musictalk4u.com

Black Eyed Peas
The E.N.D.
The Energy Never Dies
out 05.06.2009
Interscope

The biggest Hip Hop group of the world!? That's what people, or lets say, press people say about them. Now they are back with a new album. Fergie, never shy, tells us about it:

What is the song-writing process like with the BEP?

F: Well, Will is like the mad scientist. He’s like the captain of the ship. We all come to the studio, having a few different rooms going at the same time. That’s like a music factory when we make a Black Eyed Peas record because we can jump from room to room and start songs in each room. So once we’ve started one song, we can move to another room, so a whole new fresh idea can start. We don’t do one song all at once. We do a song for a while then we put it away and listen to it the next day with fresh ears and edit it from there. Songs are, like, built in layers. We all have different personalities, but we're all friends. Getting back into the studio together was a lot of fun. All we wanted to do was to have a good time. That’s what a lot of the songs are about. It’s a party record, it’s a club record and it’s electro inspired.

Does one of you actually sit down and write the lyrics, or do they just come about during this process?

F: There are different processes. One of us might come with an idea for new lyrics, and another will come with a track, Will and I have a great time writing lyrics together because we jump around all the time, so we enjoy doing that.

You've been with the BEP since 2003 and yet you were supposed to be a guest singer. How come you stayed?

F: After singing on their album the question of going on tour together came up. I was basically a background singer on “Elephunk”, so they needed me to go on tour. But I didn’t want to be just a background because I'd already been in a group for eleven years! So I was gonna do my solo record. When they decided to let me in the band instead, I decided to put off my solo album to experience what the Black Eyed Peas. It was the smartest show I’ve every been in.

Why is it so hard to get access to the new songs on the new BEP album?

F: Because we’re late with everything. We’ll get pictures and artwork. It’s so hard as an artist to present something that’s not ready yet. We wanna make sure it’s complete so that we can present it the way we would like to. That’s the whole point of doing an album. You want to finish it. You don’t want to release it in the middle of your work.

Why did you call the album The E.N.D.?

F: At first it was a kind of joke, because there were so many rumors about us breaking up when I did my solo album. We thought this was ridiculous. So we just thought we would play a joke back and call it The E.N.D. But it’s also a parallel to the end of an era in which you would go to record stores for music because that was the only way to get it. Now, with the phenomenon of the Internet, you can get your music through the computer, through your cell phone, through iPods. You no longer have to go to a store like in the old days. This album is kind of our introduction to the digital afterlife.

The first single on the album, “Boom Boom Pow”, is already a number one hit in the US Billboard charts through digital download. Do you think the record industry has a future?

F: I think for those old-school people there’s still gonna be CDs for a while. I’d definitely also like to go with CDs, but it's easier to download. You still can see the artwork online, too. But it’s a different era now.

Are the Black Eyed Peas going to have a booklet with lyrics for the new album?

F: I'd like that. But we're still in process of finishing this right now. We’ll definitely have a booklet. I’d love to have all the lyrics in it, but I don’t know if there'll be room for this. There'll definitely be pictures.

Doing research about the Black Eyed Peas, I found the information that you sold more than 50 million records, but your fact sheet says that you’ve sold only 27 million. Do you know the real figures?

F: Wow! I have to check the facts on that. I’m not sure about the numbers right now, but Brenda, our promoter, will find out.

Most of you are involved in movie projects. Do you do your videos yourself?

F: Yes, the videos are very important, for Black Eyed Peas and for me as a solo artist. I’m involved in all of my videos, because basically it’s the visual presentation of what we've done phonically. We all are very involved with the concept, with the visuals; we have a new kind of visual look with this album, too. We had a really great time creating that.

You've also changed your hair colour. Are you a real blonde?

F: Yes, I am a real blonde! It’s funny because I didn’t realize how light my hair was until I went brunette. I have to colour it a lot more because it grows out and it looks funny as it’s like the opposite root. I’m learning how to be a brunette at the moment.

Will.I.am supported President Obama and Aple.De.Ap has a charity organization, called The Apl Foundation. Do you do any charity work?
(Comment from editor: check: http://www.gbcimpact.org/itcs_node/2/537/news/466)

F: Yes, I’m currently the “M.A.C. Viva Glam Girl”. We go to a lot of different Aids or HIV prevention centres and schools. M.A.C. AIDS Fund donates money to all these programmes and I go around to visit six days, do ligic food... It’s a lot of different programmes they do and I think it’s amazing because every lip-gloss or lipstick that is a Viva Glam stick, they all cost 14 dollars. The money goes all to the M.A.C AIDS Fund.

You are very much into fashion and you even have your own shoe line, right?

F: Yes, I’m very excited about my shoe line, for Fergalicious line (see also: http://video.mail.ru/inbox/pliza/172/198.html  - "well you might be fergielishes but I’m lisalishies"). It’s definitely a passion for me and I’m so excited about it, I’m wearing some at the moment. Yeah, of course I’m into fashion. Right now I’m doing super futuristic looks, very 3008 – whenever it’s in my imagination it’s 3008 where I want to be.

Do you still live in Los Angeles?

F: Yes! I live in Greatwood.

Can you still go for a relaxed walk in your shoes in the streets and not be chased around for autographs?

F: Some days I go completely unnoticed and other days I have lots of people waiting outside of my house who follow me everywhere, all day long. So you never know.

What does a normal day in your life look like?

F: Well, every day is different now because we're in promo cycles. So it’s madness. I like to call it beautiful chaos. Like today, I woke up, I had a training session for an hour and a half with my trainer, Didi. Then I met my interior decorator, Ruben Haynes – we've just finished my office and it looks great with a beautiful chandelier in it. I met with him because I wanna put speakers on the wall, in my office and my closet and my fitting room, actually have music everywhere up there. I’m pushing up my Fergieland. Upstairs is Fergieland. Josh (comment from the editor: her husband) named it that when we first got the house; there are all my rooms. They're in a different style than the rest of the house. Later I eat, take my dogs out to pee, get ready, come to rehearsal, I’m doing phoners for an hour. Then we have an in-person interview with the guys for an hour and a half. Then I have a four-hour rehearsal and then a fitting, ok? So my day ends at night, 'cause there are longs days right now but you know I’m not a regiment. Then tomorrow we go out to San Diego and have a radio show out there; the next day we have rangle-tangle, which is another radio show. We have big shows within the next days! It’s a lot of work right now but it’s exciting work and it’s all new.

You said you are going to have loudspeakers everywhere in your house. Does that mean you hear music all day long?

F: I do! I have this thing called “Sonos”. And real control and it controls all channels in the whole house in different rooms. I have different things playing in the different rooms and this prescription that I have to “rhapsody”, can have different channels. I can listen to 60s rock one day, I can listen to the hip-hop channel one day, I can listen/watch(?) to the Cochineal channel one day, the reggae channel, I like switching it up, depending on what mood I’m in. If I’m not lying at the pool, I like to listen to the reggae channel or the Brazilian music channel. I listen to lots of music, like to MGMT, I listen to our album to know what parts mine are for the performance. By the way, it’s a good workout record!

So how do you stay fit when you are on tour without your personal trainer?

F: Our bodyguard Pastel is also a personal trainer. I haven’t ever trained with him before on the road but I’m going to this time.

Are you going to be on tour in Germany soon?

F: Oh, yeah – Pastel is German, by the way.

So you can learn a little German!

F: It’s so hard! He’s like: Fergie – let’s go (comment of editor: pretends to be a man with a dark voice), he's very German, a very big guy, and he’s bald.

Not all German guys are big!

F: Ohhhhh!

I would like to ask you about Will.I.am. He’s very involved in producing other acts like Kelis and John Legend. But he is also involved in the movie business. He’ll appear in X-Men soon. Aren’t you afraid he’s going to leave the band some day?

F: Well, the thing is we don’t have to. It’s really easy with us. We’re very supportive of each other, following our solo dreams as well as those of the group… It all wakes it up too! If we feel like being in a movie, we know we can do it. If we feel like doing an album, we do an album together. We’re not a band that fights. Other bands break up because of fighting. We don’t fight, we’re friends.

What about another solo project of yours?

F: Right now I'm completely living in the present, in the now. It’s all about the BEPs. After the whole album is out, I’m gonna see how I feel, honestly. I’ll probably just wanna stay home at my pool and feed my dogs and be with my husband. At that point in my life, I’ll do whatever feels natural to me. And that’s what’s gonna happen.

Do you have a major goal in your personal life?

F: I wanna be able to do it all, just not all at once.
(comment of editor: we guess, she wants to be a solo musician and a member of the Black Eyed Peas as well as the wife of her husband…)


AngieBlack