Blake Lewis :: back to dance music
In the world of music, having an American Idol alumnus release a new CD is hardly a big event anymore: it seems every other hit record has ties to the powerhouse Fox series.
During a chat with EDGE’s Jim Halterman, however, sixth season (2007) runner up Blake Lewis showed no signs of standing quietly among the pack as evident with the heart-thumping release earlier this month of his new CD entitled Heartbreak On Vinyl. With a collection of songs falling into the pop/dance genre, Lewis talked about his inspiration for songwriting, how it felt to go from Idol back into his beloved clubs and getting Michelle Obama to beat box.
Great dance feel
EDGE: The CD has such a great dance feel that I think you’re going to find a strong gay audience. What have you been hearing from your fans?
Blake Lewis: The reviews have been pretty awesome so far. I’m on my Twitter, Facebook and MySpace everyday and I think I’ve gotten one negative comment through a whole week, so that’s pretty damn good.
EDGE: When you set out to make this CD, what’s the process like for you? Do you have a common thread for the whole album or do you just build it song by song?
BL: It’s definitely song by song. It’s just where my mood or inspiration is that day. Sometimes I’ll wake up from a dream and then I’ll write a song or it all depends; every song is totally different. This record is more personal because I had just gotten out of a relationship with my girlfriend so it’s a personal record and a dance record at the same time.
EDGE: I personally know of the Virgin Record store in New York City that you sing about in the title track to comment on the demise of the record store. What’s your connection to record stores?
BL: I’m from New York and Virgin was my stop in Union Square. I’m an avid collector of vinyl and CDs still and I really don’t download anything from the Internet. Of all those record stores, the third line of the song is Easy Street is empty and Easy Street is my favorite record store in Seattle on Mercer so it’s a kind of call-out to Seattle. My friends used to work at record store and I worked at a record store and now they’ve all closed down.
Not to bitch but the Best Buys and Wal-Marts, the K-Marts and Targets are the record stores now and that’s tough when there’s only four stands in these huge major corporations and the clerks don’t even know what they have in stock. It’s not the same anymore. So the song just kind of came out and I was very inspired as soon as I saw Virgin. I was like, "Damn, Virgin was like the last big record store."
Watch Blake Lewis sing "Sad Songs" of his new CD Heartbreak on Vinyl:
Being on the dance floor
EDGE: Is there a song on the CD that maybe hits closer to home than the others?
BL: They’re all personal in their own way. "Left My Baby 4 U" has the U as the metaphor for California and my career. I
"The Point" and "Rapture of Love," they’re all kind of my children and I’m really proud of the record and I love all the songs on there. "Binary Love" has one of my favorite choruses and hopefully that will be a single.
EDGE: I liked the song "Freak." What or who is the freak in the song?
BL: Actually, I had this chorus in my head and I was coming up with hooks like step back and touch yourself/you know I like watching. I did that one with Jesse Rogg, who produced that record. That song just kind of came out in an hour. I was doing the bass line while he was tweaking knobs and it just kind of came out and I literally wrote that on the way to the studio.
My friend came in just to get a third opinion and she said, "I think you have a song there." It’s about being on the dance floor and I go out all the time and dance and you don’t really care about anyone around you and you just let the music take you to a different place. In that song if you’re a freak you don’t even know how you’re dancing and you kind of immerse yourself; you’re just in the zone. It’s like when you watch a beautiful woman on the dance floor getting freaky with herself. It’s kind of my overview of dance culture in that song.
EDGE: In your post-Idol career, have you gotten used to the pace of your solo career?
BL: It’s always different. Every day is different but it’s definitely different going from this pop culture phenomenon back to the world that I’ve always been in, which is dance music. I’ve been doing raves and parties and clubs since ’98 or ’99. I was the host of one of the main clubs in Seattle. But it’s awesome coming out of the show where I’ve been embraced by those who happened to watch Idol. But now I’m doing clubs again and that’s my favorite environment. It’s my favorite thing to do because people are into the music and they’re ready to let loose and they respect it.
EDGE: One person who was into it recently was Michelle Obama, right?
BL: I was very lucky to perform for the ladies of Congress so it was all the women in Congress. It was like Michelle’s induction into that world and she was very gracious. I got to speak with her for a bit and I got everyone there to beat box, which was fun.
EDGE: Had she and the Obamas seen you on Idol?
BL: Yeah, she and her daughters had watched so that was really great.
Blake Lewis’s CD Heartbreak On Vinyl is available everywhere and you can also find out more about the singer at his official website as well as on Facebook and on Twitter @ BlakeLewis.
Watch Blake Lewis sing "You Keep Me Hangin’ On" on American Idol in 2007:
