Great Chris Daughtry Interview

I really enjoyed this interview with Chris Daughtry. He talks about Justin Timberlake, Rihanna and Britney Spears.

Read it and tell me what you think! Here it is:

It is likely that one of singer-songwriter Chris Daughtry’s lasting memories of Singapore will be that of a tiger urinating.

As much as Chris Daughtry likes the heavy stuff, he mixes up his tastes and listens to artistes like Justin Timberlake and Rihanna.
Said the 27-year-old, with a loud laugh: ‘That’s right.

‘I was at the Night Safari last night and at the tiger enclosure, I turned around and… psssh!’

Daughtry is here with his band, also named Daughtry, till tomorrow. They will be performing at a showcase event at St James’ Powerhouse this evening.

Yesterday, The New Paper met Daughtry and guitarist Brian Craddock at the Conrad Centennial hotel. The band had flown in from the US where it recently attended the MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas.

Said Craddock, 31: ‘The awards was a trainwreck (in a good way).

‘There were free drinks and lots of superstars, so we had a ball.’

This despite the band’s loss in the Monster Single Of The Year category, in which its slow burning rock ballad, Home, was nominated.

The eventual winner was Rihanna’s uber-catchy single, Umbrella.

Daughtry added: ‘Hey, because we didn’t win, there was even more reason to drink, right?

‘Seriously though, I think Umbrella is a great song. I listen to it all the time.’

And he doesn’t think it makes him less of a rocker.

‘As much as I like the heavy stuff, I need to mix it up a bit. Right now, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Dixie Chicks and Lifehouse are the top few artistes whose tracks I listen to a lot,’ he said.

What about Britney Spears?

On her widely panned and disastrous performance, Daughtry said: ‘I was about 20 feet (six metres) away, so I saw everything very clearly.

‘And I’m going to be very frank about this – I was very disappointed.

‘I mean, she didn’t have to do it (the show) since her single’s doing well on the radio. She wasn’t ready to do it, I feel. She was super nervous.’

He also explained that he was ‘rooting for her and had hoped that she would use the chance to revive her career, but it went all wrong’.

Craddock, on the other hand, was very diplomatic, and merely said ‘the dancers were awesome’.

Daughtry summed it up: ‘Still, it’s not for me to judge. I just felt bad for her.’

Although the band has not encountered any major setbacks, it is no stranger to controversy and disappointment.

Daughtry’s label-mate, American Idol Season 1 champion Kelly Clarkson, was recently involved in a feud with their manager and RCA label boss Clive Davis.

Apparently, the duo had creative differences over Clarkson’s third album, My December, which has yet to produce a hit single.

In July, after months of candid statements to the press, Clarkson publicly apologised on her website.

Daughtry himself has been known to be insistent on forging his own rock sound and musical identity.

MAKING A CHOICE

After he got booted out of Season 5 of Idol, he skipped the easy route by turning down a frontman spot with rock band Fuel, and formed his own band instead.

On handling creative differences, Daughtry said: ‘I believe every artiste will have to make the choice between commercial factors and creativity at some point in their career.

‘As much as you want to stay true to your art, your vision and your originality, sometimes, you have to just listen to the people around you.’

The key thing, he added, is ‘to surround yourself with good people and people whose visions align with yours’.

‘Then, when you succeed, they succeed too,’ Daughtry said.

‘For us (the band), I think we would like to put up as heavy an album as we can, but you know, at the same time, we’ve got to think about what’s best for our careers.

‘So, we just crank it up and make our guitars louder during our live performances!’

Daughtry has been touring non-stop since the start of the year and has had little time to catch up with wife Deanna and children Hannah, 10 and Griffin, 8.

‘It’s difficult. As much as I’m enjoying myself travelling and doing all these things I never imagined doing, I need to remember that for the people at home, their lives are quite quiet and normal.

‘Sometimes, I call my wife and tell her about my day and all the exciting things, she just says: ‘Can we not talk about this now, my day hasn’t been going so well over here’,’ he recalled.

‘It’s slightly worse for Brian, I would think, because his daughter’s still very young and he’s missing out on all her firsts.’

Craddock is the father of a 2-year-old.

Still, the band members – including bassist Josh Paul, drummer Joey Barnes and guitarist Josh Steely – have each other for company, and from the way they talk about their antics on the team bus, it’s a hell of a ride.

Craddock laughed: ‘We bicker about body odour, Joey’s outfits and how loud we can turn on the music.’

Ah, all good memories to tell the grandchildren, eh?

Daughtry said: ‘For sure, and some stories, we will tell only our grandchildren.’

Tags: chris daughtry, interview, britney spears, justin timberlake, rihanna, fuel, kelly clarkson, album, american idol

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