EXPOSED VOCALS INTERVIEW WITH PEGGY SARLIN
Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
Growing up in the New York suburbs, I enjoyed listening to music, but showed no particular signs of talent. Then I acquired a boyfriend who was a musician, and I noticed that girls took an interest in him. I decided that I better learn to sing, in self- defense, so I could be on stage with him. Singing led to songwriting, and before I knew it, I was hooked on making music.
Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give some tips to any smaller or local bands looking to get gigs or airplay?
There’s no substitute for hustling, which most musicians, me included, don’t classify as fun. I think one way to overcome the natural aversion to hustling is to consider it a performance. When I first started out, I invented a persona for myself: “Gale Owens, manager.” “Gale Owens” would work the phones, telling everyone how fabulous Peggy was. That worked well till they wanted to meet Gale.
As a musician, your goal is to communicate with other people. Finding effective ways to hustle is honing your communication skills. Or, as my wonderful producer/pianist Jeff Franzel says, “Hustling is exercising another set of muscles.”
Do you ever make mistakes during performance? How do you handle that?
Mistakes? Moi? Well, yeah. During a recent show, I lost my place re-entering after Jeff’s solo. I said to the audience, “I was so dazzled by Jeff’s playing that I lost track of everything else. Jeff does that to me.” As long as you respond to a mistake with positive energy – laughing, joking, or simply ignoring it and powering through – you’re good as gold.
Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?
In my first incarnation as a rock singer, I specialized in playing some pretty rough dives. The official end of the evening always came when someone threw a chair through the front window. And there was a constant ethical dilemma I never quite solved: when a fight breaks out in front of you, do you stop or keep playing? I’m interested in hearing your readers’ thoughts on that one.
In my current incarnation, singing my original soul-infused tunes, I’ve been playing exclusively at a swanky joint, The Metropolitan Room in New York. So far, no windows have been broken, and fistfights have been kept to a bare minimum.
Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now? Jeff just came back from Europe, excited about new drum sounds he’d heard from London producers. We’re eager to try them out. We’ve been working at a little studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with great sound and mastering at Engine Room Audio. Can’t wait for the next round of recording!
How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you? I’ve just started working with City Bird Publicity to promote my new single, I’ll Be Right Over. I’m also in discussion with promoters who know how to leverage social media. It’s a personal goal of mine to learn more about promotion in the coming year, so I hope you’ll ask me again, when I can share what I’ve discovered. In the meantime, I’m active on Facebook, which I joined to promote my first album, Friends and Family. I post a new photo of myself every day, which is what people seem to like.
If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why? Ray Charles (Dead) and Eric Clapton (Alive), because their music oozes pure soul from every note. I often imagine them singing my songs, as I write them, because I love the blues-infused emotion they bring to such a broad range of styles. Since I’m a New Yorker, I’d like to sing with Ray at Carnegie Hall and Eric at Madison Square Garden. Of course, we’re singing one of my songs!
So, what’s next? Any upcoming projects you want to talk about? I’ve recorded four more singles, which I’ll be releasing in the coming months, after I finish promoting I’ll Be Right Over. They’re all about love, and I’m very excited to share them with you.
If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing? That’s easy to answer, because I’m already doing it! I’m a writer and broadcast journalist with a busy career. I’ve been a scriptwriter for some of the best kids television shows on Disney, Nickelodeon, and PBS. I also hosted a groundbreaking series on the brain, based on my book, which had a million online views in 2016 and will be rebroadcast in September. I’m traveling the country now for the sequel, filming interviews with brain experts, and writing the accompanying book.
What should fans look forward to in the next year or so? New singles, new videos, new shows, new energy and enthusiasm. I love writing songs and sharing them with wonderful people like you!
Any Shout-outs? Hi, Mark Ronson! I’m ready to work with you.
