Lopez Blogs

I was lucky enough to catch up with my favourite ever female singer as she bolted back up the stairs from her work out at her las vegas hotel room to catch my call. She apologises for being out of breath, even though I didn’t pick up on it - personally, I would have needed to collapse, gulp the air back into my lungs and have a quick lie down after such exertions, but not Ms. Gibson ~ which may explain why 20 years after she first hit the charts with Only In My Dreams, she is still producing amazing pop music and one of the top names in theatre. Although I quickly deviated from my set list of questions, I managed to talk to Deborah about everything from Electric Youth to Electric Youth the musical; dream duets; memories from Grease in London; the real story behind her fourth album Body Mind Soul; her take on the current teen girl singers and much much more. It turned out to be a most fascinating conversation…

TZ: First of all, this was (and is) going to be part of a 20^th anniversary feature on your music and career, but then I was checking out some dates, and now I’m not sure whether it’s 20^th or 21^st!!

DG: Yeah, that’s the thing, I think almost any year coming up now could be the 20^th anniversary of something. It is kind of the 20^th anniversary of the first album release, so that makes sense!

TZ: Ok, that works for me then! Well looking back 20 years to Out Of The Blue it’s a huge achievement to still be going in this industry – do you look back on that time and reflect how different it is for people nowadays?

DG: Well, I thank God I started when I did as opposed to starting right now because it’s kind of a scary time to be a popstar. On one hand I had to be more of a pioneer, because – I tell people this and they don’t believe it – but back then my age was a detriment and I had to hide it almost and appear older than I was at stuff. In the very beginning, pretty much before you guys got the record, I played clubs to get the first single off the ground. I joke that when I look at pictures of myself from that time, I look older then than I do now!! (Laughs)…

TZ: … I wish I did!

DG: I kind of had to put that on and now if you’re over sixteen, you’re almost too old to be signed. It’s kinda funny that they are looking for younger and younger and younger. At the same time, the mentality is a lot different now – these labels don’t give you a chance to develop your backbone and these kids are kind of thrust into it – they don’t get chance to develop the performing skills and everything has to be so instantaneous now. Everything is so PR oriented and image oriented and teens are treated as adults. I’m at least glad that I did get to be a kid. In business terms I was never a kid, because that was just in my nature, but in terms of being in Fashion Police sections, people didn’t care what people under 25 were doing and now they are targeting these kids and treating them like they should know exactly what to do. I feel really bad for the mary-kate and ashleys and the hilary duffs and all these teens who are treated like adult people in magazines for everyone to read about. It doesn’t give them any breathing room and it is sad, because that must make it a lot more difficult.

TZ: Mandy Moore actually has been quite vocal about how she had no control over what she was doing at the beginning and was almost forced into wearing things she didn’t want to, and couldn’t write her own music…

DG: Oh my God, yes. I look back now and think well, ignorance is bliss. I was so confident about my writing and if I hadn’t been able to do that, it was a deal breaker. The whole point of all my work was to get my music out there, it was never to sing someone else’s songs. I felt I was a writer first and a singer second, and I and my mom really stuck to our guns on that one. And looking back now, I feel lucky because I can’t believe the record company gave me a shot, I mean really!

TZ: Sure, it’s so unrealistic for someone to come in nowadays and be able to write pop tunes. They wouldn’t be marketed as a pop star, they would be marketed as a singer songwriters and wouldn’t be able to put out ‘pop’ tunes…

DG: Exactly, I mean even now I get people coming up to me and asking who wrote your songs and I say I did! And it’s because they think these songs sound like they were crafted by a 40 year old man for a 16 year old girl…

TZ: (rudely interrupting!!)… sure like Max Martin!

DG: Yeah that was the funny part about it, because I felt I really put my personality into my writing and performing.

TZ: That definitely shows, because although I had Out Of The Blue when it was released, it was Electric Youth that really won me over as someone who admired your craft and actually really made me knuckle down to piano lessons! Even now I think your songs are incredibly relevant. We Could Be Together could easily be about me sitting at school with a crush on Manning Butts or about an adult wanting to pursue a relationship that others may not think is right. Shades of the Past is the same – it’s not specifically teen music, it works for me at age 33 as well as it did at age 14.

DG: Thank you. Even though the production was 80s in the sense that everyone was doing the keyboard sequence thing and all that, yeah, but I will strip them down now and do acoustic versions of We Could Be Together and Out Of The Blue and feel comfortable performing them, and it doesn’t feel like David Cassidy going back and doing I Think I Love You, it doesn’t feel that dramatic. Oh and going back to you mentioning Mandy Moore, I think she is one of the few former teen stars who have really grown and kept her head on. She’s become a class act.

TZ: She has, she hasn’t been in the falling out of clubs at 4am or getting put in and out of prison for drink driving…

DG: You know you must look at our country – and I live in LA – and you must think ‘what a mess!’

TZ: Haha, um, well we have some pretty bad things happen with stars in England, it’s just not all of them are known globally, so really we just keep our own mess on our doorstep!

DG: Well, even though I live right here, I just don’t seem to witness any of that debauchery because I simply don’t go to those places. Where is this place in LA with all these subcultures of party girls, because I’m never there!

TZ: Shooting forward from that to now, really, there seems to be a backlash against the party girl celebrity. Your song Famous is certainly a commentary on it, Pink did similar with Stupid Girls and there was a huge backlash against Paris getting preferential treatment. It seems like people aren’t going to take it anymore and start maybe looking to see what talent they have (or don’t have!)

DG: That’s true, I’m hoping that talent will make a comeback, because it’s pretty sad that our biggest celebrities here right now do nothing for a living. It’s an awful message to send to kids because they think being a celebrity is an actual career. They don’t realise that this should be a by product of your own talent and hard work, and instead it’s become its own by product, which is just so strange. I don’t mean to pick on Paris because I hear she’s a really nice girl but I’ve seen her at events and I never have said hello, because I don’t know what to say to her. I mean, what do you say to her? “Hi, I really liked you in…. oh.”

TZ: House of Wax?!

DG: (Laughs) Yeah, it’s strange because it’s awesome when you see people that you admire and you have something to talk about, but with this whole party girl celebrity thing, they often say ‘oh I’m just living my life’, but why then hire a publicist?!

TZ: Ok, I’m shooting all over the place with my questions now, but that’s ok! The Body Mind Soul cd fascinates me because it seems that you had a lot of other material for that album that surfaced on the Memory Lane cds (compilations that Deborah released to fans with previously unheard demos on) from that period that could easily stand up as singles in their own right. There seems to be more record company interference in that era than at any other point of your career…

DG: I think those demos certainly better represent who I was at that point in time. I joke when I’m driving around LA and there is traffic you will always see a traffic cop, and they are creating a lot of the traffic out there. It’s the same with record companies – usually when a career is on track or sales are on track, and then there is some glitch, it’s usually because somebody meddles. Quite often if an album doesn’t sell, you can still look at it and think ‘oh I see what they were trying to do and it’s a phase they are going through, but artistically it’s all there’. When you have grown men telling little girls to put on a black dress and heels, it’s difficult because on the one hand I think all artists are people pleasers and you want to see whatever you do get released, but at the same time I think I brainwashed myself into thinking how versatile I was and that I could put this hat on and play a character. But I don’t think people necessarily want that – they look at their musicians to be authentic. I mean I can look back at Losin Myself the song and the video and think ok, I’m really proud of that, too bad I’m not doing that now, because now I have the sexuality to back that up and back then I really didn’t. I was just a little girl playing dress up. It was a very interesting and frustrating time.

TZ: As well as songs keeping their message, I guess, across the ages, Losin Myself is a song that would actually work really well in the charts today.

DG: Sure, when you just said that, I could actually hear someone like Rihanna doing that type of song…

TZ: And I guess BMS is similar to the position Kelly Clarkson is in now – the record company wanted to shelve her latest album for something they created, but it’s clearly all her own work and love it or hate it, it’s come from a natural organic place…

DG: I think good for her. She came from this place where she was very controlled with Idol, and now she’s stepping out and doing her own thing. I think it’s great. Someone said to me the other day “oh Kelly Clarkson’s making a huge mistake because she’s ditched her manager, and now won’t sell any records”. First of all maybe it will be a good career move, maybe it won’t, but ultimately she needs to do what is right for her as a human being, and maybe she needs a different kind of nurturing from a different kind of manager. You have to look from within yourself not outside yourself. I look back at my career and think, oh I could have done this or I could have done that, but it’s not how I was feeling at the time. I was promoting Body Mind Soul in England and that’s when I heard about Grease. If I had been there any other time, I wouldn’t have heard about it and that opportunity would have been lost. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle and every negative experience I have had has led to a more positive one. Maybe that album wasn’t about selling albums, it was about the timing of what it led to after that.

TZ: You’ve actually done a lot of songs over the years that aren’t on albums, and the other day Live Earth was on, and I remember thinking, oh! Deborah did that years ago with her song Whose World Is It Anyway and should be singing it today…

DG: … Awwww, thankyou!

TZ: It’s gotta be 16-17 years ago now since you performed that?

DG: Yeah, I think around 1990 in New Jersey. I think for these massive event shows they have such a specific idea of who and what they want, that unless you are on the list, you are not going to get in no matter what. Maybe there will be an opportunity in the future to recycle that song for an event like that. That would be very cool.

TZ: You also did a song recently for a benefit on Here! Tv – the Ribbon of Hope benefit for AIDS. That song with Dave Koz was just very lovely and moving and an AC smash all in one… I woke up and found an email about it in my inbox and I just fell in love with it and though what a great way to start the day!

DG: Aw, thankyou. I’m very interested to see it because the one part of the show I saw broadcast they literally cut the first verse and chorus from my song, and as a writer it makes it start at a very strange place, and vocally it starts at a very strange place, so I’ll have to check that out! Oh and Dave Koz was amazing, I love him and am so glad we got to do something together like that.

TZ: Moving onto theatre now – I think your career is as much about that as it is about the pop records you put out. I was really excited when Coloured Lights, although at first I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t the really popular songs from musicals. However, I think you really re-introduced some hidden classics from theatre on that album, that turned out to be people’s favourite tracks. If you were to do some songs from say my current obsession, Wicked, what might they be?

DG: Oh I’m actually singing for Stephen Schwarz at a tribute in LA and I’m actually singing The Wizard and I…

TZ: (embarrassingly fan-boyish intake of breath!) How exciting…

(after note! I sound positively geeky here. I am mortified!!)

DG: Yeah, I happen to love that song – I love that it is her opening moment, but I also love I’m not that girl… which has a real pop tune to it, a very cool song. Unfortunately, it’s not going to be broadcast or anything…

TZ: If you were to do a duet on the amazing tune As Long As You’re Mine, who would you like to duet with?

DG: Oh my gosh, that is such a great question – let me think, let me think, let me think! Oh my mind is all over the place, but I’m thinking of a hundred people I’ve worked with. Oh ok, you are going to think I’m totally nuts, but the guy who sings the lead in vocal from Westlife on Mandy – I don’t even know which guy it is (TZ ~ it’s Shane Filan) but everytime I hear his voice, I think ‘oh my god, that guy has such an amazing voice!’

TZ: Oooh – that reminds me, if one of your songs was to be covered by a boyband, which one would it be?

DG: Oh that’s an easier question – I always think it should be Lost In Your Eyes, because little girls would go crazy for that song if it were sung by boys… I think that would be good for westlife too as they are pretty much a ballad band, and I’ve always really liked them.

TZ: Staying with theatre – how was the musical Electric Youth?

DG: It was good – it was so fascinating to go and watch something so involved with my music that I have had so little to do with, but I wanted to give the writer/producer chance to develop it without me meddling right off the bat. We had an understanding that he would put it out the way he sees it and then I would check it out and see what needs to be done. I would like to rewrite a decent portion of it, but the basic premise was there and the moments that really worked, worked 150%. The whole idea with that musical was the kitschier the moments were, the better they worked. Those moments really worked and the audience reaction was great. It was really fun. Really really fun. It was crazy to see the male characters sing No More Rhyme – I never heard a guy sing that song before.

TZ: Is it going to progress from Florida – are there any more plans for it?

DG: Yeah the ball is in my court I guess – I want to work on it, but I have been travelling and performing so much, I haven’t really had the time, but I want to. But I do think it could have a life and when the actual premise is good, then you can work with it to make it great.

TZ: And how are your other musicals coming?

DG: The Flunky is coming along great, we are actively working on that. Skirts is kind of on the shelf for now because my collaborators and I are moving in 3 different directions and we can’t seem to get it together for that. To be a musical theatre team, you really have to devote yourself to it – which is what is happening with The Flunky. Me and Jimmy Van Patten are creative nuts and we are intensely into it and raising money for workshops, so it’s coming along well. I saw Spamalot here in Vegas last night and in a way our musical has a lot in common with that. It’s more traditional and grounded than that, but it definitely shares the wacky quirky side of spamalot. It was great for me to see something else with that tone.

TZ: If you could have your pick of any Broadway role at the moment what would it be?

DG: Oh my goodness! Hmmmm…. A few years ago, I would have said Elphaba in Wicked, but at this point it’s been going on so long, I’m not so sure… Believe it or not, there is nothing that I’m dying to do at this minute that’s out there. I was in the UK for two days over the holidays and I saw Evita. If I could do Evita in the West End that would be amazing. And I haven’t seen Mary Poppins yet, but I’d venture to say after doing Belle, I’d get a kick out of doing something like that. I think I was on a winning streak with playing every dream role you could wish to play, and now I think ‘ok now what!’ (laughs). I’ve done Cinderella and Belle and the narrator in Joseph and Gypsy (TZ: and Funny Girl and Cabaret and Chicago and Les Mis and Grease and so many more!) – it’s just dream role after dream role and I don’t have that feeling right now about any role. I want to wait til I have that feeling.

TZ: What are your thoughts on all these reality shows that cast people in musicals?

DG: Grease was fun over here because David Ian was our producer and he was judging the show, so it was fun to watch. I actually voted and my favourites won. I felt I had a vested interest in who was going to play Sandy and Danny. It’s so funny to me, because when I was auditioning in London and I was brunette, it was a big deal and everyone wanted me to die my hair blonde. I always thought why can’t sandy have brown hair – she’s meant to be kind of mousy and girl next door. They kept telling me she was named after her hair colour and I would say ‘no! she was named at birth!!” And now the girl that won here is brunette! I was very happy to see that a brunette Sandy is getting in there! (Laughs) She really had the most talent, but nobody said a word about her hair! But when I was doing it, the wig was bad so I ended up caving in and dying it. But back to the question – on the one hand I think, oh I have friends who have been slogging away for years who would die for these roles. But on the other hand, if it gives people an opportunity to break into theatre, and anything that gets theatre on a major network here in the US has got to be a good thing, because that never happens. And you can’t fake your way through these things, you have to real talent.

TZ: OK, just a couple more questions just to wrap it up… your fans are very loyal and dedicated and travel from Spain and England and all across America to see you. How does that make you feel to have a whole community of people who just adore the work that you do and support you in every aspect of it?

DG: It’s really really cool. I know that people have met up over the years through the fan club and its become its own little community. I recognise people when they come out and it’s great to have a base, a fan base. It feels like a personal community and whenever I do shows, I always try to spend time at the stage door and have time to chat. It’s fun to know people by name, because it has been a lot of years and we have all spent a lot of years together. I’m always very honoured when people take their hard earned money and buy plane tickets to see me. I’m like ‘little me, really? Oh wow, ok!! Haha you know! It’s very flattering.

TZ: How does it feel to have inspired a new generation of artists? I was interviewing a new singer the other day called Kevin Jon and he said you were one of his main influences on his debut album, even though he was about 2 when Out Of The Blue came out…

DG: Aw, that’s amazing I will have to check out his music. I meet a lot of artists like Gwen Stefani, who say ‘oh my god you were the bomb growing up’ and it’s great because clearly they are their own artists with their own style of music. For some reason though, there are all these little girl popstars who were clearly influenced by me who won’t admit it for some reason. It’s not a cool reference for some reason, but it makes me happy that Kevin said that! Oh! I notice that Avril Lavigne uses some of my vocal adlibs that were all over my first few albums! Even if she heard that in the womb, you heard it! I love her though, she is definitely one of my favourites!

TZ: OK final question, what would you like to achieve in the next 12 months?

DG: My main goal is to sit down and work out a broadway/pop combo show in Vegas. That is really my passion right now. Oh and I’m in what must be my third holding deal for a sitcom and I really get used to things not happening for whatever reason. But I’m a live performer so I really would love to do the Vegas show.

TZ: Oh! If you can do that by December when I’m in Vegas that would be great!

And with that, I was done. I may have had a million other questions that I wanted to ask, but it didn’t really matter. The interview had gone into a much more organic natural place, as Deborah was very interesting to talk to and has a wicked sense of humour. Thanks to Diane Gibson for organising it, and Deborah for the generous amount of time she spent chatting with me.

LINKS:

Deborah's official homepage ~ www.deborah-gibson.com

Deborah's official myspace ~ www.myspace.com/officialdeborahgibson

Deborah's fanclub page ~ www.dgifonline.com