It is played on a different physical piano. D minor is used on “Lionheart” and F major is on Avril’s song. SM: The irony is that it is the same relative key as Avril’s “Head Above Water,” so again, great ear. I was reminded a little bit of her with “Le Jardin de Monsieur Monet.” It is pretty, with a light bounce, and a rolling left hand. From those shows there was a pianist from New Jersey named Robin Spielberg who I enjoyed listening to. My friend Richard had a Sunday morning radio show in the 1990s with a lot of new age sounds but what I really liked were the songs he chose which were more accessible. I was touched by his rise to success as a designer and then his downfall when he sold everything to JCPenney and lost control of everything creatively. There is a sense of regret and tragedy in the song and looking back at life. It was my working title for that theme and I just couldn’t find a more appropriate title. The title came from Halston the designer who I was deeply affected by when I watched the documentary. I remember developing that motif and it was one of those things where you feel you have heard it before, but you can’t quite put your finger on it. This was probably the first big theme that I wrote for Lionheart on day two of my recording. I take being compared to a hit single a compliment. In 1976, the instrumental “Nadia’s Theme” was a Top 10 hit, which I am reminded of here.
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GM: “Halston” sounds like a movie or television theme. I am a huge fan of the colors that come from there and it is certainly on my bucket list of a place to go and perform. 1958 was a nod to the good old years in Havana prior to the revolution.
I wasn’t intentionally paying a tribute to Brubeck, but he definitely comes through as an influence in my fingers. I would say that you are 100% accurate with “Take Five.” I am so affected by Brubeck and that piece of music. 1958 is my birthyear, so I certainly like your song title “Havana 1958,” which is melodic with a light jazz touch, reminding me a bit of Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five.”
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GM: When Brianna visited Cuba in recent years, she brought me back a souvenir license plate with a painting of a classic car and it says, “Cadillac 58 Cuba.” I love it. I just play with my heart to see what comes out of my fingers and my mind. You have a good ear to pick up on these sounds. On this new album I am offering melodies drawing from the 1970s and 1980s with ABBA meets Frank Mills meets Andre Gagnon. When I first heard “I Surrender” I felt that I had literally written that melody at least five times. SM: I hadn’t thought about that until this moment. I hear a bit of that melody in the opening number for your Lionheart album, “My Beloved Twin Flame.” With my albums, we go to great lengths to get the album covers right. GM: The photo on the cover with the piano in the garden matches the music inside.
They did a lot of research and determined that “A New Day Has Come” should be the first single and that whole event changed my life as a songwriter. After September 11 happened, the people at Sony delayed the album and decided to call the album A New Day Has Come because the title sounded hopeful in a post-9/11 world. After her Titanic success with “My Heart Will Go On,” having a song cut by her was like winning the lottery. We threw out some ideas and wrote “A New Day Has Come” in an afternoon and a couple more songs for Celine on that trip. This was going to be her big comeback album to be released in the fall of 2001. She was one of the biggest artists in the world but was on a sabbatical after giving birth to her first child. By that time, I had already written songs to be pitched to her, but I don’t know if they ever got to her. They were interested in having me write some songs for Celine with him. I received a call from my publisher at Sony Toronto asking if I would like to go to Montreal and he would connect me with Aldo Nova. Right after 2000, I was working in L.A., traveling there from Canada. STEPHAN MOCCIO: It was an interesting time in my life.