Award-winning songwriter and recording artist Bleu chatted with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos about “A Crazy Life” being included in “Now That’s What I Call Music” Vol 80.
What was your reaction when you found out that “A Crazy Life” was going to be included in NOW That’s What I Can Music Vol 80?
I was stoked! It’s such an iconic brand, and of course, it’s amazing to be heard alongside so many important artists.
Besides “A Crazy Life’, what other singles on your “SiX TAPE” album stand out to you and why?
Well, I like them all of course – hA!! Two of the songs were actually already released as singles in a slightly different form, “Love You So,” and “I Wanna Write You A Symphony” both of which I still love. I think the biggest reaction from fans has been to “Kid Someday” because it talks directly about the joys of new fatherhood, and “Snakes” which is really satisfying because it’s one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written.
You’ve written for some of the biggest names in music. Do you have any funny stories about the writing process or is there a moment in the songwriting room that stands out to you the most?
When Selena Gomez came to work on the song we had started, she had dutifully written out all the lyrics in advance so she could practice her singing. However, I had actually never written a good chunk of the verses.
On the demo, I was just singing gibberish in those places. Selena didn’t know that though and wrote out what she thought I was saying. The amazing thing was – the lyrics that she wrote in those spots were great, and totally made sense! Somehow she had subconsciously put it all together perfectly without even knowing it.
If you could write for any artist (whom you haven’t written for yet), who would it be and why?
Oh jeez, there are so many I could list! You know who comes to mind though, Fitz! I enjoy all the solo and band stuff he’s done over the years and I absolutely love that he’s still crankin’ out the hits.
You’ve recently adjusted to fatherhood! How does the new responsibility affect your music and what are some of the biggest challenges that come along with raising a kid and maintaining a successful career in music?
Well, fatherhood definitely provides a lot of perspective. Pop songs are absolutely important, but perhaps not as important as raising a human up in today’s world! The biggest challenge is honestly just time. I’m a very involved father, and that means I don’t have the pure man-hours than I did before. But sometimes that’s a good thing. It can force you to focus on what’s the most important.
Why did you choose to produce an animated music video for “A Crazy Life”? What was the inspiration behind the visuals?
Actually, the director Beth Jean reached out to a few old contacts (including me) and said that she was interested in doing more videos using some of the various styles that she had established over the last few years, including stop-motion animation.
I actually love stop-motion, and have done some of it myself in music videos I’ve worked on for myself and others. So I jumped at the opportunity, knowing that it would be an awesome fit for the “Crazy”ness of this song! And man did Beth Jean rise to the challenge, there are so many wacky details in it!
Is there anything coming out in early 2022 we can look forward to?
I have even more songs from the “SiX TAPE” sessions than the bonus tracks available on Bandcamp, so I’m hoping to get out a “Volume 2” on vinyl when time allows – and a Berklee College of Music Masters Degree course in songwriting that I authored will finally be launching. I’m excited to see what 2022 will bring, I have a feeling there’s something crazy lurking just around the corner!
