Author: Marcus Dyson
Published: December 30, 2003
Tool: [ email ]
Let me first of all thanks to Mikael for hooking up this interview and thanks to Edna for making it possible. I had a talk with Wayman Tisdale who has won several awards and has done some excellent work in the music business for a number of years and he recently released a gospel album on his independent label called Tisway Records. See the full review on the album “21Days” for more information. This is an edited transcript of this exciting interview with him.
Marcus: I love the album. It’s great and I have to say the song that got me the most was “Today”. What was your inspiration behind that song?
Wayman: Well, myself, Carnell Murrell and the young lady that’s singing on it Cassandra Robertson, it was just sitting in my computer for a couple days right before we wrote it and I was going to move on to the next song. Carnell came and heard it and said, “Man, it’s a hit! This is the song! We gotta write a happy song something like today, something current that will make people get off into it and start their day off.” That’s kind of how the whole concept came about and we love doing the song live, too, because people really love that song.
Marcus: On the album I notice there are two different names on there. There’s Karnell with a ‘K’ and Carnell with a ‘C’. Are those two different people?
Wayman: (Laughing) No, that’s the same Carnell. Karnell is his stage name and Carnell is actually the real one.
Marcus: (Laughing) I am familiar with Carrnell who is a dynamic recording artist and songwriter. How did you go about pulling together the people you have on the album?
Wayman: Carnell who I have worked with before, we produced a young lady by the name of Tarralyn Ramsey. Tarralyn, who is also a gospel-recording artist with Verity Records, just won the VH1 Diva contest. Carnell and I produced like 7 songs for her on her and he has worked with me for Tisway Productions. So he actually brought in Cassandra Robertson and helped me put in the finishing touches on the 21-day project, which actually turned out to be the glue of the whole project. Carnell brought everything together as well as my daughter Danielle and my brother Weldon who is my Pastor.
Marcus: Let me tell you the song Danielle did, “Pray For Me”. That girl got some vocals on her!
Wayman: She just turned 20 and she grew up in the studio going with me when I would be working she would fall asleep on the couch. She is just a natural and she actually wrote that song and the title cut on my last album “Face To Face”. She is a great tremendous writer.
Marcus: How did you get started in the music business because I know you were a basketball player before as well?
Wayman: I was always active in it on the writing and production side. When I first started in the music I wrote for The Winans the song “Payday” and with R. Kelly I did the remix, too. I also wrote for SWV on their first record that sold about 3 million copies. I have been around I was a writer and producer before an artist. Then I started doing my demo and playing out at different spots people started saying, “Man, you should have your solo record.” So I started putting together a demo of about 7 songs and when I finished the 7 songs we had sent a tape to Motown and so my first record is actually my demo that you’re hearing.
Marcus: Was your family a musical family coming up or when you were young?
Wayman: I have uncles and older brothers who have made songs and my father was a singer, my mother sung and all my older brothers sung we were always involved in the music somehow and we all are musically inclined in some way.
Marcus: Did you ever have an experience like where Mom invites company over and the kids would entertain them. Did you ever have an experience like that?
Wayman: Uh, yeah but not so much because we were usually in church so long that we were pretty much doing that in church anyway. You know we were the choir.
Marcus: So you grew up in church?
Wayman: My father was the pastor of Friendship Baptist for over 20 years in Tulsa, OK.
Marcus: Tell me about the album title 21 days. How did you come up with that title?
Wayman: Well, the record started on January 1st and ended on the 21st. What you are hearing is 21 days of fasting and at the same time my church went on a fast for 21 days and that was my fast of letting God turning me inside out.
Marcus: I know you were doing contemporary jazz and did you have any obstacles or people coming against you saying, “You’re supposed to be a Christian man?
Wayman: Well, coming from a secular basketball career people didn’t too much approach me with that but as far as musically people saying you’re playing the devil’s music but the devil didn’t create anything. God made all things and God loves music and the gift of music and you can hear the message of God in what I play. I try not to corrupt it or record anything that I can’t play in front of my mother. I try not to go through and pick them like oh this is for Jesus because my whole album God gave me the songs and it’s definitely all about Him.
Marcus: What do you do in times when you are really discouraged? What keeps you encouraged and going forward?
Wayman: You know the drive for me is that I have always set high goals for myself and I always try to accomplish what people say is impossible. They don’t know the God that I serve because I serve a God that can do the impossible.
Marcus: Who are some artists or people that you would like to work with in the future?
Wayman: I think one of the most aspiring to work with I would say mainly they are all so great but the one right off the bat I would say Karen Clark-Sheard. We talked a couple months ago about doing some things together and I would love to work with her singing on one of my projects.
Marcus: What artists did you grow up listening to?
Wayman: The Winans and my mother had stuff in the early 70’s like Aretha’s gospel record “Amazing Grace”.
Marcus: Are there any words that you would like to say to some aspiring artists or up and coming artists?
Wayman: Mainly, you have to love what you are doing. You have to keep and open mind and open focus about your talents and what your goals are because anything can distract you and you gotta keep a lot of negative people out of your ear. God blesses you with your vision and nobody can see your vision like you.
Marcus: God bless you and thank you for your time. I’m looking for more gospel from you, man.
Wayman: Definitely, I am working on a couple other projects with Unity Mass Choir from Oklahoma and that will be the next project I am working on.
