOURA: A very cheap place. So much fun.

BRAGA: I do remember that. We had cachaça and cognac one day, but I think it was on set.

MOURA: A lot of drinking involved. [laughs] We were working with another actress, and we were like, "What's going to happen?" The director just decided he was going to replace the actress, and you arrived. When we went to all those bars, I remember thinking, "She's so cool." Lower City ended up being a very important film for you—for both of us, I guess, but especially for you, right?

BRAGA: Yes, definitely. And thank you for saying that you thought I was nice. [laughs]

MOURA: Yeah, I think you're nice.

BRAGA: [both laugh] When I did City of God, I was 18, and it was during my July vacation. It's winter for us, so we only have a month off. When I was in Rio filming, I saw you guys doing A MáquinaThe Machine—the play by João Falcão. I saw you and Lázaro and Vladimir [Brichta] and Gustavo [Falcão], but you and Lázaro together. And I loved the play. For me, it changed my perspective on acting and theater. I was 18 and I was enchanted; it was so amazing to see this group of actors doing the same character in the environment and the direction that you guys had. I completely fell in love. Then I finished City of God and I went back to São Paolo and finished school and started attending university for performing arts. When I got the call to go to Cachoeira to meet you guys, I remember exactly when they told me who was going to be in the film. I remember the feeling of, "Oh my god, these are the guys that I just fell in love with, that just inspired me to decide, ‘Okay, lets do this.'" Suddenly I found myself with you guys in that room on top of a tobacco factory. [laughs]

MOURA: It was an intense preparation.

BRAGA: It was! It was so intense. Of course the character was a big challenge for me, but also the chemistry between the three of us, finding that and then learning from you guys and starting to really work on something so deep as Lower City. I learned from everyone; I learned from the acting coach that we had, I learned so much from you guys. City of God, for me, was life changing for many reasons: it was my first film and the film got recognized all over the world and I got my agent. But Lower City was the most important film for me as an actress because it gave me a perspective of what I love about it, and how amazing it is when you put your soul into it and give yourself 100 percent to what you are doing. I always tell this story to journalists, because they always ask, "What do you remember that was very important for you and your career?" I remember one scene with you—we are in the room and you come to me and ask me to stay with you, and I say to you, "I can't. I can't stay with you and I can't stay with him. I cannot," and you grab me and push me against the wall. You're pushing me and I'm trying to argue. That moment, looking in your eyes and having our DP going on top of the bed to try and get it, and all the energy that we had, was one that changed my life. I remember your passion, I remember your eyes, and I remember how we were in that with the DP.

MOURA: Yeah, that was a very, very beautiful scene. I felt the same about it.Lower City is one of my favorite films that I've done. We ended up going to the Cannes Film Festival with that, which was cool as well. Remember when we were invited to walk on the red carpet of a film that I don't remember the name of any more, for reasons that I will explain now? [Braga laughs] It was a film with Bill Murray or something. We were so elegant. I had a tuxedo and you were so beautiful and people were taking pictures of us, even if they didn't have a clue of who the fuck we were. I was like, "Alice, they're taking pictures of us. Check this out!" We walked the red carpet and when we got to the entrance of the theater, a guy—a guard or publicist—showed us our way out of the theater. We were cracking up, laughing so loud, like, "What's going on?"

BRAGA: That was the first time we walked a red carpet—at least for me—that big.

MOURA: Oh yeah, definitely. A lot of Hollywood stars were there. Lower City, likeCity of God, was one of the big things at the film festival.

BRAGA: I love that story.

MOURA: So here we are now, in the cocaine business. That's where we ended up. Let me ask you something concerning Queen of the South. First of all, I want to know how was it, because we haven't talked about the fact that we're both playing drug dealers at the same time.

BRAGA: And that we are bosses!

MOURA: Yeah, we are the bosses of the whole thing. Playing a character like that, how did you prepare yourself? What was the first thing you thought, "This is what I have to do now."

BRAGA: It is based on a novel by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, this wonderful Spanish writer. I read the book eight years ago. A really good friend of mine gave me the book, and she said, "You need to read this book because it's a beautiful, strong story about this woman. Maybe she's a nice character for you to play, but just read it." The years went by and they did the telenovela version in Spanish, and I was happy that they made it, because I always thought it was such a beautiful character for a woman to play. When they called me, I couldn't believe that eight years after I had read the book and loved the character, they came to me. It was very special. It was funny because Blindness, which is based on the book by José Saramago, was also a book that I loved, so when they invited me it was the same feeling. ForQueen of the South, my main [reason] to sign up for it was the character and the book, because that was a journey I really wanted to play. So right after I got cast, I went straight to the book and made notes, getting all the little details about what people say about her, who she is, what type of woman she is in the world that she's born, how she manages to survive—all that. Just trying to honor the book and have a better understanding of it. I have an acting coach that helps me. He works with me on preparing—running lines and having ideas and developing different ways of approaching characters.

MOURA: And you basically worked off the book. The book was your main source of material.

BRAGA: Yes. They decided afterwards to change the course of the story. They got the inspiration from the book—this character Teresa Mendoza that goes from being the girlfriend of a drug dealer to running for her life. She escapes from the Sinoloa Cartel in Mexico. In the book she goes to Spain, and in the series she goes to the U.S. Because the writers decided to change the journey of the character, I sat down with them and said, "The character that I want to play is the character that's in the book. That's my passion. So I'm going to base how she would respond to these new things that you guys are creating on little notes and details that Arturo Pérez-Reverte wrote." I really went to the book all the time to get little details that I love about her, like she never victimizes herself, she's someone that listens more than she speaks, that observes a lot and has a very beautiful inner strength. She could have died; anything could have happened throughout her whole life. She was sexually abused. She comes from very poor circumstances. Those little details of her life I tried to honor. Whatever they wrote, my main source of preparation was the book.

MOURA: So she's Mexican, but it's all spoken in English?

BRAGA: They decided to do the whole series in English for the American audience.

MOURA: Did you try a Mexican accent?

BRAGA: I wanted to. I speak Spanish with a Mexican accent in a few scenes. I wanted to change my accent to a more Mexican English accent, but they started to neutralize everyone rather than thickening their accents. They wanted it to be smooth for people to easily understand. That was a choice that they made and I just went along.

MOURA: Is it still difficult for you to work in another language that's not Portuguese? I think now, you've worked more in English than in Portuguese.

BRAGA: It is still a challenge. I never thought about it, but I think that's true—I've done more work in English than in Portuguese. Because I'm so close to my family and friends and I always speak Portuguese, my heart and mind goes to Portuguese. Once I was on set, after three or four months doing the series working hard every day and only speaking English, it became easier. You're mindset is there and you're dreaming in English and you're focusing in that language. But it is hard; in a way you're translating from one thing to the other. How is it for you?

MOURA: It's a nightmare. English or Spanish, any time I do something that's not Portuguese, my brain is putting in so much effort. It's like part of your brain is there doing the character and connecting to the emotions of the character, and the other part of the brain is like, ‘Am I pronouncing this well? Is this correct?'

BRAGA: [laughs] I go through the same thing. If you want to improvise or just put your heart out there, it's really hard to bring that intensity to it.

MOURA: My primal emotions get out of my mouth in Portuguese. But let me ask you, doing Queen of the South, has your perspective towards the drug trade changed? Do you think drugs should be legalized?

BRAGA: In the series, the main journey is about this character and not the cocaine. In the first season, we're showing the journey to get there—the relationship of the character with cocaine is through her boyfriend and through this woman that hires her. The other day I was talking to a journalist and they asked me about Narcos, and what I think is brilliant is that Narcos is not only based on a true story, but it follows the path of cocaine. It follows the whole explosion of cocaine in the world, and it's really telling the story of this product, this drug. Queen on the South is different because the focus is not on the drug; it's on this character. But we have [to find] the balance of, "It is entertainment, but cocaine can't be a fun part of it or something that we idealize related to action or fame or money." It's always the point I'm trying to discuss with the writers. If you look at what's happening—especially in that I play a Mexican and we're talking about the Mexican world—it's beyond devastating. The situation with the cartels and what they're doing to the community, to the cities, to the whole country, is heartbreaking. To glamorize that, it's a totally wrong way to go.

MOURA: Like you said, Narcos is pretty much about the birth of the drug trade, and the more I understand about it, the more I'm sure that the "War on Drugs" is a big flop. I definitely think that drugs should be legalized, because, like you said, the people who are really dying in this war are people who live in the poor neighborhoods of the countries that export or produce drugs. I think addiction is a big deal, and it should be treated like a health problem, not a police problem. The war is killing more people than addiction. I always thought drugs should be legalized but now, by doing Narcos, I'm 100 percent sure about it.

BRAGA: Exactly, I agree. All over the world, all of the relations with drugs come from the violence of trying to stop it and trying to smuggle it. What is happening at the border of the United States and Mexico is heartbreaking.

MOURA: It's brutal.

BRAGA: Have you seen this documentary Cartel Land?

MOURA: I saw it last week. How about that doctor [José Manuel Mireles] that created a militia? What a character.

BRAGA: It's crazy. It's a wonderful film because of that.

MOURA: It's such a sad story. In our countries, South American countries, the drug trade brings violence to—

BRAGA: —the slums.

MOURA: At a level that is beyond comprehension. I think the best way to stop it is by having the government control the drugs. But I want to ask you a little bit about Brazil as well. How is your relationship with Brazil now? I know you love to be there and love to work there, but how do you balance working in the U.S. and working in Brazil? How do you see the Brazilian film industry now, and how do you think they see you? I mean, I can answer that last one for you.

BRAGA: [laughs] Can I ask you? Because I don't know actually.

MOURA: They love you, and Brazilians have a very accurate of understanding who you are. They see you as a great actress, which you are, and a great human being, which you also are. They're very proud of you and all the films that you are doing abroad. How do you see the industry in Brazil?

BRAGA: Well, thank you for everything you just said. I love you.

MOURA: It's not my opinion. It's Brazilians'. [laughs]

BRAGA: [laughs] Very warm people. I ended up having these doors open up for me when I was very young to work abroad, and that was wonderful. I started just throwing myself into it and through curiosity, through a desire to meet new people and challenge myself with different possibilities, I ended up working here a lot. But Brazil is where I come from; I'm 100 percent Brazilian in that I have my house in São Paolo and I truly believe in our cinema and the talent we have. I think we have a wonderful film industry.

MOURA: You have a production company in Brazil, right?

BRAGA: Yes! Exactly. I have a production company [Los Bragas] with Felipe Braga.

MOURA: Now my best my friend, thanks to you.

BRAGA: I take that credit! For those listening, I introduced you guys and now he's writing your first feature. My other brother. But because I've been working [in the U.S.] a lot, a bunch of people assume that I won't work in Brazil anymore. For the past few years, the past two years especially, I've been kind of struggling and talking to our agent in Brazil to help me out. She says, "You're always traveling, so some people think they cannot get you." I'm really trying to change that. In Brazil they say, "Oh, she's an international actress," and honestly I'm not international; I'm an actress who works abroad. I really want to have the chance to work with [the Brazilian] directors I admire and love. There are so many good directors doing amazing work there. I not only want to do it, I want to support it, even producing to support our industry. Brazil where I come from and where I want to go back to always, so I hope they give me more jobs.

MOURA: They will. Brazil is in such a horrible moment right now. But it will pass.

BRAGA: It will. The good thing is that we're not quiet. That's the most important thing.

MOURA: There are a lot of people that are denouncing what's going on now, and it's good for people to know that it's a horrible rupture with democracy. But that's such a sad subject—let's change it. Let's talk a little bit about Elysium. So suddenly we found ourselves living in the same building and working together in Vancouver.

BRAGA: What are the odds? [laughs]

MOURA: I have three very strong memories about that. Memory number one is the day I thought I was going to die and you literally rescued me in a hospital in Vancouver. Whenever I talk about you, my mum cries. You became a saint to her.

BRAGA: I adore her. I do remember that day very clearly. I remember it being a day off and just relaxing. I was going to have dinner with my manager who was in town and then you called me saying, "Hey, what are you doing?" "I'm just having drinks and dinner, would you like to join." "No, it's fine. I'm going to go to the hospital." And then I met you and we went to the hospital. You had a horrible fever and no one could figure it out.

MOURA: I had pneumonia and I was about to die. It was the worst. You're the one that took care of me.

BRAGA: Aw, but I love you. I was afraid because no one from production... [laughs]

MOURA: I hope they're going to read this interview. I'm not going to say names, but I called production, it was 11:00 PM, and I was like, "I'm dying, can you please take me to the doctors?" They sent a driver to pick me up and the driver took me the hospital, but not inside the hospital. He opened the door and said, "Good luck." It was snowing and I walked and I remember thinking, "I don't know if I'm going to survive this walk to the hospital," so I called you. You saved my life. You bought food for me. My mum loves you. I love you.

BRAGA: You're my brother. You live in my heart. I had to do it. And we were living at the end of the world anyway with Elysium.

MOURA: The other strong memory that I have is the day we drove a long way to go to a beach outside Vancouver, and it rained for five days.

BRAGA: [laughs] And they were the only days that we had off.

MOURA: We had five days off and we were happy. We rented a car and I got to know you a little better because we spoke a lot.

BRAGA: I always talk a lot. But I do remember you trying to tell me a story and I kept interrupting you and you never finished the story. Do you remember that?

MOURA: It was a poem that I recorded with my band. I wanted to say the poem myself and you interrupted me, like, six times: "Do you want to hear this or not?" [laughs]

BRAGA: When we're done with the interview, I need to hear the poem.

MOURA: It's beautiful, but you'll never know it because it's too late. I'll never say that poem for you. The third one is not a memory, because I really don't remember what happened. We went out, we were supposed to have dinner, but instead of eating we had three bottles of wine and I don't remember we got back to the building.

BRAGA: I took you there to eat the cheesecake.

MOURA: We didn't eat anything!

BRAGA: [laughs] And the next day I went hiking.

MOURA: And I stayed like a snake in my room, "Ughhhhh." Dying.

BRAGA: I only remember one flashback, we were arriving at the hotel and you realized you had lost your glasses, so we had to go all the way back but it was hard to walk. That's what I remember about the night.

MOURA: The people in the restaurant, they were so mad at us. I don't know what we did exactly, but they were not happy with us. Who are your favorite artists? Who are your idols that you would want to work with or that you would faint if you met at some point?

BRAGA: It's ridiculous because every time someone asks me, "Who did you work with who changed you?" and you are the first one on my list because of Lower City. People that inspired in my in my journey, Diego Luna was special, because it was the first film I did abroad and he was such a strong actor in the sense of young, but with so much knowledge because he was an actor since he was a kid.

MOURA: I remember we had a lot of fun with Diego in Vancouver as well.

BRAGA: And remember that you didn't speak Spanish. Every time I talk to someone and they love your Pablo [Escobar], I keep remembering, "He didn't speak Spanish!" You kept imitating me and Diego in that Japanese restaurant.

MOURA: At some point Diego said, "Dude, just speak Portuguese, please. Don't try and speak Spanish." There was this film that you did. I'm not going to say which one, but you know. You have a very beautiful scene in the end, and you don't say anything, you're just walking. [Braga laughs] And I asked you, "What were you thinking when you did that scene?" And you said, "I was thinking about the things I have to take and where I'm going to spend my New Year's Day." I think about that answer every time I'm doing a scene and really not thinking about it and it makes me laugh out loud. You were like, "You know, the beach in Brazil. I can't forget the sunblock." So my final question is where are you going to spend your New Year's Day?

BRAGA: I was thinking either Bahia or Costa Rica.

MOURA: Let's go to Bahia.


QUEEN OF THE SOUTH AIRS THURSDAYS ON USA.

Just Music-No Categories-Enjoy It!
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Reply #1 posted 06/30/16 8:56am

JoeBala


RUTH NEGGA

ZOEY GROSSMAN

06/22/16

RUTH NEGGA IN THE CARDINAL'S QUARTERS AT REDBIRD, LOS ANGELES, JUNE 2016. PHOTOS: ZOEY GROSSMAN/ART DEPARTMENT. STYLING: DANI + EMMA. HAIR: NIKKI PROVIDENCE/FORWARD ARTISTS USING FREE YOUR MANE. MAKEUP: SAMUEL PAUL/FORWARD ARTISTS USING MARC JACOBS BEAUTY. MANICURE: STEPHANIE STONE/NAILING HOLLYWOOD USING MAC STUDIO NAIL LACQUER IN COFFEE BREAK.


Tulip, Ruth Negga's character in AMC's television adaptation of the popular DC Comics story Preacher, is a woman who knows her mind, knows how to build a bazooka out of soup cans, and knows how to talk to young children. As the ex-girlfriend of protagonist Jessie Custer (played by Negga's real-life boyfriend Dominic Cooper), we're not yet familiar with all the details of Tulip's past, but we know that she grew up in a brothel and was, at one point, involved in robbing banks. Perhaps the most obvious and succinct way to describe her is as a "badass."

For Negga, however, it was Tulip's "sweet naivety" that first attracted her to the role. "When she detains the kids [in the pilot] and is like, ‘This is how you make a bazooka,' it's not in any threatening, weirdly egotistical way," the Irish actor explains over the phone. "It's like she's showing them how to use watercolors for the first time," she continues. "I really like that kind of oddness. Everything seems straightforward in Preacher but nothing is; everything is kind of askew. You're dealing with this hyper unrealness—that's what comics are—and I like that sort of twist."

Thus far, 2016 has been a pivotal year for Negga. At Cannes, reviewers gushed over the 33-year-old's performance in Jeff Nichol's Loving. Co-starring Joel Edgerton, the film follows the true story of Mildred and Richard Loving, an interracial married couple living in the deeply segregated South of the 1950s. Last month Preacher debuted on AMC to an equally positive reception. While critics were less kind about the ensemble blockbuster Warcraft: The Beginning, in which Negga played Lady Taria, it is the most lucrative videogame-to-film adaptation to date.

Raised in Limerick, Ireland, and educated and Trinity College in Dublin, Negga is by no means an overnight success. Rather she made her feature film debut opposite Cillian Murphy in Neil Jordan's Breakfast on Pluto (2005) and won the Berlin International Shooting Star award in 2006.


EMMA BROWN: When did you first hear about Preacher?

RUTH NEGGA: My agent sent me the script. I didn't even know that they had attempted to make it several times. It wasn't really in my orbit. I knew about the comics, but I wasn't really familiar with them. It was about March, April last year that I got the script.

BROWN: Did you have to go in and do several rounds of auditions and screen test and all that?

NEGGA: Yeah. I don't know how many times I auditioned, but it was quite a few. I suppose you're commissioned for essentially seven years—that's what they do in America, they option you—so they want to get it right. If they're going to spend seven years with you, they want to make sure you're the right person.

BROWN: Is it frightening to sign up for project that could potentially last for seven years?

NEGGA: I think part of the reason people become actors is so that they don't have to spend seven years doing the same thing. Once you become familiar with it, the concept might be a bit frightening, but if it's a show you love, like with Preacher, I hope it goes for seven years. I think it's brilliant. I love my character and I enjoy the show and the writers and the producers. If it was a nightmare show I'm sure it would be a bit scary, but I had no qualms about signing up or being optioned for it because it's so intelligent.

BROWN: At what point did you know that Dominic was going to be involved? Did you read the script together?

NEGGA: He stole my script. [laughs] When put I myself on tape, he read opposite me, but I'm not sure now who got cast first.

BROWN: You've worked with each other three or four times now.

NEGGA: Yeah, we first worked together on a play in 2009 at the National Theatre in London—Phaedra—with Helen Mirren. That was amazing. We first met on that play.

BROWN: What about with Warcraft?

NEGGA: People don't believe us, but it is a weird coincidence. I understand why people don't believe that.

BROWN: Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogan, and Sam Catlin co-developed the show, and I know they directed a few episodes as well. Did it feel very different having Seth or Sam or Evan direct you than someone who comes in for one episode?

NEGGA: Seth and Evan directed the first one, so I think they were easing us in. It's like mummy and daddy staying for the first few days of summer school and then leaving, just to make it less terrifying. [laughs] We all really enjoyed Seth and Evan's energy; I think that was very clever because we'd become quite familiar with them and we knew that both of them had cast us, so they were happy with all of us, so that made it so much less daunting. Once we had those two first episodes out of the way, we found our feet.

BROWN: One of your breakout roles was Breakfast on Pluto and I heard that Neil Jordan rewrote the part for you after seeing you in a play.

NEGGA: Kitten and Charlie are outsiders, so I think me being mixed race was just added to that in the story. I think he put a lot of nuances into the story just to reflect that. To be honest, when I read Patrick McCabe's script, I thought, "Oh my god, she's actually perfect. It would be brilliant if she was mixed race." It would fit in with them before, because of the nature of their rejection at that time. So they did change certain aspects that weren't in the book.

BROWN: Have you ever been put off by a character's physical description in a script?

NEGGA: Oh yeah. I fucking hate the world "beautiful." Sorry, I shouldn't be swearing. I just hate the word "beautiful."

BROWN: Have you seen that Twitter account where they quote the first line of all the female character descriptions they come across in screenplays, and it's just "Beautiful, but mysterious" over and over again?

NEGGA: No I haven't. That's a relief that people are noticing it and trying to fight against that shite! It may sound lame, but it's such a static word. It doesn't do anything. It's not helpful in its descriptive nature. There are no actions involved in "beautiful." It's such an inactive thing and it's so subject to each individual's taste and appreciation. It's a lovely word, but I feel like it's been hijacked by really boring, dull people who don't understand how to use words.

BROWN: I like that way of putting it. Have you ever had to really fight for a role?

NEGGA: Ninety percent of my roles, I've had to fight for. It's only a really small percentage of people who get handed roles. But that can be quite scary. The good thing about auditioning is that you get to test yourself and see if you can play this character—you're also auditioning yourself. I enjoy seeing what the chemistry is between the people you might be working with. It's not all bad having to audition, there can be benefits.

BROWN: Have you ever auditioned for a character that you really liked on the page, but once you did the audition, you realized you just weren't a good fit for the role?

NEGGA: I try and damage control before you have to go in and read with anybody. I've done that a few times where I've been honest with myself: reading out loud or exploring that character in the safety of my bedroom and then realizing that it's not going to work. While I'm not limiting myself through fear, I think it's interesting when you know instinctively or you have an energetic response to something and realize that someone else would be better.

BROWN: I wanted to talk about Loving. It's the first film that Jeff Nichols has written and directed that is based on true events rather than an original idea of his. Did it feel like a new territory for everyone?

NEGGA: Jeff works with a lot of the same people on his films—his cinematographer Adam Stone, his art production designer Chad Keith, and his editor Julie Monroe—so you're entering into this familiar, family territory, where everyone is quite comfortable with each other and there's sort of a shorthand. In many ways, the set was a really quiet, gentle place. Jeff is so good at writing, and he's had a lot of practice, and I think he's managed to sort of have a tone that's all Jeff—that signature tone. He's a writer who makes sure he doesn't get in the way of his own writing in terms of too many words. Every single one of his films, they're about different things, but they have the same beautiful energy. I think he brought that kind of quiet, magnetic energy to the Loving story. If you told that story in a humdrum, biographical way, I don't think you would do them justice. What he manages to do is elevate the everyday to the tone it actually deserves, without being overly reverential or too frightened to explore this couple. There's sort of a glow about this film, without there being a halo.

BROWN: Are you someone, or is Jeff someone, that likes to do a lot of takes?

NEGGA: I'm definitely not. There's only one scene where I remember doing a few takes. Jeff knows what he wants, there's no hemming and hawing. He might have a think about something, but it's not out of being unsure. In that kind of environment, you become quite sure of what you want. He creates this sort of a fine-tuning accuracy that's in the air. There's not much chatter. He's able to tune into all the various people's wavelengths. He can tune into the actors' wavelength, the cinematographer's. He's this master of wavelengths. But I think the best things often happen when you just take the plunge and you do it a couple of times.

BROWN: I was watching some of your Cannes interviews, and you mentioned that you'd seen the documentary The Loving Story. Was that before you heard about Jeff's film or because you'd hear about it?

NEGGA: I'd seen it a couple of years before I got the script. Now, I've seen it so many times, but I knew about the case and I recognized the footage. It's Nancy Buirski's documentary and I know it off by heart now. It was absolutely invaluable for creating. I auditioned for Loving two years before we started shooting, so in the hopes that I would be playing Mildred, I watched it again. Also it's one of the best documentaries I've seen. I found this couple interminably fascinating; even if I didn't get the part, I just wanted to know more about them and their story. It's one of many stories that hasn't been told that now is being told, and that's really important to all of us involved.


PREACHER AIRS SUNDAYS ON AMC. WARCRAFT IS CURRENTLY IN THEATERS. LOVING COMES OUT THIS NOVEMBER.

JEFF GOLDBLUM

CRAIG MCDEAN

06/22/16

The voice. That delivery. Those ... ooh, signature moments of, of, of seemingly stumbling as he, uh, uh, gathers his thoughts and then launches into a cascaaaade of thrillingly articulate and comic lyricism ... Uh, uh, yeahhhh, Jeff Goldblum is the best. Maybe even too good. Like other famously distinctive performers—theWalkens of the world—Goldblum is probably, definitely, underrated as an actor: Something so deliciously delectable can't also be good for us, right? But we needn't think too hard about it; we just know he is a delight to watch.

And the feeling seems to be mutual. Since his earliest days, working with Robert Altman, Paul Mazursky, Philip Kaufman, and Woody Allen in the '70s, through his breakout in Lawrence Kasdan's artful dramedy The Big Chill in 1983, Goldblum has always seemed to be having the absolute time of his life. Whether he is playing the oddball leading man in David Cronenberg's The Fly (1986) and the two Steven Spielberg-directed Jurassic Park movies (1993 and 1997), or a vividly eccentric character in Wes Anderson's movies and in the alien attack epic Independence Day (1996)—or, even, during his weekly gigs in Los Angeles with his jazz band the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra—Goldblum looks to be ever-in-the-moment, giddily improvising, and digging the way it's going down.

And why not? At 63, with a new young son, domestic bliss, and at least one mega blockbuster on the horizon—Independence Day: Resurgence hits theaters on, well, right around Independence Day (news of his upcoming role in Thor: Ragnarok came at press time)—Goldblum is like an advertisement for the good life. As he tells his friend, the musician, writer, and actor Fred Armisen, it really is that good.


FRED ARMISEN: Where are you, Jeff?

JEFF GOLDBLUM: I'm in L.A. at my house. Where are you?

ARMISEN: I'm in Santa Monica at a hotel. We're doing a writers' retreat forPortlandia. I broke away for a little while.

GOLDBLUM: I think you live near where I played last night at Rockwell in Los Feliz, where we play every Wednesday. And you're cordially invited if you'd ever like to come by. I play that jazz gig every week when I'm in town.

ARMISEN: That is so exciting! Yeah, I just moved to Los Feliz, or Los Feleez, or however they pronounce it. That's how it should be; I should be able to go down the street and watch you play. That's one of the great things about Los Angeles, that people just play music, and it's all very welcoming and welcomed.

GOLDBLUM: More than New York, even? I mean, when we played in New York, we played at the Carlyle Hotel, but that was a different thing. And in Portland, I'm sure you can play every place you go. But I like it out here. And I particularly like that section of L.A.—Los Feliz and all around there. So, this retreat, you're writing the next season?

ARMISEN: Yeah. It's a nice way of rounding everybody up—Jon Krisel, Carrie, our other writers, Karey Dornetto, Graham Wagner ... How's your life going? How is your family? What is your daily life like?

GOLDBLUM: Well, we played the gig last night—which is my one later night. Usually I go to bed early because I have this young son, who was born on the Fourth of July this last year, named Charlie Ocean Goldblum. And he has a very structured routine. We, the three of us, get in the bathtub at about 6:20, and then we usually order food in because our kitchen is being remodeled right now—really, the whole house has been benefitting from our nesting instinct. So every night we're ordering in from Pace ... Do you know Pace, up in Laurel Canyon? That's our go-to place these days. Last night I ordered the chicken parmesan, which was a special, and she got this tuna thing and this cauliflower vegan soup—very nice. But last night I gave him a bath and went off to play the gig from 8:30 to 11, came back, and went to bed later. Usually, we go to bed at like, 8, 9 o'clock, get up when he gets up, at 6:45ish, 7 o'clock. I get up, feed the dog, and take the dog out. We've got a big, red-haired standard poodle named Woody Allen. We call him Woody mostly. And then the baby gets changed and fed, and then we sit in the playroom. He's got a little safe-area playroom where we just watch him play and develop. He's starting to stand up and just started to say "da-da" this last week. He's very thrilling. Then I sit with him on my lap and we play piano a bit. And then I get my stuff done. I usually run through an hour-ish of piano and singing time for me. It's not unrelated to what we do at the gig. And then I've got a kind of a gym here in the house, and I do my routine and try to get my 12,000 steps—the beginning, at least, of my 12,000 steps, because we've got a couple of treadmills side-by-side. Sometimes we walk around the neighborhood, too, with Charlie and with the dog. And that's about it. That's kind of my homework. Then I go over my script. I'm working on a movie that I can't really talk about because they haven't said what it is; the people doing it haven't said, but I work on my part every day. I like to, if I have enough time, not cram anything, but just kind of touch it every day. That's my homework, and then I'm free. And now, very specially, I'm talking with you.

ARMISEN: I can hear how happy you are. Like, you like this. What seems like a routine is actually very varied. It's this really colorful life. And I'm very happy for you. When you're playing music, do you feel like it's a separate part of your brain? Do you do it for the audience who's there? Do you get better every night?

GOLDBLUM: I like the idea of being a student, and I play with very good musicians. So playing with them allows me to get better. My aim is to get better, but I really love it for its own sake. I've got an old Fender Rhodes that I like a lot, and then a Yamaha baby grand. I can't pass them without playing. I just like to play, and it changes my day. Thank goodness my mom gave us all lessons, because it really has changed my life. This last, I don't know, 15, 20 years of playing out and about has been a new chapter and a horizon-enhancer of life and music. It's very interactive and it's improvisational. We really don't rehearse as a group, but I get these great musicians, and we jam, and I don't know what we're going to play until they start to play it. And then I do a lot of talking, playing with the audience, but I don't really know what that's going to be. Somebody kind of feeds me cold. He gives me these kind of cold games that I play with the audience or quizzes that I do with them. We worked out this way to have maximum surprise for me. So the whole evening is a very enjoyable—for me and, it seems, for them—kind of a group "happening."

ARMISEN: That's wonderful.

GOLDBLUM: You're a drummer, and you have that group. I'd love to hear you play, and I'd love to play with you. I know Devo was an early inspiration to you. Have you been over to Mark Mothersbaugh's studio on Sunset—you know that one that's kind of green, looks like the Forum?

ARMISEN: I've been! Mutato Muzika. It's so cool. It's like a little playground of instruments and keyboards and all that.

GOLDBLUM: We had a great time there. I was just Wikipedia-ing you today, and I never knew that your original name was, uh, how do you say it? Fereydun?

ARMISEN: Yes! Fereydun, that's my dad's name. My grandmother, my dad's mom, when she was pregnant, she was dating a man from Persia, a Persian gentleman. It wasn't his child, but he was still very supportive and said, "Hey, this is a great name," and so it stuck. So that's what she named him. I was a junior. He called himself Fred, and then I called myself Fred, but only now I'm thinking, "Boy, I should've held on to that name." But in a way, the name is still a part of me, so who cares what's on paper?

GOLDBLUM: Sometimes I think that people's characters get forged, at least in part, from their names, and it's interesting that you have this exotic, unusual name—I've never even heard it before. Maybe that's why you're as special as you are. I mean if Crispin Glover were named, you know, John Glover, he might not have become the interesting and unusual fellow that he is.

ARMISEN: I love that theory. It's like an early imprint on everything. And, as a side note, now that we're talking about Crispin Glover, what a great person we have in our lives—Crispin Glover. That is the kind of person that I'm just happy exists. I've always been immediately entertained by him.

GOLDBLUM: Definitely. I think my favorite Crispin Glover moment is the bit inWild at Heart [1990] where Laura Dern's character says she found Glover's character, put "one big cockroach right on his anus." [both laugh] I like that line. Hey, but you played drums for the Blue Man Group, and when I worked with Tim and Eric [on Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!] they did that sketch about the GoldBluMan Group, so we have kind of a connection there. And we both didCrank Yankers.

ARMISEN: We're connected. We've got a few bridges. I have a question for you about being on set. What is the part of the day that you feel is the most work? Meaning, is it being on camera? Is it in between shots? For me, I'll say it does feel like the in-between stuff is the work part of it. What's a permanent part of it where you're like, "Yeah, this is the work part of it"?

GOLDBLUM: I think it changes. I'm thinking about this Independence Day movie this last summer, and sometimes the days would go long—like, 16-, 17-hour days. And so if my energy flags, it feels like work to manage it and to figure out if I need to take a nap or sit down or eat some more—because, you know, I like to eat every two or three hours. And they give you that breakfast, which I love—boy, do I love that truck. That's a very nice situation. And the lunch is usually good. But sometimes there's five or six hours in between, so figuring out how to procure meals gets a little work-y. But, most of the time, as much as I've done it, it always feels like a special privilege that I'm terrifically grateful for. I think of it as work-slash-play, because it's the work of play. It's a playtime. And I like how time goes on set. It's almost like time on an airplane or something where people are together. It's a different, very trippy kind of time, I find, because you're together in imaginary time where you're out of time. You're called upon to be present and honor what can happen in the moment. And the whole day can go like that. The whole day can be a kind of meditation.

ARMISEN: That's a good comparison. Like being on a flight. And I agree with you so much about the gratitude of it. I still feel lucky whenever I hear a director say, "Action!" Because then I think, "Whoa, I'm really in the movies. This is a real thing happening." I've never not been enthralled by that. I still love it. I still love hearing it, and I feel really lucky all the time.

GOLDBLUM: We have another connection. I went to the White House Correspondents' Dinner, and for the first time, I met Barack Obama!

ARMISEN: No way!

GOLDBLUM: He was lining up with Michelle; the two of them were making themselves available, very generously. It seems like a challenging part of the job. A hundred or so people in this room, and they stayed for an hour or so and took a few moments with each one and took a picture. I love them, but, of course, you do great impersonation of him. Have you met him?

ARMISEN: Yeah. It was the same situation a couple of years ago: the White House Correspondents' Dinner. It's really amazing that, in your life, you've met a president. It's a pretty huge life experience. I'm imagining you talked to him a little bit?

GOLDBLUM: A little bit. I talked to Bill Clinton at one point. I think it is an amazing thing, and I don't take that for granted either. It'll be a highlight of my life. And speaking of your impersonations, I was thinking of Prince, of course.

ARMISEN: Aww.

GOLDBLUM: I got a chance to see him once. Oh boy, I miss him. I liked that last memorial show where they showed a compilation of your Prince impersonations. Jeez, I loved what you did. Did you get a chance to meet him?

ARMISEN: I did. I met him and I'm so glad I did. I saw him play many, many, many times. He's been a huge part of my life since I was in my first year of college. I never thought it would happen. I wasn't prepared for the day when I would get news like that. I'm still in a little bit of disbelief. I'm still not over it. His life felt very present tense to me.

GOLDBLUM: I never saw him play live. I only saw him on one occasion; it was at some awards banquet. I was at a table with Paul Rudd, whom I really like. We were chatting away. And a hush came over the room as Prince floated by our table within arm's reach. Paul Rudd and I looked at each other and were wide-eyed and speechless. It was breathtaking. I adored him. I wish I'd seen him live, and I never talked to him, but that happens. It's happened more than once recently where somebody dies and you go, "Oh, I didn't know they were going to die! I wish I'd done this or that." But I guess there's something teachable in that: Anybody can die, everything is fleeting, and you've just got to make sure that you catch up on what you can catch up on, right?

ARMISEN: I know. It's all so fragile. Whatever the circumstances were, he was still a functioning, touring musician. He wasn't 80 and, you know, that's how easily it can all happen.

GOLDBLUM: I had a brother who died early on—he was 23 when I was 19. And, boy, I certainly didn't expect that. That was utterly shocking. Recently, Garry Shandling died and I loved him. We were pals and I was shocked that he died.

ARMISEN: Aw, Jeff, I'm so sorry. I'm remembering your scene from Larry Sanders just as you were talking about Garry—I think you were both trying to date ... Was it Gina Gershon? I think you were giving her a foot massage. [laughs]

GOLDBLUM: You're right! It was Gina Gershon.

ARMISEN: The both of you were smiling and trying to sort of lay down the boundaries, God, that was so good! This was before I knew you, and I was already affected.

GOLDBLUM: He was wonderful to work with, and that was a fun show. I just saw Gina Gershon recently, on a boat trip. Paul Allen has these big yacht trips—I went once, 15 years ago or something like that, to Alaska and then on another one to Saint Petersburg. But a few weeks ago, we went for ten days to Vietnam and Malaysia and Singapore, and Gina Gershon was there and a bunch of other interesting people. He's a musician, Paul Allen, and we jammed with him a couple of nights. Stevie Wonder came on the boat, and Rufus Wainwright was there, and Chrissie Hynde was there and played. Jim Watson was there, one of the guys who discovered the structure of DNA and who I played in a movie [The Race for the Double Helix, 1987]. Daniel Dennett, one of the esteemed writers on atheism, was there, very interesting guy. Quentin Tarantino was on the boat, Tom Stoppard. It was a very interesting experience. And Gina Gershon and I talked about Garry.

ARMISEN: That sounds incredible. I can't believe this. Did you all sleep on the boat? Did you all eat breakfast on the boat?

GOLDBLUM: Yes! Paul Allen rented this whole yacht, and everybody had a little cabin, and we slept over there for ten days straight, and then would anchor for a couple of days, and we would have little excursions into Ho Chi Minh City and different places like that. It was really incredible. And then with that group of people! We'd have dinner and then have a jam session every night with these different musicians. The last night was with Stevie Wonder. On the boat! Because these big yachts are, you know, five-star hotels. They not only have a gym and all kind of things, but they'd have lectures about where we were going and a big theater room, and then a kind of an after-hours place where I played, and where Stevie Wonder, after he did his show, also played. It was an amazing, trippy kind of blast.

ARMISEN: It sounds bigger than a yacht.

GOLDBLUM: It was like the Love Boat. I guess it's not a yacht—it's a cruise ship; 200, 300 people were on it. You should've been there. You would've had a high time, I'll bet. They would've loved to have you there. We could've played music, oh boy. And the people, the conversations ... incredible.

ARMISEN: Your whole life sounds so great. I don't know anyone else who loves performing as much as you do. And the love is always evident. I always see it in your performances.

GOLDBLUM: I plead guilty.


FRED ARMISEN IS THE CO-CREATOR OF THE PEABODY-WINNING IFC SERIES PORTLANDIA.

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Reply #2 posted 06/30/16 9:42am

JoeBala

Sonna Rele Interview: Signing With Ne-Yo, Music Mondays, Connecting with Fans

YKIGS JUNE 23, 2016

Sonna Rele June 2016

The rise of social media over the past decade has opened up a world of possibilities for artists that once did not exist. It seems like more than ever, artists are discovered online and go on to achieve mainstream success. One of the latest in the line of those success stories is Sonna Rele, a London based artist who was signed by Ne-Yo after he discovered her wildly successful “Music Mondays” series. Quickly, Sonna went from recording music for her rapidly growing fan base on the internet, to working with one of the top r&b artists in music. The possibilities are endless. YouKnowIGotSoul sat down with the emerging artist prior to a recent performance and discussed her origins in music, how Ne-Yo originally signed her and reached out, what he’s learned from him, her recently released “Wildhearts” EP, and much more.

YouKnowIGotSoul: Take it back to your origins in music. You’ve been showing off your talents and developing a fan base for yours. When did you first realize your gift in music?

Sonna Rele: I started singing when I was like six years old. I didn’t really think I had a talent, I thought everyone could sing. Everyone else around me found it unusual and I found myself singing a bunch of Disney songs.

YouKnowIGotSoul: You’ve made a name for yourself with the Music Mondays series on Facebook. What originally inspired you to go that route?

Sonna Rele: One of my main things is to connect to people on a 1 on 1 basis. Social media for me was somewhere I could do that. Not having to go through an organization to get through to people. I started this thing called “Music Mondays” where once a week I’d post a song and people would comment. Some of the videos started going viral and I was able to reach thousands and thousands of people and get comments. Sometimes I wouldn’t get much sleep because I felt the need to connect to people and show how much I appreciate all of the love.

YouKnowIGotSoul: Are there any in the series you did in particular that you could say were the biggest ones?

Sonna Rele: Some of my biggest were songs that I didn’t expect to go viral. It was just songs that I really enjoyed singing. Some of my originals went viral when we put it on Facebook it had over a million views. That was a good indicator to know that I was on the right track and people were connecting to it.

YouKnowIGotSoul: We really started taking notice of you after Ne-Yo co-signed you and signed you. What originally led to him reaching out to you?

Sonna Rele: Ne-Yo reached out to me after hearing my “Music Mondays” series. I didn’t believe it at first. I thought someone was trying to trick me. Then finally we connected and he told me he’d been watching some of my series. So I told him “That’s what you do in your spare time, you go on Facebook?” *Laughs* It was cool because it led him to me and I landed the deal and he signed me. He’s been a great mentor.

YouKnowIGotSoul: Is this something you ever thought was possible when you started your series?

Sonna Rele: No. When I first started, I had no idea any of that stuff was going to happen. For me I just wanted to connect to people and find a way to learn new songs every week and be random.

YouKnowIGotSoul: In your bio it talks about how when you told your parents that Ne-Yo had reached out, they weren’t familiar with him. Tell us about that!

Sonna Rele: *Laughs* My dad has no idea when it comes to pop artists and stuff. He knows them, but he doesn’t know the names. He gets them wrong all of the time. I had to educate him and he went on Google. He became a fan after that.

YouKnowIGotSoul: Your parents are also musicians. What impact did they have on you from that aspect?

Sonna Rele: My parents being musicians, they know all about the entertainment industry and all about staying grounded and being true to yourself and following your art rather than chasing fame.

YouKnowIGotSoul: You’ve been with Ne-Yo for a couple of years now, talk about the time you’ve had to develop under him.

Sonna Rele: Ne-Yo’s been making me work on a lot of different projects. Sometimes he’ll just call me and say he wants me to write a song with six words in the verse and then just put the phone down! *Laughs* It’s cool because he loves to help build you as a songwriter. He’s an incredible songwriter as well so it’s good to be able to get that additional knowledge.

YouKnowIGotSoul: Tell us about the “Wildhearts” EP you recently released.

Sonna Rele: For me, being Indian brought up in London, I face a lot of barriers that I’m sure a lot of others do also. For me, I’m always being told not to do what I want to do. The EP is all about breaking out of the box and being different. Being different is what makes you successful in your own right. Following that and whatever it is in your passion. It can be art, it can be journalism, it can be music. Just being different and following your dreams and not let anyone else discourage you.

YouKnowIGotSoul: When listening to the project, you’ve got this unique sound. It’s a blend of pop and r&b and it’s refreshing. What inspired the sound?

Sonna Rele: The sound for me was inspired by lots of different genres but really just wherever the song took it. There’s one song called “In Too Deep” that has an African and Indian influence. My mom’s Indian and my dad’s from Africa. It’s a nice blend of where I’m from and where I can connect to, my roots.

YouKnowIGotSoul: Tell us what to expect next from you.

Sonna Rele: A lot more music. I’m going to be doing a lot more writing. Obviously the EP is close to my heart and I want to be able to connect to as many people as possible. A continuation of that will be in the pipeline.

YouKnowIGotSoul: We see so many artists who try to take a similar route to what you did with releasing videos on Facebook or YouTube but not quite as successful. What do you think it was about you that made fans gravitate?

Sonna Rele: I think the thing that draws people to me is consistency. Obviously you want to do something, but people don’t always stay consistent. With “Music Mondays”, for two years, every single Monday without fail I posted a video for my fans to connect to. Even if it started with one fan, I didn’t care. One turned into 500, and now I’m close to 1 million. It’s a great journey.

YouKnowIGotSoul: Anything you’d like to add?

Sonna Rele: People can following me on my social media. My Facebook is SonnaReleMusic, my YouTube is SonnaMusic, Twitter is SonnaMusic, and Instagram is SonnaRele

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Reply #3 posted 06/30/16 9:43am

purplethunder3
121

avatar

Great photos of Jeff Goldblum.

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." --Plato

https://youtu.be/CVwv9LZMah0
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Reply #4 posted 06/30/16 9:47am

JoeBala

Reesa Renee Talks Winning Apollo Amateur’s Night, New EP ‘Lover’s Rock’, Upcoming Projects, More

by Dominique Carson

Reesa-Renee

Reesa Renee is an artist who’s going to be around for a while! She took the time to study and appreciate her musical forefathers and is eager to contribute her edgy-yet-funky sound to the industry. Renee already captivated music lovers with her energetic and enthusiastic musical style when she appeared on and won Apollo Theater Amateur Night. Music lovers recognized her profound lyrical content, distinct voice, and charismatic attitude on stage.

After the competition, she released her debut album, Reelease, and scored a Top 20 hit, “Got Me Loose,” on iTunes R&B/Soul list. She also headlined at various venues including Live Nation’s Historical Fillmore venue, House of Blues, Howard Theater, and Gladstone in Toronto. Renee shared a stage with Eric Robeson, Raheem DeVaughn, Chuck Brown, and Wale.

In summer 2015, Renee released her EP, Lover’s Rock, which received favorable reviews from fans. “Hello Mama,” a single from the EP, is an upbeat record that can be played while you’re cruising in your car. She recently released the video for “Guess Again.

The D.C native spoke with Singersroom.com about her how and why music is so fulfilling for her, releasing new music, and her latest EP, Lover’s Rock.

How did you come up with your stage name?

Well, Reesa Renee stems from my real name. My name is actually Teresa Renee. Reesa was a nickname that stuck with me from when I was little. And I just thought it would be great to use as a stage name. Reesa is still a part of me, and it just fits.

Why did you decide to pursue a career in music?

I enjoyed listening to music growing up, and I was heavily influenced by my father. He was pretty much involved with music during that whole “funk” era. I was just around it; it was all around me so I couldn’t run away from it at all. But it was not my original career choice. I started off as an athlete. One of my friends lost their lives from drunk driving, and I didn’t want their death to be in vain. And from that experience, I was able to find my purpose in life which was music. It made me realize that life is short, and I have to make every minute of my life count. Once I decided I was going to pursue music, I started listening to music from my brother because he is a producer. Then I started writing poetry which became lyrics to my song. I started writing to my music and began singing. When I sing, I feel so free, and it is such a great experience for me. I feel alive, but I am able to watch how people respond and react to my music.

Let’s talk about your appearance on Apollo Theater’s Amateur Night.

It was at the very tip of my career. Village Underground, a nightclub in New York, had an open mic night, and I performed my song, “Got Me Loose.” While I was performing the song, the audience was standing to their feet and actually singing my song. I was so happy because I was witnessing their vibe and energy while I was performing on stage. After the performance, it was like I had a plug to the Apollo Theater. My live performance went viral, and it was sent to Al Sharpton’s wife. She was impressed, and I was encouraged to make my debut at the Apollo Theater. I gave it a shot, and I performed my original song. I was the second person in three years to win with an original song. When I won, it was an amazing experience for me because it felt so right at that moment. I was like I was performing at the arena where D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, and other great acts started before they had their big break in the business.

What was the creative process for your 2012 debut album Reelease?

The process was very new; I was just in a different place musically. It was like, how in the world did you get to this place? I was just very grateful, and I was ready to work. The movement was constant; I was in a confident place, personally and professionally.

What makes your EP Lover’s Rock different from Reelease?

On the first album, it was all about unicorns and rainbows. But on Lover’s Rock, things were beginning to turn around. In other words, the EP was more of a conscious album, and it was a way for me to challenge myself. I was able to analyze my strengths and weakness and clip away at myself. It was more of a point to prove to myself that I can grow as a person and artists. On the EP, the tone is kind of contradictory, but people can relate. We all know about the ups and downs in relationships and most of us are afraid to commit to another person. They are afraid to commit to a type of love, but then turn around and be there for that person because they are still in love. They are there for him because they’re afraid of moving apart. Also, the sound on the EP is different, and it’s more vibrant.

What made you decide to be an independent artist?

I didn’t oppose the idea of signing with a major label. However, it went in a different direction. I am proud of all of the work I’ve done as an independent artist. My music is not compromised. I just want to make history with my music with my team while staying true to myself.

What else can we expect from Reesa Renee in 2016?

Well, I also plan to do a few collaborations, but we shall see. I collaborated with Anthony David so look out for that soon. It’s a dope song, and we are still working on the details as far as releasing the single. There will also be more live performances so stay tuned. The best is yet to come.

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Reply #5 posted 06/30/16 9:49am

JoeBala

purplethunder3121 said:

Great photos of Jeff Goldblum.

Guy does not look his age. Seen a couple of TV interviews. He keeps fit.

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Reply #6 posted 06/30/16 10:24am

JoeBala

Blogarrhea Exclusive Interview: Cyrille Aimee - A Woman to Love in Three Languages

Jan 29, 2016 03:27 PM EST | Mike Greenblatt

Cyrille Amie

Singer/songwriter Cyrille Amie (Photo : Anna Webber)

As the follow-up to singer Cyrille Aimee's promising 2013 Mack Avenue Records It's A Good Day debut, Let's Get Lost should catapult this intriguing woman into the upper echelons. At 31, she stands on the brink of stardom. Beautiful, talented, precocious, funny, cultured, with the kind of instantly-recognizable voice that has no known precedent, she goes from Sondheim and Piaf to jazz legend Oscar Pettiford ("Laverne Walk") and Dominican superstar Juan Luis Guerra. Her band is also unique, boasting an Australian bass/drums rhythm section and two guitarists, one doused in Gypsy Jazz, the other an electric lead. In this exclusive interview, Aimee proves to be a women you can love in any language!

Blogarrhea: Your vocals are so unique, I'm having trouble finding a precedent. Rickie Lee Jones, maybe? Madeleine Peyroux?

Cyrille Aimee: I do not know them. I have been so influenced by all the beautiful musicians who have crossed my path. This is my eighth CD. The previous record, It's a Good Day, was the first project I did with this label and this band. The difference between the two records is mood. If the last record was the sun, this one is the moon.

Blogarrhea: What was your approach going into the studio? Did the finished product come close to what you heard in your head upon inception?

CA: Ah yes, you see, the previous album, It's A Good Day, had the exact finish I heard in my mind beforehand. One guitarist lives in Paris, one in Brazil. It was my idea to bring them together with the bass and the drums so I went to seek the help of [guitarist] Michael [Valeanu] because I wanted a wider approach on the arrangements. I knew what kind of mood I wanted for each song. I had each groove in my mind already, even including each intro and outro. Michael put each guitar in perspective for me. Only when we actually got into the studio did the music come to life! But for Let's Get Lost, this same band has been working together playing hundreds of concerts for the last three years. In that time, we lived through ups and downs and became a family. The repertoire was created on the road as we travelled, backstage, on the bus, in hotel rooms or even right onstage when we're jamming. So, by the time we got in the studio, it flew by being super-easy. It took a lot less time than the first one, because we were already such a tight band that we all knew exactly what needed to come out.

Blogarrhea: Who picked the songs?

CA: Most of them, I did, because I'm the one singing them [laughs] and, for me, lyrics are very important. I always want to make sure I can relate to a lyric. That way, the audience can relate. The title track was always a favorite of [producer] Fab [Dupont]. He thought it would be great to record so we looked into it and, yes, it turned out great. Every song has kind of a story, y'know? Some songs I've known for a long time, and I've always wanted to record them. Some songs are brand new to my repertoire. Some are originals.

Blogarrhea: Tell me a bit about the opening track, Stephen Sondheim's "Live Alone And Like It" from the 1990 film Dick Tracy. It sounds like it's about celibacy.

CA: It is! To me, there's many ways someone can approach deliverance. I believe this song celebrates independence. ["On your own/with only you to concern yourself/doesn't mean you're lonely/just that you're free/Live alone and like it/Don't come down from that tree/That's the answer for me."] I think we're in a society where being alone and single is almost a negative. People are on all these websites to relieve the "sickness" of being alone. I think solitude is more than just alright, it's necessary. That's what drew me to these lyrics.

Blogarrhea: Are you alone?

CA: No, not quite.

Blogarrhea: Married?

CA: No, I'm not married.

Blogarrhea: Do you have a boyfriend?

CA: Yes.

Blogarrhea: Is he part of your musical world or outside of it?

CA: He's very much part of it.

Blogarrhea: So it's either your producer, drummer, bassist or one of your guitarists.

CA: [laughing] You're narrowing it down!

Blogarrhea: Who picked the sensuous Spanish poetry ("Estrellitas y Duendes") of Dominican superstar Juan Luis Guerra?

CA: I did. It's a song that my mother used to play for my sister and I at night when we were little. She was from the Dominican Republic. Guerra's music was always...growing up. He was her favorite Dominican composer and she would play his music a lot. He made Merengue but this is a Bachata that we turned into something else. I wanted to play a song from my country because when nowadays when I go back to the Dominican Republic, the love that these people have for me is really incredible. They're so proud to have me being the Dominican jazz singer and so I felt, for a long time, that I owed them that.

Cyrille Amie
(Photo : Anna Webber)
Poised to be a star: Cyrille Amie

Blogarrhea: It's so beautiful the way you sing in Spanish. You also sing in English on your originals and in French when you sing the Edith Piaf song "T'es Beau tu Sais," a gorgeous tune totally under the radar. Everybody always chooses "La Vie en Rose" or "Non, je ne Regrette Rien." What led you to this particular song?

CA: Exactly that! I knew I wanted to do a Piaf classic but not one that's been recorded over and over again. Plus, the lyrics had to be important to me personally so [guitarist] Michael [Valeanu] really dug into her repertoire-not only Piaf but other classic French singers like Charles Aznavour. He knew this Piaf song, rediscovered it, and it's really incredible. It's a woman telling her man how handsome he is and she can feel it when she walks down the street or when she touches his face. Then, only at the end of the song, do you realize that she's blind.

Blogarrhea: Plus you made it into a bit of a Mambo.

CA: Yes, a Bolero, actually.

Blogarrhea: I like how you stretch the boundaries. So cool. Each of the 13Let's Get Lost songs are so different. Yet it all comes together as a cohesive whole.

CA: Yes that is how we wanted it. It was our work to instrumentally be [wide-rangingly] different. Not many bands have that gypsy guitar and the electric guitar. So a big part of the work as a band was to create a sound that was ours no matter what song we would play, Dominican, French, American standard or original, it had to have our print on it.

Blogarrhea: The fact that there's no piano gives the mix a little more space, makes it more open and airy, so the two guitars can interact with each other. Piano tends to fill in the open spaces.

CA: Yeah, that's true.

Blogarrhea: Very nicely done! I'm just so smitten with this. Did you really busk throughout Europe with just your guitar on street corners for small change?

CA: Yeah! And not just with guitar. You see, when I came to America, I went to SUNY Purchase College in New York and my classmates who became my really good friends backpacked with me in Europe, and to busk in the summer streets was such an experience! It was their first time abroad. One of them was Matt Simons who is on Let's Get Lost as my duet partner for "Each Day." He played sax on my last album and was in my first band. We sang together on the sidewalks of Spain and Italy. How amazing he's now a huge pop star in Europe.

Blogarrhea: I love how you walked off the set of the French version of American Idol after becoming a finalist.

CA: Yeah, I did.

Blogarrhea: Why?

CA: I just felt that I had so much more to learn about music. I did not want to sign any big contracts that would make me not choose what I want to sing. I had just been falling in love with jazz and I didn't want to go into the pop industry right away. So I left for New York to study.

Blogarrhea: That is just so impressive. So you come to the States and wind up as a finalist instead at the 2010 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, then win outright the 2012 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition! How did that make you feel?

CA: It's difficult to feel anything when you're in the middle of it. [Life and music] is so much about everything else than that so when that comes around, it's like a bonus. I did so many competitions because I like to challenge myself. I also like to follow instructions. It was my voice, yes, but it was on things that I ordinarily wouldn't be singing. It was also to see how I could be in a very stressful environment. That's what I call fun. And I think that because I was actually enjoying myself, that's why I won. It felt natural.

Blogarrhea: You not only cover Sondheim but he personally cast you opposite Bernadette Peters in an "Encore Special Presentation" at Manhattan's City Center in 2013.

CA: Yes. That's why I recorded his song. I sang it at the show.

Blogarrhea: How did you get along with Peters?

CA: She was great to me. It was so much fun. As the only two females, we were always together. She even gave me shampoo tips. In the show, I was the girl and she was the woman.

Blogarrhea: So what's in your near future?

CA: After the release of the album, we will have a party at Greene Space in New York on February 16 before we start touring in the U.S. and Europe. Hopefully, we will sell a lot of CDs.

Blogarrhea: You're going to win a Grammy and become a big superstar. That's what I think is going to happen because if everybody loves you the way I love you...

CA: [laughing] You're sweet. You made my day with all your love...

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Reply #7 posted 07/12/16 8:56am

JoeBala

Cover Story: The Philosophy and Tools of Esperanza Spalding’s D+Evolution”

Thanks to Berklee Online we are able to publish this digital feature at no cost to our readers. Sign up now for their first and only online bachelor’s degree program in guitar and download a free digital handbook. Support those that support you!

[This feature is the cover story of the 10th issue of She Shreds Magazine, published in April, 2016. Subscribe here and receive your copy of Issue 10 (while supplies last) and a full year of the best coverage of women guitarists and bassists!]

The Evolution of Devolution cannot be defined. It’s a feeling, an action, an interaction, a memory, an experience, an energy, a modality; it lives inside of us in the ways we interact and communicate, and even in what we choose to leave behind and keep to ourselves. This is the essence of Esperanza Spalding’s latest album, Emily’s D+Evolution.

Spalding is an improvisational sensation that became a household name in 2011, after winning the Grammy Award for Best New Artist over superstars such as Justin Bieber, Drake, and Florence and the Machine. She embodies the examination of self through an alter ego defined as Emily who came to the composer in a moment of clarity amidst tired routine. Emily can be seen as a guide into the exploration of possibilities—an evolving philosophy that navigates who we have been, who we are now, and who we can be.

Born and raised in Portland, OR, Spalding is a tenacious artist whose passion for music should not be underestimated; she picked up the violin and piano at just five years old and then discovered the bass after her single mother started taking jazz guitar lessons, which surrounded Spalding with composers, teachers, and peers who would introduce her to a career she’s been dedicated to ever since.

Although an acclaimed prodigy, virtuosic, and genius, these labels are secondary to Spalding who sees the true value in discovery through on-going study and enlightenment—a practice that has led her to finding and evolving what Emily’s D+Evolution means to herself and those who are listening.

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How did you discover jazz?

Through the bass, I heard that music and that was what pushed me. I wanted to be able to do that shit, ‘cause it was like …amazing. It was like, aughhhhh [makes overwhelmed noise], it made me feel so good. I think I kind of got what was happening there, in terms of how they were using musical language and it was so soulful, but challenging. So when I heard that music I wanted to figure out whatever the fuck I had to do to be able to do that. And I had good friends and teachers that showed me ways to study. And then when you realize how far away it is … to be able to do that, you’re compelled to practice.

In what ways were you being pushed, by yourself and/or others?

Well, paying bills was always really helpful. The necessity factor should never be underestimated because when you’re supporting yourself you realize quickly, if I suck on this gig, I probably won’t be called back to play another gig; that’ll push you to do your part. Whatever it takes to get to that place may not have happened without the urgency of monetary necessity. Also, I wanted to impress people—because I’m an individualist and I like to be special and important and be seen as marvelous. I quickly realized that what I was doing was so weird and people were paying a lot of attention to me. I wanted the attention to be about being awesome, not just that it was a novelty. I just loved it so much—it feels like the most marvelous sensation when you’re in the midst of playing something beautiful. You’re compelled beyond reason, beyond any process of rational thinking. You just wanna do it. You just want to play make-believe in the trees with your friends in the park—it’s that same pure enthusiasm.

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You were self-taught, but also you received lessons later on. What is that tug of war like?

Yeah, it’s an ongoing tug of war. When I was a kid I would do as much as I had the concentration for—attention span for [laughs]—and then mess around the rest of the time I was practicing. With teachers I felt intimidated by, I would probably practice more because I was afraid of being reprimanded and embarrassed in front of other students.

For the first few years it was self-study, and then I started studying with teachers. It’s always a combo of what teachers give you and you figuring out ways to get to what you personally want to find. The tug of war goes on and on and on in life until you seek out the tools that are going to help you get the result that you want in your music or art. But ultimately you have to have the self-reflection to see what is not helping you, and you can change course.

That’s something I struggle with all the time: I want to have my own voice and I don’t want to be taught that there are specific rules. But as a jazz player, or any classically trained musician, there seems to be set rules you need to follow.

If you just change the word “rules” to “tools,” it’s all groovy. That’s really all it is. Because even like my mom—she should be an editor, she’s such a motherfucker with the English language. It’s insane. And whenever I reach to her for help on something I have to write, her feedback is helpful because she knows the rules, but the way we’re applying it is as a tool to make my voice stronger. If you can actually gain a command of the tools, then it can make your personal shit that much more resonant and potent.

That’s how I’ve always seen study. It should never be something to hold you in, and maybe that is kind of the philosophy of improvised music—it’s all about having as much access to tools in order to do whatever the fuck you want. And it works. Or when it doesn’t work you’ve got enough under your toolbelt that you can quickly recover and turn it into something that works. The good news is that no matter how diligently or thoroughly or impersonally we follow “rules,” the self shines through no matter what. It’s impossible for it not to.

Let’s talk about Emily a little bit: how has she evolved musically, physically, and emotionally?

Oh my gosh … she’s evolved … she’s evolving and evolving. I understand now that Emily is the personification of an energy or modality. She personifies a way of interacting with the world, and I wasn’t able to get to that kind of distilled understanding of her until very recently. It’s nice to have that clarity so that moving forward, as the show changes, as the performance changes, I know what the essence of it is.

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Do you feel like it’s an experimentation within all of your practices?

The goal of the project, of portraying this modality, is something independent of the technique that we use to bring it to fruition or to evolve it. Yes, all that I’ve learned as a jazz musician, as a student, as a human being, as a sister, as a daughter, as a partner, as a friend, as a band leader; all those things of course come into play because I want to apply techniques that I think will help me do my shit better. And Emily is a new idea. Emily is a new project and a new concept that we’re learning how to convey, and it is through a lot of experimentation. Experimenting for the sake of experimenting is really wonderful, and people pay money to come receive an experience, which is a performance. So, part of it is finding the right kind of context so that our experimentation is a part of the presentation and a part of the whole which is [laughs] very bad for [my] health.

Something that I’m personally challenged by is having all the tools and knowledge of what I’m classically trained to do, and then looking at my instrument with a fresh eye. Do you think that Emily came out of the need to do something new?

The way that this idea came to me was so unexpected. I was not looking for a project, I was tired [laughs]. I just wanted to show up and play and then be able to go home and just study. I didn’t know what was gonna happen next.

In the middle of that time off … I had visions—I wasn’t intoxicated or influenced by any substance, controlled or otherwise—and I saw these little vignettes and this character. And I knew that it was Emily, and my middle name is Emily. So, I started taking notes of the song titles and what I was imagining in that moment and what it looked like and what it felt like. There was this really clear image of a statue … this beautiful woman that was obviously a representation of me, and then all these people came up that appreciated her and they had water balloons in their hands. They started throwing, and the water balloons hit the statue and started washing away the gray, and underneath the gray was this vibrant freaky fun critter that walked away and began to crawl on the ground as a member of a larger community. Now I’m adding interpretation, that wasn’t my interpretation when I saw it. I think that theme of getting to the ground floor of your life is an important part of Emily.

I can see how that would emerge from my creative energy, wanting to express itself when I was in this non-conductive mode, and there are a lot of aspects of this project that I didn’t understand the meaning of until much later. I didn’t know why I needed to do it, or what she was about, or what D+Evolution really meant. I just knew that it was inspiration, and I trust that shit.

Specifically, as it relates to your question, I don’t feel very familiar with the electric bass at all. It’s not my primary instrument, and I knew immediately that there was gonna be electric bass on this project, so musically it’s not like I have to find something new in what I already know. Rather, it’s like I work for this person, I work for this character—Emily. But I never feel limited by mastery, ever. Every time I pick up my bass I’m like, “What the fuck? How do you do this?” Because it all feels new.

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What are some tools that you’ve gained from this particular experience?

I did learn that brainstorming and clarifying the fruits of the brainstorm before you go into production is really helpful, like getting as clear as you can. You can change your mind as soon as you finish the fucking sentence, but taking the time to get really clear on your own story, even if it’s just a placeholder until you get to the real thing. However much you can get clear on ahead of time is really helpful, so the people who are working with you know how they can help.

On the bass playing tip, we get into this state, especially as hyperactive women, where we figure out how we can get so much done because we have to be responsible for so many things. We get this heightened ability to take care of a lot of stuff and make sure it’s happening and guide it there. And one of the great lessons of this project has been to take a step back and trust the momentum of the whole damn thing.

The trust is like, don’t rush … Literally, I tend to rush when I play bass, and I think it’s a reflection of that energy—you stir up so much force in the process. You’re responsible for a lot, but you’re not responsible for everything. So that’s a good thing to let happen, to let people lean into the space. In bass playing, I’ve been having a lot of epiphanies about sound and thickness of note, and tambor of note, and attack and function of bass in a musical context.

Why do you choose to play a five-string bass?

The only reason I started playing five-string was because the couple of times I’ve been given instruments, they were five-string. So, that’s what that’s about.

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It doesn’t have to do with range or anything?

No. I didn’t seek it out. I’m still trying to figure out how to add into the equation always having that other string—it’s cool [laughs]. Something about those new insights about bass playing are so relevant to how I interact with other people in the world that are co-creating situations with me, like right now or on the train or whatever. We’re always co-creating a dynamic, and I have a tendency to be nervous if things don’t seem like they’re happening the way I think other people want them to be happening, or the way that I wish they would go. And as a bass player, I’m constantly reminded that it’s okay to be there. That’s a mode that’s totally fine, that’s beautiful and marvelous and it’s an important function of any situation, to be comfortable with just being there. It’s a different kind of compulsion, you offer a different kind of momentum when you’re present and stable and consistent. In my bass playing, in general, I’ve been getting more in touch with that concept, but in this situation where there’s less improvisation with the bass it heightens that awareness.

And it’s like, why do I need to play this note tonight, I already played it yesterday in the exact same way in the exact same place. As an improvising musician, I like to do it different every time and find new reasons to do it. So since we’re doing it the “same way,” I have to find new reasons. And so the consciousness around the bass playing is changing from night to night. With that awareness, it’s just a question of what is the tone gonna be, what’s the rhythmic energy, what’s the length gonna be? I don’t actually ask those questions, but I’m aware that those are options that, in the moment, I could play with what’s happening. So something about it not being improvised music is bringing attention to those kinds of questions and explorations from night to night, which is cool. I’ve never been in that situation before.

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That’s exciting.

It’s really exciting. Because actually, life is much more like a jazz concert than people give it credit for—you never get to have the same conversation again.

Which goes back to social settings…

That’s what I’m talking about. You all are lovely people to interact with and I’m comfortable, but I’m a very shy person and I don’t do well in social settings. I usually don’t help contributing to the momentum of social settings, which is maybe why I’m so inspired by improvised music, because I am good at it there—it feels so good to be a part of communicating and co-creating with people.

Totally.

In this project it’s just like, not what I’m used to. But something about [practicing Emily] is teaching me how to just spontaneously engage in the rest of my life. That’s her philosophy—it’s spontaneous engagement, asking questions, being present, trying on other people’s ideologies, and welcoming that without any preconceived notions, because she’s new here. She doesn’t know who anybody is, she just knows what it feels like to assume everything goes together. Experimenting with her worldview in the show and getting more in touch with what D+Evolution means, and what that mode of engaging with the world means—I feel it affecting how I live and how I talk with people. So it’s funny that the context that would seem more conducive to helping me be more spontaneous in social settings isn’t really happening in this project, and the inverse or the opposite end of the spectrum is helping those settings. That’s a cool phenomenon to observe.

Esperanza Spalding is currently on tour. Catch her in a city near you!

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Reply #8 posted 07/12/16 9:00am

JoeBala

IDRIS ELBA

CRAIG MCDEAN

07/07/16

Whatever its constituent parts-talent, sure; charisma, definitely—the combined quality Hollywood moguls and gossip columnists used to refer to as "it"-ness (as in, "So-and-so has it") remains ineffable, mysterious, almost occult in its indescribableness. Whatever "it" is, Idris Elba has it in droves. Enough to fill a room, a movie, a long-running series, a planet probably.

Whether he's on set, at a party, or at the Met Gala, which he co-hosted this past May, and even when surrounded by all the sparkliest stars in heaven, it is his gravity that draws all the eyes, his dusty baritone all the ears, and his easy, frequent laughter, more of the same. In person, the Hackney-born Elba, 43, seems taller than his 6'3" frame, even a little hunched to get through doorways, to hear us Lilliputians.

Onscreen, Elba's presence is greater still. Which is probably why directors so love to restrain it, to set an obstacle course for him to shine through. As the legitimate-facing member of a Baltimore gang in HBO's The Wire, his Stringer Bell was always torn between the straight and outlaw worlds, left exposed to the slings and arrows of both, and unable to find comfort in either. Then again, as the long-suffering but brilliant detective on the BBC's Luther, Elba seemed hardly ever able to sleep. His John Luther was haunted by the ghosts of personal tragedy and by the very real criminals tearing London to bits around him. But, by far, the worst of all lots assigned to Elba was that of the warlord commandant in Cary Fukunaga'sBeasts of No Nation. Running a child army in a chaotic war through some unnamed African state, Elba's unnamed character was heavy on the Colonel Kurtz scale, oversaturated by the horrors around him and within him, a force. But it was the ease with which Elba inhabited him, the natural command he filled him with, radiating at times with the kind of quirky charisma of a mystic guru or a cult leader, that made the performance something altogether new. As if that weren't enough, Elba nearly died during production when he slipped walking behind a waterfall and only lived to tell about it because a security guard caught him.

With all this suffering around, it isn't hard to see why fans are clamoring to have Elba finally let loose, to see him indulged, to watch him turn that charisma up to 11 and be cast as the next James Bond—fingers crossed. In the meantime, he is loading up on fantasy and CGI, playing the squid-y antagonist in Star Trek Beyond, and the gunslinger Roland Deschain in an adaptation of Stephen King'sThe Dark Tower books, out next year, as well as reappearing as Heimdall in the next Thor installment. Also in the works is Aaron Sorkin's Molly's Game, not to mention a bubbling DJ career, and even a fashion collection, in collaboration with Superdry. It's a lot. But as Elba tells his pal and director of the recent The Jungle Book, Jon Favreau, he's got a lot more where that came from.


IDRIS ELBA: Hello, Jon. What a nice surprise.

JON FAVREAU: Well, I fancy myself the modern-day Andy Warhol, so Interviewmagazine... How are you doing down there?

ELBA: I'm good. We're making a very big movie, and I'm doing long hours, shooting guns and whatnot. I'm enjoying it.

FAVREAU: When I worked with Daniel Craig [Cowboys & Aliens, 2011], he said that dressing up and playing a cowboy is universal, not just an American fantasy. Is it something that was appealing to you?

ELBA: [laughs] Yeah, I mean, I used to watch Bonanza. Do you even know what that is?

FAVREAU: Yeah. I guess it took a while for our programs to get to you, because that was before my time.

ELBA: [laughs] Bonanza, man. I've always wanted to try the whole cowboy feel and look, so when I took this role, I was wondering, "Are we going to bring that to life in this character? Is he a real cowboy?" And the answer was no. We had to reinvent that a little bit because the world—it's quite a fantastical world and we aren't making a Western. But there's definitely some characteristics from those great cowboy movies, the Sergio Leone movies and all. I was definitely drawn to it. I've got two smoking guns that just look incredible, and I love to pull them out whenever I can. [laughs]

FAVREAU: I remember the books, and what was cool about it was Stephen King really deconstructed the mythology. So you got all the cool gunfighter stuff, but it felt fresh and new and sci-fi, post-apocalyptic—a little bit ahead of its time actually.

ELBA: It's exciting because it doesn't feel like it comes from any other source. It's not an existing group, like the Marvel films. It feels very original. The guns and fights are really essential to the story, but our director, Nikolaj [Arcel], isn't overcooking it.

FAVREAU: You're probably a really good judge, because you've worked with such wonderful people before. I was just going through the list—Ridley Scott, Ken Branagh, Guy Ritchie, Guillermo del Toro ... These are guys I have a lot of respect for. What common thread do you see in all these wonderful directors that makes a director strong?

ELBA: The most important thing, which I always look for, is their 360 vision of their film. By 360, I mean every moment has been imagined once or twice, if not 50,000 times, within their heads, from performance to art direction and whatnot. It's been a master class for me. Working with Guy on RocknRolla [2008], he was embedded in every single detail of the film. You could literally spin him around in a blindfold and stop him somewhere and say, "What about this?" and he'll go, "Ah, that's this." And you're the same, and Ridley was exactly like that. Ridley would almost sort of cut the film [Prometheus, 2012] while he was watching the takes. Sometimes he'd do a full retake, and sometimes he'd go, "I just want to do this moment here." But I think the common denominator is that everyone really understands you. Some directors hand over portions of their movie to their head of department to the point where it's like, "I'm not going to talk to you about the costumes, but I'm going to let you talk to the expert." Rather than, "You want to talk stitching, let's talk stitching. You want to talk grade of leather? Let's." The directors [who know every detail] make films that are complete, basically. You're directing a movie, but you are at the head of a ship of people, a whole fleet of people. And being able to manage that—being able to handle yourself as a director being a leader—that's massively important.

FAVREAU: And then, of course, with Luther and The Wire, you're dealing with so many hours of entertainment that you're not going to have that same intense collaboration with one single person. It becomes more of a collaborative sport. I know The Wire better than I know Luther, but there was a tremendous level of consistency in the storytelling in that one. I think it's commonly agreed upon thatThe Wire is one of the best shows to ever air. How was that experience different? The character you played had just as much depth—probably more depth because of how much screen time there was—than the characters you played in features.

ELBA: That's true. Television is where I cut my teeth. One of my first jobs was in a soap opera, five days a week. And what I found is, although there are different directors coming in and different crews, you just lived in your character. It's the nature of the story, the ongoing story, and it can get deeper and deeper. And The Wire—I had moved to America a few years earlier. I had to get a job. And this character came about, and I jumped straight in. And it was like, "Today we're doing this scene in this part of this story line in this part of this world." You don't have the luxury like you do in films to do one scene per day. But what kept the quality control up was that the writing was so phenomenal. The guest director could just drop into the world, those characters and their environments, and start filming, because it was sewn into us. That was our world.

FAVREAU: Like special forces. Whatever the assignment, you're ready and you hit the beaches running.

ELBA: Exactly. And Luther is similar. There were no luxuries on Luther. It was a tough set; we worked six-day weeks in London, sometimes in the bitter cold. But the quality comes from the writing. Neil Cross has always been a great writer. But, again, we just plug and play, like you say. It's a task force and we get on with it.

FAVREAU: When The Wire came along, you were in the States, trying to figure out where you fit in. That was probably the same period when you were DJ'ing. Is that right?

ELBA: Yep, that was how I kept the lights on, basically.

FAVREAU: I know the DJ'ing industry has changed a lot in the time since you began, because DJ'ing has emerged as one of the most lucrative, popular careers that a lot of kids are aspiring to. It's become a full-fledged career in entertainment. And you seem to really be having a lot of fun in that world. You did some remixes for us for Jungle Book—which was great, by the way. You know, I grew up in Queens in the era when DJs were first emerging, and I was soundly impressed with what you were able to do.

ELBA: Thanks, man. I was really happy that you liked those remixes. I was nervous about you signing off on them, because I know your depth of knowledge of music. Anyway, what happened was, once I got The Wire, my life changed. I couldn't DJ as much and I couldn't take it seriously because my career as an actor was just getting to a place where I was finally making it in America. I wanted to be on American TV so much. I didn't park DJ'ing; I just sort of ended up becoming more of a studio guy. I had a bit more money and I could buy every little piece of equipment and drum machine that had just come out—I've got quite a collection now—and I continued to collect music. Then about five years ago, my career blossomed, but I really missed being out on the road, DJ'ing. So I started picking up gigs here and there, and what occurred to me really quickly was that I was going to water down my passion for DJ'ing, because the type of gigs I was getting were celebrity DJ work, and that just didn't sit right. So I made a decision about five years ago to really do it properly, to do it at that level I had never done it, but take it seriously and not ride the coattails of being an actor. It took a while because I had to take my time to introduce myself into that world: doing remixes, being taken seriously ...

FAVREAU: And you have to stay current with it, too. So you have to listen to a lot of music and listen to a lot of other DJs. It is a community. It's very similar, actually, to a few years ago when the professional poker player community crossed over to Hollywood. There are a lot of people who played, but you only got so far on being recognizable. At a point you cross over, and there are certain Hollywood guys who are good enough that they're considered poker players. I don't know if you remember Gabe Kaplan from Welcome Back, Kotter, but he was one of the guys that the poker players don't even consider an actor anymore. He's a full-on poker player. And there are some people who are somewhere in between, like Tobey [Maguire] ... Ben Affleck is a strong player. Have you been exposed to any of that with your upcoming project, Molly's Game, with Aaron Sorkin—yet another visionary storyteller?

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Reply #9 posted 07/12/16 9:12am

JoeBala

RAMI MALEK

JOSH OLINS

07/12/16

If the recent golden age of prestige television has foisted the antihero upon us, the Golden Globe-winning, visually stylish Mr. Robot, which premiered last summer to much acclaim on USA and is now back for its second season, delivers an unreliable, morphine-addicted, paranoid protagonist destined to join the canon of TV's most memorable rebels. But this time, he lives by Occupy ideals, dresses in a black hoodie, and is set on smashing the corporate power structure. Elliot Alderson, a cyber-security engineer by day, vigilante hacker by night, and leader of the Anonymous-like collective fsociety, is the eyes, ears, and sentience of the series. Played by Los Angeles native Rami Malek with a nuanced intensity, it's the kind of role most up-and-comers would kill for—gritty, multi-layered, and a career definer.

Malek, 35, has been acting professionally for over a decade. He established himself as an edgy character actor in acclaimed indies like Short Term 12 (2013) and Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013), and has worked with the heavy-hitting directors Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master, 2012) and Spike Lee (Oldboy, 2013; Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, 2015), but as he tells his friend and Mr. Robot superfan Robert Downey Jr., playing Alderson has opened up a whole new world of possibilities, including his first leading film role, in Sarah Adina Smith's mystery Buster's Mal Heart, which he recently completed filming. Downey Jr. caught up with Malek by phone in early June, a few weeks after he visited the Mr. Robot set in New York.


ROBERT DOWNEY JR.: Mr. Malek, how are you feeling? What's going on right now?

RAMI MALEK: Right now, I am home doing a bit of press. We have one of those hiatus weeks because, as you know [Mr. Robot creator], Sam [Esmail] is directing everything. He gets a week of prep before we complete season two of Mr. Robot.

DOWNEY JR.: Do you draw any comparisons between a director/creative partner and a brother, both essentially named Sami?

MALEK: Yeah. I actually do. They both have, in the time we've spent together, pretty much told me exactly what to do with my life. [laughs] There are some striking similarities between the two of them: They're both Egyptian, they both vaguely resemble each other.

DOWNEY JR.: It's funny how that works. Now I'm not going to start asking you about relationships, in case you were wondering. I'm in this odd position of realizing that it's somewhat a daunting task to appropriately interview somebody. What the heck is Buster's Mal Heart?

MALEK: I read this very experimental script on the first season we were shooting [Mr. Robot]. It was really poetic and cool, and it left so much to the imagination. So much of it was just scene descriptions, and we would improv the meat of the dialogue. That was something I looked at and was like, "Well, I'll probably never get a chance to do something like this again." I think it's done now. Sarah Adina Smith directed it and is editing it, and is probably submitting it to festivals right now.

DOWNEY JR.: Oh, I wanna see it!

MALEK: Maybe we'll screen it together. It won't be as elaborate as your Star Warsscreening, but ... Am I supposed to talk about that? Or maybe not?

DOWNEY JR.: [laughs] Listen, it's a two-way street, pal. First of all, are you in town next Wednesday?

MALEK: I'm not. What kind of fun adventure do you have planned out?

DOWNEY JR.: I had some ideas, but whatever. I guess if I want to see you for the foreseeable future, I just have to come to set again.

MALEK: [laughs] That was amazing. You turned me into a hero when you came to set. I'm not kidding. They were like, "You know him?" "How do you know him?" I knew it was very cool to know you, but the world started paying me more attention on that day on set. Maybe I elaborated on our relationship too much and started fantasizing it was more than it actually was. No, I just told them how close we were and that we hang out, we celebrate holidays together, we watch movies together, all of which is true!

DOWNEY JR.: [laughs] I mean, it was great to see you, very nice to catch up with [Christian] Slater. And, without giving anything away, I was just happy that I was able to see a scene with you and Slater that left everything to the imagination.

MALEK: Usually I look behind the monitor and it's Sam and Joe Schmo behind there. "Okay, film icon Robert Downey Jr., one of the greatest actors to have graced this planet, is watching the monitor as I deliver a slew of experimental takes before I get to one that might have possibly worked."

DOWNEY JR.: Now, let me tell you something, that first take was the take. It's probably not the one that's going to be in the episode, but it was perfect in that you were going to try what you were going to try, you were going to commit to it fully, and then you were going to not be ashamed if you were directed away from it. I thought it was brave, and vital, and awesome. Without getting into details, you made some sounds that I have never heard made on the set of filmed entertainment before. And they were appropriate to the situation.

MALEK: [laughs] I felt that was the case. You know what's funny, I remember you said, "What was wrong with the first take?" And I was like, "Yeah, Sam, what was wrong with the first take?" We were doing a scene about three weeks later, and Sam comes up to me, and I don't know if it was the light—we were losing light that day—but he gave me a couple takes, and that was it, and we moved on. I wanted one more desperately. He goes, "I was talking to Downey when he was on set ..." He asked you, I think, how many takes usually work for you, and you said something like, "The first one's pretty good. The second one's about perfecting it." So he looks at me and he goes, "Well, you know, Downey only needs two takes."

DOWNEY JR.: [laughs] Usually they're just warming up technically, too, and usually they're letting things happen that shouldn't be happening on the first take because no one really takes the first take all that seriously. But I bet that a movie comprised entirely of cleaned-up first takes would be extraordinary.

MALEK: That is not a bad idea. That's the film we do together!

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Jeff Beck Talks Seeing Jimi Hendrix, Topical New LP

Guitar legend also discusses Rod Stewart reunion attempts, vintage-car obsession

BY DAVID FRICKE July 11, 2016
Jeff Beck recalls what it was like to see Jimi Hendrix live and discusses how he and singer-lyricist Rosie Bones wrote songs for his new LP.

In October 1966, guitarist Jeff Beck suddenly quit the English band the Yardbirds in the middle of a U.S. tour. "We were doing 600 miles a day in a bus, choked with people," Beck, 71, recalls with a bitter laugh. "And then we'd do three songs. I thought, 'We're being crushed.'" On August 10th, Beck – currently on the road with his blues hero Buddy Guy – marks his 50th anniversary as a solo artist with a retrospective concert at the Hollywood Bowl, complete with an orchestra. He also celebrates that milestone with a new book, BECK01 – a lavish, pictorial account of his twin passions for guitars and restoring vintage automobiles – and a politically charged new album, Loud Hailer, out July 15th and made with new collaborators: guitarist Carmen Vandenberg and singer-lyricist Rosie Bones. Beck is writing an autobiography as well that he hopes will become a feature film.

"The fun that I've had needs to be seen on the screen," the guitarist insists near the end of our conversation for Rolling Stone, which took place during tour rehearsals at his longtime home in the Sussex countryside outside London and is presented here in an extended version. "I like the thought of a bunch of people laughing at what I laughed at. Because my life is surreal, completely wacko," Beck notes with his own hearty laughter – something he does often during this interview. "I have to pinch myself that I'm still alive."

In recent years, you have collaborated a lot – and really well – with women: the bassists Tal Wilkenfeld and Rhonda Smith, singer Imelda May and now Carmen and Rosie. What do you like about working with women instead of men?
They look better for a start [laughs]. I met Carmen at a birthday party [for Queen drummer Roger Taylor]. Somebody told me she was a guitarist. I didn't expect what I heard. She said, "Oh, I like Buddy Guy, Albert Collins." I thought, "Wow, that's pretty cool for a 23-year-old ... chick. [Laughs]

Are women less argumentative than guys?
No, no. There is a certain atmosphere they create. It is a well-balanced outfit. Let's not forget that you do get opinionated women as well. As long as I'm the boss, so be it. Either obey or get out [laughs].

There is a surprising, topical anger in new songs like "The Revolution Will Be Televised" and "Thugs Club." Are you a news junkie?
It's a recent thing. A lunatic lifestyle on the road doesn't permit you to get too hip to stuff as you should. I had a concept for the record. And it was a daily thing. I would go online and find something disgusting that was going on in the world. I was feeding Rosie with the vibe, and she ran with it.

I go on YouTube. I look for lies, and I look for the truth. When you examine facial expressions – politicians, commentators – you can replay the clip and see the lines in their faces. I've become very conscious of how easy it is for people to lie.

I would show Rosie what I wanted to say, and she would sit there quietly writing away. She didn't show me anything for the first couple of days. Then she put a guide vocal on one of the tracks that blew me away. It was exactly what I was going to say.

It sounds like we actually spent some time on the album, but it came together very quickly. The construction of the songs was about two weeks, maybe less. The rest was all messing around with other things. The core of the album was done in about three or four days.

One song, "Scared for the Children," has strong echoes of Jimi Hendrix.
It inadvertently came out. It's [Hendrix's] "Angel – four notes [hums the lick]. There's no escape. I've never loved Hendrix more than I do now. I've been listening to some excellent stuff that I'd never heard before, a Royal Albert Hall show [in 1969] – same songs like "Red House" but unbelievable playing. Ever since I learned the chords to "Little Wing," nobody can shut me up.

When did you first see Hendrix perform?
It was probably one of the first shows he did [in London]. It was in a tiny downstairs club in Queensgate, It was a fashion club – mostly girls, 18 to 25, all dolled up, hats and all. Jimi wasn't known then. He came on, and I went, "Oh, my God." He had the military outfit on and hair that stuck out all over the place. They kicked off with [Bob Dylan's] "Like a Rolling Stone," and I thought, "Well, I used to be a guitarist."

Did you get to know Hendrix well?
As well as you could in the fleeting moments. When the Jeff Beck Group played the Scene [in New York in 1968], he was there most nights. What an education, having him come in with his guitar. One night he played mine. He didn't have his guitar. I ended up playing bass. There's a photo. Jimi's in the shot, [bassist] Ron Wood is in the background. You don't even see me in the picture.

Everything I've read about your exit from the Yardbirds in the fall of 1966 suggests it was an impetuous decision.
It was. I got tired of getting sick. With all those changes in climate [on tour], my throat was in havoc. It was the sore throat from hell. I couldn't swallow. And the tonsils kept getting ulcerated. I had them out in L.A., and they carried on with Jimmy [Page].

Also, we were being crushed into this ridiculous package show. If you didn't have a hit, you just had to do what you were told. Jimmy had just joined, so it was a bit of a blow when I left. I went back to L.A., and the girl I was with looked after me for awhile. My mum said, "What the hell are you doing, staying on?" Well, sunshine. [Laughs] But I ran out of time on my visa. I got a telegram from the U.S. government, saying "Get out of the country."

YardbirdsThe Yardbirds, 1966. Jeff Beck, Jim McCarty, Chris Dreja, Jimmy Page and Keith Relf (from left).Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

Did you have any idea what you wanted to do next, as a solo artist?
All of a sudden, you're a nobody. You're not a Yardbird anymore. Maybe a couple of places in the papers said, "Jeff Beck's left." But because the band was able to carry on [with Page], it was almost like I was airbrushed out of it. I had to find Stewart, and that's when it started up again.

There are fantastic photos in BECK01 of the Jeff Beck Group with Wood and Rod Stewart. Have you tried to reunite that band?
It's the biggest comedy of errors. I see Woody at a lot of Christmas parties – at Mick Jagger's and some friends of ours. I said, "There's a big opportunity coming up next August." He went, "Wow, I'll tell Rod." He said, "Rod is thrilled." Months go by, and he's playing Vegas on that night [laughs].

Rod did want to do it another time. But I think he just wanted to do a quick album on a weekend. I wanted to do a meaningful move forward in blues-rock. But it would have taken too much time for him.

What is it with you and singers? You've worked with great ones like Stewart and Mick Jagger but never for long.
I did once say singers were all a pain in the ass. Of course, they aren't. But they weren't central to the concept. I wanted to play the guitar. Someone once said to me, "Your show is not a rock concert. It's a recital." But I like having vocalists to play off of. Somebody said it was like a [Harold] Pinter play with the rapport going on between Rod and the guitar. It's thrilling. With a vocalist, you're part of the concert, and you're an audience as well.

You've always had an animated, vocal quality to your guitar playing. Do you find that there is only so much you can express on the instrument?
No, especially with a Stratocaster. There is so much variable in the tone, especially because of the whammy bar. Originally, it was intended for maybe the last chord of a song [makes rubbery-chord sound and laughs]. But little did Fender know what was going to happen. The spring-loaded bar became a part of me. It enables me to do unlimited bends, like having a pedal-steel guitarist.

But I've always liked to play melodically. Otherwise, there's nothing there, just an ugly sound. Listen to the great guitarists of the Fifties. They didn't do that nasty sort of industrial distortion. They played musical compositions as solos – Scotty Moore, Cliff Gallup, Django Reinhardt. There wasn't a bad note in any of those solos. I listened to that and stayed with those rules.

Jeff Beck performs at Whitney Hall on May 12, 2015 in Louisville, Kentucky."I've always liked to play melodically," Beck says. "Otherwise, there's nothing there, just an ugly sound." Stephen J. Cohen/Getty

BECK01 documents your double life in guitars and classic cars. Aren't you worried about doing harm to your hands when you get under the hood or a chassis?
I am more dangerous in the kitchen. I was cutting a carrot length-wise, and it rolled to the left. The knife went sideways on my finger. I'm not allowed to cut carrots anymore. Grinders – no problem. It's second nature to me. I've picked up the wrong end of a welding rod, burned holes in the hands. I just get on with it. I've been doing it since I was 16.

What got you started?
My uncle used to take me out on weekends in this sporty car, an MG. It was the biggest thrill – not so much in the winter, because I froze. He refused to put the top up. But when you're six or seven, you need to be hardened. If he was overhauling an engine, he'd say, "Right, I'm pressing this spring. You press that spring, and push the can in." When I bought my first car and it konked out, I knew straight away what to do.

The fun started when you buy tools. You build up a tool collection and feel a sense of empowerment. It saves you money, and you get a kick out of that. Then I got into cutting and welding, and it built up from there.

Is it purely the mechanics of the car? How much do you enjoy the driving?
When I know they run well, that's it. It's a bit of a sad ending. That's when I'm finished. When a car handles real well, I will drive it. The fun is in the build.

On the new album, in the song "O.I.L. (Can't Get Enough of That Sticky)," you actually play a solo on an oil can. Please explain.
It's a guitar made out of an oil can, a metal old-style gallon can. It was standing in a dressing room when I came back from a gig. There was nothing there except a sofa, the drinks cabinet, some refreshments and right slap in the middle of the floor was this oil can with a neck on it. I went, "Oh, my God, that's gotta be Billy Gibbons [of ZZ Top]." And sure enough, the note said, "Enjoy. Love, BFG." I thought, "Is this playable?" I plugged it in, and it played like a charm.

It's gotta feel weird to a guy used to Strats.
The neck is braced so that when you tighten the strings, it doesn't flex forward. It plays great. I tuned it to a regular chord, and played a regular slide on it. The song was about Texas oil – we were having a little dig there [laughs].

Another thing I noticed in your new book was a letter from the great jazz bassist Charles Mingus. He was congratulating you on your version of his composition "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" [on Beck's 1976 album Wired]. Have you kept a lot of memorabilia from your career?
I am a hoarder unfortunately. And the bigger the house, the more stuff you can put in it. That letter – I had it and knew I wanted to keep it. I stuck it in a photograph album, so it survived. But a lot of other stuff, all these pictures and treasures, things that only mean anything to me – it just gets put away somewhere. Like, I've got a letter from Barbara Streisand.

What did she want?
I can't tell you [laughs].

Oh, c'mon. It's gotta be good.
It was very complimentary, very nice.

You keep touring regularly. Do you have health concerns? Eric Clapton recently told me about hand and back issues that may affect his roadwork.
I'm fit as a fiddle. Eric's got a nerve complaint. It sounds horrible. It would be so sad if it impairs his playing. I did sprain my wrist, carrying something heavy. And I have a bad back. They had to operate in the lower back. As long as I rest every so often – lie flat – I'm fine. But I keep lifting stuff.

Like engine blocks?
[Laughs] Yep.

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Reply #10 posted 07/13/16 10:22am

JoeBala

Chrisette Michele Interview: New Album “Milestone”, Owning Her Label, Being Unafraid to Switch Sound

YKIGS JUNE 8, 2016 0

Chrisette Michele June 2016

On her road to stardom, Chrisette Michele has been one of the most versatile r&b/soul artists we’ve seen in the genre in awhile. Her origins are rooted in Jazz, but she’s dabbled with hip hop, contemporary r&b, soul, trap, and even experimental production. After releasing what was arguably her best album “Better” on Motown Records a few years back, she’s now an independent artist and has even more freedom to release the music that she feels. That diversity will be apparent on her upcoming album “Milestone” which is the first release on her own label. YouKnowIGotSoul sat down with Chrisette Michele at the listening event for the new album and discussed what to expect on it, how she keeps her melodies fresh, and being unafraid to experiment.

YouKnowIGotSoul: We just got a chance to hear your new album “Milestone” which releases this week. It’s been fun to hear the diversity in your sound over the past few years. “Better” was contemporary r&b, “Lyricists Opus” had the orchestra backing you, and the “Street Gang” mixtape was trendy. What is the sound that defines Chrisette Michele?

Chrisette Michele: I definitely describe myself as a multi-faceted artist. I love to play with music in general, it’s sort of my paint brush and something that I find freedom in. Something I feel like I have the audacity to do whatever I please with. I think bringing it to people is kinda of the scare part because they don’t know what’s going to come next. This particular album has a really girly vibe. It’s got a lot of that analog trap sort of bottom tone to it. Then it’s lyrically talking about a lot of what I’ve experienced over the past ten years in the industry. It’s a more personal heart level. What I’ve been through emotionally and how it’s felt personally.

YouKnowIGotSoul: When showcasing so many different sides of yourself musically, sometimes fans get frustrated not hearing your original sound. Having your own label now, how does that affect being able to flip that switch on and just give the fans what they ask for.

Chrisette Michele: I definitely have had a lot of sounds on each album, but not as many singles on each album. So a lot of times in a single driven country, where you might put out one single from an album, and people buy a million singles, and seven albums, the people don’t get to hear all of the different sides of the person on that album. I have the liberty of owning the label and being able to put out more singles and show different sides to myself and let people know that I’m a multi-faceted artist before they get the idea that I’m not.

YouKnowIGotSoul: Although you’ve used similar production styles over the course of your career, how are you able to have refreshing melodies. This album, you have different sounds and cadences that you’re using. How do you continue to keep it fresh?

Chrisette Michele: Inside of me is a wealth of music. It just flows daily. It’s just who I am. The same way people’s grits change over the years. You’ve got cheese grits, grits with sugar and butter the next time. It’s all grits. I just add different ingredients and I’m brave enough to do that. I think what makes something stagnant is when you’re afraid of what people will think and so you don’t decide to take a chance on grits with sugar. By the way, the grits today, I am a sugar and butter and some cinnamon girl! It’s got to taste like porage. I do not like cheese in my grits!

[Edited 7/13/16 10:23am]

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Reply #11 posted 07/14/16 8:51am

JoeBala

Interview: Singer Lucy Woodward, playing Allentown Jazz Fest, smartly moved from 'Dumb Girls' to jazz

MC Lucy Woodward.jpg
Interview: Singer Lucy Woodward tells how she smartly moved from 'Dumb Girls' to jazz

Lucy Woodward was on the verge of breaking big as a pop singer in 2003.

She had a Top 40 hit with “Dumb Girls,” which was used in the Amanda Bynesmovie “What a Girl Wants.” And she wrote “(There's Gotta Be) More to Life” that Stacy Orrico took to the Top 5.

Woodward was scheduled to appear with Orrico at Allentown’s Mayfair festival before Orrico got sick and canceled.

But Woodward, then in her mid-20s, never found that big success and eventually was dropped by Atlantic Records. It was a story all too common for the early 2000s, when teen pop ruled and record companies were crumbling.

Thirteen years later, Woodward’s career is on the upswing. She recently toured with Grammy-winning jazz-fusion band Snarky Puppy and continues to be a backup singer for rock icon Rod Stewart. And she’s preparing for the July 13 release of her first album in six years.

Lucy Wooward will headline Allentown JazzFest

It’s been a journey for Woodward, who along the way released two more albums, sang on songs by Celine Dion, Carole King and Joe Cocker and toured relentlessly. Those experiences helped her find her true voice and lead her to where she is today.

In a recent telephone call from her home in Los Angeles, Woodward spoke about her career, her new album and more.

Here’s a transcript of the call:

Lucy Woodward calling from Los Angeles, where she lives

LEHIGH VALLEY MUSIC: Part of this interview is going to be reacquainting the readers, and myself, with you. So if you don’t mind, can you give me sort of the brief history of how you went from somebody who put out the song “Dumb Girls” in 2003 and was playing on the “Tonight Show,” to where you are today.

“Oh, wow. It’s such a long, crazy path. Well, I was signed and put out the single in 2003. I was signed really fast, it was on the radio really fast, the record was out really fast, and it was like this whirlwind of living in a van, driving all over the country, doing a radio tour – Jay Leno, MTV.

“And it also went away really fast – that’s how I always look at it. Like your life changes very fast – in this speed-of-light kind of way. And then label confusion up there with people getting fired. And you just – it happens all the time. You don’t think it’s going to happen to you: You get dumped.

“And I went into this kind of mode of, like ‘What’s next – I should just give up.’ There was a whole vibe, especially in the early 2000s, that, if you’re not on MTV, you’re not successful. If you’re not on MTV, you should just quit music. That’s kind of what the major label world was putting out that – letting you sort of know that.

“And so afterward, you go, ‘I got dropped – what else is there?’ And I remember starting to write a whole bunch of songs with my then-boyfriend and one of my best friends, Itaal Shur, who wrote Santana’s ‘Smooth.’ We’d always had funk bands together, and just always wrote songs – he’s just like my musical brother. And we started writing a song a day. He said, ‘Let’s just get you out of this funk.’ Like, ‘Forget that stuff, forget all that! Of course you make music. You come from music, your parents are musicians. This is what we do.’

“And we walked around the city one night at 2 in the morning, just talking about coming out of that pop world. So we wrote a song a day and then we just made a record in our basement. And that was my indie record, and that put me back in the mode. I was kind of going back to my roots a little bit more. And there was no A&R person, nobody trying to see what was a hot, what wasn’t. It was just us in the room, whatever.

“It took a year or so to make because of funding and all that, but we made this record. And put it out – Barnes & Noble actually distributed it – an amazing situation for an indie artist, because they bought a ton of copies from me.”

Are we talking about “Hot and Bothered”?

“Yeah, ‘Hot and Bothered’ record. So that was the indie world. And then I was playing a lot of New York, and doors opened up for me on my terms – not in this, like, pop/MTV world, because that was also falling apart, and there weren’t even videos on MTV anymore. And it didn’t even matter to me – I had done my work and started to learn really learn how to shed that old skin.

“And then Verve [Records] sort of caught wind of what I was doing, and we started working on another record together and they started coming to my shows and loving the jazzier side of what I did – which is what I was always …. My first gigs were singing jazz songs in Italian restaurants and coffee shops on Bleecker Street in New York. So I was, like, really going back to my roots of what I wanted to do. It was really another genre now after that whole Atlantic experience.

“And so I did a record on Verve with Tony Visconti, who produced the bulk of it and had a lot of big-band feel and some string-quartet stuff. I’m really proud of that record.

“And a lot of people kind of looked at me like, ‘OK, she was the ‘Dumb Girls’ girl and then now she’s doing jazz? Very confusing to a lot of people. I wasn’t a Diana Krall, I wasn’t Anita O’Day. I’m not like a scatter jazz, but I’m also not totally pop. So people were a little confused about ‘she’s not pop enough/she’s not jazz enough.’ So I kind of fell in this weird market. But I said, ‘This is what I do. This is where I come from.’

“And then, when I started touring the Verve record, I couldn’t bring, obviously, a big band, or sometimes I couldn’t bring even a five-or six-piece band on the road – couldn’t afford it. So I started doing van tours with just three of us, and song really broken-down versions and get sing-alongs going, and lot of stomping and clapping in the room to keep a beat. And got really, really creative singing all of my material – except not the ‘Dumb Girls’ era – but the two previous records.

“ And I started going on the journey of getting really more blusier and rawer and saying, ‘Wow, I could actually be this – this is like opening up another door for me that’s not as big an instrumentation. I just learned a lot just from running around with a trio about what I can do with my voice.

“And then it ended up I just signed with Ground Up, which is Michael League, the bass player in Snarky Puppy. I just signed to his label, which is on Universal Classics. So I left Verve a few years ago, but now I’m back on Universal. So it’s kind of a funny thing. And Michael League actually produced this record with Henry Hay, who will be coming with me to Allentown. He’s my piano player for many years.

“So I’m doing big instrumentation. The record is full of horns and beautiful arrangements.

“But I learned a lot about my voice from touring all those years – how to let the edge and the crackly part come out. That’s what just kind of happens when you make a record and you go out on the road and you perform it.

”So that’s the journey.”

Let me try to fill in a couple of the spots there. I’ve read that you’ve sung with Celine Dion, with Carole King, with Joe Cocker and, of course had a long stint with Rod Stewart. So how do you end up doing that?

“Well, Rod Stewart I still actually sing backup for. So we’re actually going on tour four days after Allentown for a couple of months.”

“So Celine Dion, Joe Cocker, these are .. I didn’t sing live with them, I never actually met them. But I sang on their records. … Celine Dion, my dear, dear friend John Shank, he was producing Celine and he said, ‘Come in and sing this stuff. And I’d never sang with an artist like that. She was so technically perfect, and I had to sort of sing with a little French accent. Rod is current – that’s what I do now, which has been crazy but also wonderful juggle of going on the road with him, coming home, working on my record. I live in L.A., but I run back to new York to record, then I go back on the road with him. That’s basically how I funded this.”

How does a gig with Rod Stewart happen? Is it an audition process?

“You know what happened? There were two backup singers, and one had to leave to have a baby. So I actually came in as a sub, and I subbed for three months. She came back, and the other girl had to go have a spinal surgery. So I subbed for her. And then she took a long time to heal, and I was basically a sub for 10 months, then he just asked me to stay.

“But the audition process was interesting ‘cause I’d met him in the studio. I’m really close with the bass player with Rod for 12 years – Conrad Horsch. A New York, so he is one of my best friends, and he called me into the studio to meet Rod – they were working on the ‘Time’ record that came out a couple of years ago.

“And he said, ‘Come in, meet Rod, we might have to get a sub soon because of so-and-so is having a baby. So I met him, and then he was lovely – [in a high voice] ‘Hello, darling,’ he was just so sweet. And then a month later they called me to com audition, and they just sent me some YouTube clips and ‘learn the harmony on this, learn the harmony on that.’ And then the day before the audition, I got horribly sick and I got laryngitis and I was talking like – there was no voice. So I called the musical director and I said, ‘I don’t know. I lost my chance, I don’t think I can come in.’

“And he was like, ‘Oh, no, we know you can sing just come in. So I went in … and so I had to learn maybe 28 songs and dance moves for 28 songs over a period of about five or six days. And then my second job was in Jakarta, Indonesia [laughs].

“So it was a whirlwind, it was amazing. I’d never sung in an arena before. And he’s amazing. I learn from him every night.”

As I was preparing for this interview, I looked at your career, I couldn’t help but be reminded of that move “Twenty Feet From Stardom.” Do you ever feel like that?

“Oh, my God, totally. That is the story of my life. I’ve always been a session singer. I always sang I commercials when I was 20 years old. I as in wedding bands and cover bands in New York. So I’ve always sung – my mom is a singer, my dad’s a musician/composer. And my step mom was an opera singer. So that’s just what I did growing up.

“So the gigs got better as I got older – as I got better. And I was able to make a living, and I just get to sing. So the songwriting and the artist sort of stuff I was always working on it,. But I wasn’t really ready until 2003, which was mid-20s. So it took time to develop that. I was going out and having showcases and having Clive Davis’ people come down to my shows and everyone was rejecting me left and right cause I wasn’t ready as an artist. As a singer yes, I could sing a lot of different things and I did. But when it came down to being an artist, I had to make a real choice one day. And I needed that artist side of me to grow – like ‘Who am I?’ I’d sing in so many different styles to pay the bills. But when it came down to who am I, it came down to making a real decision to not take as much work. I had to make a really clear decision in my head to not take jobs that were confusing me and my sound.

“And then the more I did that, the more I found who I was becoming. So the first record on the 2003 record was – I wrote those songs, it was totally me then. But you get your hands on your first record deal, it’s ‘Finally,. Somebody signed me.’ Cause I had so much rejection and you kind of go with the flow of what the label wants. You’re like, ‘Sure.’ You go, ‘I want to wear a dress.’ They’re like, ‘Nope, you’re gonna wear jeans and sneakers and you’re gonna act like you’re 17 years old.’ You ‘re like, [in a cheery voice] ‘OK.’ [Laughs]. It’s just a struggle, so I learned that, who I was.”

Tell me about your new album

“It’s coming out July 13 on Ground Up/Universal Classics. I started working on this record two or three years ago, and was going to put it out as an EP, but I just wanted to make mores song. I wanted to put out a full record.”

What does the new record mean to you and where you’re at in your career now?

“There ain’t no time like the present. You have dreams and goals every time you make a new record, and it’s always really different from what actually happens. I wish I had something more romantic or dreamy that I could give you [laughs] but I actually have no idea where this is going to go.

“I love this album, I loved making it with Henry and Mike. I love performing it. I haven’t really performed all that much of it and I already know that it’s another level for me musically and emotionally with it’s complexity and rawness that is very real. Sort of no bells and whistles. And I’m really excited to sing in that kind of raw energy. That’s a new thing for me.

“Those are the little simple goals from show to show, day to day, that I’m just excited to see where that takes me.”

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Reply #12 posted 07/14/16 9:00am

JoeBala

Beastie Boys' Mike D on Beats 1 Radio Show, 'Licensed to Ill' at 30

'The Echo Chamber' will find MC speaking with artists, spinning freeform music

Beastie Boys' Mike D discusses 'The Echo Chamber,' a new freeform radio show he will host on Apple Music's Beats 1 network. Yuri Hasegawa

When Mike D phones up Rolling Stone on a Tuesday afternoon he gives a one-word answer as to what he's been up to: writing. "I'm taking a break to call you," he says. The MC is deep in the process of crafting a long-promised Beastie Boys memoir with co-founder Adam Horowitz. "It's getting there," he says. "It takes some work, as you know. We don't have a deadline, and books take so long to finish 'til when it comes out, but we're getting there."

See Beastie Boys Reflect on Difficult 'Paul's Boutique' Time

"I went to Tower Records and they didn't even have it," Ad-Rock tells Zane Lowe. "I thought that was a little weird"

In breaks from writing, the rapper has been recording with dance duo Cassius – their single with Cat Power, "Action," came out earlier this year – and working on recordings with Slaves. He's also gearing up to launch his latest passion project: a new radio show on Apple Music's Beats 1 radio network, where the likes of Dr. Dre, Corey Taylor and St. Vincent all have programs. He'll be announcing the show later today on Zane Lowe's program on the network.

The show, dubbed The Echo Chamber, will debut this Friday, July 15th, at 3 p.m. EST and will air biweekly at the same time with an encore airing the following Saturday at 3 a.m. EST. The way he describes it, The Echo Chamber will be a freeform program where he and other musicians play records they love – regardless of genre – and talk about music. Some of the artists he'll be spinning include Chance the Rapper, Lil Yachty, ESG and Arthur Russell, and some of the guests he'll have on the show will be Slaves, Cassius and Blood Orange. He recorded his first episode in his Malibu pool house.

In the typically funny and candid conversation that follows, Mike D reflects on his relationship with radio and where he expects the take it in the future.

Why did you want your own radio show?
In a way, it's like a little bit like a fantasy that I've had since basically I started buying records as a 13-year-old. I'm still the same music fan. I would save my lunch money and go buy a seven-inch singles at the time, 'cause I was into punk rock. That evolved, 'cause I got turned on to different weird music like Liquid Liquid and ESG, different New York things, and then rap. So to actually be able to cut out the middle man and play records and have it be somehow part of a vocation is some weird wish fulfillment.

And ultimately, like any other musician, I feel like the shit that I like is better than the shit that anybody else likes [laughs].

So then what music will you be playing?
It will evolve over time. It's heartbreaking sometimes, but I'm still fascinated with and stay rooted in current music. I vacillate between what's current and things that I think have influenced me a lot. The show also depends on records that I'm working on at this moment as a producer. So if I have an artist that I'm working with, then we'll play records that inspired us or that we were listening to in the studio and make it more about that.

I know you'll be playing some Chance, some Lil Yachty and Arthur Russell.
I guess that's a little bit all over the place.

"No one has ever asked me to do a radio show before."

So how would you describe your selection, your taste?
Superior.

I'm sure you've been asked to do radio shows before. Why did you want to do this with Beats 1?
First off, I know this might be shocking to you, but no one has asked me to do one before [laughs]. It's not like they called me up at KISS FM and said, "Do a radio show." Personally, I'm a little saddened and shocked by that. But that is the case.

But what I think works for me in terms of the Apple thing is that it works for me schedule-wise. I wouldn't want to have to do it every day. Power to the people who do do it every day; I wouldn't want it to be, like, my job-job. So the amount of work I have to do works for me, as I'm sure it does for the other artists with shows, whether it's Dre or Josh Homme or Ezra [Koenig] or Q-Tip. Apple also makes sense to me, in terms of the shows being archived so people can access them when they want to. I don't think the relevance of my show ends that Friday night.

It resonates, like your title, The Echo Chamber.
Or Echo Chamb-ah, with the fake Jamaican accent. That's how I say it.

That's how it's pronounced?
If you so choose.

How did you come up with that title?
Dub has been a big influence in terms of production. It's inspired so many people and so much music – in terms of music where mixing desk was the instrument. Central to that is the echo chamber, and I think there's a little bit of a romantic thing there.

You recorded the first episode in your pool house. Can you set the scene for me?
It's big and open, and it used to be a garage that I converted to be a pool house and theater and DJ room. The inspiration came when Zane Lowe called me and asked me to do the show. At the time, I was working on a record with an artist in my studio, and we'd take breaks to listen to music and play Ping-Pong, which is right outside my pool house. So when he called me, I thought, "Hmm, I should keep it like that, format-wise." Anyone can go on and play "I Got the Keys," a new DJ Khaled song, so why would anyone listen to my show? So I thought, "What if we took that and made that the radio show? That might be more interesting, to have a couple of people doing what they do and talking about music and why it's inspiring to them or cool."

Beastie BoysBeastie Boys in New York, 1987 Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage.com

Is that how you discover music these days?
While playing Ping-Pong, yes. And sadly, my Ping-Pong game does not reflect that. Not that good [laughs].

How do you discover new music these days? Just talking to fellow artists?
I think so. I feel very fortunate, because I either work with or cross paths with a lot of different musicians, and that's how you find the coolest shit. Anyway, that's my musician bias.

Also, when I was a little kid and I got into punk rock and the Clash and the Slits, that's how I found about reggae. They were inspired by it and were very clear and open about that influence. Then it made me dig further, so it's the same thing.

"I'm no Taylor Swift. And I mean that on multiple levels."

One of the artists you're having on the show is Blood Orange, Devonté Hynes. He recently tweeted out a video of you buying a download of his latest record, and obviously The Echo Chamber will be streaming on Beats 1. What do you make of where the music industry is going with regard to streaming, versus albums sold?
Uh, I don't know. I just get it however I can get it. It's interesting. Music is more available than ever. It's up to people to figure out. Ultimately, it's up to the business to figure out what the business is, monetizing that.

Some artists have pretty strong feelings about streaming.
I'm no Taylor Swift. And I mean that on multiple levels, actually.

You are not Taylor Swift, no. What have been your favorite records so far this year?
I do like the Blood Orange record. I like Chance's album. I'm excited about the Slaves record that I have coming up. The new DJ Shadow [and] Run the Jewels track is pretty good.

So what do you talk about with your guests? Mostly music?
Yeah. We've touched on current events a little bit but it's pretty much pretty music-focused. I've yet to go into, say, dating advice or romantic topics.

Let's talk about radio as a whole. Did radio mean a lot to you when you were young?
Yeah. I'm going to fucking date myself. I grew up with a clock radio next to my bed. It was interesting; there were really good pop records then. You'd hear Michael Jackson, "P.Y.T." – one of the best records ever made in a lot of ways – and then right after that you'd hear Paul Simon, "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" or "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard." There was a quality mix to that. That's probably a bit different from pop now.

Do you remember the first time you heard the Beastie Boys on the radio?
Yes, I do. It's more esoteric. We didn't even have a record out. It was a demo tape, when we were a hardcore band and it was on a show called Noise the Show, which was a hardcore show on the NYU station. I'd listen to it, because hardcore was my shit at the time. I was a nerdy punk-rock kid. And then, I think, a guy who had worked on recording the demo with us went to NYU with this guy Tim Sommer, who would go on to be an A&R guy for a little while, and he gave Tim a copy of the demo tape and Tim played it on the show. I was, like, psyched out of my mind. It was probably, to this day, one of the biggest moments of my life [laughs]. I was maybe 15, 16.

"There's obviously a lot of stuff on 'Licensed to Ill' that I'd like to never hear again."

Then maybe five years later, you put out Licensed to Ill, which turns 30 this year. When's the last time you listened to that?
I don't listen to any of our records. But once in a while, if I'm DJing, I'll go and try to see and listen to the instrumental or something or an a cappella or something and see what's there. I'd say the last time I did it, it was interesting. I don't know. I guess what stood out to me about it … you know, there's obviously a lot of stuff on there that I'd like to never hear again. But there's production on it and songs, we were really on top of something.

Rick Rubin recently told me how he'd make beats and you'd all just write lyrics to make each other laugh.
Yeah, that's how it was. It was competitive in a good way. It was basically trying to make your friends crack up. I remember times when we'd be in Rick's dorm room playing music way too loud. That's what came out of it.

[Edited 7/25/16 21:58pm]

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Reply #13 posted 07/25/16 9:56pm

JoeBala

Jane Monheit: Beyond Ella




OVER THE COURSE of her 17-year career, Jane Monheit has established herself as a dynamic and expressive vocalist. Raised by music-minded parents — her mother was a singer; her father played banjo and guitar — Monheit grew up in Oakdale, New York (on Long Island), listening to a variety of music, connecting particularly to jazz and Broadway musical theater. While attending the Manhattan School of Music, where she graduated with honors in Voice, she was the first runner-up in the 1998 Thelonious Monk Institute’s vocal competition. By 2000, the then 22-year-old singer had released her first album, Never Never Land, on New York’s N-Coded Music label. Critics responded with near-unanimous praise. Said AllMusic’s David Adler: “Her voice is about as close to flawless as a human can get, yet she’s never coldly technical or aloof.” She quickly developed a loyal fan base of music lovers enamored as much by her voice as by her sultry onstage persona as “a glamorous broad,” Monheit has said of herself, matter-of-factly.

Since then, Monheit released nine chart-topping albums with five different record labels, spending much of her time fighting for creative control of her music from tone-deaf decision makers who cared less about developing her artistry than profiting from her image. Following her 2013 recording, The Heart of the Matter, Monheit launched the Emerald City Records label, and her latest, The Songbook Sessions: Ella Fitzgerald, is the first release from that imprint. The album is an homage to an artist Monheit describes as a “beautiful, warm, and loving presence,” and a proclamation of Monheit’s own musical independence.

On Songbook Sessions, Monheit rips up the standards’ playbook she’s followed for much of her career. Monheit, like Fitzgerald before her, became widely respected for traditional interpretations of the Great American Songbook, the canon of American pop songs and jazz standards from the early 20th century — the same songs she grew up listening to as a child — and straight-ahead jazz renditions of tunes by Paul Simon, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Fiona Apple. With this new work, Monheit recasts a dozen well-known standards with her unique stamp. In collaboration with trumpeter Nicholas Payton and her longtime trio — which includes pianist Michael Kanan, bassist Neal Miner, and drummer Rick Montalbano (her husband) — Monheit delivers a songbook that bespeaks the adventurous, transformative rhythms of a 21st-century artist, with the emotional depth and range that is emblematic of the First Lady of Song. Even Monheit, listening back to takes from the album, says she could hear “a different singer than I’ve heard before” — the deeper, richer tones of “a 38-year-old woman with a lot of life experience.”

During the making of the album, Monheit went through what she refers to as her own personal hell. She was sick with bronchitis for five of her studio sessions, her dog was hospitalized, and her 94-year-old grandfather, with whom she’d spend so many of her childhood hours with listening to records and singing duets, had died. In the midst of her mourning, Monheit, who lives in Rome, New York, with her husband and son, Jack, was four months pregnant. She suffered a miscarriage with a little boy.

“Someday maybe she’ll write in her autobiography about all of the loss she suffered in the weeks leading up to the making of this album,” Payton wrote in the album’s liner notes.

During our conversation, however, Monheit is upbeat. She laughs a lot, has a wise guy sense of humor. Despite the personal pain, it has led her to a new place, as a woman and an artist — and she’s excited about the new singer she’s become.

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/04/07/arts/07MONHEIT/07MONHEIT-master315.jpg

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CHRIS BECKER: Ella Fitzgerald was so many things to so many people. Tell me who she was to you.

JANE MONHEIT: She was one of the true originators of the art form. She was one of the first singers to really take the influence of the instrumentalists around her and bring them into her singing. But more importantly, in addition to all of the technical things she did as a singer — the swinging, the scatting, and all of that — she sang with such great warmth. I know a lot of people who knew and worked with Ella, and they all say she was like that in person.

When were you first introduced to her music?

I was at home with my mom. My mother was a singer and because I loved to sing, she was very conscious of playing singers for me that I could learn from. Little kids tend to copy. She knew I was going to be singing along with records and wanted to make sure they were singers with good technique. I remember her putting on Ella for me, and saying to me, “Listen to this!” and me just losing my little mind over how beautiful it was.

Was it just the sound of her voice that moved you?

Yes! I remember that specifically, the sound of her voice.

You have described Ella’s songbook albums as “biblical.” Why are those particular albums so important to you?

As a child, they were what I chose to focus on. I don’t know why. The songbook albums are more of the pop music of their time. She’s not doing a ton of improvisation, so they were wonderful records to learn these songs from. But Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book, which is by far much more of a jazz record than the other ones, has always been my favorite. She’s looser on that record, and she’s singing more jazz.

In Ella’s later recordings, one hears so much joy in her singing, but there’s also wisdom, and even some sadness in the material as well. Could you connect to that?

Ella was someone who was able to sing with complete and utter sincerity, but without any histrionics. That’s a place I need to get to! [Laughs.] She was a total sage. That’s the mark of any great singer, to be able to distill life experiences into a song and help people understand other people’s experiences. Ella was brilliant at that, but she did it in such a calm, collected way. That’s something I do not know how to do. For all of her influence on me, I sing in this crazy emotional way. Ella was able to sing something so calmly, and you would believe her. I can’t do that yet.

Quincy Jones has spoken about the “open wound” that pushed Ella, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, and other singers to greatness. Is that what you’re talking about as well? Having those painful experiences and then being able to speak about and share them through singing?

You want to use your experience to help provide some catharsis for others. But I think it’s the same with your joyful experiences. It doesn’t have to be just the things that hurt us. As a singer, you get used to having your heart on your sleeve. It’s about accessing all of it, and having it at the ready. I always tell my husband, if I’m being overly emotional or overly dramatic, “No, no, no. This is cool. It makes me good at my job.” [Laughs.]

Ella was very inspired by instrumentalists of her time, but can singers influence instrumentalists as well?

They should. Here’s the thing, these songs we’re talking about, songs from the Great American Songbook — the music and lyrics were written at the same time by these incredible teams of writers. So the lyrics are just as integral to the composition as the melody, and when you have the singer’s interpretation there’s another layer there. Hopefully, a horn player will hear that, and want to express some of that lyric in the way they approach playing the tune. [Saxophonist] Ben Webster said he wouldn’t play a tune unless he knew the lyric. I love that.

So let’s talk about the new album: what inspired you to frame your rendition of Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood” with Billy Strayhorn’s “Chelsea Bridge”?

I love medleys, and mash-ups, when you take two songs, put them together, and expand the story. I create stories in my head when I’m interpreting these tunes. With “Chelsea Bridge,” that’s the present, sung by someone who is going into a memory, and then arriving at that memory with “In a Sentimental Mood.” Generally, jazz singers sing songs in lower keys, more where we speak. But I chose to put “In a Sentimental Mood” in a high key so it would feel innocent and virginal, like the first experience with being in love. Then we come back to the present, where “Chelsea Bridge” is singing through this memory.

Your version of “Ill Wind” is very powerful, and Nicholas Payton’s arrangement of it is quite emotional.

It was a very dark time for me, and Nick knew that. Nick is a good friend. The whole treatment of that song had very much to do with what my life was like at that moment. I have this imagery in my head of the story I’m telling with that song. The percussion sounds sort of outdoorsy, like a hot summer night. You can sort of feel the unease, like a storm is coming. I pictured this woman, and her children are asleep, they’re fed, they’re safe. She didn’t eat so she could feed them, and she knows that this man is out there, and he’s coming for her, and she doesn’t know when. But at the same time, I was singing about what I was going through.

Last fall was an ugly time. I went through a lot of loss, all at once, and it was difficult. It’s never easy for anybody, but it was the first time in my life that I had ever truly, truly experienced the full misery of loss. I had been very, very lucky, and not really gone through that. But last fall, I sure did, and I did hard.

And Payton used that to push you. He writes in the album’s liner notes that as the producer, he wanted to make you feel comfortable, but also slightly uncomfortable, toward “some paths less charted.” What were some of those paths he took you on?

The arrangements. I’m a real traditionalist. When you go back and listen to my recordings, it’s very much, “This is what the composer intended …” And I love doing that, I love honoring the history. But Nick really wanted to get me outside of that and try some other things.

I was absolutely thrilled with the arrangements. At first, they were a little scary to me — like, can I get away with this? But then I thought, wait a minute, what the hell am I worried about? I’m 38 years old, I can do whatever I want, and I’m gonna love it. [Laughs.] And I did! I trusted Nick completely, and went into the record with no fear.

There’s a seamless blend between Payton’s trumpet solos and your voice. I imagine that as a singer that was really great to hear.

[Joking] Oh, man, are you kidding me? There’s nothing worse, nothing worse than you’re singing a tune, you set up a mood, you create a scene in everyone’s heads, and then a soloist comes in and just dashes it to pieces. It’s like, you’re playing your ballad, and it’s so beautiful, and here comes the solo and the rhythm section in double time and we’re all freaking cheerful! No thank you!

But seriously … For Nick to solo with me, and to extend the mood I’m trying to create so it’s something we’re building together, especially on “Ill Wind” or “Chelsea Mood,” that’s total magic. That’s what the greatest soloists do. They play with you. They don’t compete.

When listening back to the takes, you said you “heard a different singer than what you’ve heard before.” What do you mean by that?

In September and October, I aged very drastically. I went through a lot, and it changed me completely as a person. So then you sing, and the differences show. If you’re doing your job right, they show.

I didn’t want to comb through and fix all the vocals and make them perfect. I just let everything be what it was. For me, it’s so much more about capturing the performance than capturing a technically perfect vocal. I think if you’re spending too much time worrying about being perfect, maybe jazz isn’t the genre for you. We’re here for truth, not for perfection.

The Songbook Sessions is your first release on your Emerald City Records label. Why did you decide to start your own label?

I had been with five different major record labels in 15 years. That’s a lot, and I was never really truly happy with the way things worked anywhere. When I was young, I had a lot of artistic control. But as I got older, it became harder. People wanted to take that control away and see what they could turn me into.

Then there’s the whole image thing. You know how tired I got of picking up an album and seeing someone Photoshopped into oblivion; someone who doesn’t even look like me? I mean, come on! I enjoy the glamour and the makeup and the hair and the dresses and the jewelry and the whole thing. I love that stuff. But get away from me with your damn Photoshop! [Laughs.] I’m a human being. I’m not here to be jazz Barbie! And when you make however many albums, and never see a dime? That gets old too.

Of course, now that you own the product, its success and failure is all on you …

No one is going to let you down, except yourself. I’d rather be in that position.

Then are you having to consider what your fans may want to hear?

It is a consideration. However, if you come to one of my shows, you’ll see children my son’s age, and their grandparents are there too. Maybe great-grandparents! You’ll see all different kinds of people, all walks of life. I love it that way. It allows me a lot of freedom as an artist, because no matter what I do, there’s going to be somebody who appreciates it.

We’re not really in it for the money, because there isn’t any. [Laughs.] There really isn’t any. Some people think I’m rich and famous. I’m so not. I’m very likely to be doing a show in a dress I got at Target. It is what it is. We play this music because we love it.

But now that I have my own label, the record sales matter. The other day I did a show where I had people in the audience filming the show. One guy even had a laptop open. In between songs I said, “Look. I get it. But here’s the thing: I’m my own label now. So if you make your own record, and don’t buy mine, you are literally taking money out of my pocket. So please put your phones away. You can’t hurt Sony or Universal that way, but you can hurt me.”

When you ask them to, do people put their phones away?

The cool ones do.

This is something the younger jazz singers are going to face more and more. Are their other challenges that are unique to their generation?

If anything, the challenge is we now live in a culture where every last person thinks they get to be a star. It used to be you had to luck out. You had to be chosen. A record company had to want to sign you, a manager had to want to manage you. You became a part of the show business machine because you were ready when it came. That magical combination of luck and readiness. It’s not like that anymore, and it’s a shame. The market is overstuffed.

Does it make it harder, then, for younger artists to handle criticism?

That depends on the person. There is an overwhelming vibe of no one has to pay any dues anymore. I was on the last run of that. I studied this music my whole life, sang thousands of non-paying, little gigs where I was learning nonstop on the bandstand. I got my ass kicked by the elder statesmen of this music, learned frantically, and then got my opportunity and was ready — as ready as I could be at 20 years old.

Are there still venues for younger singers to get up on the bandstand and learn and pay their dues?

Yes, but not as many as there were when I was coming up. It also comes down to creating opportunities for yourself. If there isn’t a jam session in your town, call up some musicians and have a session, you know? You need to actively and repeatedly get your ass kicked by musicians who are better and stronger and wiser than you. It’s just an essential part of growing for a young musician.

Does that have to happen outside of an academic environment?

I don’t think it matters. I was lucky. At the Manhattan School of Music, I was surrounded by musicians who knew much more than I did. So not only was I learning from my teachers, I was learning from my friends. I definitely got a fancy conservatory education, but I learned just as much on the bandstand as I did in the classroom. It’s the combination of those two things that has made me who I am.

¤

Chris Becker is a writer and editor with more than a decade of experience covering music, art, literature, entrepreneurship, and economics. As a composer, Becker has created music for dance, experimental video, and mixed-media installations.


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Reply #14 posted 08/02/16 6:09pm

JoeBala

Popping Up: Bishop Briggs

Rachel Sonis | July 27, 2016 - 9:00 am

Popping Up is our recurring look at new artists making noise on the music landscape. Because, hey — Rihanna and Katy were once unknown, too.

Things are looking good for Bishop Briggs. With only three official songs under her belt, the California-based singer already has a huge online following thanks to gritty gloom-pop anthems like “River” and “The Way I Do.” Not to mention, her sound – which is something of a cross between AWOLNATION circa Megalithic Symphonyand Delta Rae – has also caught the attention of Coldplay, who the 24-year-old is set to open a number of U.S. shows for this August.

It’s a surreal skyrocket to success and one that Bishop is not taking lightly.

“Every day that I wake up, and I get to perform and write and talk to people about music is a day that I really don’t take for granted,” she says. “Every morning, I’m just waking up and feeling so thankful.”

Read more about the rising singer as she talks to us about her influences, her love forJack Garratt and why she never Googles herself.

How did music come into your life?
It was really early on for me. I grew up in Japan. For me, it was all I’ve ever known. When I lived there, it was very normal to go to karaoke bars. Whether it was someone’s seven year old’s birthday, it was always something that people would do on the weekends, and I saw my dad singing. He was just doing it for fun, but I just saw this light that he exuded, and I just wanted a piece of it.

Your music style is very percussive and soulful. How did you find your sound?
The producers that I work with are Mark Jackson and Ian Brendon Scott, and I think just the combination of all of our influences kind of created this sound that we were all very excited about.

Were you ever influenced by soul records?
Oh my gosh, yes. That’s all I listened to growing up. Aside from the karaoke stint, I listened to tons of Motown records – Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, Otis Redding, even Barry White. It was a huge part of what made me excited about music.

Do you have an all-time favorite album?
I know this sounds like a safe bet, but my go-to is Abbey Road by The Beatles. That album, just every single song – it’s like I find no fault in it.

How did you get your big break?
I’ll let you know. [Laughs]

Do you have any artists that you see as role models?
Oh my gosh, yes. So many. I mean what sort of sticks out straight away is Jack Garratt. His live performance just blows me away every time. And then there’s this band that I saw at one of the festivals who played named Beaty Heart, and they just have this experimental nature. They’re not afraid to take risks.

Have you ever seen Jack Garratt live?
No, I’ve seen YouTube videos, you know, like a true creeper. I feel like I’ve seen so many shows through YouTube now. I kind of love it, but I think I might be hopefully playing a festival where he’s playing as well so I will be there, front row.

What’s the most unusual place you’ve written lyrics?
I was in a coffee shop, and I had an idea, but I didn’t want to write it in my phone. I wanted to write it down on paper, but I didn’t have paper. I had a pen, and I had an envelope that had my rent check in. I just went on a tangent on the back of this envelope, so I don’t know if it’s really a place. I mean, it was a little coffee shop, but it was more like the intensity of having to write it down.

When was the last time you Googled yourself?
I have never Googled myself. I feel like Twitter is Google in itself because people will tell me things they’ve found or things they’ve scoured across the Internet. In a way, I kind of get that same effect.

What would you be doing if you hadn’t pursued music?
Truthfully, this is all I’ve ever wanted to do. I’ve just tried to have tunnel vision, and I think sometimes the key is to not having a plan B, which is scary. But it’s what I’ve been trying to live my life by.

You’re going on tour with Coldplay soon. How did that come about?
I was actually in the studio and my manager came in and broke the news and it’s one of those very surreal, standout moments I’ve ever had on my whole life. Because you don’t know if you should laugh or cry or both. It was pretty surreal.

How do you get prepared for a show?
I always warm up before a show, and I always meditate. I am someone that, no matter what, I will be nervous. So I try to use it to my advantage and turn it into excitement as best I can.

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Reply #15 posted 08/03/16 7:11am

JoeBala


Near the end of his interview with Bill Murray, Howard Stern turned an already somber discussion about missed career opportunities into an existential grilling.

“Is there something that you question in your own life,” Mr. Stern asked, “like why haven’t I found that great love of my life?”

Mr. Murray audibly exhaled and let a pensive moment of silence pass. “Well, I think about that, I do think about that, that um, you know. I’m not sure what my — what I’m getting done here,” he said, sounding like a man questioning his ultimate purpose. Dating seemed like a bad idea, he went on, given that he was such a mystery to himself, and a mystery that he was not very eager to solve.

“What has stopped you from getting in touch with you?” asked Robin Quivers, Mr. Stern’s longtime co-host.

“What stops us from looking at ourselves and seeing ourselves is that we’re kind of ugly, if we really, if we look really hard,” Mr. Murray replied. “We’re not who we think we are. We’re not, uh we’re not as wonderful as we think we are.”

As an irregular listener of “The Howard Stern Show,” I found this conversation, which took place in 2014, a bit startling. For years, Mr. Stern was known principally for pushing the limits of taste as the ringmaster of a raunchy circus of pranksters, oddballs and strippers. During his decades on terrestrial radio, his main passions seemed to be, in no particular order, boob jobs, prostitutes, lesbians and flatulence. Introspection and empathy were not fortes.


Mr. Stern being carried to his book party in 1993.CreditRichard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive, via Getty Images

What I didn’t appreciate, until hearing Mr. Murray lay bare his deepest anxieties, is that since settling in to his new home on satellite radio, which he did in 2006, Mr. Stern and his show have gradually taken on an improbable new dimension. Scattered among the gleefully vulgar mainstays are now long, starkly intimate live exchanges — character excavations that have made Mr. Stern one of the most deft and engrossing celebrity interviewers in the business and a sought-after stop for stars selling a movie or setting the record straight.

“He’s truth serum,” said the comedian Amy Schumer, who has been on the show four times in the last five years. “It’s like you’re under contract to be totally honest in there, and even though it’s being broadcast, it feels super intimate and protected, even though you definitely aren’t.”

By all accounts, the metamorphosis has been slow — the result of a combination of therapy, his second marriage, mainstream acceptance and a sixth sense Mr. Stern has about how to evolve with the times.

“I couldn’t have done the show I’m doing now 20 years ago,” Mr. Stern said over the phone. “I’ve changed a lot. I’d be sort of pathetic if I’d reached this point in my life and I hadn’t. How else do you have longevity? There are so many guys who started out with me in radio, who have disappeared, because they can’t broaden their view of what entertainment should be, or get in touch with what they find to be exciting and fun and funny.”

Mr. Stern, 62, has not dropped the adults-only material, and the freedom of satellite radio allows him and his crew to indulge an unconditional love for profanity. But he seems warmer now and his interest in people has never had greater depth or range. The interviews give the show a heft that it didn’t formerly have, turning his New York studio at SiriusXM into a destination of choice for those who a decade ago might have steered clear.

Mr. Stern in his New York studio, where he conducts interviews Monday through Wednesday.CreditChad Batka for The New York Times

“Today, if you go on a TV talk show and give a great six or seven minutes, people will link to it, if it’s incredible,” said Lewis Kay, who oversees media for Tracy Morgan, Amy Poehler and others. “But if you kill on Stern, it moves the needle.”

Sometimes the results are concrete. Ms. Schumer’s interview on “Howard Stern” prompted Judd Apatow to seek her out, resulting in a collaboration that produced “Trainwreck.” But it’s far more common for celebrities to get the amorphous, though palpable, sense that by appearing on the show they have climbed a few rungs on the fame ladder. This has something to do with the fervor of Mr. Stern’s fans, and their ubiquity.

“Aside from the fact that millions of people hear you, the cross section of who hears you is what blew me away,” said Ike Barinholtz, an actor and comedian who has appeared on the show three times since 2014. “When you have a head of a movie studio in Los Angeles and a New York City police officer both tell you that it was good when you made fun of Ronnie the Limo Driver,” — Mr. Stern’s chauffeur and an on-air regular — “you know you’re dealing with a special entity.”

Revelations on the show sometimes make news, as happened last year when the “Modern Family” star Sofia Vergara discussed the feud with her ex-husband over frozen embryos. (All four of the major morning TV shows turned that into a story.) But more often, Mr. Stern just elicits the most interesting version of his visitors, through curiosity, patience and the benefits of huge and commercial-free blocks of time. The interviews are too long for anyone to fall back on jukebox answers they’ve been playing for years.

Photo
Mr. Stern with Lady Gaga.

Conan O’Brien described himself on the show as “somewhat medicated” in a discussion about his low-level depression. Lady Gaga talked about the days she used to snort cocaine all by herself, while she wrote music. John Goodman admitted that he turned up drunk a few times on the set of “The Big Lebowski.”

In the era of the self-packaged celebrity, where public image is carefully tailored on social media and authentic candor is rare, the interviews are an almost radical rebuttal to the patty-cake games and singalongs popularized by Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Show”

Mr. Stern believes his approach isn’t just better radio, but also better for whatever product his guest is promoting.

“If someone comes in and the audience feels like ‘Oh my god, I love this person,’ they will want to see their movie,” he said. “It’s a strange thing to say to someone trained in P.R., but it’s the God’s honest truth. If someone has an hour to sit and talk about their life and at the end they say, ‘By the way, that’s what brought me to this movie, or to write this book,’ it’s such a powerful vehicle for promotion.”

It wasn’t easy convincing Mr. Stern to do an interview about his skills as an interviewer. Initially he said no, and a week later, when he changed his mind, he would talk only on the phone. The irony did not elude him.

“But I feel like it’s a bit self-serving for me to participate in this,” he said. “It’s one thing for you to say I’m doing a good job as an interviewer. It almost takes away from it for me to say, ‘Yeah, I am.’”

Mr. Stern started in radio in the mid-70s and by 1986 he had a nationally syndicated show, one that would eventually reach 20 million listeners. To his most ardent fans, he loomed so large that he seemed like a lifestyle choice as much as an entertainer. They followed him as he ventured into books, pay-per-view events, television and film. The government was less enamored and fined him often enough to make him a First Amendment hero. Tired of free speech battles, he signed a five year, $500 million deal with Sirius and started swearing with élan in 2006.

Some worried that Mr. Stern would disappear once he went off free-to-air radio, and for many he did. But Sirius — now SiriusXM, after merging with its biggest rival — currently has 30 million subscribers. Exactly how many are listening to Mr. Stern the company won’t say, but his chops as an interviewer are a significant part of his appeal.

This is especially true in Los Angeles, where meetings have been known to be delayed because people are sitting in the parking lot, waiting for the last question. “One of the most common conversations I have about Howard is something like, ‘I was stuck in my car because Sia was on,’ or ‘He was finishing up an interview with Jeff Bridges,’” said Jeff Probst, the host of “Survivor” and self-described Stern superfan. “You start calculating how late you’ll be to the meeting based on where Howard is in his interview.”

It makes sense that the celebrity capital of the world would be so interested in celebrity chatter.

“Among showbiz types, being a Stern fan is something like belonging to a secret society,” said Andy Richter, the longtime sidekick of Conan O’Brien. “So when I bump into someone like, say, Jonah Hill, one of us will invariably say ‘Did you hear Stern interview?’ — and then you fill in the blank of the last big interview he did.”

CreditMatt Collins

Stars have been invited on the air by Mr. Stern for nearly as long as he’s been in radio, but most kept their distance. “The show had a reputation for being nutty and off the wall and people didn’t want to be associated with it,” said Jackie Martling, known as the Jokeman, who left the show in 2001, after nearly 20 years. “Once they got there, they found out that the bark was much worse than the bite.”

There were exceptions. Back in 1983, when Mr. Stern worked at WNBC, his interview with Gilda Radnerended with her in tears. At the time, Mr. Stern lacked the emotional I.Q. to pick up signals that his guest was unnerved, until it was too late. Most interviews ended amicably, but you often had the sense that Mr. Stern was more interested in entertaining himself and his crew than making guests look good. Then there were the A-listers that he probably assumed would never appear on his show and whom he didn’t mind ridiculing, in absentia.

“I didn’t think you guys liked me,” Madonna said on the air last year, explaining why she had avoided the show for so long. “You said bad things about me.”

Mr. Stern explained to her: “I used to say bad things about everyone. I was angry, quite frankly. I was an angry young man.”

Mr. Stern still claims on the show to be an anxious mess, but he sounds calmer and more content. He plainly roots for all his guests and his questions reflect sensitivities unimaginable even a few years ago. Recently, he asked Tina Fey if “Who are you wearing?” is a sexist question to ask women red-carpeting at the Oscars. (Nah, she said.) Lena Dunham called him “an outspoken feminist” on “The Tonight Show.”

This is the same guy who, for years, traded misogynistic quips with anyone who was game, including, Donald J. Trump. In a 2005 phone interview, the two rated the looks of the cast of “Desperate Housewives.”

“Would you go out with Marcia Cross,” Mr. Trump asked, “or would you turn gay, Howard?”

“She’s got a good body,” he answered. “Just put a bag over her head.”

Pinpointing when Mr. Stern started his deep interview phase isn’t easy. It certainly was after he joined Sirius and it has intensified in the last two and a half years, according to his longtime producer, Gary Dell’Abate.

“We never sat down and said, ‘This is what we’re going to do,’” he said. “It was organic. The caliber of guests got a little better, Howard’s research got a little better, publicists out there started saying, ‘Wow, that was a great interview.’”

Friends and fans attribute Mr. Stern’s evolution in large part to his marriage, in 2008, to Beth Ostrosky Stern, a former model who not only has left him lovestruck, but turned him into an animal rescue advocate. Serving as a judge on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” which he did for four years, also proved that his days as an outsider scrabbling for mainstream credibility were behind him.

Photo
Mr. Stern with Steven Tyler.

“For a long time, he was an underdog, he was always fighting the establishment,” Mr. Probst said. “Being a judge on ‘America’s Got Talent’ said to him, ‘You are deserving, you are legitimate.’ I think it is one reason Howard said to himself, ‘O.K., people really do like me. People really respect me.’ And maybe that chip on his shoulder is gone.”

Therapy has also been key. For years, Mr. Stern was in four-times-a-week psychoanalysis, as he frequently reminds listeners. (He’s since cut back.) Not only has this given him a modicum of inner peace, it has provided him with a set of tools that he uses on guests the way a well-equipped safecracker opens a vault.

To the extent that Mr. Stern has competitors it is the short list of shows that interview celebrities at length. That includes public radio’s “Fresh Air,” though its host, Terry Gross, has only a fraction of the appetite for the intensely personal questions that are Mr. Stern’s bailiwick. (When was the last time she asked a pop star about groupies?) His nearest rival is perhaps WTF, the podcast of comedian Marc Maron, who fearlessly plumbs the psyches of his guests and has a special fascination with the way parents warp their children.

The difference between the two hosts is stylistic. When Mr. Stern sounds like a shrink, he has the physician’s discipline to keep the conversation about the patient. Mr. Maron is more like a fellow neurotic who wants to compare notes in the waiting room. Much of his show is the host elaborating on his own struggles, which by now are pretty familiar.

If Mr. Stern has a weakness as an interviewer it’s his tendency to interrupt guests, who sometimes seem one second of quiet away from a breakthrough. This occasionally gives the show an almost prosecutorial pace, and suggests he doesn’t fully trust his audience’s attention span. And in rare instances when a guest isn’t willing to bare all — Stevie Wonder comes to mind — Mr. Stern can take a little too long to grasp that sex and personal income questions aren’t working.

Most of the time, though, Mr. Stern probes exactly where you would if you had the nerve. He asked Bryan Cranston if he wished there had been “nitty-gritty sex scenes” in “Breaking Bad.” (Answer: yes.)

Photo
Mr. Stern with Katherine Heigl.

He gave Katherine Heigl time to describe getting snubbed at a restaurant by her “Knocked Up” co-star Seth Rogen because she had poor-mouthed the moviein a Vanity Fair interview.

These in-depth interviews are also strategic, as Mr. Stern has intuited that outrageousness won’t suffice on satellite radio, a realm without limits, and therefore a place where nothing is outrageous. Keep in mind that Mr. Stern could once cause a stir by referring to masturbation on the radio.

No set schedule is kept for interviews, which Mr. Stern conducts Monday through Wednesday, the only days he now works, after a contract renegotiation in 2011. To prepare, he and a couple staffers will read and compile notes over the course of days. Mr. Stern might strategize for as long as a week, figuring out what he would want to hear if he were listening. Right before the interview begins, a point man will read aloud the team’s collective jottings.

“And then it just sticks in my head and I memorize it,” Mr. Stern said. “I don’t love the process. I get very anxious and uncomfortable because I want it to be so good. I want the audience to enjoy it, I want the performer to feel comfortable. It’s a whole psycho deal.”

While chunks of the show are more grown up than ever, sex and strippers remain a preoccupation. The Wack Pack, an unpaid and rotating cast of eccentrics, still have plenty of time to heckle one another and the staff, though some have been rechristened with less offensive names. (Wendy the Retard is now Wendy the Slow Adult, for instance.) Prank phone calls remain a staple. Not long ago, a Hillary Clinton sound-alike called a skywriting company and asked if it would spell out a derogatory slogan about Bernie Sanders’s bathroom habits.

Still, the show now includes enough lengthy interviews, delving into enough serious topics, to annoy some longtime fans. They fume on Reddit. They also call the show. Mr. Stern will occasionally put them on the air and let them vent. Enough with the talk about regrets and depression, they will say. We want naked women.

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Reply #16 posted 08/03/16 9:03am

JoeBala

Mariah Carey is, as usual, hiding in the open. Maneuvering through the main dining room at Nobu Malibu with a small entourage, she’s wearing large sunglasses and a leather jacket draped over her shoulders. Trailed by flashing camera bulbs and the dinner crowd’s murmurs, she sits with me at a barely-lit table on the restaurant’s outside deck, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

It’s a cool summer night, but the heat lamps radiate enough warmth that she discards the jacket, revealing, well, a lot—just not much in the way of clothes. There is a concise black skirt, an overwhelmed bra, and a wisp of a black top. Mostly, though, her look is all boobs and legs.

“I didn’t want to walk over without my jacket on,” she explains. “This ensemble’s a little see-through!”

Carey has made a career of divulging what she wants when she wants to—which isn’t often. After decades in the tabloid spotlight, she’s successfully walled off most of her life from the public. She’s notorious for canceling photo shoots and turning down interviews. A colossal financial success and a diva par excellence, Carey has riches that mere mortals simply can’t relate to—and an origin story to match. “I don’t have a birthday,” she jokes when asked about turning 46 in March. “I was just dropped here. It was a fairyland experience.”

So in many ways, Carey’s upcoming E! show, Mariah’s World, an eight-part docuseries slated for the fall, is a surprise. It promises the requisite look inside the celebrity bubble, including rehearsals for her European tour, the planning of her wedding to billionaire James Packer later this year, and her unrelenting campaign against unflattering fluorescent lighting. But it won’t be, according to Carey, a put-it-all-out-there show in the style of the Kardashian clan—who are, coincidentally, filming something in a private dining room 15 yards away.

“Some of us,” Carey says, casting a glance toward the room, “talk about other people and what they do and la la la. But I’m not that person.”

Still, Carey’s combination of glamour, curves, and shade, expertly delivered, should make Mariah’s World perfect reality TV. And that’s what some people are afraid of. Tabloids have quoted “insiders” worried that a reality show will prove embarrassing for her. Wendy Williams railed against the idea, citing Whitney Houston’s regrettable appearances in Bravo’s 2005 series Being Bobby Brown. Director Lee Daniels, whom Carey has been close to since they filmed Precious, went on SiriusXM to voice concern that verged on spilling tea.

“She is very fragile, and she has been through a lot,” Daniels said. “She has been used, she has been abused…. Some people don’t have that Teflon sort of thing that I do, so she masks it with this coquettish thing that is hiding her nervousness and her pain and her own family’s abuse to her. She is misunderstood.”

Days after Daniels’ lament, Carey posted his inevitable mea culpa to her IG and Twitter feeds. The subtext, though, was a clear admonition to all other critics of Mariah’s World. She’s been famous since she was 20 years old, when her self-titled debut exp...s in 1990. After 26 years in the spotlight, two divorces, a “breakdown,” and a “comeback,” all roadmapped by 18 No. 1 hits, concerns about her opening up in a public forum are dumb. After all this time, do you really think Mariah Carey doesn’t know her best angle?


How do you want it...how do you feel?

Carey is singing 2Pac. Specifically, she’s launched into K-Ci and JoJo’s hook on the rapper’s 1996 hit “How Do U Want It” as a means of explaining that, over a career in which she’s collaborated with Jay Z, Snoop, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Nas, the LOX, Rick Ross, and Jeezy, the MC she most regrets not having worked with is 2Pac.

Livin’ in the fast lane, I’m for reeeeeal...

“If I would’ve had a song like that?” she wonders. “C’mon—I live for that!”

Her exuberant rendition is a reminder that Carey’s frequent ventures into hip-hop helped shatter the pop princess bubble decades ago. Her 1995 “Fantasy” re...ark record that paved the way for the rap/pop collaborations that still proliferate the charts. Back then, she fought for the ODB feature and won a concession from her label, Sony, whose execs saw it as an appropriative move rather than an acknowledgement that Carey was part of the culture. “They were like, ‘Oh, she’s interested in this little rap music,’” she remembers. “I was like, ‘No, I’ve grown up on this. You think it’s something new. You’re kidding me!’”

In hip-hop, Carey found the perfect foil for her hyper-perfect vocal runs. “I love the grimiest rappers in the world,” she says. “That’s my favorite.” Carey remembers driving around New York one night listening to Mobb Deep’s “Shook Ones” when she got the idea for “The Roof,” an album cut from 1997’s Butterfly about fleeting romance. She was similarly inspired in 2002, when she heard Cam’ron’s “Oh Boy” and flipped the beat for her single “Boy (I Need You).” Carey flew Killa to the island of Capri to record; he returned the hospitality by giving her a guided tour of Harlem in his Lamborghini. When she pointed out landmarks that even he didn’t know existed, Cam realized she was just as comfortable uptown as he was.

Carey found that through her hip-hop collaborations she could flex as both the moll and the boss, navigating between the two impulses to do whatever she wanted. People remember her vamping on roller skates in the “Fantasy” video, but few remember that it was also her directorial debut—she rigged a camera to a roller coaster a decade before GoPros were invented. (Twenty years later, she’s still behind the camera: In May, she signed a three-picture deal to direct, executive produce, and star in original movies for the Hallmark Channel.) She’s hammed it up in roles as a gangster’s perennial arm candy (she was a high-maintenance drug courier in State Property 2 and the only girl in the “Roc Boys” video, for instance). But IRL, when renowned record exec L.A. Reid first took over at Universal in 2002, he asked Carey for advice on who should fill the president’s seat at subsidiary label Def Jam. Carey suggested her friend Jay Z—who just so happened to be waiting outside Reid’s office. “A lot of rappers don’t have to go through what I had to go through as a singer,” Carey says. “I was always in a bubble that they put me in, but I was always punching out. It was a tough line to walk.”

Pop diva is the most familiar veneer to Carey’s onlookers. One could roughly sketch the arc of her career just by describing what she wore at each major point: black bodycon dress (from the artwork for her eponymous debut album), Santa-red snow suit (from “All I Want for Christmas Is You”), Bond girl bikini (from “Honey”), diaphanous gold gown (from The Emancipation of Mimi).

But now that Carey’s fully embraced her hard-earned legacy-act phase (she launched a Las Vegas residency, #1 to Infinity, last year), its emblematic moments—the Mimi memes—have not all been flattering. There was the contentious American Idol run in 2013 that pitted Carey against Nicki Minaj in a weekly ego-off. Then, a year later, her disastrously off-pitch isolated vocals from a 2014 Rockefeller Center Christmas special somehow leaked after she’d reportedly been late to the show and held up production.

Since then, she’s been increasingly willing to make fun of her flaws, purposefully playing up her diva image to let you know she’s in on the joke. In April, she reportedly threw a Mariah Carey-themed party in Italy where guests dressed up in their favorite looks of hers. In June, she deigned to be interviewed by Jimmy Kimmel while both sat, fully clothed, in a bubble bath. The gag was a clear nod to her 2002 Cribs episode, MTV’s highest rated, which saw her mount a stair climber in stilettos and show off an entire screening room inspired by The Little Mermaid.

Carey’s self-effacing winks at her reputation will continue withMariah’s World, though she says she had to warm up to reality TV’s unscripted format. “I’ve become more comfortable with it. In the beginning I was like, ‘Fine, we can document the tour, we can show what’s happening behind the scenes, with the singers, the dancers, the this, the that. You can see me when I’m on stage, I’ll talk—blah blah blah.’ But what I started to realize is that my best moments are off the cuff.”

Her most revealing, too. Long before my plan to fumble out a question about her still unresolved divorce from Nick Cannon, Carey asks if I’ve got kids (her twins, Moroccan and Monroe, turned 5 in April). Before I finish gagging on my Pinot Grigio, she offers, “I never thought I would either, but I never thought I would have babies with someone and then get divorced. Like, ‘Oh, great job. Repeat your past.’”

“But life happens,” she continues, waving her diamond-encrusted butterfly ring, “and it was supposed to happen. It’s fine. For [my children], I wish it hadn’t happened that way. For me, it was...[singing Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams’ “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late”] Guess it’s over. Call it a day.” Carey says she wasn’t initially looking for a new love—until her friend, filmmaker Brett Ratner, introduced her to “a regular, normal person”: Packer, who proposed in January with a 35-carat diamond ring after less than a year of dating. They bond over a shared sense of humor, Carey says, and don’t let their busy, jetsetting schedules get in the way. “I don’t expect him to be at every little thing that I do, and vice versa. He’s got a lot of stuff on his plate and so do I. There’s a mutual understanding.”

Carey laughs when I describe their wedding as a “merger” and ask if bringing two successful moguls together is difficult. “We would like for it not to be a big thing, but the reality is it has to be,” she says. “Because there’s things that are specifically mine, and he’s got huge friggin’ conglomerate stuff and I’m not looking to take that from him. So it has to be dealt with. Anytime you get married to somebody [it does]—and I should know. This’ll be marriage number three. My bishop said to me, ‘I don’t want you to go Elizabeth Taylor on me!’ I said, ‘I’m not’—and then I said ‘Bye.’”

Carey won’t disclose much else about her relationship with Packer: “He’s a private businessman and there are a lot of things with his companies that I just can’t talk about. It’s just not good for me to do.”

But she does reveal that he’s long been obsessed with her music, and listens to different Mariah playlists while he travels. The fact that he was a huge fan didn’t scare her off. “Actually, if he didn’t like my music, then how would I be able to handle him being around when all I’m doing is creating?” she muses. “It’s cool.”

Music is the organizing principle, and starting point of reference, for pretty much everything Carey does. Threads of songs—hers, everyone else’s—weave their way into everyday conversation. “That’s our way to communicate,” Big Jim Wright, Carey’s longtime collaborator and the musical director of her Vegas run, tells Complex over the phone. During the course of my 45-minute conversation with Carey, she sings bits of at least nine different songs. Flawlessly. Without ever calling me dahhhling.


Most of Carey’s career has been about finding ways to grab the mic on her own terms. Even as she was promoting the docuseries and gearing up for more Vegas dates, Carey quietly began work in the final week of May on the 14th studio album of her career. Last year she signed a multi-album deal with Epic, a division of her original label home Sony, that will re-team her with L.A. Reid, who oversaw the release of her 2005 comeback The Emancipation of Mimi when both were at Universal. “I love Mariah; I consider her my ‘musical wife,’” Reid says. “We’ve been working together for nearly 15 years, and it was very important to me to bring her back home to Sony. Mariah started her career here. I wanted to bring the family back together again.”

The deal returns Carey to the label that discovered her under vastly different terms than when she left in 2000, two years after divorcing its then-chairman, Tommy Mottola. “The fact that a lot of my catalog is on Sony is important to me,” she says. “I had to leave when I did because there was no way I was staying there.”

It is well-trod history that Carey’s 1993 marriage to Mottola—her first, his second—cast him as svengali and her as caged bird (she used to call their mansion “Sing Sing”), and that their animus bled over into the business. In his 2013 autobiography, Hitmaker: The Man and His Music, he described his relationship with a young Carey, who’s nearly 20 years his junior, as “absolutely wrong and inappropriate.” Michael Jackson, during his infamous rant about Sony in 2002, disclosed some unsavory details Carey told him about Mottola: “‘Michael, this man follows me,’ she said. He taps her phones.” Both Jackson and Carey struggled to release new music under Mottola’s watch.

Their battles weren’t just about release dates, but about creative control over their music, Carey says. “If Michael Jackson were alive he could sing, [The Weeknd’s] ‘Can’t Feel My Face.’ He could sing any of those songs. And sometimes it reminds me, ‘Oh, I wish that Michael would’ve had a song like this’—I loved when he did [the 2001 song] ‘Butterflies’ and songs like that. They would always hate on that at Sony because they wanted him to do these big pop records.” By and large, labels aren’t interested in pop superstars proclaiming their independence. The Weeknd famously rejected songs Swedish superproducer Max Martin wrote for him. Martin eventually opened up to collaborating on the writing, which birthed the Weeknd’s No. 1 pop breakthrough “Can’t Feel My Face.” It stands to reason that if Carey were interested only in sales, she has the budget and the talent to call in A-list producers and songwriters for a by-the-numbers, ready-made hit. But Carey has written much of her own canon. That’s often misconstrued as meaning that she only pens lyrics. “We create the bed of music that I’m going to sing over [together],” she says. “People don’t really get what that means unless you do it. They think, ‘OK, so she probably writes the lyrics.’ No, I write the lyrics, the melody, and the music with [producers]. I’m not a piano player—I can play a little bit—but I really like to help mold whoever’s playing.”

During the recording session for “Mine Again,” an Emancipation-era torch song with ’70s horns and vibes, producer James Poyser found out that even when Carey lets her guard down, she’s still in control. The song was the first collaboration between the two, and Poyser, the keyboardist for the Roots who has also produced songs for D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, and Jill Scott, among others, didn’t know what to expect from their first session and meeting, arranged by American Idol judge Randy Jackson.

“You never know what somebody is like. Are you gonna get along? Is it gonna be a cool experience? Is it gonna be weird? There’s a lot of weird, uncool artists in the music industry,” Poyser says. “I was sitting in the studio for a while and then there was a bustle of activity. You could just feel a whirlwind enter the room—I’m like, ‘Oh boy, here it comes.’ And then she comes into the room with me and is absolutely the coolest person. She says, ‘Hi,’ pulls up a chair right next to me, and we start writing. It was almost like she knew exactly what the song was gonna be instantly. Like, she knew what she wanted and in a way grabbed my hand and walked me toward it. That’s the thing that stuck with me. You could see that she knew.”


Carey hasn’t forgotten how hard it’s been to acquire and maintain creative control as she navigates the current landscape of surprise album drops and Apple Music- and Tidal-only releases. 2016 stars like Beyoncé, Drake, and Chance the Rapper seemingly have more freedom than Carey and Jackson did back in the day to create without an exec breathing down their necks—and a more direct way to profit from their work. “I’m lucky that I got into this in the 1990s,” Carey says, “because I was able to [singing Rihanna] work work work work work. Tons of albums. That was all good, but I’ve noticed a total difference in how you make money now.”

When Forbes named her the sixth-richest woman in entertainment in 2007, with an estimated net worth of $325 million, the magazine cited Carey’s income from selling over 200 million albums and publishing royalties derived from music she’d mostly written herself. In 2015, when her estimated $27 million in revenue ranked ninth on Forbes’top-earning women in music list, it was based on income from the Vegas residency and endorsement deals like her Game of Warcommercial. Her video for that year’s single, “Infinity,” features heavy match.com placement. Odds are that Mariah’s World will be mentioned in her inclusion on Forbes’ 2016 rankings.

But Carey’s biggest inspiration for pushing back at the major-label system isn’t a new-millennium star. “Prince was one of the best people I’ve met,” Carey says. “He didn’t care about the big system. I was always like, at any time Prince could write a No. 1 song, because he’s that talented, but he chooses to do what he wants. I respect that. He actually helped me through a lot of situations with his knowledge. He always had a plan. I just can’t believe he’s gone. I was hoping that it was a trick that he was pulling—that it didn’t really happen.”

Prince mastered image maintenance, which, for him, meant preserving a little mystery about himself. But Carey says she learned the art of public seduction—teasing out some private info, burying other bits—from Marilyn Monroe, her biggest inspiration and the namesake of her daughter. At age 5, Monroe is a year younger than Carey was when she walked in on her mom watching Gentlemen Prefer Blondes just as “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” the Technicolor title song and dance scene that Marilyn Monroe is best remembered for, began. Carey says she showed her toddler the same scene; Monroe looked up and asked to watch the whole movie from the beginning. “She’s 5. She doesn’t know what they’re saying—it’s from the 1950s—but she’s been walking in my heels since she was 2,” Carey says.

In the Internet age, Marilyn Monroe’s legacy is often reduced to thotty Instagram memes. She’s a froth of hair and makeup, jewels and cleavage, layered under misattributed quotes. But that’s not how Carey sees her. It’s an oft-recited fact that the singer owns Monroe’s white piano, a prized possession for both. It was reportedly the first thing that the actress’ mother bought for their first house when Marilyn was a child. Her mom painted it white and set it in the middle of their empty living room. But I’d never heard Carey explain its significance. While her publicist shoots me the first of three wrap-it-up glares, I scramble to ask the one question I’ve always wondered about her Marilyn standom: As a multimillionaire fan she could conceivably own any number of Monroe artifacts—so why the piano?

“That was the only thing that she had from her childhood. I haven’t touched it—I won’t even tune it,” Carey says. “I could’ve bought the dress, the [sings] Mr. President dress. But I’d rather maintain what shecared about.”

She looks me square in the eye. “You know that her production company was the first female-owned production company in Hollywood? She paved the way for women in a lot of ways that a lot of people don’t think about. She was so ‘the sex symbol’ that it looks like the opposite, but she really wasn’t that.”

On that note, Mariah Carey—sex symbol for sure, but also singer, composer, director, entrepreneur, and mother—gets up, leaving behind a half-finished cocktail. Swaddled once again in her jacket and eyebrow-to-cheek covering shades, she teeters in high heels on Nobu’s wooden planked deck, her careful steps assisted by a ponytailed assistant. It’s not the sips slowing Carey down, though—it’s the skintight, there-but-not-there ensemble. She only wants to show just enough.

http://www.complex.com/mu...over-story

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JoeBala

WINONA

Uninterrupted
BY PHOTOGRAPHS BY NORMAN JEAN ROY

“I’m so sick of people shaming women for being sensitive or vulnerable. It’s so bizarre to me.” Winona Ryder is talking about the press and its tendency to pathologize female emotions, but she could also be talking about her lead role in Netflix’s Stranger Things playing a frantic mother whose child has mysteriously disappeared. The supernatural, Spielbergian ’80s-era drama, created by newcomers Matt and Ross Duffer, has attracted an enthusiastic and vocal viewership, but Ryder seems almost confused by some of the questions she’s been asked while promoting the show. “They use the word passion. ‘Did you feel passionate about it? Is it a passion project?’ ”

This isn’t the only time I’ll be treated to her strangely charming “I just got here from another planet” tone. Ryder seems more comfortable with discussions that exist one meta-level up, analyzing the perplexing ways of the press — even as we sit for two hours talking at the white-hot center of celebrity-interview clichés, the lounge of the Chateau Marmont, where several different waiters hover over our table, more attentive and slow to exit than nurses in a nicu ward.

“I’m getting asked a lot, ‘You don’t have kids, so how do you know how to act like a mother?’ I know nothing could compare, and I haven’t had that experience, but when my niece was born, I felt like I would jump in front of a car and die for this little person I didn’t even know yet.” Ryder pauses, then returns to talking about her character, Joyce Byers, a store clerk with a deadbeat ex who’s unraveling from frustration and grief. “I actually felt tremendous compassion for her. I feel like she was one of these people that had dreams [for her life]. But she had kids. And it made me think of all the women that I know who have kids, who when they talk about [anything negative about their lives as mothers], they always say, ‘But I love my kids, I wouldn’t trade them for the world.’ Like they feel guilty for even hinting that they’d want something outside of kids! It’s a weird thing.”

Photograph by Norman Jean Roy

Ryder is dressed exactly the way I remember lots of brainy-but-cool girls dressing in the late ’80s (possibly in an effort to look just like Winona Ryder): white T-shirt with an abstract design on it, red cardigan, tangled jeweled necklaces, old jeans, maroon men’s shoes. This is the Gen-X-star-who-hangs-with-indie-film-and-rock-gods uniform, but somehow, on Ryder, it doesn’t look dated. At 44, she can say “weird” and “like” and stare into the middle distance with those big brown eyes straight out of a Keane painting and sound just like an appealing hybrid of enthusiastic teenager and world-weary adult.

But then Ryder’s odd blend of innocence and sarcasm has always been central to her appeal among Gen-Xers. She was America’s original Manic Pixie Dream Girl, one far more brooding than the smoother, more cheerful Natalie Portman version of Zach Braff’s fever dreams. From her first appearance at age 14 as a tomboy in the film Lucasto her unforgettable eye roll in Heathers, Ryder seemed to give shape to all the strengths and flaws of an entire generation. She was hip and alternative well before those words became just another way to sell cola and all-wheel-drive hatchbacks, which was also well before most high-school kids understood that they had fashion choices beyond bright-colored clothing and hair permed to look like Jennifer Grey’s in Dirty Dancing. While most of our so-called style icons were parading around in sequined blouses and tying scrunchies into their Sun-In-ravaged hair, Ryder dyed her hair dark brown and wore red lipstick and men’s suit jackets. She name-dropped authors and favored vintage gowns and dated Johnny Depp, for Chrissake, who’d just been crowned the boy king of the realm. But she also had a self-conscious, almost apologetic way of holding herself, like she wasn’t entirely comfortable in her own skin.

In rewatching Ryder’s most notable films from the late ’80s and early ’90s, her self-aware, jittery demeanor reveals itself as a big part of what made her so transfixing. Young Gen-Xers were nothing if not overly self-conscious and awkward, and Ryder personified that romantic unease. In her most memorable roles — in Beetlejuice, Heathers, Edward Scissorhands, Reality Bites — her characters are contradictions, open but self-protective, emotional but cynical, naïve but edging toward ennui. In Reality Bites in particular, a film awash in Gen-X clichés (some accurate, some cartoonish), Ryder toggles between knowing sophistication and childlike goofiness. One minute she’s rolling her eyes, the next she’s aw-shucks-ing along to Ethan Hawke’s scatted monologues about the virtues of slacker idealism.

In one memorable scene, Ryder’s character asks Hawke’s for a definition of irony, and he replies, “It’s when the actual meaning is the complete opposite from the literal meaning.” It makes perfect sense that irony would be the reigning principle of Ryder’s rise to fame. Born in Minnesota and raised in part on a commune in California, she developed an interest in acting after watching old films her mother would play in the family’s barn, a quirky pursuit that landed her at the center of the most scrutinized, unique-snowflake-melting industry on the planet. Her parents moved to Petaluma, California, when she was 11, and even while they supported her desire to become an actress, they did their best to shield her from Hollywood’s influence (“They had the whole Judy Garland thing stuck in their minds,” she says). But she still had to contend with what she calls Petaluma’s “hicks who were also stoners,” who didn’t think she was all that. “I did Beetlejuice, and it was a big movie, but it didn’t help my high-school experience. In fact it made it worse. I was a freak and a witch.”

But what about Heathers? Ryder was 17 when that movie came out. “Even Heathers,which was, like, not a hit at all — I mean over the years it became one, but no. That was the first time I was even described in the script as attractive in any way — ”

Sweater and skirt by Valentino, at 693 Fifth Ave.; 212-355-5811. Sneakers by Roger Vivier, 750 Madison Ave.; 212-861-5371.
Photograph by Norman Jean Roy

“You are very attractive,” our waiter interrupts. (Side note: How do you get a job at the Chateau Marmont if you’re this guy?) Ryder quickly blurts out a surprised “Thank you!” and keeps talking.

The most obvious way that a lifetime of scrutiny reveals itself in Ryder: She doesn’t finish many of her sentences. This trait has been cast as “spacey,” but it appears to me that Ryder has a very expansive way of thinking where several paths open up at once and she can’t decide which one to take. She learned long ago that there were a million things she shouldn’t say — and relearned this more recently when she was promoting the indie film Experimenter last year: “I talked about all this stuff, Stanley Milgram and ‘the banality of evil,’ and they didn’t print a word of it. It was all just ‘Rise to fame! Fall!Scandal! Johnny Depp!’ ” It’s not surprising, then, that Ryder might decide against saying most of the things she thinks to say. But as a result, talking to her can feel like watching someone try to drive when every single road has been closed. What’s fascinating is not that she stops in the middle of the road but that she keeps trying to get somewhere at all. Somehow she never comes across as closed or unfriendly or robotic in the slightest.

“I wish I could unknow this, but there is a perception of me that I’m supersensitive and fragile. And I am supersensitive, and I don’t think that that’s a bad thing. To do what I do, I have to remain open.” She says that sensitive is so often used as a bad word — a euphemism for weak or crazy. “There’s a line in the show where someone says [of herStranger Things character], ‘She’s had anxiety problems in the past.’ A lot of people have picked up on that, like, ‘Oh, you know, she’s crazy.’ And I’m like, ‘Okay, wait a second, she’s struggling.’ Two kids, deadbeat dad, working her ass off. Who wouldn’t be anxious?

“Even that word, anxious. It’s a bad word. And so like all of these words — it’s kind of what I tried to do with Girl, Interrupted, and why I was so invested in that book and trying to get it made [as a movie]. My whole point was, this happens to every girl, almost.” Yet in trying to remove the stigma our culture places on common emotional challenges by talking about them, Ryder only stigmatized herself more. “I remember I did Diane Sawyer, and I talked about my experiences with anxiety and depression when I was that age. And I think by doing that, maybe coupled with my physical size, there’s this ‘crazy’ thing. And I’ve realized recently it’s literally impossible to try to change that story.”

Sweatshirt by Marc Jacobs, at 113 Prince St.; 212-343-1490.
Photograph by Norman Jean Roy

What’s remarkable about that Diane Sawyer interview, which took place in 1999, is how completely ordinary the feelings of depression and loneliness Ryder describes are. It’s a sign of how dramatically our cultural discussion about emotional experiences has shifted that such mundane revelations could ever be treated as shocking. Toward the end of the interview, Ryder tells Sawyer she feels ashamed that she could’ve ever felt depressed, given all of her advantages. “One of my worst fears is being a self-indulgent person,” she explains, addressing the widely held misconception that somehow money and fame equal happiness. But even these days, when women who talk openly about their struggles still work very hard to project that flavor of sunny, upbeat optimism our culture prefers, Ryder offers us a helpful reminder that feeling conflicted, confused, or just ambivalent is a feature of being alive and not a bug. Emotional intensity, contradiction — these aren’t signs of instability or immaturity; they’re the sophisticated processing of an intelligent, mature adult. In this way, Ryder may just present a powerful talisman of complexity to a culture that embraces knee-jerk optimism, an inadequate guard against darkness or self-doubt.

“I’ve always been super-private and protective of certain experiences and certain friends,” she says. “I don’t regret opening up about what I went through [with depression], because, it sounds really cliché, but I have had women come up to me and say, ‘It meant so much to me.’ It means so much when you realize that someone was having a really hard time and feeling shame and was trying to hide this whole thing … And even the whole, like, sensitive, fragile thing. I do have those qualities, and I just don’t think there’s anything wrong with them. There were times when I let it feel too overwhelming and almost, like, shamed, but I had to just get over that.”

She says that taking a break from Hollywood helped. “I did get a chance to explore during my ‘hiatus.’ I was really lucky, because when all you’ve done is this one thing, you become sort of insecure because this town can be isolating and you don’t feel like you’re capable of doing other things.” She says she got “really into constitutional law for a while and really into linguistics and etymology for a while.” Even when she wasn’t on the public’s radar, anonymity was never easy. In the old days, she says, you could ride the subway and maybe occasionally someone happened to have a camera with them. These days, people are shooting footage of you everywhere you go, and if they ask and you say no … “I’ve been called a cunt to my face by someone who was just saying they were a fan. I was with my parents having dinner. It was actually kind of upsetting, because it upset my parents, and then I got upset. You know that scene in The King of Comedy where Jerry Lewis is at a pay phone? ‘Will you sign the thing, will you sign the thing?’ ‘I hope you get cancer!’

“I’m not on social media. I don’t actually know how to use it. And I hear that awful people could then — I say that, and it makes me sound too sensitive.” That’s when I remember that Ryder hit her peak of popularity at a time when people couldn’t come at you on the internet. “I guess you wouldn’t even know how it feels to confront a whole mob of haters,” I told her. “I mean, unless you had a stalker.” Now I’m the one trailing off. Of course Winona Ryder, of all people, had more than one stalker. But she takes it in stride. “Yeah. I did. I had a few. One was really nice. He kept showing up as an extra on movies, and you don’t know. You have to be careful. So I told the director, because he was kinda creepy. And I got this letter in my trailer the next day that was like, ‘I was just trying to get work as an extra! Just so you know, I’m not even obsessed with you anymore, I’m obsessed with Alyssa Milano now!’ So he kind of left me for Alyssa Milano.”

T-shirt by theory, at theory.com
Photograph by Norman Jean Roy

Somehow Ryder has maintained a sense of humor about herself. But between the steady flow of references (Philip Roth, Veep, Marsha Mason movies, Bastard Out of Carolina,Oliver Wendell Holmes) and the wide-eyed mannerisms, she seems like someone who spends a lot of time in her own head. “I have that weird archivist gene–slash–hoarder gene where I keep everything, like every journal. And I think, Do I even want this to exist? But it is sort of interesting to go back and read them. And then all my books …” That sounds a little solitary, I tell her. “Yeah. It’s a struggle because it can get — I can overdo it. Between books and then great shows and nowadays you can watch films instantly — I just discovered that same-day-release thing. But I’ve always been that way. Both of my parents are kind of like that, I don’t know. I’ve always been very nocturnal.”

So this is how we might picture Winona Ryder, after all these years: the former cool girl in repose, grown into a comfortably complicated adult, not in search of a comeback so much as another great book to read. That doesn’t mean her life is simple or easy, of course. “It’s almost like that Twilight Zone episode where that guy says, ‘I just want to be left alone so I can read my books,’ ” she says with a smile. “And then he ends up being sent to a planet where it’s just him and his books, and he’s so happy, and then his glasses fall off and they break.”

Styling By Victoria Bartlett at Management Artists Organization; Makeup by Gianpaolo Ceciliato for Marc Jacobs Beauty at Bergdorf Goodman; Hair by Holly Mills for Tim Howard Management; nails by Casey Herman for Dior Vernis at The Wall Group.

*This article appears in the August 8, 2016 issue of New York Magazine.

JULIA STILES

JUSTIN HOLLAR

07/29/16

JULIA STILES IN NEW YORK, MAY 2016. PHOTOS: JUSTIN HOLLAR. STYLING: ANNA KATSANIS/ATELIER MANAGEMENT. HAIR: NATE ROSENKRANZ/ HONEY ARTISTS USING ALTERNA HAIR CARE. MAKEUP:AYA KOMATSU/BRIDGE ARTISTS. MANICURE: YUKO WADA/ATELIER MANAGEMENT USING DIOR VERNIS. STYLING ASSISTANT: ERICA PITNICK.


When Julia Stiles first signed on to play CIA employee Nicky Parsons in The Bourne Identity (2002), she was a college student at Columbia University. A native New Yorker, Stiles had been acting professionally since she was 11. Thanks to roles in teen movies like the pithy comedy 10 Things I Hate About You(1999) and emotional drama Save the Last Dance (2001), she was something of a thinking-teen's idol at the time.

For a rising star like Stiles, Nicky was not a particularly large part—she was supposed to die at the end of the film and it wasn't until filming finished that director Doug Liman recut her final scene—but Stiles was intrigued by star Matt Damon. "He wasn't the obvious choice at the time," she recalls over the phone. "I remember pausing for a second wondering if I was going to miss too much school­, but I quickly ignored that and decided that it would be more fun to go to Prague and Paris."

Fourteen years later, Stiles is the only actor except for Damon himself to appear in all four Jason Bourne films. In Jason Bourne, the franchise's latest installment,out today, Nicky is something of a new woman: determined and mature, she's no longer just a government pencil pusher. "She's become quite ideologically driven," says Stiles. "She launches the whole movie...it was nice to see her not be obedient anymore."

Later this summer, Stiles will move to Nice, France to begin working on a new Neil Jordan miniseries called Riviera. "Neil's idea was that behind every great fortune is a great crime, and I play an American married to this billionaire," she explains. "It's a very glamorous setting, but underneath there's a lot of corruption and dirty deeds. In the first episode, [my character's] husband is murdered," she continues. "In inheriting his estate, she's discovering the ways that he lied to her and the things he was covering up."


EMMA BROWN: Nicky has more to do in this film.

STILES: Yeah, this time was a turn for Nicky. She was in hiding when we left her in The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), and in the eight years that have passed since then she's been running for her life. She's become more defiant and she's turned into quite a dissident. She's been disillusioned by the agency she's devoted her life to and wants to do something about it. In order to put a stop to it, she's decided she's going to leak information she has about the operations that they're running.

BROWN: Did they tell you that she was going to have a different role in this film before they sent you the script or was it a nice surprise?

STILES: I found out they were doing another one and I was waiting for the script. When Paul [Greengrass] was writing, he'd send me story ideas that he had. He was particularly interested in social movements and revolutions that had been happening all over the world, and how computers and the internet had helped those movements. He encouraged me to read a book about Anonymous, the hacker group called "white hat" hackers, meaning they're driven by ideology and social disruption as opposed to just greed. Then I was happy when I read the script—the first version they sent me—to see that before, there's some humanity too. She tracks Jason Bourne down because she really cares about him and wants to share personal information that she thinks might help him. It was nice that there was a reference to the relationship they have and the fact that they're allies in a world where they don't have any other allies. It's very subtle—it's actually without dialogue. It's up to each viewer to interpret for themselves, but there's a moment of recognition between the two of them. I do think it's powerful even without words.

BROWN: Did it feel like you were getting back into a character or, because of the things she's gone through in the last eight years, did she feel like a new character?

STILES: It felt like revisiting a style in terms of delivery and how these people speak and the world that they live in. It did feel new to me because I wasn't taking orders anymore. She's a lot less reactive. She's a lot more proactive. Also, she has nothing to lose; she's in hiding and she's willing to risk her life. She's a lot tougher and more fearless than she's been in previous movies.

BROWN: Are you someone who likes to do more takes if possible?

STILES: Yes, but the thing with the Bourne movies is that they're so big in scope and the production value is so high and it takes so much organization. In the opening sequence, for instance, the safe meeting place Nicky chooses is in the middle of a riot in Athens, Greece. The idea is that in the middle of that chaos and violence, they have a safe cover. The amount of work that goes into organizing something like that makes it so that you don't want to be the one person to mess it up. They shoot quite quickly, these films. I do think that the more takes you have the more opportunity to experiment [but] at a certain point, there are diminishing returns. There's only so much variety you offer.

BROWN: I actually saw you onstage in London a long time ago in Oleanna with Aaron Eckhart. I didn't realize you had did the play again a few years later in New York.

STILES: I did a different production with a different director and Bill Pullman. Oleanna­—the one you saw—we were doing right after Bourne Identity or right after it came out. Years had passed, and when they were going to do a production of it in New York and asked me to read for it I thought, "Why would I want to do this play again?" It's because I never felt like I got it right. It's rich, but there's a lot of room for interpretation, surprisingly. Just by virtue of having a different actor in the opposite role a lot changes. Bill Pullman is older than Aaron Eckhart—although I was older too—and the age difference changes the play. My perspective on those issues had changed a lot. Without going into nerdy details about that play, there was something that still stuck with me. I still had the same joy in that dialogue and David Mamet's rhythm in terms of his writing. I felt like there was still something to explore.

BROWN: Have you felt that way about other plays or movies? When you finish a project, do you generally feel like, "I've got it; I can move on"?

STILES: I think really only with theater. With film, so much is in the director's hands. Once something is cut together—unless you're in the editing room—you don't really remember what the alternatives are. The exercise in theater is night after night you are doing the same play, but you have another opportunity to explore. It changes nightly even because of the audience and your day going into the evening of the performance. With film it's much more controlled.

BROWN: Did you go to the theater a lot when you were growing up in New York?

STILES: I did. My grandmother took me to a lot of theater. I was exposed to performance quite a bit—everything from Broadway to off-Broadway and dance and music as well. I was very lucky that way. It was a very rich childhood.

BROWN: Do you remember the first performance you saw that really resonated with you?

STILES: I remember seeing Janet McTeer in A Doll's House. My grandmother took me and we had seats in the very back row, but her performance was so powerful—it was very accessible. I felt like I was much closer than I was.

BROWN: You started acting when you were quite young, was there ever a moment in your career where you felt like you became an adult actor, or you decided again that this is what you wanted to do as an adult?

STILES: I think it's been in the last few years. I did a run of a play over the summer in a really tiny theater in New York and that was rejuvenating for me. I directed a short series for Hulu called Paloma and being in an editing room, I learned a lot about acting. It gave me a new bolt of energy in terms of my interest in filmmaking because it made me realize how collaborative filmmaking can be and also that you're not just limited to one job. Actors can write and produce too. Then when I was working on Jason Bourne­—having had that experience—instead of going back to my trailer and being separate from everyone else, I would sit behind the monitor and watch Paul Greengrass work and be much more included in the process. That was new for me and really enriching.

BROWN: What, ideally, do you want out of a director? Do you want someone who gives you really specific feedback?

STILES: I like a director who is very observant and is watching what I'm doing and noticing what I'm doing, but is giving me time to figure it out. They don't jump right in and give you a note before you've had time to really search on your own with how to do a scene. I like a director that encourages me to be playful. I don't really like being restricted or controlled by a director.

BROWN: Do you feel like you're constantly getting better as an actor?

STILES: In my early career, I look at that time as a series of trial and error and learning as I go. Now I feel like I have a skill set, but every experience is different and there's always room for improvement.

BROWN: Do you have a fear of women in their mid or late 20s, because you know they're going to gush about 10 Things I Hate About You?

STILES: I don't have a fear of it. I think it's really sweet. I think it's really special to be a part of something that people are still watching or thinking about or interested in, or remember fondly many years later. I don't think it's annoying at all.

Just Music-No Categories-Enjoy It!
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Reply #18 posted 08/10/16 10:18am

JoeBala

Paul McCartney Looks Back: The Rolling Stone Interview

Ex-Beatle reflects on Yoko, Kanye and why no one could replace John Lennon

Paul McCartney strums an acoustic guitar on a sofa in his London office, humming to himself as he tries to recall a melody from his adolescence – one of the first, never-recorded songs he wrote with his teenage friend John Lennon, on their way to starting the Beatles in Liverpool. "It was like …" McCartney says, then hits a rockabilly rhythm on his guitar and sings in a familiar, robust voice: "They said our love was just fun/The day that our friendship begun/There's no blue moon that I can see/There's never been in history/Because our love was just fun."

Max Vadukul for Rolling Stone

"'Just Fun,'" McCartney says, announcing the title proudly. "I had a little school-exercise book where I wrote those lyrics down. And in the top right-hand corner of the page, I put 'A Lennon-McCartney original.' It was humble beginnings," he admits. "We developed from that."

It's an extraordinary moment – but McCartney, 74 and currently on his latest tour of American arenas and stadiums, is never far from a performance.

Over two long interviews – first in London, then a week later in Philadelphia, backstage before a concert – McCartney often bursts into song to make a point: hitting chords from another of his teenage tunes on guitar, singing a slice of Ray Charles' "What'd I Say," and imitating the young Mick Jagger at an early Rolling Stones gig. On one occasion, McCartney does an impression of Lennon doing a Gene Vincent number during the Beatles' bar-band days in Hamburg, Germany.

"It's always held a fascination for me, getting up in front of people and performing," McCartney says in Philadelphia. "From the beginning, I was trying to figure it out: What's the best way to keep true to yourself yet have people on your side?" He is wearing a dark-blue short-sleeve shirt and jeans, his bare feet propped on a coffee table. His trailer has a curtain for a door, and visitors announce themselves by ringing a red cowbell on a table near the entrance because, he points out, "You can't knock on a curtain."


Singer-songwriter on looking beyond the hits, reclaiming "FourFiveSeconds" and revisiting "Temporary Secretary"

McCartney has just finished a soundcheck that was a show in itself: 12 songs, almost all of which won't be played at the concert that night, including the Beatles' 1964 ballad "I'll Follow the Sun" and his 1971 curio "Ram On." He is on the road again with his band of the past 15 years – guitarists Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray, keyboard player Paul "Wix" Wickens and drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. – on the 50th anniversary of the summer that he, Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr quit the road. ("We'd had enough of playing rain-soaked stages with lousy PA's," McCartney says of the Beatles' last tour, which ended at San Francisco's Candlestick Park in August 1966.)

That manic era is celebrated in a new Ron Howard documentary, The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years, and a companion album, The Beatles: Live at the Hollywood Bowl, with newly mixed live songs from 1964 and '65. (Disclosure: I wrote liner notes for that record.) McCartney also put out Pure McCartney, a set that surveys his solo and Wings work. And in October, he caps his touring year at Desert Trip, the festival where he is appearing with old friends including Bob Dylan, the Stones and Neil Young.

"It's fossil rock," McCartney cracks, "but it's exciting. Definitely gotta ring Neil, say, 'What do you reckon, man?'"

In his London office, McCartney is surrounded by his roots and history – there is Beatles and Wings memorabilia, and a vintage jukebox loaded with 78s by Fats Domino, Wanda Jackson and Elvis Presley – but he mostly speaks of his songwriting and the stage in the present tense. He dissects his recent collaborations with Kanye West and mentions that he was "looking at some lyric ideas" for his next album. "I can write all over the place. I've got a lot of ideas on the go."

But the Beatles are always nearby, as a touchstone and renewing memory. "It's good talking with you," McCartney says at the end of one session, then recalls an encounter with Lennon a few years after the band broke up. "He hugged me. It was great, because we didn't normally do that. He said, 'It's good to touch.' I always remembered that – it's good to touch."

Why is performing still so vital to you at this point in your life?
This idea of the great little band – it's quite attractive. A basic unit is at the heart of the music we all love. It's in the halls of Nashville, the clubs of Liverpool and Hamburg. One of the pleasures for me, when we take our bow at the end of the evening, is there's five of us.

And I've learned some lessons. I used to be terrified of making a mistake. I've learned that it's OK. The audience actually likes it.

Paul McCartney Performing Buenos Aires May
McCartney on tour in Buenos Aires in May. MJ Kim/MJL Communications

What was the last big mistake you made onstage?
I don't remember the last one. But I had a show in Paris where I started off with the second verse of "Penny Lane" instead of the first. It should have been "a barber showing photographs." So I thought, "I'll swap the verses – do verse two, then verse one and we'll go into the middle bit." But the band correctly thought, "He skipped verse one – we'll go into the middle."

It was a car crash in Penny Lane. I had to go, "Stop, stop. We've totally screwed it up. We're gonna start again." The audience went wild. A friend, Cilla Black, who just passed away, came to me after the show: "I loved that bit. Do you do it every night?"

Did you have that urge to entertain, to please, as a boy?
I suppose so. If you go into music, it's very rare that you're trying something that you don't care if people like it. It surprises me that there are some people who don't want to be liked – there are certain people, I'm sure, but I think it's just an image. It's the line in "Hey Jude" about being cool and making your world a bit colder.

In the Beatles, I was very much the guy who pushed it. It's a damn good job I did. No one would have got off their asses to come out from the suburbs into the city to make Let It Be. The film turned out pretty weird, but it's a good record.

A lot of the things we did in Hamburg were instigated by me, then taken up by the other guys. We worked in this little beer hall where nobody came in. There was a sign that said beer, 1.50 marks or something. You'd see students come in and go, "Ooh, can't afford it." They were looking for something cheaper. So we really had to work. The manager of the place said, "Mach schau" ["Make show"]. We used to do "Dance in the Street," the Gene Vincent song. John was actually the one who said, "I'll do this – [claps hands] 'Gonna dance in the street tonight! Hey, yeah, everybody! C'mon, c'mon!' " That started to pull the students. We figured, "We got 'em sitting down. Now we'll play our stuff." And they liked it.

What is the dynamic in your band? Who challenges you? Can someone say, "We should do it this way"?
It doesn't work like that. That was the Beatles. Wings was less challenged. Now it's kind of understood: "It's your band." What I do to balance that is throw it open when we're rehearsing. Sometimes there's things I don't want to do. But the guys would say, "Gotta do it. This will work."

What have they suggested that worked?
"Golden Slumbers" through "The End" [from Abbey Road]. It was a bit of work. I was being lazy. Rusty suggested "Day Tripper." I didn't want to do it because the bass part's very hard. "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" is the same. Those are the two in the show I didn't want to do. But the guys said it would be great.

At the same time, I'm a dictator. And nobody has a problem with that – I don't think [laughs]. We've been together now longer than the Beatles or Wings. Something's happening right. And I think we get better, because we get simpler.

Can you imagine touring like this at 80? It used to be that doing this at 40 seemed  ... 
Unimaginable – and unseemly. Mind you, when I was 17, there was a guy in John's art school who was 24 – who I felt so sorry for. I grieved for him [laughs]. He was so old.

Doris Day, who I know a little bit, once said to me, "Age is an illusion." I reminded her of it recently – I was wishing her a happy birthday. People say age is a number. It's a big number the older you get. But if it doesn't interfere, I'm not bothered. You can ignore it. That's what I do.

Paul McCartney Jumping in Pool Rolling Stone
McCartney in Long Island, New York, in May. Max Vadukul for Rolling Stone

You mentioned the Let It Be film. Is there any chance it will ever be rereleased?
I keep thinking we've done it. We've talked about it for so long.

What's the holdup?
I've no bloody idea. I keep bringing it up, and everyone goes, "Yeah, we should do that." The objection should be me. I don't come off well.

It suggests that, with the Beatles' work, you are not as in control of the legacy as people would assume.
Apple [Corps] is a democracy. I'm one of the votes. The Beatles stuff does itself. Someone will say, "Ron Howard is interested in doing a film." I get to say yes or no. My preference is yes – he's good.

Does it have to be a unanimous decision – you, Ringo, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison?
Yeah. That's the secret of the Beatles – can't do three to one. During the breakup was when it got screwed up – we did three against one. But now it has to be unanimous. The two girls are Beatles.

Are there things where you automatically say no? And what kind of veto can you have over the Beatles' songs when you don't own the publishing?
We don't have a veto. But we made it clear that we like it to be treated tastefully – "If that's possible, sir." They can be great offers monetarily, but we draw the line on some things, like a gas-guzzling car. I personally wouldn't do McDonald's, just because of my [vegetarian] beliefs.

The Love show [in Las Vegas] was nearly that. George knew this Cirque du Soleil guy and took me to see a show. I was blown away. I was sold on the idea [of a Beatles production]. But the climate was, "No, it's sacrosanct. You can't do this. You must not." I went, "Hang on, it's not your music."

"The Beatles' music is growing," Yoko Ono says during anniversary festivities for Cirque du Soleil production

People can relate to the Beatles in a very –
Possessive way. We never listened to that. You would get fans who'd want something and you'd go, "No, I'm sorry. I'm eating dinner. You've got to go away." They'd go, "Well, we buy your records." We said, "Stop buying them, if that's the trade-off." We were always like that, Ringo more than anyone. They would come to his house, and he'd go, "Fuck off" and slam the door. He would not have any of it. You have to draw the line. Or your sanity goes.

How would you characterize your relationship with Yoko now?
It's really good, actually. We were kind of threatened [then]. She was sitting on the amps while we were recording. Most bands couldn't handle that. We handled it, but not amazingly well, because we were so tight. We weren't sexist, but girls didn't come to the studio – they tended to leave us to it. When John got with Yoko, she wasn't in the control room or to the side. It was in the middle of the four of us.

Yet you contributed that quote on the cover of John and Yoko's Two Virgins album ("When two great saints meet, it is a humbling experience").
My big awakening was, if John loves this woman, that's gotta be right. I realized any resistance was something I had to overcome. It was a little hard at first. Gradually, we did. Now it's like we're mates. I like Yoko. [Laughs] She's so Yoko.

Paul McCartney with Yoko Ono
McCartney and Yoko in L.A. in 2012. "My big awakening was, if John loves this woman that's gotta be right," he says of the turning point in their relationship. "It was a little hard at first, but now we're mates. She's so Yoko." Lester Cohen/Getty

How often do the four of you meet to discuss Beatles affairs?
Not often. I see Ringo a lot, because he's a lovely boy. We all see each other socially, go to parties. As for meetings, I'm a bit detached from it. I went off Apple during the heavy breakup period – I sent John Eastman in and said, "You tell me what everyone is saying, because I can't bear to be sitting at that table." It was too painful, like seeing the death of your favorite pet.

The way it works now, I listen to all the records. I will be in on the approval process. But most of the work for the Beatles has been done.

Is there anything left in the vaults that is worth releasing?
That's the question: Is it worthwhile? The thing about the Beatles – they were a damn hot little band. No matter what you hear, even stuff that we thought was really bad – it doesn't sound so bad now. Because it's the Beatles.

Could you do something with the raw tapes from the White Album or Sgt. Pepper, telling the story behind those albums the way Bob Dylan released his 1965-66 sessions as a box set last year?
The talk between the takes – I've always loved that. We always had this two-track tape recorder running in case we came up with a little jam. "Take 36, what was that like?" But it was actually a chronicle of our dialogue. There's one bit I particularly liked: We were doing "I Saw Her Standing There." I went, "I can't do it. I haven't got my plec." We didn't call them guitar picks, we called them plectrums. John said, "Where is it?" – this in our thick Liverpool accents. "I think I left it in my suitcase." John goes, "Ah, soft ass." "Soft ass? I'll give you a soft ass."

That's very schoolyard.
The Beatles became more worldly. But it's nice to see the school stuff, the banter. To answer your question, is there any more? There's a few things. Is it worthwhile? I don't know.

Would you ever consider doing a tour with Ringo?
It's never come up. We come together for things like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But to actually tour together – leave well enough alone.

Too many wrong signals, like "Beatles reunion"?
I don't think either of us have ever thought why do it, or why not. It's just that our roads are parallel, with intersections and diversions. He's a great drummer, man. That's the thing about Ringo. He has a feel that nobody else has. As to going out on the road, it might be complicated.

You will be at Desert Trip with the Rolling Stones. What do you see when you go to a Stones show now?
It's a mirage. I see the little band I always knew. You've got Mick, Keith and Charlie, who were always there, and Ronnie – he's earned his Stone-ness. I see a good little rock & roll band – not as good as the Beatles [grins], but good.

What potential did you see in 1963, when you and John gave them "I Wanna Be Your Man" to record? It was the Stones' first Top 20 single in the U.K.
You looked at all of the other bands on the scene. We knew who was no good. We knew who was competition. It paid to know what was going on. We'd hear about the Stones. They played at the Station Hotel [in London]. We went down to see them one night, just stood in the audience. I remember Mick onstage in a gray jacket doing his hand-clappy thing [claps hands in quick rhythm].

The guy who turned the Beatles down at Decca Records happened to ask George if he knew anyone worth signing. We were friends with them, and I just thought "I Wanna Be Your Man" would be good for them. I knew they did Bo Diddley stuff. And they made a good job of it. And I like to show off, say we gave them their first hit. And we did.

Paul McCartney with Ringo Starr Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
With Ringo at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year. Kevin Mazur/Getty

Now great little bands like yours and the Stones play gargantuan venues. Can you imagine touring small halls with just new material? Is that a risk worth taking?
That is no risk. That is attractive. This is one of the things that makes you play great, when you're packed together. We knew that in the Beatles. We always used to record in Abbey Road, Studio 2. But for "Yer Blues," we were talking about this tightness, this packed-in-a-tin thing. So we got in a little cupboard – a closet that had microphone leads and things, with a drum kit, amps turned to the walls, one mic for John. We did "Yer Blues" live and it was really good.

To do new material – that's taking it one step further. This is what I am saying about the Beatles things – these ideas just arrive. I don't necessarily sit around thinking of them. That's a new idea that's just arrived. You proposed it. And we might take it up.

In "All Day," one of the tracks you did with Kanye West, there is a part that you originally wrote on guitar in 1969 but didn't use at the time. What is the story behind that lick?
Linda and I were having our first baby together, Mary. She was recuperating – I'm sitting around eating chips with my guitar in the clinic, goofing around with it. And there was a picture on the wall that I'd been looking at for days – Picasso, "The Old Guitarist." The guy held the guitar like this [strikes the pose from the painting], and a lightbulb went off in my head: "What chord is that?" It looked like it was two strings. "You know what would be cool? To write a song with only two fingers." So I wrote this thing [plays the melody].

I was telling Kanye this story. I whistled it for him. His engineer was recording it, and it went into the pool of ingredients. Kanye was just collecting things. We weren't going to sit down and write a song so much as talk and spark ideas off each other. It was only when I got this song, the Rihanna record ["FourFiveSeconds"] and "Only One," the three tracks we did, that I went, "I get it. He's taken my little whistle-y thing." It returned to me as an urban hip-hop riff. I love that record.

Did you feel like a true collaborator or a sideman? You're used to running a session, seeing a song all the way through.
We had a few afternoons at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The only deal I made with Kanye was that if it doesn't work, we won't tell anyone. I didn't know his system. I'd heard things like, "He's got a room full of guys working on riffs, and he walks around going, 'I like that one.' " It reminded me of Andy Warhol, these artists who use students to paint their backgrounds and things. It's a well-used technique. I thought, "I don't know how I'm going to fit into that, but let's see. Here goes nothing."

Do you think Kanye is a genius?
I don't throw that word around [laughs]. I think he's a great artist. Take My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. I played it when I was cooking, and it was like, "This is good. There's some really innovative stuff." When the word came from his people, through my people [laughs], I thought, "Let's give it a go."

Do you listen to much hip-hop for pleasure? Or to keep up?
I listen to it for, you could call it, education. I hear a lot of it and go to concerts occasionally. I went to see Jay Z and Kanye when they toured. I've seen Drake live. It's the music of now.

Does it feel as important to you in this era as the music you made in 1966 and '67? People often say rock is dead, that it's had its moment as a historical force.
Time will tell if it's as good. That's not for me to say. But I think it's exciting. You go to a club and hear a great hip-hop record – it definitely does the business. I wouldn't want to critique it versus "A Day in the Life." For me, it's like reggae in that I wouldn't particularly feel I could do it. I would leave that to Bob Marley, to the people that are it. It's the same with hip-hop. It was exciting to work with Kanye, to have a contribution to "All Day." [Smiles] It's the best riff on the record.

In your work with younger artists like Kanye or Dave Grohl, do you feel the challenge that you had within the Beatles, especially from John? Has that ever been replaced in any way?
No. I don't think it could be. At some point, you have to realize, some things just can't be. John and me, we were kids growing up together, in the same environment with the same influences: He knows the records I know, I know the records he knows. You're writing your first little innocent songs together. Then you're writing something that gets recorded. Each year goes by, and you get the cooler clothes. Then you write the cooler song to go with the cooler clothes. We were on the same escalator – on the same step of the escalator, all the way. It's irreplaceable – that time, friendship and bonding.

Kanye West Rihanna Paul McCartneyWith Rihanna and Kanye West in 2015, the year they hit Number One with "FourFiveSeconds." "The only deal I had with Kanye," McCartney says of the three tracks they collaborated on, "was if it doesn't work we don't tell anyone." Mark Davis/Getty

Are there people you can turn to now for advice about a new song or album?
In music, no. I rely on the experience and knowledge of what would have happened if I'd brought it to the Beatles. That is the best gauge.

What about life in general?
I have some very good friends. Lorne Michaels and I are pretty close. I can always go for a drink with him – we can talk pretty genuinely. I have relatives, my brother and my wife. Nancy is very strong that way. But music, no. It's very difficult. You can't top John. And John couldn't top Paul.

Your last studio album, New, was a musically upbeat, emotionally positive record. But it came after a few albums that were much darker, even sadder, like Chaos and Creation in the Backyard. Was it hard to write songs after Linda's death and during the personal difficulties that followed? [McCartney divorced his second wife, Heather Mills, in 2008.]
The thing about New was Nancy. That's who was new. It was a good awakening. It made me want to write positive songs. Music is like a psychiatrist. You can tell your guitar things that you can't tell people. And it will answer you with things people can't tell you. But there's a value to sad songs. Something bad happens – you don't want to repress it. So you unload it on yourself, with a guitar. I've got a couple on my next album which are a bit – [makes a shocked look]. But it works, because with songs, you can do that. That's the blues, where you put stuff.

Your youngest daughter, Beatrice, is turning 13 this year. How aware is she of your history?
It's a funny thing with your kids. "OK, Dad is famous – boring." It doesn't go much beyond that. If they come to a concert, it's like, "Oh, I liked 'Back in the U.S.S.R.' " Or "What was that song?" "It's called 'All My Loving.' " "I liked that one." As they get older, it dawns on them. When they go to college, their friends will say, "I like Ram." "What's that?" "It's your dad's album."

"You can't top John. And John couldn't top Paul."

What is your daily regimen as a father when you're not on tour?
My kids are grown up except the youngest, and that is half the time, because it's a custody situation. I try to be full-on. I get up in the morning and make her breakfast, drive to school. I check in with the teachers, see how it's going. I donate the prize at the silent auction. It's straightforward dad stuff. At the end of that period, I get on a plane, come to America and be a rock star.

How hard was it to balance your music and fame when you and Linda were raising a family in the Seventies on a farm?
It was more hippie culture. We were kind of home-schooling. I'd teach them to write. I enjoyed that. Once they got to school, we'd take tutors when we went on tour. I'd have to go to the school, find out what they were going to cover – geography, history, math – and organize it as sensibly as I could. We made it work. Linda and I always said, "The main thing is they have good hearts." They all do. They're also pretty smart.

The Beatles' children – yours, Sean and Julian Lennon, Dhani Harrison, Zak Starkey – have turned out strong and sensible, often with their own music careers. How did the biggest band in the world succeed as parents amid that madness?
It's the Liverpool roots. We had strong families. My family was particularly strong. John's aunt was strict, I thought, in a good way. Ringo was an only child, but his mom and dad were great. Growing up in Liverpool, which is very working-class, you can't get above yourself.

My family had loads of kids. You were always being handed a baby. You got used to it. John didn't have that, but he learned later. The four of us coming together, with all these roots – there was a sensibility that we would want to do it right, in the family way. We had a common goal, a common wisdom, in life and in music.

Do you have a favorite album that you feel has been underrated or misunderstood? When you reissued Ram in 2012, it got raves, but when it first came out, in 1971, it took a beating.
That album popped into my mind. But I never give myself time to sit down and go through the list. Nearest I get to that is looking for stuff to do in the show, like "Love Me Do" – "We should try that one."

You are at a rare juncture – old enough to see some of your work kicked around, then praised decades later.
I do albums and, like a fool, I listen to what people say about them. A New York Times critic damned Sgt. Pepper when it came out. The terrible thing is it puts you off your own stuff. It plays into your self-doubts, even though you overcame those self-doubts to write that song. You're left with this smell of the music – a whiff of something not very good – and that sticks with you. But then you get rescued. A while ago, one of my nephews, Jay, said, "Ram's my all-time favorite album." I thought it was dead and gone, stinking over there in the dung pit. So I listened to it. "Wow, I get what I was doing."

Were you disappointed that your last single, "Hope for the Future," was not a hit?
Yeah. It was something I thought would really do well. It didn't.

Have you had to change your expectations as to what constitutes a hit compared with what you knew in 1966?
I've given up trying to figure it out. You can't. Like this Pure album – I'll get rung up: "It's Number Three." "Wow, that's cool, man. What did it sell?" "15,000." I think inside, "It's a joke, man – 15,000 a day was not good then."

But that's the new world in record sales, unless you're Rihanna or Beyoncé. I'll put out my next album, but I won't think I'm gonna sell a lot. I'm putting it out because I have songs that I like. And I will do my best job. The scene has changed, but it doesn't disturb me, because I had the best of it – selling 100,000 a day on something like "Mull of Kintyre." I've had the joy of that. If I don't have it now, it's not just about me. All of my contemporaries, who are still pretty cool, don't have it, because things have moved on.

And you know what? We had it. And it was great.

Just Music-No Categories-Enjoy It!
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Reply #19 posted 08/10/16 10:57am

JoeBala

A CONVERSATION WITH MICKY DOLENZ

MickyDolenz

The Monkees could do many things to celebrate their 50th anniversary. A cereal-box flexidisc set, a CD boxed-set classic-album collection and an upcoming BluRay box of The Monkees series (1966-68, all 58 episodes) with their psychedelic flick Head and 1969 TV special 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee included seemed about right. Monkees Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork (Davy Jones passed away in 2012, Michael Nesmith hasn’t played regularly since 1971, but occasionally records and gigs) had other ideas: the band’s first studio album in 20 years, Good Times!, featuring unused, multitracked tunes from the ’60s along with new cuts from Monkees acolytes Rivers Cuomo, Ben Gibbard, Noel Gallagher, Andy Partridge and Adam Schlesinger, who doubled as its producer. Dolenz spoke to MAGNET about good times old and new and even sang a bit of “The Monkees Theme Song.”

Who’s better company on the road, funnier, cleaner, nicer: Peter Tork or Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits, with whom you tour occasionally?
I can’t answer that. It’s apples and oranges. I can’t compare them. They’re both very talented, very different personalities.

Obviously, and to your credit, you and Mr. Tork stayed Monkees and on the road, sometimes with Mr. Nesmith, after the untimely passing of Mr. Jones. Was there ever a thought that you wouldn’t be, considering it was basically just you and Mr. Tork?
No, we had discussions as to whether there’d be a market for just he and I. Would it even be something that he and I wanted? Peter didn’t sing many original leads on the records. So we did a few shows, tested the waters, and it turned out very well. Weirdly, too, it occurred to me that Peter and I had more similar tastes than any other of us ever did. Nes does his country-rock thing. Davy had his Broadway tunes and ballads. Peter and I, however, were always into rock ‘n’ roll and the blues. I had never really considered that before. So suddenly, we had a meeting of the minds. Peter and I have found a lot of common ground since.

Regarding a new album and a producer such as Adam Schlesinger, what was that conversation like?
A little more than a year ago, I went into Rhino’s offices. Rhino owns all of our rights, and I began discussing the 50th anniversary. Of course, touring came up, celebrations of the television series. There happened, though, to be a new regime who wanted to get into newer album production, something for which they’re not really known. So they wanted to explore that with us. Simultaneously, we found tracks in our vaults that were never finished from the 1960s.

From the show?
Well, yes, in part. So much frigging material for the series. You have to figure that we needed at least two new songs a week for the show. We found like 50 tracks, some demos, most mono, which we couldn’t use. Some, though, were multitracked and ready to go with the thought of releasing them. The show wound up going off the air, and we recorded a few more albums, but this material just sat until we found it: incredible stuff by Neil Diamond that Davy had that vocal on, Carole King, Boyce & Hart. Then there was this one, called “Good Times,” that Harry Nilsson wrote for me to sing with Mike on guitar.

You guys wound up being dear, best friends, yes?
Oh yeah. And this song—what with Harry being Harry—it wasn’t just a demo’s vocal. He never did anything halfway. It was this full-blown vocal. I heard that and thought, “Wow, I could do a duet with him.” Everybody loved that idea, and we even named the album for his song. From there, we just either used the songs as they were from the ’60s—used the multitrack—or built upon them. From there, Rhino reached out and introduced us to Adam.

Were you a big Fountains Of Wayne fan?
I’d heard them, but I’m an even bigger fan of Tom Hanks’ That Thing You Do!, for which Adam did the music. I ran into Hanks at a party once, and he said, “Hey, I made a movie about you.” Rhino introduced Adam and I, we got along famously, and we reached out to the indie-rock world for songs. Now, I don’t really listen to modern-rock radio, but all these guys—Ben, Rivers—are tops. We asked if they’d like to submit tunes, and the songs came flooding in, incredible tunes, a plethora of great material, a real love fest. Peter wrote one. Mike wrote and played on it. I wrote one, played drums and did the majority of the leads and a lot of backgrounds. We’re very involved, more so than ever.

Is it true Rivers Cuomo had to tamp down his more youngish themes for his song, make his lyrics more age-appropriate to you guys? He does write very adolescently.
It wasn’t that big of a deal. There were a couple of lines we thought could be more appropriate. I worry about our fans worrying if we’re weird.

Well, that sets up this question. The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame is no validator, yet they won’t vote the Monkees in because of this weird, arcane stigma, that on many of your records, you guys didn’t play your instruments. Which was true of many bands back then. You just took the flak.
You hit the nail on the head: We took the shit for it, pardon my French. Something that was a common practice for the Byrds and the Beach Boys. It’s ironic. Everybody did it because the recording techniques back then were so different and so expensive. Roger McGuinn used to say that they used the Wrecking Crew because they’d nail a song in three takes. When the Byrds went in, it took 73 takes. But we took the shit for it, which is weird because we didn’t have a choice. We were the cast of this TV show.

—A.D. Amorosi

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Reply #20 posted 08/11/16 9:14am

JoeBala

Margot Robbie will be starring in two movies this summer.CreditEmily Berl for The New York Times

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. — Margot Robbie came racing into the tucked-away bungalow she was renting here. She had returned from recording the voice of a talking dingo for a DreamWorks animated movie, and on an April afternoon was doing her best to clean up strewn clothes from overstuffed suitcases — evidence that an intended one-week visit to Los Angeles had stretched into a month.

“I’m sorry it’s so manic,” said this 25-year-old actress, who was born in Gold Coast, Australia, and lives in London, yet had not seen either city in a very long time.

“I’m always like, ‘No, it will calm down next week,’” she said in a more relaxed moment, stretched across a patio couch next to a faded pillow that said “God Save the Queen.”

“And then the following week ends up being crazier.”

Ms. Robbie was on the latest leg of the globe-trotting journey that has consumed her since 2013. It began at roughly the moment that a worldwide audience discovered her in Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street,” playing the no-nonsense lover-turned-wife of an unscrupulous broker played by Leonardo DiCaprio.

After three years of relentless film work, she is poised for two of her most prominent roles this summer, in franchise movies whose success could transform her from a wannabe to a deserves-to-be star.

First, she’ll be seen as a self-reliant and decidedly un-dainty Jane in “The Legend of Tarzan,” a new adventure of that jungle hero opening July 1. Then, on Aug. 5, she stars in “Suicide Squad,” based on the DC Comics series, as Harley Quinn, a cracked-up criminal psychologist who wields a baseball bat and a Brooklyn accent with equal ferocity.

These prospects would sound like an actor’s dreams come true, yet they have prompted Ms. Robbie to wonder if they are indeed the fulfillment of her aspirations.

While taking care not to sound ungrateful, she is openly wrestling with what it means to be so visible and whether this was quite what she envisioned doing at this stage of her career.

“It’s always a hustle,” she said. “I thought it would be a mountain, where you get to the top, and then it’s like: ‘Wheeee! It’s so easy after this.’”

Instead, Ms. Robbie said: “Any time I get near the top, I’m like, ‘There’s another mountain!’ The hustle continues.”

The third of four siblings raised by a single mother, Ms. Robbie has been in almost perpetual motion since the end of 2010, when her contract ended on“Neighbours,” an Australian soap opera on which she played a free-spirited bisexual woman in search of her biological father.

Within days, she was on a plane to Los Angeles seeking representation and auditions for American TV pilots. She was quickly cast in the ABC period drama “Pan Am.”

“It’s so much more fun for people to describe it as winning the lottery and the overnight sensation,” she said. “But it was all very strategic: These are the steps that need to be accomplished.”

Photo
Will Smith as Deadshot and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn in “Suicide Squad,” based on DC Comics characters. CreditClay Enos/DC Comics and Warner Bros.

The cancellation of “Pan Am” after just 14 episodes was actually a lucky break, allowing her to take roles in Richard Curtis’s romantic comedy “About Time” and then “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

Her formidable performance (and Noo Yawk dialect) in “The Wolf of Wall Street” became her calling card. But it also required her to appear in several nude scenes, including one in which she entices Mr. DiCaprio’s character wearing only a pair of stockings and high heels.

Ms. Robbie said she struggled with that provocative sequence. Recalling her thoughts at the time, she said: “The sacrifice I have to make is that I have to do this nudity thing that I don’t really want to do. But I get to work with Scorsese, which I really want to do. O.K., what outweighs what?”

Though the director told her she could play the scene in a robe or underwear, Ms. Robbie said that once she got invested in the character: “I was like, she wouldn’t do that, no way. She would be fully naked.”

Since then, Ms. Robbie has starred in “Suite Française” (adapted from Irène Némirovsky’s fiction) and the comic con-artist thriller “Focus” (with Will Smith).

But it is “The Wolf of Wall Street” that filmmakers keep coming back to and casting her from.

David Yates, the director of “The Legend of Tarzan,” said that seeing Ms. Robbie in that film made her look “glamorous and exciting” but also caused him to wonder, is she “going to be a flavor-of-the-month thing”?

The director (whose credits include four “Harry Potter” films as well as the coming “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”), said that for his “Tarzan,” he consciously avoided creating a Jane “that felt too vulnerable, that needed rescuing.”

Meeting Ms. Robbie, Mr. Yates said, revealed a woman who was right for the part but different from what he expected.

“She’s very pragmatic,” he said. “She’s quite insightful. Despite the fact that she looks wonderful and she’s quite ambitious in a good way, she has her feet on the ground.”

For Ms. Robbie, “Tarzan” called for a lot of time in front of green screens in London, pretending to run from animal stampedes or endure a monsoon.

(In the midst of filming, she celebrated her 24th birthday with a 24-hour-long party. “So many people were like, ‘Margot, I’m tired,’” she said. “I’m like, ‘We’re not done yet!’”)

She faced a different kind of endurance contest preparing for “Suicide Squad,” whose cast also includes Mr. Smith and Jared Leto, and in which Ms. Robbie is one miscreant on a team of mismatched villains-turned-heroes.

From his first Skype conversation with Ms. Robbie, the film’s writer-director, David Ayer (“End of Watch,” “Fury”), said, “she was a very analytical and serious person.” He added, “But once she feels comfortable, she really opens up.”

That was the actor Mr. Ayer said he wanted for the unhinged Harley Quinn, who could bring to life the character’s “gear shifts, the wild forays and suddenly can be real and heartbreaking.”

Photo
Margot Robbie and Alexander Skarsgard in “The Legend of Tarzan.”CreditJonathan Olley/Warner Bros.

As Harley Quinn, Ms. Robbie once again had to put much of her body on display: The character almost always wears tiny shorts and is seen, in one trailer, changing into a tight T-shirt. Ms. Robbie said she could justify the wardrobe: Her character is “wearing hot pants because they’re sparkly and fun,” she said, not because “she wanted guys to look at her ass.”

But, she added: “As Margot, no, I don’t like wearing that. I’m eating burgers at lunchtime, and then you go do a scene where you’re hosed down and soaking wet in a white T-shirt, it’s so clingy and you’re self-conscious about it.”

Mr. Ayer said that “I didn’t think denim overalls would be appropriate for that character” and that Ms. Robbie understood “that’s part of the iconography.”

Ms. Robbie said that when she is playing characters who are confident about their appearance — say, a self-assured war correspondent in the Tina Fey comedy “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” or a satirical version of herself, explaining subprime mortg...ubble bath in “The Big Short” — she is not necessarily feeling that way.

“You need to act like you think you’re really gorgeous,” she said, “and you need to be completely convinced with that, because everyone else will believe it, too.”

Ms. Robbie said she can do that “when I’m really sure it’s not me.”

Should there be a “Suicide Squad” sequel, she said, half-jokingly and half not, “I’m not wearing hot pants next time.”

Her “Suicide Squad” co-stars described Ms. Robbie as a performer whose tenacity gets overlooked in a superficial glance.

“You might be fooled into thinking she’s such an easygoing person, but she’s very, very serious about what she does,” said Jai Courtney, a fellow Australian who plays Captain Boomerang.

“Her pursuit for it has been carried out doggedly,” he said. “She deserves it. She’s worked for it. But she’s also not resting on any laurels or gifts or physical attributes.”

Already, Ms. Robbie has helped create a new production company, LuckyChap Entertainment, to develop projects she could potentially star in, like a planned film about Tonya Harding, the disgraced Olympic figure skater.

Getting into producing, she acknowledged, was also a way to leverage her fame willingly before others can exploit it.

“It took a little while to get my head around the fact that, oh, you’re a commodity now, and there’s a value placed on your head,” she said. “Someone’s always going to be using your name, milking that and taking advantage of it. So you might as well let your friends do it.”

Asked if she felt she had achieved what she hoped for when she first came to Hollywood, Ms. Robbie thought for a moment before answering no. She couldn’t quite say what she wanted then but described a flight of fancy that had lately crossed her mind.

“Often I’m like, ‘I should’ve been a stuntwoman,’” she said. “I love doing stunts and being on set, but then you wouldn’t have to be famous.”

But then, she said, “You can’t really turn back the clock.”

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Reply #21 posted 08/11/16 9:23am

JoeBala

Q & ANDY: MARIAH CAREY

BRUCE WEBER

08/10/16


MARIAH CAREY IN INTERVIEW, SEPTEMBER 2007. PHOTO: BRUCE WEBER.


Five octaves, 18 No. 1 singles, 200 million records sold. And the best tour rider in the biz (reportedly: 20 white kittens, 100 white doves, and a bevy of bendy straws for the Cristal). When we called Mariah Carey the world's biggest diva in our September 2007 cover story, we weren't wrong. And we wouldn't be wrong now—and, God, we still love her for it. As she wraps up her sensational yearlong Vegas residency, Mariah Carey's #1 to Infinity at Caesars Palace, and prepares to launchMariah's World, her docu-series on E!, Miss Glitter talked to Andy about Marilyn movies and Hello Kitty.

ANDY WARHOL: What did you have for breakfast?

MARIAH CAREY: Smoked salmon with capers.

WARHOL: What was your first job?

CAREY: I worked at a pet shop.

WARHOL: Who was the nicest person you worked for?

CAREY: They were all pretty bad...

WARHOL: What are you working on now?

CAREY: I'm touring, filming a docu-series, and trying my hardest to get back into the studio as soon as possible.

WARHOL: Is there anything you regret not doing?

CAREY: To quote Frank Sinatra, "Regrets, I've had a few / But then again, too few to mention."

WARHOL: What's your favorite movie?

CAREY: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

WARHOL: Do you keep a diary?

CAREY: YES!

WARHOL: Do you dream?

CAREY: Sometimes I wake up laughing when I have a great dream. And sometimes I have nightmares - and I HATE them.

WARHOL: When do you get nervous?

CAREY: I still get nervous sometimes before performing.

WARHOL: What's the craziest thing a fan has sent you?

CAREY: The fans never send me crazy things. They send me things that they put so much time and effort into making, and they are so amazing. You have to see them!

WARHOL: Are you a good cook?

CAREY: Yes! I've been told I'm a very good cook, and I have several specialties.

WARHOL: What do you think about love?

CAREY: I never thought that I would have love again, but it's amazing how the universe brings love to you.

WARHOL: Do you think that it is vanity to worry so much about what you look like?

CAREY: Yes! I wish I could get over it. LOL

WARHOL: Do you dance at home?

CAREY: Oh yeah!!! LOL

WARHOL: What kind of clothes do you like now?

CAREY: Lingerie.

WARHOL: Do you do your own nails?

CAREY: I could do my own nails...I went to beauty school in the 11th grade. But why would I do that now?

WARHOL: How many tubes of lipstick do you use a day?

CAREY: I prefer gloss.

WARHOL: Do you have a dream role?

CAREY: Yes. I want to be Hello Kitty. Haha.

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Reply #22 posted 08/11/16 10:29am

JoeBala

YOUNG SUMMER’S “PAUSED PARADE” IS A GORGEOUS REPRIEVE FROM BUSY SUMMER SONGS

EMILY CHU + MEREDITH SCHNEIDER | JULY 29, 2016

Screen Shot 2016-07-11 at 3.55.29 PM

Alternative/Indie artist Young Summer has come a long way since her synth pop heavy debut LP Siren. Her new material is nothing short of extraordinary, from its fun sound effects to the raw, natural talent displayed on the instrumentals. With a voice slightly reminiscent of incredible talents like Inge Colsen and Imogen Heap, it’s no wonder she may just be on her way to household name status, and rightfully so.

Her latest track – “Paused Parade” – is a bit more of a stripped down version of what we’re used to, and it’s gorgeous in its simplicity. Written alongside the massive talent of Aqualung (Lianne La Havas, Bat For Lashes), the song is tranquil in its disposition, and perfect for a midsummer night’s swim in a dimly lit pool with a love interest. (Did someone say “skinny dipping”?)

We’ve got the track below, as well as an interview with Young Summer herself. There’s more than meets the eye to this darling woman, and we can’t wait for you to find out more.

Why the name Young Summer? How did you choose that?

I wanted something that represented the way this music felt to me which is free and untethered. When the summer has just begun and it feels like anything is possible, that freedom is what the name encapsulates to me and of course it has evolved into meaning much more but as whole it is about freedom and being unafraid.

How would you describe your music in one word? Explain your word choice.

To use one word is hard but maybe the most important word I would use to describe it would be, “honest”. I decided long ago when I was writing songs that the only way to create this art was to be completely honest and raw no matter how painful it was because ultimately that’s what we, as humans, connect with in each other. I want people to feel found in my music and know they aren’t alone and that can only be accomplished by being completely honest, at all costs.

I hear you’re moving away from your synth pop sound. Tell me about that.

I always want to be evolving and growing as an artist so I’m not necessarily moving away from synth pop but exploring other realms sonically and experimenting more with form and themes. You can hear that in my new single, “Paused Parade”. I am very proud of that song.

Where or who do you draw your inspiration from?

When I’m working on new music I pull inspiration by looking to artists who work in other mediums, for me it’s a cleaner way of deriving inspiration. I’ve been reading a lot of Raymond Carver, Charles Bukowski, and reading Sylvia Plath’s journals, which are a wonderful source of inspiration.

While I was writing the songs that will be on the EP, I kept feeling that there was a different colored vibrant light emanating from them so I have been revisiting the artists I love that do amazing work in light installations like the late Dan Flavin, Robert Irwin, and Aldo Chaparro to name a few. The use of light and color is very important to me as I see color when I hear music so those artists have been wonderful to draw inspiration from.

Which one of your tracks has been the most fun to create and why?

“Alright” was fun to create because it came so quickly and felt like it fluttered into the room perfectly formed. Some songs fight you while you create them but “Alright” came in and sat on my shoulder and sang itself into existence.


If you could choose between changing something in the past or changing something in the future, which would you choose and why?

The past, for better or worse, has to happen for all of us to be who we are, where we are now; therefore, I wouldn’t change the past. It would be nice to have the ability to change something in the future, especially in our current climate.

What is your favorite food?

Hardest question of them all, I LOVE all foods but it would have to be a tie between hamburgers and sushi.

What’s coming up next for you?

I’ll be releasing my new EP this summer and touring soon. Can’t wait for people to hear more of the new music!

Young Summer will be play...gust 31st. Keep up with her on Facebook.

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Reply #23 posted 08/14/16 6:40pm

MickyDolenz

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Vintage Trouble {July 2016}


You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #24 posted 08/17/16 9:18am

JoeBala

Mickey can you link he video?

New music to listen to this week: Earl

Now Hear This

earl.jpg

Playing catch-up after a week in Norway for Oya festival, I want you to check out Alaska-born singer Earl

She grew up singing gospel in her local church choir before moving to LA - now based in London, she's signed to BMG and is working on a debut, which is set to be out in early 2017.

She's got a great voice and a pretty unique sound - the video for her single 'I Love You' has racked up an impressive 100k views over the last couple of weeks.

Check it out and let me know what you think:

Q&A with Earl

What are you listening to at the moment?

I love so many genres of music. I’m into that song ‘Concrete' by Tom Odell and the accapella version of Ariana Grande singing 'Dangerous Woman', excellent.

Otherwise it’s been the original 'Sing Sing Sing' by Benny Goodman and my budgie seems to enjoy singing along to Sia’s 'Cheap Thrills'.

What are your plans for the rest of 2016?

Continuing with my collaborator Phil Thornalley - he’s so humble he never mentioned he produced The Cure. I mean THE CURE…

And when we weren’t skinny dipping in the ocean, I did work on this co-write with Paloma Faith over in Hastings that one of my producers Blair Mackichan made happen. And I’ve been tweeting with Guy Chambers about writing the next one…. so I hope to have the album finished by Christmas.

What was the first gig you ever played, and what’s been the best so far?

If being the worship leader at a church revival in rural Alaska doesn’t count, I’d have to say my first “artist” gig was at a coffee shopped called Perkatory in Jackson, Michigan where I attended a missionary program when I was 17. My bible school mates were on the fence about attending because the atmosphere of the venue was “secular”.

But everyone knew the words to my song about wishing I could make cookies with Jesus, so they showed up and church sort of happened amidst the sound of grinding beans. It was a sight.

The gig closest to my heart was opening for Damien Rice after he found me online. For some reason they decided to give me a standing ovation at the London Palladium. I’d never been to the UK before that. It made me want to come back.

[Edited 8/17/16 9:20am]

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Reply #25 posted 08/17/16 2:18pm

KoolEaze

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What a great thread idea. Thank you so much.

I will add some once I have the time....very busy right now.

" I´d rather be a stank ass hoe because I´m not stupid. Oh my goodness! I got more drugs! I´m always funny dude...I´m hilarious! Are we gonna smoke?"
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Reply #26 posted 08/18/16 7:29am

JoeBala

KoolEaze said:

What a great thread idea. Thank you so much.

I will add some once I have the time....very busy right now.

Thanks looking forward to it. I guess youtube is fixed Thanks Mick.

NO CAPE NEEDED; SUPERGIRL Stunner ITALIA RICCI Talks About Being On One Of Television's Juiciest New Shows; DESIGNATED SURVIVOR!


There are easily two types of headlines that dominate news today, and those are superheroes and politics. In fact, both topics are so pro...

Read the entire article here: http://www.huffingtonpost...609978a22b

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Reply #27 posted 08/18/16 7:45am

JoeBala

DISCOVERY: FARIDA

VICTORIA STEVENS

08/16/16

FARIDA BOLSETH BENOUNIS IN OSLO, NORWAY AT ØYA FESTIVAL, AUGUST 2016. PHOTOS: VICTORIA STEVENS.


Sultry R&B isn't what one would expect to arise out of Norway. Yet from among the fjords emerges Farida, poised to break down those preconceptions. Farida grew up with an array of influences—notably, the blues and the Norwegian landscape—and crafts what she calls "R&B mixed with Scandinavian melancholy." Her soulful tracks are anchored by their vulnerable lyrics and her commanding voice. An apt introduction to her sound is The 25th Hour, the mixtape she released in April 2016. It's a refreshing set of 8 tracks that embraces synths and even pop sounds, at times rousing and exuberant and at others unhurried and introspective.

Farida is currently at work on her debut LP and performed at Øya Festival in Oslo, Norway last week. When we met her on the first day of the festival, she spoke to us about her start at singing, the impact of Norway and Algeria on her music, and that time she danced on stage with Ne-Yo.




FULL NAME: Farida Bolseth Benounis

AGE: 26

HOMETOWN: Gjøvik. It's two hours outside of Oslo by train. It's the place where I grew up and I relax there. It's not that little, actually; we have about 40,000 people. It's kind of split, so you have the city, and then ten minutes away there are farms. I've lived everywhere in the town, in the city and outside. It's just the best place in the world. I feel like everyone needs to go there. It's such a tranquil feeling when you're there. At home, I feel like everything is connected, like, "Wow, this is what life is about."

BASED: Oslo for four years. I was traveling back and forth before that because I was working as a dancer and teaching here.

THE 25TH HOUR: Every song on the mixtape is written at the exact time when the things happened, which if you listen to the lyrics you'll understand. I wanted to do it that way because I feel like everything that I write at that exact time is going to come out more sincere, even through a microphone in the studio. I felt like, "I have this feeling and energy in me right now, and I really needed to pay it forward." The reason I named it The 25th Hour was firstly, because I was 25 when I made the whole thing, but I also always felt like I needed another hour because I had so many ideas. When you're creative, you lay up all night thinking, "Just one more hour!" The third is that I felt like I was revealing my whole story in 25 hours. The mixtape is not 25 hours long; it was more the feeling of revealing your whole life in just 25 hours.

PUTTING IN THE WORK: When I grew up, I was into dancing and singing, but I think every child is into singing. I knew that I wasn't born with an Aretha or Beyoncé voice. I had to work. When I was 13 or 14, that's when I started to think, "Okay, maybe I can hit a note." I did some singing shows and stuff. Even my mom was like, "If you want to do this, you need to put in work because it's a muscle." To me, it was really about always focusing on getting my voice better. I felt like in the beginning it was kind of hard because you want to sound like everyone else. You wonder, "Why can't I hit that note?" But as I got older, when I was 16, I started performing arts high school and something happened, and it felt like, "Okay, I'm going to do this and I really want to." The passion was everything. I didn't really care if I was going to make it or not. When I was starting to take the vocal lessons, as I got better, I got more motivated. It's that feeling, when you work for something—and it wasn't like running and getting muscles—it was actually inside, like, "Oh wow, this is really cool, I'm actually getting better by singing all the time." That was basically my start but it was also my focus for many years. I knew that there were a lot of people who were like, "Yeah, you can sing a little," and you don't want to hear that.

FIRST SONG: I was 12 and it's called "The Cabin." I was at a cabin with my friends and their families. I was really, really shy, and they got some visitors from somewhere, and I didn't want to go down to the other cabin because I was shy and I was afraid. My friend just went and I was really mad at her. The whole song is about, "I'm at the cabin by myself / And she just went / And I'm angry / And she just went / And I'm angry / But I'm at the cabin by myself." [laughs]

THE SOUNDS OF YOUTH: My dad, he's from Algeria, and my mother is Norwegian. My mom used to be a dancer, so we listened to a lot of different types of music. We had a lot of Frank Sinatra, I remember this one hit wonder guy, Lou Bega—that song ["Mambo No. 5"] was so dope. We listened to a lot of Craig David; I got my first CD of his when I was 11, it was the Born to Do It album. My dad, he did play a cultural drum, but he listened to a lot of blues, like Elmer James and Ray Charles. We also listened to a lot of Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone. That's inspired me with my own music and it's just developed from there. I don't think there's anything I haven't really heard when it comes to a genre. I think it's a good thing, and that's my responsibility as a musician as well to know what's out there, because I can be inspired by anyone and anything.

DANCING WITH NE-YO: It's funny because people are actually saying that I was opening up as an artist for Ne-Yo, which I did not. It was in 2010 and I was hip-hop dancing. He's really cool. It was only a few words [that we spoke], because he was on tour. We were opening up for him because he didn't have his own act [in Norway]. We were really lucky. It was so much fun and he was so hot at that moment.

DAY JOB: I only have time for two days or one day a week. It's at a clothing store for older women. To be honest, it's the best job I've had in my life. I've had a lot of jobs but just the women that I work with, they're so wise, so intelligent. Also, doing something other than music, it's important to me to keep that balance. Yes, I love to do [music] and it's my job now, it's supposed to be my job, but I need to maintain that childish approach or else it's just going to get boring and I'll stop.

IN THE WORKS: I'm working on my album. It's so fun! I love it. The reason I made a mixtape was because I really wanted to have that freedom, so the critics wouldn't say, "Oh my god, it's not a red thread." The focus now is bigger and better productions, and better lyrics, just experimenting with different elements of R&B, also taking things from my other cultural side, from Algeria, which is in North Africa. You know, trying to mix things, but still the same, but just bigger and better I hope.

NORWAY VS. L.A.: I was in L.A. in April and in June to work on different stuff for the album, but I think the difference is that I don't feel like I'm being influenced there. Here, I'm being influenced in a way where you don't shut it off. I feel like I'm creative in my own space with the people I'm working with. In the U.S., it's an American market. When I was there I was learning so much about that. I think the reason that we got the chance and have people actually recognize us is because we're different—[the music] is from here. That's what I'm getting told all the time, "Don't change that." I feel like here I'm safe because I'm actually creating in the environment that I'm in. When I'm there, it's harder because I don't have all those things around me that influence me. But it's also something that you learn as you go, to take it with you. I think you can create anywhere, I just love Norway so much.


THE 25TH HOUR IS AVAILABLE ON SOUNDCLOUD. FOR MORE ON FARIDA, VISIT HER INSTAGRAM.

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