Grammy-winning Mraz returns to Seoul
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American singer-songwriter Jason Mraz will perform in three major cities of Korea including Daejeon, Daegu and Seoul next month. / Courtesy of Live Nation
By Baek Byung-yeul
Grammy-winning American singer-songwriter Jason Mraz is returning to Korea in November for his national tour.
During his seventh Korea visit, the 37-year-old musician will perform at major cities of the country including Daejeon, Daegu and Seoul to promote his recently released fifth studio album “Yes!”
Ever since releasing his major label debut album “Waiting for My Rocket to Come” in 2002, Mraz has earned platinum and multi platinum certifications in over 20 countries, selling more than seven million albums in total and has won two Grammy Awards in 2010.
With his irresistible melodies and fresh lyrics, Mraz has particularly large following in Korea, where he could manage to sell more than 100,000 copies of his 2008 album, “We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.,” which includes one of his biggest hits “I’m Yours.”
While his previous concerts in Korea had been held in large-sized venues that can garner more than 10,000 audiences, this year Mraz will perform at relatively small concert halls that have a capacity of around 3,000.
In a recent email interview, Mraz said he prefers to sing at the small-sized venues as he is able to have more chances "to communicate (with audiences) intimately.”
The pop star said he will share the stage with all-girl, folk rock band Raining Jane with whom he collaborated on his "Yes!" album.
Starting with a concert at the Daejeon International Marketing Enterprise in Daejeon on Nov. 21, Mraz will continue to perform at the EXCO in Daegu on Nov. 23 and the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul on Nov. 24 and 25. For more information, visit www.livenation.kr.
The following is an excerpt from recent email interview with Mraz.
Q: Why do you prefer smaller venues for performing?
A:
Smaller crowd give us the opportunity to communicate more intimately. The larger venue it’s like “HEY! HOW’S EVERYBODY DOING?” and that’s the extent of conversation. For smaller venue, it’s more like “hey, how are YOU doing”. I look forward to get closer into someone’s heart.
Q: You will also be performing together with Raining Jane.
I’ve been performing with Raining Jane for about eight years. When I first made the song "Beautiful Mess" with them, I felt something strong and special. Ever since then we’ve been writing songs together. And last year, we noticed that we had written a lot and decide to make it as an album. These four girls are extremely talented and my partners for 15 years. I love their attitude towards music and how they approach the music. And we share the same thoughts that we need to leave something positive in this world. I’ve been extremely lucky to be working with them and very excited to introduce them to Korean fans.
Q: Tell us more about your recent album "Yes!"
The sound of the music is direct result of Raining Jane, my four collaborators on this album. One of the first songs we wrote is “Beautiful Mess” and I knew that in that song, there was something powerful expresses. Experience of writing songs invited us to write every year. Last year I looked at the wealth of materials I wrote with Raining Jane, and decided to present as an album. This album was written all during the time I was touring my last album. It was almost simultaneous my last album and this one. There was very small period of time between the two. My heart is still very much in the same place. Less cynical about love and more celebrating about love this time around. But the biggest difference is the sonic quality of the album because it’s not just about I wrote music and hire musicians to play. It’s based on the individual identities of each of the musicians on this album because they were all part of playing songs.
Q: What kind of message would you like to deliver to your fans?
I’ve made a conscious effort to make my releases and the music that reaches the audience, of the positive vibe. As a performer, I don’t want to bring sad songs on the road. I don’t want to bring my ungratefulness frustrations jealousy anger… I don’t want to bring that on to the stage. I’d rather want to bring tools of transformation and tools of possible enlightenment. I’d rather bring that to the audiences. So I’ve made love, light and healing as my central story.