Marc Broussard – HuffPost 7.14.14

Mike Ragogna: What advice do you have for new artists?

Marc Broussard: The first thing I would say as a business person is “Get a good lawyer.” Always get a good lawyer. Secondly, spend a significant amount of time thinking really hard about what you want out of this business. When I first started, I thought that I wanted to be the biggest star in the world. I no longer have that desire at all. I like the anonymity that I have. The money could always be better, but I am blessed and I do lead a very comfortable life. My wife and I are truly blessed in that way. Spend an awful lot of time thinking about the trajectory you want your career to go, and then most importantly, don’t be afraid to work your ass off. And be nice. There’s no reason to be a dick.

MR: I imagine you’d also tell people to connect to the music in the same way you did here.

MB: Yeah, being true to yourself, as well. I made a record for Island Def Jam afterCarencro. It came out after Lyor Cohen left the label and L.A. Reid stepped in, and that record never came out, it never saw the light of day because L.A. Reid, when he head it, called it “too urban.” What that really meant, in my opinion, was that I was too white to sing the songs that I had sung for that record. It left me bitter for a little while, but in retrospect, he was probably right in a lot of ways. There were songs on that record that I just didn’t have any business singing, and there was no way for him to market it successfully with me as the guy singing those songs.

MR: That happens often, guys singing with big, soulful voices though they haven’t exactly perfected their “instrument” and don’t really know what their talent is about.

MB: I really spent a lot of time thinking exactly about that, what my instrument was and what my role is in delivering songs to the world. The bottom line is if I’m not being true to myself and I’m trying to do things simply because I think they’re going to be successful or that they’re going to sound cool, that’s no way to connect with my fans. That’s no way to connect with a lyric. Once again, the idea was really just to be as honest as possible.