热热闹闹的欧美乐坛,90后的歌手崭露头角已经不让人感到意外。不过,1994年出生的贾斯汀·比伯如今掀起的席卷全球的热潮,却还是让人倍感惊诧。他的歌、他的舞、他稚气的面孔,都仿佛预示着这股旋风式的热浪还仅仅只是一个开始。
Interviewer: You know, he’s just 15 years old, but his videos have been viewed more than 100 million times on YouTube. His debut album, My World, had the second biggest opening of any album back in 2009, and he’s here with me right now to answer some of my questions and some of yours.
That YouTube video: how old were you, Justin, when you posted this?
Justin: I was…I was, like, 11 or 12. And, basically, what got me started, I was in a singing competition and I was from a little town in Canada—like 30,000 people. I entered it and my friends and family that couldn’t be there were like, “You know, I want to see you. Can you tape it?” So I taped it. I uploaded on YouTube and I gave them a link and they went and watched it and then just a bunch of people started watching it and then I started getting more hits and more hits, so…
Interviewer: So how many did you put on YouTube before you got notified?
Justin: Before I was signed, I had, like, probably, like, 10.
Interviewer: So how did it happen? Did someone call you and say, “Hey, I saw your song on YouTube?”
Justin: Well, first, basically, I got this e-mail from…I think it was, like, 1)Maury Povich.
Interviewer: Oh, yeah!
Justin: He wanted me on his show to do this competition, and my Mom was, like, “No.” She’s a single Mom so she was, like, really 2)skeptical of the music business. She had no clue, we didn’t have a lawyer, we didn’t want to sign anything.
After that, management started contacting us, different managers and stuff, and my Mom again was, like, “Sorry, we don’t have a lawyer,” so…ah…we finally got in contact. This guy contacted us, named “Scooter,” who’s my manager now, and basically stalked us a little bit, kinda got in contact with us, and finally my Mom was calling him back, sayin’, you know, say, “Listen, stop calling me.” And he was, like, you know, “I really see a lot in your son, like, I can…I can help you guys,” and my Mom was really skeptical at first then ended up talking for a couple hours, and he knew some lawyers that we could talk to and stuff, so, we ended up flying to Atlanta free of charges for him to check us out and get to know us an’…and yeah, and we ended up signing a deal with Usher a couple months later.
Interviewer: Justin, you were how old at the time?
Justin: I was, like, 12, 13, I was, like, 13.
Interviewer: How freaky must…
Justin: Yeah, it was crazy…
Interviewer: Was that just…was your head spinning?
Justin: My head was definitely spinning. I mean, I was, like, am I dreaming? It was kind of a surreal moment.
Interviewer: Have you been singing all your life or is it something that kind of you discovered later? I know you’re very musical; you play piano, guitar, drums, you even play the 3)trumpet. Is that true? Are you good at the trumpet?
Justin: Yeah. Yeah. Pretty good, I’m not, like amazing but I can play it.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Justin: So I play, yeah, the piano, the drums, the guitar and trumpet, but I started the drums really early. I was, like, two years old, and then started …
Interviewer: That must have been pleasant in your house.
Justin: Yeah, right. My mom was crazy enough to buy me a drum kit when I was 4, so, you know, just to have her support and…and ’cause my Mom, when she was younger, she wanted to be an actress and she…she got on a few local shows an’ she wanted to go to this school in Toronto, which was two hours away. My grandparents didn’t let her. They didn’t give her the chance, so my Mom was, like, I want you to have this opportunity, so…
Interviewer: Who is your inspiration?
Justin: My inspiration i-i-i-i-is…on a music level, Michael Jackson.
Interviewer: Really?!
Justin: Yeah.
Interviewer: How was it…were you really upset when he passed away?
Justin: Yeah, I was upset. You know, I’m not able to see or hear any new music, so that was disappointing, but, you know, he’s got a lot of great songs and his legend lives on.
Interviewer: Is it weird for you that everybody, like, checking you out on the Internet: is that…is that strange or it’s just kind of part of your lifeand ...
Justin: No, I think it’s great! You know, having the Internet is so great because it makes people feel like they’re a part of the whole process, like Twitter, for example.
Interviewer: How many “tweets” do you do a day?
Justin: Ahhh, probably, like 20 or 30.
Interviewer: Really!? You…how many followers? You have, like, a million plus?
Justin: Yeah, I think I have, like, hundred…a million two hundred thousand.
Interviewer: Wow! Does all this ever sort of make you scared or nervous? Do you worry, like, “Oh,4)gawd, I don’t want to be another Tiffany or Aaron Carter”—not that there’s anything wrong with either of those—but you know a lot of people, sort of, they’re young singing stars and then it’s like, “OK, now what do I do?” Do you think about those things and how to kind of extend your career, or is it too early to even think that way?
Justin: No, I mean, I don’t…I’m one of those people that, you know, dwell on the positive stuff. Like, I’m not gonna sit there and think “well, what if…what if, ” like, what if the sky falls tomorrow, like, you get…there’s a million…
Interviewer: …or what if this all ends tomorrow?
Justin: Yeah. I mean there’s so many “what ifs,” but you gotta just think of the positive stuff.
采访者:你知道吗,他才15岁,但他在YouTube网上的视频却有超过一亿的点击率。他发行的首张个人专辑《我的世界》是2009年首发量第二大的专辑。此刻,他就坐在我的身旁,准备回答我们的一些问题。
贾斯汀,你在YouTube上上传那个视频的时候是多大?
贾斯汀:我是……我是,像是十一二岁吧。事实上,促使我开始在网络上上传歌曲的原因是,我参加了一个歌唱比赛,我来自加拿大的一个小镇——那里人口大概只有三万。我报名参赛后,那些无法到场看我表演的朋友和家人说“你知道,我想看你的表演。你能录下来吗?”所以我录了下来,把它放到了YouTube上,然后把链接发给他们。他们上网看,然后有一些人开始看,再然后,我(视频)的点击率就越来越高了,所以……
采访者:你在YouTube上上传了多少视频才引起了大家的注意?
贾斯汀:在我签约之前,我大概上传了10个吧。
采访者:那(签约)是怎么发生的呢?是不是有人给你打电话说:“嘿,我在YouTube上听到你的歌了?”
贾斯汀:呃,一开始,基本上,我收到一个邮件,是……我想那是,来自莫瑞·波维奇。
采访者:噢,对!
贾斯汀:他邀请我参加他的节目,但我妈妈的反应是,“不可以”。她是个单亲妈妈,她对这种音乐比赛十分怀疑。她对这个完全没概念,而且我们也没有律师,我们不想签任何东西。
后来,管理层开始跟我们联系,不同的经理人等等,但我妈妈的反应还是,你知道,像是“抱歉,我们没有律师”,所以……嗯……后来是有人跟我们联系。一个叫“斯科特”的人——现在他成了我的经理人——跟我们联系,实际上是有点缠着我们不放,我妈妈就给他回了个电话说,“听着,别再给我打电话了”。但他,你知道,大概这么跟我妈妈说:“我觉得你儿子很有潜力,我可以……我可以帮助你们。”我妈妈一开始还很怀疑,但后来跟他谈了两三个小时。他认识一些律师,我们可以向他们咨询什么的,所以,我们最后由他掏钱飞到了亚特兰大,让他考察、了解我们,然后,是啊,几个月后,我们就和亚瑟小子签约了。
采访者:贾斯汀,那时你几岁?
贾斯汀:我当时大概十二三岁吧,大概13岁。
采访者:那多么匪夷所思啊……
贾斯汀:是啊,那很疯狂……
采访者:那只是……你当时是不是有点晕头转向?
贾斯汀:我确实很晕头转向。我的意思是,我当时想,我是在做梦吗?那一刻看来不像真的。
采访者:你从小就唱歌吗,还是你后来才发现自己能唱歌?我知道你很有音乐天分,你会弹钢琴、吉他,会打鼓,你还会吹小号。那是真的吗?你的小号真的吹得很好?
贾斯汀:真的,真的。还不赖,不是特别厉害,但我会吹。
采访者:好。
贾斯汀:对,我会弹钢琴,打鼓,弹吉他还有吹小号,我很小的时候就开始打鼓了。那时我还是两岁吧,就开始学……
采访者:你家里一定很热闹。
贾斯汀:对啊。我四岁的时候,妈妈还疯到给我买了一整套鼓具,所以,你知道,因为有她的支持,……因为我妈妈,她年轻的时候想要做演员,她……她参加过当地的一些演出,她想到一所位于多伦多的学校上学,那离家有两小时的车程。我外公外婆不让她去。他们没给她这个机会,所以,我妈妈就希望,我有这样的机会,所以……
采访者:你的偶像是谁?
贾斯汀:我的偶像是——,在音乐方面,是迈克尔·杰克逊。
采访者:真的?!
贾斯汀:是啊。
采访者:怎么……他的离世让你很难过吗?
贾斯汀:嗯,我很伤心。你知道,我再也不能看或者听他的新歌了,所以很失望,但你知道,他有很多很好的歌,他的传奇故事会流传下去。
采访者:每个人都在网络上搜索你的信息,你会觉得很别扭吗?那对你来说很奇怪,还是,这只是你生活的一部分?
贾斯汀:不,我感觉很棒!知道吗,互联网真的很棒,因为它让大家觉得自己是整个过程中的一部分,比方说推特网。
采访者:你每天发布多少条“推信”?
贾斯汀:呃……大概二三十条吧。
采访者:真的吗?!你……你有多少推友?你有超过一百万?
贾斯汀:嗯,我想我有,大概,一百……一百二十万吧。
采访者:天啊!这让你感觉吓人还是让你紧张?你会担心说“噢天啊,我不想成为像蒂凡尼或亚伦·卡特那样的年轻流行歌手”——不是说他们有什么不好——但你知道,很多人,他们很早出道,然后他们就开始迷茫,“好了,我现在是要做什么呢?”你是不是也会想那些事情:你要怎么拓展你的事业,还是说现在想那些事情还为时过早?
贾斯汀:不,我是说,我不……,我是那种关注积极方面的人。好比说,我不会坐在那想:“如果……怎么样”,就像,如果明天天要塌下来怎么办,像是,你……有一百万……
采访者:或者说如果明天所有一切都结束了,怎么办?
贾斯汀:对啊,我的意思是,有那么多的“如果”,但你只要想着积极的一面就好了。
翻译:Terry
