Dave 'Til Dawn
Radio Interview
December 13, 2002
(Thank you Mandy for the transcript)
Part 1- From His Roots
D: Morning, good Friday. I’m Dave Wingert.
J: Hey, Dave. It’s Josh Groban.
D: Josh! Hi..
J: How are you?
D: Never better, thanks. How are you?
J: Oh, very good. Thank you for having me on your show.
D: Oh, it’s a pleasure. Sorry I missed meeting you in person last time you were in town.
J: Oh, that’s okay. Next time, for sure.
D: Please, ‘cause there’s a difference from meeting someone face to face.
J: Absolutely. I’d love to come in.
D: That would be very special. First I want you to know that I loved your song “To Where You Are” first time I heard it.
J: Thank you so much. Well you are one of the very fist supporters of it
D: From what I’ve read in all the interviews and press releases, you went from Broom Sweep # 3 in Sweeney Todd (Josh laughs) in High School,
J: Yeah..
D: ....to a leading roll in the season finale of Ally McBeal without missing a beat.
J: Yeah, I know, it’s, um, it’s crazy but if it wasn’t for that broom sweep #3 performance, I might not have learned how much hard work it takes to go up that ladder, to be able to star in Ally McBeal episode.
D: Right,
J: It was a great experience for me, ‘cause I wanted nothing more than to be Sweeney. I was 15 years old, my voice had just changed, I’m like ‘wow, I’ve got this big voice now, I’m amazing’. And so I said to myself,
D: And your parents said “Fine, go clean your room.”
J: Yeah, exactly. (laughs) No, my parents to their credit were so supportive, they were never show parents, they never pushed, but they have been so great ever since day 1, and they, and they got me a voice teacher to work on the Sweeney Todd song. And, I got there, and everybody was saying “Oh, you’ve got a pretty good voice,” and I thought, ooohhh, I’m waiting for the casting to come out, and Broom Sweep # 3, Fantastic, alright. But, I learned from early on, I had four seconds on stage, and every other minute I spent sitting on the sidelines, listening to the music, and I knew I wanted to be a part of it anyway I could, and I knew as soon as I left that summer camp that I had to work my butt off to get there, so, and it helped.
D: Well, Josh, in my opinion, you were born to sing Sondheim.
J: laughs) Thanks. Well, I think so, too. (laughs) No, I love Sondheim I’m a huge Sondheim . freak, and if I had my two favorite shows to do on Broadway at some point, it would be Sunday in the Park with George, and Sweeney Todd.
D: So you plan to some .... songs on your next album?
J: I hope so, yeah, um, you know, everybody at Warner has said wait a little while before you do theater songs, but I don’t know how long I am going to be able to wait there is so much incredible material that needs to be brought to a new audience. You know, part of me says, I’ll continue doing the pop stuff, and the original stuff on the albums, and then one day I’d love to make a great appearance on the theater one day, but we’ll see, we’ll see what happens.

Part 2- Growing Up
D: I’m Dave Wingert, having a great time hanging out with Josh Groban. Josh, you’re what, 21 now?
J: 21, yeah,
D: Still living at home,
J: I do live at home, although I’m moving out in a month,
D: Oh!
J: Yeah, oh, big deal! BIG deal for me! ‘Cause I, uh, I uh, I’ve been relying, I’ve been a momma’s boy for the past 21 years, so I gotta get out of there.
D: So, what are we getting, a mansion in Beverly Hills,
J: (laughs) Not a mansion quite yet, no, but I’ve made some money, so I’m going to find a nice place that I can stay for a little while.
D: I remember the Ally McBeal episode I first saw you on, and my memory is vague, it was the one you either sang “You’re Still You”, or “ To Where You Are,”
J: Was this the Christmas episode?
D: You sang at a funeral.
J: That was the Christmas episode that David E Kelly wrote as a tribute to September 11th, and I sang "To Where You Are."
D: That’s right, and I remember as the credits were rolling I dashed upstairs to my computer, mey Hewlett Packard, and logged on to Josh Groban, Josh Groban, who is this guy?! Came into the radio station the next day, and said, "Did you see that guy on Ally McBeal last night?"
J: Oh my God,
D: What an impressive debut.
J: Oh, thanks, it was an honor to be asked to do such an important episode. Yeah, I guess you’re one of the people who went to the internet, we found out right away that the place that everybody went was the internet, and the website just became overflowed with emails, and things like that, so we just started designing a website,
D: And I think what’s so interesting, to me is, my reaction was, and I’m sure you hear this all the time, your face doesn’t match your voice.
J: I get that a lot, in fact, for the first episode I did on Ally McBeal, the season finale a couple years ago, my credit was kinda put in with three other people, and I was saying to my manager, Brian, you know, I’ve been getting people saying that my face doesn’t match my voice, I don’t think people are going to think I’m actually singing, are you sure people are going...and he says "No, no, don’t worry about it, don’t worry about it, they’ll all know, they‘ll all know" and sure enough, in every interview I did, people were saying, oh people want to interview you about Ally McBeal, and I’d get the question, "Who was singing your part?" And, and, I was like, "Oh, well, oh, sorry, uh, Hello? That was me." So, um, yeah, so took a little while before people knew, but, yeah, I do get that sometimes.
D: Right now most people know you for TWYA, personally I find the song "YSY" is pretty magical.
J: Oh, thanks so much, that was, it was written by Ennio Morricone, and the lyrics written by Linda Thompson. Yeah, it’s just, it’s just, it’s a wonderful story, and a wonderful lyric for everybody.

Part 3- His Fans and Family
D: I was looking forward to this morning, getting to spend some quality time with Josh Groban. I’m learning all these little details that I am sure all the Grobanites are already familiar with. Do you know about the Grobanites, Josh?
J: I know, I do have the Grobanites. They are incredible.
D: They know everything there is to know about you, in fact, that’s how I found out about your PBS special which was on this month.
J: Yeah, It’s, uh, they know things before I know things. I go on my website to find out what I’m doing, you know, ‘cause I’m working so hard, I don’t get all the info, so you know if I’ve ever been in a magazine, I’m curious to know what the magazine photo looked like, or what the article read about, I usually don’t have time to go out and the magazine so I, uh, read the website, ‘cause I know they have it on there. They’re great, they call in, they request, they um, they have written shows, they’ve written me, the letters that I have gotten from them have just been so touching and inspiring, the gifts they’ve (chuckles) given me have ranged from incredibly cleaver to incredibly creepy and uh, so I, I couldn’t do this without them, they’re an amazing support.
D: Well, that’s very gracious of you to say, uh, ‘cause when you get in the spotlight, it could be a little overwhelming.
J: It is overwhelming, and it’s nice to know that you’re going to have those people in the crowd, they’re going to be rooting for you, for what you’re doing, they’ve been there since the beginning, and they’re there, so just to know they’re there is great.
D: Well, this week weren’t you over performing at the Nobel Peace Prize concert in Nor-vay?
J: Nor-vay, ja. Norway's just an amazing place, I’ve been there twice already, my whole mother’s side of the family is from Norway, so I always feel a real nice connection when I go over there..
D: Who’s from Norway?
J: My whole mother’s side of the family..she’s Norwegian, so, yeah, I always look forward to going back there..I love the food, I’m weird, I love the Scandinavian breakfasts, all the weird fishes,
D: The lutefisk?
J: Yes, the lutefisk, and the anchovies, and all that stuff, I think it’s great.
D: What is the rest of your family? Tell me, is your father.. I’m guessing Jewish?
J: (laughs) My Dad converted when he married my Mom, actually, to Christianity, but his whole families side is Jewish, and, uh, and so, I do have that whole history with my family.
D: Brothers? Sisters?
J: I have one younger brother, named Chris, and he wants to be a film major, and um, he’s just an incredibly bright, gifted guy, and he’s been an amazing support.. Thank GOD he didn’t want to be a singer. I know so many, I have so many friends who have younger siblings who want to be pop stars, and singers, they’re all trying to do that, and just have feuds all the time. So, yeah, Chris has just been great.

Part 4- Oh Holy Night
D: I have the luxury of a nice long visit with Josh Groban, who Entertainment Weekly this week called "The Best Torch Singer of 2002." And Josh was so open, so willing to talk about anything, I really appreciated that.
J: Oh, you got it, anytime.
D: Your version of Oh Holy Night has arrived just in time for holiday programming, we’re going to play it in just a minute. It’s wonderful, as I expected it to be.
J: Thank you
D: Arranged by David Foster, I’m assuming,
J: Uh, it was arranged by Jeremy Lubbock actually. Orchestration by Jeremy Lubbock, and arranged by Jeremy and David Foster, yeah.
D: Very understated, beautifully expressed,
J: Thank you.
D: I was not familiar with the second set of lyrics, Chains shall he break, it think, for the slave is our brother. It’s very powerful.
J: It’s, it’s, there’s some amazing lyrics in that song, and um, we took um, a couple of people have done that version, done that second lyric, Michael Crawford did it on a Christmas album once. So, we wanted to make it longer, we wanted to do the whole thing.
D: And that’s the only Christmas song we got from you. We didn’t get a whole album.
J: Not this year. Um, I wanna wait a few albums before I do a Christmas album, maybe a couple albums, just ‘cause I got, I have so much music that I’m concentrating on right now, and uh,
D: Which brings, So, what kind of music are you being drawn to right now?
J: I’m being drawn to a lot of very interesting, uh, pop music, pop music from people who are deciding to break the mold of what is formula pop music. I’ve always listened to people like Bjork, Peter Gabriel and Sting, and people who kinda decided to take music from other genres take, uh, influences from other coulters, and bring them to a new audience. That’s pretty much what I’m interesting in doing right now. Everybody’s hear Christmas songs over and over again, it wouldn’t be a real challenge.

Part 5- Sir or Baby
D: Do people call you "Sir" or, "you’re so cute," they pinch your cheeks, "Oh, you’re such a baby."
J: Such a baby, (laughs) no, I don’t get the Sir, because people always think that I am way younger than I a. I’m 21, but, but, yeah, I guess at 21 you get the "Sir". I get the Sir sometimes, but I immediately say "No! It’s Josh! Just Josh!"
D: Well, now (laughs) Just Josh. That’s funny (they laugh) I clipped out this article from USA Today back in September, knowing I was going to talk to you eventually, "Sexy Singers with Substance"
J: Ah!
D: Very complimentary article about you and John Meyer (sp?)
J: That was a thrill to be part of that, I think they only featured three people in that. Yeah, it’s cool, I’m very optimistic about how young people are appreciating different kinds of music nowadays, a lot of the great new artists that are out there right now, like John, they’re kind of, they’re different than what’s been going on.
D: Right, for those of us that were beginning to lose heart, nothing against Backstreet Boys and NSync, because I love their music, and I think they are enormously talented, it’s like, is this all the kids are interested in?
J: You know, I think that most media would have you believe that it is, because that’s all they are pumping out with right now, and I think it takes, kinda people my age to get out there and say "Nooo, Halt, there‘s more!" You know, I’ve got nothing against those groups, you know, it’s what makes the world go round right now, but I think people my age and people younger are a lot smarter than that, and I think there are a lot of them, we’ve polled people on the website, you know, "What kind of stuff do you listen to?" and they say yeah, "We listen to Eminem, we listen to Britney Spears, but I found this Josh Groban CD, and I think it’s really cool, too." That is all I can ask for in life.
D: For now.
J: For now, yeah. Before I do theater.
D: And then maybe a movie role.
J: And then maybe a movie role.
D: And then your own television show.
J: And then my own television show.
D: But other than that..
J: Other than that, I think that’s all I can ask for.

Part 6- Tonsils and Fountains
D: I’m Dave Wingert, really enjoying my visit with Josh Groban. Boy, you sound happy and healthy, Josh.
J: I’m happy and healthy. Yeah, there was a time where I was happy but not healthy, because I had terrible, terrible tonsils.
D: Oh, that’s right! You just, you had your tonsils out in the last couple months..
J: ..Had my tonsils out. They were driving me nuts! I was on Oprah, and I had to sing TWYA, which is a pretty difficult song, and it was with tonsillitis and strep throat at the exact same time, and I was bacstage, and I was able to speak a word, and I had to, I don’t know, something happened, I was able to go on stage and talk to her and sing the song, but as soon as I stepped off the stage again it was, "Thank you, Oprah" [in a whispered voice]. So, it was difficult, my doctor said, "You gotta get those out." So as soon as I had them out, I just started feeling healthier, and was singing better, it was the best thing I ever did.
D: That’s what your agent told me, that your voice came back even stronger.
J: It was, because I didn’t have these useless, you know, things, in the back of my throat, that were causing me to tighten up, to get sick, and get singing to hurt, it was just bad all around. So when I got them out, it was one, mentally a weight off my shoulders I knew that when I flew I wouldn’t have to land with a sore throat, and two, it’s just more open, I’m able to sing better.
D: Well, and we all want to hear you sing more and more.
J: (laughs) Thanks.
D: There was one article here that says, "Josh Groban has a Las Vegas dream." It quoted you saying "My dream is to have my song in a fountain." Would you please explain that?
J: Oh, infamous Entertainment Weekly, they are uh, yeah, (laughs). That was, uh, I think I said that, I has a lot of espressos right in that interview, so, I could have said a lot of things, thank God that’s all they printed. I think I was just going on about this fountain outside the Bellagio Hotel. There’s something powerful about not being able to sleep because you hear Pavarotti singing his music right down in front of thousands of people in the fountain there.
D: And you want to be one of those?
J: I would love to have a fountain choreographed, so to speak, to one of my songs, I think that would be just a beautiful thing to, you know. That would be awesome to just bring a girlfriend and just be like, "Oh, look, honey, a fountain. Oh, what’s this?" So, you know, that would be cool.
D: (laughing) Yeah, it’s a visual.
J: Yeah, it’s a visual. "Lets watch the fountain for a little bit." "Why are we here so long?" "Lets watch it a little more. Oh, hey! It‘s my song!"

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