Neon Limelight Interviews: Laurie Ann Gibson: Making Her Brand

There are many things Laurie Ann Gibson is great at. She’s a world renown choreographer and dancer who has worked with artists like Beyonce, Lady GaGa, Brandy, Jordin Sparks, and Michael Jackson. She’s already jumped into movies, choreographing Paramount Pictures’ Alfie and Universal’s Jessica Alba dance flick Honey, which she also has a starring role in. She’s responsible for creating the eye-popping stage shows for Danity Kane and Day26, and showing competitors how it’s done on Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance.

Biting her tongue, however, is not really her strong suit.

Laurie Ann is known for being an intense force. She’ll waste no time telling you you’re wasting her time or you have to toughen up if you plan to get into the music business — and she won’t use those sweet words. That fiery passion was widely displayed when she joined Diddy on his hit MTV reality show Making the Band. While some are afraid, it’s that fierce intensity that makes Laurie Ann a sweeping success, and by extension, anyone she lends her wisdom to.

Diddy knows this, so when he set out to put a band together to tour with him for his latest project, the concept album Last Train To Paris, he called on Laurie Ann to bring the same expertise she displays in the dance studio to these musicians.

Laurie Ann joins Diddy for his new show, Making His Band, but as we learned when we spoke to her for our exclusive Neon Limelight interview, she’s also looking to build her own brand.

We talked to Laurie Ann about helping Diddy find grade-A musicians, the huge reputation that precedes her, crafting an insane show with Lady GaGa, and awakening her own music career.

NL: When the previews of ‘Making His Band’ started airing, a lot of people were kind of skeptical about whether or not it was worth watching. That is until they saw the first episode. Now we’re tuning in every week. What do you think it is about the show that people are connecting with?

LAG: I honestly believe it’s a new journey and the music. The music…the gift of the music stand on their own. It’s kind of the thing that’s missing. It is what it is. We love it and it’s a gift, and it’s going to continue to draw people in.

It’s a different perspective on how these albums are made and a different approach to how you get to the end process of an album, or a group, or in Puffy’s case [the album] The Last Train to Paris is a concept that we’re going to have to build visually and then experience when the album’s done and the show starts.

NL: Definitely. Since the show is about finding this backing band for Diddy, we were kind of afraid we wouldn’t get to see you since you’re the dancing queen.

LAG: [laughs]

NL: How is your background as a dancer and choreographer going to help these musicians?

LAG: Well, the thing is, I’m also creative director. For example, like I’ve been telling people about my Lady GaGa project. I completely creative directed that from scratch as well as choreographed. The thing is, when you build an album like The Last Train to Paris and Puffy wants a band, you just can’t go see a bunch of musicians behind a superstar like Puff. It’s like Prince and the Revolution or like Sheila E. being in one of his bands or Parliament Funkadelic, you know, it has to be tandem with the vision.

These people have to have a look and an image, you know, those five hits or five moves in the show that make you go WOOOO! You don’t want to just listen to the music. We have to be a show, and The Last Train to Paris is a concept you can experience. So, you will see a different kind of “Boom Kack” or a different type of 5, 6, 7, 8. Being the creative director, the load is very heavy on my shoulders because they just met these musicians — first of all, they’re scared to stand on the same stage as Puff.

NL: [laughs] Definitely!

LAG: They’re afraid of him. They’re like, “Oh my God! It’s Puffy!” — can you play, please!? I’m that one thing that is the glue.

NL: So, personally, what are you looking for? You said a look, a sound. What else do they need?

LAG: I have no idea yet. The only thing I’m looking at when I first come on the show, this week, next week, I don’t know — the first thing I did was hear them since I didn’t pick them and I was like, “Oh my God! They’re so boring!” There’s this whole period where I’m like what is going on? Like, no one has a natural kick-ball change up there. You’d be surprised. Back in the day those musicians had time to go on the road with their singer and become Doctor from Prince’s Revolution, you know what I mean, or Tina Turner’s saxophone player. We don’t have that. That era is over, so I have to manipulate that and create that as a creative director and artist development. That’s that element of it that people don’t understand. These artist no longer wake up like Prince or walk around like Michael [Jackson] did, or Diana [Ross]. They’re learning, and this is the gap we’re trying to close, because they’re just musicians. They get up there and they play, and this is where I have to inspire them to take on a character and then an image. ‘Can you turn your hat to the side? Maybe that will make you feel like you’re in the year 3008 and on the last train to Paris and we’re taking off.’

NL: I think it’s awesome what you guys are doing because, like you said, it’s missing so much from music. And I think Beyonce is just starting to do that with her all female band. Like they all have personalities. You go to a show to see Beyonce AND you go to see her band.

LAG: Exactly! That’s exactly what it is! She has inspired them and now it is shifting into, like you say, we know that that guitar player is gonna come out and let us have it, which is the girl with the dreads, and the drummer is — exactly!

NL: I’m sure when these musicians heard you’d be working with them, they were a little bit afraid. Do you think there are any reputations that precede you when people hear you’re going to work on something?

LAG: Absolutely, and I’m still trying to figure it out! [laughs]

NL: [laughs]

LAG: ‘Oh dear lord! Why are they all looking at me like that!?’ It takes everybody like an hour and then they’re like, ‘Oh, she’s not really as mean,’ then my goal and passion [become clear] and they understand. Then they want it and they’re jumping in like we can not lose. They finally see the whole story. But that first hour, everybody’s staring at me like I’m from Mars.

NL: Like you’re about to kill them.

LAG: Yes! They’re like shaking. Maybe some of it is true. I don’t know, but when they see the end product and they’re number one, they forget about it.

NL:  Exactly. So, the very first episode we already saw that Diddy will be dancing a lot more. Are you the one responsible for whipping him into dancing shape?

LAG: Yeah… I’m not gonna give away a couple things, but we definitely have a sit down where we establish whether he’s going to allow me to be who I am or if I’m gonna have to do it with flash cards and cue cards or something and he’s not saying anything to me.

NL: Yeah, because you guys had that huge, huge blow up. Are you ever nervous that it will happen again since you’re working so directly with him this time?

LAG: No because I think that blow up came out of the fact that we love and respect each other and that he honestly — I’ve earned my respect with him. I’ve earned it. And he has now transferred to allowing that respect to come out publicly. You know, that was kind of like the breaking point, I think, where our relationship was ‘I’m gonna have to allow her to shift. She’s given me 10 years of loyalty. She’s given me number one acts. I have to let her grow. She is a creative director.’

NL: Definitely.

LAG: So now that we’re one-on-one, I don’t fear that. I’ve never feared that. I think the truth is the choice he made on camera was just a growing pain.

NL: Let’s talk about some of these number one acts briefly. A lot of people still are very shocked by Danity Kane’s split. What was your reaction and did you see it coming at all?

LAG: Absolutely I saw it coming from very early on and it’s a shame because knowing who those girls ultimately are, their hearts and their gifts, they’re amazing girls. They’re enormously talented, but when you choose the hype train, or when you choose what this business creates — the facade of what we do in the editing room or what they do in the studio — you have to maintain your humility and a gratefulness to the opportunity so that you can stay grounded. I really believe that change happened very quickly for them and they lost their grounding.

NL: It’s such a shame because they were a great group. Even though they were plucked out of thousands, they seemed to have a chemistry — in the beginning at least.

LAG: They were plucked out of thousands, and I helped create that chemistry. You don’t get that with five strangers [without] a lot of work.That just doesn’t happen. So their choice to not tell the honest truth or not be humble to the process [left them with] nothing to stand on because it was still being worked. You know, they weren’t born together. They weren’t sisters. They’re not Destiny’s Child or En Vogue, but they had something that was really unique and that was a gift. It was something that was their own and that they needed.

NL: Do you see the same thing happening for Day26 or do you see them gelling a bit more?

LAG: I think they survived, but there’s an element of that that’s growing, yes, absolutely. I’m not sure how long Will… I mean, I love the boys. I love them actually. They’re so talented. They have survived a lot.

NL: Yeah, they’re incredible.

LAG: Yeah, amazing. You know, but they have to keep going. And, like everybody, they have to keep pushing. They can’t want the reward without the work. It just doesn’t happen like that in this business. Like Michael Jackson was getting ready to do it again, or Madonna. You can’t not find the inspiration or the humility or the passion. The fact that you get to perform and allow your gift to be the reason that you feed your family. That’s an opportunity that doesn’t come easy. That’s a gift in itself.

NL: At the very least we get to see Dawn this season.

LAG: Yaaaaay!

NL: How has it been watching her go from this little girl being picked for Danity Kane to this solo artist and member of Dirty Money, and an incredible writer?

LAG: I think that I saw that from the beginning. It’s her gift. She’s amazing, she’s really talented, she’s beautiful, she’s hot, she’s gonna be great. We’re having a blast. We’re trying to figure out the dynamic between her, Puffy, and Kalenna. It’s fun. It’s just amazing. It’s fantastic and I’m so happy for her.

NL: It’s gonna be exciting to see Dawn kind of working on the level with Diddy and not working under him like she was before.

LAG: Well, you know, she still works… [laughs] That sense never really goes away. It is an open playing field, but at the end of the day everyone when we have to hit the stage or when we have to create visual levels when you’re in the room, you know, it’s that perception. But it’s like hit your mark and the truth will kind of set everybody free. So, it is the same playing field, but at the same time it’s still Puffy, so there’s still her saying ‘I still have to go full out!’ It’s the same thing because the second you relax or think you’re on the same level as anybody, you can’t perfect your gift.

NL: Definitely.

LAG: And I think Dawnie is just somebody who continues to want to grow, and get better, and get the information and just do the best that she can.

NL: So does being around all of this music inspire you to make more of your own?

LAG: Absolutely! I’m very excited about the music I’m making. It’s amazing and it’s dance. It’s an evolution of what my community needs and loves. It’s a platform where we can actually have access to not changing our steps based on another artists’ limitations, but actually going to a whole other level.

NL: When can we hear more of what you’re working on?

LAG: I think very soon! I mean, Rodney [Jerkins] and I are doing a show for Puffy’s Starmaker, which is amazing. That airs August 16. So, I think we’re releasing something in September that him and I and Lady GaGa are working on.

NL: Awesome! Can you tell me anymore about this project?

LAG: I think it’s my most intimate side of me that no one really knows, as a writer as well. I think it’s going to be… it’s a side no one really knows yet.

NL: I’m excited to see it.

LAG: I am too! [laughs] I’m excited to do it. I battled through a lot of insecurities and I stood behind a lot of artists and gave them — even with Danity Kane — I gave them versions of my opinions and [told them to] go and inject this because of the fear and insecurity in myself. I’ve dealt with it over a lot of years and it hasn’t gone away. It’s something that if I didn’t feel, honestly, that God wasn’t allowing me to do then I wouldn’t do it. I don’t feel like it’s my choice because I’ve denied it for so long and out of the insecurities and not following the traditional road or transitioning from choreographer to creative director to artist… People are so judgmental about that with women. Puffy can be five things, I have to be one.

NL: Exactly.

LAG: It’s terrible. He can sell perfume, have an album, run a label, do a movie, have production companies — I have to do one.

NL: You have to stick to dancing, that’s it!

LAG: Right! [laughs]

NL: So, you worked with Lady GaGa on her tour and she has huge ideas for everything she wants to do. What was it like putting it together with her and how much input did you get from her to put the show together?

LAG: When we first started a year and a half ago, we were in the Lower Eastside doing nothing. [We were] getting stuff for costumes ourselves. And I think just the fact that she trusted me so much and trusted my gift — a lot of the time with Puffy and Danity Kane and a lot of other artists, they’re fearful of what the music industry will think or what the record label will say. With GaGa she didn’t care. I was like “You gotta do this! You gotta try this!” And it was just the trust that really produced great work and she’s such a great songwriter. For her, for someone to come along and interpret her records to that level just made her amazing because she had a deal before me and it didn’t work. They didn’t understand her record. She played me “Paparazzi” and I was like “Oh yeah! Lets make it like this…” She tells people that she was just crying [because] someone got an interpretation that she could relate to as a songwriter and we just started building the movie based off of her records from there.

NL: That is incredible!

LAG: She’s going on tour with Kanye and we’re really excited about that tour.

NL: Oh my gosh, I think everyone is!

LAG: It’s the ‘Monster Ballet’. It’s gonna be amazing.

NL: Can you tell me anything about what you’re putting together for that? It’s gonna be huge!

LAG: It’s going to be tandem, which means it’s not going to be one artist going on before the next, so creatively, we’re going to take a journey with them together. I think, as far as seeing Kanye, he’s a great artist. We’re going to push the level where it’s just one show, one experience, you know, some Broadway. A little bit of that element into it and of course just the art aspect of it, the fashion aspect of it and the technology coming together in one story with the dance and design of it. I think it’s going to stand alone and be one of those concerts that you watch forever.

NL: Oh gosh, yes! I’m so excited for it already. These are two huge artists. Even though GaGa just came out, she’s already huge. People expect things from her. You don’t expect to go to her show and sit there and be bored. She’s gonna give you an experience and the same with Kanye.

LAG: Correct! Yes! We have Vespa cars that come out on stage and the Vespa matches her outfit and matches the wall. It’s amazing! We’re excited.

NL: So, you were involved with So You Think You Can Dance a lot this season. Are you coming back for the next one?

LAG: Yes! I’m actually on my way to Vegas. I guess there’s going to be thousands –  I don’t know how many people get to come to Vegas, but I’m doing the pop/jazz audition and helping them weed it down to the last 20 for the new season. So, I’m actually on my way there tonight.

NL: Awesome! Were you happy with who won this season?

LAG: I WAS! I love Jeanine! I gotta tell you, a lot of people weren’t voting for her and we did “Battlefield” and she had a really hard time and, of course, she cried and people were like, ‘Oh, Boom Kack is always making someone cry!’

NL: [laughs]

LAG: I really know that truly the “Battlefield” and the approach we took… I get that we’re in “concept land” over here but the concept has to be you, Jeanine. Like you gotta transcend and transition all of whatever that was. I really believe she connected with it and it kinda opened her to where she wasn’t afraid to want it, whereas Kayla was playing it — she wasn’t playing it safe, but we never saw Kayla come outside of herself and kinda bleed, you know, with passion.

NL: Jeanine was kind of a dark horse. I don’t think I even realized she was on the show until the last few episodes because it was all about Kayla, Kayla, Kayla almost every week.

LAG: Yup, absolutely, and that was the thing because Jeanine is a fighter. She’s a fighter and she’s not your favorite person, but you can not deny her gift. To me, that’s just God working through her and blessing her and just allowing people to know you can’t really judge what God gives a person. If someone would allow their gift to do the talking, then you can’t judge it. Just recognize it and keep it moving.

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Laurie Ann can be seen as a judge on MTV’s Making His Band, airing Monday nights at 10pm/9pm central, and on MTV’s Starmaker Sundays at 10pm/9pm central.