David Archuleta: “I’m very excited to share the message of this album.”

The ‘Crush’ singer begins his tour on March 21, 2019, in Pennsylvania and concludes at the end of April. In an interview with United by Pop, David opens up about touring, fans and major success following the release of ‘Crush.’

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You’re about to start your spring tour in just a few weeks! What can you tell us about that and how excited are you to get back on the road?

I am feeling a lot more excited now because I have been doing rehearsals the past couple of days! Before rehearsals, I’m panicking almost. It’s a cycle. It happens every single time. Once I get to rehearsals I’m like, “Oh! It’s all okay.” I’m very excited to share the message of this album I did called ‘Postcards In The Sky’. It’s important and so special to me, so I just want to share it one more time before I start my new project.

What can fans expect from the setlist?

There will be old and new songs. There will be a couple of covers as well! It’s a combo of everything, some covers and I may be debuting one of my new songs on this tour to see how people respond. It’s (the tour) called ‘Postcards In The Sky’, so I will be emphasizing that album on this tour.

You started your professional career and had mass success when you were only 16 years old. How was it to start your career so early and begin on the popular show American Idol?

It was weird to be honest! I knew how big the show was. I didn’t know how big I would get on the show. I went and auditioned because I was curious and a fan of the show. I’ve never been competitive, so I didn’t think I would be in the finale. That seemed too surreal for me to be there suddenly and have people voting for me when I had voted for people in the past. Millions of people [would be] watching every week and everywhere we went, people knew who I was.

From before the show aired and after was just a few weeks, and it was a crazy how fast people started recognizing me. It blew my mind how the popularity of that show connects you to millions of people. I wasn’t ready for it, but I feel like it was good conditioning for me. It was like bootcamp! It trained me to deal with recognition. I’ve always been an introvert. Ask anyone from my neighborhood or school! If they knew me, they knew me because I didn’t talk. To be this kid that people called “Smiley” because all he did was smile and not say anything — to now having to be in front of millions of people. It was wacky how big of a change it was. There’s a tendency we may have to put limits on ourselves and tell us what we’re not capable of and most of the time it isn’t true.

It’s been over 10 years since your hit song ‘Crush’ was released. Did you expect it to blow up the way that it did?

It’s weird that it’s had a life that long! Life has been merciful to me and I feel like God has been looking out for me. I had no idea that I would get runner-up in a singing competition that was on nationally and then have a single, ‘Crush,’ debut at number two on the Hot 100. I obsessed over those charts for years in middle school and high school. To have a song on that chart and for it to do as well as it did and for it to still have a life now, I’m humbled by it. I’m so grateful that something I was a part of has left an impact on people even after all of these years. People are still enjoying it and that just makes me really happy as an artist. I feel very blessed.

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Do you have any advice for people who are thinking about auditioning for a talent show — or even just chasing their dreams to be an artist like yourself?

I would say maybe not everyone experiences nerves, but I think most people do. I’ve been doing this for 11 years now and I still get scared before my tours. It’s scary. You’re putting yourself out there and allowing yourself to be judged by people. It’s ok for you to feel scared and I would just encourage you to push through the nerves because that’s where you find yourself. You feel the energy of the crowd and you feel them connecting to what you’re giving to them in music. It suddenly becomes this magical moment.

You released a holiday album in late 2018 called ‘Winter in the Air’. How was that process and what was your favorite song to record?

It was so fun! I love Christmas music… they’re my favorite shows to do. My favorite song was the song I released as a single called ‘Christmas Every Day’ because I wanted to challenge myself to do something happy and fun. I wrote it with Cason Cooley and Dave Barnes. I think Dave was what made it so fun to write the song and record it. He’s so hilarious. One of the hardest times I’ve laughed in my life was writing ‘Christmas Every Day’ with Dave Barnes. I didn’t know he was a comedian until after [we recorded]. I also had one of my friends from American Idol, Melissa Doolittle, sing the background vocals. It was fun to have a friend do background vocals on that song.

In terms of what’s next for you when it comes to releasing new music, how is the new music going to be different than what you have released in the past?

I’m trying to make it more pop. I feel like now I have found out how to be myself, what really matters to me and I want to try to make it fresh now. More of that fresh pop vibe that’s going on now. That’s what I’m trying to do with this [new] album. They will feel the messages that I did with Postcards In The Sky, but it will be more pop. I never really focused on relationships and love songs before and I feel like I’ve allowed myself to open up back to that again. I’ve just been doing a lot therapy for the past year and a half and I’ve written a lot about that too.

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My 2019 Spring Tour starts next week and is right around the corner! … 🙂 What songs are you hoping to hear? Let me know in the comments below! Tickets & Dates at davidarchuleta.com (link in bio)

A post shared by David Archuleta (@davidarchie) on Mar 12, 2019 at 4:53pm PDT

If you could collaborate with any artist this year, who would it be and why?

I’ve always loved Tori Kelly’s voice, so I think that would be cool! We’ve known each other since I was 12 and she was 10. I also think it would be amazing to collaborate with someone I admire a lot, Sleeping At Last. His music is just so freeing to me because it has pop elements but it also has cinematic elements and I think it would be so cool to do something with him. I respect him as a person, but also just a fan of his music. I also want to collaborate with a rapper. I think it would be fun.

What can fans look forward to in the near or distant future?

I will have a new music video in a couple of weeks! I’ll have a single come out in the next couple of months for the next album I’m doing. They can be excited for new music and I can’t wait for them to hear it! It’s been really fun and I have really enjoyed the album making process for this one.

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Be sure to catch David Archuleta on tour in a city near you! Get tickets now.

3/21 Scranton, PA Stage West

3/22 Pawling, NY Darryl’s House

3/23 Northampton, MA Iron Horse

3/25 Ithaca, NY The Haunt

3/27 Alexandria, VA Birchmere

3/28 Boston, MA City Winery

3/29 Norfolk, CT Infinity Hall

3/30 Sellersville, PA Sellersville Theatre

4/1 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom

4/2 Chicago, IL City Winery

4/4 Fargo, N*E*R*D Sanctuary Events Center

4/6 Billings, MT Pub Station Ballroom

4/8 Boise, ID Egyptian Theatre

4/9 Idaho Falls, ID Colonial Center

4/11 Fresno, CA Tower Theater

4/12 Modesto, CA State Theatre

4/15 Las Vegas, NV Reynolds Center -Youth Symphony Orchestra show

4/16 Santa Barbara, CA Lobero Theatre

4/17 Escondido, CA California Center for the Performing Arts

4/22 Rock Spring, WY Broadway Theater

4/23 Loveland, CO Rialto Theater

4/24 Price, UT Carbon Event Center

4/25 Vernal, UT Vernal Middle School

4/26 Cedar City, UT Heritage Theatre