MARK STEINES: Tell me about your adventures! Not only are you traveling the world on stage, but you find time to surf and sky dive?
RICKY MARTIN: Well, I just came out from Asia. We were there for six weeks and we tried it all, we tried surfing in Australia and we tried skydiving in New Zealand and it was just fascinating.
Marc: But you don't have enough rush in your life, I mean, you are on stage.
Ricky: You always want a little more. From skydiving, where are you going to go to? So my master told me next time you are going to jump out of a hot air balloon. You keep finding things to do, it's fascinating. I guess. I'm a control freak and I felt a lot of humility when I was doing it. It was a good way to start the promotional tour of my Sound Loaded album.
Ricky: When I was doing the tour here in America, whenever I had a day off, I would fly home right after the show and record for sixteen hours. Then hop back on the plane, sound check, concert, and so on and so on. I don't know how to work any other way. I love stress I guess.
Mark: That's a grueling schedule, how did you protect your voice? That's a lot of singing, a lot of vocalization.
Ricky: I guess my throat is a trooper. I really don't take much care of my voice, I do what I have to do. I warm up before the show, I walk into a studio and let's do it.
Mark: Sound Loaded, comes from what? What's the title based on?
Ricky: It was very difficult to find a title for this album, Sound Loaded. Load it with sound, load it with different culture. It's about freedom, it's about liberty, it's about feeling good about yourself. It's about not judging and just being who you are.
Ricky: Taking it one day at a time.
Mark: I'm listening to some of the lyrics of what you are saying in "Gisabelle," "She Bangs," "You're in it for Money," I'm looking at some of the songs. I'm thinking one woman must have done him wrong somewhere along the line because....
Ricky: Well, you know what? These are just moments of relationships that I have had, I cannot say that my relationship was like that twenty-four, seven. You have moments, those great moments where you can be spontaneous and get up in the middle of a restaurant and dance in the middle of a table, that drives me crazy. I love that.
Mark: I was listening to it and I turned around and asked my producers, "Is Ricky a scorned lover or what?" At one point, I'm thinking some girl must have done him wrong, listen this girl is in it for money, and this one's, he's watching his back, and this one is loving him and leaving him.
Ricky: I think I talk about things that men don't want to talk about because of their egos. I can't talkabout a woman who's dumping me or doing whatever she wants with me. Who cares? Just feel. Just live it, just go all the way with it.
Mark: Holiday plans? Anything?
Ricky: Holiday plans, definitely time off. India. I'm going back to India for a little while.
Mark Steines: You look refreshed.
Ricky Martin: I feel new. [laughs] I had an amazing holiday. I needed to spend time with my family, and at the same time I needed to detach and get closer to nature, to get inspired and hopefully get ready for what was coming this year. A new album is coming this year, so I needed to get in touch once again with my feelings, my emotions, and start writing. To start looking for ideas for what we're going to do -- at the Grammys, for example.
Ricky: We don't know yet. I really want to. I would definitely leave my soul on stage that evening, if I perform.
Mark: How do you cap -- and do better than -- what you did last year?
Ricky: Well, I'm surrounded by an amazing group of people who are really creative. I trust them. Once again I'm coming up with great ideas and once again I'm more in touch with me -- with my soul.
Mark: Do you have an idea of what song you want to perform?
Ricky: I want a carnival on stage. I want once again people dancing. I want the audience to be part of the stage once again at the Grammys. The opportunity I had last year to perform was an amazing evening. Not only that, but to get the Grammy was awesome. Let's see what happens this year -- five nominations. Five nominations! If I get one, I'm happy, but I got five nominations! Nobody will take that from me.
Ricky: Where were we? I was in Miami when I found out, and I started praying -- because it's getting better and better every time.
Mark: This is the most you've ever had, five nominations.
Ricky: Yeah. I don't want to see it as a competition because I'm nominated with amazing people -- very talented performers and musicians in different categories. Just the fact that I've been taken into consideration by people who are voting -- people who really know about music, who have taken their time to listen to what I've done, not only on this album but also through the years. They've seen me perform and everything.
Mark: Last year when you came down the red carpet, you stopped and talked to me for a little bit. You were so calm and collected. There was some excitement about the performance coming up, but I felt as I was watching the tape, "He had no idea what was about to happen to him." You went out there, you performed, and your life changed. What do you remember most about that performance?
Mark: You've had 15 million albums sell worldwide, 7 million in the States. You are about to embark on a world tour. Tell me where you're going.
Ricky: We have 15 concerts in Canada. We have 15 to 20 concerts in Europe. We have Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong. We're doing Beijing again. We just need to spread the word out. For me my concert is like creating a little perfect planet where everybody can be themselves -- where no one is judging anyone. It's like creating 2 hours of creating a little perfect planet. I need to share that with the audience. Everybody dance! It doesn't matter where you're from! It doesn't matter what generation you belong to! Let's all get together. That's what it's all about. That's why I want to keep doing it.
Ricky: I started in Puerto Rico. Three shows in a stadium of 39,000 people. Then we go to Mexico City at another stadium. Then we'll do Canada, Europe and Asia. It ends in May, then we do the United States again for the second part of the "Living La Vida Loca" tour in the States. Then I lock myself in a studio and hopefully by the end of October or November we'll be releasing the next album. A little bit of English, and a little bit of Spanish.
Mark: Create on demand. To be on that time table -- work, work, work -- then go out and be creative.
Ricky: But I'm ready. Like I said, I took my days off.
Mark: Tell me about your days off. I saw that your hair went blonde during your days off.
Ricky: Because I was bored! A lot of people went, "What is wrong with this kid? Is he going crazy now? What is fame doing to him?" No, I just wanted to have fun. I'm an artist, I can express myself how I want to.
Ricky: Not really. I was in Nepal with my blonde hair and nobody noticed it. Then when I sent the picture in an article, it was all over the news in Latin America and in America. So I said, "If they think I'm this way, then I'm changing it." So I went to my room, I grabbed the clippers, and I shaved it completely.
Mark: Didn't you shave your head before?
Ricky: Yeah before I went to India last year.
Mark: Down to nothing?
Ricky: Down to nothing. I didn't shave it. I didn't use clippers -- I just went straight. It felt so good -- it's purifying. My stylist went, "Let's make it very spiritual if you're gonna really do it." I went, "Give me the clippers. It's really spiritual. If you don't do it, I'll do it." [both laugh]
Mark: I didn't know about the near plane accident that happened to you in San Diego.
Ricky: I've had my ups and downs. I've had like four car accidents and a couple of planes that were about to crash.
Ricky: Well, since you don't know what's going to happen after death, fear will kick in automatically. These are the things you try to erase out of your system as much as you can -- very traumatic things. At the same time, when you're in those situations you just want to give thanks and be grateful for the things that you have. You start thinking about your family. Your whole life goes through your mind. It's cleansing. It's like having another opportunity, so let's do things right.
Mark: What a healthy way to think.
Ricky: You can get paranoid, and never hop on a plane again. That's something that's not good for me, because this is what my career is all about. So let's turn it in the opposite direction and let's be optimistic about all this.
Mark: During your time off, did you happen to start looking around for a companion to share this stuff with?
Ricky: I guess I'm not into that at all. I'll let you know when that happens. I've never been looking. I want to do things right. I want to focus on my career -- not that love won't let me focus on my career, but that's just not where I am.
Mark: You talked about how love is so consuming. It does. I'm married, I love my wife every day. Is it something where if you fall in love, you'll be busy doing that for a while?
Ricky: Give it all when you're in love, and don't regret it. It doesn't matter how long you'll be part of that relationship. Just give it all. Honesty is very important. I think I'm a little extremist in that I give everything or nothing. I've learned to be less compulsive and less obsessive about life in general. There should always be a balance.
