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By Tinnie P. Esguerra
February 8, 2005
It’s about time.
After the smashing success of his self-titled debut album in 2003, the newly-anointed King of Swing, Michael Buble, is now bubbling with excitement over the release of his much-awaited follow-up, ‘It’s Time,’ distributed locally by Warner Music Philippines.
While in London, the 25-year-old Vancouver native sat down for a short phone chat arranged by Warner in conjunction with his ongoing worldwide promo tour. With its sense of swing sublime, ‘It’s Time’ clearly captures Michael Buble at his prime.
Q: Hi Michael! How are you? Where are you right now?
A: Hi! I’m in London, England, doing some promos and TV shows. How about you? Are you in Manila? How is beautiful Manila?
Q: It’s still kinda cold this time of year. A little colder than usual …
Q: The guys from Warner Music gave me a copy of your latest CD, ‘It’s Time.’ I listened to your composition, ‘Home’ and I noticed that it had that country-ish vibe. Is this an attempt to crossover to a completely new musical territory?
A: You know, to be honest with you, I think it was a … I’ve written so many songs you know, different kind of songs, you know, and this was just something that I felt fit well on the record. ‘Coz a lot of the CD is autobiographical, and I thought it would help me with some radio and stuff like that. Easier to cross over. And I think it was close enough to my style to not be a strange kind of step away from what I do
Q: But would you consider it a stepping-away of some sort?
A: No, not at all. I think it just shows that I will not be categorized, that I’m a versatile entertainer. And that this is something else I’m capable of doing
Q: If I remember right, even Sinatra had songs in that same vein …
A: Just a few, yes. And I think it’s important for me to remember that I continue an important legacy of people like Sinatra, Elvis and Dean Martin and that is to be an interpreter of great songs. And that’s why I only had one of my originals. I could’ve had three, or four or five, but I think that would’ve been disrespectful to the over three million who bought the first record …
Q: Of course not … What about those other songs? Were they in the same mold, or were they in the same jazzy/big band mold?
A: All different, actually. Some were jazzy, some poppy, some were Disney-esque … more pop ballads, big power ballads. Big string sections. It’s like this song … who was it? Gosh, was it Vanessa Williams? Remember she had a big hit? What was that? ‘Save The Best for Last?’ Kind of that style. Almost a cross between Norah Jones and Bryan Adams. Hey, I’ve written a lot. Thing is, I’m a young guy. I was influenced by everybody from the Beastie Boys to Aerosmith to Bryan Adams. Of course, there’s Sinatra, Presley, Martin and Ella Fitzgerald too. So, I don’t just write in one style or do one style, you know …
Q: And when you do write, do you sit down at the piano?
A: No, I usually write while I’m having a shower. I wrote ‘Home’ when I was having a shower in Rome. And I’m always singing. So, if I come up with a cool lick, I keep it. I wanted to be very careful on this record. I wanted to not be too self-indulgent. That’s why I only had one. And David Foster, actually … the producer … he called me and he said, “You know Michael, I’m very proud of you, because it’s TOUGH to have the self-control and to not put on a whole bunch of your original songs. I’m very proud of you for having the respect for your audience, and making sure you don’t forget who you are and what got you here.”
Q: As a follow-up question regarding ‘Home,’ what inspired you to write that song?
A: I was on the road a lot, and I feel really lucky to do what I do … really fortunate. You know, God has blessed me. But at the same time, one of the consequences of success is … I miss my family. I really miss them, bad, and I miss my girlfriend, and I wanted to write something. I wanted to write something that everyone can relate to. Not just me, not just a few of us, but … coz everyone has had a point in her life … that they miss home. And not just home, not their house, but the family that makes home what it is.
Q: Speaking of home, I’ve read a lot of stuff about how your grandpa helped you a lot. What does he have to say now about your newfound ‘celebrity status?’
A: Hey! Like … he thinks its great. He loves the Philippines! He’s always been interested in geographical studies. And the Philippines was one of the first places that took me under their wing, you know … Now, he loves the Philippines!
You know what’s kinda neat for me now? I can spot a Filipino anywhere in the world. I know, I can tell! Wherever I am! Someone who’s at the airport, buying clothes. Actually, just today, I was in a restaurant here in London. A waitress came up and said, ‘Hello, sirrr!” And I know THAT sound!! That Filipino accent. And she said, “Do you want your bill?,” to which I replied, “Bahala na.” And she laughed! “How the hell did you know that?!” It’s just kinda cool man, to be able to have that connection – with Filipinos all over the world! It’s really neat!
Q: Let’s talk about some of the stuff from the album now. Who were the musicians you assembled, or maybe David assembled, for this album?
A: I assembled some of the greatest musicians in the world. From guys that I play with in my band, like Alan Chang to Brian Green, you know, geez … really heavy guys to people like John Clayton, Jr. who wrote a lot of the arrangements … to a drummer like Jeff Hamilton… There’s … These are fuckin’ heavy guys! Christian McBride on bass. Randy Waldman on piano. These guys are killers! And even to have a guy like Chris Botti come in and play on ‘A Song for You’. Man, Chris is huge right now in America! Huge!
Q: This was your choice, Michael? I mean, you just sat down with David and said, “Well, I want him, and him and …”
A: As a matter of fact, what happened was I worked with another producer on this album. His name is Tommy LiPuma … and Al Schmitt. And Tommy and I said, “Look, we gotta get these guys. We gotta get the big hitters!” So, we went out and did a couple of recordings together. We did ‘The More I See You’ and ‘Softly, As I Leave You’ and they were just so stunning. And I told David, “David, I need these guys.” And he said, “Geez, they’re so expensive, you know …” And I said, “I don’t care. We need to have the top guys.” The musicianship is incredible on this record. I mean, the guys you’re hearing playing the horns? These are the L.A. session guys! They’ve been doing it for 30 or 40 years. They don’t make mistakes, you know. They’re still passionate, incredible musicians. They’re just unstoppable!
Q: How did the Tommy LiPuma collaboration come about?
A: Well, I wanted to know what it was like to work with another producer, in another kind of style.
Q: Was it David’s idea or …?
A: It was my idea. If you talk to David, he’ll tell you the same thing. I was very worried about this record, ok?
Q: Why is that?
A: Because I sold over three million of the first record. And all of a sudden, the pressure’s on you. The second record is the most important. The first record’s easy. The second record is the most important record in an artist’s career, I believe
Q: Make or break …
A: Make or break. And I knew that this thing needed to be better than the first, and there is just no way around that. So, I took control. And David was wonderful with me, that he allowed me to take more control. He let me push my weight around a lot more. In songs like ‘Home’ or ‘Feeling Good,’ that was ME pushing, and doing what I felt was necessary as an artist. And then with Tommy LiPuma, I walked in and I said, “I want to be able to grow – to be able to work with someone who has a different style. And David was thrilled about that. “Good for you, kid!,” he said. David and I got very close on this record. We really got close.
Q: Well, I’m sure Tommy was equally impressed with your performance as well. What does he have to say about you?
A: We can’t wait to work together again. We just can’t wait to get back in the studio. We had a lot of fun. It’s so funny they work in such different ways, you know.
Q: For instance?
A: Well, for instance, working with David is like working with Beethoven. The man is brilliant! He’s a brilliant musician. If it were up to him, there would be no musicians. He’d play it himself.
Q: Who was more demanding? More exacting?
A: I’d say Tommy.
Q: Down to the last note …?
A: I think he almost drove me nuts a little bit (laughs). So much of a perfectionist. Everything just had to be absolutely perfect. Yet, at the same time, David is more of a perfectionist in a way. Tommy, if there’s a little mistake in a song, if the energy is there, Tommy wants to keep it. He’d say, “Listen, this doesn’t have to be slick. This doesn’t have to be perfection. But if the energy is there and it’s swingin’ like crazy and it feels really good, then it’s right.” Whereas, David wanted to have perfection. But I wouldn’t allow him. I didn’t want it to be too slick. I want it a little bit edgy, a little bit more about who I am. I’m not perfect. I’m not slick. I’m passionate, and sometimes it can be a little brash, and that’s kind of how I want it.
Q: So Michael, compared to your debut album, how does the new album sound?
A: I would say it’s so much better. I think it shows maturity. I think it’s far more exciting, far less obvious, and it’s a much better representation of who I am. I mean, I think it’s just a far better record. And I’m not saying that the first one was shit, you know? I’m very proud of the first record. I just think I sound better, and sang much better and sang with more confidence, more feeling. And a lot of that has a lot to do with me controlling what songs we sang – songs I was really passionate about, the tempos, you know … the feel. A song like ‘Cuando, Cuando, Cuando’. They wanted to do it in a quick kind of way. And I just thought, “No possible way I’m gonna do this!” I thought it was always a pretty song with nice lyrics, and I thought, “Why can’t it be elegant?” Why can’t I put a nice bossa to it, and have someone like Nelly Furtado come in and give it an elegant sexy feel, instead of just doing a recreation. I wanted to do a reinvention. I wanted to give it a rebirth, and make it mine. Mine, mine, mine! A song like ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’, again for instance. And a lot of people don’t even know what song it is, coz it’s completely different.
But I was also careful to have respect for my audience, for the people who bought the record, and to have a Nelson Riddle ‘Under My Skin’ song on there, just to keep the continuity of the first record. You know what I mean? So, I couldn’t have been more pleased with this record. It’s funny, you know. I called my manager when I was finished and I said, “Bruce, I’m finished and I’ve made a great record for you. I can’t tell you just how thrilled I am with this. If I sell ten copies, I don’t care, because I did something that I’m proud of.” And he said, “Oh, that’s just great! That’s what you love to hear – an artist who loves his own record, and then we only sell ten copies (laughs).
And another thing too is I had a very conscious decision to make …
Q: Which is …?
A: Which is … do I make a record – a self-indulgent complicated record that the critics will love, or do I make a record for the people? And I chose to make a record for the people …
Q: That’s great!
A: And you know what? I do realize that I’m gonna have to wake up some mornings and open the paper and some critics who are kinda stuffy or purists are gonna say …
Q: Do you ever worry about them anyway?
A: That’s the thing, you know? You know, any artist who says to you, “I don’t care what the critics say!,” they’re lying! We all care! I mean, we’re human beings. It hurts me when I read something and they hate it, you know. It sucks! But I couldn’t let that push me into making those decisions.
Q: Do you have any particular musical idols or heroes who you still dream of working or recording with?
A: Yes! Tony Bennett. I think he’s the number one guy. He’s become a good friend. What I love so much and idolize about him is that he was very confident and sure about his own personal style, and when disco started coming into fashion, and it became so trendy to wear butterfly collars and bell-bottoms, he continued to be Tony Bennett, and his career and his popularity suffered. It went up and down. But he got the last laugh. He’s now the last man standing!
I also think Bobby Darrin was amazing because of his versatility. People want to categorize you. It’s a natural human instinct to categorize, to say, “You’re like Sinatra, or you’re a country singer, so you’re like Garth Brooks!” Bobby Darrin, you know, he said, “Fuck you! No! I will NOT be categorized! I can sing folk music, and I can sing rock and roll, and I can sing swing, and I can do it all well, because I’m a great, well-rounded entertainer … and artist. And I think that’s something that I thrive on, which is singing different styles.
If you look at the new CD, there’s swing, there’s a little bit of rock, a little bit of bossa, there’s an original … you know what I’m saying? I just refuse to be categorized.
And for me too, you know, I was watching TV a little while ago, and Tony Bennett was on a morning show in America, and they asked him if there was anyone he liked among the young people that are part of the survival of music. And he said, “Well, I don’t know if I can answer that. It’s not fair.” And then he said, “No, you know what? There IS someone, it’s Michael Buble. I haven’t seen anything like this since I saw a young Sinatra.”
And I was staying at home and I thought, “Ooooh shit!” You know? That was big for me. That was a big thing for me because the critics can say what they want, the purists can say what they want, but to have someone like Tony Bennett who’s done it, who’s seen it and who IS it, to have them look at me and say, “I get it. The kid is on track.” That’s huge for me. That’s a really big thing for me.
Q: But at the same time, doesn’t that put a lot of pressure on you?
A: I deserve to have pressure on me. I’m really grateful and look forward to the responsibility that comes with carrying on this tradition. If you’re talking about Sinatra, or Presley or Darrin, these are the greatest entertainers I think, ever! So, there SHOULD be pressure for me to be honest and to want to be great, not good. There’s a very big difference between great and good, and I need to strive to be great all the time, like these men were.
Q: So, does this mean that you’ll be having more of your compositions in your future albums?
A: Yes! If they work. If they work, and they complement the rest of the songs on the record, that’s fine. But I’m not gonna sit and think to myself just because I had success selling records that now I’m a better writer than Gershwin or Porter, you know? It’s a thing I have to hold on to and not be too self-indulgent.
Q: A follow-up question on your composing process: Do you play any instrument?
A: No.
Q: So, how do you work on that? You come up with the melodies right off your head?
A: I can tell you exactly what I did on this song. I came up with the whole form the melody, and in my mind I heard the piano going, “dang, ding da ding, ding da ding, ding ding ding … (imitates piano vamp) I hear the whole band in my head. And then I go to my piano player, and I sing the harmonies and melodies to him, and he plunks up the chords. And then with the lyrics, for some of the lyrics I felt I was too close to, I couldn’t be objective almost, I called David’s daughter, Amy Foster-Gillies who is really an incredible writer, and I said, “Come up with some stuff,” and she wrote some nice lyrics that meant something to me, and there was the song. So, that’s what I have to do. I have the whole thing in my head, already done, but I don’t know how to put it down on paper
Q: So, the final product is what you actually had in your head?
A: Exactly! And I think David Foster will tell you the same thing. He’s the same way, except that he can write it down. In the first record, I remember we worked on ‘How Do You Mend A Broken Heart?’, the Bee Gees song, and I promise you, the second he came up with the idea to do that song, he already had the whole thing in his head. He knew exactly how it was gonna sound, he knew exactly when Barry Gibb would come in. You kind of hear it, you know what I mean? Are you a musician?
It’s kinda neat, isn’t it? When you hear it come to life the first time? When you’ve kinda imagined what’s gonna happen in the string part here or there …
Q: So, when are you going to come back to the Philippines?
A: I’m hoping to come back this year and do a little bit of a tour.
Q: There’s one question though that my editor wanted me to ask you. Do you remember a girl named Kristine Hermosa? She’s an actress.
A: Yes, of course I do! She’s married, isn’t she?
Q: No, she’s not! Actually, there were a lot of writeups around the time you left, linking you to her. What do you have to say about her?
A: What do I have to say about her? I know her. I’m a friend and a fan, but there was never a romance, you know? There was never a sexual romance, I can promise you, as much as I probably would’ve loved that, or any boy would’ve loved that. I think, truly, she is a class act. You know, it’s hard, because she’s a celebrity there and people have their own ideas about her and this and that, but she was never anything but kind, and sweet and classy and she is really a great person, and whoever ends up with her is gonna be a very lucky boy.
Q: There’s some talk about an actor though … but anyway …
A: Oh, I’m sure … a girl like that doesn’t stay off the market too long
Q: What about this singer named Martin Nievera?
A: Aahhh, I like him very much! I think he’s great! Nievera, right? Fuckin’ great! Good guy, great entertainer. He’s doing well in America too, right? Yeah, I’ve seen him in Vegas. Man, it was crazy! His face was everywhere! And I was really proud of him. I think he’s a really lovely guy. Great musician, great singer! You know, it’s nice to see a consummate entertainer like that.
Q: Interestingly, he just launched an album last year that’s sort of in that Michael Buble mode …
A: It’s interesting. Everyone came out with an album this year that was in that mode (laughs)
Q: So, how do you feel about that?
A: Man, it’s all good! It’s good music. It doesn’t belong to me. He’s only helping to open people opens eyes to it. Listen, I might not choose to listen to Rod Stewart, but I have nothing bad to say about it. Robbie Williams did a good thing having that record that he had, and I think he’s coming out with another one.
I’ll be very blunt with you, ok? Many people are making these records to save their careers, or to sell records. That’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with that. This is all I’ve ever done, and all I’ll ever do, so I’m for real.
Q: So, final question perhaps … so, what do you do when you’re not touring or singing?
A: I’m never NOT singing or touring. I had at least nine days off in two years. That’s what I counted. I work constantly. There’s many countries I have to travel to, and I love what I do. When I’m in America, I rent another tourist bus, and my family comes along with me, so it’s quite nice
It’s a beautiful life! I’m really lucky. You know what I figured? I figured this could all go away tomorrow, so I might as well enjoy it and work my butt off while it’s hot
Q: So, what’s your ultimate dream? I mean, you’ve had it …
A: My ultimate dream is … I’ve done it, man! To become a worldwide success with the music I love. My dream was to re-ignite the standards movement, which I’ve done. And then my dream is to get out before things go shitty, and become a good dad and a good husband.
Q: So, when are you tying the knot?
A: Oh shit, I have no clue! It’s funny too ‘coz people are driving me crazy with this, and I just keep … You know, when people ask me about the personal stuff, like that, I just bullshit anyway … ‘coz it’s none of their business anyway, but I’d rather just give them a bullshit answer than to say, “Oh, don’t ask me a question like that?,” ‘Coz you’re just doing your job, right? You’re asking what people are interested in knowing and I hate it when an artist says, “Hey, that’s none of your business!” You know what, it IS their business, and you have the right to ask. Your answer, of course, is up to you. I’m gonna get married and I’m hoping that I can have my harem … (snickers)
Q: A what?!
A: A harem, you know? A nice harem with 16 beautiful girls. That’s what I’m going for …
Do me a favor, too. Just a special hello to everybody in the Philippines. They’ve been wonderful to me, and I really can’t wait to come back and show them my appreciation. Thank you, my friend ..
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