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Teo: |
Thank you very much for giving me
this opportunity to interview you today. |
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Montell: |
Thank you, Teo, as well. |
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Teo: |
Shall we start now? |
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Montell: |
Sure. I'm ready. |
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Teo: |
OK. First of all, I'd like to know
about your musical background. I read it somewhere that
your grandfather gave you a saxophone when you were a
child, and that's how you got into music... |
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Montell: |
Yeah, I was a very small child. My
grandfather gave me an alto saxophone. I used to play the
piano in my church. And that's where my...uh..where my
musical background basically comes from..uh...Gospel
roots. |
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Teo: |
How old were you when you started
singing? |
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Montell: |
I was 9 when I started playing
musical instruments, but I only started...I started
singing when I was about 18. |
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Teo: |
18? |
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Montell: |
18 years old. I wasn't singing a
lot when I was a child. |
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Teo: |
Who influenced you musically when
you were growing up? |
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Montell: |
Uh...Stevie Wonder, a lot of Gospel
artists like The Winans. I like The Doobie Brothers... |
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Teo: |
Really? The Doobie Brothers!? |
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Montell: |
I liked...I liked Michael Jackson.
I liked a lot of groups, Teo. I liked groups like The
Temptations, and The Spinners, and uh...you know, groups
that are...the old-school stuff that my grandparents used
to listen to. I really like them because of their
harmonies. There were big, big songs with big harmonies
back then. |
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Teo: |
So, you basically listen to all
kinds of music? |
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Montell: |
Yes. |
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Teo: |
What about your favorite
present-day artists? |
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Montell: |
Favorite present-day artists?
Uh...I still like Prince. I like Alicia Keys, Jay-Z. I
like, uh..., I like R. Kelly. |
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Teo: |
So, those are the artists you like
to listen to when you are chilling at home? |
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Montell: |
Yeah, and my stuff. |
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Teo: |
Your stuff? |
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Montell: |
I like to listen to my music, too. |
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Teo: |
My next question is...what made you
decide to pursue a career in music? Your major was not
music at college, right? |
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Montell: |
No, sir! I majored in Communication
(*1), Teo, but, uh..., music was always
my dream, though. |
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Teo: |
I heard that...after finishing
college, you worked in the advertising field for a while,
and then you made a career change. |
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Montell: |
Yes... |
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Teo: |
When you decided to get into the
music business, what did you envision for yourself? Was
it anything close to the way your life has turned out? |
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Montell: |
Well, no..., I mean, when I was
doing advertising, basically I was helping other
companies make a whole lot of money by selling their
products over television (*2), ...but, basically music was always my real
passion. That was my real dream. So, even if I worked
doing advertising, I wanted to make music. I wanted to do
something that I thought could maybe change...change a
person's mood, or change someone's emotions, or change
the world. |
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Teo: |
How did you get a record deal? |
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Montell: |
I got a record deal...uh...I was
singing...uh...I made a demo tape, and a DJ named Paul
Stewart out of Los Angeles, CA, took my demo tape to
Russell Simmons, President of Def Jam. They flew me to
New York City, because Russell and Def Jam knew so much
about Rap music and they thought that I was a rap singer.
They flew me to New York, and I sang for Russell in the
back seat of a Range Rover. |
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Teo: |
Really? Did you rap for him? |
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Montell: |
I did a song on my very first
album...on "This Is How We Do It"
album, I did a song called "Coming Home"... |
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Teo: |
Yes. I know that song. |
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Montell: |
A documentary of like street life
in L.A. And I sang it the way I sing it, but to him it
was like a rapper would rap. Only that I was singing the
same thing that a rapper would rap. It was...uh...Russell
Simmons was in the car, Paul Stewart was in the car,
Andre Harrell was in the car. |
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Teo: |
OK... |
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Montell: |
At that time, Andre was the
president of Uptown Records. |
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Teo: |
Yes. That's very interesting! So,
you got a record deal right away? |
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Montell: |
Uh...he basically signed me there
on the spot. He told me to go back...when I was done
singing in the car, he told me to go to L.A. get a
lawyer. |
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Teo: |
Wow! That's amazing! You started
out as a recording artist in 1995, right? |
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Montell: |
Yes, sir. |
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Teo: |
That means you've been in this
business for 6.5 years, or 7 years? |
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Montell: |
6.5 years. |
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Teo: |
I think that putting out 5 albums
in 6.5 years is an incredible achievement. |
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Montell: |
It doesn't happen very much today,
does it, Teo? |
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Teo: |
No. What do you think is the secret
of your success and longevity in the music business? |
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Montell: |
God. |
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Teo: |
God? |
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Montell: |
God! (laughter) |
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Teo: |
OK... |
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Montell: |
I've been very blessed, being able
to make 5 albums. And I can't explain in any other way
other than maybe I'm real in my music, maybe I'm honest
in my music, and me just being blessed, being able to
stay around longer than, you know...longer than most. |
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Teo: |
Plus, your hard work! |
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Montell: |
Yeah, I mean..., I do work hard, I
mean, there are a lot of people who work hard. They are
still unaccepted, though, you know. So, the only way I
can explain it is that for some reason I think God has a
big purpose for me in making music, you know. |
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Teo: |
OK. Actually, uh..., you know...I
like your music, because your music has so many different
elements, different styles, R&B, Hip Hop, Jazz,
Gospel, and your songs cover a wide range of subject
matter from love to spiritual devotion. |
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Montell: |
Thank you. |
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Teo: |
How would you describe your music
in a few words? |
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Montell: |
My music...well...I'll be honest
with you, Teo. My music on this album (*3) has changed, I think, from the four
albums I've done prior. I think that my music is more
honest than it was in the past. In the past, I used to
write a lot of songs, about things that I saw as opposed
to writing about things that I felt. This is the first
time when I'm actually writing about things that I feel.
You know, I used to write songs to please DJs, and make
people feel good, and make people wanna party. I didn't
go that route with this album. This album, I wanted to
make songs that discuss how I feel. |
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Teo: |
So, "honest" is the word
to describe your music. I have so many more questions I'd
like to ask you. What musical instruments do you play
now? |
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Montell: |
I play the alto-sax, alto
saxophone, Teo, piano, organ, and uh...percussions,
drums, clarinet..., just a few... |
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Teo: |
Wow! Did you write most of the
songs that you've recorded so far? |
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Montell: |
Yes, sir. Every song on this album (*3) was written or co-written by me,
produced or co-produced by myself. |
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Teo: |
When you write songs, do you write
on the piano? How do you go about the process of writing
songs? |
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Montell: |
A melody comes first! For me, even
without a piano, without any music or without any help,
before the words come, I always get melodies first. A
melody comes first for me, I'm a melody man! |
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Teo: |
What inspires to write? Do you
write from your own personal experiences? |
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Montell: |
Yes. Now I do. |
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Teo: |
Now you do!? |
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Montell: |
Yeah. And in the past, I wrote from
my personal experience, but it was the personal
experience that I saw as opposed to the personal
experience that I was experiencing. Do you understand the
difference?" |
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Teo: |
Yes, I do. I understand. |
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Montell: |
Basically, it's like...if you...just say,
Teo, that you're my friend, we hang out together, and you
break up with your girlfriend, and you go through hell,
breaking up with your girlfriend and you tell me all
about it. And I'm going through this with you. I'm
helping you deal with this. I might write a song Breaking
Up With My Girl, but I'm taking it from your
experience. I experienced it with you, but yet still I'm
telling the story according to what I see. This album (*3) is not you breaking up with your
girlfriend. This is what happened when I break up with my
girlfriend, how I tell the story. That's the difference. |
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Teo: |
I can't wait to hear your new album! |
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Montell: |
Thank you. I think you'll be pleased. If
you've listened to the first 4 albums, you're gonna hear
something very different this time. |
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Teo: |
Really! Actually, I've already heard your
1st single off your new album "You Must Have
Been." I like it. I'm really feeling it. |
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Montell: |
Thank you. Thank you. I'm feeling it, too,
Teo. |
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Teo: |
That's really a nice song. Uh...I know that
you've been on so many stages. Do you prefer performing
live to writing songs or recording in the studio? |
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Montell: |
No! I like being in the studio. It's like
keeping a secret. You know the best thing about having a
secret is you can't wait to tell somebody your secret,
but you know it before anybody else does. When I'm in the
studio, I get a chance to write songs, hear songs before
the rest of the world does. I must have listened to
"You Must Have Been" for seven
months before anybody else could even hear. I'm stingy. |
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Teo: |
Yeah? |
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Montell: |
I like that. |
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( Click here to go to Part 2 ) |
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Copyright 2001 Teo. All Rights Reserved. |
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Part 2 | Part 3 |
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