Written by Jadeen Mercado. Photo Credit to Corey Nickols
Blake Lewis is about to drop his fourth full-length studio album, “Wanderlust Unknown”. Lewis is well known for competing on the television show, “American Idol”, and he has continued to stay active through the years releasing amazing music. He has worked with “Supernatural” fandom fan favorite, Jason Manns and has gained new fans from those endeavors in the fandom world. Lewis chatted all things music and nerdy, keep reading to see what he has to say about his album and more!
Jadeen Mercado: Blake, we at NerdAlertNews have loved covering your endeavors, can you tell us something nerdy that you fanboy about?
Blake Lewis: I definitely nerd out on video games. I have since I was a kid. I play Overwatch on Xbox almost every night with my squad. Haha, lot’s of profanity, deep chats about politics and life while we are cueing for a game.
JM: We know you have a new album coming out, “Wanderlust Unknown”, what can you tell us about the album?
BL: This album is different from my past creations. I actually put myself in a box for this one by only allowing certain tools and instruments to be the paintbrush. Usually, I’m very synth-based in my sound design, but this time around I wanted the album to be more focused on an organic sound with jazz guitar, upright bass, beatbox, and percussion.
JM: You’ve released a single, Pot of Gold, why did you choose that song to be released first?
BL: Pot of Gold just sounded like the first single right away. I wrote this in London with my good friend Olly Goodman. We produced on a rainy day in a little shack outside his flat and I ended up writing the lyrics in LA with my dear friend Brandon Rogers. He’s an amazing song-writer and after 13 years of friendship, we finally wrote a song. LOL, It just felt right. The lyrics tell a tale of a relationship from both perspectives. No right or wrong because it’s about the journey not the gold at the end of the rainbow.
JM: What’s your process when writing and producing an album?
BL: My process is always different. I come up with a lot of melodies just by singing, beatboxing and making noise in my car and record it on my iPhone. Then I might fiddle around on the guitar or piano to make a base arrangement in my studio. Sometimes, lyrics come instantly and sometimes I dig through my many notebooks looking for past inspiration. I always have a ton of notes and ideas saved on my phone, so I might start there.
JM: Has there been anything new or exciting about creating this album that you can share with us?
BL: The exciting part for me was producing 8 out of 10 songs myself. I’ve always been a producer at heart and have co-produced my previous albums, but this time it was all me and I’m very proud of it. Also, I have a few amazing friends sharing their talents on this project. Luca Pino a killer gypsy jazz guitarist who plays on the whole album, Casey Abrams on Upright Bass (My fellow A.I. Alumni) and Leddie Garcia on percussion. The album wouldn’t sound as lush as it does without them. I also have 4 amazing features on this album. My favorite Emcee’s Ra Scion of Common Market and Grynch (Both from Seattle) and two of my favorite vocalists, Elliott Yamin and Olivia Kuper Harris. They elevated this album to great heights.
JM: You recently released a second single, “Trouble”, what’s the significance of that song?
BL: Trouble is, creatively speaking, my favorite song on the album. It opens with Casey playing an amazing Upright Bass solo while my mom (Dinah Lewis) sings a chant over a drone. From that, I composed the arrangement around her. It’s special to me for that reason. I get my gift of music from her and this is the first time I’ve ever had her on my album. The lyrics are a poem of letting go and saying yes for the first time and once you’ve done so, there’s no going back to your old life. Freedom.
JM: Are you working on any other projects that fans would be surprised to learn about?
BL: I’ve actually just finished producing 6 songs for Olivia Kuper Harris’s album. It started out with me asking if I could produce an EP for her because I didn’t think her last album captured who she really is. (A super badass) When we started working it was undeniable, our chemistry and how quick she is to write an amazing song. I enlisted some of the best players to be apart of this album to give Olivia a foundation to show off her dynamic range and intimacy as a vocalist. It’s really special and I can’t wait for you all to hear it.
JM: For a fun time, who’s your favorite superhero?
BL: Favorite was Spider-Man, Flash, Gambit, and Wolverine when I was growing up reading comics all the time. I used to run around in a big red parka and scream “I’m the Flash” on my street at age 9. LOL, I still think Spider-Man is my favorite, I did love Spawn as well.
NerdAlertNews wants to thank Blake Lewis for his time and you can follow him on Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date with his work. Stay tuned on NerdAlertNews for more great content.
Written by Jadeen Mercado
