A Conversation with Sabina – HuffPost 2.12.14

Mike Ragogna: Sabina, as a member of Brazilian Girls, your performance style has been defined as “dangerous” and your costumes “risque.” Does your solo career embrace the danger and risque-fulness as well?

Sabina: I don’t know that any of my costumes were ever actually dangerous. I didn’t wear bombs on my back or anything. These days, I’ve no urge to dress up. I like it simple now. I focus on different things. I let Lady Gaga do the dressing up.

MR: Please would you take us on a tour of the creativity and recording process behind your new album Toujours?

S: The songs came together over the last two to three years. They started out on the acoustic, sort of as an anti-dote to the party music we did with brazilian girls, I suppose. Then, because Brazilian Girls were on a hiatus, I didn’t really need an anti-dote, and it all became a bit more rock, again. Electric. Bzzzz. I wrote the songs, and producer Fred Rubens and I arranged them together, we really took our time and I followed my instincts on every juncture.

MR: What made you decide to do a solo project?

S: My main focus was always on the voice. With Brazilian Girls, it changed, it became much more about the grooves, it’s party music. I was in a different mode. Now, I feel like singing like a little bird–ok maybe a penguin–again, without having to compete in volume with any instrument, this is not really my solo record, it’s my ego record.

MR: Any songs on the project that show us a side of Sabina that’s never dared reveal itself until this moment?

S: In a way yes, because I was always keen on the vocal being low in the mix, it was really an aesthetic choice, but maybe there was some hiding behind the music, there, too. So now the voice is upfront, its a vehicle for emotion, which is also more out in the open. I’m not so cool any more.

MR: Any songs you don’t want or can’t wait for your family to hear?

S: My family has heard them all. They’re very critical about my work, but I’m not afraid, they taught me to ignore criticism completely.

MR: How soon until we get a Sabina fashion line or fragrance?

S: Never.

MR: What advice do you have for new artists?

S: Don’t waste time, be productive, never judge your work before it’s done, put it out there. If you feel discouraged by it, don’t listen to criticism. An artist doesn’t just make ONE INCREDIBLE MASTERPIECE, it’s a catalog, a process, keep putting stuff out. Be honest, to yourself and others.

MR: As The New York Times stated, are you truly the poster girl for polyglot New York pop?

S: Yes.