SM: LET'S START AT THE BEGINNING. YOU HAVE A BEAUTIFUL AND VERY SOULFUL VOICE, FIRST OF ALL. WAS IT ALWAYS YOUR DREAM TO BECOME A MUSIC ARTIST, OR DID YOUR DESIRE TO SING COME LATER?
LISA M.: No, it's always been a dream of mine. I was telling someone the other day that I remember pretending I was on "Video Soul" doing an interview with Donnie Simpson and making up music videos to "New Edition" music back in middle school! (Laughs) So, it's always been a part of my life...I just didn't know when it was going to happen.
LISA M.: Well, I just recently married to a man that has eight children, and so now I have 10! (Laughs) And, when I wrote the song, I only had two children, so there's plenty of times when I wish I could put the world on pause. I was just, like, 'Oh, my God!', I wish I had a remote to do that. So, a lot of times, I wish I could just put the world on pause. And, it's good to do that to help cleanse and to refresh... I minister to, not just the church, but I minister to a mainstream audience as well, and even in the church, we need to pause, too. I've heard ministers say we don't have time for "this" or "that", but Jesus did it all. "Church folk" need to pause, too, and the only example that I have to prove that is that, even Jesus paused. He went to the back of the boat and went to sleep in the middle of all the raucous. So, sometimes, we really need to pause.
SM: COOL...SO, YOUR LATEST ALBUM IS ENTITLED "REALITY". WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE WITH THIS ALBUM?
LISA M.: It's probably a two-fold answer...Personally, I would love for this album to almost reintroduce Christ to the world because I think "the world" looks at Jesus kinda as this robot right now, and that's the fault of the church because that's how we put Him out there. There's a scripture that says that Jesus is touched by the feelings of our infirmity and, everything we deal with, He's dealt with it. I think we have to show THAT, and I think this album does that. There's a song called "Let Go", and that song was about my life. There was a time in my life when I just had to let go, and there are so many women in the world that have been hurt and just really need to let go. Then, on the spiritual side, it's to show people that there is a side of Christ that knows how to deal with us on an everyday basis.
SM: OKAY, AND YOU HAVE A SONG ON YOUR MYSPACE PAGE CALLED "TOO BEAUTIFUL FOR WORDS" THAT I REALLY LIKE, TOO. WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS WHEN YOU WERE WRITING THE SONG?
LISA M.: Well, actually, that's not a song that I wrote. If anybody has ever been to "The Color Purple" broadway play, that's where that song came from, and that is a remake of "Brenda Russell"'s song by the same title. We were asked to redo it, along with my producer "Herb Middleton" and artist "Jeff Murrell", and so that's how we got it.
SM: YOUR MUSIC IS CLASSIFIED AS BOTH "NEO-SOUL" AND "NU-JAZZ". WERE YOU ALWAYS EXPOSED TO THOSE GENRES OF MUSIC AS A CHILD, AND IS YOUR MUSIC INFLUENCED BY ANY OTHER GENRES?
LISA M.: Well, outside of MySpace, I really classify my music as 'Inspirational Soul', but they don't have that option on MySpace, so I chose "Neo-Soul" and "Nu-Jazz". And, the thing about "Neo-Soul" and "Nu-Jazz" is that it really is a fusion of different sounds, but I was raised listening to Gospel and Jazz, and I like watching a lot of classic movies. So, when people hear my music, they hear a collaboration of all the sounds and things that I was allowed to hear when I was growing up.
SM: WELL, YOU CERTAINLY DO A GREAT JOB OF MESHING THE TWO...NOW, YOU MESH "NEO-SOUL" WITH "HIP HOP" ON THE REMIX OF "PAUSE". HOW DID YOU CONNECT WITH RAPPER "S1 HAZZARDOUS" FOR THE REMIX?
LISA M.: That was through my husband...My husband, Maurice, is connected with him, and he's ["S1 Hazzardous"] just a really good guy, and he's doing his thing in his area. And, when I heard him, I just really wanted to bring him in on the song to give it to the audience from a "street" perspective. So, we brought him in to make it "real" to the audience.
SM: COOL! SO, WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE ALBUM, AS FAR AS MUSIC PRODUCTION?
LISA M.: Well, of course, myself. I helped produce the last two albums, and it's a lot of work, but I'm very proud of that. Of course, my producer, Herb Middleton (Usher, Mary J. Blige, TLC). Also, "Dave Stevens", and he's my writing partner. He, actually, wrote the song "You Still Love Me" off of the "Live From the House of Blues" album and "Thank You", on this project, along with some other cuts on this project. But, it was just Herb Middleton and myself that produced on the album.
SM: OKAY, NOW, HYPOTHETICALLY SPEAKING...IF YOU COULD ONLY PLAY ONE SONG FROM THE ALBUM FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS NEVER HEARD YOUR MUSIC BEFORE, WHAT SONG WOULD YOU WANT THEM TO HEAR, AND WHY?
LISA M.: It would have to be "Pause" because I think that song is the most relatable song. Everyone needs a pause at some point. Now, everybody doesn't necessarily need a makeover, but we all need to pause and take a break. But, I think that song just breaks all barriers and crosses the barriers of race and nationality because everybody needs a "pause".
SM: AND, I NOTICED THAT YOU MENTION "...THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB..." IN A SONG ON YOUR MYSPACE PAGE ENTITLED "YOU CAN". SO, WHAT SONG WOULD YOU PLAY FOR A PERSON WHO IS NOT "SAVED" (CHRISTIAN) THAT COULD POSSIBLY DRAW THEM TO CHRIST, AND WHY?LISA M.: I'd say "Heaven"...Definitely that song because that's what the song was created for. On my earlier albums, the first two albums, I wanna say, I did a song for the invocation, that I like to call the "invitation". So, for this album, this song is the "invitation", and it has a "Gladys Knight" feel to it, and it's really catchy.
SM: GREAT! HOW CAN OUR READERS AND YOUR FANS KEEP UP WITH YOU AND GET A COPY OF YOUR ALBUM, "REALITY"?
LISA M.: To find out more info about me, they can go to my MySpace page, which is at www.myspace.com/mcclendonlisa, www.facebook.com/thereallisamcclendon or they can visit my website, www.lisamcclendon.com where they can order the album. The album is also available at iTunes, Amazon.com, and mostly any online music store. So, please, go get the album...Get two copies! (Laughs)