INTERVIEW: Jason Mraz
- Posted on June 5, 2008 3:57 PM
- 1 comment
Interview By Zarina Raja
There are just some people that you know you need to meet - and Jason Mraz is one of them. Although he allowed me to partially glimpse into his obviously complex thoughts over the phone, I think that a face-to-face chat would have really allowed me to peer through the crack in his mind and see deep into where Jason’s thoughts and lyrics really come from.
Although car sick and tired, Jason escorted us through his beliefs on playing large venues, renewing our faith in the musician kind. It’s not always about the album sales you know...
Hi, Jason, how are you?
Ok, I’m car sick.
Where are you travelling to?
I have no idea.
When was it that you first decided to pursue a career in music?
I was seven-years-old. We were in class at school. I fell in love with the temptation of hearing those vibrations.
Is there any band that strikes you as a main influence in your life?
No, there isn’t. Every week, things change entirely.
When did you get your first instrument?
We had a piano when we were growing up. I was always banging on it and making sounds. I was around eighteen when I picked up a guitar. I was travelling so much; the guitar seemed like a perfect companion.
Have you still got that first guitar?
No. It was important for me to pass it on to someone else.
Your biography indicated that, after a break from music, all these ‘real’ songs started to come out of you. Is there a particular time or place that you find it easier to write a song in?
It is natural inspiration, but I much prefer it when I am at home. I can be as loud as I want. I can experiment for hours. I write though provocation and practice. Trying to do that in the hotel with people down the hall…it just puts a cap on how loud you can be.
Don’t you ever find that inspiration will suddenly come to you when you are on a train or just walking somewhere?
Yeah, it does; especially places like the tube. If I am sitting somewhere, I can fill up a journal with thoughts. That way, when I do sit down and make music, I already have the dialogue for it.
Your lyrics are obviously very important to you. Do you ever feel like you are exposing yourself when you sing your lyrics on stage – like you are letting people in on a diary entry?
I do, but that’s what I like about it. It’s therapeutic. When I play live, I actually try to give it a more momentarily personal message. It’s a great way to learn and a great way to revolve.
Have nerves ever been a problem for you during live performances?
Not usually, sometimes if I am in a big, big stadium though, but only because I can’t see the people in the back.
How do you feel about playing massive venues?
Personally, I prefer to keep it small. To me, you become a product at that point. I come from a background of sitting at people’s houses and listening to music and playing at parties and in coffee shops. That is where real connections have been made.
It’s nice to hear a musician say that they still care about the connection and not just record sales. You once received an anonymous package which inspired you to go travelling. Did you ever find out who that was from?
No, I didn’t actually. It was very odd at the time, but it is just the way the world works.
Tell me a bit about the album and its creation progress.
I took myself away and experimented with music everyday. I wrote about seventy songs.
Was that not hard to choose a selection for the album?
Yeah, it really was hard. It is a matter of choosing just the right play list.
What happens to those other songs that don’t make the album? Do you still play them live?
Yeah, the ones that don’t make the album definitely hit the stage.
If there was one word to sum up the album, what would it be?
Awesome.
Related Links
Buy Jason Mraz tickets
Tags
Comments (1)
Joey
We were lucky enough to see Jason live twice last week. He's right about the smaller gigs - Manchester Ritz was fab - dark and brilliantly unpretentious made for an amazingly intimate atmosphere. Mr Mraz was awesome as always, mixing some older material with several tracks from the new album, all of which the clearly dedicated audience sang along with. Toca was phenominal - those harmonies are truly beautiful and the obvious rapport between he and Jason invites the audience to feel party to a special relationship. Thanks Mr A-Z - for the music, and the window into a world of brilliantly personal lyrics, S
Posted on July 7, 2008 11:15 PM
Post a comment
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.seatwaveblogs.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/3096
