Friday February 27, 2009
Jason Mraz to perform in KL
By MICHAEL CHEANG
You can’t go wrong with singer-songwriter Jason Mraz if you need music as a quick pick-me-up since his music reflects his sunny disposition.
It's a song that’s been kicking around for more than five years, been played live to thousands of audiences singing along to it, been played to death over the radio, broken into the Top 10 in the US charts (eventually peaking at No.6), and was nominated for two awards at the recent Grammy Awards, including song of the year.
Jason Mraz’s gigantic hit I’m Yours has certainly come a long way. Combining a breezy, catchy melody with a foot-tapping reggae-pop beat and some wonderfully playful lyrics, the song is Mraz’s biggest and most recognisable hit.
Jason Mraz, a Grammynominated artiste, is ready to thrill fans with his first concert in Kuala Lumpur next Wednesday. It is therefore hard to believe that the 31-year-old singer-songwriter from Mechanicsville, Virginia, wrote it in just about an hour while fooling around in his room. Casting his mind back to the day he wrote it, Mraz recalled: “I wrote it out of a moment of spontaneity, I didn’t sit down and think that I’m going to write this little reggae-styled song – it just happened!
“I was sitting around in my room, playing around with some happy chords and melodies that I really liked; and the song just came together really quickly, in about an hour,” he said over the phone from New York.
The singer-songwriter never imagined that the song he calls his “happy little hippy song” would go on to be such a huge hit, even before it was officially released on an album or as a single.
I’m Yours was originally released on the limited edition Extra Credit EP that was released in 2005 to promote his second album, Mr. A-Z. At the time, Mraz was already riding a wave of popularity thanks to the huge success of his debut album Waiting For My Rocket To Come, which had spawned hits like The Remedy, You And I Both, and Curbside Prophet.
After singing the song a couple of times live, he eventually realised that I’m Yours was growing in popularity, and that it really needed a home. In 2008, the little happy hippie song was eventually included on Mraz’s third studio album – We Sing We Dance We Steal Things, released as the album’s first single, and the rest is history.
“I’m Yours is a song that has been around for five years, and I’ve watched it grow on various stages all around the world. I loved it from the start, and recorded it almost immediately – and thought it would be a really fun song to do live. And it just continued to expand,” he said.
“So, because the song was growing, and didn’t exist anywhere, I finally decided to put it on the album. I knew people were already singing it, but I honestly didn’t expect for it to continue to grow. I just thought after putting it on an album that would be the end of it and we can finally move on, it just continued and continued to grow and I loved that!”
As a curious fact, Mraz’s I’m Yours has exceeded 1.2 million digital downloads (ringback tones) in Malaysia, outselling the United States for the same hit single in the ringback tone format.
He sings, he writes
Mraz will also be performing live in Kuala Lumpur next Wednesday at Stadium Negara in what will be his first ever concert in Malaysia, and chances are, I’m Yours will invoke the biggest cheers and the loudest sing-along of the night.
In case you’re wondering what earlier versions of the song sounds like, a limited edition of We Sing We Dance We Steal Things has recently been released. In Malaysia, the album has hit gold status, selling in excess of 10,000 units — making Mraz a very popular name in these parts.
And the fans can’t get enough. The reissue is a three-disc set that includes the original record, a second CD of songs that compiles the three promo EPs that were released before the album proper, and a DVD disc featuring an unreleased full-band live concert at the Highline Ballroom in New York and a 30-minute documentary called Here We Are.
According to Mraz, this album is the one he is “super, super proud of”, not least because it was conceived at a time when he decided to take a hiatus from touring, recording and promoting his music, and just take a year off work to rediscover himself.
“What I wanted to do was to check in on myself – to see who I was, see who I was being, and to stay home and raise my cat, cook, develop some skills, and be part of a community again,” he said. “That said, I still continued to write music every day, and by the end of the year I had a huge amount of music, a lot of it being music about empowering one’s self, love, expressing gratitude.”
“I did that (taking a year off) intentionally so I could create a real album from the heart, and not just homework exercises for the label.”
The result is a truly personal album that not only celebrates “Jason Mraz’s Way of Being” but also life as a whole.
“It wasn’t just about me – you don’t have to be me or know me to listen to the music. I concentrated on joy, and on life in this album. It’s an album that everyone can relate to, not just Jason Mraz. It’s about life and living life and being here,” he said, adding that he rather use his time and limited space on the album, to project the happy stuff, rather than the self-loathing or angry side of himself.
“I like using the medium of albums and songwriting to express joy and gratitude – all the positive things in life. The last thing I want is to reveal a side of me that came at a time when I was really ungrateful, and going down a self-loathing path. That’s f******up, I’m not going to do that!” he said with a laugh.
Songwriting and gigs
Mraz calls songwriting his “absolute favourite thing to do”, and is constantly writing songs about just about anything while on the road. “I love being immersed and engulfed in a song. I love it when both the lyrics and the melody come together at the same time – when the melody is beautiful and the words go so perfectly along with it,” he explained.
So how does he know when a song is complete? “Well, sometimes I do, and sometimes I don’t. I just have to keep playing and playing it until I’m sure. But usually you know its done when your hair stands up on your arm while playing it, or when you shed a tear or you get a little overwhelmed by it.”
Another way he gauges the completeness of his new songs is by playing them live first. “I’ve always been an artiste who performs his songs live first, so audiences can hear the songs way in advanced before they come out on an album. I don’t believe in keeping it a secret – it’s just music,” he said.
After a sold out show at the Mosaic Music Festival in Singapore in 2006, Mraz fans here will be glad to know that he has picked a bigger venue for his concert in KL. So can we expect any new songs from him then?
“There could be! But I also have take into account we’ve never performed there before, so we want to celebrate the new album and favourites from the others album with all of the friends we’ve never seen before… but if there’s time, there might be a new song or two,” he teased.
“We’re going to have a happy time – I’m bringing my whole band, and we’re going to try our best to bring the album to life, and party! I want people to sing and dance along to all their favourite songs; and personally, all I want to see are smiles from everyone there,” he concluded.
Ticket prices for the Jason Mraz Live in Malaysia 2009 concert at Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur on March 4 range from RM68 to RM258. Call the Axcess ticketing hotline at 03-77115000 or browse axcess.com.my for details. A limited edition version of Mraz’s We Sing We Dance We Steal Things album, featuring 2CDs, a DVD and T-shirt, is available now from Warner Music Malaysia.
RSS
