Bruno Mars: A Q&A with the artist about new album 'Unorthodox Jukebox'

Bruno Mars recently released his sophomore album 'Unorthodox Jukebox.'

|
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Bruno Mars performs at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

Bruno Mars was jealous of Amy Winehouse because he wanted to do what she did: release genre-bending songs that connected with audiences around the world.

"I felt like everything I've been saying, everything I wanted to do, she did it... It was perfect," the singer-songwriter-producer said in a recent interview.

Winehouse, who died last year, won five Grammy Awards for 2007's "Back to Black," including album of the year.

"You couldn't put it in a box 'cause it could be played on rock stations, it could be played on rhythmic stations, it could be played on pop radio, and I've always wanted to make music like that — that could be spread out, and can't be pigeon-held to one thing," he said. "And they did it. Her and Mark Ronson."

Mars was signed to Universal Motown when he grew envious of Winehouse, who released "Back to Black" on Motown's sister label, Universal Republic. Though his record deal fell through, the crooner had a breakthrough in 2010 on Atlantic Records with his multisounding, near-double platinum debut, "Doo-Wop & Hooligans." And this week he's releasing an album full of even more sounds with "Unorthodox Jukebox." It features Ronson, who has produced for Lily Allen, Adele, Nas and Q-Tip.

"(I was) not thinking about business or radio or politics, just doing what I love to do and that's creating music," Mars said. "Whether it be a reggae song, rock song, a love song, the main thing was just to, whatever I was feeling, to try to capture that emotion."

The 27-year-old talked about his sophomore album, which includes production collaborations with Jeff Bhasker, Diplo, Paul Epworth, Emile Haynie and the Smeezingtons, the production trio that includes Mars, Philip Lawrence and Ari Levine.

The Associated Press: You and the Smeezingtons wrote your entire debut album. Why did you decide to reach out to other writers and producers on your new album?

Mars: Why not? That's when the fun comes in. Now, it's time to have some fun. Let's put the dream band together. ... I love their take on pop music. ... It was a big ole science project.

AP: Did you listen to the radio while recording the album?

Mars: No, not because I didn't want to listen to the radio, it's more because I generally, literally locked myself in the studio. Like, we were in the studio. In the dark. No windows. Nothing. Like, it got bad. Beard down to here (points to floor). Everyone smelled like cabbage.

AP: What's it like putting out an album following the success of "Doo-Wop & Hooligans"?

Mars: Well, I feel like you have to constantly keep proving yourself, and you have to constantly keep getting out there and showing them you're more than just that one song on the radio that's just playing. And that's what I had to do the first time around; I had to keep going out there and keep performing live.

AP: Your parents are also musicians. What do they think of your music?

Mars: They've been my biggest support, my mom and dad. No one believed in me more than they did. And I'm talking about some things on this album that are not the most comfortable to play for your mother (laughs). But she knows. She understands and I talk to her and I tell her if I don't write what comes to me then I become a cartoon. And she understands it and supports me 100 percent.

AP: Will you collaborate musically with them?

Mars: We are the world. Just me and mom and pops, my cousins in there. I mean, I'd like to. You know my sister sings, my brother plays drums in my band. My whole family is a bunch of musicians. So, when the right time comes, you'll see it on some kind of reunion tour, CBS special, 'Behind the Music: Bruno's Family,' trying to revive my career.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Bruno Mars: A Q&A with the artist about new album 'Unorthodox Jukebox'
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Music/2012/1219/Bruno-Mars-A-Q-A-with-the-artist-about-new-album-Unorthodox-Jukebox
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe