Mark Ballas just released some amazing new music.
The 28-year-old singer, dancer, and actor is extremely busy these days. When he’s not performing on Dancing with the Stars , he’s working on his music career. His new EP, Kicking Clouds , is now available and we were lucky enough to talk to Mark about his new music! Plus, we also talked to Mark about his dream collaborations, DWTS, and much more! Check out the interview below to get all of the details!
Celebuzz: What inspired this EP?
Mark Ballas: I’ve been working on it for awhile now actually, we’ve probably been working on the EP for the past year and a half. It’s super hard to focus solely on one thing, especially when you’re juggling. So I would always made sure that whenever I was working on the EP I had 100% time to put razor focus on it. So that’s why it took longer than we originally planned. But, the inspiration behind it was just to make people move, to want to feel something when they hear these records. Also, to have tender moments. That’s why I love some of the ballads on it they’re really heartfelt and meaningful with the lyric. Also they’re some songs on there like “Get My Name” and “Spank Me” that just make you wanna move, they’re infectious and you can’t help but move to them. That was kind of the goal with this EP we wanted to you on a journey when you’re listening to it. You have those moments when they’re fun and fresh and then there’s moments when it’s deep and sad and then there’s also moments when it’s super sexy and flirty and makes you feel something.
CB: Who are some of your musical influences?
MB: Absolutely, I mean my record collections is very eclectic actually so I wouldn’t say there’s one particular genre or artist. But, I was a big Michael Jackson fan, that was kind of started it for me Michael Jackson. And then I loved the Gipsy Kings growing up and Paco de Lucia and Prince , Earth, Wind & Fire . You know Nirvana , and Kurt Cobain was a huge influence of mine on guitar, I always wanted to be able to play like Kurt. When I first started playing guitar my dad (Corky Ballas ) had me in flamenco lessons and I was always like, “Dad I wanna play Nirvana.” But he was really adamant so I got down all my flamenco technique until I could start playing rock. And then I moved into rock and it’s kind of what helped me create my own kind of niche guitar-wise, trying to incorporate the two styles. Now a days it’s like John Mayer and I still love Eric Clapton , Ed Sheeran .
CB: do you have a dream artist you would like to collaborate with?
MB: Yeah I would love to collaborate with Ed Sheeran. That would be really cool. We’re kind of in the same wheelhouse, both acoustic guitar players, both from England. A long time ago we actually used to play some of the same venues in England. And apparently one time we were on the same bill. We didn’t know each other, neither of us had moved and we weren’t doing anything yet so we were both just trying to make it. But a friend of mine who used to book shows at the Bedford in England was like, “Oh you guys were on the same bill years ago.” I was like, “That’s crazy!” But I would love to collab with him, and John Mayer’s another one. And I think for my Spanish side the Latin side I would like to collar with Shakira . But yeah I would say at the top of my list is probably Ed Sheeran right now.
CB: Have you had the chance to meet him yet?
MB: Yeah I’ve met him a couple of times. I met him backstage at one of his shows and I went to one of the iHeart festivals a few months ago and he was singing and I got to say hello again.
CB: We love your “Miss Incredible ” music video, it has such a cool message behind it. Were you a part of creating the concept for that video?
MB: Yeah, myself and the director, Mike Ho , we kind of both sat down together and kind of came up with the concept. it was very different from the “Get My Name ” video. The first video was very dance oriented, and it kind of was a consistent storyline. Like everything happens in one place, it felt like it was actually happening at the time. Whereas with the “Miss Incredible” video had the vignette, different vibes, different costumes. It showcases some incredible women, like one of the ladies was in the military, one is a cancer survivor. Then we had Nastia Liukin , Olympic gold medalist, who was so sweet to put her time into the video as well. And we had a doctor. We just kind of wanted the song to me an anthem for women, and for women to feel incredible and sexy and fun when they heard it. No matter what race or size, or rich or poor, what they do for a living, it doesn’t matter. This song was made to make everyone women feel sexy.
CB: You’re partnered with Sadie Robertson for Dancing with the Stars, were you a fan of her show (Duck Dynasty ) before being partnered on DWTS?
MB: To be honest I had never watched it like religiously, I had definitely seen it, of course I’d heard of it. I was excited to have someone youthful and after I found out it was her I went and watched a few episodes and I remember thinking, “Wow she’s going to be an energetic little one. She’s going to love the process.” Then when I met her, she was exactly that, a ball of energy, hard worker, the sweetest, most down-to-earth, humble, one of the most kind human beings that I’ve met in a long time. The whole family, The Robertsons, they’re amazing and I’m having a wonderful time. I’m really enjoying my time with her.
CB: Julianne Hough is now judging this year, how do you think she’s doing so far?
MB: I think she’s doing great! It’s nice to have someone on the panel that’s actually been in these shoes. Even though the judges are great, but talking about giving great advice, they’ve never been in our shoes, you know what I mean? So it’s nice to have someone who has really been there, who knows what it takes to win and who’s an incredible off the charts dancer. You know Julianne’s one of the best of all time. So it’s really nice to have that perspective.
(Main and above photo: Vivien Best)
CB: All of the dancers and judges came out to support for you recently, was that really nice for you?
MB: Yeah that was so cool. A lot of them have been around since the beginning, and to have their support and to have them show up and to come and watch and check it out, and all of their sweet tweets and support, it really means a lot. I play lots of gigs and whenever anyone from the show can come they always come and support, so it was really nice to have a lot of them there a lot. It really meant a lot.
CB: When you get some downtime, when you have time off from dancing and singing, what do you like to do?
MB: To be honest just chill, if I don’t have to dance or if I don’t have to play. I’m a Netflix nerd, I’m deep into Sons of Anarchy right now. So whenever I have downtime that’s what I’m doing.
Mark also says that he’s looking into doing a tour, possibly after this season of DWTS is over! Stay tuned! Maybe him and Ed Sheeran should team up for a tour, what do you say Ed?
Would you like to see Mark and Ed collaborate? Sound off in the comments!
