Swing Out Sister
It started with our interview with Peter White "they are very elusive. I'd love to meet them" he said of Swing Out Sister adding "Their 'Shapes and Patterns' CD became kind of an anthem for me and my wife Robin in our first year of marriage..it was played in our house constantly for about a year" Turns out Swing Out Sister were not in hiding but in the studio in England working on a brand new album. The latest release from Swing Out Sister 'Somewhere Deep In The Night' is breezy and positve with string arrangements that liken it to classics from Burt Bacharach and Dusty Springfield. After seeing our interview with Peter White Swing Out Sister contacted us at Smooth Jazz Now for an interview. We chatted with lead singer Corinne Drewery.

John Beaudin - Hi Corinne, thanks so much for contacting us.

Corinne Drewery - Hello John it's great to be on your site. You'll have to excuse the noise in the background were actually in the studio today Andy(Connell) is playing producer today behind the board.

John - Yes I can hear the mix down in the background - sounds great! I want to start with the latest album 'Somewhere Deep In The Night'. I just love this album!

Corinne - Well, I am glad. It's quite a world kept secret really. It is one of those albums that is quite subtle and it takes a bit of time and attention. It is not an immediate punch in the face like some of the stuff that is around at the moment. You just need to take time to listen to it. It is great for driving and great for wide open spaces, so I am sure around Calgary you will be able to enjoy it with the scenery and the countryside.

John - Of course, you say wide open spaces and I listened to this album and I thought to myself it is amazingly serene and it has a retro feel to it. I love the strings, I love the way you sing and it is very relaxing to listen to.

Corinne - I think that has something to do with the fact that I grew up in the countryside and I think I try and take a little bit of that with me wherever I go. I go to some pretty chaotic places and we live in the center of London for starters and our studio is in the center of London too. You can get dragged down with all the chaos of the city, so I just kind of close my eyes and think of open meadows and corn fields and try to get yourself into that frame of mind when you are doing a vocal really.

John - It is nice to see that that has projected in your music though because that doesn't always work with an artist. Sometimes an artist has a certain vision but then they listen to the album after it has been out for two years and they think well really that is not what I meant. But in your case I listened to this album and I think it's relaxing without putting me to sleep and it's inspiring and it's got a lot of combinations in there.

Corinne - Well, that is good. I think anybody that records music can look back in hindsight and think we should have done it this way or we should have done it that way and that is what keeps you going. You may have the initial inspiration and whatever you start out with if you are being true to yourself I think that is really the inspiration that is going to drive you for the rest of your life. But experience and expertise can help you perfect your technique so you kind of have the same ingredients but you perfect your recipe.

John - Your duo, your band, to me has been a band that has kind of stuck to their guns though. I look at you and think these people could have sold out at any time but somehow I get the feeling from what you and Andy do, it's basically let's stick to what we believe in as opposed to selling out.

Corinne - Well, we are very stubborn and it is not always a good career move to do that. I think if you stay true to yourself you are always pleased with what you've done and proud of it. I don't think you could hold your head up high and stand in front of an audience if you were doing something you didn't really have all your heart and soul into. It is something I think where we get into the studio and we can't help ourselves, we just do the best we can and keep throwing in extra things and a bit more and a bit more. We have been fortunate that we have worked with our producer, Paul O'Duffy, from the beginning except for a couple of live albums or two. We are kind of a team really and we understand what each other likes and maybe we are a bit spoiled and get too much of our own way. We don't have anyone trying to bullying us into doing something different and we get our inspiration from similar places really. We have a harmonious relationship and it works well.

John - After you had the hit 'Breakout,' I remember when that came out and that was truly one of those infectious songs that once it got in your head you just sang along with it. After the success of that did the record company get on you to repeat that over and over? What was the reaction?

Corinne - Well, I think they were getting us to repeat that over and over but the record companies have people who were trying to keep their jobs in the record company. They have pretty short attention span and memory span and once it is a few months away from your hit record they will probably say, 'Well why not try to make a record like someone else's latest hit record."

John Who inspired you because you have a very unique way of singing. You have a very distinctive voice and style but who influenced you when you were growing up?

Corinne - It is interesting that you should ask that because we actually heard not so long ago that she liked our latest album, 'Somewhere Deep in the Night' and Sandie Shaw actually was someone who influenced me when I was very young. Some other influences were Dusty Springfield and Shirley Bassey you know the great Diva's and Dionne Warwick. I realized the one thing all these people have in common is that they have all sung Burt Bacharach songs. I think that when you are young and you are listening to music and you are first being inspired by music, you don't realize what goes into the making of a great song. You think well it's a singer and she wears nice dresses, looks like a Diva and is on the T.V all the time but a lot has to do with the song they are actually singing and the people who have not only written but produced that song. I don't think really until the last ten or fifteen years that I have appreciated all of those elements. People like the Supremes and the Motown stuff as well but I really think the Diva's for me sing great Pop songs.

John - Do you like any of the newer Diva's right now? Are there any people out there that move you?

Corinne - I actually like Bjork and I think that some people find her a bit of an acquired taste. I like her sincerity and she definitely has an individual style and a real jazzy approach to writing and production. She takes risks and she created her own little world. A great singer from England from a few years ago, Mica Paris, I think she had a fantastic voice and I haven't heard what she has been doing recently but we always thought she would be great to do some writing with because she has such an individual voice and is a great singer.

John - I know that in Japan, they just love Swing out Sister, right? You are quite big in Japan.

Corinne - Well, we have been. I think that even if you are small in Japan or living in Japan, they have not a very big island but a huge population! They have been very good to us and very appreciative of our music and the Japanese I think like to follow people's careers and they will go with every twist and turn and they are great collectors. I think they like intricate things and appreciate the intricacy of our music.

John - When I get back to your music, it might sound cliché but it is like don't sweat the small stuff, life is okay, life is basically a good thing and it is like you are projecting the more positive things in life through just the sound itself. It is amazing!

Corinne -We don't really like to get to preachy or political with anything lyrical. You just want the music to make you feel good and that is what we try to do. We wanted to make us feel good first and foremost and I think if it doesn't make us feel good when we are making it in the studio, recording it then we are not doing the right thing.

John - How did you meet Andy(Connell)?

Corinne - I first met Andy when I was singing with another group called 'Working Week' and it was actually an audition that didn't go very well because they sacked me the night Andy was in the audience. He said I wasn't that bad but maybe he was just being polite. Luckily, Andy was around and he was looking for a singer and so I found another job pretty quickly.

John - Where did that rumor start that you were a fashion model before?

Corinne - I guess it could kind of be twisted into the truth. I studied fashion and textiles for four years at a pretty good College called 'Martins' and it turns out some pretty successful designers but it didn't work on me. While I was there if people couldn't find someone to model their clothes in their fashion degree show then we would just wear each others clothes. I don't think I was particularly the right person for the job it's just there wasn't any one else around to do it. I am quite tall but I think I like my food too much to be a model but it is quite a nice rumor to have spread around about you and I don't mind.

John - How has the reception been with the new album in England?

Corinne - It has been okay but I don't think it is going to make any great headlines like 'Breakout' because it is not our first record in the charts. The album that followed 'Breakout' called 'It's Better to Travel' which went straight to number one, that was very lucky and we were in a very lucky position. I think that when you have been making records for fifteen years or more like we have it is hard to recapture that kind of first time surprise that makes people run out and buy it. There are a lot of loyal fans out there and people have been finding out slowly but surely and it has done okay. There have been a lot of emails and compliments about it and I think that once people have heard it, they are hooked.

John - That was what I was thinking when I first put it on. If this album gets exposure people will buy it because it has that infectious, feel good feel and it sticks to you and that is what you want from a good album.

Corinne - We're looking for something that just makes you feel satisfied. I think there is so much music around it takes a lot of sifting through to find the right stuff for you. I think that is the problem we have these days is how to get to the people who are going to like it. You just have to rely on them finding it and you get a little bit overwhelmed when you go to the record shops these days. There is just floor after floor and thousands and thousands of CD's. I think things just take a little longer to get through.

John - What is the high point so far in your career?

Corinne - I think having a number one album for our first album was pretty good! It all happened very early on and it all got a bit overwhelming. Appearing on ''Top of the Pops" in England was pretty good because I have watched that since I was a little girl and that show had been going since 1964 and then suddenly we were on it! Wishing you could be on that program from the age of four years old and then to suddenly be on it, it was amazing. We have met some great people as well along the way. I think it just all happened so quickly that it is difficult to remember all the things and once you have had a few years at it, it doesn't stand out so much. I think the high point in our career now is that we are still making music.

John - And the music you want to make!

Corinne - Yes, but it has been difficult sometimes to keep going despite it all and sometimes the hardest thing is to just be yourself. I think luckily we are all quite stubborn people, Andy, my self and our Producer Paul and we have actually stepped up to our guns really in the face of it all. I know it has not been just one particular moment but it is the high point of your career knowing that you are still around making stuff that you want to make.

John - I have talked to Artists who have been in the top ten in North America (specifically here in Canada) and you know when the microphone is off and not to mention any names they say, " You know I am glad to be in the Top Ten but the music I am making is not what I want to do." Of course, they are making more money but there is something inside where artists on a deeper level really want to be recognized and heard with what they truly want to do as an artist and I think that is just normal.

Corinne - I think when you start out you think it will be great to be famous and there is always an element of that but I think once you get recognized your first few times, you just want to shrink back into your shell and get back into what you originally intended to do.

John You just want to be you and you don't want to be 'on' all the time. As an artist there is that expectation of what is she really like and if you take a wrong step everyone knows but if you are just out there as yourself not as an artist you can be whoever you want. There is that aspect of the celebrity thing too as well. Thank you so much for calling us and I really appreciate it.

Corinne - Thank you so much for having me on the show and thanks for playing our music. I am glad you enjoy it and appreciate it and hopefully there will be some more coming along soon.

John - We look forward to it!

Interview from December 2002