| A Chat with Colbie Caillat |
| Written by Cecily Van Horn | |||
| Friday, 23 September 2011 15:07 | |||
 Colbie Caillat is a true musical gem from California. She is the daughter of record producer Ken Caillat who is best known for producing some albums for Fleetwood Mac. She attributes part of her success to the advice her father gave her to write her own songs and to not only just become a singer.
As a youth, she was encouraged to explore music through learning piano at the age of 9 and then guitar when she was 19 years old. She also performed at school talent shows and took part in many musical theatre productions.
Her musical career was given a boost when her high school friend, Dom, started a MySpace page promoting the songs she was recording and writing almost daily. She didn't know how the site worked, so Dom offered to create it so that her music could reach out to the world and inevitably that's how the record labels found her.
She has produced three great albums- Coco, Breakthrough, and All Of You. In 2010, her second album won her "Best Album Pop Of The Year." She also received two Grammy Awards that same year- "Best Album Of The Year" for her contribution on Taylor Swift's album Fearless, and "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals" for the song Lucky a duet with Jason Mraz. Her second album won "Best Pop Album of the Year" at the Soul and Jazz Awards.
TimesSquare.com was able to chat with Colbie Caillat about her musical inspirations, auditions for American Idol, her latest album, and her upcoming show in New York on September 26th at the Best Buy Theatre.
Times Square (TS): So, I'm extremely curious to know...What inspired you to write your first song?
Colbie Caillat (CC): It was when I was 19. I wrote it after my first guitar lesson. I went home and went to my parents' bathroom because it was the other side of the house where no one could hear. I started playing the four chords over and over again and singing. It was the nicest feeling of creating something on the spot right there. The song was called "Someday" and it was about leaving home and seeing the world and making something of myself. TS: Sweet! It was as if your inner singer-songwriter was telling you that something awesome was about to happen with your music. I heard you were also inspired by Lauren Hill's performance in Sister Act 2. Can you tell me more about that? CC: I loved her voice. It seemed so easy and effortless. Even though that part of the movie is like a minute long, I would just keep rewinding it and singing it. After that I heard her sing the "Killing Me Softly" version with the Fugees. I started singing after that, doing school talent shows...I love the way I felt singing the stuff she sang. TS: What are some other artists that you look to for inspiration? CC: I grew up listening to all different styles of music...Classic rock like Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac, Steve Miller Band, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Bob Marley and a bunch of reggae. I got into hip hop with Biggie, Tupac...John Mayer, Jack Johnson...Artists like that, sing-songwriters that have a soulful voice. TS: In grade 6 you performed "Killing Me Softly" at a talent show, can you recall how you felt during that? CC: I was shy. My two friends, the girls I sang it with are still my best friends actually...They're more outgoing and they also can't sing. They encouraged me to do it. So we did it together. I remember afterwards when the crowd was cheering for us it was a really nice feeling. But still after that no matter what if someone asked me to sing I wouldn't do it right off the bat...I was too shy and I'm still that way. TS: Is there anything that you do to beat the shyness? CC: I try lots of different things. Sometimes it works; sometimes my nerves just get the best of me and they win. But I do vocal warm-ups and stretches to have my voice prepared for going out there. I have a stage coach that says to look in the mirror and tell myself five good things about myself and to try to build up your confidence before you walk out there. Also to just look out there at the crowd, smile, take a deep breath, and remember that they're there to watch you play...It's a good thing and to not be stressed about it. TS: You auditioned for American Idol twice. How do you think they feel now that you've made a name for yourself without having been discovered on the show? CC: I've talked to a few of them. I'm friends with Randy...They think it's crazy that I got passed on. But what they don't know is that I was really shy, I didn't audition well and I wasn't right for the show. [Although] It turned out obviously for the better... TS: Indeed. You recently got to collaborate with Jason Mraz on the song "Lucky". How was that experience? CC: It was a unique experience because we'd never met each other when we wrote the song. We wrote it together through e-mail. I'd always been a fan of his. He got my number and e-mail from my manager and just called me. I was like "oh my god, I'm talking to Jason Mraz...this is crazy." He already had the song idea but wanted me to help finish it. He thought it would be a cool duet. The first time we actually met each other was in San Diego, I had a show and he lives there. TS: "All Of You" is a great album. Can you tell me what inspired it? CC: I wrote that one about my life experiences, the ups and downs in relationships that we all go through...when I was happy, when I was falling in love, when I was really upset with someone, when my friend was going through a hard time dating someone that was really wrong for her...all of it, I just wrote about it...and put it all on this record. TS: Well Colbie, It has been super awesome to chat with you. Good luck for your upcoming show in New York City. CC: Thank you, it was nice talking to you! For tickets to her New York show. Visit her website at www.colbiecaillat.com For more articles like A Chat with Colbie Caillat, please visit the Music Interviews Section of TimesSquare.com
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