Bleu |
William James McAuley III, known to the world as Bleu, jumped onto the Boston music scene with his 1999 debut album, A Bing Bang Holidang, a holiday charity record. Showcasing original tunes, old seasonal favorites and an impressive array of guests, the album quickly became one of the northeastern seaboard's largest selling indie albums of the year.
The fall of 2000 and indie label Lunch Records brought the release of Bleu's first all-original solo album, Headroom, to extensive critical acclaim. Generating much buzz among the major labels, Bleu closed out 2000 by signing with Aware/Columbia.
Teaming up with producer John Fields, Bleu recently released his major-label debut, Redhead, an eclectic collection of power-rock/pop tunes.
After a July show at The Knitting Factory in New York City, Bleu spoke with StarPolish associate editor Tracie Galinski about signing with a major, his new album, Redhead, bringing his music to new audiences each night, and how anything can be accomplished if you're willing to work for it.
STARPOLISH: Why did you choose to put out a holiday album as your first album? How did you form the roster of guests (members of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Guster, Letters to Cleo, Buffalo Tom, Rubyhorse and more) on that album?
BLEU: Honestly, it just kind of came together -- sort of by accident -- but we had some foresight and planned out a happy accident. I kind of got bored and really frustrated with what I was trying to do in music at the time -- this was actually a year before we put out the holiday record. So I just said, "Fuck it," and did a holiday EP as gifts or giveaways or whatever. One of the local radio stations liked it a lot and started playing one of the songs a whole lot -- just during Christmas time. Everybody loved it. My family really liked it, and actually, my manager, much to my surprise, ended up liking it a lot. I thought he would be pissed because I wasn't concentrating on the stuff I should be doing, but he ended up liking it a lot. We sort of came up with this plan of, "What if we really took this all the way -- just did this big ridiculous record for charity? We'd probably get a lot of press, do a good thing for a great charity (The Boston Institute for Arts Therapy) -- we'd probably get a lot of people involved, and it's not a big deal." We thought this might be a good way to introduce me to the Boston music scene because it's a goof, when it comes right down to it. I mean, there's certainly serious music on it, but it's very eclectic and it's very fun. You can do whatever the fuck you want [with a holiday album] -- I mean, as long as they're all holiday songs. I did a house song, I did a straight-up jazz standard song -- I did a couple of those. I did an almost punk-rock kid song (Snow Day) that actually ended up on the For The Kids record (2002 compilation benefiting VH1's Save The Music Foundation). Because the whole record (A Bing Bang Holidang) was for charity we thought, "I bet we can get the rights to some weird samples." I'm really into Bing Crosby, so we got the rights to these Bing Crosby samples for free. It just occurred to us that, "Hey, if we do this record for charity, we could support a great charity and also get a lot of attention..." and I'm all for taking the path less taken. It's like, "Well, why couldn't you do that? Why couldn't you release a holiday record as your first CD?" And it worked out.
As far as putting the people together... some people were specifically interested because of the charity, some people were friends, and then some people decided to get involved because they heard other people were getting involved. It's one of those things that just kind of built. Actually, believe it or not, Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) did agree to do it, but he was in Japan or somewhere on the particular day we were recording it. And we got free studio time to record it, so we could only do it on that one day. I still recount that as one of the most thrilling single days of my entire life -- getting to work with all those people. We recorded everybody in one day; it was amazing. It was like the Boston "We are the World", except a lot more debaucherous. It was fun.
STARPOLISH: Why did you choose to work with producer John Fields (Glen Phillips, Semisonic, Dovetail Joint) for your recently released album, Redhead? How did the two of you meet?
BLEU: I liked some of the people that he had worked with, some of the work that he had done. And more than that, I liked the music that he liked. Also, I was dead set on working with a consummate musician -- somebody who was a really, really accomplished musician. I don't know anybody who's a better musician than him. He plays every single instrument better than anybody else I know. We definitely have some different ideas about how you should produce a record, but I think the push and the pull of our relationship is what shaped the record. It was great working with him.
STARPOLISH: You told Billboard, "[Redhead] will feel more like a solid entity than a collection of oddities." How did you approach the songwriting process for Redhead, and how, if at all, did it differ from your approach to writing Headroom?
BLEU: [Creating the feel of Redhead] didn't have so much to do with the songwriting process as the production. And I will say that I think we failed miserably at that goal [of creating a solid entity], but we made a great record anyway. I don't think it is any less eclectic than Headroom, and I think after this I'm just resigned to making unbelievably eclectic records, (laughs). That's what I do. No matter how much I try not to, that's just what happens -- and that is kind of the same answer for the songwriting process. I don't really have a songwriting process. A lot of the songs have themes of regret. A lot of them do come from personal experience, but a lot of them don't. Actually, more [songs of personal experience are] on the first version of Redhead than there are on the second version of Redhead. We did end up leaving off some songs that didn't fit "the theme" of the record and I think there is a cynical theme -- a cynical, regretful and, I hope, heart-on-the-sleeve kind of honest theme to the record. But I just write for fun, so it's different every time.
STARPOLISH: Aware Records (John Mayer, The Thorns, Alice Peacock) is a label that a lot of artists want to sign with these days. How did your relationship with them come about?
BLEU: By pure coincidence, a bunch of people all approached them about me at the same time. So, they [became] interested and there were a couple of other people interested, but nobody really willing to jump. I really credit Gregg Latterman, the president of the label. When he sees something that he likes, he doesn't hesitate. He doesn't wait to see if other people like it; he just goes for it. Aware did [go for me] and I'm very happy to be with them.
STARPOLISH: Will you talk about some of the differences between working with an indie (Lunch Records) versus a major label (Aware/Columbia)?
BLEU: It's not that different, there are just more people involved. Aware still gives you a lot of freedom. There are definitely a lot more cooks in the kitchen.
STARPOLISH: Did you have any reservations about signing with a major?
BLEU: None. That was always my goal; I've always wanted to reach a wider audience and at least approach the things that "a major label potentially has to offer".
STARPOLISH: How do you go about choosing a management team, and what have you learned from your experiences with the different companies you've worked with?
BLEU: You need to work with somebody who absolutely, 100 percent believes in you and will do anything to forward your career. You do not need to be working with somebody who has a lot of power or connections. Work with somebody who is bright, who has some experience... In my personal experience, you really want to be working with someone who really, deep in their soul, believes in what you do and would do anything to make sure that other people know about what you do. Pete [Galli] (Galli Management) had a few very mild connections when we first met. We were both very young, but he stuck with me. He learned as I was learning. We came up together. If you find the right person, I think that's the ultimate situation. A lot of the great artists of all time have a great manager behind them who's been with them from the very beginning of what we see as their career. Those were always people who had very close relationships, and I think that's very important.
Redhead |
STARPOLISH: What kind of impact do you feel the Bleu reps and the Aware reps have had on getting your music out to new ears?
BLEU: It's huge. Word-of-mouth is the absolute best advertisement. Everybody says that. Actually, I just read a book all about that recently (The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell) and I believe it more than ever. I'm much, much more likely to really believe in something if a good friend who I trust tells me about it than a commercial, ad, or even review tells me about it. It's invaluable.
STARPOLISH: When playing the first slot of the night, how do you approach playing to a crowd that may be unfamiliar with your music?
BLEU: Basically I try to get them to pay attention without pissing them off; that's the philosophy. There are a lot of different ways to go about doing that, but that's essentially what it comes down to. You want to draw people in. There are definitely certain techniques to doing that without them paying attention to you because they're mad at you. It's a very fine line, actually, (laughs). We've opened up for a lot of different kinds of bands, too, so it's different with everybody's crowd. The onelinedrawing (tour-mate 7/2/03-7/9/03) crowd has been amazing. Really cool.
STARPOLISH: What sets the mood for your live shows?
BLEU: A lot of it, honestly, is the crowd. That's kind of a cliché, but there is a symbiosis there. There's kind of a conversation that you have with the audience and if they're really giving a lot, you can give a lot and it can really work. If you're giving a lot, sometimes they'll give a lot back, too. It's weird. Sometimes I honestly believe it's cosmic, it's just tapping into something, cause there are definitely some nights where it's like, "How did that just happen?" or "Why did that just happen?" Nothing about this circumstance would make you think that this amazing experience that just happened should have happened. Some nights you think it's going to be perfect and it's just -- *raspberry* -- down the tubes. It's a fucking crap shoot. It's a crap shoot.
STARPOLISH: You play shows solo as well as full-band. In what ways do you adapt your performances to accommodate the number of people on stage?
BLEU: Obviously the songs are totally re-worked when I do them solo -- they're totally different versions. I definitely tend to interact more directly with the audience a lot more in the solo shows. When I'm playing with the band it's more of a rock thing and I'm interacting more with the band members than I am directly with the audience. They're two very, very different things and I like it that way.
STARPOLISH: How did you form your touring band?
BLEU: [My band is made up of] different guys that I met around the scene. Actually, my keyboard player is an old high school friend who I just dragged into the mix, and there are different guys from other different local bands, or friends of friends -- all that kind of thing. I think it's the same way everybody finds a band, mostly -- except for Mötley Crüe -- they put out ads. People do that occasionally, but not usually. It's [usually] like, "Oh, I know a guy. Blah, blah blah..."
STARPOLISH: Do you have any pre-show rituals?
BLEU: Yeah, definitely. I meditate. I warm up my voice. That's about it, but that takes up a lot of time. And I focus. I didn't used to do that stuff, but I think it helps.
STARPOLISH: Why did you start?
BLEU: I had to. To stay sane and maintain.
STARPOLISH: Tell me about the SHCCC (Slap Happy Celebrity Clap Choir) -- how did that come about? (The SHCCC is a 30-piece choir that performed with Bleu during the Redhead release parties in New York City and Boston. Each city had its own choir.)
BLEU: It was kind of a pipe dream. Every time I do a group of recordings, I try to get a group of people together to sing. I had this one tune, "Nobody Calls It Rock and Roll Anymore", that was never on an album, but we recorded it as a sort of Queen tribute and it had all these crazy background vocals on it -- Queen-esque style background vocals -- and I always wanted to try that live. I don't know... I just said, "Fuck it! I'm doing it!" Everybody was like, "You can't do that," and I'm like, "Fuck you, I can't do that!" There were definitely some naysayers. Honestly, it was probably the most rewarding musical experience I've ever had in my life. It was unbelievable. The Mercury Lounge show (6/21/03) I did with the choir was the best show I've ever played in my entire life. It was unbefuckinglievable. I wish we had video taped it. There are some still pictures, but... [The show] was thrill beyond thrills. Having all those people there singing -- 30 people at a tiny little club like that! -- it was just incredible. I'll never, ever forget that for the rest of my life. Not that you could even imagine forgetting it, but I'll always remember that as one of the best things I ever got to do in my life. It was fucking amazing; it was totally amazing!
STARPOLISH: What's appealing to you about a choir?
BLEU: There are a lot of things that are appealing about it. I just think group singing in general is really good for the soul. It feeeels good doing it. Other than that, I like organizing and doing big, ridiculous things. Honestly, I really enjoyed every aspect of it. I enjoyed rehearsing with them, the camaraderie of hanging out with them, getting to know these people... It really got me more excited than I have been about doing shit in a long time and I hope it continues. It was really hard, it was a lot of work and it's not the kind of thing you can do all the time, but I have a master plan. I want to do it a lot more. It was thrilling.
Bleu |
STARPOLISH: You've just re-released your third album [Redhead]. Where do you want to take things from here?
BLEU: I want more people to find out about the music. That's it, pretty much. I want to get the music out to as many people as can be into it. I don't want there to be people out there that might possibly be into it and don't know about it. There's a lot of hard work that goes into that, but we're trying our best. Step by step.
STARPOLISH: What are the biggest challenges of doing what you do?
BLEU: Maintaining your health, sanity, relationships...
STARPOLISH: Taking into account everything you've experienced with your career, do you have any advice for musicians who are looking to find their own paths as "up-and-coming" artists?
BLEU: Don't be afraid. Don't let people tell you that you can't fucking do shit cause if you work your ass off, you can do it. Just don't be afraid and don't fucking be cool. Everybody's trying to be cool, you know? It's such a load of crap! Seriously, there's a real emphasis on style and attitude now and I think that sucks.
For more information about Bleu, Redhead and tour dates, visit Bleu's website at http://www.bleutopia.com/.
