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By Krista

Interview with singers from "The Voice" on NBC 10/13/15

THE VOICE ADVANCING ARTISTS PRESS AND MEDIA
Moderator: Shauna Wynne
October 13, 2015 1:00 pm CT

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to The Voice advancing artists press and media conference call. During the presentation all participants will be in a listen-only mode.

We will conduct a question and answer session. At that time if you have a question please press the 1 followed by the 4 on your telephone. If at any time during the conference you need to reach an operator please press Star 0.

As a reminder this conference is being recorded Tuesday, October 13, 2015. I would now like to turn the conference over to Shauna Wynne. Please go ahead.

Shauna Wynne: Hi everyone, thanks for joining our conference call with The Voice advancing artists. We are recording this call so if you would like a transcript please email me.

Joining us today from Team Adam we have Dustin Christensen, James Dupre, and Jordan Smith. From Team Blake we have Barrett Baber and Zach Seabaugh. From Team Gwen we have Ellie Lawrence and Regina Love. And from Team Pharrell we have Mark Hood and Tim Atlas.

Out of respect for all journalists queuing up, please ask only one question at a time. You will have the option to queue up again. And if your question is for the group as a whole please designate one artist to answer first. I will now turn the call over to the question and answer portion.

Operator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen if you would like to register for a question please press the 1 followed by the 4 on your telephone. You will hear a three tone prompt to acknowledge your request.

If your question has been answered and you would like to withdraw your registration please press the 1 followed by the 3. If you are using a speakerphone please lift your handset before entering your request. One moment for the first question. And our first question comes from the line of Mark Franklin with Voice Views. Please proceed with your question.

Mark Franklin: Yes my question is for Regina and Tim. Both of you had to feel a little bit like the underdog going into those battles so I was wondering from each of you what was your strategy going in and then what was running through your mind after your coaches announced the verdict. And if Tim we could start with you.

Tim Atlas: Okay, hi this is Tim. Yes, going into it was definitely intimidating. Going up against Ellie was kind of I don’t know, kind of unfair because she’s so good. But my strategy was just to turn it on as much as I could. I turned - I got into character as soon as I walked up on stage and tried to execute until the end and luckily it worked out for me.

Mark Franklin: Okay and after the coach announced the verdict, did you think there was a possibility of a save? How - what were your feelings at that point?

Tim Atlas: I knew there was a possibility of a save. It was in the back of my mind but I was preparing myself for the worst case scenario. I had my, you know, goodbye speech ready and everything but I was just so fortunate to join Team Pharrell.

Mark Franklin: Okay thank you very much and best of luck. And then Regina, could you tell me what your strategy was going into your match with Jordan.

Regina Love: My strategy in the battles was just putting my best foot forward and just doing everything that I can to let my true heart show.

Mark Franklin: Okay and what did you think after the verdict was announced?

Regina Love: Well after the verdict, you know, of course everybody wants to be chosen and after the verdict my heart was like okay Lord, now this is time that you’ve got to work.

And I just, you know, it was a basic - even at our rehearsal, you know, Adam was like oh God, I know I’m going to - everybody is going to ask why did I put you guys together but I’m real confident that I know that either one of you guys was not going home. So just don’t even worry about it, just don’t think about it, do your best and don’t even worry about that because neither one of you are going home.

And you know, there’s always a possibility, you never know, you know. Just me and God, I was like okay I’m getting ready to say what I say and I’m grateful for the time that I’ve been here and I’m just grateful for even being here, you know?

Mark Franklin: Okay. All right, thank you very much and best of luck.

Regina Love: Thank you.

Operator: And our next question comes from the line of Earl Dittman from Digital Journal. Please proceed with your question.

Earl DittMan: Hi guys, this is for the Team Adam gentlemen. Let’s start with James, I had a question for all you guys. Working with John Fogerty must have been an incredible experience. We saw it on television how it all kind of worked out together. What did you (a) I’m sure you were a big fan first off but what was that whole experience like to you now looking back in retrospect?

James Dupre: Hey this is James. You know, I grew up listening to CCR and seeing John Fogerty stand before me, it was, you know, just a very - it was just a huge honor, you know.

And then having the opportunity to work with him one on one on a song that he actually wrote and hearing the story about, you know, the Vietnam war and how he was drafted and the anger that he felt and how he came to write that song, it was quite a moving experience, you know. And I don’t think, I mean, it will be hard to top how cool that experience was, you know, with anything else really, you know.

Earl DittMan: Do you think that the explanation of how it was written actually probably kind of pushed you over the top in terms of making your performance better?

James Dupre: Yes, you know, I tried to - that was kind of like my thoughts before the performance, you know. I really wanted to channel that - the anger that he felt and the passion and emotion that he felt when he wrote and performed the song, you know. I wanted to really convey that in my performance. And, you know, hopefully I did, you know, hopefully it came across.

Earl DittMan: One last thing for you, you know, before we talked you said - well even on the show this kind of pushed you out of your comfort zone and that was one of the reasons you wanted to be on Team Adam. So it’s doing what it needs to do for you musically and artistically?

James Dupre: Yes, you know, CCR, I’ve actually sung some of their songs before but this one in particular I have never attempted to sing and mainly because it was such a higher register song, you know, in a key that I wasn’t very comfortable in. But, you know, Adam challenged me just exactly how I wanted him to and got me out of my comfort zone. So I’m really happy about the outcome.

Earl DittMan: Well it was a great performance, congratulations.

James Dupre: Thank you.

Earl DittMan: And Jordan, now again you may not be as familiar with CCR and John Fogerty but what was that like? Or were you very familiar with them?

Jordan Smith: I had grown up knowing of them and I had heard their music before. My parents are, you know, were huge fans and my parents were always really, you know, interested in showing me different kinds of music. And so John Fogerty is a name that I have heard for a very long time and someone that, you know, I have seen as a legend for a really long time.

So this was a really cool experience for me to work with someone who has spent so long in the industry and you have years’ worth of experience and wisdom to share. Especially for me because I’m so young and yes, it was really cool for me. It was kind of surreal just because he is a legend. And so much of music - like rock music today and music in general has his like stamp on it.

Earl DittMan: Yes well I’d say the singing between you and Regina was epic, it was really epic. I don’t know how anyone could choose. Because luckily she got stolen so it was a great thing. How was that whole feeling singing with her? I mean, is there a bonding between the two of you?

Jordan Smith: Yes, I would not have chosen another person to sing my battle with. I am so happy that I got to share this experience with Regina. We became so close through that.

And we would pray together before rehearsals. And our mindset going into the battle was just to make this as good of a duet as possible instead of a duel and work towards making a really good performance and presenting something so that the coaches would have no other choice but to keep one of us and steal one of us.

It really did take a lot of working together. And she is just such a fun person to work with, she’s so kind and so sweet and she was encouraging to me and she pushed me to be better. She has an electrifying stage presence and a powerhouse vocally. So for me to climb to that level, she pushed me to be better and I’m really grateful that I got to work with her.

Earl DittMan: Well that’s great. Well you all blew me away, congratulations guys. Thanks a lot.

Jordan Smith: Thank you so much.

Regina Love: Thank you so much. I felt exactly the same. I mean, I could not have said it better. It is just such a blessing to be, I mean you guys got to know, I’m like - you guys know I’m not 21 years old. It was a blessing to be a part of - I feel like I’m getting younger by the minute, you know, being around beautiful people, you know? I think my clock might be turning back.

Earl DittMan: That’s great, thank you all so much.

Regina Love: Thank you.

Operator: And our next question comes from the line of Joshua Maloney from Niagara Frontier Publication. Please proceed with your question.

Joshua Maloney: Thank you. My question is for Ellie and for Mark and for Barrett and Ellie maybe you can start. We’ve seen each of you perform twice. We know we’re going to see you at least one more time, hopefully we’ll see you more than one more time.

How would you say you’ve grown through the course of the three performances? And also the three of you are very likable. I’m wondering how much your coaches have talked to you about stage presence and personality?

Ellie Lawrence: Hi it’s Ellie. You know, I feel like I’ve grown tenfold since my blind audition to, you know, I never performed in front of that many people before. Usually it’s like ten people in a bar. So I really had to focus on connecting with a larger audience and so that was like a huge hurdle I had to come over.

Thankfully like I rely a lot on my kind of goofy personality to get me out of uncomfortable situations. So it has helped so far because I just kind of, you know, hide behind my humor and everything to be able to not show how scared I am.

But Gwen really focused for me, focused on like I need to open my eyes more. Because like when I sing it’s very personal to me, music is very like intimate and so I kind of turn inwards a lot. And on the show you can’t do that because, you know, you have that split second to connect with America and, you know, if your eyes are closed they’re not going to really feel a song with you.

So that’s the thing that she told me to work on was really opening up my eyes and looking at everyone and bringing them into the song. And it’s something I feel like I have done and I have learned a lot and grown since blind auditions and since being able to connect with a larger audience. That’s terrifying to do on such a large scale but I think I’ve got it down.

Joshua Maloney: Okay thank you and Mark, same questions.

Mark Hood: I feel like I grew a lot working with Pharrell so in the blind auditions to the battle round. Pharrell is very into artists being themselves and if they are he has this thing called other and he likes that. So he is always urging me to keep my personality and just continue to be who I am.

And I was very, very intimidated going into this round and I expressed that to Pharrell and Missy Elliott, you know, singing with a girl was different and, you know, I was really intimidated. I didn’t know how I was going to do it. But, you know, he just told me to be myself, don’t lose any of the personality. He was like the personality is part of what makes you. Don’t lose that, let it grow. And I think, you know, I grew a lot.

Joshua Maloney: All right thank you, and Barrett.

Barrett Baber: Yes this is Barrett and really similar to these other guys in that like I feel like from a growth standpoint I have really noticed especially in the few live shows that I have gotten to play since the taping of the auditions that vocally I’m really in a new place as far as my ability and what I am capable of even at my live shows where I’m just playing with me, my guitar, or with my band.

And so, you know, I attribute that to not only being coached by a guy like Blake Shelton but, you know, working around the clock, you know, for weeks at a time on singing a song and really dialing in a minute and a half of one song and really focusing on every line and giving every single note its opportunity to shine. And that’s not necessarily something that I would have done before this process.

And so now I have taken what I’ve learned in this scenario, you know, singing other people’s songs and transfer that over to my own live show that’s, you know, full of original music. And I have been able to tell right away that from a growth standpoint it has happened it will continue to happen. And I’m excited about that, about taking that and using it in the future as I continue to pursue a career in music.

From a personality standpoint, you know, Blake didn’t really give me a lot of coaching on personality and stage presence. I have always been the kind of person that for whatever reason when it’s time to go out and sing and perform that there’s just some sort of switch in my head or in my heart even that just sort of flips and I sort of lose myself in a moment.

And so, you know, I guess that shines through even more on a massive stage like The Voice stage, you know, when you know that there’s literally millions of people that are going to be watching that performance. For me it sort of intensifies the feeling that I get when I play regular shows around my hometown in that I just turn it loose and I don’t even think about how I move or what my face looks like or any of those things. I just let it be. And luckily for me that I guess appears pretty natural and seems like a likeable thing.

And so I’m going to continue to do that but will certainly, you know, look at personality and take this - take the things that I’ve learned here from participating on The Voice and transfer them over to future gigs that don’t involve the show. So it has been a fantastic experience for me in both regards as far as learning stuff and then understanding how much personality means as far as an audience endearing themselves to you.

Joshua Maloney: Okay thank you, thank you all and good luck.

Barrett Baber: You bet buddy.

Operator: And our next question comes from the line of Jeff Dodge with buddytv.com. Please proceed with your question.

Jeff Dodge: Hi, my question is for Dustin. How are you?

Dustin Christensen: I’m good. Is this for - oh yes this is for me I guess. I didn’t know if there was two Dustin’s in here. This is Dustin Christensen.

Jeff Dodge: Yes, hi. So what was it like to have Adam use one of his steals on you?

Dustin Christensen: Well I’ll tell you, it’s great to have anybody use a steal on you. I - that was kind of the hope going into the battle rounds was that we didn’t treat it like a battle and that we just treated it like, you know, that we just wanted to make it as good as possible so the both of us would stay and I was happy to get anybody to turn.

I saw Adam press his button and, you know, I kind of blacked out for a second and then I noticed that Gwen had also pressed her button. So I mean, it’s incredible. I mean, to - in that moment, you know, your worst fear is going home and so to have anybody want to steal you is such a great compliment.

Jeff Dodge: Yes and along those same lines for Regina and Tim, do you have any additional thoughts on what it’s like to be stolen onto a new team? Tim?

Tim Atlas: Yes he pretty much said it. I mean, you just go in hoping for the best case scenario and you’ll take what you can get, you know? So I was just so happy and blessed.

Jeff Dodge: And Regina?

Regina Love: You know what, it was just - I was so grateful. It’s just amazing to know that thank you God, you know? This whole thing has just been a beautiful opportunity and I just didn’t want it to end and I was just so grateful that it didn’t end. Just meeting everybody, you know, meeting everybody, we’re all like family and I just love it. I love it.

And the things that (unintelligible) can’t teach a new puppy new tricks but I’m learning a lot. I’m learning from everybody. Were all learning from each other. And that’s what I love about the whole thing. It’s supposed to be a competition but it doesn’t feel like one. It really doesn’t.

Jeff Dodge: Yes that’s great, yes I love that. Well thank you everyone and good luck.

Regina Love: Thank you.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder to register for a question please press the 1 followed by the 4 on your telephone. And your next question comes from the line of Morgan Jones from Deseret News, Salt Lake City, Utah. Please proceed with your question.

Morgan Jones: Hi, my question is for Dustin Christensen. Dustin everybody in Utah is really proud of you so keep making Utah proud. My question is what motivated you? I know that you have an MBA. What motivated you to pursue this passion for singing and also what keeps you grounded throughout this process?

Dustin Christensen: You know, I guess the prime motivation to do music for a living for me at least, I mean, it’s just in me. You know, I’ve been - I started playing the piano when I was three years old and I’ve been doing music my whole life. And education was always important to me so I went and got, you know, an MBA degree and a finance degree but, you know, after that I just wanted to focus on music.

And so I went and - I concentrated on songwriting for a long time and, you know, signed a publishing deal with Carnival in Nashville. I just kept thinking to myself, you know, like you’re writing songs for a living and this is like your dream and there is still this part of me that wants to do my own music as well.

And, you know, I had some discussions with people and a bunch of people would say to me, you know, you’ve got the publishing deal and if you want to do the artist side of things you really need to think about one of these shows. And I just thought it was a good opportunity for me to, you know, at my age to kind of give me the boost I need to kind of snag some fans and kind of try to run with it.

Morgan Jones: Right.

Dustin Christensen: But I mean, the main motivation for me though is just when you love music this much, and I’m sure this is the same way for everybody on the show. When you feel that way about music you’re not happy doing anything else other than music, you know what I mean?

I could be - I love business and I could be in a day job. I would never be fully happy doing it. And so there is, you know, something inside of you that just has to make music work in whatever facet you can make it work, you know.

Morgan Jones: Right. And then what keeps you - throughout this process, what keeps you grounded?

Dustin Christensen: What keeps me grounded, you know, obviously my friends and family, my faith keeps me grounded. And yes, you know, I’m sure it’s the same for most of the people on the show. But I think being 35 and I’ve had a lot of almosts in the music industry and so I think I’m realistic about it and so that has helped as well.

Morgan Jones: Absolutely. And then just as a final question, if you could give a message to people in Utah what would it be?

Dustin Christensen: First of all thank you. Thanks for, you know, tuning in and following this journey of mine. And, you know, I guess - I don’t know. I mean, I guess the typical message to give would sound cliché but it’s true is, you know, you kind of have to go after what you want, you know. I did music my whole life but it wasn’t until later in life that I actually put things on the line to do this and so yes, I mean, if you want something go after it.

Morgan Jones: Absolutely, perfect. Well thank you so much Dustin and good luck.

Dustin Christensen: Thank you.

Operator: And our next question comes from the line of Krista Chain from The TV MegaSite. Please proceed with your question.

Krista Chain: Yes, my question is for Jordan. I was just wondering what was going through your mind when the battle was over before they told you that you won the battle.

Jordan Smith: Yes this is Jordan. I think that was probably the longest couple of minutes of my life. I knew that I had a lot of fun, you know, in the battle and I really enjoyed singing with Regina and it was such - just a fun moment for me and getting to experience that with her and just being there on that stage. The energy in the room is just electrifying. It’s so high energy and the audience is amazing.

And so I was just kind of coming down and settling in and realizing, you know, now they’re going to make the decisions. But I felt okay. I had peace that whatever happened was supposed to happen and if I didn’t win the battle then hopefully I would get stolen.

And even if I didn’t get stolen then I knew that this was my time to go home and I would go and I would do the next thing and take the next step as it came. And so yes, I was anticipating their decisions very much but as far as the actual decision, I just had peace about it.

Krista Chain: Well great, congratulations Jordan and I’m glad that Regina got stolen as well. Good luck to both of you.

Jordan Smith: Thank you so much.

Regina Love: Thank you so much.

Operator: And our next question comes from the line of Mark Franklin from Voice Views. Please proceed with your question.

Mark Franklin: Yes, also a question for Dustin. Dustin you mentioned earlier that you did have two options when you were - with the steal. Gwen turned around as well. Why did you decide to go with Adam?

Dustin Christensen: Man, I’ll tell you. There’s a lot to go with that and to this day I can’t really tell you. I mean, it’s like you’re on the stage. First of all I’m in the moment of these two amazing people wanting me on their team. And, you know, there’s a lot of - the moment is actually longer than what is on television. There’s a lot of stuff that goes into it and stuff.

But I - they had been talking for a long time and I just knew I had to make a decision fast and Adam just came out of my mouth. And I really would have been happy with either of them. In fact when I was - when I went to go give Gwen a hug after I had chosen Adam I think I said to her, I think I was like - I think I said to her like I have no idea what I’m doing.

So, I mean, I’m purely in the camp of every single one of those coaches up there, I would be lucky to be on their team. And it’s a win-win. You know, I can’t lose whoever I pick with. And so, you know, Adam was just who I chose in the moment and yes.

Mark Franklin: Okay well apparently you guys knew what you were doing on stage at least because that turned out really, really well.

Dustin Christensen: Thank you man.

Mark Franklin: Best of luck.

Dustin Christensen: Thank you so much.

Operator: And our next question comes from the line of Earl Dittman from Digital Journal. Please proceed with your question.

Earl DittMan: Great, this is for Zach. Zach while there were great, great performances from everyone last night, I think the most enlightening was to watch you and Tyler because I think on paper it looked like Tyler had the advantage but you kind of came through. Did you kind of feel that way going in that maybe Tyler had a little more experience, that he may have the advantage?

Zach Seabaugh: Yes, definitely he had more experience I would say because when he was 16 or 15, you know, he was out touring with Brooks & Dunn and he was up in Nashville doing things. So it was definitely intimidating to get paired up with him.

But at the same time I’m really thankful that I had the opportunity to go against Tyler because of that. And it gave me a challenge going from my blind audition song and transitioning into this song which was much higher and it required more strength vocally for me and it definitely required me to work a lot harder. But I’m happy that Blake and Brad Paisley had some faith in me and I felt really good about my performance. And just vocally I worked as hard as I could.

Earl DittMan: Again like I said, it was enlightening because we kind of saw you grow over the course, you know, the segment but you just kind of blossomed and turned into this - not that you weren’t before but this incredible performance singer right before our eyes.

Zach Seabaugh: Well I think something that went into it is just the song and the message that I shared with the audience. And just the words that came out of my mouth, I think that helped me a lot in delivering my performance. I mean, especially with the task that I had to take on and the challenge that I was up against.

Earl DittMan: Also speaking of teammates, I was listening to Dustin and Regina, you know, you were surrounded by a lot of veterans of the music business. And Dustin was just talking about his passion for it. You’re very young. Are these people - are your teammates teaching you a lot about this music stuff since you’re very young?

Zach Seabaugh: Oh yes, I have learned so much from everyone just, you know, everything that they have to say. I try and learn as much as I can with this whole experience. And not only having an opportunity to talk with all of the judges and with Brad Paisley but just from the artists themselves and just the talent on this show. I have learned so much from them.

Earl DittMan: Yes so is music what you’re meant to do the rest of your life?

Zach Seabaugh: I think so. With how this show is going and, you know, the hard work is paying off. And, you know, hopefully we’ll see what I can take and run with as far as launching my country music career so we’ll see what happens.

Earl DittMan: Well best of luck man, thanks again.

Zach Seabaugh: Thank you.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, to register for a question please press the 1 followed by the 4 on your telephone. And our next question comes from the line of Jeff Dodge from buddytv.com. Please proceed with your question.

Jeff Dodge: Yes I have a question for a couple of you about the advisors. I’ll start with Ellie. How are you?

Ellie Lawrence: I’m doing well, how are you?

Jeff Dodge: I’m doing good. So what was it like having Selena Gomez as your advisor?

Ellie Lawrence: You know, it was a little scary just because she has been in the industry for a while and has made a name for herself out of from a Disney Channel show. It’s a lot of, you know, people coming from like they struggle and she has done so well so it was a little intimidating.

But it was also, I was interested to see what she could offer us because she does have so many insights with the acting side and with music. So, you know, being on stage you do have to have kind of like that theatric. So I was really excited about being able to learn from her.

Jeff Dodge: Yes great. And then for Mark, what was it like having Missy Elliott as your advisor?

Mark Hood: Oh my God, my reaction when I walked in the room when I started spitting some of her lyric, that was real. Like Missy Elliott was a part of my childhood. Although I really couldn’t listen to secular music, I used to sneak and listen to her and she was absolutely a wonderful artist.

So, you know, working with her was just - honestly sometimes after the first day I felt like I missed out on it because I was there but I was so in awe. Like it was one of them like pinch me I’m dreaming moments where it’s like okay it’s over, man I missed it because I thought I was dreaming the whole time.

But the second day I was really - she had more to say. You know, she was very choked up the first day. She got choked up again the second day but she had a little bit more to say and a little bit more advice on that day. So just working with her was a dream come true and I’m so honored to have done so.

Jeff Dodge: Yes, and finally for Barrett. What was it like having Brad Paisley as your advisor?

Barrett Baber: I was just really honored to be in the presence of somebody like Brad Paisley. I mean, I have admired him for a very long time both as a vocalist and especially as a songwriter and a guitar player. He’s just a legend and just so incredible and was exactly as I thought he might be which is just a good dude and really disarming.

You know, it’s really - it could have been really easy for him to treat that experience like just a job and sort of treat us as artists as sort of lesser and rather than equal because he has done so much. But he did just the exact opposite.

And right away, I know Dustin probably feels the same way but for me especially right away it just set me at ease. He started cracking jokes about himself right away and just really disarms any type of misconceptions that anyone might have about who he is and how big of a deal he is by just being a regular guy.

And so it really took about 30 seconds and what it felt like was just four guys standing around a piano making music together and talking about music and trying to figure out how to best dial in a really great song in Walking in Memphis. So that was an incredible experience.

And I really soaked up as much as I could from Brad Paisley and understand what kind of a giant he is. But it sure was cool to get to experience somebody who has every right to be aloof and to be, you know, act like he is better than I am because he is but instead did the exact opposite and just, you know, made it so comfortable and cool for me as an artist.

You know, I tweeted - he tweeted at me last night and said, you know, good luck and I hope that you do well and I tweeted back at him well I hope I get to work with you in the future and I really do mean that because he’s so great.

And not because he’s obviously he’s so good at what he does but mostly just because I really got a grasp of what kind of a human being and person he is. And I’m certain that what we saw and what America saw on the TV show last night was really what they get with Brad Paisley which is just a great guy.

Jeff Dodge: Yes great. Well thank you everyone. Good luck.

Barrett Baber: Thanks buddy.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen as a reminder, to register for a question please press the 1 followed by the 4 on your telephone. And Miss Wynne I will turn the call back over to you.

Shauna Wynne: Awesome, thanks everyone for joining today and again my email if you would like the transcript is s-w-y-n-n-e@mprm.com. Enjoy the rest of your day everyone.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen that does conclude the conference call for today. We thank you for your participation. Have a great day.

Man: See you all.

Man: Bye guys, I love you all.

Man: Bye.

END

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