2008-11-XX Oklahama Magazine David Cook (Transcription of Scans)

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TRANSCRIPTION Nov 2008 OKLAHAMA MAGAZINEDavid Cook - Looking for Life after Idol: The Time of HisLife

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With a national tour behind him, and a debut album out this month, David Cook is just warming up.

Shortly after plunking down his bags in his new Tulsa home two years ago, David Cook recalls hearing a quote, which seems eerily prescient now.“Luck is when preparedness meets opportunity’ is a quote I was told when I first movedto Tulsa – it really was just that,” the 25-year old

American Idol

winner recalls of thefamous phrase uttered by motivational speaker, Earl Nightingale.“I’ve worked at doing this since I was 15 years old, and everything else in my life at thetime seemed pointless or mundane. It’s funny to look back and see how the past interactswith what I am doing now – like the graphic design stuff. I spent a lot of time designingCD’s, posters and ancillary material …. Just thinking, hey, it’s fun. And that artistic idealreally parlays into what I’m doing now. I believe in fate to a degree. I believe fate putsyou in a position that allows you the opportunity to do what you want to do. I believe it’s just a matter of whether or not you have the wherewithal to take hold of it, and go with it.The role fate played in Cook’s rise to fame is now the stuff of legend. He originally setout for the

American Idol

auditions in Omaha, Nev. in support of his younger brother Andrew. Although his original plan was to stay in the shadows, Andrew convinced him toaudition too. So, Cook picked up a microphone and sang Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer”for the show’s judges, and the rest , as they say, is

Idol

history.“It was a very out-of –body experience. I can’t remember what it felt like to stand on thatstage,” Cook says of the moment that catapulted him from a final contender to champ lastMay, just a few months after that fateful audition.“I feel like I have a third-person view of it. It’s like …. I can remember what it lookedlike. And I can remember reactions. But I can’t remember how I felt. You know I look back on th reaction when they said my name, and I’m like … I did that? It’s one of thoselife-defining moments, I hope.”Cook’s life in Tulsa, before Idol, had just been taking definition. Bartending stints kepthim afloat while he cut his own CD,

Analog Heart

, and toured with the popular Tulsa- based band Midwest Kings playing guitar, bass and singing back-up vocals. It was anexperience that would eventually serve as prep school for the American Idol Livesummer tour, featuring the show’s top 10 finalists in a whirlwind trip to 49 U.S. and

Canadian cities in 75 days. During the tour, Cook divided his time between performingand working on his debut CD. And as the journey wound down, preparing to say goodbyeto friends who have become like family.Unpretentious, soft spoken and quick-witted, Cook’s tone deepens in wistful sinceritywhen he speaks of his fellow

Idol

contestants.“You know, it’s really bittersweet – I’ve built relationships with these guys over the lastyear, and from that standpoint, I’ll be sad to see everyone go their own way.” he says of his fellow Idol mates, particularly Carly Smithson and Michael Johns, with whom he sayshe formed the tightest bonds. “Hopefully we’ll be able to reconvene as a group and catchup,” says Cook.“By the same token, I’m really excited because I grew up playing original music, and inthe last year, I’ve had to sing everyone else’s songs. To get back into the original musicrealm where I can sing the songs that I created from scratch is something I am definitelylooking forward to.“I’ve done a lot of co-writes for this record. I went into this process knowing what kindof music I wanted to make. I knew what kind of artist I was,” Cook continues. “But I’malso pretty ‘green’ to the process. I went in without an ego and just said, hey … let’s bringin people I can co-write with and really work on some different sounds. I know what kindof songs I can write, but I don’t know what kind of songs everyone else can write. So its’ been fun, it’s been a great learning process and definitely the most fruitful period of mylife musically.”Cook partnered on the album with several fellow Oklahomans, including former MidwestKings bandmates Andy Skib and Neal Tiemann, as well as Zac Maloy of the Nixons.Produced by Rob Cavallo, the CD’s early release single “Light On” is creating asensation that is becoming typical of all things Cook. While he’s only been releasingmusic for a short time, Cook ‘s become accustomed to shattering record charts, includingthe unparalleled feat of having 11 songs entered at one time on the Billboard Hot 100.Cook’s post-Idol release ‘Time of My Life’ debuted at the No. 3 spot on the same chart,and was a No. 1 download on iTunes.With so much early and unprecedented success fronting this release, Cook speaks with aremarkable level of maturity about what it’s like coping with enormous expectations andstress.“You know, it’s interesting … all the pressure I feel is pressure that I put on myself,” hesays. “I want to put out a record that is important, and I want to put together a live showthat’s more than just … you know, you come and hear 12 songs, and that’s it. I want it to be experienced on a lot of sensory levels. So, the pressure that’s built up is all self-created.

“As far as de-stressing, I’ve got a great circle of people around me. I have a great family,I have wonderful friends, and the fact that I’ve been able to tour this summer with nine people going through the same experience – it’s been a godsend.“That’s where it get’s a little bittersweet … I don’t know what I’m going to do withmyself after the other nine are off doing their own thing. I’ll probably call them and belike, ‘Dude, I don’t know how to handle this.’ We definitely lean on each other quite a bit.” As the seventh

American Idol

winner, Cook says he s also able to draw emptionalsupport and empathy from pervious winners and participants, including Checotah, Oklahnative and Season Four

American Idol

winner Carrie Underwood.“I talk to Carrie every now and again,” he says. “Carrie’s been awesome in that she’sreally been available to me for advice, just to try to navigate what is the absurd lifestuleof being a winner of American Idol. Past that, you know, you can catch people at shows – Gina Clocksen (from

American Idol

Season Six) came to our show in Fort Wayne, Ind.It’s always nice to just talk to people who have been through the experience and to try to pick their brain – it’s definitely a fraternity of sorts.”That fraternity includes the show’s judges – Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and SimonCowell – the central core of the extended

American Idol

family circle.“I ran into Randy and Paula a couple of times this summer at events, but Simon’s a littleharder to track down,” Cook says. “Although I imagine I’ll see him this next season – I’msure I’ll stop by and catch a show.”Maintaining a congenial relationship with the judges throughout the season – even withthe feather-ruffling Cowell – may have been an accomplishment in itself for the affableCook, who takes personal joy in shaking things up with audiences. In fact, when askedwhich song he performed during the season brought him the most satisfaction, the post-grunge/alternative rocker gives an unexpected response.“Music of the Night,” he says of the Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber classic from Broadway’s

The Phantom of the Opera

. “In case it wasn’t obvious on the show, I kind of enjoyedmessing with people and turning their expectations on their ear a little bit. To know, goinginto that week, that I could pull it off – not necessarily that I would – but that I could, andthen to have it go over as well as it did was exciting because I knew some people didn’tthink I could do it.”Another thing about Cook that may surprise his fans includes one of his dreams for thefutire.“There’s something inherently real about the Midwest that I haven’t experiencedanywhere else in the country,” says the Houston native, who grew up in Blue Springs,Mo. “Like Oklahoma and Kansas City – the places where I really grew up and lived – allhave that in common. I think when all is said and done; I’ll probably wind up in the

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