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John Mayer - An Exclusive Interview by WRUV's Bekah Zietz

 It is a slushy, snowy day in Burlington Vermont, as I pull my car into the parking lot of High Ground, I anticipate interviewing a stereotypical Rock star. You know the kind that I am talking about. The ones who walk around as though they are the end all say all of music. The kind that you feel as though you know personally and intimately through their lyrics, however when you meet them in person your perception of them is wiped out because they are the exact
opposite of what you expect. However 24-year-old John Mayer is exactly the way you would imagine him to be from his music, young, talented, confident and good looking. Yes ladies the kind of guy you can bring home to Mom without the hassle of her disapproval. In the past year and a half Mayer has received buzz worthy acclaim for his second CD "Room for Squares". Mayer’s story is that of a dreamer. At the age of 19 he was accepted into the prominent Berklee School of music in Boston. After attending the school for a year he realized that he
already knew what he wanted to do for the rest of his life, and decided on a friends suggestion to move to Atlanta Georgia to pursue his true dream of becoming a professional musician. From there John worked the coffeehouse circuit, and in 1999 was able to release his independent album " Inside wants out". In early 2000 John was signed to Chicago’s Indie label Aware and produced his first major label album "Room for Squares which has remained on the Billboard top 40 for the past year since since it's release.

WRUV: How do you feel that the road has molded you as both a musician and a person?

John Mayer: The road has molded me as a person, for I am able to stay longer under water. Under water meaning, my analogy for being on the road, and how big your oxygen tank is before you have to come up for air. Coming up for air being getting to sleep in your own bed and experiencing the normality of everyday life. I don’t question so much about where I am all the time now. I don’t look as much into the future and or the past as I once did. I am better able to live in the present. As a performer it has paved the way for my intuitive thinking
musically. I have fallen into more of a healthy pattern for playing every night and trusting myself.

WRUV: Do you feel that you always have to live up to the public’s expectation of fame and the "musician persona"?

John: Not really. I think I kind of go against the musician persona. I am not about the Sex Drugs and Rock and Roll. As far as the music goes, when I play music I am playing it for me. I love to hear it. I love that people love to hear my stuff as well, but mostly I am doing it for me. If I did not enjoy this I would not be doing it. I am the sole purveyor of how my songs should be and having this freedom makes all the difference.

WRUV: In your song No such thing you talk about High School life, how do you think you have changed since then? You talk a lot about the cliques from High School which one were you in?

John: I was not in a clique. I wanted to be in one until my senior year, but then I realized that I did not want a part of this. I always liked the idea that I was slipping through the cracks. And I always knew that I would do this someday (be a musician) and that people would question if I went to there school. I wanted people to be like "that was the kid who was always in the
principals office". To be honest though I had to go to three or four different lunch tables before I found a place to sit.

WRUV: Listening to you music, you seem to be very confident with the person you are and the experiences which you have had. Do you feel like you are always that confident?

John: Yeah I am always that confident. I never really make mention of not doing it. I never did though and still I don’t want to. What if this does not work out? I don’t know. It is not, not going to work out. I don’t really put all my eggs in one basket for it not to not work out. I am confident about my music but I am like everyone else with there insecurities, I mean I am not confident about relationships or about a lot of other stuff. But that is ok.Mayer’s confidence in his music and himself has rightfully risen him to celebrity status as a musician not only by his fans, but by other musicians as well, such as Michelle Branch and Dave Matthews and Sir Elton John who interviewed John for the April edition of INTERVIEW Magazine in 2002. However he has proven that being famous does not stop you from having the common worries of the world such as switching your wet laundry.

Article written by Bekah Zietz for WRUV your Better Alternative for Music 90.1fm. Art Direction by DJ Monaco. All photos courtesy of www.johnmayer.com & www.thejmtp.com.

This interview may not be reproduced or otherwise distributed without express permission of the author.
All rights reserved. WRUV FM Burlington Exclusive Interviews (c) 2003.