Phillyist Reviews & Interviews... Sara Bareilles

First off, we have to tell you that we saw your show at the World Cafe Live on Saturday night.
Oh right on.

And we loved it and we knew we had to interview as well.
That's awesome, thank you.

First off, for our readers, why don't you give a quick update on where you grew up and your background in music?
All of it is in the website. I grew up in Humboldt County, CA and did a lot of community theatre and choirs growing up. I would just spend a lot of time fooling around on the piano. I definitely feel that I gravitated early to music and pursued that through school - I didn't study it - but I was always a part of it in college. At the end of college [UCLA] I started to do a lot of live shows in L.A. and started to pursue a live performance career. It has been very organic and a long time coming. I've been performing for about six years now and slowly but surely we've been growing. Bit by bit, its gotten to be - I got to quit my waitressing job - a lot bigger. It's been awesome so far.

That's awesome. So do you read music? Because I read that you do a lot of it by ear.
I don't read notes, but I can read chords. I don't read music in the traditional sense of the word.

Did you take classes in music in college?
No I participated in the UCLA Chorale, which is their choir.

You got signed by Epic Records in 2005, right?
Yes I was.

And, how was that for you?
It's been great. It has opened a lot of doors and been a huge opportunity for me. It comes with its share of challenges. You are inviting a lot of people into what you do creatively but overall it's been a huge opportunity for me. I feel very lucky to share my music on a much wider scale.

Did you record your Careful Confessions album before that [signing with Epic Records] ?
Yeah that was recorded in I think, 2003. I co-produced that with a good friend of mine/singer-songwriter/producer in L.A, Gabriel Mann. He and I co-produced the six EP and also put on some live tracks to feel it out. That was a really long time ago and we did it to have something recorded and you know we have sold thousands of copies of it - which is awesome!

With your new CD which comes out this summer, are you doing a lot of the same music from the earlier album or are you doing a completely new set?
We are re-recording several of the songs. There were some songs on "Careful Confessions" that were just live performances. We are doing studio performances of some of those songs and there is also some new material on there as well. It's kind of a mix.

Very cool. How would you describe your genre of music?
I usually say, Pop-Soul. There is definitely a lot of R&B and Jazz influences in my music. I guess that's where I would say I end up.

In the concert you played the piano, on your album do you play any other instruments?
I play the guitar on one song. I am not a very good guitarist but I can manage some song-writing on the guitar.

Did you bring any instruments in like the drums to your CD or is it an acoustic set?
It is a full band. We had studio musicians come in. We have the drums, bass, electric guitar and strings. We went all out for the CD.

Are you going to be able to tour with a full band in the future?
In the future we will. Right now it's hard to budget-wise and just sort of production requirements and restrictions. It is easier for us to travel, you know, in a smaller unit. It is also easier for us to open for bigger bands. We have a really simple set-up instead of having a full drum set and electric guitars with amps. We try to keep it really simple and acoustic for right now so we can have the best mobility. Then hopefully, eventually we will expand and have a full band.

I noticed you performed a lot acapella in college. Do you prefer the acoustic set or do you want to perform with a full band?
I am definitely interested in that. We normally play a full band in L.A. and I think there is value to both but I think in order to really deliver the sound the way I am envisioning it it would need a full band.

With your voice, have you pursued vocal lessons?
Recently I have taken some vocal lessons in terms of trying to increase stamina. Mainly just trying to protect against fatigue. As you go on tour, obviously, it gets harder to maintain doing shows every single night. But for the most part I didn't do a lot of training. In the past year I have been doing some vocal training with my voice teacher who's based out of L.A. He's given me a lot of guidance in terms of warm-ups to do and stuff to protect against fatigue and strengthening.

I always love asking this question at the end. If you had the chance to collaborate with any artist, who would it be?
Ooohh, gosh. You know, I don't - there's so many people. I guess right now it would be Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows. I would really like to do some song-writing with him and collaborate with him. There are so many artists out there that I would love to work with. He's somebody that comes to mind right now.

Cool. Is there a specific date for your release of your new album?
It will hopefully be June, but I am not sure.

I'll tell my readers to look for it this summer then.
Yeah! That sounds great.

Thank you so much for the interview and have good luck with the new CD.
Thank you so much!!