Q & A With Shawn Mullins
San Francisco Chronicle
Sunday, January 10, 1999
By Aidin Vaziri
Less than six months ago, Shawn Mullins was just another struggling singer-songwriter looking for a break. The 30-year-old Atlanta native put out eight albums on his own SMG label before he was discovered by Columbia Records in early 1998. On the strength of his hit single ``Lullaby,'' Mullins' major-label debut, ``Soul's Core,'' is making big strides up the Billboard charts, while the ``Lullaby'' video has taken up residence on both MTV and VH1. In November, Mullins toured the country in support of Chris Isaak. This winter, the onetime U.S. Army airborne infantryman will hit the road as a certified headliner.
Q: Where did you come from?
A: I've been doing this for about 10 years. I don't know if it's an unusual story. A lot of bands play live and put out independent releases before getting noticed. It's cool that I'm getting attention now. It's definitely made things easier for me, but I've enjoyed it all along. I just like making music.
Q: Is it more rewarding now that you have an audience?
A: Well, I wasn't just doing it for myself back then. I had an audience -- it just wasn't big. In that perspective, it's kind of different. Even though I'm still playing shows and traveling around the country, now I'm doing it in a bus and I've got other people helping me.
Q: Are you as confused about your success as everyone else?
A: I'm just a regular Joe, so it's a little different.
Q: Do you enjoy the attention?
A: I'm used to being able to walk down the street. I'm not used to a complete stranger walking up to me on the street. It's a great thing that people come up and tell me they like my stuff, but some people get a little freaky.
Q: So you have already acquired some rabid fans?
A: Oh, yeah. But it's no big deal. You just tell them to get a life. These people are real unhappy and lonely. I'm glad my music touches them, though.
Q: Describe an unusual encounter.
A: This one woman comes to a bunch of shows, and she wants me to marry her. I've already got a fiancee, and I'm happy with her. This woman was sending me photos and stuff. I just wanted to tell her that there was someone out there for her, but it wasn't me.
Q: In what other ways has your life changed?
A: Now there's a lot of strategy that goes into when to release the single and what stations to go to first and all that silly stuff.
We're about to put another song out that's called ``Shimmer.'' It's an interesting thing. We're trying to figure out how to give it to Top 40 radio so they'll have something they can work with from ``Lullaby.'' I'm not used to having to mess with all that. I just usually play my song to my audience that's already there, whether it's five people or a hundred people. But it sells a lot of records, so I'll just let it go. We're selling 40,000 records a week right now. I'm used to selling 5,000 a year.
Q: Have you learned some hard lessons about the music business?
A: Since I've been around playing a lot of clubs, opening for larger acts and recording, I've not had a lot of bad experiences. I've watched a lot of other people have them. It's been 10 years of independent record making and touring the country in a van with the dog. It's all different now because everyone is working for me. I could be burned in the future, but don't see it happening.
Q: What was the record that changed your life?
A: There's not one. Definitely Kris Kristofferson's ``Jesus Was a Capricorn.'' The ``Jesus Christ Superstar'' soundtrack. They don't all involve Jesus, by the way. There's also Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Ricki Lee Jones, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan. At different times in my life different albums were life-changing.
Q: What are your favorite adjectives to describe your album?
A: Wordy. I'll try to work around it rather than give you an answer. The album is about traveling and addiction and people's relationships not working out. I got most of these things from traveling around the country. Most of the songs started as journal entries. In some of the songs I even added the city I was in to the title to give it this travelogue feel. I've always wanted to do something like that. One of the coolest things to do is drive at night and listen to this album.
Q: What do you mean by addiction?
A: I've just got an addictive personality. I've never met an artist who doesn't have one.
Q: So it's not a chemical addiction?
A: There's not a song on the album that doesn't mention a substance or some problem in a relationship where someone doesn't go to sex for an escape. There's all types of addictions. That's part of life and our society. I've always struggled with an addictive behavior. I'm lucky I never got into anything heavy.
Q: Did your military career affect your music?
A: I know it's going to sound like a crock of s--, but the biggest thing I got was self-discipline. Like, ``Do you have the (guts) to jump out of this airplane?'' No, but you go through it and you do it. There's something about being a warrior that will give you a different view of yourself.
Q: What are you going to spend all your money on?
A: I'm saving it, man. I'm working too much to spend any money.
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