KISS 98.5 -- Janet and Nick (Buffalo, NY) -- 11/18/08

DJs: Janet Snyder and Nicholas Picholas

Janet: His album drops today, and we are on the phone with David Cook.

David: How are you?

Janet: Good! How-- hey, first and foremost, congratulations. Winning American Idol with a hundred million votes. That was crazy. We all voted for you.

David: Oh, well thank you very much. I needed all the help I could get, so...

Nick: And congratulations on your album out today. Self-titled. Tell us all about it, David.

David: Um...uh, I mean, obviously I'm excited. It's, it's kinda the culmination of uh...well I mean I made-- I've been in bands since I was fifteen. So to be able to finally put out a major label record is...is pretty heavy. Uh...ya' know, the record itself is, it's, it's an eclectic rock record. I feel like uh...ya' know, 19 and RCA really gave me a little bit of carte blanche to, to, to stretch the boundaries a little bit. And, and in doing so, I feel like we came up with this record that's uh...ya' know, both all over the place and, and still very cohesive as an album. So I'm uh, I'm stoked to have people... [laughs] tear it apart.

[Janet and Nick laugh]

Janet: But you worked with a lot of great people on this album. One of them being somebody who's from Buffalo, Johnny Rzeznik from The Goo Goo Dolls.

David: Absolutely. Played uh-- actually the song that I wrote with uh, with him and a gentleman named Gregg Wattenberg, I actually, was uh, was the other song that we played on SNL.

Janet: Let's talk about SNL. We had a report that you were dry heaving before the performance?

David: A little bit, yeah. I uh...

[Janet laughs]

David: I, I...I, I don't know what happened. But I just got, like, the worst case of nerves. It was uh...I, I think just the show...with such a historical context, and, ya' know, the election and...Senator McCain and...our first performance as a band. It was all these things kinda conspiring against me...keepin' my cool. So...um...yeah, but we managed to pull it out, I guess.

Janet: David Cook on KISS 98.5. Can you tell me about the song "Leave a Light On"? What is the meaning behind that? David: Um...well I, I, I think...ya' know, for me the song kinda represents this, this universal theme of, of love amidst distance. Like, ya' know, everybody's been through something and, on some level where...you, you've kinda longed for something. And, and uh...I, I feel like the song kinda speaks to, to that kinda vibe, ya' know? You...

Janet: Mm-hmm

David: ...love somebody that you can't be next to. And, and uh...an-- the, the hopefulness as the end result, I think uh...always kinda wins-out.

Nick: Well let's have a listen to "Light On." It's David Cook, on KISS 98.5.

[song break]

Janet: KISS 98.5. It's Janet Snyder and Nicholas Picholas. And we are joined by David Cook. It's so much fun being able to spend a little bit of time with you. So tell me what a normal day for you is like right now, with the album coming out, and all of the promotion. What do you do each day?

David: Um...well I usually get up about 5:30 in the morning.

Janet: Mm-hmm

David: And uh, try to, try to...wake up my voice enough to, to do uh, interviews like this, cuz I'm actually on the west coast right now.

Janet: Gotcha

David: And then uh...ya' know, it's just go go go...the rest of the day. I, I, I think after this uh, I've, I've got a ton of prep, and band rehearsal, and all that good stuff.

Janet: Mm-hmm

David: So...

Janet: Now everyone seems to be doing collaborations with T.I. Are we gonna hear a David Cook/T.I. collaboration any time soon?

[David laughs]

David: Uh...you know what, it, I, not yet. His, his, his people have not contacted my people.

Janet: How about a tour, David? We'd love to see ya' in Buffalo.

David: Uh, ya' know, I'm, I'm absolutely down. I think uh...I, I think we're gonna, we're gonna do press and promo through the end of the year. And then I'm gonna take a couple weeks off, uh, around Christmas, and spend some time with family, and catch up, and...and then uh, we'll start hittin' it hard uh, beginning of '09.

Nick: David, you said that the label gave you a lot of freedom on this album. Tell me about some of the, the liberties that you take with that freedom. Like, how far did you wanna go?

David: Um...ya' know I, I kinda wanted to go...as, as far as uh, as it would allow, ya' know, given that I'm tryin' to tow that line between art and commerce.

Nick: Mm-hmm

David: Um...ya' know so we, we, we managed to, to get quite, quite a bit of sway on this record. Ya' know, we have songs like, uh, we have this song called "Bar-Ba- Sol," that's very heavy, riff rock. Still melodic, but definitely will kick ya' in the teeth. And then, and on the flip we have a song like "Permanent," that's, that's very uh, ya' know, piano-driven and delicate, and, and uh...it...ya' know we, we had a little bit of room to play with, which was nice. And so it allowed this record to have a lot different dynamic.

Janet: The song "Permanent" is for your brother Adam?

David: Absolutely.

Janet: How's he doin'?

David: Uh, he's good. Thanks for askin'. He um...ya' know, we're all kind of uh, cautiously optimistic. He, he's uh...ya' know, pluggin' right along.

Nick: On American Idol...he was there. He came...

David: Mm-hmm

Nick: ...to visit. But they didn't make much mention of it. If you didn't know who he was in the crowd, they weren't saying anything. Why was that?

David: Um...ya' know, it was-- that, that was more out of respect to, to not only me, but to my family. Um...ya' know, before I, before I started on the show, I talked to my family, and we kind of just agreed that...that if I was gonna succeed or fail, I needed to do it on my own merit. And, and we didn't want, uh...ya' know we, we didn't want to (A) pervert, you know, my brother's illness, and (B) we didn't want to...pervert why I, why I was on the show, which was, ya' know, to sing songs. And...and uh...and so that's kinda how we operated. And the show was actually really good about tryin' to respect that.

Nick: Well we, we all saw the AC/DC and, and it meant a lot...

Janet: Yeah Nick: ...to watch the show, and to know that, that bond with your brother.

David: Yeah, absolu-- I, ya' know, my uh...both my brothers, Adam and Andrew, are, are uh...ya' know, they're my backbone. So...

Janet: Yeah

David: I, I...I was happy to kinda...give 'em a little shout-out every week.

Janet: Is Andrew in your band?

David: Andrew is not in my band. Andrew's actually uh, ya' know, finishin' up school back in uh, in Warrensburg, Missouri. And then...

Janet: Uh-huh

David: ...um...ya' know, just kinda...plotting his revenge, I guess. [laughs]

[Nick laughs]

Janet: Awesome. And [laughs] yeah right, cuz you went to the au-- the story goes that you went to the audition for him, to support him. And then you ended up auditioning, right?

David: Yeah, man. And, and uh...

Janet: Amazing

David: Ya' know, a lesser man would, would have done everything he could to sabotage. But Andrew's been uh...Andrew's been awesome. I, I think one of my, my most staunch supporters. So...

Janet: I have to ask you, you wear really cool cowboy boots. What's the brand?

David [laughing]: Uh...I, I get 'em from this place called "Boot Star," uh, out here in L.A. And I, I, I'm probably gonna butcher it. It's uh...Lu...Lu, Lukeezie? Lukayzie?

Nick: Lucchese

Janet: Lucchese?

David: Yeah

Janet: Is that what you're--Oh my God, they're so cool. You're such a rock star.

Nick: Yeah

Janet: It's amazing.

David: Aw, well thanks. Nick: It's fun to talk to you. Congratulations on your album. Comes out today. A week after David Archuleta's. So there's your little Idol brother, there.

[Janet laughs]

David: Absolutely. I, I actually, I talked to him last night. And uh...we talked about, ya' know, maybe, if he has the time, tryin' to get together for lunch or somethin'. So...

Janet: He's playing our KISSmas Bash December 9th in Buffalo. So that's gonna be a lot of fun.

David: Oh absolutely. You gotta, you gotta tell him that uh, that Cookie said "hello."

[Nick laughs]

Janet: I sure will. And, and in terms of keeping in touch with other Idol finalists, who do you keep in touch with?

David: I keep in touch with almost everybody from this season. Uh...ya' know it's uh, we had a really fun time as a group, and...uh...ya' know, it was cool, cuz everybody came in with a really firm sense of self, and a firm identity, and...and it allowed uh...it allowed for a clean fight, I think, all the way through, ya' know, the show. Nobody really...tried to undermine anybody, and we all just kinda came out with whatever we had.

Janet: It's David Cook on KISS 98.5. Thanks David.

David: Thank you guys. Take care.

END OF INTERVIEW