Donnie interview from myTelus

Donnie was interviewed by myTelus:

Donnie Wahlberg : He's Got It!

November 27, 2009

(bum) - In 2008, the New Kids on the Block got a taste of success again with the release of their first album in nearly 15 years, called The Block, which has topped several music charts. Although the popular boy band has reunited and has been working on joint projects, they also have had personal projects rolling along on the side. In particular, Donnie Wahlberg has been writing songs for fun. But to indulge his fans, he’s thinking of releasing a complete solo album. He signed on with Universal Music Canada and continues to be a popular name in music. His new single I Got It is now getting frequent air play on the radio and can be heard on iTunes.

What inspired you to create your single I Got It?

I don’t know! I just like making music! I was working on a movie and I had a lot of down time, and I just decided to go to the studio making songs, and I came up with that, and that was it.

But something specific surely inspired you to create your new songs, perhaps love, friendship…

Yeah, sure! I like to be in creative environments and I Got It, you know, I was in a studio writing music, and I just started that song. I’m friends with Aubrey O’Day, and we talked about doing a song together, and it just sort of developed into the song.

My other song is called Rise N Grind. I wrote that really based on twits that I wrote on Twitter to all of my fans. They were just inspirational twits and motivational twits, and I wrote a song based on those twits, and actually, a lot of the fans really love that record even more than I Got It.

When will you release your full length album?

Probably after the New Year. I have a lot to do now, because I’ve never intended to do a full length CD or anything. It really comes from the fan support of my song that I’m actually even thinking about doing a full length CD. When Universal Canada reacted to the fans’ reaction to the song, it kind of got me thinking that I may do it, but again, it was never my intention to be a solo artist. I was just sort of having fun!

I really enjoy watching the fans sort of make Canada the central location in the world for my record. My fans don’t even have to play it in their own country, they just go online and listen to the Canadian station and request it on Canadian stations. I think it’s awesome. The US fans, fans from Brazil… they call radio stations in Ottawa, Saskatoon, and request my record.

What are you and the other New Kids on the Block members working on right now?

We had a good time touring. It was great for many reasons on many levels, and now we’re working on a few projects for next year: a DVD project, another tour and different guys are working on a solo project as well. But everything is part of what we do, I mean, anything that leaves the group or anything like that. Our solo projects are coming one in a line after the other and are sort of all working in conjunction with each other. Boring but true!

We can hear your song Good Vibrations in a lot of popular movies such as Blades of Glory and Analyze This. Which one of your new songs would you love hearing in which movie?

Well, Good Vibrations is on my brother Mark’s record [actor Mark Wahlberg who was the leader of hip-hop group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch], but I wrote the record and produced it, and I love hearing that record in movies because, you know, I wrote it! It’s an incredible accomplishment for me.

I really don’t know. I mean, as long as it’s in a good context or in a funny context, I don’t care. I don’t make music to play in movies; I just do it because I love it, and if it’s up in a movie, it’s great. I would like hearing one of my songs maybe… hmm… in the movie Do The Right Thing [directed by Spike Lee].

You’ve played in hot movies such as The Sixth Sense, and several films of the series Saw and Righteous Kill. Do you feel that being Mark Wahlberg’s brother somehow helped you have a movie career?

No, I don’t think it helped me at all. He never helped me get a part; I’ve never asked him for help. I’ve never really been given a job. I had to earn every job I’ve got by auditioning, auditioning, auditioning. Mark didn’t help me get the role in The Sixth Sense, and I’m the one who had to lose 40 pounds to do the part. That’s my hard work. I think, on the contrary, a lot of people didn’t think of me as an actor and didn’t take me seriously at first, and as a musician, a lot of people didn’t take Mark seriously at first.

What do you like the most about having a career in the music industry?

Hmm… I’d just say, you know, just meeting people, having fun with fans, performing for them, meeting them and seeing how happy people get. I love making people smile. I worked in a really dark household with nine kids, and a lot of them going into prison and stuff. I was sort of the one trying to make everyone laugh in the house and I still do that now.