Post by prinia on Oct 10, 2012 19:31:10 GMT 10
youtu.be/NrdpXI98pww
trailer - NOT to be missed
:wub: great article on GuySebastian bit.ly/VO08Cg
GUY Sebastian is losing his religion. Or at least the parts of it he no longer agrees with.
When Sebastian won Australian Idol in 2003 he became a poster boy for the church and virginity.
Fast forward to 2012 and a new Sebastian song, Get Along, details the hatred and fear spawned from religious groups.
"All they know is to divide, and it's easier if they're faceless to hate the other side," Sebastian sings. The chorus runs "Dear God, dear soul, dear Mary, Mohammed, can we all just get along?"
He is so proud of Get Along and its message, he's earmarked it as the next single from his sixth album, Armageddon.
"I was seen as the poster boy for religion and I didn't want to be," Sebastian says.
"People thought I had a certain set of beliefs, which were very narrow, which is the complete opposite of who I am.
"People were putting me in this weird system of beliefs and judgments I didn't belong in."
Sebastian felt awkward being linked to establishments like the Hillsong Church.
"I didn't want to say 'I'm not associated with those people' because I've got a friend in the Hillsong Church who's quit his job, where he was on massive money, and all he does is help street kids.
"So if I suddenly go 'Oh no, I'm not associated with them', there's good people there as well. I was in this mode where I'm trying not to hurt anyone. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not judgmental."
Sebastian says his feelings on religion have changed over the past decade.
"It's not less important to me, but I'm more informed about it," he says. "My views are more based on life and discovery and research than just what I'm told, because what I was told in regards to so many things was so wrong.
"I've gone from a place where I was told there was one way and only one way, to being more in a place where I don't think anyone has the right to say what they believe is more important or more significant.
"I still believe in God, I still believe in the fundamentals of that. But I base it on the fact God is love. I don't feel God is what people have said He is throughout generations. For me it's a faith. People sometimes lose the concept of faith. I don't know if there's only one God, I don't know if there's a God, I just have a faith that there is. That's what I've grown up with. But the minute it starts to become about hate, I switch off."
Sebastian's eyes were opened when a male friend he grew up with came out as gay - and fled overseas out of fear of the flak he might cop from the church.
"He moved countries, he was that scared about the whole religious thing because he was brought up in the church. My friends and I were like, 'Dude, why did you leave, what did you think we would say?' It became not a big deal at all.
"Look at gay marriage. I don't think anyone has the right to tell someone who they can and can't be in love with. You look back at the unfair things that happen in history, and this will be looked back on as one of those things.
"People will think 'Oh my gosh, I can't believe the world was in that state, that they held those views'. It's pretty unfair for people to not claim the same benefits; that's ridiculous."
Sebastian was also the poster boy for being a virgin until marriage. He married longtime girlfriend Jules in 2008 - their son Hudson was born in March.
Armageddon sees Sebastian channel Prince on the bedroom-based Died and Gone To Heaven.
"Don't bother setting the alarm, we'll be awake all night," a saucy Sebastian sings. "I wanna throw these sheets over our heads and roll around this paradise."
It's a subject Sebastian couldn't have written about a few years ago.
"I don't want to put the horrible vision of me in anyone's head, but I'm growing up," Sebastian says.
"I've got a good sort for a missus. It was definitely a world that opened up for me and it was great. Amazing. I'm very lucky to still be in love and still have a wife I'm very attracted to. It was worth the wait."
Used To You is a more emotional tribute to his wife, who has forged her own TV career as a stylist on MTV.
"I always say to her, 'I don't get used to you'," Sebastian says. "I still get back from tours and I'm still excited to see her. I'm happy just to hang out and chat with her. That's special. We've been friends for 18 years, together for 13 years. I'm lucky."
Luck also played a part in Battle Scars, his collaboration with US rapper Lupe Fiasco, on track to become the biggest song in Sebastian's career.
He has had two singles go four times platinum in Australia - Angels Brought Me Here and Who's That Girl. Battle Scars has reached the same status (with more than 280,000 sales) in just eight weeks.
He wrote Battle Scars while listening to Fiasco's album Lasers and always visualised Fiasco rapping on the song, but knew he should think of other options in case it didn't happen.
"Luckily he came on board straight away."
Fiasco wrote two rap options for the track, turned up to record it without the entourage and made himself available for the video.
So Sebastian was stunned when the rapper's Australian label, Warner, tried to block the release of Battle Scars, fearing it would harm his career here.
"They thought if Lupe Fiasco worked with Guy Sebastian, Triple J would never play him again," Sebastian says.
"The head of Warner in Australia rang up Atlantic, Lupe's label in the US. I know they're competitive - I'm on Sony, he's Warner. But they said, 'If you do this it'll be the end of Lupe's career in Australia; he's an idiot for wanting to do this'. They actually put a block on it. They wouldn't give a label clearance for it."
Warner Music in Australia declined to comment on Sebastian's statements.
When Sebastian's five-album deal with Sony, signed post Idol, ended he re-negotiated a more favourable Australia-only contract with the company. It means he now owns his music, which meant he was able to directly licence Battle Scars to Fiasco, who included it on the US version of his new album Food & Liquor Pt2 (it's not on the local edition). Fiasco decided it would be his next single in the US, where it has become Sebastian's first track to crack the US Top 100.
Sebastian flew to the US last week to perform Battle Scars on David Letterman's show with Fiasco.
"It is his song over there," Sebastian says. "And it gets more traction from being his song over there. I'm no one over there. And because I own the masters for the world I was able to licence it to him directly.
"Otherwise I would have been screwed - they would have asked for an exorbitant fee; it wouldn't have been turned around in time. It shows the worth of having a good deal - it can change your whole career.
"I literally sent the song straight to Lupe. It was a case of the artists making something happen. For Lupe, it's his first No.1 anywhere, and it's a song people moved hell and high earth to stop and it went No.1. He's stoked.
"And it turns out more people who hadn't discovered Lupe before have learnt all about him, learnt how deep his lyrics are. such a great artist. It's not like he jumps on a track with just anyone. He's a genuine, intelligent rapper.
"It's been great for both of us. I feel we've collaborated and make something special and which people have connected with. We got through all the label crap. And we've become really good friends."
--- HEAR Armageddon (Sony) out tomorrow
Read more: www.news.com.au/news/losing-my-reli...8#ixzz28t219SBq
this is the guy I know, and love. He really is - amazing
6 x #1's
