Pharrell tells his life story 'piece by piece' via Legos: NPR

Pharrell Williams tells the story of his life in piece by piece

Courtesy of Focus Features

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Courtesy of Focus Features

Although it may seem like a strange decision on the surface, it felt natural to the musician Pharrell Williams to tell his life story through Legos. “My earliest memories were the Lego sets my parents gave me when I was very, very, very young,” he says. “Whether you’re actually building what the set is about, or just putting pieces together…” . it's just magical.

As a child, Pharrell lived in the Atlantis Apartments, a densely populated public housing complex in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Outsiders were afraid to go to his neighborhood, but for Pharrell the place was special, full of talent and fun.

“There were a lot of athletes who were incredibly talented, a lot of artists who were incredibly talented,” he says. “You know, you talk about carbon? … This heat, this pressure, this time produced many diamonds.”

The new animated film, piece by pieceUsing Legos, he traces Pharrell's early life as a boy driven by creativity and drawn to music. Directed by Academy Award winner Morgan Neville, the unusual biopic traces Pharrell's journey to becoming a Grammy-winning songwriter, performer and producer who has collaborated with artists like him Jay Z, Snoop Dogg, Britney Spears And Beyonce. Perhaps a story as colorful as his can only be told in such an extravagant way.

Interview highlights

From his synesthesia, which causes him to see colors when he listens to music

If you look back at the time of your birth, all of your nerve endings – sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch – were all connected. And then when you turn 1, those nerve endings get pruned. And sometimes some of them stay connected. And those who stay connected provide synesthesia. And when connected, they send ghost images and ghost information to the different parts of the brain. And so in the end you “hear” a color or “see” a sound.

While writing “Milkshake”, sung by Kelis

The shapes (as I see it) are hard for me to explain, but they kind of zigzag. And these synth lines are yellow and brown to me. …And the yellow goes from light to mustard yellow to marigold yellow, and then there's just a very strong brown. …

This song is from a trip I took in Brazil and I just lost my mind. I had never seen so many beautiful women. They were just everywhere. And forgive the objectification when I say this. But that was the impression it made in my head back then, I don't know, 20 years ago. …I had never seen anything like it. Where am I? And if you could somehow transform that energy and that feeling (into a song)… that was the attempt.

When writing a song for prince that he refused

He was different. He was one of those people who was a musical scholar. There is no instrument that he cannot pick up and play. He is a brilliant writer. Vocally he is incredible. He was an incredible artist and he wrote and produced for so many people. … (He said) like, ‘Do you own or your masters?’ If you don’t own your masters, we can’t work together.” … I’ve never heard anyone say that. His other thing was that he kind of wanted to talk about religion. And I found it interesting. And now I own all my master recordings. And I would like to engage in a conversation about the business of religion and the necessity of faith.

On his falsetto singing voice

I had a problem with my voice for many, many, many years because I felt like I hadn't found my voice. I always thought my tone sounded like Mickey Mouse. Next time you hear “Frontin',” imagine Mickey Mouse—you can’t miss it.

About Writing “Happy”

The song is a sarcastic answer… to a rhetorical question: How do you make a song about someone who is so happy that nothing can bring them down? … When Dispicable Me 2 came out (the studio), couldn't get it to work (on) the radio because it was foreign. It didn't sound like anything else. … (Radio) didn't play it until we made the video six months later, when the song was put on a DVD … and there was a budget to make a video for the song. Because we loved it as a companion piece to selling the DVD.

Why being in the water helps him write music

When you stand in the shower, the water runs constantly, creating a white noise effect. And that's why you can think clearly while showering. … ideas come. Or sometimes people sing in the shower – that's why they do that, because that constant noise, that white noise, is particularly freeing for the part of your mind that just wants to iterate and not be distracted by the environment. So running water, being near water, being in water, a bath, a pool, seeing the ocean, standing in the shower, washing my hands in the sink. It does it for me.

Ann Marie Baldonado and Susan Nyakundi produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Sheldon Pearce adapted it for the Internet.