In Print: MAXWELL Returns (S2S) Blurb
Interview by Jamie Foster Brown
(Excerpted from the August 2009 issue of Sister 2 Sister magazine)
Click here for screenstills
My husband Lorenzo, who is Sister 2 Sister’s managing editor, has just finished editing this interview. He’s now looking at the foot of the bed. I am in bed with a slight headache, so he’s brought me some spaghetti. He just looked around the room (haha). I asked him what he was looking for and he said, “I want to see this picture of Maxwell you’re talking about in this article.” (It’s the same as the one on the next page.) I’m tickled.
I guess he was intrigued because he just told me that he’s impressed with this interview. He said it’s the most he’s ever heard Maxwell talk. Maxwell talked about his love for women—especially keen, no doubt, because of how impressively his single mom raised him. But he loves music in a way that makes it hard to tell if it isn’t # 1 with him. He talked about how he wants a wife and kids of his own and what he thinks it takes to raise children. And there is no doubt that President Obama’s election to the presidency of our nation inspired him.
But Maxwell loves his music, let’s make that clear. He loves his music. He loves other artists’ music (especially Sade’s) and he loves music, music and more music.
What the heck was he doing the last seven years? What brought him back to being a human being again? Why does he look at himself as a sort of Clark Kent? What’s bringing him back to us? It’s all about music.
Something’s going on this summer in the music industry. I feel a new hope—a new surge—that has not been there since downloading began. Something’s going on with Maxwell to bring him back to us. I tell you, something’s blowing in the wind.
So, let’s find out what exactly is on Maxwell’s beautiful mind. I know he loves Black women, and that’s a blessing these days. That’s a real blessing. Here is our guy:
***
Maxwell: Hello.
Jamie: What’s wrong with your voice?
Maxwell: Nothing’s wrong. It’s just early for me, kind of, even though it’s 1 in the afternoon.
Jamie: How are you doing, sweetie pie?
Maxwell:I’m great. It was good seeing you at that event a couple weeks back.
Jamie: It was great having your arms around me once more. [laughs] Are you in rehearsal now for your upcoming tour?
Maxwell: Yeah, that’s probably why my voice is so crazy. I’m in rehearsal. It’s been a really good time.
Jamie: Do you have a lot of dancers? What can we expect from you this time?
Maxwell: Just the band and me. No dancers. They nod, they do a shimmy, but they’re musicians, basically.
Jamie: Do you miss your hair, Maxwell?
Maxwell: No.
Jamie: Did it take a lot? Did you have to braid it at night, or anything like that?
Maxwell: No, it’s just change is always good; it’s always good to look like you’re moving through life and progressing, as opposed to sitting on crutches and fearful of anything. I’m happy with the way things are. Who knows what will be later on.
Jamie: Let me ask you this, because you mentioned when we saw you the other day that you left the music industry; you weren’t comfortable with what was going on in the industry. A lot of bells and whistles. What made you come back? What changed?
Maxwell: I just think the music got ready, the world is ready, and I’m ready now. We assembled an amazing team for the album that took time to get itself together to be the way it is now. It’s weird because it’s not like there was this plan or, like, “Hey everybody! I’m going!” I knew I needed a break. I needed to recharge my battery. I didn’t know it was going to be seven years or what have you.
Jamie: What did you do, though? Give me a typical day during those seven years.
Maxwell: I would go run. I traveled to a few places.
Jamie: Where’d you go?
Maxwell: I went to Mexico. I went to Brazil. I went around. I just took time to go away, to see the world. I got into the whole thing of not being recognizable to people. It was really refreshing for me, for a moment.
Jamie: I was going to ask you did they recognize you.
Maxwell: Sometimes. Everybody’s getting it more because there’s a video out and because people have recently been like, oh!
Jamie: But before, when you went to Brazil and Mexico and those places, before you came back, did they recognize you at that point? Did people come up to you a lot?
Maxwell: Some people didn’t because I was at the peak of my hiatus. … That was a really good and refreshing thing to be, just to be a regular guy, introducing himself as if he’s a stranger. That was really nice for me because it just brought me back to being a human being again.
Jamie: That was smart of you to do that. You didn’t want to lose yourself.
Maxwell: Yeah, I appreciate you figuring it was smart; some people thought it was suicide or crazy. I would always hear things about, “What’s going on? Don’t let these people take your spot.” It was very crazy. It was kind of sweet at the same time that people were concerned about my position and maintaining it, but I don’t look at music as a spectator sport; I don’t believe you have to compete with some other guy or some other musician or what have you. I think if you do the work, with God’s grace, you’ll always have a place in people’s hearts and ears. I’m just happy that worked out to be the case because it’s been a very inspiring, encouraging time in my life just now, recently, with the reception of the album and just how people genuinely surprised me with “we care about what you do so we can’t wait,” kind of. That made me feel really proud of music and the industry and the audience. It’s great. It’s been great.
Check out the August 2009 issue of Sister 2 Sister magazine to find out what Maxwell thinks about the prospects of having a family and how he really feels about Black women.
Source: S2S & mitejena
This entry was posted on Thursday, July 30th, 2009 at 8:33 pm and is filed under Magazine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
tee July 30th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Great article so far can’t wait to get my copy! Thanx for the pre-view!