For Atlantic recording artist Jason Mraz, his first set of all-new material in nearly three years will arrive in stores and at online retailers in May. Titled, “We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things” it is the San Diego-based troubadour’s third studio release to date.
Produced by Martin Terefe, known for his work with KT Tunstall, Ron Sexsmith, and James Morrison, it follows on from his two previous studio releases: 2002’s breakthrough, “Waiting For My Rocket To Come,” and 2005’s “Mr. A-Z”. On the eve of the album’s release, Joe Matera spoke Jason Mraz to discuss the new album, using drugs as a creative tool and the merits of bootlegging.
Ultimate-Guitar: Come May, you’ll be releasing your new studio album titled, We Steal. We Dance. We Steal Things, but leading up to its release date, you’re releasing a set of three EPs, - one each month - why?
Jason Mraz: I feel like I had promised so many people that I was making an acoustic album. And then I went into the studio and got carried away when I went in and started making We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things, which is this bugaloo, funky, sunshine, really bright and upbeat kind of record. And I thought a cool thing to do would be to share the music from the album early but as acoustic performances. And most of them at the very least will be the very demos that became the album later on.
So will the direction of the new album follow on from your previous outings?
Yes, it is in a very similar vein to my last records but there is a little difference to it even though I don’t really know exactly what that difference is. I think the difference is really the content not so much the sonic quality of the album. I’m singing about relationships, optimism, life lessons and all that good stuff.
Midway through the recording sessions for the album Atlantic Records pulled the plug on the whole project?
Yes they did. We got about a month into it and they didn’t care for what we were doing. And it was because we had made an entire funk and disco album. We told them not to worry as we would be making an acoustic album immediately after this album was done and so we were going to give them actually two albums. They were like “screw that, you guys are definitely doing the wrong thing” So they said, “It’s done. Just come home and we’ll find something else for you to do later”. But I think they got the wrong idea based on our excitement and the two album package idea. So we went back in the studio and spent another month without their support. And we told the musicians that we’d pay them later, and to just trust us. And we kept working on it. We recorded all our favorite songs from this acoustic group of songs that I had as well as we took our favorites from the disco project we were making and sort of came up with this rounded sunny and funky record. And then I took the record to Atlantic in New York and when I played it to them, they finally got what I was on about and came back onboard.
How did the songwriting process compare to that of your last two albums?
Again it was done in a very similar way. When I sit down to write, I do my best to remove myself from the whole process. I just sing out and let the music come through me and then I’ll record it or type it out and just try and make sense of what’s happening with the songs and with the thoughts I have about it. This album was great to write because after the last album I decided to take about a year and a half off. So I was at home and I surfed every day, cooked every day, did the gardening, and went back and played the coffee shops on a regular basis. I just sort of got myself grounded and started over in living my life again. And it did really help me create some awesome material this time around. Whereas my second album was created on the road and in hotel rooms, it really spoke of travel, sometimes of pain and sometimes of ego. But for this album, there is none of that. It is all boogie, wake up to life, eat organic foods… it’s a very fun record.
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| "This album was great to write because after the last album I decided to take about a year and a half off." |
Speaking of the creative process, I recall an interview you did where you spoke of working with producer Steve Lillywhite whom had encouraged you to take LSD as a tool to help your creativity…
Yeah, Steve knew my background and my love for Hunter S. Thompson stories and Jack Kerouac’s On The Road and about how I got around in my youth. And how, I had moments of clarity in psychedelia. And sure enough, here we were in the studio and it had been a long week and on top of things, I had a couple or rewrites to do and couple of things to get done by Monday as he always took the weekends off. And on this Friday night it was almost like he was playing the role of the gonzo lawyer where he said, “as your attorney, I advise you to take some LSD and come back Monday with a whole new attitude”.
Did We Sing, We Dance, We Steel Things’ producer Martin Terefe offer you the same type of advice?
Absolutely not! It was a total different experience. I actually had worked with him long before I made my first album and this was a real joy to finally get to make a full album with him. With Martin, it was more like being two buds in the studio, just experimenting with sounds and bringing in different players to try different things. There was never a dull moment. And there never was any need to go and take drugs. I came into this album with a whole new health and whole new attitude about music and traveling and recording that I hadn’t have had in any other experience before.
Lets’ discuss guitars, what sort of acoustic guitars did you use for this album?
They were mainly the Taylor guitars that I have; a NS52 and a NS72. I honestly don’t know what the difference is between the two, but I love them both.
How did you approach the recording of the guitars in the studio?
Well looking back on the whole process now, I feel sad at the way my guitar was miked because we didn’t really plugged it in, we just used a crappy mike a good distance away from the guitar. You see, when I was at home recording the guitar for the demos, I really loved getting the nylon string to pop and to breathe and just adding a little reverb to it where you could hear the warmth to the whole body. Which is something, you actually will hear on the EPs. I also used a late ‘40s Gibson on the EPs as well for some of it. And that guitar had this almost distorted sound based on one of the bracings inside being a little jacked. But on the actual album my guitar plays a minor role in the whole sonic creation. The album was driven by keys and horns so every now and then you’ll hear a little funky rhythm guitar and some beautiful dobro on some tracks too.
For the past few years you’ve been playing nylon string guitars rather than acoustic guitars. Does that affect the way you now approach the songs?
Yes. All the songs on the album were written on a nylon string. I’ve got my nails growing on my right hand so I’ve got this variety of technique I can strum and I can finger pick as well. I always felt I was limited with a guitar pick. And then I had to throw it away and grab another pick from my pocket and I didn’t like this choreography that was required. So I spent the last two years just playing a nylon string and am really just digging it. Digging it because of where I can take it, both rhythmically and dynamically.
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| "I'm singing about relationships, optimism, life lessons and all that good stuff." |
What kind of musicians has influenced your guitar approach?
More recently because of the nylon, I’ve been getting in people like José González, Kings of Convenience, Belle & Sebastian and Nick Drake, people who really took the acoustic guitar and made their own dance out of it. And that is what I’m moved by when I hear that kind of guitar playing.
When it comes to playing live, what sort of set-up do you have?
I keep it simple. I just have my Taylor nylon string and I run that direct but I also run it through a Fender Deluxe onstage also. It is just so it can give me a little bit of stage power. And I also dirty it up a little bit. I’ve never been a guy to use pedals or anything like that. Until I’m a better guitar player and until I sort of have earned to obey the guitar, then I will start to dabble in the peals and start to change the sound and see how I can improve. But just by keeping it simple it with no pedals, it does affect my playing, its like “what can I do just as a player to back myself up?”
Any chance of you then, going electric in future?
I don’t know, maybe. On the tour for my last record I did a little bit of that. I had this Fender Jaguar that I love and it was great for some funky tunes. But when I am at home I just can’t help picking up the nylon string. It is perfect for the living room, the studio, the yard and it really translated well on this record.
Considering how the record industry is currently in turmoil due to downloading and all that, you go against the grain and actually allow fans to record your shows?
Bootlegging was around way before me. I got to listen to great Bob Dylan shows that I wasn’t even alive for, thanks to bootlegs. And I got turned on to the Dave Matthews Band and funky jam bands like Grateful Dead and all kind of folks, thanks to bootlegging. And so I when I started playing music, I just thought it was the only right thing to do, to allow people to tape the shows. Because you never know where it’ll end up or who’ll get it. And that also keeps me on my toes because I never want to do the same show twice because people are taping it. To me, it makes my shows challenging so that people feel that every single show that is taped is a bit different from the last.
Interview by Joe Matera
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