Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/138854
DC: How have Beyoncé and Kelly influenced you as a solo artist? MW: Being in the group that long—with even Bey and Kelly, being in the group that long for them—just rubs off on you. The friendships continue to inspire, but the genres are so different now. I can't wait for them to hear [my new album], so I can be like "Okay, what do y'all think?" They're like, "Girl, do this or do that." But we really try to keep the solo stuff separate. DC: It's like a marriage. You're married, but you still need to find your own individuality and your own self in that musical marriage. MW: You're right. Your husband's over there like, "Oh, really?" [Laughs] "Okay, you need your space?" DC: On Fela!, how have you been able to keep your voice and your stamina? MW: I had a little bit of fatigue, but I just needed a half-day of rest—no talking, no press, no nothing—because if I didn't I was close to vocal injury. DC: I found that even when I didn't talk for an hour before the show, it made a difference. MW: Really? DC: Oh, yeah. I'm sure your shows are probably 8 PM performances, right? I would get a nap in from 4 to 5:30. If I don't get a nap in, then it's absolutely no talking, preferably from 5 to 7. MW: See, our hair and makeup room is too live. [Laughs] DC: It's just like a regimen, and once you're in it, then you're good. MW: Because you are somebody I admire, I will listen to you—I'm going to try shutting up at least an hour before the show. DC: You know muscles: When you do give them that rest, they really get a chance to recover quickly. A lot of people don't know that singing is better vocal [exercise] than talking. We do more vocal damage when we're actually talking 'cause we don't speak correctly. MW: A speech pathologist gave me this trick to find my ideal talking voice. [Speaking in higher pitch] Mine is really up here, and it feels good, but I know I would irritate people if I talked like this all day. DC: [Laughs] Right! How long did you rehearse for Fela!? MW: We all had about two weeks, which is unheard of. It was two weeks of intense rehearsals, and unfortunately, maybe the first week or so of putting the show on the road was rehearsal, too. But they still rehearse us during the week. A lot of stuff is choreographed and on the stage, but I could see how it could easily get too loose. DC: I saw the show when it was on Broadway maybe three or four months into the run. Do you know Saycon Sengbloh? MW: Yes, I love her! She did Aida! DC: She was doing it when I saw it. Like you said, it can be loose, choreography-wise, so you have to have that structure to keep it together. I loved the show. It was a different type of storytelling. MW: Every single night there's the live band, and I love live bands. I will literally stand onstage or the side of the stage and just chill with the band on two of the scenes. I'm telling you, they kill every night. DC: That's great when you're in a show like that [where] you have that kind of freedom. Did the show come to Chicago? MW: Yeah, we were here for about a week and a half in February. DC: We were here in March. We thought that by the middle of March it would be nice. MW: Good luck. DC: Looking back, what advice would you give your 19-year-old self? MW: Not to take things personally. Actually I wouldn't change anything that I have done because I have been blessed to know some great people. Deb, there are some people we know—Big Jim? DC: Yes! MW: Even when I was singing backgrounds for Monica, they were giving me great advice, and when I first got into the group—when Destiny's Child first had interest in me—they were the first ones I called. I've had great, great people to guide me along the way. DC: That is so key. A lot of people don't have that. MW: That's why I am doing some behind-the-scenes things. There's a young artist, Jamia Nash—she's absolutely incredible. [We] just shot her video two weeks ago in LA. I don't want to manage, but I don't mind consulting and helping develop to cruise you on your way. There's another artist, Ariana Grande, and I told her "Take some time out for yourself because they will work you so hard." A lot of stuff is a big blur to me because I didn't take the time to enjoy some of the countries I was in because I was just too tired. The schedule is so hard, but [I advise everyone to] really take time out to enjoy what it is that you're doing. DC: Slowing down doesn't mean you're slowing your career down; it just means that you're slowing down to enjoy the process. MW: People do think, If I slow down, somebody else is going to take my place. I have a friend right now who's doing awesomely well on the producing side, and I'm like, "Dude, you really need to enjoy your success. You live in LA—drive to San Diego, or go to Legoland!" [Laughs] DC: Yes, girl. It's tough because you're on the hustle all the time, and you feel like you've got to continue to grind, but you'll just burn yourself out and then you're no good, so what good is that? That would absolutely be my advice. MW: And "Take a trip to Chicago!" MA "I don't have a problem being in the group, stepping out solo, going back to it.... I have no problem adapting to whatever I'm in." 106 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 102-107_MA_FEAT_CoverStory_SUMMER13.indd 106 6/18/13 5:50 PM