Nelly Furtado - Loose

Nelly Furtado releases her hot new single, All Good Things on November 27th, co-written with Coldplay rsquo;s Chris Martin. The track is taken from Nelly rsquo;s smash album lsquo;Loose rsquo; which has already gone platinum in both the UK and US and is looking set to become one of the critics choice albums of the year.
I Like Music caught up with Nelly Furtado to talk about jamming in the studio with Chris and Timbaland, being musically promiscuous and songwriting.

I like music because hellip; music is love. It rsquo;s the closest thing to an intimate relationship with a human being. When you hear a great song there rsquo;s a level of intimacy to it and specialness that you can rsquo;t really get anywhere else.

It rsquo;s of another world. rdquo;
ILM: Your gloriously good new single, All Good Things is out on November 27th here in the UK. Chris Martin co-wrote it with you and Timbaland and I heard they were both like little kids about meeting each other?

What was it like working with Chris, because he rsquo;s obviously amazing?
NELLY: We rsquo;d already known each other from a while back from touring the UK festival circuit over the years, and I bumped into him at the MTV Music Awards in Miami, where I was recording with Timbaland. And he was thrilled to hear I was working with Tim, because he rsquo;s a big fan.

Ironically, that whole week, Tim had spent hours listening to Coldplay in the studio at full blast on the stereo, so it was like lsquo;aha! rsquo; one of those moments. It was just kind of meant to be.

He came by the studio and we jammed and jammed. He rsquo;s just really prolific. I really think he rsquo;s one of the best songwriters of my generation definitely.

He just comes up with stuff off the top of his head. Very soulful too, he rsquo;s very funky. He was bringing out sides of him I didn rsquo;t know existed in the studio with Tim.

At the end of the night he had to go, because he had a gig next day, and I said, lsquo;Why do all good jams come to an end? rsquo; and that rsquo;s how the whole song title came about.
ILM: I heard the speaker caught fire during one full on jamming session!

But, of all the tracks on your Loose album, which one track did you have the most fun making in the studio?
NELLY: That rsquo;s a good question. All the songs were extremely fun to record and write.

One in particular was Promiscuous, because it was the first time I gave up lyrical writing credit, and just kind of co-wrote the song with Timbaland and this other rapper named Attitude from Alabama, who rsquo;s this guy who was hanging out in the studio, and Tim works with him a lot. And Tim was like, lsquo;You know, I think you should write this track with Attitude, because he rsquo;s a really good rapper and I think he rsquo;ll bring out something different in the rap.
And so we sat down on the couch and I said, lsquo;ok fine I rsquo;ll meet you here at eight rsquo; which is all new to me right, sitting down writing lyrics with somebody.

And we sat down and we were almost flirting while we wrote the song, it was a very fun experience and I think that rsquo;s why it translated on the song, where it rsquo;s this really playful interaction between a guy and a girl. The third verse was totally off the top of our heads while we rsquo;re cutting the demo in the studio. The other funny thing was, Tim was challenging me and saying I wouldn rsquo;t be able to do it and that my rapping would suck, and then, I got it on the first take.

So, it was just a really fun playful time and I think that rsquo;s why the song connected in a big way, because it rsquo;s so playful and fun.
ILM: Timbaland seems to bring the best out in artists. What was the stand out thing that you learned from Timbaland?

NELLY: It was nice being with Tim in the studio. It was almost like we got to sit down and break bread, Timbaland and I, and I really got to feel the wave of hellip;he just rides on primal energy and testosterone a lot of the time when it comes to music, and I had to let go. I had to let go of over thinking, I had to let go of this sense of process, this sense of studiousness in the studio.

I just let all that go and just went with vibe, because the way we worked is, if we didn rsquo;t feel some kind of energy or vibe within two minutes, we rsquo;d move on to another beat or track or inspiration. So he just really taught me to tap in to that deeper energy, just without even saying anything, just his mere presence, which makes him kind of genius.
ILM: You write gorgeous melodies and great lyrics.

Can you please describe the Nelly Furtado process of writing such bloody good music please?
NELLY: Thanks. I don rsquo;t know.

I rsquo;ve been writing songs since I was a little girl. When I first wrote a song I didn rsquo;t even know how to read or write. I was like four just singing songs off the top of my head.

I think it runs in my family. My family rsquo;s really musical. My grandfather was a composer and multi-instrumentalist.

My father used to take me to these jams, they rsquo;re cellar photo music, where you rsquo;d just go and two people battle each other with a melodic off the top of your head rhyme or riddle, and whoever is the most charming or funny wins. So I guess I grew up with this idea of spontaneous songwriting all the time.
I first sat down and wrote a song when I was 12.

I think it rsquo;s practice, just over the years honing the craft of songwriting and listening to loads of singer/songwriters, good ones, whether it rsquo;s Elliot Smith or Rufus Wainwright or Beth Orton, there rsquo;s things I rsquo;ve really learned a lot from. I rsquo;m having more fun with it. I like co-writing and I like sitting down and letting someone else play the instruments, and then I rsquo;m free with my vocal and my lyrics.

But really, songwriting is a way for me to understand the world. I think sometimes ideas just come to me, and something I might not understand consciously, I understand through the process of writing the song which taps into the subconscious mind a lot more. So it rsquo;s my way of coping I think, the songwriting.

ILM: Your Loose album has this depth and raw quality, and sees you mix hip hop beats, 80s synths, dance, electro ndash; a real diverse mix. Was this freedom to experiment and be lsquo;promiscuous rsquo; musically important for you on this album?
NELLY: Yeah definitely.

It rsquo;s funny, I don rsquo;t mind Promiscuous being one of my signature songs now, because of the idea of me being a musically promiscuous person or musician. I think, yes, the eclecticism is ingrained in me, it rsquo;s not a separate thing I seek. I grew up in Canada and its eclectic there, it rsquo;s multi-cultural and all my friends are from around the world, and I just soaked it all up, and this album was no exception.

I met lots of different producers. I worked in London with Nelly Hooper, I worked in Miami with Pharrell Williams, and it was all a process for me, it was almost like a study in all of my urban influences. I made a lot of my hip hop dreams come true in Miami with Tim.

It rsquo;s a fun place to work, and there rsquo;s all sorts of rappers coming through. I think if you constantly push yourself as an artist, if you constantly try to seek new inspirations, I think you never really go wrong, because you rsquo;re always growing and I think fans find that exciting - it gives them something to sink their teeth into.
ILM: There rsquo;s an electro dancey vibe on the album too, and some tracks have been played in clubs including Ministry of Sound.

NELLY: Really? Maneater right?
ILM: Yeah.

So are you going to explore the whole dance and house music thing more or maybe even start DJing? And are there any house remixes on the album?
NELLY: Yeah, it rsquo;s funny for me, because my roots are in urban music including electronic.

My first group was a trip hop group when I was 17 years old and I was completely into the Prodigy and Tricky and Portishead and things like that. And then, after that, I went through a phase where I was actually cutting house, drum and bass and electronic music with my friend Matt Johnson, who rsquo;s gone on to become a very popular Trance DJ and plays all sorts of shows all over Europe. He's really huge and when I go to Germany I know people who are star struck when I tell them I even know him, so we used to make music together.

I love remixes. I want to do some more mainstream remixes by some big remixers especially of my new single, Say It Right, that rsquo;s my fourth single off this album out here in the UK.
I don rsquo;t know what it is, but I rsquo;ve always been attracted to the city.

I have good memories of just being intoxicated with urban energy and city energy and I think that rsquo;s the energy that electronic music is based on. Maybe growing up in a small town I was attracted to that energy, that culture. I had nights where I rsquo;d just jam and go over my friend rsquo;s house and we rsquo;d all jam on drum machines and keyboards, so I rsquo;m aware of the magic, that all synthetic music can be magical.

ILM: Talking of your friends, you and your friends used to dress up as TLC at school dances. Now girls dress up as you, and now you rsquo;re the inspiration. What rsquo;s your message to them about going out there and achieving their goals and dreams and making the right life choices?

NELLY: When it comes to young people, young women in particular, I think the most important thing is to have a sense of individuality, have a sense of self ,and that rsquo;s built by pursuing hobbies, pursuing music or sports or leadership activities within your school. You need to take advantage of the years you rsquo;re in high school. Just be as active as possible in extra-curricular activities, that rsquo;s what really shaped me as a person.

And also allow yourself to have fun. Because you have good and bad experiences, but ALL those things build character and make you who you are, and if you don rsquo;t push yourself a little sometimes, you never really find out. You want to get that part over with while you rsquo;re young to allow more natural growth.

ILM: What are your tips or advice for budding musicians just starting out about succeeding in the music industry?
NELLY: My advice to budding musicians is always that number one is the songwriting, I think you need to really spend time writing songs to find out what you want to say to the world. And if you don rsquo;t already play an instrument then pursue learning an instrument.

That rsquo;s important and that will serve you really well in the future when you have your own band and your own concerts to arrange; it rsquo;s helped me a lot. And also just to keep open minded. A lot of people shoot themselves in the foot just with their attitude.

if they have a negative attitude, or a pretention before you rsquo;ve even achieved anything. You can rsquo;t be like that. You have to really go through every door that you see and don rsquo;t close those doors.

If you know a harp player, jam with a harp player, or cello, doesn rsquo;t matter, it rsquo;s all music.