CRUISE CONTROL IN THE USA
From Jozito New York– SA-bornsinger-songwriter Con ne ll Cruise (30) is making all the right move son the global music stage!
Tell us more about your latest offering, Barely Breathing.
Barely Breathing comes out of my move to the States two years ago and the adventures I’ve had while living there. There’s an upbeat, hopeful vibe about the album that captures where my head’s at.
There are some tracks on the album that I wrote before meeting my wife, Sarah (29), and some that came afterwards and I can hear the change in me right there in the music. It represents my growth as a person.
Any favourites on the album?
Here’s a secret . . . I don’t think even my record label knows this: I always put my favourite tracks at No 5 and No 9 on the listing. On this album it’s Broken Dreams and Untouchable.
You were in SA recently. What did you enjoy most about your time there?
I’ve always been close to my family. Being so far away from them is tough. Getting to see them and spend time with them is my favourite part of coming home.
This time Sarah came with me for a short holiday and I got to show her more of my beautiful homeland. She loved Cape Town. Seeing her wide-eyed, wonderful face as she took in the mountain and the city for the first time was amazing.
You shot to fame in 2014 when you signed a deal with Grammy-winning US producer LA Reid. How has your life changed since then?
Starting out my whole world was a little suburb in Johannesburg where I lived surrounded by my family – where I knew every street. Now I live in the heart of the music industry in New York and tour across different time zones. I get to work with people I’d only ever seen on television or in magazines before. My world has expanded beyond what I thought possible.
When did you move to New York?
I moved here in 2015. I was all over the place that first year – staying in Brooklyn, Queens and FiDi (Financial District) until finally settling down in Midtown, near Central Park.
Then I met my wife, fell in love and moved to the Upper East Side where we now live. It’s my favourite area so far.
What do you enjoy most about life in the Big Apple?
New York is amazing. It’s always changing, always on the move. Bryant Park is one of my favourite places to hang out.
It’s a good example of how vibrant the city is: in winter the whole place becomes a massive Christmas market with an ice rink in the centre. In spring it becomes a great grassy lawn where the city gives free, public yoga and t’ai chi lessons. In summer the whole place is converted into an outdoor cinema that shows classic Wes Anderson films.
In autumn its amphitheatre becomes the stage for travelling Shakespeare companies who put on pantomimes and one-act plays.
Throughout the year you’ll find people reading under the trees, playing chess, having lunch or strolling about on their way through the city.
Do you get treated differently overseas because you’re South African?
Yeah, but in a good way. People in America have a lot of respect for our country and a lot of curiosity about it too. Saying you’re from South Africa is hands-down the best way to introduce yourself around here.
Often at shows someone will bring a South African flag in and start waving it around during my set. Once, in Washington DC, I met with some fans outside the venue who’d brought biltong along because they figured I might be missing home. There’s mad love for South Africans in the United States.
Have you worked with anyone cool in the US?
I’ve been lucky to work with some great writers and producers around the country who are setting trends across the globe.
Among them is John Ryan, who co-wrote One Direction’s hit Drag Me Down. Working with Ido Zmishlany (who wrote Shawn Mendes’ hit I Know What You Did Last Summer) in New York has been the greatest.
You got hitched last year. Tell us more about your wife.
I really love being married to Sarah. She’s like no one I’ve ever known. I fell in love with her the moment I met her. She’s a native New Yorker. She speaks her mind, loves the New York Yankees baseball team, has a soft spot for bulldogs and she’s in training to become a certified yoga instructor. Sarah is the publicist for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
If the only reason I went to America was to meet her, it would have been worth it and I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.
What were you like in school?
I think I was a bit of a flirt to be honest. I’ve only ever had three fist-fights in my entire life; all three were at school and all three because I kissed the other guy’s girlfriend.
Other than that, I guess I was a normal kid. I wasn’t much into sports. I was really into the creative side and got stuck in to theatre, music and art every chance I got. I was a chronic procrastinator and no doubt caused my parents and teachers untold stress because of it.
What is the most played song on your playlist?
At the moment I think it’s James Taylor’s Mexico.
What’s still on your bucket list?
Seeing the great migration in Kenya from a hot air balloon.