Blake Lewis: Behind the Beatbox

[Brian Damage]

The success stories of 'American Idol' are hardly limited to the eight season winners - some of its biggest stars, like Clay Aiken and Chris Daughtry, didn't leave the show with top honors. Now season six runner-up Blake Lewis is poised to join the ranks of superstar 'Idol' alum with his sophomore effort 'Heartbreak on Vinyl,' and we have the honor of debuting behind-the-scenes footage of Lewis and famed producer Dave Aude. We spoke to Lewis exclusively about the recording process, the video for his new single 'Sad Song,' and his thoughts on Ryan Seacrest's salary.

On working with Aude: "Aude is a pro. He and I worked on two songs for my album, 'Love Or Torture' and 'The Remedy.' Both of them are very melodic and Dave has a great ear for chord structure and arranging. We've been friends for a couple years now and had been wanting to work together for a while. These songs were the perfect pairing for us to be creative in the studio together."

On the upcoming video for his first single: "It's very film noir, with a lot of things pulled from the '80s - like that Maxell shot with the tie going back, in the chair. Stuff like that. Very classic, in a 'Chinatown' meets 'Dick Tracy' way with neon signs. My leading lady, Casey Carlson, was on 'American Idol' this last year. The song [Sad Song] is an anthemic breakup song, an anthem for the heartbroken."

On Paula Abdul's departure from 'Idol': "I call her The Sweetness. She's a sweetheart. She really cares about the contestants and actually cares about the show. I think it's dumb - they should all get paid the same. Ryan Seacrest getting paid so much for that show is kind of ridiculous."


On being famous for beatboxing: "It's great. I was very fortunate to be on this huge television show that allowed me to expose people to an art form that has been not really relevant in the United States. I mean, it's very relevant in Eastern Europe and Western Europe especially - it's huge over there, it's a respected art form. I didn't really beatbox that much [on 'American Idol']. I think it was the arrangements that people fell in love with. I threw in some beatboxing and that kinda took it over the top."

"They didn't really focus on me producing everything - they did a couple times, but I arranged my own music. I've been producing for year. With this record, people will actually get to see the true light, and there's some beatboxing on it."

On someday returning to 'Idol': "I would love to go and do arrangements with everyone. I'd love to produce there one day. That's how I looked at it when I was on the show. I was producing my own show. I didn't think of it as - I was on 'American Idol'. I thought of it as the Blake Lewis Show every week. I do everything out of the box, so I tried to make it my own. I'd love to come back and help all the contestants do the same thing for them. A lot of those producers are like, "You should sing this song!" And then [the contestant] will get voted off for singing that song they didn't want to sing in the first place. That's really stupid."

"I think it's the best experience I'll never get to have again, unless they invite me back."

http://www.popeater.com/2009/09/04/b...rtbreak-vinyl/