Re: [分享]Jason Mraz: The full Q&A

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Jason Mraz: The full Q&A
By George Varga
Pop Music Critic

2:00 a.m. February 1, 2009
Jason Mraz, who performed yesterday on "Saturday Night
Live," will attend next week's Grammy Awards. (Nelvin C.
Cepeda / Union-Tribune) -

See also: George Varga's Union-Tribune article about Jason
Mraz.

GRAMMY BOUND

Sunday Arts will profile some of the San Diego artists who
are nominated for a Grammy Award each week between now and
Feb. 8, when the 51st annual edition of the Grammys will be
held in Los Angeles.

This is San Diego Union-Tribune music critic George Varga's
complete Q&A interview with Grammy-nominated
singer-songwriter Jason Mraz. The published version appears
in the Arts section of today's paper.

QUESTION: I'm curious if you're any relation to George
Mraz, the great Czech jazz bassist?
ㄟ，我很好奇，你和捷克爵士貝斯手George Mraz有沒有血緣關係呀？

MRAZ: We're no relation. I did meet his granddaughter once.
She brought me a 'Best of George Mraz' compilation she made.
沒啊，但我有見過他女兒，她給了我她自製的老爸精選集。

Q: How did you like it?
那你喜歡嗎？

MRAZ: I loved it.
超愛的。

Q: Your periodic surfing companion, Anna Troy, who is the
roommate of your good friend, Aspasia, tells me you can –
 and I quote – 'Shred some serious waves.'That brings up
two questions: Do you always surf early in the morning and
does it ever happen that you come up with any musical or
lyrical ideas while surfing?
你的好朋友Aspasia的室友，Anna Troy，也是你的衝浪好友，告訴我
們你「真是會衝浪」，讓我們想問問你，你都是清晨跑去衝浪嗎？還
有啊，你會再衝浪的時候想到什麼寫歌的點子嗎？

MRAZ: Yeah, it can. The great thing about surfing is that,
sometimes, it's the non-idea time because you have to stay
focused (on surfing). I do go early in the morning; that's
to me the best reason to get up and I can get home by 10
a.m. In the old days I wouldn't have gotten up until 10. I
do it for the physical fitness, to clear my mind, and
because it's the only thing that kicks my ass. It's serious
and it will beat you down. All I do otherwise is sing songs
and I need that in my life to continue to make a man out of
me. I wouldn't say I shred some serious waves, but I
definitely have fun. It's been big (waves) this week, so it
allows you to show your stuff, if you've got it.
還是會啊。衝浪是這樣，因為要非常專注，所以通常這是不會有點子
冒出來的時間。我也是真的都很早去衝浪的。這是我早起的原因，也
因為這樣我才能早上十點到家。衝浪可以健身、讓我的思緒清晰、也
是唯一會把我打敗的一件事情（？），衝浪是很嚴峻的。其他我也只
唱唱歌啊，才能活出自己。我不會說什麼我乘風破浪啦，但衝浪真的
很好玩。這禮拜的浪很大哦，如果你行的話可以好好玩一玩。

Q: To continue, could we talk about your upcoming blues
album, 'I Hate the World and I'm Going to Kill Myself.'
那我們談談你的新專輯：鳥世界我還是死死算了。

MRAZ: Really?
蛤真的嗎？

Q: No. I made that up. But, seriously, your songs tend to
make people feel good, kind of like a musical pick-me-up.
What role do you want to fulfill as a singer-songwriter and
what do you want to give your listeners when they pay to
hear you perform live or buy one of your albums?
沒啦我亂講的。不過說真的，你的歌讓人心情愉悅，很自然會給人
勇氣站起來的音樂劇。身為一個創作歌手，你認為你的角色是什麼呢？
還有啊，你會想給你的聽眾們些什麼，當他們拿到你的專輯或者去你
的演唱會？

MRAZ: Comfort, more than anything, I think. I'm certainly
not a preacher and I'm a horrible salesman. The last thing
I want to do is force people into any (line of) thought.
But if (I write) a happy melody and a groovy rhythm that
people can sing along to and participate in, and it might
be infused with optimism or some inspirational message or
Zen philosophy, it can allow people to just be within
themselves. I don't want to say lose themselves, because
that's the opposite.
舒服的感覺，我想這是最重要的了。我不是個傳教士，然後我也很
不會賣東西。要逼任何人想些什麼是我最不想做的事了。但一種
愉快的音樂和令人起身律動的音樂，就可以大家可以一起唱，一起
參與，併參一點樂觀與一些靈感，或一點禪味，大家就可以輕鬆愉
悅做自己。我不會說「這樣讓大家迷失自己」因為我才不想讓大家
這樣呢。

The more I travel around the world the more I see people
want the same thing – to be happy. We wouldn't be in a
monetary system if we didn't have to work, so if my music
can contribute to happiness, then that's my main
responsibility. I write those types of things for my own
joy. It's my own therapy. If I didn't write (songs) I'd
probably be insanely depressed, probably overweight, and
who knows where I'd be? A mental institution?
我越是踏遍全世界，越發現其實大家都只想要開心。如果我們不工
作，就不會身在這個資本主義社會。所以說，如果我的音樂可以做
些什麼，那就是獻給快樂，那就是我的任務。我寫這些音樂是我的
興趣，也是我自己的療癒過程。如果我不寫歌我大概就會陷入重度
憂鬱，然後過胖，然後我大概就在精神病院了吧。

Q: So music is really cathartic for you?
所以音樂真的是你的淨化過程？

MRAZ: Absolutely. It's something I've relied on, writing,
at least since I was 13. When I was in my late teens I
started to infuse those lyrics with music and melody. You
can make a special souvenir of a time in your life with
music and songs. So that's what I've always written (to
achieve).
當然。我從十三歲開始就開始寫了。我青少年末期啊，就開始把那
些歌詞與曲合譜。這樣就變成妳人生中某個時期的紀念品了。這也
是為什麼我總是在寫歌的原因。

Even now, that I've entered the world of competitive music,
which is what selling albums has become, I don't like
making albums for that reason. I make music out of a happy
moment, a hardship I've overcome, a lesson I've learned, a
love story I got to live.
就算是現在，我已經進入了音樂產業，賣音樂的產業，我不喜歡寫
歌就是為了賣錢。我為了一段快樂的時光寫歌，我克服了重重困難，
我寫歌。我學到了些什麼，我寫歌。一段情，我寫歌。

So, for me, it's just a chronicle of my life and putting
reason to the voices in my head.
所以說，對我而言，寫歌是我的年曆，寫出我腦海中的聲音。

Q: Did you have any epiphany in your late teens that
inspired you to add music to the words you'd written?
在轉大人的時候啊，你有沒有突然頓悟啥，讓你想把你寫的東西加
上音樂呢？


MRAZ: Um, I guess it happened in college. That's when I
first really had a guitar in my hands every day. And what I
noticed was that I could make up songs about anything, on
the spot, and it became a party trick. People would come
over and challenge me with objects or situations, and I
would just make up a song about it and get a good laugh and
make people really connect.
喔，我想那是在我大學的時候。因為那時候我手上總有吉他。而且
我發現我幾乎隨時可以唱任何東西，這在派對上很好用。總有人會
過來挑戰我，隨便丟些主題或情境給我，我就馬上唱出來，大家總是
大笑，大家也滿能夠親近我的歌的。

It was through that connection and gratification that I
realized it was the only thing I wanted to do with my life.
I (realized): 'I don't want to have to compete in the
(theater) workshop or audition for jobs. I want to create
my job.'
也因為這樣，我才發現這才是我人生的目標。「我不想要在劇場裡
競爭，或者到處面試。我想要創造我自己的工作。」

Q: So you kissed college goodbye?
所以你就不念大學了？

MRAZ: Yeah. I kissed college goodbye. I was in musical
theater school, and said: 'I have no need for this.' I
didn't want to stand up in a line every day and say: 'My
name is Jason,' and sing a song someone else wrote and then
go be a waiter (at night). I had a better plan – to go
write my own songs. It wasn't even about making money. My
dad always said: 'Do what you love to do, and that's it. It
won't feel like a job.
是啊，我就不念了。我之前是在音樂劇學校。我說：「我不需要這
個了，我不想要每天都要排隊說「我名字叫做傑森」然後唱些別人
的歌，（晚上）再去當侍者。我有更好的想法，我自己寫歌。但這
無關餬口。我爸總是說，「做你喜歡做的事情，就不會覺得那是工
作了。」

You could stop everything you're doing now, and just do
what makes you happy. And if you did it with passion,
everybody would stop and react. And, one day, you'd say:
'Why don't I sell tickets to what I'm doing?' Or put a hat
down (for donations)? That's as far as I thought it would
go – 'If I could just make enough to pay the rent.'
現在你在做啥都可以放棄，但一定要做你喜歡做的事情。若你有熱
情，人們都會注意到的。哪天你就會想，欸，那我幹嘛不賣票給人
來看我在幹嘛？然後你就會把帽子給擺在地上了。→這就是我最初
的想法，反正我付得出房租就好了啊。

Q: Your latest album, “We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things,
” features collaborations with Colbie Caillat, James
Morrison and Bob Schneider. What do you look for in a
musical partner and what's more important in a
collaborator, good vibes or creative tension?
你的新專輯與數人合作，你覺得合作對象最重要是什麼呢？
你希望在合作對象上找到啥呢？

MRAZ: Yep, good vibes. They're all people who write from
the heart and not from their pocket. Meaning, they're not
just trying to craft a crafty song to sell it. I like
writing with people who really get off on it. And Bob
Schneider, who did three of those (framed) drawings
(hanging) behind you, has the mania.
是的，自然流暢的感覺。他們都是用心創作的人，不是純寫歌賺
錢。Bob則是用心畫了後面那三幅畫。

And Colbie seems to have a little taste of that free
spirit. I've been able to become more selective over the
years. In the old days, when I got signed, I'd write with
anybody and everybody, and walk away feeling like I was
just raped and so many ideas were just being wasted. I was
just looking for real people.
Colbie呢，則是有著自由心靈。這些年來我終於越可以選擇了，
以前啊，我被簽的時候，我都必須要跟許多莫名的人一起寫，
結束的時候我都覺得我的心血都被糟蹋了，好像被強暴了。我要
找的是真的寫歌的人。



--
太多了，請接棒。orz

--
Utopos, meaning the good place, also, the place cannot be.

Pathway Towards Freedom
http://blog.pixnet.net/morissett

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