November 2000
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Special thanks to Martin F.
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DOTMUSIC (DM) interview with BILLY GILMAN (BG) BG: Hey y'all, I'm Billy Gilman and you're on Dotmusic. --- BG: If I have to make up a potion that was me, I'd probably be funny, goofy, hard... sometimes I'm hard... on my little brother... and smart... singing-wise, and talent... and that's basically it. DM: Would you say you're a natural? I mean, I've read everywhere that you're just a natural. BG: Thank you. DM: Do you think you are, or...? BG: I don't really know, I just love to sing and finally my dream has come true. DM: You've got this incredible voice and you've been described as a natural, which is pretty rare in today's manufactured music scene. When did you first discover that you had this talent? BG: Well, when I was three I always used to sing for my family and friends, and my first song that I ever sang was a Pam Tillis song called "Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile". She's a country artist in the U.S., might be over here also, and I just loved to sing that song because it had a great melody and all that stuff, and I knew the words and I just sang it along, and I'd sing with this out of tune guitar that... it was out of tune! And then when I was eight, my grandmother and mother took me to this vocal trainer out at Westerly, Rhode Island, Angela Bacari - who's with me today. She introduced me to a guy out on Rhode Island after working with me for a couple of years, training my voice, and the guy on Rhode Island introduced me to a band out of Texas, Asleep At The Wheel, and they introduced me to my new management company - and my management company introduced me to Sony Music. So it's like a little chain but it took longer than you think! DM: And when you first started singing, did it shock a few people? You must have discovered it before other people did? BG: Well, I always used to sing for my family and friends, and so they basically knew that I loved to sing and that I was good at it. So that's why I wanted to be a singer, because I loved it and I just knew then, from that day, what I wanted to do. --- BG: But I mean at 3, they were like "oh yeah, yeah, yeah", you know? And then at 5, they were like "all right, whatever". And then at 8 they really knew, because I just loved to sing! I mean, it was my hobby, it was my dream, it was everything to me. And then they knew. And then they said "all right, Billy, it's time. We have to try to get you into the music business." They're not pushy parents at all, I was pushing THEM into the music business because I wanted it so much. And finally it happened. And all this great stuff has been happening to me, all these wonderful interviews that I've been doing and all that stuff... I'm just on a whirlwind, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. DM: What do your friends think of this? BG: They think it's great, there's no jealousy at all. If they see me on television or on the radio or in a newspaper, they go "Oh, there's Billy Gilman!" Well, not Billy Gilman, "there's Billy!". You know, happy, excited. So my friends are the best. There's no jealousy at all. DM: And do you envy them, living a normal life? BG: No, not at all, because when I go home I always have a normal life. DM: What do you get up to? BG: Well, I bowl, I fish, I ski - when it's hot - and I rollerblade, and I play a little baseball with my younger brother, just outside for a little bit, just to do something... and I play on the computer and all that stuff, so I basically have a normal life, just like every 12-year-old kid. DM: Do you have to study? BG: Oh yeah! When I go home, I'm home for a couple of days, so I have to go there and study really hard because for these past couple of days I'm not doing school. So I have to study really hard the next couple of days when I go home. DM: Do you prefer singing or school? BG: Singing! DM: It's easier? BG: Singing, definitely! DM: No exams or anything? BG: Yeah. DM: What's your best, your favourite part of your success? BG: Just meeting all the wonderful people, like Faith Hill, Shania Twain, they're just all so wonderful. And just singing! I just love it, it's just incredible to get out on that stage and instead of you looking at them, they're looking at you, and so it's a whole different perspective and it's just really really amazing. DM: And what's the worst part? Is there a bad part? BG: There's no bad part for me yet so far, but you never know. DM: If we can talk a bit about "One Voice", because obviously that was your breakthrough in America; why do you think that touched the nation, why do you think it grabbed everyone's...? BG: Well, basically because it's about the real life and it's sung by a kid. And so it means more, because... about the Columbine incident that happened, it was a bad school shooting... and it's basically about all the guns and violence in schools and it has a real good, positive ending. And I've just gotten 60 to 70 e-mails a day saying "Thank you so much for bringing this new song into the music business, you've restored my faith in the youth music business". And me and my mom read them and we're just, like, beside ourselves because some of them are so touching. DM: It must be quite mixed feelings for you, because obviously your success, and this is quite a sad song... BG: Right, it's true... DM: ...but it's obviously brought a lot of happiness to a lot of people, so it must be quite satisfying. BG: Yeah. DM: And you've broken this record of the youngest person to chart on the Billboard country charts. What do you remember about this, when you heard the news, what was your reaction? It's obviously, like, a 50-year record... BG: When I knew I broke the record from Brenda Lee, 48 to 50 years in the future, it was just so, so incredible because I never knew I was gonna do that, I always thought I'd make a few records and that'd be it, do a couple of shows and that's it. Not knowing all this would happen, I mean, it's just happened so fast, I mean I'd love to go back and just... do some of the stuff and, like, review on it, and just have more fun with that like I did. But unfortunately it's all gone, because it's so fast! And so it's just really really incredible, I mean, when I knew that I broke the record, it just hit me, you know? Because I made history, and it's just... you don't know what the feeling is like. DM: Can you understand that? Is that...? BG: Yeah. You don't know what the feeling is. DM: People who haven't heard the first record, what can they expect? BG: Well, you can expect an energetic, a mellow, a sad, a fun type of album, I mean, it's a mixture of all kinds of feelings. The kids will like one of the songs on the album, it's called "The Snake Song", which is a snake who falls in love with something... you have to buy the record to know what it is :o) But it's called "The Snake Song" and it's really really funny. DM: Who inspires you, performing-wise and just generally? Musically? BG: Well, my parents, because they're 100% behind me and they say, "Billy, if you want to stop we can stop it right now, but if you want to go ahead we can do it." They're the best parents, and my grandmother, and my managers all say that... So basically, my managers and my family, everybody's inspired me. DM: What about musically? BG: Well, my idol of all-time would probably be Pam Tillis, she's a country artist. And she's just been my idol since 3 years old, and my mom has a tape of me when I was 3 years old, with this little plastic guitar, in my long-legged underwear, singing "Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile" and it was just so funny. And I got to see that a couple of months ago and it was just really incredible. And I was so off-pitch it wasn't funny! But it was just really really incredible. --- BG: I love pop, I mean I love to listen to Britney Spears, and 'Nsync and all them... DM: Are you going to go pop? Can we expect "Billy Gilman pop"? BG: Well, I haven't gone pop - yet - but the CD did go to... the single did go to pop. I don't know where it is on the charts but... I haven't gone pop right just yet and I don't think I will very soon, but we'll just take another chance... DM: What about other people? BG: Basically, from the other side - not country - I love to hear the music of Britney Spears, 'Nsync, Faith Hill, and Barbra Streisand, believe it or not. DM: Interesting. Someone's got to... You've also done this Christmas album, can you tell us a bit about that? BG: Well, it's basically about all the traditional songs, like "White Christmas" and the Mel Torme "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire" and just all the traditional songs, plus a duet with Charlotte Church and a new song that the "One Voice" writers wrote, and so it's really really cool. DM: Are you going to be writing songs and stuff yourself? BG: The next album, I don't think so, but you never know. I mean... DM: What control do you have? Do you kind of pick the songs you like, or...? BG: Well, what we do is I get the songs that they collect and they think would be good for the album, and I sing them. And the ones that aren't really good, I don't do, and the ones that sound like a good song for the album, we do. DM: What's your favourite song you've done so far? BG: All of them are good, but if I had to pick a favourite, probably it'd be number 6, "Little Bitty Pretty One", from the album. That's my favourite. DM: You share a record company with Charlotte Church, and you've recorded with her. Have you got any plans to date? BG: No, we're just good good friends. DM: What was it like to work with her? BG: She's funny. She's really funny and she has a great voice, and we recorded two, actually: one on my Christmas album, "Sleigh Ride", a traditional Christmas song, and I don't think it's a Christmas song but it's one of her Christmas songs now, on her album, it's called "Dream a Dream", which I'm going to be singing at the Children In Need UK telethon tomorrow along with "One Voice", so it will be really cool. DM: You're on TV quite a lot now, you said you've done some this morning - how do you fit with seeing your face on TV, is it strange? BG: Well, it is, I mean I make some faces when I'm singing like "We need some help", and I'll close my eyes and I'm like, "Billy, why did you DO that?", because, you know, like always you have to learn from your mistakes. So that's what I try to do, and sometimes I falter... DM: It must be good fun. BG: Yeah, it is, it's really fun. DM: And you said you've been doing these chat shows and concerts and everything, you must be becoming a bit of a professional. Do you still get quite nervous before, or are you getting used to it? BG: Oh yeah, you get a little nervous every time you go on, and... I get anxious, I want to go out there and I want to go, but I get nervous, like.... I just did a concert at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles, California, and it was sold out. My first sell-out crowd and it was just nerve-wracking, really, because I'd never sung in front of a sell-out crowd. And it was really, really amazing. DM: What do you prefer, singing live to the TV and interviews and things? BG: Yeah. I prefer singing live, I mean, I don't like to mime, but of course sometimes you do if it's really early in the morning. Your voice just doesn't want to go. But sometimes you can manage to get through it. DM: What's your live show like, what can people expect of you? BG: Well, hopefully I can just keep singing always and always and always, and I want people to hopefully remember me as a good singer, pleasing on-stage, and hopefully never giving up. I never want to give up because I love it so much and... I really do! DM: You've mentioned Harry Potter in your biog, can we expect to see you in the movie? BG: No, no. It would have been cool, though, to see what it would be like. But I did do a movie, an IMAX movie, it's called "The Twang", which is about country music history. So that'll be really cool. DM: 3D? BG: 3D. DM: Excellent. And where do you see yourself in five years? BG: Hopefully still making music and still having a good time on stage, and just doing what I want to do. DM: Would you want to go into acting or movies? BG: Well, they've asked me to be in a couple of TV shows in the U.S., like 7th Heaven and Touched By An Angel and Providence, those are all big shows in the U.S. And they've asked me, and I don't know, I mean I don't know if we'll do them or not, probably next year we will because my schedule's going to be a little bit easier next year. But I'm going to be doing a tour next year and... DM: Will you come to Britain? BG: Hopefully. I want to. We're making dates for that and I want to come to Britain, and I want to go to Canada too. So that'd be really fun, and... it's going to be really fun. I'll just keep saying "fun"! DM: If your career ended tomorrow, if you took one memory away, what would it be? BG: Just meeting all the wonderful people, just having a good time and seeing what it was like to perform and just make a record. |
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This page last updated: 12/17/00 09:23 © 2000, 2001 by BillyGilmanFanSite.com, All rights reserved Created on Saturday, July 16, 2000 (02:38) |
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