Jason Mraz

Jason Mraz
a.k.a. Jason Thomas Mraz

THE COMPLETE MRAZ
Mr. A-Z Pleases All Kinds of Folks on His Sophomore Set
The Bonnaroo generation's favorite singer-songwriter, Jason Mraz has been a virtual nonstop touring juggernaut in the wake of his hit debut, Waiting for My Rocket to Come. While it took a while -- the better part of three years, in fact -- for him to produce a follow-up, he made sure fans were kept up to date on his progress, posting an exhaustive online journal and even setting up a studio webcam to chronicle the work on what would become Mr. A-Z. As the punny title indicates, the San Diego–bred singer-songwriter hasn't shed his disarming goofiness -- a big plus in these days of hand-wringing angst. He has, however, opened up his sonic palette to include everything from a bossa nova beat to a full-on choral backing. Mraz paused in his touring/skateboarding regimen to give Barnes & Noble.com's David Sprague the 411 on A-Z.

Barnes & Noble.com: Were you eager to get back into the studio after such a long break between albums?

Jason Mraz: Yes. Yes, I was. I really don't know how to expand on that except to say it was such a gi-normous thing for me. I do feel most at home playing live, but the feeling of getting into the studio to see the new songs take shape was really incredible.

B&N.com: In the single, "Wordplay," you seem to address the pressures of following up on first-time-out success. Did you feel a lot of that pressure?

JM: Not overall. That's how I was feeling that day when I wrote that song, and I wrote it to get past that pressure. You come to realize that only one person can tell you what's expected of you, and that's you. So I wrote it, and I moved on. Looking back, it's like, what could be better than having a first single be about having a first single?

B&N.com: Do you feel comfortable writing songs about your own life?

JM: I haven't really been writing all that long, so so far, that's all it's really been. Every now and then, a song pops out, like "Bella Luna" [from Mr. A-Z], that doesn't have much to do with me, but even there, I'm aware of my own location. It's easier to write from my own life, and it's also more fun. I always write about relationships, for instance, whether they're romantic relationships, friendships, encounters... there's always a lesson to be learned from them.

B&N.com: There's a good bit of humor in your songs, which is kind of unusual in the singer-songwriter realm these days.

JM: I've always been a pretty goofy guy, and once I got onstage, it came out even more. I was never one to go and see singer-songwriters in coffee shops. They tell a story explaining the song they're about to play, and then play the song, repeating the story all over again. It's the most boring thing in the world. I may write some crafter, singer-songwritery songs that are kind of boring, but dammit, I'm not gonna let that make my live show boring!

B&N.com: Did you go out of your way to make Mr. A-Z different than your last album?

JM: Every song I write, I try to make as different from the last as I can. I always think of the live show first, where the song is gonna go in the show. That's why they aren't sad songs. When I play, I want to make people happy, not sad. It's such a pleasure for me to do what I do, and I want other people to feel some form of that pleasure, too.

B&N.com: How would you describe the experience of working with Steve Lillywhite, who's produced everyone from U2 to Morrissey to the Stones?

JM: It was incredibly easy. Steve was on the top of my wish list because I grew up a fan of the Dave Matthews Band, whom he's done a lot with. He also produced one of my favorite Phish albums. His roster is ridiculous. When I thought of asking him to do [Mr. A-Z], he'd just finished making U2's Atomic Bomb album, and I don't know how he ended up saying yes to me. It was a blessing.

B&N.com: What sort of working relationship did you have?

JM: He did pretty much exactly what I expected. He sits back and lets you play, and when you've done it right, he lets you know. When you haven't, he kind of sits there chewing his gum and says, "Not bad, but how about trying it one more time." Someone once said that with the best producers, you don't even know what they've done at the end of the session, and that's what it was like working with Steve,

B&N.com: There are several guests on Mr. A-Z. How did that transpire?

JM: Mostly, they were just a phone call away...just people I knew. On my first album, I didn't get that chance, but this time, it was a chance to pay people back for nice things they'd done for me, or to pay my respect to people whose work I really liked. Raul Midón fell into that second category. He's an incredible talent, and it's great to see that his album is doing so well...not because of me, of course!

July 2005