Jaci Velasquez juggles for a living. The 31-year-old Latin pop artist has to. She’s currently finishing up her latest album,
Diamond, starring in two upcoming films,
The Encounter and
Jerusalem Countdown, as well as authoring a book,
Coffee and Concealer. If that hasn’t kept her busy enough, the award-winning singer and her husband, Nic Gonzalez of the band
Salvador, are trying to teach their two sons to potty-train. Velasquez, whose warm, smooth voice has sold over 4 million albums, is also now using her voice as a new co-host for a morning radio show.
NocheLatina.com recently had the chance to speak with Velasquez and is allowing NRT to share this catch-up with Jaci with our readers. She shares about her upcoming album, her inspiration, and the loves of her life.
I wanted to first ask you about your upcoming album, Diamond. What is the meaning behind the title?
There’s a song called "Diamond." The album is built around that song. I’m also writing a new book called Coffee and Concealer – it’s about what brought me to this point and what I had to go through in order to get ready for what I am now…things I’ve learned in the process. Simple things, like trying to figure out how to potty-train. I went through so much in my personal life, so much turmoil. It’s how God can take something that you feel is ugly and make it into something beautiful.
I understand you are currently finishing the album. When can we expect it to release?
It’s going to come out a month after the DVD, which will be released in April. That’s the plan, but everything could change.
Can you tell us more about your live DVD?
The live DVD is of a live concert of my husband’s band, Salvador, and I doing a show together. We brought the boys onto the set with us and they make their appearance. The way they are now, they’re the cool kids… the rock ‘n’ rollers. My eldest has the best pitch and my youngest is enamored with piano. I didn’t want my children to end up becoming musicians. My hope is that they will become doctors – something that they will make a living with. But my kids have obviously turned into something completely different, which I had a feeling they would. They’re the light of my life. I always end up talking about them. I didn’t really live until Nic and I got married. I’m living now. The DVD is actually amazing, I’m proud of it. My husband and I collaborate and I sing background vocals for him when he does a solo. It’s an exciting show and I’m just happy that people are looking forward to it.
With the recording of Diamond, is there anything you have done differently from your previous albums?
It’s a much more challenging album for me as a vocalist. I pushed the limit – my range is small, but I pushed it. Stylistically, the record is along the lines of what I’ve done, with more of an edge. One of the songs is called "Girls." Girl, you got a way – look, don’t try and be what everybody else wants you to be. Don’t try to fit in, because who you are is beautiful.
Are there any particular messages that you want to get across to your fans with your new album?
Life is life. It’s not always easy, even though it seems that somebody has been dealt great cards in life. I used to think that the things that would make me happy were success. My success now lies in my husband and in my two boys. Those are God’s gifts to me. Why He gave them to me I have no idea, but I know that God has that for each and everyone of us. Life is good.
How do you juggle everything?
When it came time to trying to juggle everything, I opted for somebody to be a life assistant, if you will. I interviewed so many nannies. My priority is my husband and my kids, so I chose to go with a life assistant who takes care of emails. That’s how I juggle everything. I feel like I didn’t have these kids to have someone else raise them. If they’re going to spend time with anyone other than me, it’s going to be grandma.
I understand you began co-hosting The Family Friendly Morning Show with Doug Griffin this past fall. Can you share with us about your experience thus far?
Jaci Velasquez: I actually wake up at 4AM and that’s really hard…but it’s great because I love it. I guess I have a face for radio – I love talking about the things that are relevant to my age group, the mom who has kids at home who are between 25 and 45. I love to make them realize that they’re not alone. No matter where we are, we always feel like we’re not doing enough when it comes to our kids. If your heart is in the right place and you want to be with the kids 100 percent of the time, they can feel whether you want to be there or not. I talk about all this in my book too – sometimes the best thing you can do for your kids is to do something for yourself. I become a better mother when I take 30 minutes away from my kids. I come back and I’m excited to see them. That’s also really important to your marriage. For me, the most important thing that I can ever do for my children is to love my husband more than I love them. It’s because when they grow up, I want them to seek out and expect the kind of marriage that their parents had.
What or who is your inspiration behind your music?
My father is a fantastic singer. I believe that there are so many, honestly. Cindy Morgan, Willie Nelson, and Paramore are also fantastic. I think Luis Miguel is amazing. They’re so many beautiful kinds of music to draw inspiration from.
Do you have a life goal?
I do have a life goal. Personally, my momentary goal is to get my boys potty-trained. Past that, my goals fluctuate. I still want to do Broadway…that’s the only thing I’ve never gotten to do. For me and Nic, our goal is to raise our boys, buy land and have our grandkids enjoy what we’ve made for them. That’s our dream world.
