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Toby Gad, one
of today's most successful and gifted music makers, has produced
three tracks for Donna's new album. And though he's busy and
constantly in demand, he was kind enough to share his thoughts
on CRAYONS with all the friends of Donna Summer Time. Great music
doesn't lie: he's a great guy.
Sebastiano:
Toby, I understand you were a Donna fan long before you met her.
What did you think when you knew you were going to work with
her?
Toby: I was
thrilled... I always loved her hits like SHE WORKS HARD FOR THE
MONEY, LOVE TO LOVE YOU BABY, etc. It was an honor and a great
challenge at the same time.
S: Some
reviewers are complaining that Donna sounds like a different
singer almost on each song of CRAYONS. I just don't get this.
The album's incredible variety is a choice, not an accident...
T: She co-wrote each song and I would see the music more as a
medium to carry the lyric. The lyric is consistently Donna and
thus the diversity of her record feels homogenous to me, considering
how much she has to say about life and her experiences.
S: What do
you think you've learned from working with such a living legend?
And what do you think she may have learned from you?
T: We had a great time together. I was surprised that she is
one of the few who can capture the essence of a vocal in the
very first take. I guess that's what you had to do to be good
20 years ago. These days there are few artists who can deliver
such a dead-on first-take performance. That's a challenge as
a producer. You gotta capture every little piece she sings because
it may be the best one.
Not sure what
she learned from me, but I can definitely say we've made friends
and I'm sure I'll see her again. Well perhaps she learned through
me how times have changed, since I'm one of the trailblazer producers
who travel with a mac book pro and logic and do records in beach
houses and hotel rooms rather than conventional studios. You
can check out some film clips on my site in the section "behind the scenes"
which document how I work on laptops. Also in three of my videoblogs you can see Donna
in NYC and in Miami with me.
S: Donna stated
that if the album makes the listeners feel better, then she's
done a good job. As CRAYONS
has such
a distinctive "feel good" quality about it, I would
say she's done a great job...
T: Absolutely!
Now the songs
you worked on: FAME (THE GAME):
S: Listening
to this song made me think: "the Superstar of Rock &
Roll is back!". The vocals and the arrangement are adventurous,
electrifying; the words seem to be coming straight from Donna's
soul and maybe from some past wounds too.
T: She told
me many details about how Fame affected her life and I helped
put that into the lyric of the song. The song went fast. She
had started the hook to a different track and I loved the idea,
so I wrote the verses in 2 hours and recorded her on it. 2 weeks
later the label called me from the mastering room and said, we
can't use the track, can you write new music to it. So I had
half a day to produce a new track to it and sent it straight
to the mastering studio.
S: What about
RUN WITH IT? Was that the "other track" Donna had started
the hook to, or is it a completely different song?
T: It's a different
song, not sure if Donna wants to release it at a later time.
SAND ON MY
FEET:
S: Donna sounds
so sweet and relaxed on this one...
T: I spent
four days at her amazing beach house and one day we were just
looking out the window at the ocean, I jammed on the guitar and
she sang whatever she saw and felt about the beach and about
the love to her wonderful husband. Then she got hungry and went
to the kitchen to cook. I followed her with the guitar in the
kitchen and said, "Donna, I know you're hungry but we need
to finish this song idea...", so we continued writing the
song while she was cooking for us. Even when some of her friends
came over for dinner, I was still working on the song and interrupting
the dinner. A week later I met her at the Hit Factory in Miami
and we gave the song a few final touches.
SCIENCE OF
LOVE:
T: It's the
first song we wrote. I had a track idea and we jammed to it.
The verses came first. It's about what love can do to you, how
it can also defy gravity and do crazy things that don't make
sense at first glance.
S: Will SCIENCE
OF LOVE be released as a single? I hope so.
T: Up to the
label.
S: Are there
any songs on CRAYONS you would have loved to produce?
T: I think
the other producers did a great job.
S: The unavoidable
question: do you have a favourite color?
T: Blue.
S: Thank
you so much, Toby, for your kindness, your time and for making
Donna's comeback even more special.
T: My pleasure.
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