Stuart Price and the Truth About Madonna's ‘Confessions’

[groovyguy 63,869]

http://thump.vice.com/words/stuart-price-and-the-truth-about-madonnas-confessions

Stuart Price has an impressive resume and unprecedented aliases. He also joins the short list of regular Madonna contributors, first working with the pop icon on her Drowned World tour in 2001 and later producer her acclaimed 2005 dance record, Confessions on a Dance Floor. Price recently spoke to THUMP’s Bruce Tantum about the experience of making the album nearly a decade ago.

 

Right before we made Confessions on a Dance Floor, I had made a record with a girl named Juliet [2005’s Random Order]; we had made that album over Thanksgiving in New York, when the city was completely dead, and it was just the two of us concentrating on working on it. [i went] straight from that to Madonna, and I assumed that would be a much different experience, but she completely surprised me.

 

The real eye-opener was about how focused she was on avoiding the kind of over-the-top, excessive, entourage-in-the-studio environment that I had expected. It was the total opposite, really. She helped to create an environment where we were like two kids working together in a studio. It was exactly the same feeling as it was when I was working with Juliet. She was really… I don’t want to say “smart,†but she was really honest about music. She’s really instinctive in understanding that dance music comes from a very minimal way of working. It doesn’t come from throwing lots of money on a lavish production.

 

We spent five or six weeks in my apartment; the studio used to be upstairs in the loft. I would work on a track overnight, then she would come in and we’d start messing around. She would do vocal melodies and I would come up with a few ideas, and then she’d go, “Okay, I’m gonna go home and think about it.†Then she’d come back the next day and have the hook for “Hung Up†or the chorus for “Sorry.†Then I would carry on working on more tracks to keep us going. It was more of a really fluid and almost childlike environment than anything that seemed too serious.

 

They always say that an album sounds like the time that you had making it. I know that with that album, it was a super-productive time, but it was also really fun and natural. And I think that comes across in the way it sounds.

 

It’s surprising that Madonna has such a simple work mode. I would have expected her to come in with her full entourage and play the diva, at least to some extent.

 

Well, don’t get me wrong—I think in a lot of parts of her life, she is the big-entourage person. But when it comes to being creative, she’s unexpectedly low-key. She’s great to work with, and I really mean that.

[madgefan 10,236]

Well it's undeniable COADF became a fan favourite almost immediately. I used to listen to it while working out in early 2006 It would be great to include songs from that record in the next tour... Not just Hung Up please   

[Nick 2,394]

This is why she should get back together with Stuart for another album! They obviously have great chemistry in the studio, and the tracks they make together are pure gold. Confessions has got to be one of my favourite albums of all time, and along with the Confessions tour, there was nothing wrong with that era.

[Fighter 28,888]

That time was super productive for her, and the album is truly gold. One of her best. Can't believe it's almost been 10 years. 

 

I don't know if they should collaborate again, everyone thought Orbit would be a dream collaborator again and it just wasn't as good as Ray Of Light. Some things are better left alone. I suppose I want her to move forward and keep working with new people as she always does.

[ITG 3,348]

Another great album that flows really well....ILNY throws it out for me though