Laura Izibor is focused and understands what it takes to deliver a genuine sound that just feels right. Yes, Ms. Izabor understands that feeling that so many R&B and Soul artist are lacking. Maybe its because she is so down to earth. Singersroom had the pleasure of speaking with The “From My Heart To Yours” hitmaker about live music recording, Brooklyn, Maxwell and Soul music.
Laura Enters … Good day! (Sexy Irish accent)
Live Love … Brooklyn Sessions is a live recording, just me and my players; my band. Albums sometimes take longer than you intend, there’s a real class making albums so the thought of making an EP with freedom and no juicer is really liberating. It’s so nice to just go in a room and just press record and just play to your heart’s intent and that’s what we did and I think you can hear that and the people in the room just had that love for music and just freedom. That’s what I’m kind of hoping the continuation of Brooklyn Sessions will be. Kinda way they did it back in the day, just put down some songs.
Brooklyn Baby … I love Brooklyn, when I lived in New York over a year ago, I visited there a lot. I say to myself now, if I ever moved back to New York, I would not live in Manhattan again, I would move straight to Brooklyn. The culture in Brooklyn has the environment, creativity, and I think ultimately people there; they live a life as opposed to Manhattan where everyone is on the grind, always going from A to B. Brooklyn is a good environment to make music in.
R&B Surviving … I think it’s actually getting kind of cooler. I think there are a lot more [artist]. I love Raphael Saadiq and I love Adele. It’s getting more diverse. If you look on the R&B side, R. Kelly did a real classic soul album, it’s always nice when people pay respect and bring it back, and of coarse I love Jill Scott. Right now soul is not so mainstream, it’s not the flavor of the month, but I like it that it’s not exploited or recycled. There are a lot of new talented acts so I think it’s as cool as it can be.
Features … Its something that I want to do when its right. A lot of it can get political. I really like Maxwell, he’s gorgeous and talented. However, so many people feature. I would love to work with Q-Tip and Common. I’m not a believer in pushing things. It has to feel like its the right thing . I don’t want to push something that’s not my time.
Living Legends … I was on tour with extraordinary people. But it was funny to see that the people had the longest career ironically had the most humility. Al Green and Aretha Franklyn taught me a lot. They taught me to just enjoy the experience, stay humble and make sure to share the gift God gave me. The was a great lesson I learned very young.
Making Singersroom’s Next Diva 2012 … Wow, ‘Next Diva’ … very good … Thank you, I am very flattered. Well being Irish, if I told my family they would jokingly say “yeah you are a diva.” But having traveled and having an understanding of the word, I think diva is someone with a very long career. She has highs and she has lows. She is someone who is real and what you see is what you get. I think of longevity. They are in it for the long haul.
Ipod … I have been listening to Harry Belafonte, I like his blend of sounds and also music from the Caribbean. I am really into Adele. Of course Nina Simone, I’ve been listening to her for years, honestly the woman recorded so many songs.
Social Agenda … My mission is to make sure I can really speak the truth with each song. I ask myself, can I really reach the people? Can I express how I feel? Am I expressing what I feel to the core? I want to be me. I want to be able to say this is me and its my life. I hope my fans get something out of it. I feel I’ve been real.
End of the World … That’s a terrifying question, if I only had 3 years to do my music forever. Well, if that happened I would be in the studio none stop! I would live on the road and have a portable studio. I would release music, tour and record!
Acting vs. Music … With something like acting I would recommend studying and going through training. I would want to do it right. I think I would like to build up my resume before I jump into the movie thing. I would want to be more careful and see what I would want to do. I really want to focus on my music right now though.
Pick up Laura Izibor’s latest EP, Brooklyn Sessions Vol. 1, on iTunes.
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