411 Music Interview: Chris Ball
Posted by Tony Farinella on 05.03.2008
411's Tony Farinella sits down with Chris Ball for an exclusive interview!
Chris Ball has lived a very full life. In his career, he has done a little bit of everything. When he was eight-years-old, he signed with MCA as part of the R&B group Luv Force. Sadly, that deal fell through for Chris. Then Chris was once again signed to a record deal with Warner Brothers as part of the group SecnSol. Sadly, that deal also fell through. Chris was also trying to become a football player in the NFL, and he was even recruited to play for the San Francisco 49ers. Sadly, his football career was not working out the way he had hoped. Now, Chris Ball has decided to take his career into his own hands with the release of his album, The Well Known Stranger. The first single off his album is the song, Wifey, which is currently making waves across the country. In my interview with Chris Ball, we talked about all of the good times and the bad times in his life. Needless to say, he's someone to look out for in the future.
TONY: After all you have gone through in your career, all the highs and lows, how does it feel to finally have an album coming out?
Chris Ball: It feels a little surreal at this point. I am still in the infantile stages of my career, but, at this point, with the success that I have had, it does feel a little surreal. I tend to get hit up on MySpace a lot and get phone calls from friends that have heard the song on the radio. So that part of it is like a dream come true.
TONY: In some ways, do you think it all worked out for the best?
Chris Ball: Oh, most definitely. If I would have come out a lot earlier, I really wasn't ready or mature enough to handle this industry and this business and what really being an artist and giving your fans what they want from you, as far as good music and having that obligation. I wasn't really prepared to do that. I would say I was pretty immature at the other times that I had this opportunity, so I just think things worked out for the best, and that's pretty much how god probably structured this thing for it to work out that way.
TONY: What it's like having control over your music and not having to rely on somebody else?
Chris Ball: That, above anything else, is probably the most rewarding thing. Being in groups, I'm not gonna lie, I absolutely love being in groups. I love being on stage with my friends and having a good time and things like that, so to do shows and stuff, it's a little bit more challenging, because it is only you up there. But as far as the direction and being an independent artist at this point and having complete control over my project, that has to feel the best out of everything, because I get to communicate my music to the world the way I want to, and I get to choose the records that come out and I get to choose what lane I wanna be in and stuff like that as opposed to having a record label or some executive telling you, "This is the type of artist we think you are."
TONY: What are some of your long-term goals and expectations for the music industry?
Chris Ball: The overall goals for my music career ...I just wanna be one of those artists who people can depend on for good music. Whether I'm the most famous artist, I'm not really concerned about that. There are artists out there like Jill Scott, who have their fanbase, but their fanbase knows that when they go buy that album, they know what they're gonna get. If I had to choose between being hugely, hugely famous but having records that maybe go number one and then the rest of my album has no substance, I would definitely choose being an artist who maybe only sells three or four hundred thousand records every time I come out, but my fans know what they're gonna get and I have that following because of my music.
TONY: What do you want to talk about in your music? What life lessons and experiences do you want to touch on?
Chris Ball: Real-life situations and things that I actually go through and things that we, as people, go through. On my album, I touched on things such as abortion, I've touched on topics such as wanting to kill and get rid of that messed up side of people that lives in every single one of us, I've touched on topics about, as a man, being shy to talk to a woman and wondering if I'm gonna get turned down and rejected. I'd like for my records to always be about something that people can relate to and not just rich people, poor people. If I sell a million records and then I become rich, I'm not just gonna make music about being rich. I want to make music about things that every single person can relate to. Whether you lost a parent ... I lost a father almost a year ago, so I want to make a record about that. I had a dream to play football and be this football player, and didn't really succeed at it. I mean, I made it, but didn't really succeed at it. And I have a song about that. It may be on this album, it may not, but there are so many people out there who have tried to go after their dreams and failed. And I want to make records about that, so people can relate to what I'm saying. I don't really wanna make records about flying on the G-4 and all of that, because that's great fun and dandy, and maybe I will one day, but everybody can't relate to that. There's millions of people who have never been on a private plane in their life.
TONY: Let's talk a little bit about your football career. When did you decide that you wanted to pursue a career in football?
Chris Ball: When I was eight-years-old, I played my first year of football, and the feeling I got being out on that field and being able to channel some of my aggression on the field and be praised for it, I couldn't believe that I could actually make money at it and provide for my family. I just knew I could be rich and famous and knock people out. (laughs) It was kind of a twisted little thing I had in my head as a kid, but I knew, after the first year I played when I was eight-years-old, this was something that I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
TONY: What position did you play in football, and what were your goals and expectations?
Chris Ball: I played linebacker. As a kid, I was very aggressive, so they would put me at the line or put me at nose guard or stuff like that. I was always a defensive player, but when I got older, my body kind of developed a little bit and I played linebacker. My goal, at the time, was to be the best linebacker that I could be. My goal at the time was to get drafted in the first round of the NFL draft, make millions of dollars, buy my mom a house. The whole Cinderella story pretty much. And that was my goal. That's what I wanted to do, so I worked every day of my life to pursue that as a kid growing up until I was in college and then even after college, jumping around from NFL to CFL to NFL Europe. And I was working like a crazy person trying to still chase that dream.
TONY: When did you realize that football wasn't working out for you and it was time to pursue another career?
Chris Ball: That happened in 2005. I had just come back from a year in Canada and I still had a year left on my contract, and I just kind of sat down and said ...there are things that I wanna do in my life. There are people that I wanna take care of in my life, and playing football, although I love it so much and it is my passion and it is what gets me up and going in the morning, I knew that I couldn't, playing in Canada, make the type of money that I needed to make to take care of the people that I need to take care of in my personal life. So, at that point, it was like, "OK, I need to do something else." And I've always had the dream and the passion of wanting to be a star. I've always wanted to be a star since I was a little kid, for whatever reason, so I knew playing football in Canada wasn't gonna bring me that income and wasn't gonna bring me that stardom that I was so desperately searching for inside of me.
TONY: Do you still watch football today, or is too hard?
Chris Ball: I can't watch football anymore. It's not even allowed on my TV, because the wounds haven't healed from it just yet. Growing up playing football and having a little bit of success in it, a lot of my friends and peers that I've grown up with are still playing and living out their dreams on that field. And when I see that, it just hurts too bad. The wounds have not healed, and, at this point, today, speaking about today, it's not even allowed on in my house.
TONY: Out of all the players in the history of the NFL, who do you think would make a good rapper or music artist?
Chris Ball: Man, you know what? That's a really good question, man. As far as football is concerned ...
TONY: How about Chad Johnson?
Chris Ball: Yeah, that's my vote too, man. You hit it right on the nose. That guy is a character, and I think his charisma and his attitude and his approach to what he's doing, he understands what he's doing. He's a great football player, but he entertains at the same time, and that's the most important thing in this life of entertainment. Yeah, definitely Chad Johnson.
TONY: Do you think what you have gone through in your career separates you from other artists?
Chris Ball: No, not really, man. To be honest, I don't know what others have gone through in their lives so I can't say that separates me from them or not. A lot of artists out there, I believe, and it's just my personal opinion, are doing what they feel they need to do to be successful, and maybe a lot of them are doing what's in their heart, I dunno. So I think the thing that maybe sets me apart a little bit is just the fact I have done so many things in my life, as far as TV shows, acting, R&B groups, being a roadie, carrying bags, being a professional football player on many different levels. I think those are the things that separate me from other artists, because I've kind of touched on everything.
TONY: Who would you like to collaborate with in the future?
Chris Ball: Andre 3000. I believe, for one, that he's the best rapper in the game. That's just my personal opinion. And he's an entertainer. He makes really good music, for one, which is something that I really look up to, and his swag and demeanor and his artistry is just so left field and it's so him. He's not conforming to what the industry thinks he's suppose to do. It's who he is. And that's what I look up to and those are the type of artists I wanna work with. Michael Jackson is my inspiration. Nobody knows what Michael Jackson was doing, wearing some tight pants with a jacket with 2,000 zippers on it. What was he doing? When you look at his videos and you look at his socks with glitter on them, what was he doing? Nobody was doing that, and it's innovative, it's different, and you're putting yourself out there. What those guys are doing, people are either gonna love it or hate, but they're doing them.
TONY: Has anything surprised you about the entertainment industry so far?
Chris Ball: A lot of things surprise me. Growing up, as a kid, I always felt like my talent, my charm, my looks, and things like that would get me through any and every situation that was gonna be thrown at me in my life. I thought everything was gonna be easy for me, because I have these talents and I'm not a bad-looking guy and I have a great personality. So, I thought all those would matter, that I could do whatever I wanted to do. And that was the biggest surprise for me in my life, because I learned real fast that it won't. To be successful, you have to give up certain things, you have to be diplomatic about certain things, and you can't think your shit don't stink.
TONY: When people see you on tour, what can they expect from your live show?
Chris Ball: What I'm gonna bring to the table in my live show is my personality. I don't take myself seriously at all, and the fans and the world will get to know that really fast. My show, I'm gonna give everything that I have. One person that I'm looking at, paying very close attention to, is Kayne West and his shows, because I believe that he leaves his blood, sweat, and tears out on that stage. I watch a lot of LL Cool J You Tube videos, because I just believe that that's another guy who just leaves everything he has out on that stage. They take their show seriously, and they work their asses off in rehearsals. I just read that Busta Rhymes stayed in rehearsal for almost two months for a tour. So my stage show is definitely gonna be comedic, it's gonna have its ups and downs, and it's gonna be a roller coaster ride. I'm gonna try to grab people's emotions. I'm gonna try to make you cry, I'm gonna try to make you happy, and I'm gonna try to make you laugh. All those things in one. I'm not just gonna get up on that stage, take my shirt off, and start dancing around and grabbing my genitals.
TONY: Finally, how can people find out more information on you?
Chris Ball: I have a website and I'll give you that site, but being an independent artist, MySpace is just really taking off, and it's really helping independent artists get deals and get money and things like that. So, right now, I'm posting everything through my MySpace to get my profile views up, to get my uploads up on my song. So my MySpace page is www.myspace.com/cball45. And then I also have a website, which is www.chrisball45.com.
