Blake Lewis Loves His New Record – Idol Chatter Interview
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Blake Lewis ‘“ Heartbreak on Vinyl:
(only $7.99 at Amazon!!!)In a Q&A interview with Brian Mansfield of Idol Chatter, Blake Lewis talks about the release of his sophomore album, Heartbreak on Vinyl.
As I mentioned in my post last night, the new record, released through indie label Tommy Boy Records, is a much better representation of who Blake is as an artist, than his post-Idol debut:
For people who’ve heard Audio Day Dream but only Sad Song from the new album, give them a sense of the difference between the two albums.
It’s definitely a completely different record. This is the record I wanted to make — fun, definitely my same kind of pop vocal stylings, but in a different environment, very danceable music.
What took Audio Day Dream in a different direction from what you had your heart set on?
Pretty much Clive Davis openly saying he didn’t like electronic music, and that’s what I had been doing for 11, 12, 13 years.
We definitely butted heads. I’m no diva R&B singer, so we didn’t get a long very well.
When Blake was promoting his post-Idol debut back in the fall of 2007, he couldn’t stop gushing about the creative control he was able to wield over the album, and that it was, give or take a song, exactly the album he wanted to make. He also had effusive praise for Clive Davis.
Of course, Blake was doing his job. He would have been stupid to badmouth his record and his label while out promoting the new album. But, Blake’s turnabout illustrates nicely why I bust out the salt lick when an Idol claims, in pre-album release interviews, that he/she has control, loves the label, loves the album, etc. The post-album release story typically features tales of compromise and struggle.
On Adam Lambert:
Has Adam Lambert’s success this past season had any effect on your life whatsoever?
Yes and no. It’s the American Idol family, so he got compared to me, as being rebellious and flamboyant. I got that. I guess I’m known as the rebellious American Idol. And he kind of did his own thing.
He’s a great dude. I helped him with a couple of beats for his record and tried to hook him up with certain people for his album. I saw him at one of their shows, at an American Idols Live concert in New Jersey. He just tore the roof off. He and Matt Giraud were my favorites from this season, and Allison, as well.
This was the first season that I actually watched, ever. It was cool, because there were two or three people I really enjoyed.
Adam pimped Blake’s album on twitter last night. Adam thanking Blake for “helping him out with some beats”? Heh.
Read the rest of the interview for Blake’s take on his Idol run, why he loves his new record, and the girl who broke his heart…
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Damn Blake have you peed in folks Cheerios? I guess he broke an idol commandment or two. Thou shalt not compare yourself to other popular runners up, or thou shalt not blame Clive for helping fuck up your first cd….(even if there could be a bit of truth to it), especially after you talked about having creative control, which in idolland is a myth, sorta like unicorns and elves….
i think blake comes across as needing a bit of an attitude adjustment here. he should have enough sense of himself in the cosmic universe of music not to blame clive; — and at this moment in particular, not to state that people have compared adam lambert to him. is he tone deaf or something (meaning that figuratively here, but one never knows!).
What season did Clive step down? I got the impression much changed when he left?
“i think blake comes across as needing a bit of an attitude adjustment here. he should have enough sense of himself in the cosmic universe of music not to blame clive; ‘†and at this moment in particular, not to state that people have compared adam lambert to him. is he tone deaf or something (meaning that figuratively here, but one never knows!).”
I don’t think it’s just an excuse game, I might have believed that before this 2nd album came out but seriously Heartbreak on Vinyl is quite good and Audio Day Dream… just not. There must be some explanation why the first album was so underwhelming if Blake is talented enough to put out something as good as this 2nd album is. I don’t know if it’s just Clive’s fault, but I do think Blake was likely not given as much creative/artistic control on the 1st album. I also believe that the choices a label makes as far as single releases can muzzle an album (I’m still waiting for ‘Lie’ to be released as a single for David Cook, RCA).
I have no problem believing Blake was not very well backed by the powers that be, just based off what I can hear on the two albums. It may be a bit of an excuse to blame Clive, but seriously Clive is good at what he does but he is absolutely the *wrong* guy to know how to market someone like Blake, and if he had control over the first album then Clive actually *does* legitimately deserve some of the blame.
As far as him mentioning that Adam Lambert has been compared to him, well that was in direct response to a question about Adam, and I’m also sure it’s true. I do think Blake is the closest previous Idol to the kind of thing Adam does, the comparison is a fair one. Actually listening to this record I think that while Adam has the far superior range and control of voice, I believe that Blake may have more talent (in song arrangements) and certainly has more sense of when to use the ‘less is more’ approach.
Blake’s new album is good, and he deserves to be proud of it. Just my opinion, but then again my opinion is the only one that matters… to me
I only heard of Blake this year when someone told me about his performance of You Give Love a Bad Name. That was an AWESOME performance. Also I listened to his new album and loved most of it. And the cover is awesome! Good job Blake
Yep, but it’s the only tv reality show you’ve got, lol. Rockstar — short run then belly up; Get On the Bus, or whatever Missy’s was called — even shorter run then belly up. America’s Got Talent — maybe, but something other than musical talent tends to advance!
It’s tough out there for singers looking for tv exposure!
Okay, just a bit of realism here. The comparisions? They both came off Idol describing their music the same way — electro/pop/rock fusion. Now, I know that is vague and runs the gamut. But when Adam said that, well, it did ring some bells of another 2nd place finisher who described his music in much the same way. If ya don’t like the comparison, don’t blame Blake. Sheesh.
Personally, I liked much of ADD, but like the second effort way better.
Adam’s voice is an advantage to him, if they use it to its potential. I’m sure Adam won’t be able to resist.
Blake has a nice voice (for me, for you), and, more importantly, he understands its limits.
I disliked Blake long before I ever heard of Adam. He just struck me as an arrogant prick. And his beats are pretty fucking lame if you spent much time in the House/Rave scene. The Readers Digest version of Beats
Idols all tend to change their tune post contract days. I’d say a lot of it is for due cause and a lot of it is sour grapes.
The only thing Blake loves more than his album is himself. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
I’m with PJ, Blake knows what his vocal strengths are and plays to that. Also, both were runners-up. It’s a closer comparison for Adam/Blake than, say, Adam/Clay. Also, Miles Siggins, the AI stylist, said Blake branded himself, that he knew how he wanted to present himself visually. His Bon Jovi cover, at the time, was one of the more exciting performances from a flaccid Season 6. Blake played with image, as he dyed his hair from blonde to black mid-show. He also had a visible tattoo that he added to during the show and rearranged his music. Blake described his album in a similar way as Adam. He’s influenced by British music. Blake always said he had no filter. Blake’s ADD cover was just awful. Adam’s Michelan Man “cover” is WTF.
The interview was good, he does say he likes ADD – it would be really stupid if he said he hated it. He had great producers like Mike Elizondo and Sam and Sluggo and he co-wrote and co-produced a lot of it. But the second album is a lot better so I’ll download from MJ’s itunes link when I get a chance.
What surprised me is that Blake was such an Adam fan. Blake never struck me as a huge fan of big voices but maybe it was Adam’s showmanship that made him a fan. In any case, I get the douche comments because Blake said some not cool stuff about Sanjaya that had peeps’ knickers in a twist and he wasn’t so kind about Kris, though later said he rocked on tour. So *shrug*
Some of these surface comparisons made me think Adam would never win AI.
People complained Blake beatboxed all the time, and that Adam screeched all the time. Both were polarizing. But I think TPTB were more on Adam’s side in S8 than ever in Blake’s corner.
Sorry for the long post. Interesting to see Blake talk about beatboxing as a gimmick. Any beatboxing site pretty much says Blake is siiick when it comes to vocal scratching, so he’s pretty self-aware. Or maybe now better with press.
I like Blake Lewis. I like Blake more than Adam Lambert. I know Adam has a much bigger range than Blake. And yet I love Blake’s voice (voice, not beat boxing.) and am kinda “meh” about Adam’s. I don’t hate Adam; that’s just my opinion.
I don’t see anything wrong with comparing the two. He didn’t say he was even nearly as good as Adam vocally. I can see lots of reasons how the two are similar. (which people have already pointed out)
I’m not going to make any assumptions on Adam’s album until I hear it. Adam is not God, and just because he says he has control doesn’t mean he actually has much. Of course, I do want Adam to have a very successful album.
I do believe that Blake had less control on his first album because his first album sucked (IMO) and his second album is amazing. To be honest, I don’t really care for his pre-idol stuff, but then again, I hate Adam’s pre-idol stuff too.
Blake and Adam seem to be good friends, and I’m sure they both think each other is very talented.
Blake’s album is great. And I totally get why he and Adam like each other’s music. In fact, call me crazy, but I think Blake is a really good songwriter and I would love to hear him write something for Adam . . think Adam singing Binary Love. That would be really cool. And for those who criticize Blake’s attitude or comparing him to Adam, remember how Jon Bon Jovi reacted at first to Blake’s idea of You Give Love . . . .kind of similar to Randy Travis’ initial reaction to Adam’s ring of Fire. Blake was INCREDIBLY creative. Only difference is Jon Bon Jovi correctly got Blake and I don’t think Randy got Adam. But I get the similarities in terms of their risk taking.