Sheila E – HuffPost 10.3.11

Mike Ragogna: What advice to you have for new artists?

Sheila E.: What did I say the last time? (laughs)

MR: Work hard, study your craft…something like that, I don’t remember.

SE: No, you’re pretty close. Absolutely. No, you’ve got to work hard. You have to study. You have to understand what you want to do. You have to be confident. You have to be humble, respectful, and don’t bring any baggage and really know what you’re going to do. You know, it takes a lot of work, it just doesn’t happen over night. I think that sometimes the difficult part in seeing shows like American Idol and shows like that–not to put it down, I think it’s amazing, I wish we had it when we were younger–but I actually, at the same time, enjoy the change to be able to start from scratch, start in the garage, start in small places and build and understand what it takes working behind the scenes and playing in places you wouldn’t be caught dead in and making it happen. That experience, I think, has made me what I am. And I think that’s another thing about starting with American Idol. Where do you go from there?

MR: Exactly. The poor kids. It gives the illusion of, “Hey, well, all I need to do is kind of sing okay, and I can have a record deal.”

SE: Yeah, it’s really hard. I’m hoping they are helping these kids really prepare themselves for what it’s going to take, because we’ve seen some of them fall, and it’s hard, and they’re alone after they leave that show. That’s my biggest worry, you know, that it is a lot of pressure. It was pressure for me when I was younger once I really made it, you know? I can’t imagine going from nothing to all of that.

MR: Yeah. Oh and Sheila you put your finger on it. I mean maybe something that we have been forgetting in the culture is that after you’re on a show like American Idol or The Voiceor any of these reality shows where you’re supposed to be showing your talent and you lose the show, we may need to start an organization to repair these kids, you know?

SE: Exactly. Absolutely.

MR: It seems logical that there would be some psychological damage done during or as a result of the process

SE: I would think so. I feel for some of the kids when I see it, and a lot of times, even the ones that don’t make it when they go out for auditions and I think that some of them are pretty good. They go, “I quit my job, and this is all the money I have and I have got to make it, this is my last chance.” This is your first chance! There are many chances. We get rejected all the time, and that’s the thing. It’s having that insight to say, “You know what? It’s okay if they say, ‘No,’ I’ll keep trying and I’ll get better.” It’s okay. They show some of these kids where they’re just like devastated almost to the point of, “If I don’t get this, I don’t know what my life is going to be like.” Oh, my God! Your life is just beginning!

MR: Yeah, and of course those are the moments when the camera does the close-up on the face.