Jason Mraz NewNowNext Interview! His New Album & Gay Peeps

 

We love the Geek in the Pink! Jason Mraz stopped by MTV studios yesterday to promote his upcoming album, We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things (due May 20), and he chatted with NewNowNext about his kooky video blog, his collabo with Colbie Caillat and his love for his many gay friends.

Jason was totally stoner-cute and gave off worldly, peace-loving good vibes - I posted an embarrassing picture I made him take with me after the jump - so yeah, I had a bit of a crush...

Check out the Q&A - and Jason's new video, "I'm Yours" - after the jump

 

 

 

Why the decision to release three EPs? [WE SING came out March 18th; WE DANCE came out April 15th; and WE STEAL THINGS will be available as part of the iTunes album bundle.]

It’s been so long since I’ve put anything out; I spent the last year-and-a- half just work-shopping the sounds in coffee shops and everything. And I promised a lot of people I was going to make an acoustic project next - and when I came home from London, I had my funkiest album yet. And I thought, OK, I guess an acoustic album would be next.

Then I came up with the idea of the three EPs, and that gave me the opportunity to release the album songs in a stripped-down, raw format ... And I just thought it would be fun – to reintroduce ourselves to the world. ‘Cause I hear so much from the fans, We just like it when it’s just you – just you and Toca. And I do too; I love that. Because I spent a lot of my year as an acoustic duo and a funky band; I divided it up equally. It’s a sort of way to divide up this album, to have an acoustic version and a dance-able version.

Yeah! I heard "I'm Yours" recently, but my friend said she had heard a version a long time ago.

Yeah, there are those that have the original demo from three years ago. So, maybe the new EPs will give people those relationships. You know, take these raw forms…

 

 

I’ve been watching your video blogs, Crazy Man’s Ju-Ju. Has creating those changed your relationship with your fans?

Umm – maybe? I don’t know. It’s more bringing them into the process. I always felt like just me blogging is like bringing them a little more into the process: either my brand of thinking, or the way I cope, or the way I choose not to buy into certain hype … whatever it is. Crazy Man’s Ju-Ju is just, Come into the studio, see some songs being written, see some songs that aren’t going to make the cut.

There's still a couple of Ju-Ju episodes left. We actually had to edit out Colbie Caillat; she's on the album, but her record company didn't want her to be featured in our videos. So that's what's taken a little more time for Crazy Man's Ju-Ju to continue – because she was such an integral part of the album-making, but they're very protective of their Colbie. For some reason, they don't agree with the Crazy Man's Ju-Ju. And we don't have a negative view of her: There she is … that's it.

You and Colbie didn’t do anything crazy?

No - we just had written a song together and recorded it.

We’ve been recording some more tour stuff, so I’m sure what will follow is another new season of video blogging.

 

 

I know you were close with your gay friend in college … do you still have close gay friends now?

Absolutely. That’s what last night was for, we did the Highline Ballroom. (Jason performed with Justin Kredible, The Makepeace Brothers & acoustic rapper Bushwalla, who has a song called "Gay in Hollywood.")

Why do you think you’ve always had gay friends?

I don’t know. I was hanging out with my best friends last night … We’ve been best friends for about 15 years now, we just realized. We all met in about ninth grade, and my best friend in the world, his freshman year in college is when he came out. And you know, he was my best friend in the world, and he still is; I wasn’t going to change friends. And he sort of became a magnet for a lot of new friends - you know what I mean?

And when I moved to San Diego, the first guy I met who sort of championed my career was this guy Jerry - super gay guy, just ... super friend. I didn’t have a car, so he would drive me to all my gigs, drive me to the open mic nights and make me play. And he would be the guy walking through the crowd being like, Sign up on his email list and come back and see him. And Jerry was dating Ben, my manager now, who is also gay.

To me it’s not an issue of gay or straight; it’s just a coincidence that the people I hang out with happened to be … gay folk. And I, as a writer, have always written from a feminine side. I take yoga, and I practice my spirituality, to balance my heaven and earth, to balance my masculine and my feminine, you know? And I think what I find hanging out in the gay community, there’s more of a balance in the masculine and feminine qualities in the lifestyle than in a typical straight relationship or just in a straight person.

And I try not to discriminate between either, but I definitely am able to flow and feel more ... just the me I want to be ... thanks to the courageousness of my gay friends.

 

Jason Mraz - "Geek in the Pink"

 

What are New York gays like compared to San Diego gays?

A little more fashion-conscious out here; they know when and where fashion is happening. You know, they know how to get the freshest styles at H&M and still look like Dior. Whereas in San Diego, it’s just like, Well, whatever - I’ll just throw on some J Crew or some Abercrombie and just go to the beach. It’s a little more laid back, a little more spread out … it’s a little more about Sunday mornings and backyard get-togethers.

And which tracks on your album will appeal most to the gays, you think?

They’re gonna love “Butterfly” and “Dynamo” for sure - mainly just for the groove. I can already hear “Dynamo” at Splash at 5:30 or 6 o’clock … on the big screen. It’s just a bumpin’, disco, house kinda feel; it’s just a groovy song about gettin’ down, you know? “Butterfly” is just a sexy dancer number, as well. It’s just a funky, sexy song … for dancers - and it’s about a dancer, in particular.

And anything else, I’ll just leave it up to them to decide. The album does get deep at times, so there may be some emotion that comes out.

 

I'm far too excited.

 

Comments

[Marc]

GAH! I love Jason Mraz, his first couple albums are awesome. Nice photo Colin!

[junior]

I so want this album to be good because I ha-ha-hated the last one. In the meantime I'll just listen to "Who Needs Shelter" over and over...

[Greg]

I had the biggest man crush on this little hottie. Used to watch him play every week at a now defunct coffee house in Weho.

[james]

I love Jason Mraz and can't wait for the new album. For the life of me, I can't understand why he isn't a much bigger star but then, maybe that's a good thing.

[Eddie]

I knew I loved him and now I love him even more. The man knows what Splash is!