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| INTERVIEW |
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Picture Gallery 2 |
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| The text below is an interview with Jennifer Paige. Please keep in mind that I did not conduct this interview. |
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"Crush" is number three on the Billboard charts. How does that feel? |
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Oh, God, it feels amazing! It feels incredible. It's still very exciting, and unbelievable at the same time. |
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Were you prepared for this? |
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I don't think anybody could be prepared for it, unless maybe you've been around and done a ton of hits and had a lot of success already. I think for your first single out of the gate, and that everything about it is just unreal and kinda like a dream come true, and I don't think that happens that often. We don't see all our dreams come true that often, so it's an amazing feeling. |
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When did this whirlwind start? |
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I love to be in a studio-- I loved the recording aspect of it. But at that point it was just me and my producer who were involved. So, it was kinda like on a smaller scale -- obviously it's more the artistic end of things, the part that you love, and that's why you're there. But then all the new stuff happened when it began to play on the radio here in LA. And another part of the story, which is really great, is that we had not released "Crush" as a single yet. We had just finished it, and my producer had taken it up to KIIS-FM kind of a an introduction to me-- he wanted them to know about me because they're such a large and influential station-- he wanted them just to know about me before they officially released the song, and they knid of took him in halfhearty, like, "okay, we'll listen to the song, whatever." But then they flipped over it! They flipped over "Crush" and they said, "We really wanna play this!" and of course, my producer said, "Okay, you're KIIS-FM, do whatever you want!" But we had not done pictures, photography, gotten it mastered, released it, mass-produced it, nothing. So, we had to scurry around and kinda catch up, and get the song in stores and stuff. Really, every step has led to the next. Everybody hadn't even decided that "Crush" should be the first single, so it's kind of ironic and a great thing that it all happened. |
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You've been in the business for a while-- |
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Yeah, my entire life. |
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So, how does it feel to be on the "inside" now? |
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It's awesome! It sure is a lot better than being on the outside, scratching in. |
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But you didn't have to do that for very long... |
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No, you know, I've been fairly lucky. I kinda took a few risks and just kinda went for it, and the times that I did they really paid off-- I really got lucky. As for my record deal, I was travelling on the road, and I basically just kinda picked up and moved to L.A. You know, just like the old story goes--just kind of on a whim. And I found myself here, just saying, "Gosh, how am I gonna make a living?" I didn't know a soul, and I just sent out a demo tape and started getting jingle work and song demo work and stuff. I mean, of course, I struggled-- I never had to wait tables, so that's a good thing. |
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Did you know anyone in L.A.? |
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No, I didn't know a soul. |
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What kind of a support system did you have? |
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You know, I've got a great family, and I had already been on the road touring with a Top 40 band, so I had the experience of that, and thank goodness I had done that for two years prior. so I was in Vegas and I met Crystal bernald from the TV show "Wings", and she said, "You're a great singer, and you really should be in LA" I think that wa all it took to kinda topple me over the edge, and I packed my bags, and I just moved out. She lives out here, but she was in a different world -- she was in the acting world, so she didn't really have a lot of connections in the music business at that time. But she was just kind of like a friend to me, which was cool, and then I just started making my own way. Definitely, I think my family supported me and gave me the courage and the strength, so that's good. |
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Atlanta is pretty well established as a music capital. Did you have any trepidations about moving all the way out to Los Angles? |
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You know, it's so different there than it is here in L.A. It's like night and day, and I think that I fit in better in L.A. I love Georgia, and I'm so glad that I was raised there, but as far as working and everything else, I think that I'm real happy that I live here in L.A. now. Just because there are so many people that you have the option to work with -- even if they don't live here, so many people come trough L.A., because it's such a musical city, that there's a lot of opportunity to work with a lot of great people. |
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What advice would you give any up-and-coming artists who have a dream and are thinking of moving to L.A.? |
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Oh no! Some parent's gonna be like, "Oh, great!" You know what I would say? People told me not to concentrate on the music. I went to a performing-arts high school, and people would tell me, "Don't just count on this -- nobody makes it! Nobody does this and it's just kind of like a silly dream. Back yourself up -- get secretarial skills, do computer work, whatever." They used used to always tell me that and I always loved my music, so I'd stay home and practice or I would always sing, and so I would say that if your gut tells you that you wanna sing, then you should sing! Or if your gut tells you that you should be a secretary, then you should be a secretary. But I believe that people know innately what they're supposed to do, and so if your gut is screaming to movie to LA, then you should move to LA. |
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And they can call you-- |
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Come on down! yeah, it's a great story, but that's what makes me believe in it even more. Not to sound weird, like in a sweet way, not like in a crazy way -- the fate of it, you know? 'Cause it makes it seem like it was all so meant to be -- like I'm supposed to be here and everything else... I kinda like to look at it like that, cause it seems like a sweet story.
It is a sweet story -- no horror stories about having to be a brcklayer or a gravedigger. What was the worst job that you had after you came to L.A.?
Gosh, I always sang, so I can't complain. I've always sung since I've been here. i guess the worst job in general that I've ever done was room service at a hotel. That was pretty close to waiting tables.
And how long did you have to do that?
I guess about a year--but I was singing all the while.
How long have you been in L.A.?
About two and a half years.
You were pretty young when you moved out?
Definitely, yeah. Actually, today (September 3) is my birthday. I'm 25!
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