I’m hearing that David Cook is laying down vocals for his first single today…
Meanwhile, David talks to ABC News Radio about his upcoming album, the tour and “Time of My Life. Check out these excerpts:
- On co-writing songs with some of his musical heroes: “I think I went in a little timid, just from the standpoint of, I’d never really co-written before. I’ve always been the kind of writer that just kinda holed up in a room and wrote something on my own…It’s been actually kind of a really cool experience to be able to pick other people’s brains and attack the song from a different standpoint. [It’s] allowed me, I feel, to come up with some of the best material I’ve ever written.”
- Working with other writers has made him more willing to reveal himself, “I’m really kind of delving into some aspects of my life and my experiences that maybe a year ago I wasn’t that comfortable writing about. And so it’s really opened me up to being just a little more honest in my songwriting.”
- Solo artist, or band? “I want there to be a band vibe. I don’t necessarily know that ‘Cook’ is a good band name but we’re still trying map that all out.”
- On having his old bandmate, Neal Tiemann from Midwest Kings, join the band, “He’s an amazing musical mind and I’m also just glad to have a friend in tow — somebody I know that I can be on the road with and not want to wring their necks.”
More about his album, the tour and “Time of My Life” after the JUMP…
- David explains what he means when he continually says that his album is “me”, “You listen to bands like Aerosmith and you know that’s Aerosmith. You listen to AC/DC and you know that’s AC/DC — there’s a vibe associated with those bands apart from a sound. I mean, obviously, they have a sound, but there’s an energy to those bands that no one else has been able to replicate and that’s my goal on this record. I want to make a record that has my energy and my vibe.” He admits this is a “lofty goal, ” but says, “To shoot for anything less would be disrespectful to people buying the record.”
- On feeling pressure to produce a record that fans will enjoy, “I have pressure to live up to my own standards, not everybody else’s. I feel like if I can meet my own, I’ll meet everybody else’s along the way just ’cause nobody’s gonna expect more from myself than me.”
- The concert date in the Phillippines he’d previously alluded to isn’t exactly confirmed.
On NBC using “Time of my Life” for their Olympic Coverage:
- David hasn’t had a chance to see it, but, “I have plenty of family members filling me in every time in happens.”
- Regarding the radio/sales success of “TOML, ” and its subsequent use in such an important cultural moment like the Olympics, “I think more than anything, it’s just a testament to the song. I think Reggie Hamm, the guy who wrote it, did an amazing job with it, and it’s just one of those songs that just seems to fit so I’m just happy to be a part of it.”
About the tour:
- On commanding the stage, “Really, more than anything for me it’s just a matter of trying to make yourself accessible — I think that’s really the trick, when you get a crowd of 16, 000 people, to really become vulnerable in front of all these people and just try to not only entertain them, but make them feel as though they’re part of the experience. I think coming in with that as a conscious idea is something I’ve really kind of strived for.”
- He’s still enjoying the tour, “I love it. Every city has its own kind of stamp, every city has its own vibe.”
- He singled out his time playing golf in Portland with Michael Johns as a highlight of the tour, adding, “Stuff like that, the little feathers you can put in your cap along the way, is what I love more than anything.”
