Artist Spotlight: Michael Wainwright on his new Album, “Circus is Coming to Town”

Hello, all!  Nick here, and I’m joined by a special guest – singer/songwriter Michael Wainwright.  Many of you know him already and others may have first been introduced during our first interview.  I’m excited to hear that Michael has a full-length CD, titled “Circus is Coming to Town” coming out in September, and he’s given me a chance to hear some tracks in advance.  Let me say, you’re going to really enjoy the music coming from this charismatic and creative performer.  Michael was kind enough to answer a few questions regarding Heart-Shaped Man, his career, and what he sees in the future.

nK: Michael, welcome and thanks for taking the time.  It’s been just under a year since I first saw you perform.  Care to give our readers some insight into how your 2011 has been so far?

MW: So far so good..I survived what I think may have been Canada’s coldest winter- I made a few trips to LA to finish up the new record which was a much needed escape from the cold. Preparing the new album design, getting the website up and learning a bunch of new material for the upcoming Tears For Fears tour kept me pretty warm I guess.

nK: Heart-Shaped Man is almost here! From what I’ve heard so far, it’s been quite the journey to get everything written, recorded and out to the public.  How does this compare to putting out your original self-titled EP?

MW: yeah, my first record took about 2 years to make due to scheduling issues. I think I flew to LA about a dozen times.. By the time we were done we had a diverse collection of material. Not that that’s a bad thing but with this record we wanted to choose the songs and record them all at once… Old school…set up in the studio with a drummer and go for it..It’s more of a uniform sound and focused stylistically this way.

nK: For those who don’t know, we met after I saw you perform with Tears for Fears at the 9:30 club in Washington, DC in August, 2010.  You played solo, then joined the band to contribute some great harmonies.  You mentioned to me that Roland (Orzabal) helped write the title track of Heart Shaped Man.  Can you tell our readers what that was like?

MW: He waved me over at the baggage claim and said I just wrote a song about your head.. Then he started to sing it. We loved it right from the start. After the tour he (Roland) recorded a demo of it and sent it to Charlton and I. Growing up a Tears For Fears fan and having Roland send me songs to sing on my record was pretty bizarre to say the least.

nK: You also mentioned that Heart-Shaped Man is going to be the first single, including an animated video?  Where can our readers see that?

MW: yeah, it’s a literal animated video, pretty funny.. it’s gonna be featured on my website michaelwainwright.ca (little plug)

nK: The title track has that Beatles-esque quality to it.  As a musician, did you feel that it contrasted or complimented the rest of the disc? Or, did it contribute to the writing process in a way you might not have thought beforehand?

MW: HeartShaped Man is I guess what they call beatley? I don’t really hear music that way.. To me the Beatles are the Beatles… Ok, the Rutles sound beatley sure but… Heart-shaped man is just a simple, catchy, little sing along song that you can’t get outta your head! If it reminds people of The Beatles then great! Charlton and I of course are Beatle fans but beyond that we are fans of great melody..I think it fits in nicely with the other tracks.. Some are dark and one is Blue 😉

nK: Your EP had a lot of slow, thoughtful songs, and also some in-your-face energy tunes, like “Searching for a Feeling.” I’d put the song “Circus Is Coming To Town” in that second category on the new disc.  Can you provide some insight into the writing of that song?

MW: When Charlton and I first got together to brainstorm the next record we both agreed we wanted it to be in your face.. More aggressive and more edgy than the first record. It was Charlton sitting on the couch banging away on a C chord whisper yelling “the circus is coming to town” I thought he’d lost his mind.. a song about all the craziness that happens on tour.. Do i really wanna be singing about that?? It’s pretty rockin’! It features a nasty voice mail I received from some crazy dude threatening my life – recreated by actor Robert Patrick. Oh and me as an elephant. I think we achieved what we set out to do with this one. Ha

nK: Another one of my favorites is “Dreaming Of A Dream” That song has bouncy-yet-thoughtful aspects that remind me of Freddy Mercury’s “Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon.”  Any Queen influence in your musical career, by chance?

MW: I love queen! The greatest rock and roll voice of all time, Freddie!! Dreaming Of A Dream came to me in my sleep.. like it always existed. We really wanted to make it sound like an old classic. Legendary bassist Reggie Hamilton played the upright bass and Charlton played a bunch of layered guitar parts in the style of Les Paul. Kind of queen-ish sure but then again maybe Queen were fans of Les Paul as well?

nK: Okay, I want to ask about every song on the disc, from the horn-heavy “Nobody Now” to the sassy “Going To Hell.” It wouldn’t be much of a teaser if you answered everything, so let me refrain a bit (see, a musician joke!).   When is “Heart-Shaped Man” hitting stores and what can your fans expect in terms of a tour?

MW: We plan on having physical Cd’s available for sale first week of September. It will be streaming on my website www.michaelwainwright.ca (another plug) and available online iTunes,Amazon Sept 1st. I’m really proud of it.

Okay, readers.  I want to thank Michael for taking time to show us some of what went in to his new music, how he reached this point, and where his journey might take him next.  For more details on Heart-Shaped Man and all of Michael’s music, check out http://michaelwainwright.ca.