Following her sudden departure from the Diddy-forged group Danity Kane, many assumed that Aubrey O’Day’s career had come to an an end. However, with a hit reality show, ‘All About Aubrey’, and a new single, ‘Automatic’, under her belt, it seems that Aubrey will indeed have the last laugh.
In this exclusive interview with That Grape Juice, the singer/dancer revealed interesting details about her upcoming solo debut album, being signed to a new label and what we expect to see on the season finale of her show tonight on Oxygen at 10pm. Aubrey also spoke candidly about her stuggles as a celebrity and why she thinks people have problems with accepting her as a real artist.
Check out the full discussion below:
Aubrey O’Day Shouts Out That Grape Juice
That Grape Juice: Your new single, ‘Automatic’, will be released to iTunes on April 12th. Tell us about the concept behind the record?
Aubrey: ‘Automatic’ was actually the first song that I recorded when going back into the studio. You actually see me recording it on my show on Oxygen, ‘All About Aubrey’ – it comes on Mondays at 10pm – and with this song we wanted to keep in touch with what’s hot right now with Dance/Club music on the radio.
The track is about not having to put on the expensive shoes – Louboutins or the Jimmy Choos. It’s also about not having to put on the expensive dresses or looking a certain way to get people’s attention. It’s about having the confidence to be able to walk into a room and being able to steal everybody’s attention automatically. It’s about all of that!
That Grape Juice: Are you planning to shoot a video for the song?
Aubrey: Absolutely! We’ve got to get all the fans out there to buy the single and really show the label how much they want to see that video! {laughs}
That Grape Juice: Who will be directing it? Do you have anybody in mind?
Aubrey: No but there are a lot of fabulous directors out there. I will definitely make a video that is heavily dance-oriented like back in the day with the breakdowns – the JLo breakdowns with a heavy dance-concentrated music video. That’s what I love to do. I’ve been a dancer first before anything else so I definitely want to give people something to look at.
That Grape Juice: Have you picked the second single from the album?
Aubrey: There are a lot of songs that the label are considering for a second single but right now we’re really just concerned and focused on promoting ‘Automatic’.
That Grape Juice: So, as you said, you’ve recorded a lot of songs. Does this mean that you’ve finished with the album or are you still in the process of getting it together?
Aubrey: I actually recorded a tonne of music on my own prior to getting this deal as you may have seen on ‘All About Aubrey’. I basically set everything up on my own with regards to making music, choreography, an image, a look, a brand I wanted and then I brought it to a label which you’ll see [tonight] at 10pm on the season finale.
I made this music to present to labels on a showcase and now that I’ve bee signed to SRC/Universal [Motown] it’s matter of going in there and running through the music week after week with A&Rs and getting everyone adjusted to my sound, my perception of music and figuring out what everybody wants to roll with. Now that I’m part of a bigger team they’re going to bring on a lot of their people to really advise the direction.
That Grape Juice: What I’m taking from what you just said is that there still isn’t a release date or at least a projected release date for the album…
Aubrey: Nope!
That Grape Juice: Apart from Adonis, whom else have you worked with on the record? On the show, for instance, you hooked up with The Underdogs but are there any other writers or producers that you worked with on this project?
Aubrey: I think you’ll see a lot of that coming up soon with regards to getting other people on track – rappers, other singers and working with other producers. I think that where I am now musically and where you’re seeing my story unfold on the show is solely around the process that I created prior to being signed.
That Grape Juice: We know that you’re collaborating with Aundrea but are there any other artists who you’ve collaborated with that you might want to name or are you keeping that under wraps until you get that finalised?
Aubrey: Most of it is under wraps until finalised but actually, prior to Aundrea, I did a song with Donnie Wahlberg, from New Kids On The Block, who I love. He was tonnes of fun to work with. I’ve also done music with Cupid.
I’ve definitely been in the studio with other people and collaborated but the people that are on my record and I’m working with, especially after being signed to Universal, are incredibly talented and I’m very excited to show all of that to the world.
That Grape Juice: Moving on to your reality show…it has been a major ratings hit, breaking all types of records for Oxygen. What experiences have you taken away from filming this first season of the show?
Aubrey: I would say every experience was very memorable. I definitely love to be able to document my struggles, personally and professionally, to the world. Unfortunately, most of celebrity life is glamorised. Most celebrities tend to focus on all the good that they’ve done instead exploring the down periods where it was hard to get back up and believe in themselves again.
Every celebrity has a story like that and the industry is definitely no walk in the park and you have to be strong, you have to be persistent and you have diligent about believing in yourself and believing in your talent even when nobody else does. I loved being able to watch my struggle and watch me overcome each lesson piece by piece.
That Grape Juice: Now, as you say that, we know that you’re a very talented singer and dancer yet, as your manager, Johnny Wright, pointed out on the show, some people have trouble looking pass the glitz and the glamour of the celebrity who is Aubrey. In fact, some people think that you’re just a party girl when underneath it all there is a talented artist.
Why do think that people have problems seeing you as the gifted person that you are?
Aubrey: Part of it is society in general and people wanting to focus on celebrity more than talent. Part of it relates to some of the decisions that I made in my past and doing things like Playboy and Peep Show, which were sexy, salacious celebrity career moves vs talent-based career moves such as when I did Broadway.
Another part of it was simply not being aware. I think my show did a really good job at showing who I am – showing my nerdy, making fun of myself and my life is not some glamorous, perfect existence. I struggle a lot with things like weight, confidence, dating, family issues and just being able to stand back up as an artist and believe in myself again. I’m glad that all of those things were shown because whoever is watching gets an honest interpretation of the industry and what being an entertainer really is about.
Hopefully, blogs and the viral media, which touch more people than even television can, will share those talents with the world and portray me in a different light. There’ve been a lot of media and blogs in the viralsphere have attacked me or label me as certain things, which obviously make it harder to be taken seriously.
It’s not like you do one big, life-changing thing and all of a sudden people think that you’re talented or a nice person or whatever. I think it’s about doing lots of small things over and over again until you starting to build a fanbase and allow people to see who you really are.
That Grape Juice: Would you have any apprehensions doing reality TV again?
Aubrey: No. I had a great time. It’s always based on the quality of a show and what it’s about what I could add to it. I was offered a lot of reality TV prior to this Oxygen show which I turned down because it wasn’t the right fit for me, it wasn’t the right fit for my career and it wasn’t the right direction that I was hoping to moving toward.
That Grape Juice: So does that mean that there will there be another season?
Aubrey: I think that if the fans know want it badly enough and they let Oxygen know that then there will definitely be another season of ‘All About Aubrey’!
That Grape Juice: This next question should help people to get to know you better as an artist: which 3 acts would you say have influenced you the most as Aubrey the entertainer?
Aubrey: Janet Jackson, Madonna and Michael Jackson/Prince! {laughs} I can’t really pick between Prince and Michael Jackson; I say both of them were just as influential although possibly Prince was more. I think that those 4 artists defined the way that I approach the stage and music in general.
That Grape Juice: Well Aubrey, it has been great talking to you. We hope to see and hear more from you in the near future!
Aubrey: Thank you for supporting me! It really means a lot!