/interessante la parte in cui dice che da piccolo scriveva canzoni sul fatto che nn aveva soldi.. quando d'altra parte ne era pieno!! XD)
An Interview with Alex Band of The Calling
By Alice Barkwell (with help by Alex Gause)
The Calling were very young when they took the country and the world by storm with their first album Camino Palmiero, with it’s huge hit “Wherever You Will Go”, sold 2 and ½ million copies. I was one of their biggest fans--so I drove up to Charlotte’s Uncle Sam Jam to talk with singer Alex Band, about their new RCA CD Two, with it’s unforgettable first single “Our Lives”. I spoke with Alex backstage immediately after their exciting performance. This interview was prepared and conducted with help from my young friend Alex Gause.
PG: Alex how old were you when you started to sing?
Alex: When I was about 2, I started making up very strange songs about having no money, which was really weird because we had a lot of money. I grew up very lucky actually, but when I was 4, I wrote my first song about having no honey and no home and no credit cards and no money- - Sleeping on dirty streets at night all cold and alone. I was a very strange 4 year old!
PG: What made you want to go into music? What music did you listen to?
Alex: I listened to whatever my Dad listened to, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, David Bowie, Pink Floyd. A lot of English artists. Music was all I ever wanted to do.
PG: So is that why the band is called The Calling?
Alex: Pretty much, because I was born to be a musician. I know it was my calling, and when Aaron and I were sitting around talking about the first record and a name for our band, we agreed that it was our calling to be doing this and thee the name!
PG: As much as we talked about he first album I forgot to ask you who “Adrienne” was. (“Adrienne” was the second single from Camino Palmero, and was about a girl it was difficult to be in love with.)
Alex: Adrienne was the result of the fact that Aaron and I had both had bad relationships in high school where a girl cheats on you . There is no girl named Adrienne but we both had our own Adrienne!
PG: You are touring without Aaron again. Do you ever get mad at him for not touring with you? (Aaron Kamin is the other half of the Calling and Alex and Aaron write all of The Callings songs together , even though Aaron is not often seen on tour, preferring to stay at home.)
Alex: It is a very common thing for people in bands to have trouble dealing with the touring life. Some people are built to do it and others are not and he is truly not built to do it. You have to love it! If you don’t love it ,traveling all the time is just too hard. We are still best friends and Aaron is at home writing songs for other artists. I am co- writing with him via the Internet which is working out cool.
PG: For which other artists?
Alex: Right now we’re writing a song for Kelly Clarkson. Hopefully she will like it. We aren’t sure if she wants it yet!
PG: How has your friend ship with Aaron developed, being best friends and being in a band together.
Alex: We’re still best friends but now we run a business together and there is a lot more involved. I think with the situation like it is now, with him not here, and us working together that way, we are real comfortable and its bringing us even closer!
PG: You guys are the masters of the sexy love song! “Anything” on the Two CD, is the best love song in ages!
Alex: Gosh, thanks! That’s my favorite song on the whole album!
PG: You must be terribly in love with somebody!
Alex: I am, I have been going with a girl for 5 years now and we are getting married soon!( to beautiful young actress Jennifer Sky) I actually wrote her a song and I will sing that at our wedding. It’s a lot more personal.
”Anything” is actually about being really obsessed with someone, too obsessed! “Watching through your window- - -“
PG: So you have a fabulous new touring band I’ve just witnessed--they are amazing, especially the guitar player. How did you find a new band so good ? All good-looking too!
Alex: I’m glad you like them. The guitarist is Justin but we call him “Chops” because he is amazing! For this record we spent a good 3 months trying musicians out, playing “Wherever You Will Go” and “Adrienne” over and over and over again every day for weeks and weeks!
PG: I read this funny article from Germany where they said “We don’t care if The Calling is gay we love them anyway!” You are so beautiful and such a cool dresser, I bet you get that often.
Alex: Thanks I guess- - I’ve had many rumors. If you’re famous and you’re a guy, you’re automatically gay., even though I’m about to get married!
PG: You guys are the masters of the sexy love song! “Anything” on the Two CD, is the best love song in ages!
Alex: Gosh, thanks! That’s my favorite song on the whole album!
PG: You must be terribly in love with somebody!
Alex: I am, I have been going with a girl for 5 years now and we are getting married soon!( to beautiful young actress Jennifer Sky) I actually wrote her a song and I will sing that at our wedding. It’s a lot more personal.
”Anything” is actually about being really obsessed with someone, too obsessed! “Watching through your window- - -“
PG: So you have a fabulous new touring band I’ve just witnessed--they are amazing, especially the guitar player. How did you find a new band so good ? All good-looking too!
Alex: I’m glad you like them. The guitarist is Justin but we call him “Chops” because he is amazing! For this record we spent a good 3 months trying musicians out, playing “Wherever You Will Go” and “Adrienne” over and over and over again every day for weeks and weeks!
PG: I read this funny article from Germany where they said “We don’t care if The Calling is gay we love them anyway!” You are so beautiful and such a cool dresser, I bet you get that often.
Alex: Thanks I guess- - I’ve had many rumors. If you’re famous and you’re a guy, you’re automatically gay., even though I’m about to get married!
PG: Where did you get your terrific sense of style?
Alex: I’m not sure, Maybe from my sister. She’s a fashion designer.
PG: A friend of mine, Debbie claims to be The Calling Mom. How did that happen?
Alex: We met her real early right after we met you. She was one of our first fans. She just talks to all of our other fans and helps us spread our news. She is great! Every band needs a Mom!
PG: Why do you have Kokopellis, those dancing Indian stick figures, on all of your shirts.
Alex: I have some Cherokee Indian blood in me ,like 1/8th or something, and when Aaron and I saw that symbol we thought it was really cool. I even have them here--(shows me his Kokopelli tattoos) And now everybody gives me Kokopelli stuff. I have enough--I don’t need any more!
PG: You got to sing song with Carlos Santana not too long ago. And it became a #1 song-- (“Why Don’t You and I?”) What was that experience like and how did it come about?
Alex: Actually he just asked me if I’d do it , and I said “Hell yeah!” Working with him was surreal! He was super cool to me and it was a lot of fun.
PG: And how was it having Clive Davis, BMG Records’ C.E.O., help you out with the new album?
Alex: Clive Davis knows exactly what he wants, and he is a legend . We listened to him! At first it was scary and we were like “What if he doesn’t like the songs we are writing?” Well he loved the songs and he just wanted to help with the sound of the record. We listened to his suggestions.
PG: “Our Lives”, your new single, sounds like it could be a massive anthem to make kids do their best with their lives. You are such an optimist!
Alex: Yes some schools have been adopting it. And yes I have always been a very optimistic person! Some of these songs show that.
PG: Your voice has always sounded so much older than you are.
Alex: Some people hate my voice and other people love it.
PG: You have used a lot more vocal range on this record than the first one, in almost every song.
Alex: Yes, I have found more range after touring for 3 years. “Your Hope” the last track on the record, that’s the hardest one to do!
PG: Lets talk about the new songs. “One By One” seems to be about a kid with a gun.
Alex: Yes, I wrote that song back when the school shootings at Columbine happened. That’s what that one is about.
PG: The amazing “Somebody Out There” is about a child suffering sexual abuse. How did you decide to write about something like that? I hope you didn’t know someone who experienced that !
Alex: I didn’t know someone that was abused. I was, actually. Not by my parents but by someone It was when I was a lot younger. I didn’t make that up. You would be surprised how many people have been abused!
PG:I think “Chasing the Sun” is such a beautiful and catchy song. I hope it’s going to be a single. I can’t get it out of my mind-- its definitely my favorite!
Alex:. It will be, don’t worry.
PG: You were just on Jay Leno. Is that fun?
Alex: It felt about 10 degrees in that studio and nobody cares. Jay was very nice though. Of all those shows Jay Leno is super nice.
PG: I heard you spend time on the Internet. What do you do?
Alex: I get on the Internet and answer our fans questions. I even gave them my e-mail address so I get hundreds of e-mails a week.
PG: What is your most embarrassing moment?
Alex: I sang the National Anthem at a hockey game in Los Angeles, a whole arena full of older guys who were hockey fans. They were definitely not my fans! From the moment I walked out, to the end of the song 30,000 people booed me!
PG:I hear you were on a pretty interesting plane going to Japan recently.
Alex: Man, that was so cool! It was one of these new high tech planes where you could play any video game you wanted, or go on the Internet, and it had hundreds of movies. you could watch too. There was this cool bar and you could sit at the bar and drink. It was very strange ,yet I wonder if they will all be like that someday.
PG: How do you see The Calling’s future?
Alex: Very soon Jennifer and I will get married in ****Deleted***(I'll re-add it after the wedding). As for the band, we are hoping that this album will be at least as successful as the first one was. And we plan to work very hard for it! We will be on tour for years!
Yep, and they are coming our way--August 17 at the Cotton Club in Atlanta and Aug 15 at Zydeco in Birmingham! Get out and see this wonderful young band!
nn sapevo che fosse stato abusato da piccolo..
e sarei proprio curioso di sentire la canzone che ha scritt per jen che canterà al matrimonio..
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