Mars puts ‘dream band’ together
Bruno Mars was jealous of Amy Winehouse because he wanted to do what she did: Release genrebending songs that connected with diverse audiences around the world.
“I felt like everything I’ve been saying, everything I wanted to do, she did it. It was one of those things like, ‘Damn it! Damn 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 pigeonholed 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.
Q: 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?
A: Why not? That’s when the fun comes in. Now, it’s time to have some fun. Let’s put the dream band together.
Q: Did you listen to the radio while recording the album?
A: 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.
Q: What’s it like putting out an album following the success of Doo-Wop & Hooligans?
A: 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.