http://www.cjonline.com/stories/090104/loc_aikentrans.shtml
Published Wednesday, September 1, 2004
Aiken goes one-on-one
By Jan Biles
The Capital-Journal
Multiplatinum recording artist Clay Aiken talks at the speed of lightning.
In 10 minutes -- and speaking with a Southern drawl that surely helped him win InStyle magazine's "Sexiest Singer" title -- the 25-year-old pop star will give you the scoop on his 50-stop solo tour; his inspirational memoir, "Learning to Sing: Hearing the Music in Your Life," out this fall; his untitled Christmas CD, also out this fall; and the Bubel Aiken Foundation, which he founded a year ago to provide opportunities to bring together typical children with children who have developmental disabilities.
A self-professed nerd from North Carolina, he'll tell you about one of the things he does that drives his tour mates crazy. And he'll dispel rumors: No, he hasn't done any screen tests for the movie version of "Rent."
Aiken, who has moved beyond his "American Idol" roots and seems unaffected by his celebrity, also has a reputation for having a wicked sense of humor. Aiken will appear Sept. 10 at Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson.
Here is a transcript of the interview done with singer Clay Aiken before his concert Aug. 19 in Buffalo, N.Y.:
Aiken: Hello?
C-J: Hey, Clay, how ya doing?
Aiken: Is this Jan?
C-J: It is.
Aiken: How are ya?
C-J: I'm OK. How are you?
Aiken: Pretty good.
C-J: Where are you calling from today?
Aiken: Ohhhh, Buffalo, N.Y.
C-J: Buffalo, OK. Well, I want to ask you about the tour, and the book, and the new CD, and all of this sort of stuff.
Aiken: OK.
C-J: Now, the tour's about halfway through, right?
Aiken: Right, I think we're right at the halfway mark.
C-J: How would you size it up so far? What's been the biggest challenge for you?
Aiken: I think there's a lot of pressure that goes with being on your own, to some extent. ... On the two other tours -- I had a whole bunch of other people with me on the "Idol" tour obviously. Then with Kelly, it was just she and I, so if something went wrong, I could always blame it on her. (Laughs.) Being on your own, all the pressure's on you, right? So if I mess up, it's all my fault. There's a lot of pressure to make sure everything's (going right).
C-J: Now, the Topeka concert was canceled and, of course, we were all upset over that. But your ticket sales have been going pretty well haven’t they?
Aiken: To the most part, yeah. We've had a lot of success. We're doing the show in Hutchinson at the state fair.
C-J: Right.
Aiken: So I think that had a little to do with why sales in Topeka we're not so hot. We actually had initially scheduled two shows in North Dakota, two shows in Kansas, and some of the more rural, smaller states have trouble selling two shows.
C-J: So I was wondering, you do the same material most every night --
Aiken: That's right.
C-J: So how do you keep the performances fresh for you, and the backup singers and the band?
Aiken: Well, usually I make fun of them onstage. (Laughs.) Just last night, we were driving to Toronto to see a friend of mine from "Idol" -- she was Vanessa Olivarez, from the top 12 of my season of "Idol." She's the lead in "Hairspray" in Toronto. So I thought I'd drop by and see her up there.
And Quiana (Parlor), one of the singers from the show with me, we were driving up to the Canadian border, and she said: "Oh, I don't have my passport. They're not going to let me through. They're not going to let me through." And I said, "Well, you don't need a passport to get into Canada, you just have to have your ID." And so she was like, "Yeah, you do." And I said, "You'll see. You don't worry about it, you'll be fine." And she said, "What about when we go to New Mexico this summer, are we going we have to use a passport?" I said, "You've got to be kidding me. We don't need a passport there." (Laughs) So I make fun on them onstage.
We change the songs up a little bit, too. We've been on the road for a little over a month, about a month and half now. I kind of try to -- we just added a new song this week ("Chain of Fools") that Quiana and I sing on the show. ... So the show changes every night to the most part. We rarely do the same show every night simply because it, you know, keeps it fresh and new when it's something kind of different.
C-J: Well, let me ask you about the book that's coming out this fall, "Learning to Sing." You've been working with Allison Glock with that, is that right?
Aiken: Right.
C-J: Tell me about the process of writing this book. When in the heck did you find time to do it in the first place?
Aiken: Well, I kind of had the opportunity to start to work on it about a year ago. ... I kind of put it off. I didn't want to do a book about a biography or a behind-the-scenes process of "Idol." And so I wanted to make sure we had a real thing to write about, something that was worthwhile. So we started the whole process -- started working on it in April. And, yeah, there's not too much free time involved.
So I'd think about working on some stuff, and then Allison would come out. Allison came out a few times when we were on tour, and she kind of helped me piece it together. A lot of the stuff that I had was in the wrong places and didn't flow so well, kind of a bunch of crazy thoughts here and there, kind of mushed together and it didn't flow at all. So she would come out, she came out a few times, and, you know, (her) expertise in writing kind of helped me get it all in order.
C-J: OK, so she helped with organizing and ...
Aiken: Well, she helped with writing, as well.
C-J: What do you hope people take from the book, you know, after they've read it? What do you hope they learn from it?
Aiken: I kind of feel like it's an opportunity for me to share some experiences. You know, I think a lot of people have similar experiences in their life. ... There are people who are stepchildren. There are people who were picked on when they were in school. I was one of those. It's just an opportunity for me to kind of share those experiences and what I've learned.
I had a mother and a lot of other friends and family who were big on making sure I took the positive lesson from everything, whether it was good or bad.
It's just a chance for me to talk about that, and if people come away from it saying, "You know what? That's the same thing I went through, and I can learn the same thing and that's a good way to look at things," then great. If they can read it and think it's funny and entertaining and like to find out a little more information about me, that's fine with me.
C-J: OK. Is this something you think you'd like to do more of in the future -- writing books?
Aiken: Writing?
C-J: Yeah.
Aiken: It's not so easy (laughs), not at all, so I don't know whether it's something in the near future, you know. Maybe in 30 years, if I do have a biography, we'll put it together, but right now I don't think so.
C-J: The Christmas CD's coming out. Describe that a little bit, and does this mean we'll see you on a lot of holiday specials this season?
Aiken: The Christmas CD, we have to finish. We have to do a few more songs on it at the end of the month. We just have to finish wrapping it up and put a lid on it. It's a very classic Christmas album. We didn't want to do anything that would be dated in a few years, like with a lot of original stuff, lots of original production. It's very classic, with orchestral arrangements ... compare it to an Andy Williams' type album that can be sold year after year, you know, and people can put it on and it feels like Christmas and feels like the holiday.
And so, that's what we've done. ... I'm sure I'll be on some specials every once in awhile, at least on "Good Morning America" and that type of stuff. Other than that, I'm not really sure what's in the works. All that stuff kind of comes with when the album comes out and you see what's available.
C-J: OK. I also wanted to ask about your relationship with Disney. I know they're sponsoring the tour and you've got the "Aladdin" DVD coming out. Do you have other projects in the works with Disney?
Aiken: Right now, the biggest project we have with them is their sponsorship of, their work with the foundation. They're partnering with the foundation on some of our initiatives and helping us get the word out, helping us do quite a bit of marketing with the media, strategizing I guess, to make sure we get the information out about the Bubel Aiken Foundation and some of our stuff.
They partnered with the tour -- with the foundation first actually, sorry, and then with the tour second after I sang the song on the "Aladdin" CD, or DVD, sorry. So right now, that's all that we have in the works. You know, if there's something I'd love to do at one point and if they're ever interested in wanting to see me voice some character from a movie, maybe I'd do it.
C-J: Well, speaking of movies, you know, there's some rumors out there that you've done some screentests for "Rent" and ...
Aiken: There's a lot of rumors.
C-J: Yeah.
Aiken: You are the biggest person I've spoken to in months on rumors. (Laughs.) ... I mean, I've heard the rumor, but there's no truth to it.
C-J: There's no truth to the fact that you are involved in any movies?
Aiken: Not right now.
C-J: OK, all right.
Aiken: Now, maybe in the future, I'd love to do it. Right now, I've been on tour. I've been on the road.
C-J: OK, well, let's talk about the foundation. A year now in existence, and it's done wonderfully. What would you like to see happen in the second year?
Aiken: You know ... it's really exciting to see (our) camp programs that are being successful in Kansas City, and in Charlotte and in Raleigh. And next year, we're signed up (to be in) other cities. Miami is one of them, one of the places where we could work with the foundation's summer camp program. We've had success with Youth Service America, giving out grants to individuals with disabilities who are giving their time and their effort to help to do community service projects in their communities. That's been exciting to watch.
There's just been so much more success in one year than I ever thought there would be. Of course, I'd love to see that continue to grow. I'd love to see that continue and then flourish and be successful, for obvious reasons.
I think it would be wonderful -- you know, I don't know how long I'll be doing this singing thing. I'm enjoying it and would love to do it as long as people let me, but I'm not so sure that I'll be doing it for 30 years. The foundation, what I'd love to see happening, is for it to kind of spread its own wings and take on a life of its own. And, therefore, in 30 years if I'm not, (or) in two years if I'm not doing this, that it will be able to be successful.
Aiken's personal assistant interrupts, saying there's time for one more question.
C-J: OK. Well, this is a silly question, all right?
Aiken: OK.
C-J: You've said that you're ...
Aiken: You're wasting your last question on a silly question?
C-J: This is a silly question, yes.
Aiken: (Laughs.)
C-J: I won't ask about InStyle, OK?
Aiken: (Laughs.)
C-J: Here's the silly question. You've said you're, you know, a big nerd, so what's the nerdiest thing you've done lately?
Aiken: Oh, lord. The nerdiest thing done lately, what is the nerdiest thing I've done. The nerdiest thing I do traditionally is -- everyone always makes fun of me about stuff -- when we get to a city, I usually grab the magazine in the hotel room. You know, there's a visitor magazine that tells a bunch of stuff about the town?
C-J: Right.
Aiken: I always do the research on the town. I want to know when it was founded and how it got its name. I want to know all that sort of stuff (laughs), and then when we get on the bus I tell everybody. And they get tired of that. (Laughs) So we know Buffalo ...
C-J: Thank you so much, Clay.
Aiken: You're quite welcome, and thank you.
