Interview #1
Q: So, tell me about your first album.
A: (pause) Do you want the stock answer, or the real answer?
Q: Whatever you feel like telling us.
McLean pauses for a long time, taking long drags off his cigarette as his other hand picks at the hem of his shirt. He seems nervous, almost like a child about to own up to a misdeed.
A: I don't think I've told anyone else about this in some other interview, so uh. You know. I'm in a weird nostalgic mood today, so why not? I wrote all the songs while I was fresh from the breakup with my very first boyfriend. He - it was a really serious relationship. I think we actually thought we were going to be together forever.
Q: But it didn't work out?
A: (wry smile) Uh uh.
Q: So all the feelings, the events described in your songs -
A: (nodding) Are true. There isn't a single emotion or event or fight that I made up in there. Five Times really is about the night we had sex five times in a row, and Blue Eyed Wonder, well. He had the most amazing pair of blue eyes. (laughs) I was young, man. We both were.
Q: The one song that seems to be getting the most attention is Tiger. It's my favourite song off the album, actually.
A: Thank you.
Q: It sounds especially heartfelt, and my girl friends all swear they think you're about to cry in the last chorus.
A: That's because I actually did cry at the end of the recording.
Q: What's that song about? A lot of people have different interpretations of it. A friend of mine thinks it's about the fragility of love, another one thinks it's you singing to your ideal lover.
A: (laughs) Wow, they really think that? That's great.
Q: I've got a bet to settle here, so which is it?
A: 'Tiger' is - it's. It's kinda embarrassing actually. (pause) You know how I said earlier that all the songs were about my ex? That used to be my nickname for my him. I only ever called him that in private. The song's kinda like a combination love letter and apology to him.
Q: Apology?
A: Yeah. I - I did him wrong. I made a huge mistake, and that's why we broke up.
Q: I'm sorry to hear that.
A: (shrugs) Stuff like that happens. People come and go, relationships fizzle out. But I'm very, very happy in the relationship I'm in now. (McLean is referring to his partner of five years, JC Chasez, the prominent music producer that also co-wrote and co-produced McLean's album.) I can honestly say that he completes me, and - there's just a lot of history with us. I can't imagine my life without him in it. It's probably a good thing that we work together so much, at least that way we get to see each other even while knee-deep in work.
Q: How does that work? How do you manage to keep personal and business matters separate then?
A: Yeah, it's a tough balance to maintain. I mean, this album really came about when JC was starting to make a name for himself as a producer. At that time we were living in our tiny, old apartment, and one day JC found me reading over the letters my ex had sent me while we were together. I'd written a lot of songs and poetry after that break up, it was cathartic and kind of like therapy for me. JC read a couple of those and told me "these are really good, you should put music to them". Then he took out his guitar and started strumming, and within two months we had thirteen songs that we both really, really liked, and the rest is history.
Q: Isn't it weird to have your current partner working with you on songs you wrote about your ex-boyfriend though?
A: (laughs) Aw, man. He's going to kill me when he hears about this interview. It's okay, I haven't got anything to hide. Yeah, sure it was weird, but...JC's got a great instinct for knowing when stuff has the potential to be a hit. It's part of what makes him so good at what he does. And I think - I think in a way he was glad to read them, like it almost reinforced whatever we had between us. It shone some light on a part of my life that he didn't really know about before, and with me I - I try to be as honest as I can. What you see is what you get.
A: (pause) Do you want the stock answer, or the real answer?
Q: Whatever you feel like telling us.
McLean pauses for a long time, taking long drags off his cigarette as his other hand picks at the hem of his shirt. He seems nervous, almost like a child about to own up to a misdeed.
A: I don't think I've told anyone else about this in some other interview, so uh. You know. I'm in a weird nostalgic mood today, so why not? I wrote all the songs while I was fresh from the breakup with my very first boyfriend. He - it was a really serious relationship. I think we actually thought we were going to be together forever.
Q: But it didn't work out?
A: (wry smile) Uh uh.
Q: So all the feelings, the events described in your songs -
A: (nodding) Are true. There isn't a single emotion or event or fight that I made up in there. Five Times really is about the night we had sex five times in a row, and Blue Eyed Wonder, well. He had the most amazing pair of blue eyes. (laughs) I was young, man. We both were.
Q: The one song that seems to be getting the most attention is Tiger. It's my favourite song off the album, actually.
A: Thank you.
Q: It sounds especially heartfelt, and my girl friends all swear they think you're about to cry in the last chorus.
A: That's because I actually did cry at the end of the recording.
Q: What's that song about? A lot of people have different interpretations of it. A friend of mine thinks it's about the fragility of love, another one thinks it's you singing to your ideal lover.
A: (laughs) Wow, they really think that? That's great.
Q: I've got a bet to settle here, so which is it?
A: 'Tiger' is - it's. It's kinda embarrassing actually. (pause) You know how I said earlier that all the songs were about my ex? That used to be my nickname for my him. I only ever called him that in private. The song's kinda like a combination love letter and apology to him.
Q: Apology?
A: Yeah. I - I did him wrong. I made a huge mistake, and that's why we broke up.
Q: I'm sorry to hear that.
A: (shrugs) Stuff like that happens. People come and go, relationships fizzle out. But I'm very, very happy in the relationship I'm in now. (McLean is referring to his partner of five years, JC Chasez, the prominent music producer that also co-wrote and co-produced McLean's album.) I can honestly say that he completes me, and - there's just a lot of history with us. I can't imagine my life without him in it. It's probably a good thing that we work together so much, at least that way we get to see each other even while knee-deep in work.
Q: How does that work? How do you manage to keep personal and business matters separate then?
A: Yeah, it's a tough balance to maintain. I mean, this album really came about when JC was starting to make a name for himself as a producer. At that time we were living in our tiny, old apartment, and one day JC found me reading over the letters my ex had sent me while we were together. I'd written a lot of songs and poetry after that break up, it was cathartic and kind of like therapy for me. JC read a couple of those and told me "these are really good, you should put music to them". Then he took out his guitar and started strumming, and within two months we had thirteen songs that we both really, really liked, and the rest is history.
Q: Isn't it weird to have your current partner working with you on songs you wrote about your ex-boyfriend though?
A: (laughs) Aw, man. He's going to kill me when he hears about this interview. It's okay, I haven't got anything to hide. Yeah, sure it was weird, but...JC's got a great instinct for knowing when stuff has the potential to be a hit. It's part of what makes him so good at what he does. And I think - I think in a way he was glad to read them, like it almost reinforced whatever we had between us. It shone some light on a part of my life that he didn't really know about before, and with me I - I try to be as honest as I can. What you see is what you get.