What's That Song From MTV's 'I Used to Be Fat' Miniseries?

Posted on Jan 5th 2011 1:30PM by Phil Brondyke
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'This Is the New Year,' Ian Axel

As a tease from his upcoming debut album, 'This Is the New Year,' Ian Axel lends the record's title track to MTV's 'I Used to Be Fat' miniseries. The 10-part documentary tracks the progress of overweight teens as they graduate from high school and spend the summer shedding pounds prior to beginning college.

The suburban New Jersey-born-and-raised, New York-based singer-songwriter-pianist talks to Spinner about the song's relevancy to the show's premise.

"High school is a bit of a black hole," Axel says. "It sucks you in and it's sometimes to hard to imagine life outside of the halls. 'This Is the New Year' is a song about realizing that we're in control of our destinies; that we are the creators of our lives in every moment."

MTV makes particular use of the song's opening lyric ("Another year you made a promise/Another chance to turn it all around"), which is in keeping with Axel's sentiments toward both his song and the holiday.

"I love [New Year's Day]. It's an excuse for us to stop, reflect and use our energy in a positive, life-altering way," he says.

'I Used to Be Fat' aired its first episode on Dec. 29, chronicling the body-image struggles of Gabriella, the school homecoming queen. Subsequent hour-long episodes will document the weight-loss strategies of other high school seniors as they make significant changes to their bodies and self-confidence at a pivotal point in their lives.

"The show's message is coincident with that of the song, and the opportunity couldn't have come at a more perfect time of the year," concludes Axel. "I'm incredibly excited about it."