Michael Scott McBride wrote a love song, "I Don't Want To Fall In Love," and premiered it last August to his partner and friends—on the night McBride and Rodrigo Carrillo announced their engagement.
"At first, they were thinking I was breaking up with him, because of the title. But you just have to listen to the punch-line to get what the song is about," McBride said, laughing. "The song basically says, 'I don't want to fall in love unless it's with you."
McBride and Carrillo are, a year later, happily in love. So much, in fact, that the two will be united in a ceremony Saturday, Aug. 14, at Northwestern University's Alice Millar Chapel, and then have a reception in Logan Square planned. McBride and Carrillo had their official civil union ceremony July 16 in Dubuque, Iowa. "We look forward to the day when Illinois recognizes our marriage, and we will be ready for it," McBride said. "We didn't want to have to get 'married' again just because some politicians decided we could. While we tend to value the spiritual marriage over the legal marriage, being civilly married is important not only for obtaining over a thousand legal rights, but also as a statement that our relationship is just a valid as any other."
McBride's "I Don't Want To Fall In Love" is the third song on his recently released five-song EP titled Almost There, available on iTunes.
"I've been singing since I was a little kid," said McBride, now 29. "Most of it was in church and local musical theatre. I even did a professional dinner-theater production of Sound of Music in which I played the older son, Frederick, for four shows a week over five months. I've also led music at churches and conferences throughout the U.S.
"I gravitate to gospel/inspirational music, which I like to call gospirational, and am interested in pop and dance music as well. Having been a classically trained pianist and composer, I'm intrigued by the overlap of concert music and pop music of all forms. I'm honored to be able to combine these interests while teaching at North Park University and, in the summers, coordinating the composition program for Northwestern University's National High School Music Institute. I also lead a contemporary service at Edison Park Lutheran Church."
Music truly is McBride's life, personally and professionally. The Lakeview resident received his bachelor's in piano performance and composition from Wheaton College in 2002, and then earned master's and doctorate degrees from Northwestern.
McBride also is a two-time Gay Idol performer, and a two-time finalist.
"At first, participating in Gay Idol was simply an opportunity to get more performing experience," McBride said. "After being in school for so long, I was itching for a chance to sing more. In my performances, rather than relying on a karaoke track, I focused on performing my own arrangements and orchestrations of popular songs. As I progressed, I met so many wonderful people and local musicians."
His Gay Idol highlight was, he said jokingly, " [ e ] very time after a performance [ when ] the judges would ask me to turn around to show my 'assets.'"
Matt Rivera was the 2010 Gay Idol.
"It is more than just a singing competition," McBride said of Gay Idol. "Because the winner is decided by audience vote, Gay Idol was really about bringing friends and community together. I was so touched to see so many of my friends come out to support me, and it was such a pleasure working together with the host, Amy Matheny, and producer, Cynthia Holmes.
"Not having grown up listening to pop radio, [ Gay Idol ] helped me to develop a repertoire of songs. My first year, I sang 'You Raise Me Up,' as sung by Josh Groban, 'Apologize' by One Republic, 'Closer' by Ne-Yo and 'Umbrella' by Rihanna. My second year, I sang 'I Believe I Can Fly' in the style of Yolanda Adams, 'A Moment Like This' as sung by Kelly Clarkson and 'Hide and Seek/Watcha Say' by Imogen Heap and Jason Derulo.
" [ Gay Idol ] also opened up opportunities to sing around Chicago such as for Pridefest 2009, several area clubs and a Navy Pier boat cruise. Since then, I've had the vision of pursuing a performing career."
McBride said his list of favorite musicians is deep, but definitely includes his mentor: former CSO composer-in-residence Augusta Read Thomas, "for opening my ears to the beauty of sound," as well as film composer Danny Elfman for his "dark and magical aesthetic." McBride also praised J.S. Bach, Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, theatre composer Stephen Sondheim, pop singer Christina Aguilera and The Gabe Dixon Band.
McBride also is a fan of Steven Curtis Chapman and CeCe Winans.
What about a least favorite musical genre?
"I believe every musical genre has the possibility of producing high-quality music, and I listen pretty broadly," he said.
McBride, originally from Maryland, has been living in Chicago for 12 years. He was home-school from second-grade through high school graduation in 1998. He was raised in a conservative, Christian home, thus his interest in Christian music.
"There was a time when I was embarrassed [ to have liked Christian music ] , feeling like I was sheltered and provincial," McBride said. "But I've since come to realize that an artist is most powerful when he is authentic and offers a unique perspective on universal experience. So I've come to embrace my Christian music heritage, all the while stretching in other directions as well.
"I feel very blessed to make my living in full-time music. I have taught university-level music for several years at Northwestern University, Elmhurst College and now at North Park University. [ North Park ] has afforded me wonderfully diverse classes to teach, such as music composition, piano, music theory, aural skills, music technology, 20th-century music history, orchestration, arranging, songwriting and church music. I have fantastic students who inspire me every day. In particular, teaching the songwriting class was like creating an artist colony in which we would all share our latest material. It spurred a very prolific time for me as well as my students."
Want to know more about Michael Scott McBride? Here goes:
—Favorite sport: "Now is rugby that game where you kick the puck around the bases through the wickets to get a three-point touchdown? Seriously, I really enjoy beach volleyball, but I'm also going to just put out there that I love watching gymnastics and figure skating."
—Favorite athlete: Not LeBron James
—Favorite movie: "I have nostalgia for screwball comedies like Monty Python, Airplanes [ and ] Space Balls."
—Favorite TV show: The Daily Show
—Little-known fact: "I used to do a lot of crafts, like knitting, crocheting, cross-stitching, weaving, etc. When my hair was longer, I could French-braid it."
— ( Complete the sentence ) I get nervous when ... "I feel pressure to get it right. I think there's a huge difference between perfection and goodness. Perfection is not only unattainable, but can also be off-putting. Goodness is much more life-giving than perfection."
—You can have dinner with one of the following. Who would it be, and why: Casting Crowns, Chris Tomlin, Aaron Shust, Michael W. Smith or Steven Curtis Chapman? "I would have to say Michael W. Smith, partly because I had a crush on him when I was younger. I kind of wanted to be him. But mostly because I admire the way he used his strengths and peculiarities to form one of the most influential musical careers in the pop Christian music world."
—McBride and Carrillo: They will celebrate their third anniversary in November. "We met on Match.com, and, on our first date, neither of us had any expectation of the other," McBride said. "It started out as just another dinner, but we saw there was something intriguing about the other and how different we were brought up. I asked for the second date and our relationship continued to grow from there."
—More McBride and Carrillo: "Since the beginning of our relationship, we saw that we come from very different places. While we do share many common values, we are definitely not one of those couples who go on and on about how similar they are. In seeing this, we came to embrace these differences as an access to a larger life than either one could have on his own. So to take advantage of that, we both love supporting each other in our different activities and even taking little forays into the other's life occasionally. I've been playing beach volleyball, and he's been doing more hip-hop dance."
—Martina McBride, Brian McBride: "When I do my shows, I sometimes open by saying that Martina McBride is my aunt, just to get the audience's attention. That's not true, but, hey, it makes an impression. Maybe one day I'll write a song for Martina to sing at one of Brian McBride's [ soccer ] games."
—Long-term goal: "To bring together seemingly opposed communities through music."
—McBride's music: Recently was interviewed on the Gay Christian Network Radio podcast, which is available on iTunes. "You can listen to some live performances and find out more about my journey of faith and sexuality at www.gaychristian.net/gcnradio," McBride said.
McBride can be reached through his website, www.michaelscottmcbride.com .
