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On this special episode of The MJCast, Jamon and Q interview acclaimed author Damien Shields on his new book Xscape Origins. Topics include Damien’s writing process, his collaborative partner James Alay’s contributions to the project, Damien’s experiences talking with Michael’s collaborators, a never before heard story about Damien’s ill fated interview with Michael Jackson himself. We also take the opportunity to capture some of Damien’s fascinating opinions on a range of Jackson related topics. As a special treat for listeners of The MJCast, you will also hear an exclusive audio snippet of an interview Damien conducted with C. J. DeVillar (Michael’s bassist and recording engineer during the early Invincible sessions) and a never before released version of the song She Was Lovin’ Me which was co-produced by Cory Rooney and Taryll Jackson.
As explained on Damien’s website, “Xscape Origins pieces together stories about the real Michael Jackson; the musical genius at work. As told by the songwriters, producers, musicians, and technicians who worked intimately with him in the studio, and featuring a touching foreword written by his longtime engineer Matt Forger, the book takes you inside the recording studio, delivering captivating fly-on-the-wall insights into the creative process of the greatest artistic visionary the world has ever known”. At its heart, Xscape Origins delves into the history of the eight original Michael Jackson songs which were remixed for the 2014 album Xscape, released in partnership between Sony Music and the Estate of Michael Jackson. Reading Damien’s work will give you a level of knowledge that will allow you to appreciate the songs in a much deeper way. If it’s Michael’s artistic process you love learning about, look no further than this fantastic book. It’s undoubtedly the best book on Michael’s art that I’ve ever read.
Links
Get your physical copy of Xscape Origins today at xscapeorigins.com.
Xscape Origins is also on Amazon, iBooks and Google Play as eBooks.
Read Damien’s latest Michael Jackson related articles at damienshields.com.
Joseph Vogel’s book on Michael’s artistry, Man in the Music: The Creative Life and Work of Michael Jackson
Chris Cadman’s book series ‘The Maestro’ Volume’s I and II, excellent reference books on Michael’s creative work.
Keith Murphy’s fantastic Vibe article on Michael’s final (and still mostly unreleased) musical work. Read ‘Redemption Songs’.
Damien’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages
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If you have any thoughts, opinions, or feedback on the show, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us at themjcast@icloud.com or find the links to our many social networks on www.themjcast.com. Keep Michaeling!
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Hi
Enjoyed this podcast today Damien Shields, author of Exscape Origins. Thank you Damien for the sacrifices you made; the time you spent writing this book; and the world travel, that enabled you to have extensive interviews with those who worked closely with Michael and provided the magic he needed for his music. I love all Michael’s albums. Thanks for uncovering the origins of Exscape. I brought your book today. Am only up to chapter 2. At a time when the Leaving Neverland fall out is occurring, it’s good to just get back to finding out more about Michael Jackson.
Fantastic episode and interview; Damien you might like short podcast episodes but your experience and your insight are so interesting, I could have kept in listening for a couple more hours.
I’m glad we got a more in-depth answer to the question “should unreleased material be released” because now I agree: in the long term, sure, and present it as incomplete, and donit sparsely maybe to focus on the long run, and for now, develop new ways to keep promoting his existing material.
I’m ordering the book and so looking forward to it.
This was episode 8, I hope a future episode will tell us more about the investigation on the “Michael” album.
One question I would have liked to ask Damien is: you have dedicated so much of yourself to creating the book, you gave it your entire life at some point; now looking back, how does it make you feel?
And something I wonder about the estate: who do they respond to? Is the family only beneficiary or does the estate respond to them?
Alexandre (he/him/his)
You should check out Damien’s website–he has written tons of amazing articles. He is also developing a podcast specifically about the Cascio tracks, which we very much hope will be released this year.
You should find Damien on Twitter and ask him your questions! 🙂
The Estate doesn’t answer to the family. Very, very sadly, the family has little to no control over anything.
-E