Jeremy Bradley- Who is your favourite Idol?

Jon Peter Lewis- My favourite Idol this year is Taylor (Hicks).  But I don't think he'll win. 

JB-  Your favourite Idol judge?

JPL-  I mean, I like Simon the best.

JB-  And your favourite song to perform on Idol?

JPL-  I enjoyed most "A Little Less Conversation" and "Jailhouse Rock."  Those two.

JB-  Before the interview we talked about all the interviews you've been doing recently and that you're asked the same questions over and over again.  And I'm sure Idol has come up in every interview, right?

JPL-  Indeed, yes.

JB-  Are you sick of talking about the show already?  Do you kind of want to focus the attention on yourself now, more as an artist?

JPL-  No, it's not that I'm sick of it.  I'm not entirely sick of it.  I enjoy talking to people so… I'm not sick of it yet.  I may get that way soon but I have a pretty high tolerance for this kind of thing.

JB-  You were born in Nebraska.

JPL-  That's right.  I was born in Lincoln. 

JB-  And you auditioned in Hawaii. 

JPL-  That's right, that's right.  I guess you want to know the connection.

JB-  Yeah.  Did you figure, "I just want to go somewhere exotic?  Hey, if I'm going I might as well go all out!"

JPL- Might as well go to Hawaii.  It wasn't that actually.  I was born in Lincoln and I lived there until I was three.  And then I moved to Seattle and I lived there until I was about six.  And then I moved to San Diego and lived there until I was close to 10.  And then I moved to West Virginia, then I moved to Detroit and then I moved to Wyoming and then I went off to college in Idaho.  And that's pretty much where the story picks up.  I was in Montana and I was working in a theatre company and I ran across a videotape of American Idol and I thought, "Well this could be a good way to give the music business a shot."  You know, because I had always thought about being in the music business but (had) never done anything up to that point, really, to be serious about it.  I flew to Hawaii because it was the only audition city that I could make it out to.

JB- Do you think it's important to win Idol?

JPL-  Is it important?  I mean, no.  Yes and no.  It's cool.  It's great.  I think there are definitely big downsides with it.  I think the biggest downfall is that there's no time for artist development.  There's no time for whoever this person is to kind of grow into a sound that's unique and not so general.

JB-  Would you have preferred to win?

JPL- Let me put it this way- I'm happy where I'm at.  I don't think it's a matter of preference.  It is what it is and I don't even think whether I'm happy or unhappy, it's just kind of like I am where I am.  It's like I have to be happy with that.

JB-  And where you are now you're doing it your own way, on your own time.  You're creating your own path, aren't you?

JPL- Right.  Absolutely.

JB-  So maybe you would have preferred to do it this way instead of actually winning because you're not being rushed through everything and you're not as in control of everything.

JPL-  That's for sure.  There's a lot more control.  There are definite upsides to… I don't know, I think I would have been able to make it work no matter where I was.  I was very clear in my mind about what I wanted to do.  Well, more about what I didn't want to have happen.  You know, I wasn't exactly sure about a lot of things.  But I didn't want to be a ballad singer.  I wanted to be in control and I wanted a lot of these things.  And I think may have been able to pull it off even if I had won.  I don't know.  Maybe that's just speculation, I guess.

JB- Thinking back three years ago - or even six years ago, before Idol hit the airwaves - where did you see yourself headed career wise?  Did you ever think of becoming a pen salesman like Simon first suggested?

JPL-  (laughing)  No. No I never thought about it.  I was planning on going to medical school.  I was an English student in college and I was thinking I'll go be a doctor and have a secure life and blah, blah, blah.  But my father, he's a musician, you know, I grew up with a lot of music in the house and he had some success in the 60s.  My whole life I kind of grew up thinking that I would be a musician and I was pretty surprised at myself just before Idol auditions.  Just before I decided to go I was surprised that I hadn't done anything about that kind of desire up to that point of time in my life.  I thought this might be a shot - an opportunity - to possibly live that dream that I had growing up.

JB- So you weren't really pursing it at all prior to Idol?

JPL-  No, I really wasn't.  You know, American Idol's my first attempt. 

JB- When did you first fall in love with music then?

JPL-  I was really in love with music from a really young age.  I don't know.  I mean, I liked a lot of things.  I was really a diverse kid.  I was in choir but I was also in a rock and roll band.  And I was in theatre and I really enjoyed music theatre stuff and appreciated all that stuff for what it was.  I don't know.  I mean, I definitely fell in love with music then.  And every time I hear like a new artist or a new song that I really like, you know, I'm kind of in love with music all over again.  It just reminds me of why I like it so much. 

JB-  What is it about music that you love?

JPL-  I think it's definitely transcendent as a form of communication.  They say it was one of the first things that developed in early humans, even before a lot of core language skills were developed.  Even in primitive cultures you find very complex music structures.  I think it's just a very high and universal form of communicating and being able to express yourself and I could connect with it.

JB- These days in show business it seems like it's not just a music career, it's not just an acting career - they all kind of tie in together.  You said you've done theatre and music, so what's the number one for you?

JPL-  Well at the moment the number one is music.  That's kind of the path that I have started on and need to follow through.  And then in the future, who knows?  I don't know.  It'll depend on a lot of things.  I would love to act again, I mean it's definitely a passion of mine.  It's something that I really enjoy a lot.  All my friends in college are all actors and that's a lot of the crowd that I've run with my whole life and I feel comfortable in that atmosphere.  I'd like to get back into it, it's just kind of one of those things where it's one thing at a time.  You've gotta take what you've got at the moment and run with it and let the future decide what else happens. 

JB- And there are only so many hours in the day.

JPL-  Pretty much.