In bed met Mario

(en iets met champagne drinken)

The summer has officially begun and you should know that your editors sometimes feel like trying out a new column. So we came up with the idea that from now on I will regularly try to chat a VIP into my bed. This week: R&B star Mario. If you don't know ‘You should let me love you’-Mario, I now compel you to read through to the video for the ‘aah, of course-moment’. Mr. was in the Netherlands for a few days and of course we were front row to speak to him. But according to the rules of our new column In bed with... About everything between the sheets, under the sheets, on the sheets, you get it. (I would say: definitely read through to the end).

Two days later. So I'm lying in a divine bed in the W hotel with Mario and Mr. R&B star jokes that he has never had a first date in a bed. I respond with: ‘Haha, me neither‘ and he says: ’The goal of a good date is to eventually end up here, right?‘ You understand: red cheeks and I couldn't talk normally to Mario for the next three quarters of an hour. Then just a bit more champagne. And then he even starts singing. Okay, focus, FOCUS, interview. Interview! HELP.

Mario, let's go back to 2005. Your song ‘Let Me Love You’ stormed the charts. Where have you actually been all this time?

‘I have traveled a lot, searching for myself, my own tone of voice and which direction I wanted to go with my music. Two years ago I started my own record label, and that's what I've actually focused on in recent years.’

You're working on a new album. Can we speak of a renewed, rawer version of Mario?

‘Definitely. I'm not making the R&B I made ten years ago anymore. This album is a lot more sensitive. I want to get closer to my fans by really giving them a glimpse into my thoughts.’

Your latest single is called ‘Pain Is The New Pleasure’. What is the story behind the song?

‘What I mean with the song is that nowadays it seems like pain is the new pleasure, because we are entertained by all sorts of factors that may not be the best for us, but we do them anyway because we don't know any better. The song goes pretty deep. It’s about the decisions we make as humans, and how we react to our environment.’

Do you listen to music in bed?

‘Quite often, yes. I love listening to it when I wake up. And sometimes I also fall asleep to it. I also have those apps on my phone with bird and sea sounds, haha.’

Okay, I have to know. Have you ever had sex to your own music?

‘I have listened to my own song during sex, but that was really by accident. There was just a playlist on and then I suddenly came up. And then more magic happened haha.’

What is the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?

‘Yawn, stretch, and pull the curtains because I always forget to close them and then stay in bed a little longer.’

And the last thing you did last night?

‘I took a long walk through Amsterdam. And to be honest, I also got lost right away.’

Are you more of an early bird or a night owl?

‘A night owl. When I'm home, I sometimes go until six in the morning in the studio. Then I sleep two, three hours and then I go again.’

Two or three hours of sleep?! That's not much.

‘I don't do that every night, you know. But in a busy period like now, yes. Then I can do that for four days in a row and on the fifth day I take the time to catch up on sleep. Shall we toast to the soft sheets and the music?’

“I have listened to my own song during sex, but that was really by accident.”

Sounds like a good idea. I also brought you stroopwafels by the way, do you know those?

‘Yes! I happened to eat them for the first time this morning in the car. They are like little pancake waffles. Sweet, but not too sweet and nice and crunchy. I love it.’

If someone were to bring you breakfast in bed now, what would you hope for?

‘Definitely waffles. There's nothing better. Especially if they are baked a bit harder and with some fruit on the side. I also like an omelet. Or oatmeal.’

Sleeping naked, yes or no?

‘Absolutely yes. I really don't like putting on clothes after I come out of the shower at night.’

What is your favorite hotel?

‘Hotel The Blackman in Australia I think is really cool.’

Most crazy/expensive hotel memory?

‘I once stayed in a hotel where the Indian sheets were so incredibly expensive that they were sometimes stolen. The texture of those blankets was also really something else. Like touching feathers. There was even a sign on the door stating that you were not allowed to take the sheets with you.’

Are you a stomach, side, or back sleeper?

‘I currently sleep on my back without pillows. I've been doing that for a short time and I feel a lot more energetic in the morning.’

The most beautiful woman you've ever slept next to?

‘I can't name her, but she was really an enchanting natural beauty. I could go completely wild from her aroma. She made the sleeping experience really different, almost exotic.’

How many different beds do you sleep in per month?

‘Now it's not too bad, but the moment you really start touring it suddenly becomes a lot. When I was touring with Destiny's Child for over three months, I think I slept in fifty or sixty different beds.’