Another good interview/(kinda)review!
Feb. 22nd, 2004 08:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
foxmonkeyLots of good stuff here. Silky-voiced hunk!
Another 'N Sync hunk ready to go for spotlight
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Sunday, February 22, 2004
By Doug Pullen
JOURNAL ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
With Justin Timberlake's rapid ascent to superstardom over the past year, fans and music observers have wondered when Timberlake's closest friend in 'N Sync, J.C. Chasez, will dance into the solo spotlight.
After several stops and starts, that time is now.
Chasez is promoting his debut solo album, "Schizophrenic," which comes out Tuesday. It's a diverse, sexy collection of ballads and bedroom banter that's musically all over the map, from '80s synth new wave to drum n' bass.
But in a recent teleconference with journalists, Joshua Scott Chasez, the 27-year-old pride of Bowie, Md., and former "New Mickey Mouse Club" member, was careful to downplay commercial expectations for the CD and tour that's likely to follow in April.
"My goal is to have a successful record at the end of the day," the silky-voiced hunk says modestly, "and just do what I do. I feel I made a really good record. Now the pressure is more on the (record) company to create the awareness at this point. I can just do what I do. I'm proud of what I've done."
In other words, it won't be his fault if sales of "Schizophrenic" don't go crazy like JT's "Justified" (which has sold more than 4 million copies) of 'N Sync's massive 23 million in sales.
Chasez is careful to distance himself from 'N Sync and his 'N Sync partner. Timberlake's superstardom was cemented with his first Grammy Award and should be helped even more by his first major movie role as a young journalist in "Edison," which begins filming in March.
It's unlikely that another 'N Sync member could catch that kind of lightning in a bottle. Then again, if anybody can do it, Chasez can.
"Justin's Grammy Award-winning," laughs Chasez, who is five years older than his buddy and frequent collaborator. "He's a superstar. There's no question about it."
That was true even before Janet Jackson's infamous Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction" turned Timberlake into a babbling apologist and fodder for TV's talking heads.
Timberlake's Super Bowl antics on Feb. 1 led anxious NFL officials to drop Chasez's Pro Bowl half-time appearance a week later. His performance of the racy "Some Girls (Dance With Women)" would have helped launch the new CD. Chasez reacted angrily to the snub, not his bandmate, saying the NFL "mistreated" him. He refused to sing the national anthem before the all-star game.
Chasez is a little more circumspect about it now, admitting the Janet backlash definitely has changed the cultural landscape. "Three weeks ago it was amazing. Today it's a shame," he complains.
"I don't know what to think, to be honest," he adds of the reaction. "I think it's an election year, and I think everybody is overreacting a little bit, but that's just my opinion.
"You've got to trust people to make their own decisions, to listen to what they want to ... it would be a shame for people to start censoring artists. Some of the greatest songs of all time have sexual innuendoes in them, (like) Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love.' "
Referencing that song's barely veiled suggestiveness makes sense for Chasez. "Schizophrenic" is a musical tossed salad (thus the title, he says). It blends innocent pop songs, like "Build My World," with frenetic Prince and Lenny Kravitz homages ("She Got Me" and "If You Were My Girl"). It spices lush, love ballads like "Dear Goodbye" and the ambitious "Lose Yourself" with lusty, tongue-in-cheek raveups, like "One Night Stand" (inspired by Tim Meadows' libidinous lothario, Leon "The Ladies Man" Phelps) and "All Day Long" (originally titled "All Day Long I Dream About Sex"), a song he describes as intentionally "obnoxious ... just loud and in your face".
Chasez says he didn't make the record with 'N Sync fans. "I just made this record for me," he says. "I guess it was selfish of me to say that, but, if I want to make another 'N Sync record, I can just wait out and make another 'N Sync record. I just did it for pure fun."
And quite by accident. After 'N Sync's last tour ended on April 28, 2002, the group's members scattered.
Chasez chilled. "I wanted to spend some time with my family and my friends. I had to hit the reset button for a while. I'd been on the road for seven years," he explains. "Other people are important to me as well as the guys in the band. They are my best friends, but I also had other best friends that I, in a sense, neglected because I was always gone. I wanted to re-establish those connections and let other people in my life know I cared about them."
A call from former TLC producer Dallas Austin got the ball rolling. They collaborated on "Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love)," a late addition to the "Drumline" movie soundtrack last year. "It was just gonna go on the album and not be a single or anything like that," Chasez remembers. Instead, it was his first solo hit.
A solo career was born. But Chasez took his time. A chance meeting with British dance group Basement Jaxx led to a collaboration on "Plug It In," which appeared on the group's 2003 release "Kish Kash." The Jaxx returned the favor, producing the infectious "Shake It" for "Schizophrenic."
Chasez recorded more than 25 songs, working with producer friends such as 'N Sync vets BT and Riprock n' Alex G, and Boldt, handled most of the production duties.
Chasez says it was important that he make the record he wanted, not the kind that gets cooked up in some executive board room.
"Because I got to do it on my own, I made it with my friends. I didn't chase this person or that. It was just vibing out. I didn't go in with any inhibitions about sounding dumb or something," he says, noting that working with producers he knew made the whole experience "natural, cool."
The album's release date has changed several times, bumping back from a planned November release to Jan. 27, then this Tuesday. Chasez says that was his idea.
"I pushed it back a month just to let the record breathe for a minute," he says. give it another month to kind of get out there and create an awareness for it."
A spring tour should help. Chasez, who did a brief club tour last fall, says he's taking more of a "grassroots" approach to promoting the record and touring, promising a show that will be "a little looser and a little more intimate" than 'N Sync's extravaganzas. And smaller.
'N Sync's future seems cloudier than ever, but Chasez insists, the group will reunite later this year. "We tell each other some time either in the late spring, or some time we'll just start passing ideas back and forth and kind of (get) into rhythm for that."
***
Doug Pullen covers music and media. He talks music with Andrew Z at 9:20 a.m. Fridays on WIOG-FM (102.5). He may be reached at (810) 766-6140.
Another 'N Sync hunk ready to go for spotlight
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Sunday, February 22, 2004
By Doug Pullen
JOURNAL ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
With Justin Timberlake's rapid ascent to superstardom over the past year, fans and music observers have wondered when Timberlake's closest friend in 'N Sync, J.C. Chasez, will dance into the solo spotlight.
After several stops and starts, that time is now.
Chasez is promoting his debut solo album, "Schizophrenic," which comes out Tuesday. It's a diverse, sexy collection of ballads and bedroom banter that's musically all over the map, from '80s synth new wave to drum n' bass.
But in a recent teleconference with journalists, Joshua Scott Chasez, the 27-year-old pride of Bowie, Md., and former "New Mickey Mouse Club" member, was careful to downplay commercial expectations for the CD and tour that's likely to follow in April.
"My goal is to have a successful record at the end of the day," the silky-voiced hunk says modestly, "and just do what I do. I feel I made a really good record. Now the pressure is more on the (record) company to create the awareness at this point. I can just do what I do. I'm proud of what I've done."
In other words, it won't be his fault if sales of "Schizophrenic" don't go crazy like JT's "Justified" (which has sold more than 4 million copies) of 'N Sync's massive 23 million in sales.
Chasez is careful to distance himself from 'N Sync and his 'N Sync partner. Timberlake's superstardom was cemented with his first Grammy Award and should be helped even more by his first major movie role as a young journalist in "Edison," which begins filming in March.
It's unlikely that another 'N Sync member could catch that kind of lightning in a bottle. Then again, if anybody can do it, Chasez can.
"Justin's Grammy Award-winning," laughs Chasez, who is five years older than his buddy and frequent collaborator. "He's a superstar. There's no question about it."
That was true even before Janet Jackson's infamous Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction" turned Timberlake into a babbling apologist and fodder for TV's talking heads.
Timberlake's Super Bowl antics on Feb. 1 led anxious NFL officials to drop Chasez's Pro Bowl half-time appearance a week later. His performance of the racy "Some Girls (Dance With Women)" would have helped launch the new CD. Chasez reacted angrily to the snub, not his bandmate, saying the NFL "mistreated" him. He refused to sing the national anthem before the all-star game.
Chasez is a little more circumspect about it now, admitting the Janet backlash definitely has changed the cultural landscape. "Three weeks ago it was amazing. Today it's a shame," he complains.
"I don't know what to think, to be honest," he adds of the reaction. "I think it's an election year, and I think everybody is overreacting a little bit, but that's just my opinion.
"You've got to trust people to make their own decisions, to listen to what they want to ... it would be a shame for people to start censoring artists. Some of the greatest songs of all time have sexual innuendoes in them, (like) Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love.' "
Referencing that song's barely veiled suggestiveness makes sense for Chasez. "Schizophrenic" is a musical tossed salad (thus the title, he says). It blends innocent pop songs, like "Build My World," with frenetic Prince and Lenny Kravitz homages ("She Got Me" and "If You Were My Girl"). It spices lush, love ballads like "Dear Goodbye" and the ambitious "Lose Yourself" with lusty, tongue-in-cheek raveups, like "One Night Stand" (inspired by Tim Meadows' libidinous lothario, Leon "The Ladies Man" Phelps) and "All Day Long" (originally titled "All Day Long I Dream About Sex"), a song he describes as intentionally "obnoxious ... just loud and in your face".
Chasez says he didn't make the record with 'N Sync fans. "I just made this record for me," he says. "I guess it was selfish of me to say that, but, if I want to make another 'N Sync record, I can just wait out and make another 'N Sync record. I just did it for pure fun."
And quite by accident. After 'N Sync's last tour ended on April 28, 2002, the group's members scattered.
Chasez chilled. "I wanted to spend some time with my family and my friends. I had to hit the reset button for a while. I'd been on the road for seven years," he explains. "Other people are important to me as well as the guys in the band. They are my best friends, but I also had other best friends that I, in a sense, neglected because I was always gone. I wanted to re-establish those connections and let other people in my life know I cared about them."
A call from former TLC producer Dallas Austin got the ball rolling. They collaborated on "Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love)," a late addition to the "Drumline" movie soundtrack last year. "It was just gonna go on the album and not be a single or anything like that," Chasez remembers. Instead, it was his first solo hit.
A solo career was born. But Chasez took his time. A chance meeting with British dance group Basement Jaxx led to a collaboration on "Plug It In," which appeared on the group's 2003 release "Kish Kash." The Jaxx returned the favor, producing the infectious "Shake It" for "Schizophrenic."
Chasez recorded more than 25 songs, working with producer friends such as 'N Sync vets BT and Riprock n' Alex G, and Boldt, handled most of the production duties.
Chasez says it was important that he make the record he wanted, not the kind that gets cooked up in some executive board room.
"Because I got to do it on my own, I made it with my friends. I didn't chase this person or that. It was just vibing out. I didn't go in with any inhibitions about sounding dumb or something," he says, noting that working with producers he knew made the whole experience "natural, cool."
The album's release date has changed several times, bumping back from a planned November release to Jan. 27, then this Tuesday. Chasez says that was his idea.
"I pushed it back a month just to let the record breathe for a minute," he says. give it another month to kind of get out there and create an awareness for it."
A spring tour should help. Chasez, who did a brief club tour last fall, says he's taking more of a "grassroots" approach to promoting the record and touring, promising a show that will be "a little looser and a little more intimate" than 'N Sync's extravaganzas. And smaller.
'N Sync's future seems cloudier than ever, but Chasez insists, the group will reunite later this year. "We tell each other some time either in the late spring, or some time we'll just start passing ideas back and forth and kind of (get) into rhythm for that."
***
Doug Pullen covers music and media. He talks music with Andrew Z at 9:20 a.m. Fridays on WIOG-FM (102.5). He may be reached at (810) 766-6140.
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no subject
Date: 2004-02-22 07:05 am (UTC)After several stops and starts, that time is now.
Goodness. To think it can be summed up in one simple sentence. :)
"Justin's Grammy Award-winning," laughs Chasez, who is five years older than his buddy and frequent collaborator. "He's a superstar. There's no question about it."
I love hearing stuff like that.
It's unlikely that another 'N Sync member could catch that kind of lightning in a bottle. Then again, if anybody can do it, Chasez can.
My favorite part.
Re:
Date: 2004-02-22 08:18 am (UTC)Goodness. To think it can be summed up in one simple sentence. :)
LOL! Stops, starts. He forgot hair pulling, teeth gnashing, name calling...and those are just JC's reactions. ;-)
It's unlikely that another 'N Sync member could catch that kind of lightning in a bottle. Then again, if anybody can do it, Chasez can.
My favorite part.
Ska-weeeee! Mine too. I appreciate a journalist who does their homework, doesn't just go for the quick dig, and actually keeps an open mind. He's mad crazy talented, and it's nice to see it acknowledged.
no subject
Date: 2004-02-22 08:38 am (UTC)Where is the Flint Journal based? Is that out of Michigan?
Re:
Date: 2004-02-22 08:41 am (UTC)It is indeed. ::dances::
no subject
Date: 2004-02-22 04:02 pm (UTC)Oh, wouldn't I just LOVE to sit the boy down and talk politics with him.
"So, JC, Kerry or Edwards?"
"Oh, no, I'm voting for Bush."
"No no no, JC. Kerry? Or Edwards?"
The review-thingy is lovely, though. He always just seems so freakin' NICE.