The following is a transcript of the conversation between Karl Schmid and talented singer, David Archuleta.
KARL
I was reading your interview that you gave with Metrosource, which I thought was a really great interview. And when you talked about being on “Idol,” the pros and the cons. The pro is here’s all this great attention I’m getting. The con is here’s all this attention I’m getting, I can’t focus on what I need to focus to do well. How have you come to manage those pros and cons as you’ve gotten older?
DAVID
At the beginning of it, you’re new, so everyone else is in charge. They tell you what to do, what to say, where to be, how long are you going to work, bow much time you have to rest. Whereas now, now that they kind of let me go and I get to decide, okay, how much can I handle? And I’ll push myself sometimes, and then I realize, you know what? I’m gonna pull it back a little bit because I need that balance of balancing how much I give myself to other people and how much I give for myself.
KARL
And I think that’s a really great realization. What advice do you have for people in managing that? Because we ultimately don’t all want to get to burnout, but it is important, isn’t it?
DAVID
It feels good to have financial security and that you’re making a difference, but that is only a percentage of the pie of what brings you peace and happiness. I want to be able to enjoy my life and not just say, oh, he worked so hard. Wow. Look, he worked really hard. I want to be able to enjoy this experience as well.
KARL
You’ve come a long way since those days as the apparently quite shy kind of guy on “Idol.” You’ve got this new tour. You’ve got great new music. Is finding the David Archuleta voice a continual process for you?
DAVID
I think my voice progresses whenever I feel challenged by some thing or someone. And not just challenged. Like I could be pushed from a mentor or just from a new artist that I’m just like, “Wow.” That year when I was on “American Idol” in 2008, I went through like a lot of changes, because then I was signed to a pop label. And then they’re like, “We want you to be a pop artist.” I was like, I never really sang pop music before. I always saying like soul music, more like ballad stuff. They’re like, “No, we want you to be a hip hop kid, because a lot of these teenagers like you, so we want you to appeal to them.” So I had to adapt my voice again. When I was 17 was probably when my voice adapted the most to what it is now, because it’s what works. It’s what people wanted, and I just kind of adapted to a more pop style.
KARL
You made a big decision this year, early in this year, to talk rather candidly and openly about your truth. How has that experience been in the months that have come from that? And as you gear up for this new tour that you’ve got coming up, are you finding that you’ve grown a fan base and love and support from the LGBTQ+ IA support?
DAVID
I feel like I’ve always had the support from the gay community since I was on “American Idol,” even though I wasn’t aware of that part of myself then. But as far as like sharing truth, I feel like when you share truth, that’s the most effective thing you can do in your life. At least that’s how I feel in my life. And then my relationship with God is important. Prayer. I’ve written songs. I just released a kid’s book about prayer, because I felt like that’s a truth I want to share.
KARL
Amen. Well said. It’s what we stand for it at +LIFE. We’re all about living our best selves and living our true selves. David Archuleta, so good to see you. Excited for the tour. We’ll continue watching you sing Christmas songs all the way through until next summer in your bathroom. David Archuleta, thank you so much for your time.
DAVID
Oh, thank you, Karl.