[Continued from Part 2]

SS:  So, in the absence of any “right answer” did you just go with what felt right?

DM:  Exactly! We just went with what felt right.  So we ended-up with this collection of twelve songs going in utterly disparate directions.  The result was an album of not quiet background listening.  It forced listeners to pay attention, because we were constantly throwing something new at you.

So, when it comes to creating a new album, we always ask ourselves “What haven’t we done?”  And that’s how we landed on our musical theater album [A Musical Affair (2013)], because we’d never done a concept, before; and that worked into its own magical kind of thing.  From there, we realized, “Hey!  Concept albums kinda work!”  And we realized we hadn’t done an album of all Latin music; so that’s where Amor & Pasión (2015) came from.

SS:  So, what’s next?  An album of Yiddish folksongs?

DM:  Well, that’s the whole thing, isn’t it?  Once you get into categories, there are near limitless options.  And then you find yourself in a situation where there are just so many options that you have to step back and say “Okay, now, we need to reign that in, a little bit.”  So, going forward, we are currently working on a new album, and we’re gonna begin recording that, when this tour is over.  And we’re working though the repertoire, trying to find a group of songs, while saying “How do we not repeat ourselves?” And how do we find something we haven’t done, when everything we’ve done has come from finding what we haven’t done?  Because, technically, that’s repeating ourselves.  So, we run into that conundrum.  All of which is a very long way of saying it’s not easy, making an Il Divo album.

SS:  Now, while some people have tried to categorize Il Divo under the heading of “boyband”

DM:  Well, we did last longer than One Direction…

SS:  True.  But y’all came to this, already having training and careers under your belts; as opposed to most so-called boybands who are formed out of the ether.

DM:  Definitely.  We’re the Old Kids on the Block!

SS:  Is there a particular song that, if you didn’t perform it, would cause the audience to revolt?

DM:  Well, I don’t feel that way; but the other guys do.  “A Time to Say Goodbye” is one.  “Unbreak My Heart” is another one.  And “My Way”.

SS:  This is not your first time performing in Las Vegas.  What are your perceptions about performing for a Las Vegas audience?

DM:  Wow.  Well, aside from the enormity of simply ‘performing in Vegas’ – the audience in Las Vegas has seen everything!  I mean, the biggest acts in the world are the ones who’ve ‘made it’ in Vegas.  And so, there’s a tremendous amount of “Okay, Kid: Show me!”  You can’t just treat it like any other city. You’ve really gotta bring your best game to Las Vegas, and we are.  But what we realized, especially on this last tour, was that people really want our humanity, more than anything else.  They really want to see the people who are making these big-ole noises with their mouths.

SS:  Do you feel that y’all have arrived at that point in your careers where you know the material so well, that it gives you the freedom to improvise, and goof around, on-stage, with each other, and (like you said) ham it up?

DM:  Well, that’s really it.  And that’s what we’ve been working towards.  It’s a different show that we’re bringing to The Venetian, than we’re doing on tour.  We’re definitely gonna be reaching for that Rat Pack sensibility.  Because we realized, last year, that each of us had our own careers, but we’d lost touch with that.  And all of a sudden, this is where we are; this is what we’re doing; this is who we are; this is our career; we’re a group.  And with Amor & Pasión, and doing solo moments, we were reminded that each of us had had a full-on career, and a fully developed personality, and that we are adults.  We’re not a boyband (as you said), and it’s time we frickin’ showed it!  So, this is what we’ve been cultivating over this past year, and this is what I’m most excited to bring to Las Vegas (because I really want to see how it lands).

Il Divo: This Is Your Night
The Venetian Theatre | The Venetian Las Vegas
Wednesday, September 20th – Saturday, September 30th
Click HERE for info and tickets

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