Interview: Nads Talks To Danny Gokey

Hey Gasmii. We all know how I don’t love Danny Gokey, but I did get a chance to get on the phone with him last week after his elimination.

Here’s the interview:

Nads: What did you learn from your time on Idol?

Danny: I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot about how pressure has an effect on a person. You know, I think, for me, this whole experience I learned to overcome things in my life. You know, overcome insecurities, overcome doubt because sometimes, I mean, there were times I just didn’t want to go out on that stage because I just felt maybe unprepared or I felt like, man, is anyone going to like what I’m doing, and I over-thought the process.

But, you know, when I had the real good performance was especially this past week. I was so thankful because I was like, you know, even though I kind of didn’t want to go out there, I made myself do it, and I did good. Do you know what I mean? Because sometimes you can just see so much and you’re wondering how people are viewing you, and that has an affect on your performance.

Nads: What are your thoughts on Kris and Adam in the finals?

Danny: Kris, you know, obviously he’s really artistic, and Adam has a way on the show of capturing the audience. Here’s what I think, and I’m going to say it like this: People need to vote. Don’t automatically assume someone … don’t have your assumptions. If you want some person to win, you’ve got to vote. I’m telling you. This competition is not over yet. This is going to be a very tight. I have a feeling it’s going to be a very tight race this next week.

One thing I admire about Kris is that he’s very mellow, and that’s always one character trait I’ve always wanted. I’m a person who, you know, I’m an intense personality and times, and Adam, he’s just an all around great guy. I really can’t fault him on anything. Adam is who he is onstage and who he is offstage. He’s very creative. He lives creative. He dresses creatively. He talks from that perspective.

Nads: Do you think that every Idol singer has to change up every song?

Danny: I really do. I think it’s ” I mean, I think you have to change up every song. You know, it’s funny because there were some songs that I wanted to do that I had prepared and I had changed up that I never got to do because it just, you know ” there were a few times where I picked a song, and I tried putting a different arrangement on it, and it just didn’t work. It kind of stinks because, at this point, it’s more than singing.

I shouldn’t stay it stinks because it’s actually pretty good. It’s more than singing. It’s really people want to see a creative element. They want to see an old song made fresh again. I think Idol from this point on, ever since last year, you can’t go on singing the same arrangement of a song. You’ll get bashed.

Nads: What kind of music are you planning on putting out?

Danny: In terms of sound, I really want to do a soulful album, but I want to mix it with – you know, here’s how I look at it –I want to mix a very soulful album with nice beats, like nice R&B beats and nice, like, beats that get people’s heads moving, and mix it with a very, a hint of a Latin vibe, and the reason is, I was with my wife for 12 years. She was Puerto Rican, and I’m so into, like, Salsa and Meringues and all the Spanish music, and I want to mix it all in one arena for me.

Nads: Who was your favorite mentor?

Danny: I think my favorite mentor was Jamie Foxx. He just made the atmosphere very light and made it very fun. And I really enjoyed ” plus, man, I watched the guy growing up as a kid. You know what I mean?

Nads: From watching your field piece of when you went home, it looked like you had massive town support. Did you know it would be that big? It looked huge!

Danny: It was…there was an official count, actually…And the count came up to like 25,300-and some odd number. I was blown away, but I wasn’t at the same time. I’ve been asked this a lot. I feel like Milwaukee has so much good to offer, but yet everyone wants to kind of put us in this box and say we’re a beer and cheese state. The people of Milwaukee, when they get this opportunity to say, hey, we’re more than this. We actually have a lot of talent, and people tend to look over us. They were like, let’s show up. Let’s represent, and they did. I love my city, and I hope that this is like a breaking ground for people just to come out of Milwaukee and starting doing just amazing things. The city is beautiful. I just love it. I really do.

Nads: Last question –how many pair of glasses do you own? You started off with 32 when we interviewed you in the beginning? How many have you acquired during your Idol experience?

Danny: Actually, I started in the beginning of the season with 15. And now I’m about 50 or more.

Nads: Oh my, God.

Danny: Yes. I mean, being on American Idol, the blessings of glasses have rained from the sky, and more is to come, and I really would like to start maybe a Danny line or a Gokey line one of these days.

Nads: That’s cool. Congratulations. Thank you so much.