all photos: Alan Mercer
Singer extraordinaire Patrick Basile, originally from upstate New York, has made Los Angeles his home for the past several years. I first heard his music on his MySpace page. I was overwhelmed at his ability to sing a standard and make it his own. His CD "Natural Man" is filled with one gorgeous cut after another. Also checkout his Christmas CD, perfect for this time of year.
I first photographed Patrick a year and a half ago. His (mostly) female fans all over the world fell in love with our shots. It's easy to see why. Patrick is a strikingly handsome Italian-American with chiseled good looks. For these new photos we went up to the top of Laurel Canyon and Mulholland.
AM: Hi Patrick. You represent the new breed of recording artists who does mostly everything yourself. What do you think about this?
PB: Well it's a lot of work. More work than you can imagine. Fortunately I am able to produce my own recordings from the orchestrations, arrangements, and over-seeing everything else about the production The control factor is wonderful but it would be nice to have a label putting the money behind it, and be able to collaborate with a company I trust.
AM: Do you think having two heads is better than one?
PB: I produced my new CD, "Natural Man", but I had the renowned vocal coach "Seth Riggs", who has worked with artists like Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, and Madonna, help me produce my voice. I have his endorsement on the CD. It was wonderful to have another set of ears listening to my voice and telling me what I needed to re-sing for certain reasons. It was great because after creating and working with arrangements, and orchestrations of the same songs for a period of months, you get ear fatigue. He was able to watch over my voice. I was really pleased and very fortunate to have him on the project. He actually made my CD better!
Now to answer your question, "yes", having another set of ears is good. I can't forget my producer/engineer as well, "Maurice Gainen", who oversaw the "whole production". Having people work with you, who know what they are doing is the most important thing.
AM: When you started the "Natural Man" project were you intimidated?
PB: No, I am never intimidated. I "love" challenges! It's the kind of thing that evolves as a piece of art. I tried my best not to over-control everything because that is not what art is about. I let things fall into place. I try to always be in the moment.
AM: I love the fact that the CD is called "Natural Man" and yet most of the songs you recorded are associated with female singers.
PB: That's a good point, because I have always taken the precaution not to record songs by other well known "male" artists, because if you stay with songs associated with women, or other genres, you don't run the risk of comparison. I did the song "At Last", which belongs to Etta James, and it is one of the songs that is getting the most airplay from the album. People love a male singer doing that song. The same thing has happened with "Cry Me A River", which gets me a lot of attention. It really is a song for a woman, but I knew that I could give it a "male" point of view. It is funny, both male and female listeners, love my version of that song, and the music video that was produced for it.
AM: I have heard that the composer of "CRY ME A RIVER" heard your recording of it.
PB: Yes, that is true. "Arthur Hamilton", who is the composer, heard it and called me. He told me he and his wife saw the music video, and it was one of the best versions of the song that he had ever heard! He endorsed it later when the CD came out, and said some wonderful things about me. He said that I had a lot of passion and he felt I understood the meaning of the song. He also released a formal statement, saying that I bring "myself" into every song, making it truly my own. So many people have recorded that song. I felt as if "Gershwin" was calling me!
I love doing songs that are more obscure as well. I also like covering African American artists material as well, for the same reason. They have their own distinct style and I have mine.
AM: I know you have other big endorsements like Paul Williams.
PB: What a thrill it was to meet Paul Williams. Thanks to you, he heard my version of "Nice To Be Around." That song goes way back to when I was a teenager.
I used to sing a lot of his material. Paul really loves the rendition I did. He wrote me a beautiful email thanking me for doing such a beautiful job on his music. I saved the email!
AM: Didn't you record a new song recently?
PB: Yes I just did a cover of "Old Man River" that I am getting a lot of attention for. It is usually done by a baritone but I am a tenor. I always wanted to sing this song. I did a very ethereal arrangement, and I sang it in a higher key, and people loved the fact that it was so different. The song is timeless and deals with all of our struggles. There is a second new song that I recorded recently called "What are you Doing The Rest Of Your Life". I am really getting a lot of positive feedback on this vocal, as it is "unlike" anything that I have recorded. It also has a more naked orchestration, than usual.
AM: When does this CD get it's official release?
PB: My promoter (Cammy Reali) and I are releasing the CD to coincide with this new TV show I will be doing in January 2010 called "Back Home With Lisa Smith Putnam." It's a show like the old Merv Griffin, Dinah Shore style of variety shows. It's going to be filmed in Seattle in an old theater. I'm very excited about that.
AM: Tell me about your Christmas CD.
PB: I did that about three years ago. That CD got a lot of accolades when I first recorded it. You only really get four weeks out of the year to promote and sell it. Usually artists record a Christmas CD after their first CD. I did it the other way around.
AM: What do you know about your fan base?
PB: I do know that MySpace is what got me started. I have a fan base from there, and Facebook now, which I believe will broaden when I have the music available on" i-Tunes" and "Amazon". Right now I have the biggest fan base in the UK and Australia. I have over 28 radio stations playing my music. I have an offer to sing in Italy next year as well.
AM: It seems like musical artists always break outside the US first. Why do you think this is?
I first photographed Patrick a year and a half ago. His (mostly) female fans all over the world fell in love with our shots. It's easy to see why. Patrick is a strikingly handsome Italian-American with chiseled good looks. For these new photos we went up to the top of Laurel Canyon and Mulholland.
AM: Hi Patrick. You represent the new breed of recording artists who does mostly everything yourself. What do you think about this?
PB: Well it's a lot of work. More work than you can imagine. Fortunately I am able to produce my own recordings from the orchestrations, arrangements, and over-seeing everything else about the production The control factor is wonderful but it would be nice to have a label putting the money behind it, and be able to collaborate with a company I trust.
AM: Do you think having two heads is better than one?
PB: I produced my new CD, "Natural Man", but I had the renowned vocal coach "Seth Riggs", who has worked with artists like Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, and Madonna, help me produce my voice. I have his endorsement on the CD. It was wonderful to have another set of ears listening to my voice and telling me what I needed to re-sing for certain reasons. It was great because after creating and working with arrangements, and orchestrations of the same songs for a period of months, you get ear fatigue. He was able to watch over my voice. I was really pleased and very fortunate to have him on the project. He actually made my CD better!
Now to answer your question, "yes", having another set of ears is good. I can't forget my producer/engineer as well, "Maurice Gainen", who oversaw the "whole production". Having people work with you, who know what they are doing is the most important thing.
AM: When you started the "Natural Man" project were you intimidated?
PB: No, I am never intimidated. I "love" challenges! It's the kind of thing that evolves as a piece of art. I tried my best not to over-control everything because that is not what art is about. I let things fall into place. I try to always be in the moment.
AM: I love the fact that the CD is called "Natural Man" and yet most of the songs you recorded are associated with female singers.
PB: That's a good point, because I have always taken the precaution not to record songs by other well known "male" artists, because if you stay with songs associated with women, or other genres, you don't run the risk of comparison. I did the song "At Last", which belongs to Etta James, and it is one of the songs that is getting the most airplay from the album. People love a male singer doing that song. The same thing has happened with "Cry Me A River", which gets me a lot of attention. It really is a song for a woman, but I knew that I could give it a "male" point of view. It is funny, both male and female listeners, love my version of that song, and the music video that was produced for it.
AM: I have heard that the composer of "CRY ME A RIVER" heard your recording of it.
PB: Yes, that is true. "Arthur Hamilton", who is the composer, heard it and called me. He told me he and his wife saw the music video, and it was one of the best versions of the song that he had ever heard! He endorsed it later when the CD came out, and said some wonderful things about me. He said that I had a lot of passion and he felt I understood the meaning of the song. He also released a formal statement, saying that I bring "myself" into every song, making it truly my own. So many people have recorded that song. I felt as if "Gershwin" was calling me!
I love doing songs that are more obscure as well. I also like covering African American artists material as well, for the same reason. They have their own distinct style and I have mine.
AM: I know you have other big endorsements like Paul Williams.
PB: What a thrill it was to meet Paul Williams. Thanks to you, he heard my version of "Nice To Be Around." That song goes way back to when I was a teenager.
I used to sing a lot of his material. Paul really loves the rendition I did. He wrote me a beautiful email thanking me for doing such a beautiful job on his music. I saved the email!
AM: Didn't you record a new song recently?
PB: Yes I just did a cover of "Old Man River" that I am getting a lot of attention for. It is usually done by a baritone but I am a tenor. I always wanted to sing this song. I did a very ethereal arrangement, and I sang it in a higher key, and people loved the fact that it was so different. The song is timeless and deals with all of our struggles. There is a second new song that I recorded recently called "What are you Doing The Rest Of Your Life". I am really getting a lot of positive feedback on this vocal, as it is "unlike" anything that I have recorded. It also has a more naked orchestration, than usual.
AM: When does this CD get it's official release?
PB: My promoter (Cammy Reali) and I are releasing the CD to coincide with this new TV show I will be doing in January 2010 called "Back Home With Lisa Smith Putnam." It's a show like the old Merv Griffin, Dinah Shore style of variety shows. It's going to be filmed in Seattle in an old theater. I'm very excited about that.
AM: Tell me about your Christmas CD.
PB: I did that about three years ago. That CD got a lot of accolades when I first recorded it. You only really get four weeks out of the year to promote and sell it. Usually artists record a Christmas CD after their first CD. I did it the other way around.
AM: What do you know about your fan base?
PB: I do know that MySpace is what got me started. I have a fan base from there, and Facebook now, which I believe will broaden when I have the music available on" i-Tunes" and "Amazon". Right now I have the biggest fan base in the UK and Australia. I have over 28 radio stations playing my music. I have an offer to sing in Italy next year as well.
AM: It seems like musical artists always break outside the US first. Why do you think this is?
PB: I think they are more open to new artists and different genres. I don't understand some of today’s music. I like music that is melodic. Thank God for people like Diana Krall, Andrea Bocelli , Michael Buble, Streisand, and Tony Bennett who are stimulating the market with beautiful singing. I like many genres of music. Country is huge and there are a lot of really beautiful country songs now.
AM: Some of todays music sounds the same to me.
PB: Yes it does. More so than ever now! I don't like too much repetitiveness in a song. However, there is a theory that you have to give people a kind of sameness to your album. They don't like too much variance. I once heard that a successful hit song consists of 80% of what they have heard before, and 20% new.
AM: Getting back to your fans. Typically a good looking Italian man will have a large female fan base. Do you find this to be true?
PB: Yes I have a lot of female fans. I think it is about one third men and two thirds women. I have every kind of person of every age, and every race, from all over, who like my music. I love that! I'm getting emails from Indonesia from people telling me that they like my music and where can they get it. That will be the good thing about getting the music on i-Tunes and Amazon. I can direct them there.
AM: Do you consider yourself more of a recording artist or a performer?
PB: More of a recording artist, definitely. I do have performing talents that I haven't tapped into. I have done some acting in television, commercials, and plays as well. People say they like me on stage. They like my funny banter. I'm not like Hugh Jackman. He is more of an entertainer. I'm more of a recording artist like a young Tony Bennett.
AM: Tell me about your own song-writing?
PB: I wrote a song called, "I'll Follow You" with "Rick Karatas" which is kind of a spiritual thing. We actually wrote three original songs for the CD. The "I'LL FOLLOW YOU" music video has over 3000 hits on YouTube so far. It started out as a Christian song. It has a double meaning. It's a love song as well. A lot of people really love the song. I edited the video too. I love doing that. You can really be creative. You can also see it on Myspace and Facebook.
AM: Are you producing any artists?
PB: I am working with a cellist in the UK. We are doing a recording that is New Age with a Jazz edge. I am arranging, orchestrating, and pIaying all of the orchestral parts. I love doing this, but after a while there is only so much time in a day and all this work is extremely time consuming and exhausting. I have to keep my direction or I go crazy after a while.
AM: Where would you like to see your career, say in five years?
PB: I'd love to be headlining in Las Vegas, and doing concerts. I would love to be featured with "Chris Botti". I just love his work, and he always features singers. I would like to do what he is doing now, performing all over the world with live orchestras. Concerts is where I will be.
"I'LL FOLLOW YOU"
Patrick Basile | MySpace Music Videos
to learn more about Patrick Basile and hear more music visit his MySpace page http://www.myspace.com/patchbasile
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