MJJC Exclusive Q&A with Brad Sundberg (Technical director to MJ) - Submit your questions

[ivy]

Brad Sundberg was technical director to Michael Jackson for nearly two decades. He recently announced a series of seminars to take place this June in New York called "In The Studio with Michael Jackson" ( thread here: http://www.mjjcommunity.com/forum/t...r-June-29th-Making-Music-With-Michael-Jackson)

Brad says "My primary roles from 1985 (Captain Eo) to 2002 (final project at Neverland) were primarily technical. I brought studios up to Michael's standard; helped with recording in the studio (Bad, Dangerous, HIStory, BOTDF); helped with dance/video/single remixes; worked with Michael and his band as they prepared touring; built all music and video systems for Michael at Neverland Valley Ranch. "

Brad has experienced Michael's music come to life first hand and he's looking forward to answer your questions about Michael's music as well as talk about his ""In The Studio With Michael Jackson" seminars.

So what are you waiting for, please submit your questions. We will be collecting questions for a week and close question submission on April 15.

 

[morinen]

- Do you have plans to repeat your seminars on the West Coast?

- Do you remember any of Michael's songs that remain unreleased to this day and if yes, which ones are your favorite?

- Most memorable moments with Michael in the studio?

- In your memories you said Princess Stephanie from Monaco came in the studio to record "In the Closet". What kind of relationship did she have with Michael (according to your impression)? Friendly? Romantic? Was Michael around when she recorded her part, and how did he behave towards her?

- How long did it take Michael to write lyrics to a song? Did he typically write lyrics when the melody was ready, or did he ever start with poetry?

- Michael was known to record demos on a tape recorder by emulating instruments with his mouth. Did he keep those demo tapes after the songs became properly recorded? Where do you think they are now?

- Where did Michael generally keep tapes with demos and unreleased songs? What did his "vault" look like?

- In your memoir you say, "I could write page after page of simple acts of kindness I have seen firsthand." Can you remember a few? It's always warms fans' hearts to hear such stories.

- How did Michael change over the years, according to your impression? I don't mean physically, or his alleged "eccentricities". I mean in your personal communication with him what kind of changes in his character did you feel?

 

[Blue Angel]

On the website promoting the upcoming NYC seminars with Brad Sundberg, it states this:

"Additionally, Michael tapped him to help in the early days of designing and building Neverland Valley Ranch, his incredible home. The ranch was filled with rides, music and surprises waiting to be discovered. He commissioned Brad to bring music to virtually ever corner. Michael would even give him specific playlists for certain areas of the ranch, to create just the right environment."

1) What kind of music was played on the grounds of Neverland?

2) What types of music was on the playlists that Michael created for those particular areas of the ranch?

3) What music did the Neverland carousel play?

Thankyou!

 

[EML]

1. Over the years, working on the albums from Bad to Blood on the Dance Floor, how did MJ mature or change? How did he improve?

2. Of the artists you have worked with, was MJ the most professional and prepared in the studio for recording? How did his process differ from the other artists?

3. What did your tour prep for MJ's tours consist of?

4. I would also love to hear a story based on personal experience working with MJ. What is one of your most memorable?

5. How magical was working at Neverland? What was the atmosphere like?

6. Of all the songs that you worked on with MJ in the studio, what was your favorite? Or what song had a creative process, from the demos to the finished song, that was impressive and just blew you away?

 

[Sefra and Sue]

i imagine that many answers will be reserved for the seminar, I have to say it is pretty fair, but taking that into consideration, I ask...
Michael has fans in everywhere and unfortunately despite the desire to attend, many fans will not be able going to seminary because of the distance, is there plans to share the content in a book or something to attend this portion of fans?

.

There is some memory that you can share here about the sessions of HIStory album ?


thank you

 

[etoile 37]

We know that Michael liked to bring his animals in the studio, do you have any funny stories about them that we might not have heard?

Did Michael play some pranks on you?

 

[mysterygirl7]

How good was Michael at operating the buttons and stuff in the studio, would he get more into that after you worked with him for some years?

 

[Mr. Norway]

I have some questions about demos and the ways MJ and you were working while creating the music.

- In the demo phase, did MJ always come in to you with a recorder, playing his ideas for you, and you starting to get those ideas out the way you heard it, or were there also times when he came to the studio with nothing and created it from scratch?

- Did it happen that the music turned out completely different from what MJ had put down on his recorder, or did he / you always stick to that original idea?

- Can you tell us in detail exactly how the demo process was? What would MJ say to you after playing his ideas and how involved were the rest of you besides MJ; did you just do everything he said or was it a collaboration with him listening to your input ideas with the arrangements?

- Since you have been in the studio with him all this time maybe you can tell us this: How many instruments could MJ really play, which was it and how good was he really to play? (Honestly)

- How do the Bad session demos, besides those that have been released, sound like? Songs like Bad, Dirty diana, Hot Fever, pyramide Girl and Smooth Criminal (after the change from Al Capone to SC); were they much different and will we get to hear them?

- Can you tell us about the infamous "Men In Black"? What´s it like and is it true that it was originally going to be the first single off Dangerous before MJ wrote Black Or White?

- And... I would LOVE to hear MJ´s solo demo of "Eaten alive" by the BeeGees, which he was allowed to do some changes on and gain co-writing credits. It´s described that there exists a MJ demo of it, but it doesn´t seem like it can be allowed on the BeeGees demo albums - maybe because of copywrite being owned my the MJ Estate? Have you worked on it, how is it and will we get to hear it?

Thank you for answering.

 

[MJ*PP]

You guys got some creative questions, chapeau! I have a feeling this will turn out in a great interview, with (hopefully) long answers and examples. He looks like a nice guy too.

 

[dam2040]

Were there any songs left out on a tour that would have been awesome?

 

[paisleyCUTtop]

What will be the highlights of the seminars in NYC and in Paris?

Which project during your time working with Michael, would you say has impacted your career the most?

What can fans hope to walk away with from your "In The Studio With Michael Jackson" seminars?

What are your top 3 favorite songs from Michael and why?

What has inspired you to come forward and share your experiences working with Michael, with his fans?

What did you think of the Invincible album?

What exactly is the job of a technical director and what did this position entail, as you worked in this role on some of the MJ albums?

Were you a fan of Michael's before you started working on his team back in the Captain EO days?

What is the fondest memory that you have of Michael (as a human being, not as an artist?)

Can you tell us why most of the songs were sped up for Michael's concerts?

What kind of work was done on the music to accompany Michael's short films?

Do you have a #1 top favorite song/short film/ project that you worked on with Michael?

Have you worked on any posthumous Michael Jackson projects?

If you could describe the most difficult aspect on working as part of the production team on a Michael Jackson album- what would it be?

Were you there during the recording of Scream? How was Michael during the process of recording this and what was his interaction with Janet like?

 

[Ashtanga]

 

[morinen]

Please share more on this!

"One of my favorite Michael songs that never released as a single is "Keep The Faith" from the Dangerous album. During the production of that song we decided (or rather were forced) to scrap the original version and re-record a new version in an all-night session that I will never forget. What started as a tear-filled disaster turned into an amazing, powerful song. I look forward to telling you the story!"
https://www.facebook.com/inthestudiowithmichaeljackson

I heard Michael recorded the song in the wring key or something, but I could never understand how that could happen.

 

[Mr. Norway]

I agree, it would be extremely interesting to hear how in the world it would be possible that MJ, of all people, would sing it in the wroing key and cry his heart out about it - IF it`s true, but I guess that`s where you come in, to tell us if it really is Of course, everybody, including MJ, could have a bad day but it sounds as if he had tried to sing it for a long time without succeeding, and that doesn`t sound like Mike.

Please share more on this!

"One of my favorite Michael songs that never released as a single is "Keep The Faith" from the Dangerous album. During the production of that song we decided (or rather were forced) to scrap the original version and re-record a new version in an all-night session that I will never forget. What started as a tear-filled disaster turned into an amazing, powerful song. I look forward to telling you the story!"
https://www.facebook.com/inthestudiowithmichaeljackson

I heard Michael recorded the song in the wring key or something, but I could never understand how that could happen.

 

[Mr. Norway]

Suddenly I got some more very interesting questions for you:

- As we all know MJ wanted to work with Prince on the song "Bad", which never happened. And it also seems like the two camps have different stories about the reasons to it. While Quincy has said that Prince said it would be a hit without him, Prince has jokingly said that it was the lyric line "Your but is mine..." that was the problem, and I have also read that there were some creative differences about how the song should sound. Can you tell us some more about this? It`s also been rumoured that MJ and Prince had several meetings over the years and may have planned to / or recorded other songs together. Is there any truth to this?

- It sounds to me very strange that none of the big duets that MJ really wanted on the Bad album, except from Just Good Friends, turned out. I mean, the rejection from Prince and the rumoured duet proposals to Barbara Streisand and the rejection from Whitney for "IJCSLY". MJ was in his peek and I would assume that everybody would want to work with him if they got the chance, and I find it hard to believe that Whitney`s record company couldn`t see advantages in her doing the duet instead of over-exposing herself. Did they just don`t like the song or what were the reasons for not wanting to be a part of it?

- How did MJ work in the album selection stages, how did he choose the songs for his albums? I guess he had to put Heal The World and Earth Song up against each other for Dangerous and probably also had to put They Don`t Care About Us against another song for the same album, but do you have some inside info about what and why the songs we know got chosen and not the ones that weren`t? And are there any good examples of songs that almost made the cut on any album that we haven`t heard that you thought could have been a super hit today?

- Something I have been wondering about for a long time: WHY do you think MJ did not want to do an album with just MJ written songs when he clearly was a fantastic songwriter? To me, it seems like he almost didn`t believe in his own songwriting abilities towards the end, especially in the Invincibløe era. Why would a songwriter like MJ need to have that many songs by other songwriters??

- How finished is the studio version of "Fall Again"? I read that 80 - 90 percent should be done, but he didn`t get to finish it because Prince got sick. But is it finished enough to be released and what is missing???

 

[ivy]

question submission is now closed. We will be selecting the questions to send to Brad Sundberg.