Mark Ronson discusses the slog behind ‘Uptown Funk’, Perfect Sounds and finding the next Amy Winehouse, in an exclusive interview with The Huffington Post UK.
On Bruno Mars: ‘I know all the work that went into it, and I’ve never worked so hard,’ Mark says calmly. ‘There were so many talented people working on one song. But you don’t control what happens when it comes out. For some reason, everybody needed that record to come along when it did.
‘We would be in the studio at 6am working on some aspect, and I would think ‘that’s good enough’, but Bruno would be standing over my shoulder and he’d say, ‘No, we’re going to stay, it can be better.’
‘Perhaps it’s too early to compare Bruno to Michael Jackson, he’s only made two albums, but it’s those instincts that make up the greats.
On Amy Winehouse: ‘I think you could definitely say the way people get most of their music has levelled the playing field, but there’s still something to be said about taking the time,’ he says, referring to the hours he spends arranging his sounds.
‘You could say, who cares? But it’s what made ‘Back to Black’ so special. As well as Amy’s voice, it was the tone, which so many people had tried to do before, including me. I’d tried to achieve it so many times, and it had never been authentic.’
‘You’re only as good as your last record,’ he says. ‘The only reason I’ve got to this place is not worrying too much about what’s hot, and just doing things that are worthwhile. And when you do that, you’re not going to hit it every time, but you make stuff that you can stand by.”
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