Jason Mraz

0:16Jason Moraz brand new record loves a four letter word out a couple weeks now. Yeah very excited so you Started working this like two years ago. It took a while to create yeah Well, you know I saw the album cover two years ago basically. I saw those shapes in it in order I don't have a chance to fly on the screen, but I'm on my water here I don't think you can see them but water It is I get it from my swimming pool. I'm cultivating my own algae takes a while So anyway, I saw those shapes and I saw that it said the word love if I choose to see love in those shapes And which really woke me up I thought if I can see love in those shapes I should also be able to see love in another person or in an object or in the mirror And that became my concept for this album and that was about two years ago, and I thought okay I'm gonna create the love album and Everything I wrote I needed to make sure it was through that filter of love

1:03You know at the end of one year. I thought okay, I've got a lot of material But most of it's just through either clever songwriting or it's really depressing or it's really cheesy So I'm still not finished. I have a long way to go and I needed to really Break my heart open to see what my limits were what I was attached to what I could let go of I started to surf bigger waves I started to ride my bicycle farther than I ever had I'd started to volunteer my time and see what I was made of and once I started to really do that Then the song started to come out from the heart. I see that you've come so far To be right where you are And the opening track on the record is not one of yours, so opening with someone else's I open with a cover song

1:49It is the first cover I've ever put on any of my records and I felt it was such an important song It was a song that was written by kids in the wake of Hurricane Katrina When they had lost everything They wrote this song just as to celebrate what they still had which were their gifts which were their the love of their family and their talents and I Started to perform it live and I knew that if I eventually recorded it That it would generate obviously attention and income that would get back to them in their community, so that's awesome stoked Yeah, you that you have that power to be able to do that now right you have the celebrity in the family to be able to help These people out with us. Yeah, and you know what? There's more than one song on this album that's like that I mean there's four songs that are wrote on this album with a man named Michael Natter who's in his 60s Who has been playing guitar for 40 years? He's raised six kids his 15 grand children

2:39He's always lived in the same 800 square foot shag on a mountain So you know a song like five six that has an interesting time signature He's been playing that riff for 35 years And so I came upon this man and we started playing guitar I had camels man because I met him in a coffee shop and he'd helped changing a toilet in my house And I knew that he would have the skills to come over and help me do that and we started playing guitar And I just got rid of these enormous talent and I thought you know why don't we work together? To turn some of these ideas into songs and now of course these songs being out and I won't give up being one of the songs We wrote together It's giving him a chance to actually live as a musician as well Because it's been always something that's been in his heart So that's another thing that I've been able to do is share this spotlight and this attention that I got With great people in my life who I feel are doing extraordinary things or great organizations or great events

3:29So this this album for me that that's that's what's going on behind the scenes of this album And that's that's truly what makes the love album the love album We do something called five questions five quick questions one more answers great Lenny or McCartney Lenny Road or studio? Road What hits you most in a song lyrics melody or rhythm? Melody song you've written your most proud of In your hands it's off the song the new record. Yeah, very nice and in one word Jason Maras Romantic nice. That's good. That fits the whole love theme of the record

4:18When we're gonna see you again and what do you have planned with this record? Well in April we're gonna put out some tour dates and I want it to be interactive for the audience I went I want the audience to see themselves in the show and find a way to participate and interact with each other For me these songs really come to life when you take them out on the road and I know thousands of people come out on the road and join us and Sing these songs and get a new experience And they celebrate what they love about the songs too, and so yeah, I do think about Places to people to get involved, but also that also shows up for me when the tour actually starts Sometimes I think I know what the tour is about and then two weeks into the tour I'm like oh this is what the tour is gonna be about. It's a lot of fun Awesome well, we can't wait to see you man. Thank you very much really appreciate it