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John Legend „once again" VÖ 20.10.2006

How many interviews have you given today? John: Just a few. Not too many. You’re my last one. But you’ll keep me entertained, right? How old are you? John: I’m 27 Where were you born and how did you grow up? John: I was born in Springfield, Ohio. I have three siblings: two brothers and a sister. I grew up in a small town. We were a very musical family and we’re a religious family.
So I played music at church a lot, a lot of gospel music. I was also homeschooled by my parents when I was young, sometimes, I didn’t go to a regular public school. We had an interesting childhood! Most of us played an instrument and I play the piano. Where did you study? John: I went to university in Philadelphia: the University of Pennsylvania. I studied English. After that I moved to New York. While studying you played the piano for Lauryn Hill. How come? My good friend Tara Michelle – she was a singer in a choir that I was working with, she also sings in my band now – introduced me to Lauryn in New Jersey, ’cause that’s where they grew up together. I [guess?] she thought it would be good for me to play for Lauryn. So I played a couple of times, two kinds of auditions for Lauryn. Lauryn liked what I played and asked me to play on the record she was working on right then, which happened to be ‘Everything is Everything’ and which became a big hit. That was 1998 when it was released. At that time no one knew me. But I guess Lauryn liked what she heard. Why did you move to New York?
John: A lot of my friends had moved there and I thought it would be a nice place to live, I thought it would be a great place to launch my music career and that I would enjoy being there because it’s such a great city anyway. What changed when you moved to New York? John: I think I had more access to the music industry there. I was able to meet more musicians there and established people from the business to help launch my career. I made contacts with a lot of other musicians there, producers and industry executives and so it was the right place to be.
How did you meet these people? John: I performed, put a band together, performed at different events. Eventually, if you keep doing shows and people keep spreading the word about you, it gets to the right people. You wrote songs for Alicia Keys and Kanea West. How did you meet them? John: I met Kanea through his cousin, who was a good friend of mine. I met Alicia and a lot of other people through Kanea because he was producing them. Has success changed your life? John: Sure, my life has changed. I’m more famous and successful than I used to be, which changes the way people treat me. It changes the way people react to me. So my life is different. But, hopefully, I treat people with respect. I’m still the same person. Do people recognize you in the street? John: Yes! That’s just fine. It shows that they’re paying attention and that my music is making them think. Sometimes someone asks for an autograph. I’m not getting used to it, but it’s not bad. It’s good as long as I have a lot of fans who love what I do and are positive, and so it’s nice to walk down the street and have someone say: Hey, I love your music! It makes me happy.
Why do you do jazz and not, for example, hip hop, which is way easier to sell? John: I mean, I’ve always worked in hip hop. Hip hop is part of what I do. I also worked at a lot of operas before and my music has some influence from that. But I write film music and I feel most comfortable doing that. I would say that my music is popular music. It’s not the genre of pop music. It’s popular so that makes it, in my definition, pop music. You started off at Knitting Factory. Is that the place for jazz musicians to be?
John: I didn’t start there. But that’s one of the places where I played many times when I was on the underground scene in New York. It’s just one of them. I also played at Bobbies, Jimmy’s Uptown, and a lot of places of that kind. There isn’t one particular place where you have to play, but there are a few clubs in NY that showcase new artists, and the Knitting Factory is one of them. What was your first studio album, Get Lifted, about? John: It was generally about the ups and downs in relationships, whether it’s being in love, or cheating, or falling out of love. The second album talks about that stuff, too. But there are new topics as well, like politics. I talk about war. There’s a song called ‘Coming home’. The song could be used about any war, but in my mind I was specifically referring to the war in Iraq. Can you tell me more about the songs ‘King and Queens’ and ‘Maxine Interlude’? John: Yes. I recorded them Mary J. Blige. ‘King and Queens’ is just a song about a couple that aspires to be great together. ‘Maxine Interlude’ is the interlude … it’s kind of … it’s part of a series of songs that go together on the album. ‘Maxine, Where Did My Baby Go’ and ‘Maxine Interlude’ are kind of collecting the story about the fictional character I made up … where I start with her cheating on me and leaving me and then wanting, after a time, to come back. These songs are not autobiographical…. Other songs of my own are about things I have gone through, but I kind of changed them a little bit.
Do you have a favourite song on the album, and why that song? John: ‘Show Me’ is my favourite song on the album. I just think it’s the best record on the album. The texture of the song, how it feels and its message. How would you describe yourself? John: I don’t know. I’m an artistic person, I’m very thoughtful, I’m inquisitive, I like to read a lot and pay attention to what’s going on in the world.
And I try to have a good time. I do a lot of reading, I go out with my friends, going out and drinking, going to restaurants. (exactly the typical New York way of life) Do you have any plans for the future? John: I take one year at a time. I hope to find the key to making music that’s relevant and that’s successful … and that I keep making it through a whole lot of time! Do you still write for other artists? John: Sometimes, yes. I wrote a song on Fergie’s new album called ‘Finally’. It’s the last track. Do you have a personal goal? John: I just try to become a better person every day. I try to live my life in a way that I can be proud of it, whether it’s musically or it’s living outside music, helping other people, making good decisions with my money and my businesses, and, hopefully, I’ll continue to do that! Will we see you on stage in Germany soon? John: I’ll be back in December to play in Berlin and that’s about it so far. So I hope to come back again soon! http://www.johnlegend.com/


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