Свеженькое интервью с Джеем
Q: How did you break the ice with Robbie?
Jason Orange: "I broke it with Rob five years ago when I got back with the band. I had a big panic on, I had to be dragged really to go back into it. A bit part of me was scared, resisting it. I looked to anybody for guidance. I approached family and friends. And Robbie just came into my head... I just wanted to know what he thought of the idea of Take That getting back together for whatever reason. I just needed to know - A) What he thought of it, Would he be interested in coming on board with us at some point. So I phoned him in LA from Manchester. I hadn't spoken to him for 10 years. Maybe once or twice in passing but not a deep conversation. But we spoke for hours on the phone. He helped me make the decision to go back with the lads. He thought it was a ridiculous idea but a great idea at the same time. I think. Don't quote me on that. That was was the impression I got. Aside from that it was just nice to connect with him again and have a conversation as two older blokes that we didn't have first time around."
Q: You didn't talk in the early days?
Jason: "No, not really, particularly with Rob. We were fond of each other in some ways, but most often we just pissed each other off I think. I think he thought I was too serious and too uppity, and I thought he was not serious enough and taking the piss. Both of us were probably right. I am Mr Worrier. I didn't realise at the time but I was probably pulling the big brother card. He was the kid in the band, and maybe I bullied in some ways, not overtly but covertly. he took exception to it and rightly so."
Q: Gary mentioned regret you didn't look after him more...
Jason: "Yeah, I did. it's difficult to recall the timeline and the thought processes, but at some point during the 10 years we had off I had a couple of years of feeling really regretful about not sticking by Rob. And worse than that actually stabbing him in the back in some ways... That's probably a bit strong; somewhere between not being supportive and stabbing him in the back. We had lots of stuff going on, lots of tensions. I'm a really big believer that in a group - I've been thinking about this alot lately - there's this dynamic, a big shifting of energy all the time, this push and pull. And it's really easy for people to push the bad energy in one direction and for someone to become the scapegoat to blame. I think we did that with Rob to a large extent. You know when you watch Big Brother and there's always a person who is weak... he was perceived to be the weak one, so you give him shit. If he does something you chastise him more harshly than if another member did it. It turned out Rob wasn't weak at all. Plus, he played his part in it, which he'll admit - he was a pain in the arse alot of the time. He didn't want to fall in line with what we thought was the right thing to do. It was working for us at the time and he rebelled against it. We saw it as a spanner in the works."
Q: What did you make of his subsequent success? Did you feel any envy?
Jason: "Well, actually, i had one really envious moment... I travelled a lot in the 10 years we broke up. I disassociated myself completely with the music industry, I didn't really pay attenion to what was going on so I didn't really witness Rob's climb to the heights. I was out in Thailand, on a beach just having a chill time. There was a TV in the background, and I think it was the Millenium video that was on. The people I was with, other traveleers, some English, some European people, they stopped the conversation and wanted to look. That was the only pang I had. Unless I was suppressing it or denying it, it was just a wistful envy. It didn't eat me up or anything. I was quite happy with what I was doing ,actually. One passing moment: Wow, there's a whole world going on that I'm not aware of and he's the king of it, that little lad I used to think was a bit of a dickhead. Oe of the two times we met in those ten years was at a charity football match... And he fould me. Two footed challenge, could've broken me flipping leg..."
Q: Who first went. "Let's get him back"?
Jason: "Me or Mark, or me and Mark, right from when we first got back together. Like I said, when I phoned him I invited him to come back there and then, without the authority of the other lads. It always made sense to me: if we were going to get back together, you can't ignore Rob."
Q: What's your perspective on how huge the comeback has been?
Jason: "i know... I know... Its bigger than it ever was.... Sometimes you think we shouldn't have bothered the first time, we should've just done the comeback. You can tell I've used that joke a thousand times! I dunno... we've always worked hard and we've always been desperate enough to want to prove ourselves. Maybe it's a mixture of diligence, desperation and talent. And I do believe people have bought into the story.
I forgot to say luck, because I really do believe in luck. I just wanted to clarify that. Onwards and upwards."
Q: What's changed between you?
Jason: "God, a whole load of things."
Q: Is there a moment in the last few years where what you've done has hit you?
Jason: "The tours for me. When we've come to the show at the end of the show and there's absolute delight on people's faces. seeing that en masse is when it hits you. It's brilliant."
Q: What expectations did you have?
Jason: "None. I just had foreboding. All of me vision was quite foreboding But weirdly... this is going to sound contradictory, but I also wasn't surprised when it did happen. I've never been surprised with Take That's success. It's hard to say that without seeming arrogant, but I know that we work hard and there's talent."
Q: Where did you go travelling to in the in between years?
Jason: "I spent quite a lot of the 10 years we had off round Europe and Asia, then come back and go to America, come back and go to Australia. A month here, month there. The longest I was away in one swoop was a year, that was Asia and part of North America. oved it, the old backpack and all that."
Q: Did you ever consider not coming back?
Jason "No, not really. We're dead lucky aren't we in this day and age where we can go and have that life of floating for a while but then come back. You can live several lives in one life nowadays. Some wonderful times, too numerous to mention. Scary sometimes... I feelike a lot of it is sacred to me, do you know what I mean? A lot of things that were life-changing."
Q: What's the plan next?
Jason: "It's really weird you should ask that question because before you got here we were having a couple of band meetings and this, that and the other, and that was one of the questions raised. We just touched on it and said that we needed a separate meeting for that. We didn't have the answers. i've never been able to look that far ahead personally... One year is enough."
Q: have you got any fears about it?
Jason: "Yeah, I've not got fears (long pause), there are bigger fears for me to deal with beyond Take That. The very worst that could happen is that everything is shit and it bombs but I feel like I could deal with it. So there are fears but not unmanageable ones where the band are concerned."
Q: What do you bring to the band?
Jason: "Erm... don't know. My bigest insecurity had always been what do I contribute to the band. i don't really write music or understand it like they do. I can add words here and there... can't make up melodies like they can. I was chosen back in the day for my dancing skills, and we're less dancing now cos we're older. So I've struggled... I've had some sleepless night about it. You know, am I worthy? Am I good enough? How did I get this lucky? Then on good, more positive days I think, they couldn't do without me these bastards! (Brief discussion followed about the unicycle bit on The Circus tour). You know what I mean, stuff like that. We practised that solidly for two months."
Q: That sense of fun sets you apart?
Jason: "I think so. We were ridiculous in a way from day one right from the outfits we chose and had chosen for us. But then over the years we became aware of it and I think have skilfully played with it. I actualy said out loud when we were not considering doing the unicycle scene, cos it was a struggle to learn it. Coldplay wouldn't do this nor Oasis - we can do this shit. We are a circus act."
Q: You can't be called a boy band after this record?
Jason: "No it's weird I don't remember boy band being a term had bee coined when we were together for those five years in the '90s. We were long gone when the media coined it. It's cringy though, innit? Last time I was in the States I met this girl and we were getting on really well. She asked me what I did and I just came clean and said, actually it's a boy band. It's the first time I said it with a bit of pride. We're men now."
http://news.qthemusic.com/2010/11/q293_take_that_-_jason_orange.html