{"id":14498,"date":"2015-07-12T22:27:29","date_gmt":"2015-07-13T05:27:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=14498"},"modified":"2015-07-12T22:27:29","modified_gmt":"2015-07-13T05:27:29","slug":"taylor-swift-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2015\/07\/taylor-swift-2\/","title":{"rendered":"TAYLOR SWIFT"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"No40-swift-1\"<\/h1>\n

HEARING RED<\/h1>\n

Taylor Swift turns up the emotional heat on her latest smash album<\/b><\/p>\n

By Russell Hall<\/p>\n

t\u2019s midafternoon, and word has been circulating throughout the day that Taylor Swift is set to star as Joni Mitchell in a forthcoming biopic\u2014but nothing\u2019s confirmed. \u201cIf you see paparazzi shots of me shooting a movie,\u201d Taylor says, \u201cthen you\u2019ll know I\u2019ve signed on to do it.\u201d In any case, it\u2019s quite likely the 22-year-old Swift will sooner or later add \u201cmovie star\u201d to her array of accomplishments.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s certainly prepared for any additional notoriety. Her allusions to the paparazzi are casual\u2014no hint of irony or irritation. Swift knows every move she makes is potential tabloid fodder, and life in the spotlight is something she adjusted to long ago. That she handles the scrutiny with grace is a small part of her magic. \u201cI\u2019ve been living this kind of life, with a magnifying glass on me, for about six years,\u201d she says. \u201cI always take a moment to consider the consequences of my actions. It just seems to be the best way to go about things. I\u2019m going to make mistakes, for sure. I just hope there aren\u2019t many.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far, so good.<\/p>\n

Swift\u2019s rise in the music world is a classic American dream-come-true story. Raised on a Christmas-tree farm in rural Pennsylvania, she picked up a guitar and wrote her first song at age 12. But even as a toddler, the drive, confidence and ambition that would underscore her artistry a decade later seemed built into her genetic code. \u201cI\u2019ve been singing randomly, obsessively, obnoxiously for as long as I can remember,\u201d she says. \u201cMy parents have videos of me on the beach at 3, going up to people and singing Lion King<\/i> songs for them. I\u2019d literally go from towel to towel: \u2018Hi, I\u2019m Taylor. I\u2019m going to sing \u201cI Just Can\u2019t Wait to Be King\u201d for you now.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

By 14, Swift had convinced her parents to move to Nashville, where she sharpened her songwriting skills working after school as an in-house writer for Sony Publishing. Two years later, her self-titled 2006 debut album took Nashville by storm\u2014spawning five Top 10 hits and earning Swift a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. Her third single, \u201cOur Song,\u201d earned her first milestone, as she became the youngest person ever to write and record a No. 1 country hit. Meanwhile Swift\u2019s wholesome sex appeal established her as \u201cAmerica\u2019s sweetheart\u201d and a role model for legions of young fans.<\/p>\n

Swift\u2019s auspicious beginning set the stage for a full-scale phenomenon. For 2008\u2019s Fearless<\/i>, she earned six Grammys, including Album of the Year honors\u2014the youngest artist to receive that distinction. Guinness World Records lists 2010\u2019s Speak Now <\/i>as the fastest-selling digital album by a female artist. Her record sales total more than 26 million, and she\u2019s placed more Top 10 debut singles on Billboard\u2019s Hot 100 chart than any recording artist.<\/p>\n

Swift\u2019s latest, Red<\/i>, finds her expanding her stylistic palette while keeping intact the bedrock themes that have defined her songwriting from the start. Written and recorded over a two-year period, the album chronicles, in the artist\u2019s words, \u201ctumultuous, crazy adventures in love and loss\u2014love that\u2019s fast-paced and out of control.\u201d Unlike Speak Now<\/i>, a record Swift wrote entirely by herself, Red<\/i> features six co-writes in addition to 10 Swift-penned tunes. She also worked with a team of producers, including modern-pop mavens Max Martin, Shellback and Jeff Bhasker, as well as her longtime co-producer Nathan Chapman.<\/p>\n

\"No40-swift-2\"<\/p>\n

\u201cWriting by myself had become a comfort zone,\u201d she admits. \u201cThis time I really wanted to push myself. I called the people I\u2019ve always wanted to work with\u2014my production, songwriting and artist heroes\u2014and said, \u2018Hey, do you want to get in the studio and work together, and make something different?\u2019 Track to track, there\u2019s nothing similar about anything on this record, and that\u2019s what makes it so exciting. It was an adventure to make, and it\u2019s an adventure to listen to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evidence of Red<\/i>\u2019s eclectic spirit ranges from the U2-like arena rock anthem \u201cState of Grace\u201d to \u201cI Knew You Were Trouble,\u201d a quirky electro-tinged romp that features a dubstep chorus. Between the extremes, Swift continues to craft country-pop nuggets drawn from the raw material of her personal life. \u201cFor me, music is about a diary and a confession,\u201d she says. \u201cI love getting to say things to people that I wouldn\u2019t say to them if I was standing face to face. Music is a way of verbalizing those things.\u201d From Nashville, Swift discussed the making of her new album, her songwriting process and how she handles life in the spotlight.<\/p>\n

What was your goal for the new album?<\/b><\/p>\n

To expand what I do creatively and learn from as many people as I possibly can. I never want to stop learning new things about making music. On Speak Now<\/i>, I wrote everything alone and used just one co-producer. For this album, I called up Max Martin, Dan Wilson, Ed Sheeran\u2014all these people I wanted to collaborate with. I still wrote a lot of the songs myself, but it was exciting to work with a variety of people on the co-writes and the production.<\/p>\n

Did songs turn out as you envisioned?<\/b><\/p>\n

Absolutely. Whenever I would write a new song, I would immediately start to think about the person who could best nail the production. I wanted the album to offer a refreshing take on what I do with both music and lyrics. It became an eclectic blend of music\u2014a patchwork quilt. Somehow it all became cohesive when we began mixing.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s behind the title?<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s all about correlating emotions with a color. All the intense emotions\u2014all the crazy ones\u2014are red. On the one hand you have excitement, adventure and passion, and on the other you have jealousy, frustration and anger. The album is about the aftermath of experiencing those emotions.<\/p>\n

What was the biggest departure?<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cI Knew You Were Trouble,\u201d which I wrote with Max Martin and Shellback. Not only is it the biggest departure, it\u2019s also one of my favorites. It\u2019s about having your heart broken, but also being angrier with yourself than with the other person. It\u2019s about seeing the red flags, knowing the guy you\u2019re getting involved with is bad news, but walking right past the signals. The chaos that\u2019s evoked musically when you listen to that song is exactly how it felt to be there.<\/p>\n

Any surprises happen in the studio?<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cWe Are Never Ever Getting Back Together\u201d happened very spontaneously. There was a certain guy, a friend of my ex, who walked in and said hello. After he left, that triggered a conversation about that relationship. I ended up venting and ranting and saying, \u201cWe are never ever getting back together, ever!\u201d Max [Martin] kept saying, \u201cYou need to write that.\u201d I ran over and grabbed the guitar and starting singing, \u201cWe are never ever, ever<\/i> \u2026.\u201d I turned to Max and said, \u201cIs that stupid?\u201d He said, \u201cNo! That\u2019s awesome! Keep going!\u201d [laughs<\/i>] It was one of those magical songwriting moments when everyone is in the room, everyone contributes and everyone is there to witness that initial, spontaneous spark of inspiration.<\/p>\n

Describe your songwriting process.<\/b><\/p>\n

My favorite thing is its unpredictable nature. You never know when the next idea will come. It might come at 4 in the morning while you\u2019re sleeping, or it might happen while you\u2019re walking through an airport, or in an elevator. When you do get something, you had better be near something that allows you to record it, so you don\u2019t forget it. The initial idea is like getting the first piece of a puzzle, and you build the song outward from there. You don\u2019t know whether that first piece is going to fit into the chorus or the bridge, or whether it could be the first verse. That\u2019s for you to figure out. I love that. That\u2019s when the work starts.<\/p>\n

\"No40-swift-3\"<\/p>\n

Do you have a go-to guitar?<\/b><\/p>\n

Nearly every song on the new album was written with my Baby Taylor. It has all sorts of scribbles on it. Bruce Springsteen signed it when he came to a show last year. It\u2019s kind of my lucky guitar now.<\/p>\n

What drew you to country music?<\/b><\/p>\n

What kept me obsessed were great female role models like Faith Hill, Shania Twain and the Dixie Chicks. I grew up in Pennsylvania, in a place where country music wasn\u2019t the most popular genre. But whenever anyone told me country wasn\u2019t cool, all I had to do was pop in my Shania Twain CD, and I would strongly beg to differ. Those artists showed me that you can stand for something and be different from your peers. From the time I was 12, music was all I ever thought about. Once I started learning guitar and writing songs, that was all I ever wanted to do. It\u2019s what I daydreamed about during school and what I spent all my time doing after school. None of it felt like practice\u2014it always felt like the most fun you could possibly have.<\/p>\n

Anything you\u2019ve avoided in your career?<\/b><\/p>\n

One mistake I did not want to make was trying to be the next \u201csomebody.\u201d During my career so far, no one\u2019s ever really said, \u201cShe\u2019s the next \u2018somebody.\u2019\u201d I\u2019ve always been quietly proud of that. Why try to become someone who already exists? Better to try and be the first you.<\/p>\n

Do you make a distinction between pop and country?<\/b><\/p>\n

Genres are a way for people to easily categorize music. Some who think in those terms are very \u201cby the book.\u201d You are either this or you\u2019re that. What matters to me is whether or not the music is good. I let everyone else make the running commentary on whether I\u2019m country enough. Last year, when I released \u201cMean,\u201d there was a lot of talk about whether that song was too country or too bluegrass. At that point I sort of threw my hands in the air and said, \u201cWell, at least they\u2019re not saying I\u2019m not enough<\/i> something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you ever feel pressure to meet creative expectations that others place on you?<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019m lucky to have a very flexible record label president [Big Machine Records founder Scott Borchetta] who wants me to stretch creatively. Plus, I know that\u2019s what my fans want. My fans don\u2019t want me to put out the same record every two years. What are they waiting for, if I\u2019m just going to put out Speak Now 2.0<\/i>? I want them to see I\u2019m serious about giving them something new.<\/p>\n

\"No40-swift-4\"<\/p>\n

Do you enjoy being involved in your live shows?<\/b><\/p>\n

I love being there to help put together the costumes, the staging, the transitions, the backdrops, the scenery changes and the elements of surprise. It\u2019s like gathering supplies and materials for a big art project. I like that challenge of coming up with a vision for what the show should be. I like it when people can see what I\u2019m singing about, as well as hear it.<\/p>\n

Are you always as confident as you appear?<\/b><\/p>\n

It wavers. When I\u2019m around people who I feel have my back\u2014like a stadium full of people who\u2019ve bought tickets to see me play\u2014I\u2019m totally confident because I know they\u2019re there because they want to hang out with me for that night. On the other hand, it takes a lot of courage when I\u2019m about to walk onstage for a TV performance or an awards show. It\u2019s like walking into a party, and you\u2019re not sure the people there really want to hang out with you. That\u2019s when the nerves kick in.<\/p>\n

Are you comfortable with the pressure of being a
\nrole model?<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019m just living a life\u2014that\u2019s mostly how I look at this. But what I do and what I say is<\/i> going to be documented, so I had better do it and say it in a way I\u2019ll be proud of, all my life. That is<\/i> a lot of pressure! But I\u2019ve been putting pressure on myself since I was a little kid. My fans and I trust one another. We have this very close bond, and having this relationship for almost seven years now is something I cherish. Even though things have gone to different levels, I\u2019m happy that\u2019s still in place. \u00a0 M<\/p>\n

\"No40-swift-5\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HEARING RED Taylor Swift turns up the emotional heat on her latest smash album By Russell Hall t\u2019s midafternoon, and word has been circulating throughout the day that Taylor Swift is set to star as Joni Mitchell in a forthcoming biopic\u2014but nothing\u2019s confirmed. \u201cIf you see paparazzi shots of me shooting a movie,\u201d Taylor says, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4835],"tags":[7624,1172],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14498"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14498"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14504,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14498\/revisions\/14504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}