Quote:James Durbin is known for giving metal a chance on Season 10 of “American Idol” and pushing to keep rock alive on his 2011 debut, Memories of a Beautiful Disaster. But take a deeper look inside Durbin’s musical soul and for every Judas Priest song he loved, there was one by the Beatles. For every Sammy Hagar, there was a Michael Jackson. For every ounce of metal that soared through his veins, there were equal amounts of pop hooks, catchy melodies, and sing-along lyrics pumping through his musical heart. It’s this musical juxtaposition of rock and pop that Durbin offers up on his eagerly awaited sophomore album, CELEBRATE.

At first listen of his second Wind-up Records release, it might seem that Durbin is taking one big courageous step out of the box. But, for him, it’s really just a natural progression of who he is as an artist, based in the music of his formative years. “I was having an identity crisis!” explains Durbin, “worrying if it would be too heavy or too poppy. I was over thinking it, trying to blend the two just right. I had to take a step back and say, you know what? I’m just going to write like crazy and see what happens. It took a while – almost a year – but the music on CELEBRATE is the end result. It sounds like nothing I’ve ever heard before. But it sounds like me. It’s who I am now and where I am at as an artist, as a person, as a husband and father walking through life.”

So, where did all of this come from? Who was the pre-”American Idol” Durbin when music began to shape him? The Santa Cruz, California-born and bred vocal powerhouse was raised by a single mother hooked on oldies and two older sisters hyped on New Kids on the Block. “I grew up with Motown and boy bands,” Durbin laughs. “I had Space Jam, Spice Girls, and *NSync CDs. I was super into Michael Jackson, too, and even sang ‘Rock With You’ for my sixth grade talent show. I had the glove, the jacket, and could moonwalk. It wasn’t until high school that I got more into rock and metal,” he explains.

Post “Idol,” Durbin had just a few weeks to record his debut, Memories of a Beautiful Disaster, which peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Rock Albums chart and debuted Top 40 on The Billboard 200. While Memories cemented Durbin’s rock status (with Revolver even naming him one of the 100 Greatest Living Rock Stars), Durbin never felt that the album was a true representation of his artistry. He didn’t get to let all of his talents fully shine. On CELEBRATE, though, Durbin took creative control over writing and production, resulting in a true mix of his musical influences.

The result? “This is the record I’ve always wanted to make. This is who I am. It’s definitely more pop than most people would expect – it’s even more pop than I thought it would be. All of that came out of writing the record, building it from the ground up. I listened to a lot of different music in between sessions, especially alternative radio. I really like what’s going on there right now with bands like the Neighbourhood, New Politics, and Smallpools. These are great rock bands with a punk vibe that know how to craft an incredible hook. And that’s really close to where I wound up in the end,” says Durbin, who also cites Lennon & McCartney, Bruno Mars, and Pink among his many influences.

CELEBRATE is truly a return to love of music and early pop musings he grew up on...

...“When it was first suggested that I try out a session with Ted and I saw that he had written songs for Selena Gomez and Katy Perry, I was like, ‘Okay this is the challenge I’ve been looking for musically. Let’s really go for it.’”

...“It was my first day working with Ted and right off the bat we had these ‘visual inspirations’,” says Durbin of his time working with Bruner. I told him about the inspiration for the lyrics to ‘Children,’ which is about a time in my adolescence at The Boardwalk in Santa Cruz when I was getting into some mischief. He put up a photo of The Giant Dipper rollercoaster from The Boardwalk and we used that photo to base the sound of the song around. He’d be like, ‘Okay, look at this picture when you’re writing and singing. This image is what the song should sound like!’” he explains.

“’Children’ really helped set the tone for the record. Ted and I were going for some big songs with big choruses and ‘Children’ really does that. After months and months of writing and writing, it was ‘Children Under The Sun’ that was the big game-changer. That was the song! As soon as everyone – my manager, the label, my A&R – heard it, they really got where I was going and got behind me 110%,” he says.

Quote:James Durbin ‏@DurbinRock 1h

I was on @Fox19 in Cincinnati this Thursday! Check out the videos here!! http://ow.ly/toXAx http://ow.ly/toXC4 #Parachute

Quote:Durbin, who has been married for two years and lives in Santa Cruz, Calif., said the one year after “Idol’ was a whirlwind but not all in a good way. “I was uprooted from my nest, my family, my home, my son and fiance,” he said. “I was put in Hollywood with designer clothes and designer amenities. I had a chauffeur, five-star dining, massages, facials and pedicures. Then I returned home.”

When reality hit home as well, he felt like a loser. “I was really f**** in my head,” he said. It took some time for him to right himself to “label my own success by my own standards,” not that of Chris Daughtry or Carrie Underwood.

He said the album cover says it all. He’s not “on a backlot staring at the ground wearing a big trenchcoat. I’m instead on the beach. There’s a sunset. I just wear my heart a little differently these days.”

“I’m just really happy,” he added. “I want to tour. I wrote a really killer record. I can’t wait for people to hear it.”