SANDRA, INTERVIEW 2009

Pop singer Sandra is back! Her new album "Back To Life" proves that an artist can very well be successful after more than 20 years in the music business. Her new album convinces you with beautiful ballads and temporary Latino-Dance songs as well as typical Pop songs. On 9th May in this year, Sandra and Thomas Anders will launch their contribution to the Summer Hit 2009 since their Duet "The night is still young" will be released that day. We talked to Sandra about the album and her next plans.


I am doing my thing!

- "Back To Life" is the name of your new album. Sandra is back! What kind of expectations do you have for the album?

Sandra: Well, I think that this is by far the best pop album I have ever recorded. I mainly recorded it in New York and wanted to make sure that I combine as many different styles of music as possible. Some songs were recorded at my studio on Ibiza and due to modern technology, I was able to stay in touch with Toby in the USA. I want to be surprised but I hope that it will enter the charts on a higher position than "The Art Of Love". I wish for the new album to be within the Top 15. Maybe the second single will push the album some more.


- How was it for you to have several producers working on the new album instead of working with Michael only?

Sandra: Well, when I recorded "The Art Of Love", I was already separated from Michael and therefore worked with Jens. I loved his easy and uncomplicated way of working on the album. Michael always had a strict concept about how the album was supposed to be. Toby and Jens work differently. We try many things just for the fun of it and if we don't like it, we just start all over again. I love working with them and I enjoy my freedom as an artist.


- Were there any songs that did not make it on the album?

Sandra: Oh yes, there were many songs left! "Kiss my" ended up being a bonus track on the single, "Redis moi" and "Echo of my heart" turned out to be bons tracks on the iTunes version of the album. The remaining songs will be used for the next album. I was fighting hard in order to get "Kiss my" to be a regular album track but the record company decided against it. I love this song because it's so different and totally crazy but still suits my voice.

- One of the bonus tracks is called "Echo of my heart". Does the song have anything to do with the song "Prince of my heart", which was originally written for "The Wheel Of Time" but didn't make it on the album?


Sandra: No, "Prince of my heart" was written by Michael and has nothing to do with the new song. Any resemblance is pure coincidence.

- When will the new single be released?

Sandra: "The night is still young" will be released on the 9th of May and I am really looking forward to it. We have just finished the video shoot on Ibiza and it was lots of fun recording a video again. We rented a pirate's ship and it became a real summer video. It was raining on the island of Ibiza through out the whole winter but we got lucky the day of the video shoot! I insisted on shooting a video for this song!


- Are there any TV performances scheduled yet?

Sandra: Yes, we will perform the song at Carmen Nebel's evening show, the Fernsehgarten and at "The Dome". Most likely we will also have a performance at the summer edition of "Wetten dass...?" on the island of Mallorca.

- Unfortunately, music videos seem to disappear completely...

Sandra: Yes, that's a shame. I always loved shooting music videos. Most record companies don't invest any more money in music videos and most companies are suffering these days anyway. We still had to pay half of the costs as that is normal for any artist nowadays.


- Will there be a third single?

Sandra: Yes! I would love to release a ballad around Christmas time. It will either be "Just like breathing" or "Behind those words". We will still have to debate which one to pick. I am never sure what to chose or what the radio stations might play. When it comes to the radio stations I honestly have no clue why they play what and how to even foresee that.


- Toby Gad is a very successful and very talented producer. Did Jens happen to introduce you to Toby?

Sandra: Yes, exactly. Jens called Toby and shortly after that, Toby said that he had a few songs that were perfect
andra: Yes, exactly. Jens called Toby and shortly after that, Toby said that he had a few songs that were perfect for my voice. I flew to the USA and listened to all of them, picked a few and started recording them one after the other. By the way, even though "Just like breathing" bears a resemblance to "If I were a boy", I have to say that my song was written before Beyonce's song!

- The song "Redis moi" is a bonus track on the iTunes version of your album. The song is very temporary and could do very well at clubs. Are there any plans to send the song to several DJs?


Sandra: I wrote the song myself! Of course you can still hear some of the Cretu elements but I guess after more than 20 years of influence, that's normal. My son Nikita loves this song and I must admit that I was surprised to hear that from him since he only watches British MTV. Maybe we should consider spreading the song at clubs.

- "Tete a Tete" is in French...

Sandra: Yes, that's true. I wrote this song for the French market. I felt like I owed a song like this to my French fans since I have sold so many records in France already. The new album will not be released in France and other European countries until May of this year so I can have enough time to promote the album in Germany first. I used to be in Paris a lot and got inspired by Vanessa Paradis' song "Joe le Taxi".


- Are you going to release different songs as singles in different countries?

Sandra: I am planning to release "Tete a Tete" in France in order to promote the album.

- Why did you pick "In a heartbeat" as the first single?

Sandra: My record company made that decision. I wanted "The night is still young" as first single but it was too early for a summer song. After that, the record company ran a few surveys and chose "In a heartbeat".


- You are wearing a beautiful necklace showing all zodiacal signs. The necklace can be seen on the cover of your CD as well...

Sandra: This is our engagement necklace and it means a lot to me! I don't really believe in Horoscopes but I liked the idea of putting it inside the CD cover as well.


- Your appearance changed a lot since your last album. Was that planned?

Sandra: No. I think it is normal to change. I usually don't plan something like that. I wanted to wear a simple, white suit on the new cover instead of being all sexy again like I was on the previous covers. I wanted to keep it light and simple. I will have to figure out what to wear for the performances coming up. I usually carry a lot of clothes with me so I can decide spontaneously what to wear. I still have tons of clothes from the past and I don't throw away anything. This jacket that I am wearing today is over 10 years old and I still love wearing it.

- You sing in English, French and Spanish. Any plans for a song in German?

Sandra: No, definitely not! As an international artist, I can't sing in German. A German artist can always sing in English but it doesn't work the other way round. It still have to go well with my other songs too.


- Is it true that you will go on a big world tour?

Sandra: Yes, that's true and I am looking forward to it. These days I practice with a bunch of live musicians in my house and let me tell you, it grooves like hell! I finally know again why I decided to become a singer! It's so much fun and I can't wait to get on stage. We already have quite a few concerts confirmed. We will have a total of 40 concerts in Russia, 5 in the USA, 3 in Israel, 3 in the Emirates and 10 concerts in Asia.

- Are there going to be any concerts in Germany?

Sandra: In Germany, you can only go on tour if your album hits number one and I am so tired of that. That's the reason why I haven't been on tour for so many years and therefore I will start outside of Germany. Nobody wanted "Maria Magdalena" in Germany at first and after a while it made its way to the top of the charts through the other countries. We sent out flyers to every concert agency in Germany and we hope that we will have a few confirmed dates in Germany as well as soon as they see the growing success in the other countries. Of course I would love to perform in Germany, so we will see. I don't follow the rules this time, I am simply doing my own thing now
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