ВLACK&WHITE : What does Michael expect from the musicians he works with?
Bruce Swedien : Actually, Michael is very simple and clear. He knows what exactly he wants to hear, but sometimes he has to give a right-a-way to some of the musicians, because he wants to hear something more different. That happened to Slash, Michael invited him in person.
ВLACK&WHITE : What extent is Michael neat to in the producing of the songs?
Bruce Swedien : Michael presents from the beginning to the end of making of the songs. He tries to follow the stages, to understand everything...
ВLACK&WHITE : Does he ever interfere with your field?
Bruce Swedien : He is interested, but never interferes. He wants to know everything, but doesn`t want to do everything! He understands the borders.
ВLACK&WHITE : It's known that Michael writes a lot of songs every time when he works on an album.For the BADalbum he had 80, and for DANGEROUS 60 songs.
Bruce Swedien : True that. Michael always brings new songs to the studio. For HISTORYhe wrote 30-ishsongs.
ВLACK&WHITE : What is happening with the songs, which won't be included?
Bruce Swedien : They are going in the "safe"...
ВLACK&WHITE : So, there is a "safe" somewhere, which contains hundreds of songs never heard before?
Bruce Swedien : We have a small one here in New York, but in LA is the bank with all of the Michael titles. What we have in stock is recorded and kept in a computer and there are a hundred songs, or even more than a thousand. Michael writes non-stop, all the time he has ideas for songs.There are hundreds of tapes Michael has something recorded on in our archives. From the small micro tape where is just a melody to the tape on which is the song ready to be released. Most of all there are only demos.
ВLACK&WHITE : And what is going on with all of those songs?
Bruce Swedien : They are waiting their turn. One day they will be re worked or left just as they are.
ВLACK&WHITE : Is HISTORYgoing to be like BADand DANGEROUSmost of it written by Michael.
Bruce Swedien : Definitely. Michael composes almost all of the songs from the new album.
ВLACK&WHITE : What is it we can expect?
Bruce Swedien: Something extraordinary. I think withHISTORY Michael will get the respect, he deserves as a singer and composer.
ВLACK&WHITE : Don`t you think he is been respected for those features already?
Bruce Swedien : No. Michael is been respected by the audience. He is very popular, but he is not recognized as a great composer yet. I hope that with HISTORY people will discover his talent.
ВLACK&WHITE : Would you compare HISTORY to his other previous albums.
Bruce Swedien : HISTORYhas already become my favorite album. In my opinion this is the best Michael has ever done. His singing in some of these songs are amazing. He has never been that far before.
ВLACK&WHITE : What about the songs?
Bruce Swedien : Michael wrote 2 songs forHISTORY, which I would say are the best he has ever created... Words of those songs are the most personal and the most beautiful he has ever written. He went above and beyond him self. The horrible things he went thru lately inspired him a lot...
ВLACK&WHITE : HISTORYis not out yet, but he is your favorite already! In that way of thinking isn't his last one your number one album?
Bruce Swedien : May be! It is true that your favorite would be the newest, the latest. But to tell you the truth, I think Michael has never done anything at that high level as long as the lyrics, music and vocal performances are concerned. I hope that people will appreciate and respect that. Michael is one international treasure.
ВLACK&WHITE : These 2 songs you mentioned, what do they look like?
Bruce Swedien : The first one is pretty personal. In this song Michael explains he was not allowed to have a childhood, that he lost it, his voice is awesome in it. The second one is different. Michael wrote it in Moscow, when he was on tour. He was alone and tortured by the false accusations against him. He expressed his feelings writing wonderful words (BLACK &WHITE: Bruce sings us the song he thinks is lovely).
The songs starts off with the sound of rain, this is the rain of Moscow, the rhythm is very complexed...there is an infinity of small sounds merged together, Michael makes drums (percussions) with his mouth.
ВLACK&WHITE : Recently we found out that one of the songs, which will be in HISTORYwill be titled ”Earth Song”(after a lot of negotiations with Bob Jones we got the approval of stating the name of one of the songs on the new album).
Bruce Swedien : You are well prepared! In fact, yes, there is a song called“EARTH SONG”. This is a song from the upcoming album, even though we haven`t recorded the final version. Michael has to add couple more words to the refrain...This song will become classic. Michael's capabilities are so vast, he did amazing things forHISTORY. In another song from the album, for example, he sang with all symphonic orchestra. He entered the studio with 80 musicians, they played their part and Michael sang in front of them. There was no interruption, it was unbelievable.
ВLACK&WHITE : Which song are you talking about?
Bruce Swedien : About the song dedicated to Charlie Chaplin.
ВLACK&WHITE : So, the version we will be listening to, was recorded live and without interruption?
Bruce Swedien : We wanted to do that from the very beginning and we could've done it, because the performance was unbelievable, but Michael is such as perfectionist that he wanted to get back to the studio and sing his part again. He always wants everything to be perfect. Anyways, what do you think, nowadays how many performers are able to record a song together with a symphonic orchestra live? What do you think?
ВLACK&WHITE : ...
Bruce Swedien : None! I can't see any. Michael's the only one! When you check this song out, you will find out to what extent his voice could be magical.
ВLACK&WHITE : It's know for Michael when he records in the studio, that he shuts all of the lights down and he dances...
Bruce Swedien : Most of the people do that. It's done so they can focused on the performing.Michael does it as well, he prefers to be surrounded by darkness, except for that little light for the list in front of him, but it doesn't allow us to see him. Sometimes he dances...
ВLACK&WHITE : Today we found out that Janet Jackson has been in NY for couple of days. Did she stop by to hang out with Michael yet?
Bruce Swedien : To tell you the truth I must say that there is going to be a song by two of them on the CD... She was here yesterday accompanied by Terry Luis and Jimmy Jemm, who are the producers of the song.
ВLACK&WHITE : That was expected by everyone, and should've happened sooner or later, one day or another. How is the recording of the song going on? How is the work going between them?
Bruce Swedien : It is a lot of fun to watch. They won't sing together, they would rather watch the other one sings, so they are taking turns to go and sing!