Interview with Jason Mraz...

Jason Mraz: 'I'm In The Songwriting Process Constantly'

Starting out as a busker on the streets of New York City, Jason Mraz later moved to the warmer climate of San Diego to hone his writing and performing skills. It was there that he finally received attention from Elektra Records, which released Mraz’ debut Waiting For My Rocket To Come in 2002. Producing the hit singles "The Remedy (I Won’t Wait)", which Mraz co-wrote with pop hitmakers the Matrix, "You & I Both" and "Curbside Prophet," Waiting For My Rocket To Come received platinum certification and paved the way for Mraz’ reputation as a clever, inspired and observant songwriter.

Mraz’ second release, the Grammy-nominated Mr. A-Z (2005), debuted at #5 on the U.S charts and featured the hit single "Wordplay". His third album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things, which was released last year, resulted in three Grammy nominations, including Song of the Year for "I’m Yours", which is a warm breeze of a song about finally giving into love and life’s possibilities set to a lilting island tempo. "I’m Yours" also holds the distinction of being the only song to ever top the airplay charts in the U.S. in all four major pop radio formats – Top 40, Adult Alternative, Adult Contemporary and Hot Adult Contemporary - and has sold over five million copies worldwide. Currently on another world tour, Mraz took a break in his busy schedule to speak to Ultimate-Guitar’s Joe Matera about touring, acoustic guitars and his plans for his next album.

UG: I want to start by asking you how the songwriting process is coming along for the next album, have you got any material ready?

Jason Mraz: I have written songs for the next album. It is my life’s work really. There will always be albums and there will always be songs so I’m in the songwriting process constantly. At the moment this tour is going to last until October, so realistically, I don’t think I can get into a studio until maybe November or December. But even that is being ambitious. So let us just say that I am going to go into the studio in early 2010 and hope to have the album out some time next year.

Do you tend to demo a lot of material on the road or prefer to just write it and demo later?

I do write it but I also usually have to demo everything that I write too because I have a tendency to forget things. So I either demo stuff in Garage Band or if I really like how the song sounds, I will pull up Pro Tools and get something sounding good in that. And also by putting the demos into my iPod they are in constant storage and so I can have this wealth of material to draw from and know where I have left off, and know where the songs are currently sitting. I can arrange them into a play list too which can give me a feel to how they’re all shaping up. So demo-ing is very, very important to me.

"If I do an electric album, I hope its only for beautiful reasons and not for volume."

Obviously with time it will also help you refine and work on the song until you have it the way you envisage it?

Yeah, absolutely and we have already started testing out a couple new songs on this tour. The sooner you can start playing the songs, and hear how they’re sounding coming back to you through the PA, the better life the songs will have which will be important in getting them captured finally for the album.

In my last interview with you in early 2008, you mentioned that you were playing a Fender Jaguar on some parts of your then tour and had ambitions to do an electric record?

And funnily enough when we were making this last record I was real specific about not having electric guitars on it too. And there was one electric guitar that made an appearance from time to time but I monitored every lick, and even in the mixing, I asked for things to come down because I didn’t want it to be too heavy on the album. And more importantly, I didn’t want to tour with it. I really wanted this album to exist even without the production because the songs still came through just on an acoustic guitar. If I did do an electric album, I hope it came out sounding like Jeff Buckley’s Grace because that is such a brilliantly melodic album, flooded with reverb, and his playing and technique is so tender and delicate. Then at times, the dynamics just take you to all new heights in only the way an electric can. So if I do an electric album, I hope its only for beautiful reasons and not for volume.

When it comes to guitars, are you still using Taylor acoustics?

Yes I am. These days I take out three Taylors with me on the road, mainly because we’re flying so much. But when I keep it closer to home, I usually have about five guitars with me on the road. I’m using the nylon string Taylor NS72CE. For the past few years, I have only been playing nylon strings and really getting into it. The Taylors have the Fishman pickups which I like because it’s got the pro blend where you can blend it between the pickup and the built in microphone and if you’re in the right venue, and it can support it, you can really make it sound like its miked. Of course, when we get louder, we crank up our monitors, but I can’t really turn the mike on because it will feedback. I’ve been also using some pedals from this company called Moollon, an awesome custom company out of Korea. I use their Overdrive and this trio called a Moollon 3-Plus pedal that has got a Compressor, an Equalizer, and a D.I plus Signal Boost in it as well as, their Delay pedal and Wah pedal. And it all goes into a Fender Deluxe Reverb amp. And everything is super clean and fat.

You tour heavily and have built up your fan base that way, how relevant is a record label to you these days then?

Believe it or not it is still relevant because the record labels are still connected all over the world and the distribution companies as well are through them. And I have got a great team, people who love the work that I make. They’re kind of like my art dealer to me. I can make my art at home and then send it to them and they do their best to get it out there in the world. I can’t imagine how I would do it otherwise. I know I have got a real loyal fan base and could use the internet, but I am not a business man. And I wouldn’t want to turn my life into business as well.

Obviously touring the numerous countries can inspire much of your songwriting and music?

It does and it can. For me I have always used songwriting as a way to help me organize reality. And sometimes touring can warp reality quite a bit because you are never in one place long enough to get a feel for it. You don’t interact with humans long enough to know what real life is. Especially in touring because a lot of people you run into, want to take a picture or want an autograph and so they put you in a place that they normally don’t put other human beings in. So it gets weird. And that’s why you get a lot of people writing songs about longing and missing people, songs of loneliness when they’re out on the road. I do my best to keep my mind open and I read a lot when I’m out on the road. So I hope I still get good things to write about.

"I need to start playing a little bit more progressively."

As you mentioned many artists write songs about heartbreak and sorrow, yet you’re known for your positive vibe. Do you see a trend in music moving more to the positive especially now with the economic crisis that the world is facing?

Well I can’t really speak on the trend because I don’t follow enough to know better. I do think that any time there is a crisis it does bring out the best in people. It brings out their ability to volunteer, it brings out their ability to speak up or just be compassionate. And that becomes reflected in the music as well. So people perk up and they want to hear different songs and they want something that resonates with the change going on in their lives and in the world.

I first interviewed you back in 2002 on the eve of the release of your first record and at the time hardly anybody knew who you were. Do you ever look back over your career and think, “how did I get here?”

Every day, man. Every day I wonder how I got here. It is hard to believe that I have been at this for ten years now and I wonder where those years went. Every once in awhile somebody will remind me of a story of something I did like four or six years ago and I am like, ‘oh my God, I did do that!’. It is amazing to me. I never get tired. I have taken up running, I run now in every city and that is where I feel it the most, when I am exploring the city on its river bank or on its coast somewhere and I see these new buildings and these new scenes and new sunsets. And I think, ‘whoa, I can’t believe I am in this part of the world and it is all thanks to music’.

So are you comfortable with where you are musically and have arrived at?

I am but in fact, I’m too comfortable and I am at a point where I am ready to hit my self on the head and take it up a notch. I need to start playing a little bit more progressively. I recently saw John Butler Trio’s set and I just had forgotten how progressively and how much of a brilliant machine that guy is, especially on the guitar. And it just mad me enough to realize how comfortable I really am. And I thought to myself, ‘you know what? I need to turn this up some…”

Interview by Joe Matera
Ultimate-Guitar.Com © 2009

Ultimate-Guitar.Com © 2009