RADIO MYX (Philippines) -- 11/30/08

Note: There was no DJ for this interview. All questions were off-camera. Thus, all
that is contained in this transcript are David's answers. I have added my best
guess of the subject of the question in italics prior to each answer.

[Question regarding his Idol audition]

David: I had gone as moral support. I had no intention of auditioning,

and...um...through some really weird random turn of events, I ended up s-- I ended
up pickin' my song, like, three minutes before I signed-up. And uh...um...kinda stole
my brother's thunder. So...I uh...I'm, I'm sure he's back in KC extremely happy for
me, but also plotting his revenge. And uh...[laughing] we'll see how things turn out.
But uh...yeah, it was uh...it was a bit of a bittersweet day for both, uh, me and my
mom.

[Question about connecting with the audience on Idol]

David: That was one of the lessons I really tried to, to grab hold of, is how to make
it...how to make a show in that...in that kind of a...a setting as intimate for the
person in the back row as it is for the person in the front. And uh... [pauses] I don't
know if I ever really quite got there. I felt like I came close a few nights, and...and
uh, and really, you know, I tried to...[pauses] I tried to make it about the collective,
as opposed to about me.

[Question about what it was like going on the Idol tour]

David: Well the term "day off" was, was pretty sparse, but um...uh, it was actually, it
w-- it was exhausting, but a lot of fun. Uh, I think what was exhausting about it was
just having to switch into a different gear mentally. To go from being a live
performer...and then havin' to shut that off and go over here and be a recording
artist, and then come back and do this again. It was just uh...there was a lot of go-
between and a lot of traveling.

[Question about having Rob Cavallo produce The Record]

David: Havin' Rob on board was, was huge. I think uh, to have somebody of his
caliber...um...interested, ya' know, in bein' involved on this record was a, it was a
huge compliment. Uh...ya' know, Rob kinda came into the process-- I remember the
first time we met was at uh, it was at a hotel. Like, we had breakfast, and...and he
just came in kinda all guns blazin'. Had this really youthful energy about him, uh,
but still seemed really focused, and, and talkin' about The Record, I felt like the
vibe...really close to what I wanted to do on The Record.

[Question about the vibe on The Record]

David: I think the overall vibe on this record is uh... [pauses] the idea of, like, love
amidst distance, ya' know? And uh... [pauses] but I, I think as the, the album
progresses, there tends-- there, there, there's almost an arc. Like, The Record starts
off hopeful, and then gets a little dissident, and then comes back to this idea of, ya'
know, hopefulness. And...I, I think uh...the, the best quote to come up with to kinda
s-- like, as far as a synopsis of The Record is uh...um...If you love something, set it
free. And hopefully it comes back. I think that's, that's kinda the uh...the angle that
The Record ended-up takin'. It was very organic feeling, and it just made me feel
good. So...

[Question about "Light On"]

David: "Light On" to me, just represented uh... [pauses] a lot of aspects of this
record. Ya' know, again, I think "Light On" talks about the love amidst distance
and...and uh, and so from that standpoint, it definitely uh...uh...serves as a great
definition for the rest of The Record. Uh, and, and then, what I love about it is it's
got some rock swagger to it. Ya' know, I, I hear a lot of G n R in it. I hear a lot of
Stone Temple Pilots in it. Seems to have...uh, ya' know, a little meat on the bone.
And uh...it-- to me, it represented a nice median value for The Record musically. I
mean, we've got...uh, ya' know, songs like "Permanent" that are very piano and
strings driven, and then we have songs like "Bar-Ba-Sol," that are...ya', ya'
know...uh...that'll, it'll kick ya' in the gut, if ya' let it. And so uh...uh, "Light On" just
kinda represented, I think um...kinda the best of both worlds.

END OF INTERVIEW