David Cook, currently criss-crossing the country on a North American Tour, took time out to talk to Lindsey Parker of Yahoo music about his new album, American Idol and the his legacy as a winner, releasing music as an independent artist and more.
Here are a few interesting excerpts from the interview. Read the entire discussion with the season 7 winner at Yahoo Music.
David recognizes that American Idol has changed A LOT since he and David Archuleta battled it out for the win. He believes keeping the focus on the singers would be a win/win for everybody involved:
“I try to watch enough to keep up, but I can’t name all that many contestants. However, I can name all the judges,” he says. “You watch these shows, especially with the judge turnover, and the storylines become about the judges instead of the contestants. So it’s harder for the American public to invest in [the contestants] as artists. I benefitted from the fact that when I came off the show, there were people invested who wanted to see what was going to happen, wanted to see what kind of music I was going to put out and what kind of music Archie [runner-up David Archuleta] was going to put out. And [Idol] seems to have strayed away from that format. I honestly feel like if these shows doubled down on the contestants and allowed the viewing public every week to really, truly invest in these contestants, the contestants’ success would become the show’s success, just like it did with Idol in the beginning.”
On the pervasive moniker “White Guy With Guitar” used to describe white males who play variations on pop/rock, pop/folk, pop/country etc. He bristles at the acronym, insisting that all the recent white male winners are unique artists in their own right. He has a point, you know. He also has some really nice things to say about the album from season 8 winner, Kris Allen.
“There’s nothing like manufactured outrage, huh?” he says. “It’s dumb. Yeah, we are all white men. And yes, we all play guitar; that is another fact of the group. But I think to lump us all into one pile based off those two things is more than a little dismissive. I mean, look what Kris Allen does; it’s not the same thing as what I do. Look at what Lee DeWyze does; it’s not the same thing. Look at Phillip Phillips; it’s not the same! We’re all our own artist, we’re all our own kind of musician. I don’t know if it’s the incessant need to put labels on things or what, but man. I think Kris Allen’s new album is fantastic, such a great record, and then that ‘white guy with a guitar’ label gets thrown around and it runs the risk of causing people not to tune in to that record, which should be heard. So I think it has a detrimental effect. Jesus, we’re all just putting out music, and if you like it then listen to it and if you don’t like it then don’t listen to it, but I think to lump us in preemptively is, again, kind of dismissive.”
As far as David’s next album is concerned, it’s coming sooner rather than later! Lyndsey managed to suss some details from the singer, including song titles!
And David is finally getting around to releasing the long-overdue follow-up to his last album, This Loud Morning; while he still can’t confirm a release date, he says he’s narrowed down the new album’s title to two options and hopes to “get it out pretty quick.” Creatively freed from major-label constraints, he seems more satisfied with the new recordings — which include the propulsively grooving “Criminals,” blue-eyed-soulful “Better Than Me,” and widescreen anthems “Broken Windows,” “I’m Gonna Love You,” and “We’re Not in This Alone” — than he was overall with This Loud Morning, his final release for RCA Records in 2011.
David’s 3rd post-idol studio album will be released independently. Currently, he’s got official working relationship with Warner Chappell music. He wrote David Nail’s t20 country single “Kiss You Tonight” and has “two or three other songs on hold right now; my dance card’s pretty full with co-writes.”
Good stuff!
