Los Angeles -more than two decades, Toby Gad has hardly spoken German, but now the native of Munich comes the mother tongue again very easily over his lips."I had to get my German together again.I read some books loudly, my mouth hurt, ”says Gad with a grin."This is much more mouthwork than the American pronunciation."Gad laughs a lot in a zoom interview with the German Press Agency.The 53-year-old music producer sits in his studio in Los Angeles, with a view of the countryside.Pool, palm trees, hammock in front of the window.
GAD is now bringing back to his home in addition to pop star Florian Silbereisen and singer Ilse Delange juror at the RTL casting show "Deutschland sucht den Superstar" (DSDS).Last summer the 19.Season recorded in Germany, now the talent show is on the air.The first edition on Saturday evening turned up 2.65 million, significantly less than in previous years.
Gad is a star in the US music scene
There are 21 moving years behind GAD, in which he fulfilled a dream in New York and Los Angeles.With Fergie he wrote the hit "Big Girls Don’t Cry", with Beyoncé he produced "IF I Were a Boy", with John Legend he created the success ballad "All of Me".Recordings with Madonna, Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus or Demi Lovato, invitations to Grammy parties, music trophies-Gad itself became a star in the American music scene.
But the path was difficult.In the beginning he deserved almost nothing."You just have to hold out for the first three years and don't work very hard and don't expect anything at first," the songwriter and producer looks back.
A cheap apartment with mold on the walls, a narrow household budget, pasta and soup, daily jack cleaning in search of young talents and studios who want to work with him - Gad describes this in his autobiography "All of Me", which on Tuesday (25.1.) appears in Germany.
With endurance to success
In any case, the son of a Danish and a German mother brought musical skills.With his older brother he played early in a band, learned the piano and guitar.At 20 he worked for the hit producer Frank Farian and wrote songs for an album from Milli Vanilli.
With the then unknown Fergie, Gad wrote the song "Big Girls Don’t Cry" in New York in 2002, but the song was only released five years later - and for HIT.In the industry you need endurance and patience, says Gad."The music business is almost only a disappointment, 99 percent cancel, but again and again something worked out," he says with a wink.
With his wife, a native Chinese, and the two daughters, Gad moved to Los Angeles in 2009.There his career finally lifts off.Of course you are nervous before encounters with big stars for recordings, GAD admits."It's a bit like speed dating, because you don't know them beforehand and then have a few hours together."He always prepared well, learned a lot about the artists what happens in their lives."The goal is actually that you can improvise together and have fun together and the music can simply let yourself flow out of yourself."
Discussions with Madonna
With superstar Madonna it didn't go so well at first. „Das hat ein bisschen gedauert und hat auch einige Auseinandersetzungen gebraucht", erzählt Gad über eine längere Plattenaufnahme im Jahr 2014. Es sei zu einem regelrechten Wortgefecht gekommen, als er Madonna mit dem Hinweis „Das kannst du besser" dazu drängte, einen Song nochmal aufzunehmen, schildert Gad in seinem Buch.
“Madonna began to respect me.From then on she was also interested in my opinion, estimated my honesty [...] From then on I was jokingly called, something like her German dictator." Er habe Madonna als „warmherzige" Person erlebt, schreibt Gad.He and his wife were also invited by the singer to her birthday party to a castle in France.
Gad has many success stories, but also speaks about missed opportunities when he did not recognize and reject young talents. „Die 13-jährige Taylor Swift war bei mir im Studio und Katy Perry, nachdem sie ihren zweiten Plattenvertrag verloren hatte und ganz am Boden war, mir der hätte ich anfangen können", erzählt der Produzent.
DSDS-Juror eine „wunderschöne Erfahrung"
He also goes to court critically.At times the profession completely determined its life, the music was like a drug. Seine Familie habe oft zurückstecken müssen, schreibt er in „All of Me".A few years ago, Gad pulled the brake.Now he produces significantly fewer songs, but is dedicated to other hobbies and projects.With his family he lives close to nature on the edge of the Hollywood Hills.He goes hiking and surfing and is active in environmental protection with his wife.
His heart project is the protection of endangered orangutans on the island of Borneo. Gad dreht derzeit einen Film über die kanadische Primatenforscherin Biruté Galdikas und ihre Organisation „Orangutan Foundation International".
Seine neue Rolle als DSDS-Juror beschreibt Gad als „wunderschöne Erfahrung", die er gerne viele Jahre weitermachen wolle. Im Prinzip sei das wie bei ihm im Plattenstudio, wo Künstler sich mit ihren Songs vorstellen - „nur das es bei „DSDS" auf Deutsch ist", lacht Gad.He would like to inspire others to believe in their dreams and work on it. „Es lohnt sich dafür zu kämpfen und das zu probieren", sagt Gad - aus Erfahrung.
