Why Jason Mraz won’t sing you a sad love song

MANILA, Philippines - Maybe, you will get to hear a sad love song from Jason Mraz. But most likely — nearly as certain as the resounding Yes! on his latest album — you won’t.

In a phone interview with the American singer ahead of his return concert on Nov. 27 at the Big Dome, Jason — who has a gift for spreading positive vibes — said that he’d rather write and sing songs on healing, among many other feel-good things, than heartbreak.

It isn’t like he’s avoiding it. Jason cited that I Won’t Give Up (his huge hit from his previous album Love is A Four Letter Word) is a song that came from a “shattered heart.” Yet, despite its melancholy-tinged melody, the song still came across like a post-break-up pep talk to listeners (except to maybe his most ardent of fans — those following the goings-on in his personal life — who could read between the lines).

The Grammy-winning hitmaker has his reasons. He told The STAR that he cannot imagine himself going on stage, crooning about pain and loneliness, and asking his audience to feel sad with him. “(But) it’s okay to feel that and then you rise above that, like a phoenix,” he waxed philosophical.

The same positivity rings loud and clear throughout his fifth studio album Yes!. It bears the Jason Mraz hallmarks — catchy harmonies, cool wordplay, love-song overload (sans the cheese), plus takes on some of this surfer/vegan/yogi’s many interests like faith, love for outdoors and environment in between. At the same time, it is nothing like anything he has done in his career that started more than a decade ago in a coffeeshop in San Diego, California. For one, it is his first acoustic album and his first, full-length collaborative work with an eclectic, all-female folk-rock band named Raining Jane, whom he has been spending time and jamming with for some years now after he met them one fine festival day in 2006. Raining Jane has Mona Tavakoli on percussion, Mai Bloomfield on guitar and cello, Becky Gebhardt on bass and sitar, and Chaska Potter on guitar, mandolin, ukulele and the glockenspiel.

According to Jason, the album wasn’t even planned and “just sort of revealed itself” during breaks from touring the Love is A Four Letter Word album last year. “I actually didn’t realize I was already writing an album. It wasn’t until we had 10 to 12 songs staring back at us on the page that we said, ‘Wow this could really be a cool album’ and we presented the idea (to record label executives) and they loved it.”

Yes! obviously comes from a happy place with the overall effect as light, stripped-down and atmospheric like something that could only be written under a star-lit sky, or around a bonfire — which is pretty much the story behind how the album came to life.

Jason gave a glimpse into these “sessions by the bonfire” at his ranch, which is also home to his organic avocado farm, in San Diego. He related that “for many years, we (Raining Jane and I) just gathered at our home. We sit in a circle, everyone picks up an instrument and we just play and improvise and whether you or everyone resonates with a certain rhythm, tone, melody those are the essentials in music because through rhythm, tone that we unite. That’s what we do — we improvise. And based on the feelings, we also improvise lyrics and stories, what’s going in our hearts and emotions. We also take breaks from our music and share, these are very open conversations, until we arrive at a very similar space.”

“Aside from the music sessions, there’s a lot of laughter, there’s a lot of snacks. Before we start our music sessions, we do some sort of sport. The girls are great at basketball so five of us play basketball or I’ll drag them to the ocean to surf with me, or when the weather is not fine, we go to the gym, play around the gym. That is important because the rest of the day, we will be singing and playing music, and it’s gonna be taxing as well. So, it’s important to liven up yourself, to get the energy flowing so you can have all your facilities accessible,” Jason added.

In a previous press event with Jason a couple of months ago during a Warner Music junket in Taiwan for the Golden Melody Awards, he talked about composing songs to make himself feel better, hoping it translates to the listener. On Hello, You Beautiful Thing, he had said: “Hypothetically speaking, it could be (about a) person but I pause on that answer because I feel foolish when I say that a lot of times that person is me. I write songs to make myself feel better. I enjoy language, I enjoy keeping a diary, because I feel like I see my life or transform my experiences. Hello, You Beautiful Thing in many ways is looking at the world, ‘Hello, you beautiful thing, I’m ready for you.’ Which is actually an  inside job, you know. It could be a gray day, your schedule could be tragic, but for you to personally feel it as a beautiful thing is triumphant, or you could go as far as looking at the mirror and say, you beautiful thing... create yourself as the beautiful striking human that you have the chance to be.”

He had described When You Love Someone as “just a simple love song really. It’s an observation, looking at the sort of phenomenon love is, the sort of magic trick that love can be, that when you give it away, it comes right back at you. The feeling of sharing at the same time gives the feeling of receiving it. It is really acknowledging love in that way and it came out of a shared love with Raining Jane to play music, sing and make each other laugh because we were all having this profound experience, together… you know you’re in touch with something higher, and you’re bringing this whole room with you. When You Love Someone — same effect, you know you’re in touch with something higher, and you’re bringing another person with you.”

Because of the nature of his new songs and the album (released in the Philippines under Warner Music), he has been veering away from what he has been used to by intentionally touring Yes! with Raining Jane in more intimate venues. He, however, is staying true to his word in our last face-to-face encounter in Taiwan that he’d probably make an exception for the Philippines.

Jason, who sold out his concert at the Big Dome last year, had said then, “If there’s one arena in the world that I would play right now, it would be the Smart Araneta Coliseum with Raining Jane. And I say that, because I played there with (only) percussionist Toca Rivera three years ago and it was magical. And I would probably regret saying this because I might be asked to play in other arenas (hahaha) but there’s a special vibe to it... it’s probably the people. The Filipino people are extraordinary in the light that they give, and I hope that it’s not just limited to me.”

The reception shouldn’t surprise Jason though, as concert producer Renen de Guia of Ovation Productions (who’s responsible for bringing Jason to the Philippines yet again this Nov. 27) said, “It’s always a pleasure presenting an act that is easy to work with. Jason Mraz talks to his audience in a huge venue like there are only two of you in a room. He mingles with his fans and this warmth clicks with the Filipino culture.”

(Jason Mraz and Raining Jane Live In Manila! is presented by MMI Live! and Ovation Productions. It is supported by The Philippine STAR, Fox International Channels, Manila Bulletin, BusinessWorld and Marco Polo Ortigas. Other media partners are Crossover FM 105.1, Easy Rock 96.3, Monster Radio RX 96.3, Philstar.com, Inquirer.net, Philippineconcerts.com, Souncheck, Clickthecity, Philippine Entertainment Portal and Manila Concert Scene. Ticket prices are P6,125, P5,070, P3,700, P2,430 and P845, plus applicable service charges. Tickets are available at Ticketnet outlets and online through www.Ticketnet.com.ph.)