陽光大衛私房粉絲網

又來了篇長到不行的專訪，也才是第一集，大家先看，Gen姐明天有力氣就給大家翻譯大綱，主要是談CFTH的製作啦，講他學法文的那部份我覺得最好笑，難怪他唱的像幼稚園的小孩似的，原來是在電話裡學的，天哪！

usatody

In the first part of our interview, David talked about his latest project, Christmas From the Heart.

One of the best things about Christmas From the Heart is that you sing in four different languages -- English, Spanish, French and Latin. Which ones do you know a little bit, and which ones did you have to learn phonetically for the songs?

English and Spanish were the only ones I really knew. Sort of. I'm not even good at English! But it was fun getting to sing in all the different languages. It's fun to reach out to ] people from different backgrounds and different parts of the world. It's neat to be able to share and dive into a culture that you're not familiar with and to get familiar with the language and how the words are said.

It was so cool, getting to sing in French. It's not like I'm very good at it or anything, but it was neat to make an effort to do it. 'Cause, you know, there are some French fans, too.

Then Ave Maria, that was cool, getting to sing that. Then, in Spanish, of course, because I'm half-Spanish. I'm over half Hispanic, I guess, because my dad's a little bit Hispanic.

Do you speak Spanish fluently?

Just a little bit. Both of my parents are fluent, so it's pretty embarrassing that I'm not. But it's still a big part of my family. All my mom's side speaks Spanish. I speak to my grandparents in Spanish. Slowly. And they're patient with me! But I do speak with them in Spanish and carry on conversations with them.

You had a pronunciation assistant credited on your French song, Pat-A-Pan. Was she in the studio with you?

No. We were just like, 'These are French lyrics. I don't speak them, and I don't think I'm saying them right.' My keyboardist's friend spoke French, so the night before, we just called her and said, 'Hey! Can you help me with these words?' She just went over them on the phone with me, and I was, like, 'Thank you, because I'm going to have to record them in the morning.'

It was pretty funny. It was someone I had known already, but I guess they were my coach for the day.

You used several Utah-based composers and arrangers. You and Richard Parkinson, for instance, go back before American Idol.

He used to accompany me sometimes.

Talk about some of the Utah guys you used on the album.

There's a lot of really talented people in Utah, people who would really make an effort to make the music the best that it could be and as emotional as it could be. What we wanted to do with the music, instead of people who would just be like, 'We'll throw together something for you really fast and get our money.' You know?

There were a lot of people in Utah who were passionate about the project and wanted to make sure the music told the story the best it could and had as much emotion. That was really neat to see, and to be able to work with some of the most talented people in Utah. Kurt Bestor has worked on a lot of things, not just in Utah. So it was fun getting to work with him, too.

I know you knew Richard, but did you know people like Kurt and Sam Cardon before this album?

No, I just met Sam on this project. Kurt Bestor, I had worked with on a bonus track on the album last year. That's when I first met him. It was a pretty quick thing, like the last thing I did for the last project. It was all pretty sudden and last-minute, so I was happy to be able to work with him and have some time this time around to let him do his magic.

There are a lot of strings on the tracks he arranged, because you used the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Will you take a string section out on your upcoming Christmas tour?

It's hard, with money and stuff, because it can get pretty expensive when you add more and more to it. It can affect other things on the tour, even just normal things. You have to be careful with the budget. But I think there are some dates where there will be an orchestra or strings, just to add to the performance.

I really feel like real instruments and the live feeling add so much to the music, and to those arrangements, especially. It gives something extra to the people who come out to the shows. While it won't be the whole tour, I think at least sometimes there will be some live strings there for the performances.

Christmas From the Heart seems to be broken into three sections. You have your traditional hymns -- Joy to the World, The First Noel. You have a couple of pop standards -- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, I'll Be Home for Christmas. Then you have a string of traditional minir-key, European carols -- Pat-A-Pan, What Child Is This, Riu Riu Chiu. Were they all songs you already knew?

Most of them I did. The European ones were new to me, but those are some of my favorite ones on the album. Because they're different. Because they really stand out and catch your attention, and they were really fun to record.

I was struggling, because I was having to record while I was on tour. It's hard, because you're in a different mindset when you're on tour than you are when you're in the studio. I was using so much energy on tour, so it was definitely a big challenge. But I did my best with it. As long as the emotion in the songs is portrayed to people that's what matters the most.

I really like the European carols, and I like that captivating sound that they have that isn't usually in Christmas songs. Those are some of my favorite ones on the album.

I'm a big Christmas music buff, and it's always nice to hear somebody record a song like Pat-A-Pan that you don't hear but every 40 or 50 albums.

We were trying to give it a more contemporary feel, a more modernized thing. It's hard, because it's a pretty short song. They actually had to add to the song and make it an original arrangement of the song. I really like how it came out. Kurt did a great job with it.

Why did you pick Riu Riu Chiu?

Well, Riu Riu Chiu is in Spanish. I'm not going to do, like, Mi Burrito Sabanero, you know, or any of those kinds of songs, but I wanted to do something in Spanish. I wanted to do songs that people weren't really familiar with and weren't used to hearing. Riu Riu Chiu was in Spanish, so it was a way to give to the Latin side of me and the Latin audience. It was mainly to have a Spanish flair added to the album and to have something unique to add to the album, like Pat-A-Pan was.

We listened to a bunch of different versions and arrangements, just to see what people did to make them interesting. There were some that were really interesting, or really simple, like little kids singing them, or a guy on a guitar. It was like, 'Okay, let's see how I can make it my own version.'

How did you like recording with Filipina star Charice Pempengco on Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas?

Charice, she's so talented. I first saw here when she was on YouTube, actually. Then there was another time she was on Oprah, and my parents were, like, 'Come check this girl out.' It was neat to see what she was all about and how happy she was doing music and how much she loved to do it. And then how huge her voice was. I was, like, 'Wow, she's an amazing singer.'

When they said it would work out to do a duet with her, I was really excited, because she does have such a big voice. Even though the song we do, neither one of us is singing huge or anything. But I kind of like that, because I think people would expect us to be competing. It's like, 'No, let's not do that.' So we sang a more simple, toned-down song. We tried to complement each other as best we could instead of seeing who could sing better. I'm sure she would outdo me by a mile anyway.

But I didn't want people to think that we were competing or anything. Because I'm known for being on American Idol and competing, and she's known for having a huge, amazing voice. It was cool that we both tried to keep the sensitivity of the song. Because she can do anything. She's such an amazing singer.