A Conversation with Haley Reinhart – HuffPost 4.27.12
Mike Ragogna: Hello, Haley! Let’s jump right into this. Listen Up! your new album, is on 19 Records and Interscope?
Haley Reinhart: Yes, 19, and Interscope Records, you got it!
MR: Your track “Free” is a breakup song. Can you go into the details?
HR: Actually, this is the only tune that I picked up while I was touring, and it’s the only song on the record that I did not co-write. I simply picked it out of dozens more, and it just stuck out to me. You know, it’s an empowering, mature way of going about a breakup, and it’s a nice way of saying, “As much as I care about you still, I figure the way I can be happy is if we break this thing off.”
MR: Have you personally ever had that kind of a relationship?
HR: Yes, several of my relationships feel this way. There are still so many things I adore about the person, yet something about it is bringing me down, and I have to break free from it.
MR: Now, in the “Free” video, you have said dude that you’re breaking up with in the background. Why would one break up with said dude? In other words, did you have a story line going through your head when you were singing this?
HR: Yeah, well, it was really cool to be able to set the tone for the video as far as the ’50s style diner and the attire as well as the storyline. You know, I didn’t want to have this boy being fully aggressive and angry about what’s happening. I wanted him to just be able to listen, although it tears him up a little bit. I like the whole mature factor about a breakup.
MR: Right. Now you performed this song on American Idol recently, didn’t you?
HR: Yes, yes I did a couple weeks ago.
MR: What was it like returning to the set?
HR: Amazing. I mean, it’s a whole brand new stage set, but the people are still the same, so it was really cool being able to reunite and meet the new contestants, and it was very nerve racking. You know, I just kind of jumped back into this threshold of stress, in one light, but at the same time, it was my own material, you know, the song I’m coming out with, and to have everybody stand behind me and be proud of me for how far I’ve come was just an amazing feeling.
MR: And wasn’t it great to not have to compete?
HR: Oh yeah, you know it was! (laughs)
MR: And you had a television cameo on the CW’s 90210?
HR: Yeah, that was really nice of them. They could have only put two seconds of the song, but they really showed it for a while, so that was very nice of them. And I got a little acting in there, even though I was playing myself with scripted lines and all. It was a cool experience. I absolutely love acting, almost as much as singing, so it’s something that I’m very much interested in doing more and more in my career.
MR: Haley, how do you go back after acting? You have to have the bug now.
HR: Yeah, really. I mean, I’ve grown up doing improv and different kinds of monologues and different roles, so I think that as soon as I can establish myself, when the timing is right, I would really love to get more and more into it.
MR: Your new album, Listen Up!… Like you said before, there’s one song you didn’t write or co-write, but you did write or co-write the rest of the material, right?
HR: Right.
MR: How would you describe the feel of the album?
HR: It’s very retro, yet it has this modern twist to it, so you’ll hear different elements of soul, R&B, kind of a new wave Motown feel, and some rock in there. As far as vocals, it has all that and a little bit of a jazzy flair on them. It’s just all the stuff that I really, really enjoy myself, and I’ve just kind of made this marriage between all these different genres and created a sound of my own, which I haven’t made up one word to describe yet. That’s as much as I can tell you.
MR: Haley, I have to ask you, what was it like singing with Tony Bennett that night onAmerican Idol?
HR: Yeah, please! I mean, I’ve grown up with Tony in my house on my record player, spinning everything including the Christmas album. It was just a dream come true, even more so for my family, and now, each day that goes by, I’m more and more appreciative about it. He was such a cool, cool cat, and it felt natural. It really, really did.
MR: Haley Reinhart, a couple years from now. Predictions?
HR: You know, it’s crazy to say that I just turned 21 while I was touring. That was a tour all the way out to the Philippines and all over the States, and I’ve performed with Tony Bennett. All of my dreams are coming true as we speak. I’ve met legends that I’ve been waiting to meet my whole life, so I’m really where I want to be right now. I can only imagine, I just see it going up from here, and I’m excited to see what the future brings.
MR: You’re working pretty hard, aren’t you.
HR: I’m working my tail off right now! Yeah, I’m doing promotional touring day-in, day-out, full days. I’m exhausted, but it’s exactly what I need to do right now, and I have people really listen up and hear me and hear the music that I’ve created.
MR: And that title, Listen Up!…you really mean it.
HR: I do! I want it to stand out and have people listen to it as a bold statement.
MR: Since you’re working so hard and playing all over, how often do you get back to your native Illinois?
HR: Actually, luckily enough for me, I just went back home for Easter. I miss family. I miss my friends. It’s been a really long time, and the most I get to go home is only for a couple days, so I had about four or five days at home, and I’m a happy girl. It was really cool to be able to go home, show everybody my material, have them all dig it, and really just be able to let loose for a little bit.
MR: Nice. Listen Up!‘s deluxe edition has this display flip-book thing as well as this sort of vintage postcard theme going on.
HR: Yes, yes! The original album is ten songs, and then the deluxe is fourteen. I highly recommend the fourteen because there are some really, really cool tracks on the four left. As far as the fan booklet, it’s all different kinds of postcards. There are behind the scenes shots–very vintage looking. We turned them into postcards. I wrote a couple lines each about each song, a little behind the story, behind the scenes stuff. Some of it is even really personal. Well, it’s all very personal to me, and there are even some shots of places that I’ve been to all over the world, so I hope everybody enjoys it.
MR: What is your future touring going to be like in support of the album?
HR: For now, I’m bouncing around city to city every day. As far as the future, we’re waiting to see who’s the best match up for me, but as far as I can tell, as long as I’m performing live for crowds, it’s going to be great. I have a wonderful band behind me now that I’ve chosen wisely, so I can’t wait to do this.
MR: You’re just living the dream right now.
HR: (laughs) Yeah, I know! You’d think it’s all easy-peasy, lemon squeezy. I try telling all my friends, as much as my dreams are coming true, it is a lot of hard work, so you’d better believe it! (laughs)
MR: Since we can put the word out there right now, who are some performers you would like to tour with? Does anybody come to mind?
HR: There are some upcoming people that we were checking out–even people like Mayer Hawthorne–just different acts that have a very retro feel to their music that I feel like I could mesh with. Right now, it’s all a matter of who’s actually going out on tour, and I really hope that it’s somebody that I mesh perfectly with, you know?
MR: I have to ask you, even though you’re at the beginning of your career, what is your advice for new artists?
HR: I would say there’s going to be a whole sea full of opinions, a sea full of eyes and ears that are watching and preying on you and betting on you and all of that kind of stuff. But when you want to come back down to the roots and the grand scheme of things, you have to be able to take it all in, not go crazy, keep your feet on the ground and your head on your shoulders, and go from there and do what you know is best for you.
MR: What do your friends and family think about what’s going on right now?
HR: They’re 110% behind me. My parents are now living vicariously through me, and it’s something that they’ve always wanted. But they’ve been content with living their passion, seeing it through, and playing for their whole lives. So me being able to do this now is just a dream come true for the both of us.
MR: Beautiful. One thing we need to know about Haley Reinhart…got one?
HR: That’s like the hardest kind of question! (laughs) What do you want to know?
MR: Anything you want…your favorite color is blue, whatever. (laughs)
HR: Right. Well, my hair is straightened today, so I can do different things with it, even though I like to have it curly most of the time. (laughs)
MR: There you go! Okay I will badger you no longer, and I wish you all the best for your future and with your new album Listen Up! I really appreciate your time here today, Haley.
HR: My pleasure! Thank you, I appreciate it.
Transcribed by Kyle Pongan