Idol Chatter

David Archuleta’s secret to singing holiday songs in the summer

Almost exactly two months after the release of his Christmas album, David Archuleta will arrive in Baltimore Tuesday, Dec. 15, for a show at the Lyric Opera House.  

Idol Chatter got a chance to interview David by phone Friday, prior to his concert at Brigham Young University-Idaho. He said fans should expect more than just holiday music during the shows on his current tour; the first part of each show is full of the pop music for which he’s better known.

What I wanted to know is how David got himself in the mood to sing Christmas music so far before the holiday season.

After all, holiday albums don’t appear on store shelves with a snap of the finger. And I’d seen tweets from David that indicated he was heading into the studio to record holiday music … in the middle of the summer.

So, David, were there any tricks you used to get into the holiday spirit? 

“Sometimes, they’d hang Christmas lights in the studio” he said, chuckling, “because it’s like summer and sunny outside and then it’s, ‘OK, time to go and sing some Christmas songs.’ I don’t know, I guess now I know how people in L.A. feel during the Christmas time, because that’s how they celebrate, right?

“The songs, it’s not like the meaning changes. Making it summer and sunny didn’t mean the song meant anything else. These songs are talking about some pretty amazing things. And I just tried to think about what the song’s about, the story that it’s telling and the message in it.

“It was a great education for me in how to get into a song even if it seems kind of out of place. Because it’s like this song, all year round it means the same thing. And all year round it’s still as great of a song as when it’s played all of the time at Christmas.”

The results speak for themselves. David’s Christmas album debuted at number two on Billboard’s holiday albums chart, behind only Bob Dylan. This week, it’s still number 52 on the Billboard 200.

Check back Monday for the complete Idol Chatter interview with David, in which we talked extensively about the plans for his upcoming pop album.

Until then, here’s the link to details about the Dec. 15 show in Baltimore.