Lina—“I bet!”

A.S.—[in the “What had happened was…” voice] “Well, I look African-American, but my father’s Arab so that’s probably why they want to check up on me, but anyway…I’m going try something different and start from the end and go backward.  In other words, I’ll start with your latest work and then get into your background.”

Lina—“Okay.”  

A.S.—“Now, the latest is that you have a compilation out, right?”

Lina—“I have a compilation that I did, and then I have my [new] album.”  

A.S.—“Is the compilation going to be a part of that album?”

Lina—“What [the label] decided to do was to press up 1000 copies and add it to the new album as a double-CD, for the first 1000 people who buy it.”  

A.S.—“That’s cool, I didn’t know that. So do you have a title for your album yet?”  

Lina—[laughing] “No…I can’t think of one, not yet.”  

A.S.—“It’s coming out in February, right?”  

Lina—“Actually, now it’s been slated for March.”  

A.S.—“What’s the feel of this new album, or what is the mood?”

Lina—“Some of the material on this one is stuff I wrote for the first project that didn’t get used. It’s sort of different but pretty much the same. The content I get from people talking to me, their stories, and some that I consider the realest to me about my own experiences, like ‘Leaving You For Me’ and ‘Fly’ on this album.”

A.S.—“Now in comparison to your last album, which I heard most of and had that 1920s-40s Harlem Renaissance Jazz meets Hip-hop mix, which I was really feeling…what’s different on this new album?”

Lina—“The tracks mostly but my voice is still what it is…I’m influenced by the Jazz greats—I am a true ‘Jazz baby’.My mom sang Jazz and all I used to hear growing up was Jazz and not much Hip-hop or R&B right away. I grew up in a Christian household, so it was Gospel music and Jazz.  The tracks are more experimental with a signature sound, but it’s mostly about the vocals, you know…it’s about being vintage.”

A.S.—“So you explored a lot more with this one.”

Lina—“Yeah, I explored more with the music, but I can’t change that vintage vocal. I have some ‘throwback’ stuff, ‘cause I love that stuff, but the music goes everywhere, really.”  

A.S.—“Where ‘throwback’ is concerned, most artists are really just taking what was already there an re-interpreting it.”

Lina—“That’s true, and I did that on purpose the first time…I wanted people to know about that because it seemed forgotten to me.”

A.S.—“So, besides trying to convey your experiences and your sound to the world are you trying to teach people about the past?”

Lina—“I like to educate them, because I listen to a lot [of these jazz artists]; I read about them.  Like, when I bought their CD, I was intrigued by them and that era, and it was a great era of Black artists.  They were accepted [during that time] only because of their talent, and it was their form of expression and escape, and they were so passionate about it, you know.  It wasn’t so much about a ‘check’…it was about, ‘this is my gift and I’m sharing it, and let’s forget about suffering’…so I did want people to remember that.”

A.S.—“Now, besides growing up in a musical environment, you also studied it, correct?”  

Lina—“Yes, I sang 17^th century Baroque Classical music in the 7^th grade.  I don’t know where I got that from but I just knew to sing Opera, one day.  It’s a story I tell when I got caught talking during choir class and had to sing a piece in Latin, and I sang it operatic.  That’s when my teacher started entering me in competitions and…I really do love Opera music!”

A.S.—“Would that be something you would consider doing later in your career…you know, record an operatic album?”  

Lina—“That’s the first thing I wanted to do—I wanted to sing and record at The Metropolitan; that was my first dream.”

A.S.—“It probably can still be realized—think about it!  Wouldn’t it be great if you sang at The Met and you did your current material fused with Opera?”

Lina—[giggling] “That would be great.  I think a lot of things are happening with music, though…like we are actually blending genres.  I could probably go to The Metropolitan because they are more accepting, you know?”

A.S.—“Yeah, that could be ground-breaking like when Billie Holiday performed jazz at Carnegie Hall for the first time.”

Lina—“Oooh…yes!  Hmm, you know your stuff, huh?”

A.S.—“Well, I’m a musician myself, so…ya know?” [laughing] Lina—[Becoming interviewer for a moment] “Really, so what do you play?”

A.S.—“I play keys.” Lina—“That’s dope.  Okay, so you know.”

A.S.—“I know a little something, and maybe I could send you some tracks [laughing...though serious].  But let me segue…now, you have your own company called Moodstar, right?”

Lina—“Yeah, I started a record company called Moodstar.” A.S.—“So, you’re releasing your next album through Moodstar with Hidden Beach as the distributor?” Lina—“Yes.”

A.S.—So that would mean that you can sign new acts to your label, and that would also make you a producer/executive.So, what are your requirements for artists wanting to submit material?

Lina—“Anybody passionate.  We have a band, but they don’t have a vocalist, but they’re great musicians and passionate about it.  So, when I did the compilation I found a vocalist to sing a hook and they played everything else.We also got Alternative artists on the project…but they’re all passionate and you can feel it when you listen to the music! We have a girl who couldn’t get a deal but has a great voice and couldn’t get a chance because she was overweight. I’m interested in anyone who’s just passionate about what they’re doing and have raw talent, you know.  It’s not only about the dollar.”

A.S.—“That’s interesting. Well, how do you approach the challenge of artistic creativity vs. creating the ‘commercial hit’ or the ‘club-banger’?”

Lina—[sighs] “Now that is, my God, something I have to deal with—that’s why I had to change management!  I need visionaries who can see me for what I am and accept me for that and not necessarily try to make me the next Beyoncé, because that’s what’s going on right now.  Music always changes; it was Lauryn Hill, then it was Alicia Keys, etc.To me, we underestimate the consumers, but because it’s ‘all about the dollar’ now, everything is bought and paid for, so you’re not gonna get a passionate artist!  You’re gonna get a mass-produced, fast-food artist because [the industry] is doing it for money! But the ‘club-banger’ thing is what I keep hearing people ask me…‘which one is the club-banger?”  It’s hard on artists like me, India.arie, Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, Jill Scott…you know, people who do ‘feel good’, ‘good for your soul’ music, you know, and not about just beats—I mean, nothing’s wrong with that if there’s a balance.  It’s like, right now, it’s all about the beats and the producer, and nobody’s saying anything.  I see it turning around, but I can also see we’re starving for that ‘feel good’ music.”  

A.S.—“Is that what led to your departure with Atlantic to Hidden Beach?”

Lina—“Oh yeah, and I did not get dropped from Atlantic…I had to fight to like crazy to get off of that label.  At the time that I got signed, I wasn’t really looking for a record deal because I didn’t think there’d be people who would understand my music and my voice, so I just a record deal on a fluke—before I knew it, I was on tour, but I don’t blame them, though; I just chose a manager who was not as experienced as others.  You will see the difference in the labels.  I got to really be myself at Hidden Beach, but at Atlantic I had pressure to be more like others.”  

A.S.—“So, did you approach Hidden Beach or did they approach you?”

Lina—“Hidden Beach approached me.  My manager, at the time, went in to shop another deal [with artists already on her roster], and they were like, ‘well what about Lina?’ She told them, ‘well, she’s trying to get off Atlantic.’  They were like, ‘let us know’, but they didn’t offer me a deal or anything till I was off [Atlantic].”

A.S.—“What do think of the industry right now from your inside perspective?”

Lina—“I don’t want to sound negative but it’s really not fair…there’s not a level playing field because labels like Hidden Beach, who wanna stick to what true music really is, have to compete with labels who want you to show your cleavage just to make people notice you.  When I’m doing a show, I’m not really having a show like when my other manager said, ‘you need a beat and song like Ashanti for the knuckleheads that don’t get you.’  You have to realize, when you’re an artist and you’re onstage in that building, that place has energy, and that energy is gonna affect you, somehow.  So, the people or audience you attract need to be of a kindred spirit in order for everybody to be elevated, you know.  It has to be love, is has to be certain energy that makes you you’re best person. So, I’m not trying to attract a knucklehead, to use his word, but I want those knuckleheads to discover me when they’re ready. I’m not gonna try to go after them wearing the shortest shorts I can wear, or put Jay-Z on my song.”

A.S.—[laughing] “Wow. Well, let me ask you about collaborations…are there any artists you’ve collaborated with or would like to?”

Lina—“Yeah…I do have a duet with Anthony Hamilton.  I’m looking to collaborate with Mos Def, but I won’t say [anything else] until everything’s done.  I love Mystic—I think she’s the dopest female emcee right now, she’s needs to get her shine!  I like Talib Kweli. I wish the conscious sistas would get together like Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, India.arie, Mary J. Blige, Angie Stone…and just do a movement—represent women who are real ‘soul sistas’, you know?”

A.S.—“That sounds good…why don’t you organize that?”

Lina—[light laughter] “You’re the second person to tell me that.”  

A.S.—“Well, that’s how D’Angelo made his mark with that song, ‘You Will Know’…he wrote that song and had most of the top R&B male vocalists singing on it.  He was just the songwriter and musician in the background and no one really knew who he was until that moment, and then that led to ‘Brown Sugar’.

Lina—“Really? I didn’t know that”

A.S.—“Yeah. Why not do a project with all those female artists you mentioned, and release it on Moodstar?  You remember that photo-essay book, ‘I Dream a World’ that covered some of the most influential Black women of our time…maybe you could do a musical biography of a collective, modern-day movement of these women...these artists.  Like even making the CD booklet insert like a book chronicling their stories of trials and triumphs within the industry, with the music to serve as a foundation.  It might even become a real book later on…and you could be like the narrator to that...”  

Lina—“Ooooh, that’s a dope idea!  You got those wheels turning now!”

A.S.—[laughing] “Well, I’m pretty unconventional, as you can probably tell from this interview, but I get different energies from people I interview, and you seem like someone who can really make something like that happen.”

Lina—“I’m telling you this [situation in music] is gonna turn around in a minute.  I’ve been hearing it and feeling it in the airwaves and people are saying, ‘I need something’, and they’re just not impressed.  Every rapper has said everything there is to say, and just about every beat has been used, and there’s no more shock value, and TV has pimped that out!  How much more superficial can we get?  We got be thankful for people like Ledisi who’s been a breath of fresh air. Even though I want success, I want a career like Sade’s.  You know...I don’t want to be over-exposed, I just want to put out good music!”

You can find out more about LINA at: www.Lina-music.com, and for our subscribers on the "Left Coast", be sure to catch her upcoming performances at: The Sunset Room>>>TUE—OCT. 28, 2003 - 1430 North Cahuenga Blvd. Hollywood, CA 90028, 323.463.0004. www.thesunsetroom.com Show starts @10pm; call for cover price And… The Temple Bar>>>SAT—NOV. 22, 2003. 1026 Wilshire Blvd. Santa Monica, CA. 323.939.6611 www.templebarlive.com Show stars @10:30pm/Cover is $10.

 The Formula records live!

Well, people, The Formula did our live recording on Tuesday night at The Five Spot (1123 Euclid Ave. for those who went to the website and realized, like I did, that the info wasn't posted yet--LOL!)!  It was really dope despite no big turnout but we didn't publicize for such.  It was open for those who wanted to join us as the live studio audience.  When available, I'll see about getting one session played on here for you all to hear what went on and so you can see what I've been trying to tell you all about, but for the next time, we're planning it bigger so be on the lookout!

In other news...