INTERVIEW: Maxwell talks album, Bloemfontein (South Africa) and More (Times Live)
Lucky Star by Diane Coetzer
Maxwell talks BLACKsummer’snight, Bloemfontein and music making him the man
In these days of tragicomedy and upheaval, it seems odd for an outsider to call South Africa their lucky charm. But that’s exactly what US soul man Maxwell tells me over the phone from his home base in New York City.
“I performed the song Bad Habits for the first time ever in front of a South African audience and I knew instantly that my musical direction was the right one,” he explains, his voice just as rich on a trans-Atlantic phone line as it is on record.
The show he is referring to was his October 2008 live performance at the Macufe Music Festival in Bloemfontein, and Bad Habits is one of nine tracks off his double Grammy Award-winning album, BLACKsummer’snight.
It seems an unlikely combination: the Neo Soul innovator, undoubted sex symbol and creator of the 1996, 2-million-plus selling Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite, finding his musical groove in a Free State city hardly known for ground-shifting music performances. But the response of the sold-out 10000-strong crowd – “the incredible outpouring of love” – was the spur Maxwell needed to emerge from a six-year self-imposed exile and create BLACKsummer’snight, the first in a planned trilogy of albums.
Of course, the South African fans in the Macufe crowd were depending on the 36-year-old Brooklyn-born son a of Puerto Rican dad and Haitian mom to deliver the hits he’d come to global fame with – like Whenever, Wherever, Whatever, and Ascension (Don’t Ever Wonder), both featured on Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite. It’s likely that they also expected the sizeable Afro that had been such a prominent feature of the singer’s smouldering looks from his debut to its 1998 follow-up Embrya and 2001′s Now, which features possibly the best cover of a Kate Bush track (This Woman’s Work).
Instead, Maxwell surprised with a set that showcased new tracks, like Bad Habits, and a close-cut hairstyle – neither of which did anything to detract from the riveting display of musical prowess shown by the American artist, who left the country armed with honorary South African citizenship.
For Maxwell, the Macufe show and a rapturously received live rendition of the Al Green classic Simply Beautiful, at the June 2008 BET Awards, were all the convincing he needed to go public again.
It’s hard to believe now, but just a few years after his 1999 singleFortunate (from the Life soundtrack) became Billboard magazine’s number one hit of the year, and shortly after his third studio album, Now, entered the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart at number one, he did a Houdini and vanished from the public eye.
Even in those pre-social media days, the superstar’s disappearance spawned a catalogue of explanations. Did he have a breakdown? Was it the booze? Babes? Benzos? None of them proved true.
Maxwell confides it was “near-impossible” to live a life that in any way approached ordinary.
“I could not walk down a street in my home city of New York without being looked at or fussed over. As much as I appreciated the support of fans for the music, the fact that I was getting so much attention for what people had decided was ‘sex symbol’ looks, was very hard to deal with.”
But there was also a very personal reason for moving into the shadows.
“Actually, pulling away from the ‘fame’ was something that I needed to do for myself.
“I was at a stage of my career where the lines between fame and music became blurred and I had to consciously step away to show myself that fame wasn’t the real part of who I was. It’s the music that makes me the artist and man that I am now.”
So Maxwell lost the ‘fro and retreated into a quieter existence, hanging out with friends, catching movies, going on holiday, but he never let up on the songwriting.
That he still had the golden touch was evident when he began debuting new material, starting with that now memorable Bloem performance. In fact, immediately after his surprise BET performances, the buzz gained momentum and following on from his South African appearance, Maxwell embarked on a set of live dates that showcased material off the as-yet-unreleased BLACKsummer’snight, starting with Amsterdam and then moving to the US.
The anticipation was sky-high when the album finally reached record stores in July – and it was immediately singled out as one of 2009′s best releases and hailed as confirmation that the neo soul originator had upped the ante all over again.
For the artist, the rave reviews and strong sales were gratefully received.
“I am just amazed at how fans can accept that you can change and become something different as you evolve and progress – and also how they can still be there waiting for you after as long a break as I had,” he tells me.
To get the right feel for the album, he turned to long-time collaborator Hod David, who serves as co-producer and co-writer. Together, they decided to record the entire album live, using the talents of some of the best musicians available. The result is a sumptuous, elegant scorcher that manages to look back to soul music’s best (including longtime Maxwell hero, Marvin Gaye) while delivering a sound that is very much new millenium.
It was no surprise then when Maxwell’s BLACKsummer’snight tour became a sellout, capping his superb performance at a generally lacklustre Grammy Awards this year by winning Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for Pretty Wings, and Best R&B Album for BLACKsummers’night. Since then, he has added substantially to his awards collection and is relishing his newly invigorated career – one that is moving at a pace he’s enjoying and has lost the frenzy that accompanied his early years.
For Maxwell, it’s now all about the music. “I work with people who have known me at my lowest and who’ve known me before I became well-known around the world. They don’t look at me any differently to anyone else in their lives and if I get out of line, they quickly put me in my place. It really does play a very important part in keeping my feet on the ground.”
Being the first in a trilogy, fans will be rabid with the knowledge that BlackSUMMER’Snight and Blacksummer’sNIGHT are, tantalisingly, on the horizon. Maxwell reveals that the “Summer” album is due for a US summer release this year while he’s aiming for a Valentine’s Day release of “Night” next year.
In the captivating interview on the DVD that accompanies a special edition of BLACKsummer’snight, he explains how the trio of albums work thematically.
“The first record sort of talks about the past – all the great epiphanies and revelations that come through falling and rising. The second disc is more of an in-the-moment, uplifting, hopeful experience – ’cause so much of the first record is kind of dark. The ‘Night’ album is more of a super-instrumental, love kinda thing. It’s slow and you can put it on and get it on, whatever you want to do.”
With the impending release of “Summer”, Maxwell has been frequenting Twitter, where his quasi-spiritual postings to fans have given much more of an insight into his life and music over the past six years.
“.being an artist is not a competition but a contribution.,” Maxwell wrote in March. This generous artist is also unafraid of talking about those artists who inspire him through his postings. Among these are Sade, Erykah Badu and Alicia Keys – revealing yet again his intuitive connection with women and his often spoken about respect for the females in his life.
In an interview early on his career, the soulman acknowledged he’d learned a lot from women.
“I’ve learned about subtlety, and that intimacy is also about the spiritual and mental connection that occurs. It applies to everything, to how you view art and listen to music and deal with your friends and make business decisions.”
It was a spiritual and mental connection that Maxwell made with South Africa during that 2008 trip which he now confesses was just too, too short.
“We needed two weeks to really do justice to the love we felt in South Africa and the fans we wanted to play to.”
He’s aiming to return to play music from the upcoming BlackSUMMER’Snight, but whether his blooming career will allow for a more extended visit remains to be seen.
Still, Maxwell says he will always consider South Africa his “lucky charm”.
“I will never forget the reception I got from South Africans at Macufe. It was a humbling experience and one that will stay with me always.”
Source: Times Live
Thanks for the link allheavens, KBT and JessieBellaBee
This entry was posted on Saturday, May 1st, 2010 at 8:06 pm and is filed under Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Michelle May 2nd, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Nice interview.
It’s so wonderful that he holds Africa to such high esteem.
Love Max!