RY: What do you feel to be your biggest accomplishment thus far in your life?
JM: Room For Squares coming out on Columbia is my biggest accomplishment. It sort of feels like a transition, it's a little piece, but a big piece. I am definitely going to take an evening out when I get home to celebrate. It's something I'll give myself the freedom to do.
MS: At this point in your career, what are the dynamics like with your record company when you begin a new album?
JM: I will show the album to them when it’s done, and they’ll put it out. I’m amazed to find that Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and I are on the short list of artists at Columbia who can finish an album and walk into Don Ienner’s office and say, “Here you go.” There is a certain trust there. If you are on Columbia, you know you have to give them something that that they can bring to the world.
MS: Does this put a lot of pressure on you?
JM: No, it’s a lot of work and difficult, but it’s not high pressure. My second record was high pressure because they had the first record on their minds and I had to solidify my standing. I feel like I’ve done that. The two Grammys for “Daughters” sealed it up. I want to be a musician who can reach as many people as possible. At the same time, I hope to give them something interesting and a palette that is a little richer than what they are used to. I want to stretch them a little bit, and it doesn’t take much to do that.
It’s important to understand that when you’re on a record label, you are joining your bottom line to someone else’s. I want to do for my label and that means making a record that has hits on it. Sometimes your hits aren’t your best songs.