Hmm, I was re-reading this interview and I have determined that out of all the other interviews of MAXWELL over the past few months, this one is probably the best. It answers just about everything, what’s the album about, was there ever an album pushed back in 2005, etc. Definitely read this and over understand where MAXWELL is coming from but mostly get ready for that brand new stuff coming soon. The following interview was conducted by Aidin Vaziri for SF Gate/San Fransisco Chronicle sometime in October last year.
Q: What happened? Did you have a Dave Chappelle moment?
A: Depending on who you ask and where you’re looking, with the way media works now, yeah. I just really didn’t want to be the guy who makes music because he’s scheduled to do it. I needed to experience life again.
Q: You could have just started making records about airports and hotel rooms.
A: That’s what my life was for a long period of time. The pressure of that was killing me. I hear songs that I’ve done and I’m like, “Oh, why did you do that?” So I took a break. I started to make music with no stress. I just did it because I liked it.
Q: Did chopping off your hair get you out of signing autographs on the street?
A: I can’t say that was always happening. But that helped with my goal of living a pretty normal life. I don’t want to complain, considering how lucky I’ve been, but sometimes people think they know you. Even if they knew you when you were 23, you’re 35 now and you’ve completely changed.
Q: You were marketed as this kind of sexy lover man. How much of that was really you?
A: You get the photographers. You get the clothes. You get sucked up in the whole experience. Everyone is selling something. In my mind, I don’t feel any of that kind of stuff going on. But I think the music makes something happen. Clark Kent becomes something else.
Q: You’re looking more and more like Clark Kent these days. Is this the real Maxwell?
A: No. I just changed. I don’t know if I could ever stay the same. I never had an Afro before I had an Afro, you know? People who are seeing me now see me as who I used to be before “Urban Hang Suite.” It’s not always that way. It won’t always be this way.
Q: There was a rumor that you made an album that Sony refused to put out because it had too many gay references.
A: I don’t think anyone ever heard my album because there was no album submitted at the time that was talked about. People just believe whatever. Anyone can write anything on the Internet. That rumor had nothing to do with anything real ever. No one had music. No one had an album. Maybe someone wanted to inspire me into action. But that’s not what was inspiring the album. There was no album. No one ever heard the album. Ever.
Q: So what is the new album about?
A: It’s about everyday experiences, the highs and lows. I had some really interesting relationships with women. I healed a lot of stuff with women in my life. I met some girls who didn’t know who I was. They were from other parts of the world. They were younger. That happened, and a lot of those experiences are in the songs.
Q: Do you feel like you’re starting over now?
A: I do, yeah. It’s nice. I have a lot of life behind me, as I did prior to the release of my first album. The music feels that fresh to me. It comes from that same sense of urgency.
Image via allposters.com
iTunes.com, now has a listing for the full length version of Pretty Wings (MP3) which will be released, April 28, 2009.
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