You’re still crying, aren’t you? And that’s OK. We all are.
That’s just the kind of reaction "Say Something," the sleeper hit by A Great Big World featuring Christina Aguilera, rouses every time it’s on, and I do mean every time. Because it’s on a lot. Peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, the brutally honest, heart-wrecking weepie became a surprise smash, leading the way for Ian Axel and Chad Vaccarino’s debut, Is There Anybody Out There?
The New York duo recently chatted about making you cry, nabbing Neil Patrick Harris for a musical they’re writing and being more gay than straight ... for now anyway.
GC: There’s probably not a single person who hasn’t heard "Say Something." On that song, you pretty much opened your diary up to the world. What’s it like sharing a song that’s so personal to you with so many people?
Ian: You know, to think there’s not a person in the world who hasn’t heard the song, that’s crazy. That’s just crazy. That just hit me.
When we wrote this song we were both going through a really dark place. We wrote it four years ago, and I’m speaking for Chad too, and though it’s still a part of us, we’re in a completely new place emotionally and spiritually. It almost feels like the song moved through us from some greater place and helped us, and now it doesn’t feel like ours anymore. It feels like it does belong to everyone. It feels bigger than us, so I feel slightly removed. It’s hard to process what it’s like sharing your diary with the world, and I don’t know if it’s a defense mechanism, but I almost feel like I’m removed from it. It’s hard to explain.
Chad: We write as therapy for ourselves. That song in particular was definitely, for me, a moment of closure in my personal life and, yeah, I like that the song ends unsettled. I actually found a new perspective and I did find resolution for what I was going through, so it’s amazing that other people are relating to it.
Ian: I feel like it’s a long-winded answer, but it’s an important question that you asked. It’s just magical, everything that’s happening. It really is. There’s no other word for it.
GC: And you got Christina Aguilera on the track. What was it like meeting her? Not just recording with her, but getting to know her. Was she more or less the diva that you expected? Do you call her Xtina?
Chad: (Both laugh) We call her Christina, but I’m pretty sure Ian and I talked about that before going into the studio with her – whether we should call her Christina or Xtina. We didn’t know!
Ian: Or, when we wrote an email to her, do we address it to Xtina? (Laughs) We were scared to meet her because we had no idea what to expect, but she’s totally chilled out and she invited us over her house a couple of times and we played paintball with her in her backyard. We just shot the shit. She’s an amazing human being and you really get to know that when she’s in that relaxed off-mode. It’s been really cool to see both sides.
GC: How aware are you of a gay following?
Chad: We definitely have their support and I feel like it’s growing.
Ian: We have a song called "Everyone Is Gay" and when we play that at shows it really seems to be resonating in a positive way, so whether our audience is gay, straight, bi, the people that come to our shows are open-minded and have huge hearts.
GC: That track in particular sounds very Broadway. What inspired the actual music on that song?
Ian: When we got asked to write that song (for EveryoneIsGay.com), we sat down at the piano and that’s really the first thing that came out. I feel like we’re both influenced by musical theater and there’s a couple of songs on the album that are more theatrical than others, but it was our original intention to write a musical together and we just ended up singing the song.
Chad: That song in particular was definitely an effort to finally write a song that we would’ve loved to have heard when we were kids, when we were growing up. I was bullied in middle school and I would’ve loved to have heard someone tell me that it’s OK and your confusion is absolutely OK and you don’t need to define yourself and label yourself right now. We were coming from that perspective when we were writing it, and we’re hoping that it does resonate with kids and everyone. We wanted to have fun, but we wanted it to be a sort of anthem.
GC: Chad, you recently told Entertainment Weekly, "Why do you have to label yourself at all? We’re all somewhere in the middle and we’re all on this spectrum of sexuality." Does that mean you fall in the middle of the Kinsey scale?
Chad: Yeah. I mean, I don’t know if I’m in the middle. (Laughs) I feel like I’m more gay than I am straight, and I’ve been with girls in my life and I’ve been with guys. I’m drawn to a human being, so it’s hard. You’re so used to defining yourself and labeling yourself, and you kind of want to because it’s easier – it gives you a path or a direction – but you don’t need to. I think we both believe that you love who you love.
Tell me something about the musical you’re working on.
Chad: (Laughs) Well, we’re working on a musical and, um, Neil Patrick Harris – and uh, that’s it.
Ian: Yeah, no, no, no!
Chad: It’s a heartwarming comedy and it’s our music on steroids. Also: Sorry, I just wanted to say that I mentioned Neil Patrick Harris as a dream actor/singer in this musical. That’s who we’re aiming for.
GC: The first time I heard "Say Something," and even the third and fourth time, I bawled my eyes out. While writing or performing the song, have you just lost it?
Ian: Absolutely. We cried like babies. At least I did. I don’t think I ever cried more (than I did while) writing this song. I’m not a religious person but it was like a religious experience and it changed my perspective on everything. It felt like I was praying writing that song.
Chad: Yeah, like I said before, it feels like I didn’t actually know I was heartbroken until halfway through the songwriting process of that and I gained a new perspective on a toxic relationship I was in, and by the end of writing that song I finally found closure.
GC: How does it make you feel knowing you’ve broken so many hearts with that song but also mended many of them too?
Chad: I know that Ian is gonna disagree with me, but it really hurts me knowing that people relate to the song in a similar way. I know that pain and Ian knows that pain and it hurts and it sucks, and to know that other people are going through that, it’s amazing because we’re not alone but it’s also painful to know that other people are hurting.
Ian: You need to feel the pain to heal. It’s just part of the process, and the fact that people can feel what we felt, I mean, we’re all in this thing together.
