|
Kelly Clarkson |
By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter
It's been nearly seven years since Kelly Clarkson won American Idol in 2002 and her music career has had its share of ups and downs. But with her latest album ``All I Ever Wanted,'' she's proven she still has that something special that made America fall in love with her and made her the Idol.
Her fourth album spawned the hit songs ``My Life will Suck Without You'' and ``I Do Not Hook Up,'' and overall has a more diverse sound, with pop, rock and dance songs.
The new sound is perhaps due to Clarkson working closely with new producers and songwriters including One Republic frontman Ryan Tedder, Dr. Luke, Max Martin, and Howard Benson.
``On each record, you kind of grow, you meet more people, and you hear more music. Like One Republic came out and I had never heard Ryan's stuff before, I couldn't wait to work with them. Clive Davis actually introduced us in a label meeting we were having, and we hit it off. We wrote like five or six songs together and some of them made it on the album. It was just fun to work with him. You meet new people and you vibe together and we came up with a lot of different sounds. My management and I were laughing at how different the album is; all the different sounds, but they are all very me,'' Clarkson said, in an email interview with The Korea Times.
The album title ``All I Ever Wanted,'' is also Clarkson's favorite song on the album. She describes it as a ``very 70s, soulful, rock song'' that's fun to sing at concerts.
``All I ever wanted is just to do music; I love playing, singing live, recording and writing and this song just encompasses that,'' she said.
Producers Dr. Luke and Martin initially brought her a different version of ``My Life Would Suck Without You,'' which was the first single from the album.
``I thought it was cool and everything, but I kind of wanted to make it my own idea, like with every song on the record. I want to make sure it's me, obviously, because it's my face, my voice. They were really cool with it. I sent back, `maybe if we could change it make it a little more different, a little more tough.' They love it. We did that with `Since You've Been Gone,' as well. I love the hard drums and the heavy guitars," she said.
Clarkson writes her own songs and draws inspiration from her personal experiences.
``It's kind of therapy for me. I go home and just sit and write what's in my head at the time. Well, I guess if it's called `Cry' it's a sad song, but it wasn't sad, it was just a sad kind of track. It sort of had a melodramatic feel to it. It's always fun to write about real things that are going on. It would be hard to put myself in shoes that I haven't walked," she said.
The Grammy Award-winning Clarkson is extremely excited about going on tour with all the songs from the new album.
``That's my big thing, like with "Cry" and "I Do Not Hook Up," I cannot wait to perform these songs. When I'm putting an album together, I'm thinking about what am I going to want to perform on tour because I love touring. I'm always thinking, what songs will be fun to sing? It's going to be a fun record to tour,'' she said.
Despite her album topping the U.S. charts, Clarkson still remains unfazed by success. ``In this business, everyone wants to be successful. And I'm very different from most artists I know. I don't care about being famous, or being at the top of the charts. What matters is that fans like the music, that they come to the concerts and that they just have a good time. When you start focusing too much on your own level of fame, that's when you start losing yourself,'' she said.
As the first American Idol, Clarkson offers some advice for Idol hopefuls: ``No matter how many doors slam in your face, there's one that's waiting for just you.''
The 27-year-old singer-songwriter doesn't quite know what the future holds, but she's sure about one thing: she'll still be singing.
``I'll be singing, because that's all I do and all I love. I don't really know where I'll be in 10 years and I don't really want to know. I think if you know it's a very boring life. Who knows, I could be crazy in 10 years'' Clarkson said.
cathy@koreatimes.co.kr |
|
무디스, 스페인·伊·포르투갈 신용등급 강등
