Exclusive: Snakkle Talks to Javier Colon about His Music Before The Voice
Snakkle talks to Javier Colon about his music before he won The Voice. Plus: Our musical wish list for the talented singer's budding career, including "Dream Collaboration" and "Dream Cover." By Danielle TurchianoBefore Javier Colon was crowned the winner of The Voice—well, before he had even released any of his solo albums—he spent time as the lead singer of other people’s bands.
“I had a previous record deal; I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my career, and I learned to not expect anything, because if you do, then it’s the last thing that might happen,” Colon told Snakkle.
A stint with EMCQ, whose sound was a combo of funk, jazz, hip-hop, and Latin but was ultimately written off as a part of the “dance” genre, was not truly indicative of the soulful sound Colon has honed since. In 2001 he joined forces with the Derek Trucks Band, notorious for its revolving door of performers, and he spent almost two years touring with them around the country before settling in Connecticut and focusing on his solo sets. Then, signing with Capitol Records allowed him to release two albums, a self-titled one when he was simply going by his first name in 2003 and then “Left of Center” three years later.
Watch Javier Colon in the CRAZY OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO:
The deal didn’t work out the way he may have hoped, but it was probably all for the best as the label put him into the boy band box more than he deserved. His next two EPs (“The Truth” and a live acoustic set from the Virgin Atlantic headquarters) were released on his own terms and much more greatly resemble the artist America fell in love with on The Voice.
Colon is a someone who believes that “what’s meant to be is meant to be,” so much so that he wrote a song about it, so surely all of his new success, as well as struggle along the way, as seemed somewhat fated.
“I went into this saying it might be a great opportunity. I might go audition; they might not like me; I might go home. I’ve been trying for the last five years to get a record deal but nobody wanted to talk to me; nobody wanted to give me a chance,” he said. “[I’m] very glad to have taken the chance that I almost didn’t take!”
Snakkle’s Wish List for Colon:
Dream Cover: Colon himself said he’d love to tackle some Journey, but Snakkle also suggests “Something in the Way She Moves” by James Taylor. The original is folksier than Colon but we know his spin would be sexy!
Dream Collaboration: After hearing Adam Levine and Colon duet on “Man in the Mirror,” we are supremely confident that putting them back in the studio together would create magic. But honestly we would kill to hear him take on an old-school style ballad with Mariah Carey, as well.
Past Track We Most Hope Becomes A Hit: “Come Through” – A song Colon wrote for his wife to express his gratitude for her sacrifices and to promise he would do whatever he could to pay her back. Favorite lyric: “You say you’ve sacrificed/Spending years of your life/on promises and maybes/It couldn’t be more true/All the weight’s been on you and now it’s time to give some to me/And I’ll take it on willingly.”