Hey, kids, do you like hot Canadian singers? Well, then this blog is for you. Today's guest is a young lady who has an amazing voice, a a few good songs you can download on iTunes and is easy on the eyes. I bring you to the Phile, Sabrina Korva.
Me: Okay, I have to ask this first, your music career started when you were 13 years old by recording a duet with Bryan Adams. How did that come about and what was he like? You are now 21, has he called you lately?
Sabrina: I’m actually 22 now... and we didn’t record the duet, we just performed it live. It was a matter of being in the right place at the right time... he called me up on stage to join him for the duet and the rest is history! I was 13 at the time... and the press I got from that night opened up a lot of doors for me.
Me: Sabrina, I first heard about you through iTunes and downloaded your EP. You have a unique sound, and a really good voice. Is there any more music of yours going to be put on iTunes soon?
Sabrina: Thank you! Yes, I’m releasing a new single early in the new year and it will be hitting iTunes in a matter of weeks! It’s on my myspace page for now though; it’s called “When I Fall Down”. www.myspace.com/sabrinakorva
Me: If you had a chance to record a duet with anybody you choose, who would it be? And don't say Bryan Adams again. ; )
Sabrina: Steven Tyler of Aerosmith.
Me: You're from Canada, right? One of my favorite band's is from Canada... Barenaked Ladies. What do you think of them?
Sabrina: The have an amazing live show. If you ever get the chance to see them live... GO! They are highly entertaining. Good songs, too.
Me: Alanis Morissette is also from Canada and I hear a slight resemblance to her music and yours. Is that just because you both have the same influences or are you a fan of hers? Your music could easily be as popular as hers.
Sabrina: That’s a compliment! Her songs are great. Of course, her co-writers are amazing too. I’m not sure who her influences are though, so I really can’t say whether we have the same influences. I have never been to India, though.
Me: You have played all over Canada, L.A., Nashville and more. What was your favorite show you played and where haven't you played and where would you want to play?
Sabrina: That is a tough question!! We’ve had some really great shows in Toronto.... for instance we played at a bar called Crowbar a few years ago in Toronto... that was a WICKED show- we were right on. So much fun at the afterparty, too! More recently, we played the Hard Rock Café in Toronto... that was killer. CrueFest at the Whisky in Hollywood has always been a blast... we’ve been a part of that festival since 2005... and it’s always one hell of a weekend! Where do I want to play? Everywhere that I haven’t!!! Ok... except I think I’ll stay out of the countries in which women are equal to dirt. Yeah... I’d be stoned within minutes.
Me: Any chance of you playing in Orlando sometime?
Sabrina: Oh I remember a showcase I played there when I was 16 years old!! Those were the days... I hope to play there again one day soon. I spent a lot of time in Orlando in my teens while I was working with a producer out there... would be nice to get back.
Me: You play at CrueFest pretty much every year at the famed Whisky A Go-Go on Sunset. Is CrueFest anything to do with Motley Crue?
Sabrina: Yes, CrueFest is a fundraising event for the Skylar Neil Memorial Foundation- named after Vince Neil’s daughter who died of cancer at the age of four. The money then goes toward cancer research. Motley Crue sign a number of the raffle prizes at the event, so you can enter to win signed guitars, etc.
Me: I am glad you liked the Phile, and the jokes. You must have a sick sense of humor like me. I cannot imagine you swearing judging by your pictures, you just seem to cute for that, but do you have any good dirty jokes the Phile readers would like to hear?
Sabrina: Never judge a book by its cover. :-D ...ok I have two. They aren’t too dirty but they are funny! A college teacher reminds her class of tomorrow's final exam. "Now class, I won't tolerate any excuses for you not being here tomorrow. I might consider a nuclear attack or a serious personal injury, illness, or a death in your immediate family, but that's it, no other excuses whatsoever!"A smart-ass guy in the back of the room raised his hand and asked, "What would you say if tomorrow I said I was suffering from complete and utter sexual exhaustion?"
The entire class is reduced to laughter and snickering. When silence is restored, the teacher smiles knowingly at the student, shakes her head and sweetly says, "Well, I guess you'd have to write the exam with your other hand."
Dave came home from the pub late one Friday evening stinking drunk, as he often did, and crept into bed beside his wife who was already asleep. He gave her a peck on the cheek and fell asleep. When he awoke he found a strange man standing at the end of his bed wearing a long flowing white Robe. "Who the hell are you?" demanded Dave, "and what are you doing in my bedroom?" The mysterious man answered "This isn't your bedroom and I'm St Peter." Dave was stunned "You mean I'm dead!?!! That can't be, I have so much to live for, I haven't said goodbye to my family... you've got to send me back straight away." St Peter replied "Yes, you can be reincarnated but there is a catch. We can only send you back as a dog or a hen." Dave was devastated, but knowing there was a farm not far from his ho use, he asked to be sent back as a hen. A flash of light later he was covered in feathers and clucking around pecking the ground. "This ain't so bad" he thought until he felt this strange feeling welling up inside him.
The farmyard rooster strolled over and said "So you're the new hen, how are you enjoying your first day here?" "It's not so bad", replies Dave, "but I have this strange feeling inside like I'm about to explode." "You're ovulating" explained the rooster, "don't tell me you've never laid an egg before?" "Never!" replies Dave. "Well just relax and let it happen." So he did and after a few uncomfortable seconds later, an egg pops out from under his tail. An immense feeling of relief swept over him and his emotions got the better of him as he experienced motherhood for the first time. When he laid his second egg, the feeling of happiness was overwhelming and he knew that being reincarnated as a hen was the best thing that ever happened to him . . . Ever!!! The joy kept coming and as he was just about to lay his third egg he felt an enormous smack on the back of his head and heard his wife shouting... "Dave, wake up you drunken bastard, you've shit the bed!"
Me: Here's a serious question: if someone wants to get into the business of music, do you have any advice for them?
Sabrina: Pick one thing you do very well, and excel at it. Don’t try to do a bunch of things, and don’t try to be versatile. Unless you want to be a session musician or session vocalist... it will work against you. Also, for young girls/women... BE CAREFUL. Check people out before you head to a studio to work with someone. Just because someone has a track record (great songs on great albums etc.)... doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to be alone with them. That’s all I’m saying.
Me: You just turned 22. Congrats. Anything crazy happened on your birthday?
Sabrina: Thanks! It was last May... It wasn’t crazy at all actually... just went for dinner with my family at an amazing French restaurant in Vancouver... (Le Crocodile) ...and then the next day did a dinner thing with all my friends. Craziest birthday I ever had was spent at the Rainbow in Hollywood, California. I’ll leave the details up to your imagination...
Me: For ten years you went to the Royal Conservatory of Music? What was that like, and was that in Canada or England?
Sabrina: That was in Canada.... I studied piano with RCM all throughout my childhood and my teens. I started when I was five. What was it like? Not easy. But it’s good, it teaches one discipline. There are practical exams every year, as well as written theory exams. For me it was never ‘home from school, watch TV, eat dinner, do homework, go to bed’. After school for me was piano lesson / ballet lesson / figure skating practice / guitar lesson / voice lesson / swimming lesson / choir practice / musical theatre rehearsal / songwriting session... and then after whatever that day’s schedule was, it was time to go home and do homework and practice piano and finish my theory homework and... the list goes on. The RCM served me well in that I know music theory. I understand my songs when I write them... and I understand the songs I hear in my CD player. The program doesn’t really encourage creativity though. So after I was done with RCM, I went on to study jazz piano. It was very different, and also very valuable.
Me: When you were in high school you studied figure skating, ballet, voice lessons, flute, bass and guitar. What, no swimming or piano lessons? Lazy ass. Seriously, why three instruments when most kids focus on one and why bass?
Sabrina: HAHA... actually I did swimming lessons... for like... 8 years or so. Hated every minute of it. Chlorine grosses me out. Well... I started in piano, then took up flute because it was the least painful option when we had to start band class in grade 7. I didn’t want to learn the trombone, obo, clarinet or trumpet. So I learned to play the flute... but then when I got braces it all went downhill. Haha... then I took up guitar when I was around 15 because I was getting tired of only being able to write on the piano. (I started writing music when I was 13.) The bass story is kind of funny... I was in grade 10 and I really wanted to keep a band class in my schedule. So, with all the other classes I wanted, the only block I had free was during the orchestra class. So, I spoke to the band instructor at my highschool and we made a deal that I’d join the orchestra if I could learn electric bass... playing the cello parts. Definitely a challenge... but I’m glad I did it... because now I can pick up the bass if I want!
Me: Is there any websites or anything you would like to tell the readers of the Phile about?
Sabrina: My official website: sabrinakorva.com –always being updated! My myspace: myspace.com/sabrinakorva -come say hi! All my songs are available on iTunes!
Me: Thank you for reading and hope to see you at a show someday soon!
The farmyard rooster strolled over and said "So you're the new hen, how are you enjoying your first day here?" "It's not so bad", replies Dave, "but I have this strange feeling inside like I'm about to explode." "You're ovulating" explained the rooster, "don't tell me you've never laid an egg before?" "Never!" replies Dave. "Well just relax and let it happen." So he did and after a few uncomfortable seconds later, an egg pops out from under his tail. An immense feeling of relief swept over him and his emotions got the better of him as he experienced motherhood for the first time. When he laid his second egg, the feeling of happiness was overwhelming and he knew that being reincarnated as a hen was the best thing that ever happened to him . . . Ever!!! The joy kept coming and as he was just about to lay his third egg he felt an enormous smack on the back of his head and heard his wife shouting... "Dave, wake up you drunken bastard, you've shit the bed!"
Me: Here's a serious question: if someone wants to get into the business of music, do you have any advice for them?
Sabrina: Pick one thing you do very well, and excel at it. Don’t try to do a bunch of things, and don’t try to be versatile. Unless you want to be a session musician or session vocalist... it will work against you. Also, for young girls/women... BE CAREFUL. Check people out before you head to a studio to work with someone. Just because someone has a track record (great songs on great albums etc.)... doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to be alone with them. That’s all I’m saying.
Me: You just turned 22. Congrats. Anything crazy happened on your birthday?
Sabrina: Thanks! It was last May... It wasn’t crazy at all actually... just went for dinner with my family at an amazing French restaurant in Vancouver... (Le Crocodile) ...and then the next day did a dinner thing with all my friends. Craziest birthday I ever had was spent at the Rainbow in Hollywood, California. I’ll leave the details up to your imagination...
Me: For ten years you went to the Royal Conservatory of Music? What was that like, and was that in Canada or England?
Sabrina: That was in Canada.... I studied piano with RCM all throughout my childhood and my teens. I started when I was five. What was it like? Not easy. But it’s good, it teaches one discipline. There are practical exams every year, as well as written theory exams. For me it was never ‘home from school, watch TV, eat dinner, do homework, go to bed’. After school for me was piano lesson / ballet lesson / figure skating practice / guitar lesson / voice lesson / swimming lesson / choir practice / musical theatre rehearsal / songwriting session... and then after whatever that day’s schedule was, it was time to go home and do homework and practice piano and finish my theory homework and... the list goes on. The RCM served me well in that I know music theory. I understand my songs when I write them... and I understand the songs I hear in my CD player. The program doesn’t really encourage creativity though. So after I was done with RCM, I went on to study jazz piano. It was very different, and also very valuable.
Me: When you were in high school you studied figure skating, ballet, voice lessons, flute, bass and guitar. What, no swimming or piano lessons? Lazy ass. Seriously, why three instruments when most kids focus on one and why bass?
Sabrina: HAHA... actually I did swimming lessons... for like... 8 years or so. Hated every minute of it. Chlorine grosses me out. Well... I started in piano, then took up flute because it was the least painful option when we had to start band class in grade 7. I didn’t want to learn the trombone, obo, clarinet or trumpet. So I learned to play the flute... but then when I got braces it all went downhill. Haha... then I took up guitar when I was around 15 because I was getting tired of only being able to write on the piano. (I started writing music when I was 13.) The bass story is kind of funny... I was in grade 10 and I really wanted to keep a band class in my schedule. So, with all the other classes I wanted, the only block I had free was during the orchestra class. So, I spoke to the band instructor at my highschool and we made a deal that I’d join the orchestra if I could learn electric bass... playing the cello parts. Definitely a challenge... but I’m glad I did it... because now I can pick up the bass if I want!
Me: Is there any websites or anything you would like to tell the readers of the Phile about?
Sabrina: My official website: sabrinakorva.com –always being updated! My myspace: myspace.com/sabrinakorva -come say hi! All my songs are available on iTunes!
Me: Thank you for reading and hope to see you at a show someday soon!
That was a good interview, wasn't it? She seems so cool. Please go and download her music and check out her websites. The Phile will be back tomorrow with Brian Ruhe from the band Daemon Familiar. So, until then, spread the word, not the turd.
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