We ask David Cook about touring, recording and coming home

Thanks for posting this. It's a good interview. I had seen it over on the AI boards and was about to post it but you beat me to it.

What an awesome article and you can just feel David's excitement.

A year ago this month David Cook decided to ride shotgun with his younger brother, Andrew, on a rainy, early morning trip to Omaha, where Andrew was going to audition for Season 7 of “American Idol.”

Someone with the show persuaded David to try out, too. He did. And … we know what happened.

This weekend Cook, a Blue Springs native and this year’s “Idol” champ, returns to his hometown for two shows in the American Idols Live tour, which features performances from this year’s top 10 contestants. From the road recently, Cook spoke to The Star about the homecoming and the record he has been making during the tour.

Have you been looking ahead to these Sprint Center shows?

From the second I saw the schedule. To be able to come home and have that extra day is huge. I’m definitely looking forward to it. To be able to sit down with my family and breathe for a second will be nice.

Is someone helping you manage the torrent of favors and ticket requests?

Unfortunately, no.

Has your family had a chance to see any of the shows yet?

My mom and stepdad, brother, our stepsister, her husband and their baby came to the show in St. Louis. I have a lot of family in Indiana, so Indianapolis was a big show. And my dad and stepmom and cousins and stuff came to the show in Lexington (Kentucky).

Will you do the same show here as everywhere else, or will they let you do something different or extra in your hometown?

The show will be the same, but I imagine the energy level will be different, at least for me. The tour has been great, and every city has been fantastic. But nothing beats coming home.

So you’re not able to change the setlist?

No. Because of all the lighting and production, we have to stay with it. But we try to find ways to switch it up and make it fresh a little bit.

What have you learned about performing at this level during these shows?

The big learning experience has been trying to make it as engaging for people in the back as it is for people in the front. Strangely enough, with that many people you have to make yourself more vulnerable than you would if you were playing a place like Davey’s Uptown or the Hurricane or whatever the Hurricane is now. So that’s been real interesting.

Has it been an easy transition from the live “Idol” show and the Nokia Theatre to these arena concerts?

With the show and the Nokia Theatre, there was always camera blocking involved so you kind of had to stay within yourself. It was a singing competition and a performing competition, so you had to be on top of your game on all counts. The tour is more relaxed. You can use the stage more and interact with the crowd more and be an entertainer more than a contestant. I’m gonna be real honest, and my apologies to everyone at “Idol,” but I much prefer the live touring feel.

You’ve been making a record during this tour. How does that happen?

I haven’t had a day off in two months, that’s how it happens.

Where do you record?

It’s a mix. Like we’ll have two days off between Tampa and Houston, so I’ll fly to L.A. to do vocals. And I had a day off between D.C. and Lexington, and I stayed in D.C. and tracked out there.

So you’ve lined up studios out on the road?

Yeah. And while I’m out on the road, they’re tracking the record back in L.A. We convene through e-mail and iChat. I’m lucky in that I brought my guitar player, Neal, on board, so he’s been out in L.A. tracking guitars for the record. So I have that direct contact.

Who’s Neal?

Neal Tiemann. He was actually in a band with me in Tulsa — MWK. He was the lead guitar player and songwriter, and I was fortunate enough to get him on board for my band now.

Have you hired anyone else?

Not yet.

Is any part of the record finished yet?

Nothing is finished. We’ve been doing multiple versions of everything to make sure that what we do put out is the strongest possible version of each song. It’s a little strange. We’re still working on the title and naming these songs. Everything’s coming together a little backward.

And you’re still shooting for late fall?

We’re shooting for November. So far, knock on wood, we’re ahead of schedule. The general consensus is we can’t put out anything less than a great record. That’s why we brought in Rob Cavallo to produce. He has a history of great records, so in that aspect I feel like we’re in good hands.

There are probably higher expectations for your album than any other “Idol” winner’s. Is everyone feeling it?

Any pressure like that has been manufactured by others. The standards I’ve set for myself will meet and exceed anyone else’s. If I can meet my own standards, everything, I hope, will fall into place.

Has there been any talk of releasing a single weeks before release date?

Nope. They just told me to put together a great record, and the singles will work themselves out. I’m really lucky. They’re allowing me to worry about making a record as opposed to things like writing a single. I’ve been involved in a lot of co-writes plus a lot of individual writing, stuff I wrote before the show. So I’m highly involved in the writing process.

I’ve read that you’ve worked with Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace and Ed Roland of Collective Soul. Anyone else?

Zac Maloy of the Nixons. I had a chance to sit down and write with him.

Will any special guests show up?

I’m not sure. Anything we do will have to meet the flow of the record and feel natural. So no one yet, but you never know.

great article!
thanks for posting !

I was getting ready to post this. I'm glad someone already did. It's a great article, but that part about the single will not sit well with some fans. Get ready for the panic. I think this tour has really held David back to the point where they can't make the type of progress they normally would had he not been on the road touring but I think he's done quite well under the stressful circumstances. The way he explained how the process works is kind of what I remembered from last year when the top 2 talked about recording from the road. Great article!

Fabulous article, and that quote just shows how much Fuller and co utterly believe in him, they're looking long term, no rushing something out on the back of the Idol buzz.

The way this album in shaping up, I won't even get annoyed if it's release date is later then expected, because I know it's going to be because David is getting it perfect for us

I think this is really fasinating to watch and read about all this process. This is the first time in all my years that I have actually watched and followed someone (like David) go through all this process and I am totally intrigued.

Ok, since the talk of the single was mentioned, Kirsten (the numbers mistress at mj's blog) is trying to put out fires like she always does about all this Cook to Archie comparison which we all know is apples to oranges. She has basically said here that RCA works totally different from Jive when it comes to releasing singles. Here is an except of what she said this morning:

http://mjsbigblog.com/idol-sales-news-week...#comment-147028



Reading her comment gave me a good lesson on how the different labels work. I think this article confirms how committed David is to this record.

THANKS PAM:

SOUNDS LIKE WE SHOULD JUST BE PATIENT AND LET EVERYTHING FOLLOW THE PROCESS AND FALL INTO PLACE.

David sounds happy and excited with the way album is moving so I am confident it will be great, single or not

Now I bet they do release a single but maybe not as soon as Archies, that does seem early really, over 2 months before album, better to be closer so people are still excited about it kwim.

He doesn't mention that Kara so I guessing we won't be seeing song she wrote with him as it won't fit the record style


It's all good and in the end everyone will LOVE it which is David's one and only goal

Yep. Looks that way doesn't it? This girl LOVES numbers! LOL Those of you who frequently visit the blog know that she posts the Mediabase numbers every Monday and her posts are very informative and I thought it was fitting to post that here so that the fans could get a good idea on how Jive and RCA works. I bought Daughtry's album, but I didn't really follow the album making process or the single release process like a few people have and I've learned quite a lot from what I have read. It allows me to stretch my brain. LOL

David is totally committed to putting out the best product he can put out.

Annette,

You hit the nail on the head with that comment. RCA is not trying to rush something out to make a quick buck like Arista did with Kristy (and no, I'm not slamming her) but her single Fifteen Minutes of Shame only sold 1600 copies for it's opening week of sales which of course isn't good. You would have thought being they signed her that they would want to promote the heck out of her but after so many of us saw the cover for the single, it was almost apparent this wasn't the case. With David winning, he has been provided with the best of the best to work with and the fact that Rob Cavallo came to him instead of the other way round, that speaks volumes to me that someone of his caliber would want to work with David.

The way RCA have behaved with David has laid to rest every fear I had for the album after he won Idol.

I'm mainly not too worried because this is par for the course for RCA. I can't remember when anyone I followed under RCA released a single several weeks before a release date. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn't. Kelly C. is releasing her album around the same time and there's still nothing about her single either.

Interesting though when asked about guest stars he didn't say anything about Steve Perry. Wonder what the deal is with that.

It's always nice to get new little tidbits about the new album from David. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't interpret his response about releasing a single early to mean that RCA has no plans to do that. All he said is that he hasn't been involved in any discussions about releasing a single. I'm sure someone at RCA is discussing and planning when the first single will be released and when the time is right, David will get involved in the process as well. It also depends on what your definition of "early" means. Are we talking 4 weeks, 3 weeks, or even 2 weeks early? Personally, I'd be perfectly happy if the single wasn't dropped until 2 weeks prior to the album release. Having said all that, I'd like to think most everyone here has gotten past the paranoia and worrying concerning the release date of David's first single. At least I hope so. Another thing to keep in mind is that rock fans, like ourselves, are far less fickle than the crowd that buys the majority of pop music. We're in it for the long haul and have no intention of moving on to the next flavor of the month while leaving David in the dust. No way. Not gonna happened. Regardless of when his single--or album for that matter--is released, we'll be lined up anxiously awaiting to buy it.

Word up on that, Annette! The fans who know David well enough will understand that David is giving his all into this record of his.

Also, since the label has given him much creative freedom, he's definitely using it to his fullest advantage, to ensure that what comes out is a perfect masterpiece.

I hadn't heard that, is it a rumor? <<jumps up and down!>>

Personally, I'm following David Cook's career, not David Archuletta's (no slam on Archie btw). I'll wait until as long as it takes for David to decide his cd's ready, and hopefully he'll be 100% pleased with it and so will we.

Come on November!

Some reliable sources say the Steve Perry collaboration IS true, but this has not been put out in any kind of press release, so no one can talk about it to the media. We'll have to wait and see.
And yes, RCA is backing David 100%. They have done an outstanding job promoting TOML, which is now a huge hit, #3 on Adult Contemporary radio, and could go platinum by the holidays.
And we already know he recorded a single that Friday in NYC. When it's released, or if it's the first one, who knows? It could still be out in advance of the album, but it doesn't sound like it from what we know about RCA. But as southpaw points out, no one has said that it won't be out early. In fact, all of southpaw's points are spot on!
Finally, David the perfectionist. A quality that's apparent in everything David does. Just one of many, many attributes that make us love him.

I couldn't have said it better southpaw. You're absolutely right saying that we are a more mature audience and we're not moving from the flavor of the month to the next one. We 're true to what we like and of course the people anxiously waiting for the album to release is already here and we have no intentions to leave, so RCA is not worried about the sales first weeks, and the single is realising one or two weeks before or even after the album is out just to keep that sales going.

Talking about the single selection process, David is only worried about getting a great album out, so RCA is letting him get all his efforts to that matter. The single is already being selected, obviously David is going to be a part of that selection, but the mayority part of the decision lays on the producers who has the experience in selecting songs which has the most potencial to be a media success.

My sentiments exactly when I read the same paragraph. I personally don't have a problem with this, I don't mind if no single is released but yeah reading that paragraph, my first thought was "Oh boy, here we go again."



I agree 100% with this. I won't mind at all if its delayed. And from the various articles recently posted, David has repeatedly said he won't release anything he HIMSELF is not happy with and its got to meet his own standards first.

Cookie has said before that he just wants to make the album and let the record company worry about the single. If everything is still a work in progress and none of the songs are even named yet it doesn't sound like they're ready to decide what the single will be. Odds are we won't know until it's time for it to come out and that may be a while.



I posted this in the other thread but I knew as soon as that info came out some people were going to start screaming.

David Cook is looking to put out a quality album. I don't know what the intention is with Kristy Lee but one doesn't have much hope for something that's as rushed as her album apparently is. Archie will putting out a fun party record to appeal to his Radio Disney fanbase. I was not fond of either Kristy Lee or Archie during the show but I would hope some of my own favorites (MJ, Carly, Jason, Brooke, Chikezie) would be putting out something of merit also and not just thinking about how fast they can get a single on the radio.

It's sad that some of Cook's fans don't want this for him as well, but can think of nothing but the single.

NOVEMBER CAN NOT COME FAST ENOUGH!
\O/\O/\O/\O/\O/\O/\O/\O/\O/\O/\O/\O/\O/

I think we all need to just have patience. I'm fine with the fact that we may not get a single released before album.

We just need to give David the time to work his "magic" on this record. With the help of RCA and Rob Cavallo, I think this is going to be an amazing album...we just need to let them do what is best.