Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
by Jessica Warzeniak
head shots by Craig DeCristo
concert photos by Christopher Annino
Crystal
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What’s the best part of the tour so far? |
| All of it really. The opportunity. The platform. To do what you love. It gives you an instant fan base. Getting to meet the fans. Playing venues I wouldn’t be able to play.
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| Oh, and the catering. The tour catering is amazing.
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| What are you most looking forward to? | |
| My hometown.
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| Who are you closest to in the American Idol group? | |
| Didi and Siobhan. I typically stay in my room writing for my album, but when I go out we have a lot of fun.
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| What is the inspiration for the songs you are writing? | |
| Life in general. Personal stories or even stories from strangers. Things in life. Stuff I read in the news. Basically, human emotion. That’s what music is about. That’s where good songs come from in my opinion.
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| What do you do to get ready to go on stage? | |
| Walk on stage. I don’t primp. I do my own hair and makeup and I wear what I want.
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| Do you get stage fright? | |
| I’m never nervous. This is what I love to do. How do you get nervous to do what you love?
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Katie Stevens
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I heard that you had everyone over yesterday. |
| Yesterday, we went to my house for a barbeque, my house in Old Lyme. My mom wanted to give everyone a taste of a normal summer day. We go from venue to venue so it’s good for everyone to see how normal life is.
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| What is the best part of being on tour? | |
| I love to travel and see new places. Going out and meeting the fans and then seeing their faces in the crowd.
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| How about you, do you get stage fright? | |
| I never got stage fright. I do get butterflies. Now that I do this every day it’s a lot easier.
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| Do you have any pre-show rituals? | |
| I do a lot of vocal warm ups. I drink water and take deep breathes.
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| What’s the best part of being on tour? | |
| I love everything about being on tour. Meeting fans. Being able to do what I love. To be able to go after my dreams. To be able to say thank you. Without my fans, without Connecticut, I wouldn’t be here. There is nothing bad about this.
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| Tell me about being with everyone all the time. | |
| We’re with each other everyday. I can depend on them to bring me up if I had a bad day. Since the show to now we have become so close. We really are all like a family. It’s not just for TV. We really are friends.
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| What do you like to do when you’re home? | |
| I’m just an average teenage girl. I like hanging out, sitting on the couch, playing games. I did get to come back for graduation. I called my best friend and told her I was sending a FedEx package by graduation. When I got there, I had my mom call her and keep her occupied on the phone. My dad texted my mom to say, ‘Ok, tell her I’m here. Tell her Katie’s dad is waiting for her.’ When she got outside I had a sign that said ‘FedEx Package!’
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| So, what’s your favorite pizza place? | |
| In Middlebury it’s Middlebury Pizza. In Old Lyme it’s Pizza Palace. It’s awesome. But I’m really into ice cream. My favorite is in Southbury, well really, Oxford. It’s called Rich Farms. It’s the best ice cream.
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| What’s the hardest part about being on tour? | |
| I miss seeing my family and friends. But these are my friends and family too. I’m excited to see them tonight.
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| Do you regret going on American Idol so young? | |
| I don’t regret it. I think everything appens for a reason. Why would I wait? I got the experience. Now I want to go on to do an album and maybe some acting – TV and film. Jennifer Hudson was eighth and won an Oscar. I was eighth. Maybe it’s meant to be!
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| Tell me about your album. | |
| The music I put on the album is the reason I chose the songs I’m singing on tour. Demi Lovato and Christina Aguilera; mesh the two into a sandwich that’s what I want the album to be like. I’ve started writing and recording with other writers. It’s fun. I haven’t been signed yet, but I want to be prepared. I want to have stuff ready.
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| Put in big capital letters I LOVE CONNECTICUT! |
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| How do you think the show in Bridgeport will compare to the one tonight? | |
| Obviously it’s a different venue. But at Bridgeport I had 100 something friends coming. There are 400 coming tonight!
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Tim Urban
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What is the best part of being on tour? |
| The little bit version is: It’s been fun!
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| The longer bit version is: It’s absolutely incredible. I realize half way through almost every night: ‘What am I doing?’
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| This morning I woke up and was watching a show about a band. They said they knew they had risen to the top; their big moment was playing a big arena. And I thought, ‘What am I doing tonight?’ What people dream about doing!
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| I heard you got to visit Katie’s home in Old Lyme. How did you like Connecticut? | |
| It was really cool, very relaxing and chill. It was a nice break. It’s my first time up here and it was beautiful. There are some cool places to chill and hang out. After the craziness of touring it was relaxing way to spend some time.
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| Tell me about being on tour. | |
| It surprised me. Even while I was on the show, none of us realized how big this is. The whole thing caught me off guard. To see how excited the fans are. I look forward to being surprised more. I never dreamed it could be like this.
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| I see you have a lot of bracelets and Silly Bandz? | |
| The Silly Bandz and bracelets are from fans from the last four shows. I wear them on stage. It’s awesome to wear things from fans. I want them to know I’m only here because of y’all.
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| What are you planning for after the tour? | |
| More music. I’m working on a CD. I’m going back to Texas. I want to have the album done by the end the New Year. It’s going to be all originals. This album is for the fans. I want to make an album that says how much they are appreciated.
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| How do you get ready to go on stage? | |
| Actually, I go on after Katie Stevens. I get amped up. I say a prayer. But mostly I let myself get pumped up by Katie Stevens’ show. I don’t think I ever told her that. I just rock out to Katie Stevens. Then I’m like, ‘Cool. Let’s do this.’
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| Did you ever get stage fright? | |
| I used to be scared just to talk in front of people. I would’ve been scared just talking to you.
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Casey James
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Tell me, what is the good news as it pertains to Casey James? |
| Life is good. I wake up in a different city every day. I play music and I get paid for it.
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| I get to wail on my guitar. That’s all I’ve ever needed or wanted.
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| Back in the days before American Idol, I’d wake up. Play music. Go to bed. Wake up. Play Music. Go to bed. Over and over. I don’t need anything else. I don’t really need things. I live a pretty simple life. It’s as good as it can get.
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| Take today for example. I woke up an hour ago. Threw on some clothes. Got on the bus. Came here and now I’m talking to you. After, I’ll eat. Then go up on stage.
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| So you don’t get stage fright at all? | |
| I never have. I thought of it as a normal thing. This is what I’m supposed to be doing. It’s time to do what I do. The first time I performed it was for 6,000 people.
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| So if you don’t get stage fright, how did you feel singing on Idol without your guitar? | |
| It was nerve-racking. It’s like asking a painter to paint without a brush. That was a bad thing for me. I’ve never done that – sing without my guitar. It was the first time. And I don’t like having firsts on national television.
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| When did you start playing guitar? | |
| When I was 13 or 14.
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| What’s the most difficult part about all this for you? | |
| I’m learning that the non-music stuff is as or more important than the things I do musically. I love the music. Back when I was at home, all the calls to the bars to the band members, the business stuff – loading everything up, breaking it down, all of those things are the work. All the rest is work. The fun part is music. Everyone’s got to work. I do what I love and make money.
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Didi Benami
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What is the best part of being on tour? |
| I’m here in Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. It’s an amazing experience. I’m enjoying the ride. It’s phenomenal to be a part of this. There is sunshine in my life that was absent. I’m doing what I love.
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| Did you get a chance to visit Katie’s house in Old Lyme? | |
| I didn’t. I wanted to. But we crunch so much in so many days that I was feeling a little run down. I went to the Spa in the casino and got my nails done and a pedicure. It was really relaxing.
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| So what do you think of Mohegan Sun Casino? | |
| The casino’s really cool. I like the whole Native American vibe. It’s really cool. I’m all into that in general. I looked out my window and it reminds me of Tennessee – being surrounded by green. It’s a lot different than LA.
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| What are you most looking forward to? | |
| Meeting more fans. I’m looking forward to the show in Knoxville. It’s very exciting. Every city is new and different. It’s really awesome. I’m really looking forward to Knoxville – seeing my family and hearing the crowd.
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| Do you have a ritual before going on stage? | |
| I breathe and pray to my angel Rebecca [Joy Lear – her best friend died in a car crash in 2005].She’s been there with me every time I’m on stage. I feel like I’m living my life for two – her dream combined with mine. I’m really so grateful I can do this.
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| Do you get stage fright? | |
| I do get nervous. One show in Atlantic City I didn’t really. I don’t know why. I really gave everything I could, not that I don’t normally, but that night it just was different. I feel like I’m finally getting the hang of it. It’s hard not to get nervous when you care about it so much!
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| I love what I do. It’s nice to know the fans are there supporting and listening. It’s much different than singing for the judges. That was tough.
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| What do you do to bring home with you on tour? | |
| I have a notebook. It is green striped. I had it even before all this. I use it like a journal and I write things in it that inspire me. Honestly, home for me is on the road. I’m a traveler. I am loving the experience. If I have my guitar and my notebook – I don’t need anything more than that.
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| Is there an album in your future? | |
| I started writing it before I was on the show. I love co-writing. I would love to do some more shows – to keep it going. I want to go to Israel to visit my sister. I want to go to Germany and Hawaii. I think those would be really great places to do more writing. I want to give the album a Mediterranean cool feel at the end. I do want to do something different, but have some regular songs to get some radio play too. I live now, but I’m always thinking about what I want to do next.
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| So, tell me about your Silly Bandz. | |
| I got Silly in Philly! That’s the first place I got Silly Bandz from fans. These are different for me. I’m usually into energy muse jewelry. The Silly Bandz are a new thing. I wear rocks, turquoise, stones to give you energy. I think the Silly Bandz give you energy too. They remind me of a fan.
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| What’s it like traveling with the nine other Idols all of the time? | |
| It’s a cool thing. I’ll never have this experience again. It is once in a lifetime and I don’t take it for granted. They are all different wonderful people. They are good, kind-hearted people.
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Aaron Kelly |
What is the good news? |
| Getting to be on this summer tour. Canada was amazing. To get out of the country was a good time. I got to go to the beach yesterday. I’m enjoying much of this tour.
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| I heard you went to the beach in Old Lyme with Katie? | |
| It was beautiful. I haven’t been to a beach since I was 13. It was awesome getting to go back. Siobhan [Magnus], she’s from Cape Cod, showed me how to catch crabs. She has a tattoo of a spider crab and she actually caught a spider crab. She held the crab up to her arm and it looked just like the tattoo!
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| What’s it like being so young on American Idol? | |
| This is a new experience and it is a blessing getting to meet people. It’s amazing. Getting to work with Dorian Holley [associate musical director, American Idol] as a vocal coach is really cool. Not many people got to work with Michael Jackson and Rickey was his vocal coach on the ‘This Is It’ tour. It’s really cool.
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| Michael Orland, he’s the piano player on American Idol, has the most guest appearances on Ellen. I don’t think people know that. Any time an Idol is on he plays the piano so he’s got the most.
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| Getting to work with Rickey Minor [music director, American Idol] is really a blessing.
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| And Simon, it was an honor getting to work with him during his last year. He tells you how it is. He’s brutally honest.
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| What is the best part of being on tour? | |
| My favorite part about being on tour is the fans.To go out there and hear them scream your name. Tim and I have actually made some of them cry. To make them feel that happy feels good.
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| Do you get stage fright at all? | |
| No you don’t get stage fright when you are doing what you love. I’m very focused on everything.
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| How is being on tour different from the show? | |
| It’s a lot different. It’s a lot better vibe. The judges stare at you and you don’t know what they are thinking. You’ve already impressed the fans. They’re your fans. They’re not there to judge. They’re here to love.
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| What is your ritual before going on stage? | |
| I’ve been warming up a lot more to protect my voice. A lot of vocal warm-ups and getting a lot of rest. And I say my prayers. I thank God for putting me here.
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| How do you deal with being away from home? | |
| My mom is with me so I don’t think about it much. I don’t really miss home. I’d rather be on tour.
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| Do you have an album in the works? | |
| I haven’t started songwriting yet.
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Posted on July 21st, 2010 | category: Featured Articles, Mohegan Sun
