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LiquidSoulRadio.com's
Exclusive Interview with Sandra St. Victor
By Nick Nelson, Music Director
Who is Sandra
St. Victor?
To some, she
is the front woman for Family Stand, a popular message group that gained notoriety
in the late 80's with such classics as "Ghetto Heaven" and "In
Summer I Fall".
To others, she
is the Mack Diva that saved the world, (as the title of her acclaimed 1996
album indicates) who when a fallout with Warner Brothers left her unsigned,
started her own label and is now a spokeswoman for independent artists everywhere.
To LSR.com, she
is a successful entrepreneur, whose latest release Gemini: Both Sides has
officially put her back on the map (as if she ever fell off) and has introduced
a whole new audience to the sites and sounds of her musical wizardry.
Dallas Born,
Brooklyn Bound
Sandra St. Victor
started her musical journey at an early age. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas
as an adopted child, St. Victor grew up in a household where music was virtually
non-existent. It was in this house, at the tender age of 8 years old, she
made the decision to pursue her passion and become a message singer.
"There was
no music in my household," said St. Victor, "but even as a kid I
felt music and knew that that was something I wanted to do. "
This gravitation
to music eventually led her to The Arts Magnet High School for The Performing
Arts (the same school attended by such greats as Roy Hargrove and Erykah Badu).
While at Arts Magnet, St. Victor studied opera and eventually found herself
becoming frustrated with the art due to its creative limitations.
"With opera
you're really not allowed to create. I knew then that I had to express more
than just 200 year old arias but what I was feeling."
Sandra eventually
abandoned opera and spent the remainder of her time at The Arts Magnet High
School studying Jazz. After Sandra completed her studies, she went on to attend
Kansas University and Bishop College. St. Victor obtained music scholarships
to both schools and attended each for a year. While attending Bishop College,
she joined "Lassez-Faire," a local band that performed in and around
the Fort Worth Texas area. The band eventually migrated from Ft. Worth to
Port Author, Texas. It was there Sandra met her "musical daddy".
"Port Author,
Texas is where we met Roy (Ayers). We played at the club on Friday night and
he had a gig on that Saturday night. Because he was using our equipment, we
got a chance to hang out with him. The whole time he was there, he kept on
saying how we needed to come with him to New York. He eventually talked me
into to it and two weeks later we were off. "
Sandra St.
Victor on Roy Ayers
If there were
one person that has made a significant impact on Sandra St. Victor's musical
development, it would be Roy Ayers. Known for such hits as "Searching"
and "Everybody Loves The Sunshine," Ayers influenced St. Victor
early in her career long before the two even met.
"Roy was
one of my major influences as far as writing about what I really thought and
what I really felt without being afraid of being too deep. You know, just
doing what you feel….There's a whole lot going on inside of him and it
always comes out in his music and that's what I wanted to portray."
According to
St. Victor, the lessons she learned from Ayers were life changing and went
well beyond the music business.
"When I
got on with Roy, I was a teenager so I learned a lot about life. Roy was my
first tour….It was a hell of a collage because I was the only girl touring
with all these cats from New York, and I just grew up really fast in the professional
music world by watching him handle his business."
When asked what
the main lesson was that she feels she took away from Roy, St. Victor answered,
without hesitation, "independence."
"The main thing that I learned from Roy was independence. The funny thing
is that I didn't know that I learned so much from him in regards to being
an independent artist until now. "
Sandra Finds
Independence
With the ugly
truth about the recording industry gaining more and more exposure, artists
are demanding more control over their music and career. St. Victor is no exception.
After a bitter dispute with her label in 1996 left her unsigned, St. Victor
had the unfortunate opportunity to experience first hand the trials and tribulations
the industry can present.
"The artist
is almost like a child so I had to hug, hold and console her back to faith
in herself because to not do that and try to forge ahead would have been frivolous
to me. I had to let the artist swallow "Mack Diva Saves The World"
because I'm artist; and I'm not just writing throw-aways for radio. It hurts
deeply when they are thrown against the wall like a pot of spaghetti to see
which one sticks. Once I got over that, I had to bring this "entrepronegress"
her back bone, focus and plan….It was a matter of mental fortitude and
patience with my own inner healing."
Although scary
at first, St. Victor has no regrets about her choice to proceed with her career
as an independent artist. To St. Victor, life as an independent artist is
much more rewarding.
"There are
new rules on this side of the ball park and I love these rules. On this side,
someone looking in Sound Scan and not seeing my name on the charts does not
mean I'm folding. I'm doing much better here then I would have faired doing
the same thing selling the same amount of records on Warner Brothers. If I
sold 10,000 records on Warner Brothers, they're looking at my contract trying
to figure out a way to let me go. Now, 10,000 records this way? What !! Please,
we're dancing in the streets naked."
Soul, Neo-soul
or Just Good Music"
This new resurgence
music inspired by the 60's and 70's has been called everything from Neo-soul
to Retro, to R&B. How does St. Victor classify this music that has gained
such popularity?
"It's just
good ol' soul music or taken literally, music from the soul. Why call it neo-soul,
it's not another genre. Look at it as reaching back to take some of the passion
and sincerity from the 60's and 70's. That's not neo-soul, we're just doing
in our time what they did in their time. We're just creating soul music, music
from the heart and from the spirit.
Give the People
What They Want
Independent artists
are becoming more and more common. Even successful mainstream artists such
as Prince have decided to take the plunge and take creative and financial
control over their careers. This move to independence has led to an increase
in the overall quality of music and has not gone unnoticed by the public.
"The public
is making itself heard that they want something different, something with
some substance. The industry is cannibalistic signing what's happened last
year. There is certain energy right now and people are leaning towards something
that means a little more. The energy that is happening right now leans more
towards a Jill Scott. This whole movement has me really excited because what
I've been doing on record since 1987 has finally become the 'in' thing."
Visit Sandra
St. Victor at http://www.sandrastvictor.com
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