Richard Marx keeps coming back to one word during our interview: elegance.
The descriptor works for the artist's latest album, “After Hours,” a collection of originals and standards in which Marx, 62, channels his inner Frank Sinatra. But Marx also uses the word to detail his life with his partner Daisy Fuentes, with whom he wrote the light new Latin-tinged number “Magic Hour.”
“It's one of my favorite words, if not my favorite, these days,” Marx says. “I just want to live my life more elegantly.”
In Sunday Funday, the people of Los Angeles tell us step by step their ideal Sunday in the city. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
How does that manifest itself? The hitmaker, who rose to fame with the now-timeless ballad “Right Here Waiting,” never expects to miss a little treat like a late-night martini. Marx was born in Chicago but says he has fully acclimated to the Southern California lifestyle. It's on the hiking trails, for example, where he writes his best songs, and it's around the campfire where he and Fuentes share their deepest conversations.
Splitting time between two homes, one “in the deep valley” and another in Malibu, Marx these days seems determined to age gracefully. It's partly what led him to record an album that lovingly pays tribute to artists like Sinatra and Dean Martin.
“When I recorded this album, I dressed up,” he says. “I wore a suit like Sinatra used to. It makes sense, since in the last twelve years since I met Daisy (she's kind of old school) we've tried to be as elegant as possible in everything.”
Marx shares with us his ideas for a more elegant Sunday in Los Angeles
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity.
8:30 am: Sun and meditation.
I start every day when I'm in California with an iced coffee of some kind, sitting in the sun for 20 minutes. No sunscreen, just 20 minutes of vitamin D. I don't look at my phone. This is my 20 minute meditation with a little caffeine and the sun on my skin. That's very important to me.
9:30 am: Brunch at home or in Malibu
Daisy is a great cook. She's great across the board, but her breakfast and brunch talent is off the charts. Usually on Sundays we stay home and she will make brunch. If we go out, one of my favorite Sundays, even when we are here in the Valley, is to go over the hill and go to the Malibu Country Mart or stop at jam coffee or the carbon beach clubthat is in the Malibu Beach Inn. There are a couple of places we love in Malibu. There is a place called Ollo's which has a great breakfast. It's in a shopping center with Ralph's.
11 am: More sun on the trails
I'm addicted to hiking and so is Daisy. There are some really great hikes here in the Valley. The Virgins — but my favorite hikes are in Malibu, either Solstice Canyon or the Beach to the west hike. It is not a physically challenging hike, but it is probably the most beautiful hike. What's the point of being in California if you're not outside? Sunday is a day when I need to go for a walk in the sun and sweat.
About 30% of the time I write in my head, even if I don't want to. It happens. If Daisy is with me, I love not reaching for my phone because I like to be unencumbered and not think about it. What will happen is that I will then have to ask you to open your voice memos and sing a melody. I've written so many songs outdoors. I saw an interview with Sting where he said that letters hide behind bushes, trees and under rocks. He also goes outside. I knew I liked Sting.
2:30 pm: Time to relax with a book.
And then it's really just a matter of relaxing and having some time to sit with a good book in the afternoon. I always have a couple of books published at the same time. I haven't read much fiction for a while, but I just started reading Scott Galloway's book, “Notes on Being a Man.” He is a guy who invests and has companies, but he has become very important on social networks. He's an interesting guy and I'm totally interested in that book. I'm almost done with Charlie Sheen's memoir. I saw the documentary and I thought it was incredible. Its story is fascinating and I found the quality of the filmmaking, especially in the use of old footage, to be world class. So I'm finishing Charlie's book. Those are the two I'm reading right now.
4:30 p.m.: pre-dinner martinis
As good a cook as Daisy is, we like to go out to dinner. Our favorite thing is to go somewhere for martinis and a bite of something and then somewhere else for dinner. With more martinis. I can't focus on martinis enough.
If I had to choose a martini place, it would be luck in Malibu. First of all it's an amazing martini, but they make a complete presentation. They take it to the table and shake it on the table. It's a generous pour. You usually get a small sidecar. Being vegetarian is a little challenging, but it's a great place for us. There is also a place called V. It is a local place that has been around for a long time. They have a little bar when you first walk in the door with a pair of high top sneakers. It's a really nice place to stop and have a quick drink and maybe a flatbread.
7 pm: Dinner and scene.
I'm going to sound really nasty saying this, but I really love it. craig. I love going there. We felt at home there. They take care of us very well. If I go to Craig's for dinner, I look forward to it all day. I always meet people I know. It is a hot spot of activity. It's just about feeling comfortable.
It's a scenic place, but one night I tackled Craig's with Rod Stewart. We got very drunk together. It was just the two of us, like two and a half years ago. We have become great friends and we had a driver, of course, but it was a very fun night and I have spent many fun nights at Craig's, with my family and friends. It's an industrial place, but it happens to be my industry, so it's a lot of fun for me, especially when I run into someone I haven't seen in a long time or meet someone I admire.
9:30 p.m.: Relax on the balcony.
Daisy and I talk. We have endless conversations. I still have a lot to tell her and a lot I want her to tell me. We've been together 12 years and one of my favorite things is to come home and we have a bonfire outside our house here or in Malibu we have a beautiful balcony overlooking the beach. In any of those places we just sit and talk for hours, until we get sleepy. There's not much to go to the movies or go out. Once we return from dinner, we love our time to relax.
