I'm going to tell you a story about one man and how cool he is. 'Bleu' or William James McAuley III is officially in Australia. He touched down at some point today... not totally sure. He flew in from Los Angeles. I first heard about Bleu when I was living in a big shiny mansion during my Idol days. My beautiful brother Kieran sent me a CD to make me feel a little less homesick over there, as well as enlighten me to the new music he had been listening to at the time. Track five on this compilation disc was a song called 'We'll Do It All Again'. I couldn't listen past it. I remember the moment I heard it... I was lying in my single bed, in between two other single beds occupied by my good friends Marty Worrall and Daniel Belle; and I was trying to get to sleep by listening to some music. Every emotion I felt at that time was heightened and exaggerated by my circumstances... including simple pleasures like listening to music. By my third listen in a row of this amazing song... I realised I was in tears. It wasn't for any real reason that I can pinpoint... perhaps homesickness, perhaps missing Jane, perhaps the lyrics hit me in a way I wasn't expecting... either way it was a really pleasant cry. It was then I made the decision that if I had the chance, I would perform this goddamn wonderful song on Idol. Luckily my chance came up not long after that. About half way through the season, we had a show called 'Up Close & Personal'. Which was a completely NON-JUDGED show. How perfect an opportunity it was... suddenly song choice was completely non-reliant on 'playing the game' and simply what I would love to perform in front of millions of people. 'We'll Do It All Again' was to be that song. A little time later, Bleu sent me an email saying that someone had put him onto the fact that I had performed his song... he saw a little clip if I remember rightly. He thanked me and said I did a good job; That meant so much to me I can't express. And then moving on a few more years later, the meeting was held to discuss who should we get to mix the album. A few names were tossed around... most chaps I hadn't even heard of... but I wasn't going to have this incredible album I've been slaving over be messed up by a bad mix; and honestly... the mixing of an album is about 50% of the work. Ridiculously important. Then I thought 'who would I WANT to mix my album'... instead of who could I settle for... and I thought of the gods like Jack Joseph Puig or Bob Clearmountain or even the god of gods Jeff Lynne. That's when it hit me... my ol' mate Bleu had recently released a new album under the name 'L.E.O.' It was an album of original music but an homage in the production style of Jeff Lynne. Genius. get Jeff Lynne? puh... how about Bleu? After a little negotiation, the promise of some kangaroo spotting, and some help in learning to say "as long as there's no bull dust in my coldie, she'll be apples"...in a perfect Aussie accent, Bleu agreed to be my hero and mix my album here in Perth. He'd never been to Aus before and was keen to rectify this oversight. So he's arrived in the Eastern States right now, and I have 9 days to finish off the rest of my harmonies on 'Big' before he flies to the west coast to get cracking on mixing. Deadline is nigh. I'm going to hang out with one of my heroes in less than two weeks... and he's going to be a part of my album. I'm the luckiest guy around. Love Court.
Posted: 2009-05-15 05:38:16Author:admin