It’s easy to overlook Jason Mraz. The singer-songwriter, originally from the quiet town of Mechanicsville, Va., is remarkably soft-spoken, and his small, skinny frame is usually decked out in everyday, lounging-at-home type of clothes. Most people probably wouldn’t even notice Mraz walking down the street, even though he’s sold close to a million copies of his major-label debut, Waiting for My Rocket To Come.
And then there?s the genre Mraz is labelled under. He broke out in the mainstream market three years ago with his hit single, ?The Remedy,? which came right on the heels of another breakout hit, by that other singer-songwriter (coincidentally with the same initials), called ?No Such Thing.? That would be John Mayer, of course, but he and Mraz are just two of the dozens of acoustic guitar-playing solo singer-songwriters who have recently taken over radio airwaves, some of whom are barely distinguishable from each other.
But none of this seems to bother Mraz. ?I think we?re doing just fine,? he tells andPOP during a recent tour stop in Toronto in support of his new album, Mr. A-Z. ?I can just tell by the amount of people that show up at our shows, and the amount of love that we get. It?s proof that somebody?s listening.?
People are listening alright ? and some very devoted people at that. Fans have been waiting in line to see Mraz at the Kool Haus that night since 6 a.m. in the morning. It?s a reflection of how well Mr. A-Z (which sold a career-best 81,000 copies in its first week) has been doing. Mraz spent about a year working on the record, playing around with various approaches to the songs he wrote while on the road, and his hard work is paying off.
?The first album took us five weeks to record the whole thing,? he says. ?We just did one version of each song and that was that. But this album, we did multiple versions of each song, so by the time we released it, I was more confident with the versions that we were putting out.?
Mraz has had a non-stop schedule since Rocket came out and says that at first, it was hard to find time for his creative side. ?I didn?t write for a year, because I was having to get used to doing the interviews, going to radio stations, traveling, and putting on shows every night,? he says. But once he did grow into the frenetic pace of life on the road, he found that his rise to fame gave him more to sing about. ?I learned how to just pace myself and take more time to meditate and practice gratitude and appreciation,? Mraz explains. ?I feel like [that] enables me to write a variety of things, and experience a broader spectrum of emotions and things to write about.?
He describes the making of Mr. A-Z as a multi-phase process that was really a group effort between himself, his band, and renowned producer Steve Lillywhite, whose past credits include albums by U2 and Dave Matthews Band. The guts of the album were recorded in upstate New York before the music was brought back cross-country to San Diego, Calif., where Mraz now lives, for the final touches.
Not long after, ?Wordplay,? the defiant first single off the album blazed onto the Billboard singles chart. On the song, Mraz sings about avoiding the ?sophomore slump? and dealing with pressure from his record label, something he?s now very familiar with.
?As much as we?d like to think we?re just making a record for us, it?s still being funded by Atlantic Records and there are certain compromises that you have to make,? he says.
But Mraz is quick to point out he wasn?t forced into anything he didn?t believe in, despite the feeling of bitterness some may pick up from listening to ?Wordplay.?
?Atlantic knows I don?t hate them,? Mraz says. ?It?s just me making fun of the business so that I can come to terms with it. I?m still the same person; I just have to jump through different hoops to make albums to get around.?
Diehard fans of Mraz will know he?s always come off as a laidback kind of guy and he isn?t above making fun songs like ?Wordplay? to poke fun at the industry ? and even at himself. His vivacious personality is most evident in the journal entries and quirky videos he posts on his web site, jasonmraz.com. He has created a series of witty videos titled “Invisible Microphone News,” where he poses as a reporter digging up the dirt on his fellow band mates, Lillywhite, and even his gold record for Rocket.
Mraz is looking forward to filming more of the segments while he continues to tour North America this fall, followed by a United Kingdom tour beginning in February. ?There?ll definitely be more,? he promises. ?It?s trying to figure out how we?re going to make time throughout each day so that I can keep doing my own projects, such as ‘Invisible Mircophone News’.? IMN addicts will be happy to know Mraz already has one in the works featuring his new guitar player, Marion Aqualina.
In terms of music, Mraz reveals that he hopes to make an acoustic album, but says it will depend on where his song-writing takes him in the coming year. ?Already there?s quite a few songs that are funky. So who knows ? maybe it?s a double album. Maybe it?s acoustic on one side, and rock on the other,? he contemplates.
No matter what he decides, there is no doubt fans will be ready and waiting. When Mraz takes the Kool Haus stage a few hours later, the energy level in the venue escalates infinitely and the youthful crowd, many decked out in Mraz merchandise, cheer wildly as he belts out songs off Mr. A-Z and Rocket, as well as old favourites from the live records he released independently before he got signed. It?s clear that Mraz knows how to put on a great show, as he spouts off witty banter and hits every note perfectly. So while it may be easy for Mraz to blend into crowds; for those who do notice him, he?s impossible to forget.
5. Summer Lovin’ – Grease
