eady for some "More B.S."? Bree Sharp is.
The singer-songwriter, who turned heads in 1999 with her quirky hit, "David Duchovny," has rebounded from the dissolution of Trauma Records and returns Aug. 13 with her Ahimsa/Union Recording group debut LP, "More B.S."
Her sophomore effort, produced by longtime collaborator-guitarist Don DiLego, maintains the feisty spirit of her debut album, "A Cheap and Evil Girl," while displaying a blossoming knack for wordplay.
Sharp talked about more than b.s. in a recent interview with Pause & Play.
P&P - After Trauma basically vanished, did you panic and wonder if you'd ever get a chance to make another record?
Sharp - "Not really. I always knew I could make another record if I wanted, in as much as you can do whatever you want if you put your mind to it. But, I will say that trying to navigate through big business waters can be difficult, if not
nerve-racking, to say the least."
P&P - What was your manifesto for this album, a goal you wanted to achieve?
Sharp - "I had a few simple goals: No. 1 - make new, interesting, good music that I could feel proud of; No. 2 - do it independently."
P&P - Are you a frustrated novelist? "The Ballad of Grim and Lily" sounds like a book in the making.
Sharp - "I'm actually a frustrated (or re-focused, perhaps) actor. I studied theater in college and have always been a big fan of the movies, and I get inspired
by them all the time. Grim and Lily are a sort of amalgam of all of my favorite
gangster characters/movies. I feel like I know them so well, I actually found myself crying when I wrote it."
P&P - On "Lazy Afternoon," you take it to the fur and fashion industries. What prompted that? Was it something stirring inside and you just had to let it
out?
Sharp - "I guess I just can't stand the idea that after all we've learned about the way the fur industry operates (the animals left in unchecked traps for days, often chewing off their own limbs to escape, the anal electrocutions, etc. ...)
that people still think it's a sign of status to wear fur. To me, it's a sign of vanity, cruelty, ignorance and vapidity. When fur started to make its way back into couture and then became big in the hip-hop community, I was so sad and angry. I feel that artists need to be concerned with the plight of all creatures on the planet, not just with themselves and how they look. Of course, I feel the same way about wearing leather and the atrocities committed on factory farms and I talk about that in the song, too. I guess my hope is that people will become more interested in where their food and clothing comes from before it gets to the store. If more people were
educated I believe there would be a call for the inhumane practices performed
in these industries to be changed."
P&P - Your version of "Boys of Summer" is refreshing. It's not easy to do covers, is it? The key is: Do something different to it. Was that your philosophy?
Sharp - "I guess, in general, I feel that you should be able to do the cover in a different way than the song's original recording, but without losing the essence or spirit of it. In my case, I just always loved that song and was desperate to give my take on it a go. I hope Don Henley and Mike Campbell like it!"
P&P - What's your gut feeling on how the album will do?
Sharp - "In terms of record sales?... There's no way to know. I can only hope it takes off. In terms of fans liking it? ... I feel proud of the record - I enjoy listening to it myself - which is how I felt about 'A Cheap and Evil Girl,' and people seemed to really connect to that record. It's hard for me to answer a question like that, but I hope that time will prove the album to be successful in all of the important ways."
P&P - There are a lot of (older) artists who are eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but for one reason or another, they just haven't been invited to the big dance. What one artist do you think deserves to be in, and why? (Here are a few samples of those who aren't in: ABBA, AC/DC, Black Sabbath Jackson Browne, Carpenters, Patsy Cline, Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, Neil Diamond, Hall & Oates, The Hollies, George Jones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Willie Nelson, The O'Jays, the Righteous
Brothers, Frank Sinatra, War, Tammy Wynette.)
Sharp - "Of the list you've (mentioned), there are so many wonderful names. I think I'm most shocked about Willie Nelson. He's had such a long and fruitful career and has written so many wonderful songs, it's surprising that he's not been honored by the RRHF. Plus, have you seen his awesome long braids, gnarly,
worn-out guitar and beautifully weathered face? He's such a rock star!"
ON THE WEB: www.breesharp.com.
BREE SHARP SCORES WITH 'DAVID DUCHOVNY,' SO TO SPEAK
By GERRY GALIPAULT
(Aug. 8, 1999)
Aliens, UFO sightings, mutants, telepaths, human-sized parasites living in the Newark, N.J., sewer system. Bree Sharp loves everything about "The X-Files."
Especially David Duchovny.
The New York-based singer-songwriter tapped into her obsession for the Fox TV series and its leading man and wrote a hook-laden song titled, simply, "David Duchovny." A demo copy made its way to "X-Files" production members, who then surprised the happily married Duchovny with an all-star video tribute for the show's annual Christmas party.
Here's where conspiracy theories get interesting: The video had the most diverse group of lip-synchers in pop history, from Jenna Elfman to Alex Trebek to Whoopi Goldberg. For added camp value, Charles Nelson Reilly, KISS and the cast of "Baywatch" willingly recited the song's chorus, "David Duchovny, why won't you love me?" The video got passed around Hollywood, and before you can say "The truth is out there," Sharp's lyrical crush piqued the interest of Trauma Records, which promptly signed her.
Her debut LP, "A Cheap and Evil Girl," was released July 27 and now the 23-year-old Philadelphia native is bracing for her first promotional press tour, with several tour dates in between, including a few Lilith Fair appearances.
Like the series' premise, the "David Duchovny" phenomenon defies conventional explanations. That's fine with Sharp. She's just glad she got her foot in the door.
"This has all happened really quickly," Sharp said recently, "and at times it's overwhelming, but I'm basically just trying to keep my head on straight and take it one day at a time and not do the whole year in one day.
"Our first (radio) show is Aug. 8 in West Palm Beach, and I'm so excited ... with my band and everything. I'm ready to pee in my pants. I have a lot of confidence, because I've been performing since I was real young. I've been doing acoustic gigs for the past couple of years, so I'm not totally green. My band kicks ass. We all know each other, because they played on the record and they know the songs, so we just need a couple days of rehearsals in and tighten it up and go get 'em."
Fortunately for Sharp, she has other catchy but novelty-free songs up her sleeves, notably "America," "Walk Away," "Show Me" and "Not Your Girl."
"So far, I've gotten a great response," Sharp said. "I think I was concerned about being a one-hit wonder, but at the same time I was also confident because we worked really hard on the record and I'm very, very happy with the results, and there's some really good songs on the record, if I can say that.
"So far, people have been concurring. It's great to meet distributors and radio stations and people are like, 'Wow, you know, I think this is the next single' or 'I love the record' or 'This is my favorite song,' and it has nothing to do with the first single. It's very encouraging. Hopefully, knock on wood, if we get to the second single, people will see that it's an album."
Above all, Sharp wanted to rise above the female singer-songwriter crowd.
"I wanted it to be interesting, different and sexy and refreshing on every level," she said of the album. "I wanted it to be accessible to people. I wanted it to be smart and clever, separate from the things that are happening in music right now, which are kind of boring me. I don't want to name any names, but I just didn't want to be lumped in with them, period. I wanted to be evocative and provocative. I want to get people hot. That's really what I want to do - mentally, physically, emotionally."
Make no mistake, her admiration for "The X-Files" is genuine. In fact, she can get downright indignant when discovering a journalist has never sat through an entire episode.
She will immediately get on her Mulder-and-Scully pulpit.
"Oh god, you're taking all my will to not hang up on you," she said, laughing. "First of all, it's the smartest show on television, hands down. I didn't start watching the show because of David Duchovny. I was really reluctant to watch it, but I was at a college friend's house for Thanksgiving over the weekend. She wanted to watch these reruns with her dad, and I was totally dragging my feet, saying 'Can't we go play a game or something? Or talk about boys?' She made me watch it and I was totally hooked to it because it's so smart. I didn't look at (Duchovny) and go 'Oh my god,' it was a slow development. I realized what a cool guy he was.
"I love Mulder and Scully. They're my favorite TV characters of all-time. They really are. I just think they're the best."