Scott MacIntyre Plays With Our 'Heartstrings'
Scott MacIntyre has been into music since he was a little boy, but his fame sky rocketed after he earned eighth place in season eight of American Idol. He stood out from other contestants immediately not only because of his amazing talent, but also because of his inspiring story. MacIntyre was born with Leber's congenital amaurosis which has left him visually impaired. He has overcome kidney disease and a transplant which saved his life. At the age of 19 he graduated from Arizona State University Summa Cum Laude and went on to get his Masters at London's Royal Holloway, University of London and the Royal College of Music. He has been awarded both a Marshall and Fulbright Scholarships, and all before he turned 24. His strength, commitment, and passion are incredible, and TheCelebrityCafe's Kim Alsumiri was honored to get a chance to talk with him about his new CD, aspirations, and life.
TCC: I listened to your new CD, Heartstrings, yesterday, and I really enjoyed it. It's amazing to me that you wrote all 12 songs. Where do you get your inspiration?
SM: Haha! Thank you so much for that. I really appreciate that compliment. You know, the inspirations for the songs on the album came from pretty much my life- they came from experiences that I've had, experiences that my friends have had. It's really about everything from love to loss to trying to find hope when everything seems hopeless around you. They've all been situations that I've found myself in and situations that have played at my heart or pulled at my heartstrings throughout the last few years of my life, so that's where we got the title. I really hope that people number one, hear a great pop/rock album, but number two, are really able to hear some emotional stories beneath the music.
TCC: You've definitely overcome so much in your life and accomplished even more than you've overcome. What kept you going through it all, even when most people would have given up?
SM: You know, giving up for me would have been the popular option many, many times in my life. From a very young age I just had this dream about being able to share my heart with people through music, day after day, night after night, and I think that's what kept me going. I really believed that I could make it here someday, and making it in the music industry on your own is a tough industry and it took many years of hard work to make it to this point obviously. But you know, beyond that, obviously with my visual impairment and going through kidney failure and other things that you alluded to there, it's definitely given me some setbacks. But giving up for me was just never an option, and I dreamed about being able to get past that as soon as possible and I owe so much to my family and to my friends for supporting me through some of the hard times. To have this album out now, it's really kind of a pinnacle, because when I look back at the times in my life where it seemed so far away or I was on dialysis for about two years of my life, and literally could not play or sing in my own living room, and so to get past that and to recover from that and be a successful recipient of a transplant, and on and on. It's just amazing to stand on these stages now, and literally every time I step on the American Idol stage, it felt like a miracle because I just remember a couple of years before when I was in a very different place. So, it's always been for me more than just getting up there and singing songs and entertaining people, it's really been about trying to convey my message of hope, you know, that goodness God has blessed us with is perfect with challenges. I would say when we go on the show and reached for my dreams, it didn't get to be reality until I got to travel around the world, kind of passing the dream onto other people, whether I'm speaking or whether I'm giving concerts, talking to kids or businesses. I've been able to encourage people to do the same thing in whatever occupations they happen to be in.
TCC: I read that now, on top of your busy music schedule, somehow you're finding time to do motivational speaking. How did you get into that? How are you enjoying that?
SM: You know, I've been really enjoying it. I did some here and there before Idol but now ever since I've done the show, it's become a big part of what I do. And I think for me, whether it's performing music or it's performing by speaking or just with anecdotes, it's the same thing for me, and I love connecting with people. It's all about trying to have that connection with my audiences, whether it's singing or whether it's speaking, it's always felt like the journey has given me great stories, and hopefully I can help or encourage other people, and that's what my Idol journey has been about. I want to share that with people and not keep it to myself. And I'm actually writing a book that will be coming out in about four months from now. We're really excited about it, we've got great people behind it, but it's going to be about my life and some of the things I've been talking about but obviously have a lot more details that Idol doesn't allow for and the lyrics of a pop song doesn't always allow for. So I'm excited to keep sharing you know, the things that I've been through with people and hopefully be an example to them.
TCC: Is your book going to be coming out in Braille as well?
SM: You know, we have not even talked about that yet. That is a very interesting idea, and I'm surprised I haven't talked with anyone about that yet, you know? The publishers that we've been talking to so far have not mentioned that, and I'm probably not the best person to comment on how that would work from the legal stand point, but as far as I know, it would absolutely be available in Braille at some point because there are many organizations that make a point and work very hard at translating every book out there into Braille, and I do have a lot of connections with those organizations because they helped me immensely throughout my college years and that's a very interesting point.
TCC: Do you have a title picked out for your book, or are you still working on that?
SM: You know, we don't. We will leave that a mystery, haha, but it will be announced in the coming weeks and months, we have a lot of details to reveal, and I'm really excited about that. So it's tempting to copy the name of the album to title the book, but we have some other options on the table, so we will see.
TCC: You've bee an inspiration to so many, but who inspires you?
SM: You know, a lot of people. There's a couple people I could say, first I think of my parents. They exposed me to Disney music and Church music starting when I was four years old and instead of finding me asleep, about half an hour later, they'd find me out at the piano trying to figure out the notes in the melodies that I was hearing on the tape, and they'd put me back to bed, and I'd sneak out again and they could tell there was an interest in sound and in music from a very early age there. And since that point, they've done everything they can to encourage me in that pursuit. Our family has never had any ties to the music industry, they never had anything to help in that regard, we had to kind of figure it out as we went, but they believed in me and I know that's not always the case in all families, so I'm very thankful and I never take that for granted. The other person that I really look up to is actually my kidney donor, you know? After being on dialysis and that whole length of time, going through the time I described to you, you know, the wife of my former piano instructor from Arizona State University was the one that saved my life. She was the one that gave one of her kidneys to me and we're both doing fabulous today. It's really a successful story and to just have someone literally give of themselves like that because they wanted to see me succeed and you know, wanted to see me keep doing what I love, it just, it really touched me. It still brings tears to my eyes when I think about it today.
TCC: Who are your idols in the music field?
SM: My idols in the music field are, there's a lot of them, you know? The people that have influenced me a lot have been the likes of Bruce Hornsby. I have to name him, I did “Mandolin Rain” on the show as my first live performance, and he wrote me a nice letter after the show, we're in touch because of that. You can hear some Hornsby influence on the CD, especially in the track, “Valentine,” it was a little tribute to Hornsby there. But people like Vanessa Carlton, more contemporary Gavin DeGraw, John Mayer, have all kind of played into what the album is. But you do find a little bit of “power pop” influence along the lines of Jimmy Eat World, track seven you get more of that side of the spectrum. So there have been a lot of people. And you know that I was originally a classical pianist, so I have to mentioned Chopin just for the heck of it, haha!
TCC: Now I know you played with Alice Cooper this past Christmas, do you have plans to do it again?
SM: If I have the dates, I will definitely be there! He gave me an open invitation after we did it this last year, he offered to have me back anytime I am available, which I was very pleasantly surprised and honored to hear that because I know it's kind of a rare thing and he doesn't offer that to everyone. But it was just so much fun, I felt like the “token contemporary pop guy” among all the classic metal legends, you know? Haha! And at the end of the show, you know we each did our own sets, our own songs throughout the night, but at the end of the show, I was center stage singing a heavy metal version of “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” and on my left was Alice and on my right was Dee Snyder from Twisted Sister, it was like, reality check, haha! . . . Originally I thought, 'Alice Cooper has a Christmas show? How does that work?' Haha, but as it turns out, he has one of the biggest hearts I think I've ever experienced. He does a lot of work with troubled kids and a lot of things in that area that I really respect. He has taken the amazing platform that he has as being a music icon and is giving back so much through music for these kids who really need somewhere to turn. So I was really, really honored that he invited me, and that he has invited me back.
***To check out Scott MacIntyre's latest album, Heartstrings, www.scottmacintyre.com and order the CD, or download from iTunes.***