Jason Mraz is back in town to support SPARC's "Live Art" production. (Photo by Eric Morgensen)
At 40, singer and Mechanicsville native Jason Mraz knows his days as a pop singer are numbered and he’s fine with that. His next album, to be released this summer, will be the last of his contractual obligations, which means he doesn’t have to make new music unless he feels like it. At the Altria theater on Friday afternoon before a rehearsal, hours after arriving in Richmond, he makes it clear that he may not be in a hurry to record again. But even if he stops making new music, one thing that he says will continue is his involvement with SPARC’s "Live Art" concert. The annual event is the finale of an education program that uses performance art to educate young people with varying developmental abilities. In addition to Mraz, this year’s event features some big names, such as Josh Groban, René Marie, Sara Bareilles and Michael McDonald performing at the Altria Theater on Sunday afternoon. In an interview with Richmond magazine Arts & Entertainment Editor Craig Belcher, Mraz chats about his connection to the event, his next moves and the name of his old high school.
Richmond magazine: What brings you back to SPARC every year?
Mraz: Maybe a decade ago, maybe more, my mom told me that when I went to SPARC here, as a kid, it was on scholarship. So I had to assume that was provided by donors. I just thought my mom signed me up and paid the fees. That wasn’t the case. And I was really moved by that, so I decided that I would make SPARC a thing that I donate to, and of course when you do that, you start to learn more about their programming and where they’re at and what their goals are. And I ... year after year, just fall in love with it again and remember why I loved it as a kid. And to help contribute to the securing of building a campus, because when I was in it, I was in church basements that were donated to the program. And there were fewer programs [then], and now they have a lot of programs, year-round. Seven-ish years ago, I got to be there for the earliest meetings about the "Live Art" program that was brewing and to watch that come to life … I really felt like I had a purpose, that my donations could help keep "Live Art" thriving, because it's so unique. And it’s fun. It’s so fun. I feel like I’m still a kid. I chose this career so I wouldn’t have to have a real job and [could] feel like a kid my whole life. And I do.
RM: How do you talk other entertainers into participating in the "Live Art" concert? Is it a hard sell?
Mraz: It can be a hard sell. [Laughs] Certainly for the many, many no’s that I have gotten. But that doesn’t say anything about those people, you know, schedules are tough, managers and agents are tough – not tough, but selective. And also the program, its content and its expression also has to resonate with that artist. They have to look at it and go, "Oh wow, this looks interesting.” But usually I tell them it's unlike anything they’ve done. This isn’t just, show up and sing for a fundraiser. You will be immersed in this theatrical experience, and you will perform your song in a way that you’ve never performed it before. From their perspective, they don’t have to change anything that they do, it's just that all around them will be a new interpretation or a new expression of their musical composition. Every single time, I see an artist come here for sound check and get to do it and watch this thing happen around them, and you see it on their face. You see a transformation occur. Even if it's a minor transformation, just the realization that they chose wisely and they’re going to have fun doing this is enough for me. Now I’m able to talk about that when I invite people.
RM: It’s a good pitch.
Mraz: I think so. If it resonates with them, they say yes. But it’s not easy. [Laughs]
RM: Talk to me about the “Have it All” music video you recently released that was filmed here in Richmond.
Mraz: Yeah. Having worked with SPARC for years and now Turnaround Arts [a California arts education program] for a long time, I was begrudgingly going into this music video, thinking I’m getting too old for this. That’s kind of how I was feeling. It’s just a different world out there. It’s different music being made, it's young creators … and I’m not competitive as I used to be. And I’m also — my motives have changed. I used to say, "Look at me!" and tryin’ to get the girl, tryin’ to get the girl, tryin’ to advance in my career, and I got all those things. So what am I gonna do now? [Laughs] So, I didn’t have a strong enough ego to just stand alone in front of a camera and be like, "Sing this song." So, I said I want to just surround myself with all the people that I love and who inspire me. So I brought most of my band into frame, which for many years, labels, managers, directors — they kind of push bands out of the frame, right? I had a lot of creative freedom on this video. We decided we’d come to Richmond and do it, because we wanted a location that looked good on camera. If you shoot in L.A. or New York, it looks the same as everything else that’s out there. So I said, "Let’s go to my hometown. … If I go to my hometown, I can get some people in this video." And sure enough, I put out the ask, I reached out to Turnaround Arts and SPARC, and I said, "Hey, you guys call on me to be an artistic advisor. How about this art project?" I didn’t know who was going to be on board. And it didn’t take very long for Richmond schools and SPARC and everyone to be like, "We’re in, whatever it takes, we’ll do it." That was it. Tons of fun.
RM: Getting back to a point you made earlier about what you’re going to do now, do you think you’ve found the answer to that?
Mraz: I think I’m still trying to find answers, but that’s just being human, right? I feel fulfilled in my career, I really do. This album that I’m putting out this summer, is actually my last, contractually. It’s my last obligated album. I really look forward to the freedom of creating something new. I don’t know what that is. But I’m basically giving myself a little bit of time to breathe. I’ll still participate in this program here, "Live Art," maybe even help in its replication in other cities, if possible, but that makes me feel good. It feels like I can take my artistic experience and I can pass that on to a new generation of creators and makers who are gonna be going into high school or graduating high school with that same ambition I had when I was 18, which I no longer have, at 40. It’s just not what excites me anymore. But if I can pass on tools that keep them inspired, keep them kind in this crazy world — and I feel like that’s what the arts have done for me and that’s what the arts can do for a society, is to offer tools to heal, to avoid pain and discomfort, which we’re always looking to do. Even deeper than that, tools for compassion, acceptance, generosity, collaboration, inclusivity. I think the arts have that power. So if I could be of service in the arts, that would be fun for me.
RM: We both went to Lee-Davis High School.
Mraz: Right.
RM: Lee-Davis has been in the news recently, as there’ve been discussions about changing the name of the school. Are you aware of those?
Mraz: No, not of recently. But I feel like that’s been a conversation for a little while.
RM: There was an online survey and then a School Board decision to keep the name the way it is. Do you have any thoughts about the name of the school, as its most famous graduate?
Mraz: [Laughs] That’s funny. I’m not attached to the name at all. I don’t think the school is its name. I think the school is its community and its teachers. I think it would be perfectly acceptable to change the name and rebrand Mechanicsvillians, people in the area, help them tell a new story, with new generations of students. I don’t see anything wrong with that.
RM: What’s next for you? Do you want to sign another record deal?
Mraz: No. I’m not going to sign another record deal. I don’t know what I would do. I feel like I’ve plateaued as an artist. I feel like I want to be available for other things. And if I want to make a record, make a record and then shop that one record around. I have a few things up my sleeve that I probably will record and sing, but I don’t want to do it competitively. And if you’re on the radio with a major, you gotta be competitive. You got to be on it, 24-7. I’m just not interested.
The "Live Art: Love" concert this Sunday at Altria Theater is sold out, but it will air on local public television this winter and on national public television next year.
