Fan’s Forum II: A Conversation With Sally Taylor Part Three: "Shotgun," The Third Album By Pat Hill I hope you enjoyed the first two portions of the latest conversation with Sally Taylor. In the next part, we focused on the new album, "Shotgun." Q: The new album "Shotgun" is now available at the web site and while you’re on the road playing gigs, but won’t be available for download on the Internet yet. Were you aware that some of your songs from "Tomboy Bride" and "Apt. 6-S" were available on the former song-trading site Napster? SALLY: Yes, I know. Some songs were there but could only be downloaded when someone who had the songs was operating his/her computer. The only reason I’m not keen on Napster is because I feel that giving away music de-values it. I know this isn’t true for everyone, but for me-when I get free music I will listen to it less because it means less to me. That’s the only reason I’m not totally psyched to have been on Napster. It’s not a bad thing though, because people who are already interested in buying a CD could get a sampling of what the album is about and that may help their buying decision. Q: Now that Napster has been taken off-line for the time being the policing of offering your band’s music for free has to bring you some assurance and keep the value and integrity of your music intact. And, it appears that the record industry has taken a tough stance on web sites like Napster, even though free music sites will most likely always be available. SALLY: It’s sort of ironic because as an independent artist, by offering free music it doesn’t affect the record companies, it directly affects the artist who gets the money from the albums to help finance tours and future albums. Q: Outside of the Internet, what opportunities would you like to see the band take part in 2002? SALLY: Right now, we just did a recording of (John Lennon’s) "Imagine" with a bunch of other artists and the proceeds are going to the kids who lost parents in the terrorist attacks. So, that felt really good to contribute. In this time of feeling completely helpless, it’s good to know that there’s something that I can do to financially help victims of terrorism. Q: Will this song be released as a single? SALLY: It’s going to be released on the W.A.R. label (What Are Records) and they are figuring out how it will all be pulled together. I haven’t heard of any date yet for the release. Q: It’s well known that you enjoy performing and the band has toured extensively nationwide for the past two years. There’s a good chance that at every show you book, someone is seeing you for the first time. How do you prepare for each show to ensure that you are giving great first impressions each time out? SALLY: I try to do an hour of vocal warm up, if I can get it in. I will have some dinner and so on. It doesn’t take as much preparation anymore, but when I first started there were a lot of rituals. There are certain things you’re not supposed to do in a dressing room such as-if you whistle in a dressing room you have to turn around three times and spit on the floor and other stupid things like that. When I get on stage and am doing a sound check I’ll try to project my spirit into the room. I’ll do this by projecting a mental image of creating a loving place where people can feel good. Q: Upon starting a show in recent months, you’ll begin a concert with "Nisa" (from Apt. 6-S) and you’ll use a lot of non-verbal communications by using various slow and deliberate hand and arm motions. It does project a soothing mood and ensures the audience that you are truly into your music and sets the stage for an exciting show. SALLY: Well thanks. That’s one thing I try to do, by reminding myself to get into the place where I was when I wrote the song. Q: When you’re putting together a set list, besides the fact that you now have three albums worth of original songs under your belt, do you find yourself needing to put a particular song or two away for a while when a song get played so often, and since you’ve been performing them since 1997? SALLY: Some of them sort of come and go. We had played "Without Me" well before we recorded it. The same thing with "March Like Soldiers" we played before it made it to an album. Then, there are songs we’ve never recorded and now don’t play anymore like "One Step" and "Swept Away." They are songs that have come into our set and are now gone, replaced or forgotten about. The way I like to set up a set list is to get as many songs into an order so it never feels like I’m playing the same song over and over. It always feels like I’m telling new stories and not about the same thing the last song was about. So I try to create that and keep the tempos not too close together in the set in order to build toward the finale. I try to keep songs that are all in six-six and six-eight away from each other and stuff like that. Q: We’ve had several questions sent in that discuss your recent television appearances. Being on TV will associate you with being famous and many have asked about your experiences. A year ago you appeared on "Politically Incorrect," you had backed up your Dad’s band on Leno during "Shower The People" a couple years ago, you were with your Mom and Brother at a televised concert in Central Park last summer when your Mom released her latest album. What’s that like being on TV and possibly seeing yourself on the TV set while watching at home? SALLY: I’ve never watched myself when I was on TV. I was sent a few tapes but I resist watching them because I’m too self-conscious. I would never want to stop doing something on stage because it feels right but it doesn’t look right. Q: Do you have any memories of being on these shows that you wanted to share? After viewing the "Politically Incorrect" episode, I and many other fans were proud of you for keeping your composure and having fun but being professional. Whereas some of the other ladies (who were also rock star children) seemed a bit out of control and spacey at times. SALLY: It was a sort of whirlwind. They churned out three shows from that network being taped that night. They throw you in there and give you the questions right before the show starts whether you feel OK with the questions or not. I tried to put together sentences that were comprehensible before the next person jumped in. It was fun but I was only there for a half-hour and then I left and was out to dinner. Q: What’s it like to perform in front of a very large crowd, like the Denver Nuggets professional basketball game last season, or at the kick-off of the play-offs last year for the Colorado Avalanche professional hockey team? SALLY: I don’t know why this is, or why this is true, but playing in front of five or 50 people means so much more than playing in front of 5,000 or 50,000 people. It feels like you cannot wrap your arms around the people in the audience. It’s like when you go out in an area where there are just five trees you can really appreciate those trees, as opposed to an entire forest where it’s harder to see and acknowledge it because it’s so much. It feels like you’re playing in front of your TV… I think the other thing is that if there are ten people in an audience, they have to be quiet, listen and watch what’s going on, because if a couple doesn’t, everyone else will be watching them. Where, at a Nuggets game, there’s so many distractions and noise going on. Q: Last year there was talk of shooting a possible video for a song from "Apt. 6-S" when it was released, did that ever occur? Are you planning on making videos for a song or two from "Shotgun?" SALLY: No, we never did that video. We spoke to a producer many times about shooting a video. It sounded like fun-go fly to Los Angeles and get a video made-but I have to be careful in the way money is spent. The way that marketing works best for me is #1 Word of Mouth-people sharing there like of my music with others. There’s also #2, which is Playing-performing in front of people who bring their friends and family and having publicity in newspapers and magazines surrounding that. Then, there’s #3, which are all the Flyers-and ads that gets pinned up and draws attention to upcoming shows. The next thing that would be a much bigger campaign would be to make a video, put that out and have heavy rotation on it. However, the risk and chances involved with taking your chances and putting your money into only the possibility that the video may make rotation- well it’s basically taking $10,000 to $30,000 and lighting it on fire and putting it in the garbage because the returns on that would be so hard to re-coupe. It’s such a high risk and low return venture for me as an independent artist and would have to sell countless thousands of CDs to just break even by making a video. I’d almost have to be a part of a major label and have the necessary connections to get played on VH1 and MTV. Q: Continuing that point of talking about the financial aspects of being an independent artist, what are your latest totals-are you aware of how many copies of each album you’ve sold? SALLY: I’ve had to change manufactures several times which makes that very difficult to count up the total albums sold. Things were going wrong at any given moment with my last few manufactures and I haven’t tallied anything recently. The only generated computations I have were based on mechanical royalties that I had to pay and it would be tough to say off the top of my head what exactly the totals are. But, I can say it’s been good and I’ve been really lucky to have people as interested in CDs after shows has been a Godsend because the music industry is an expensive venture. We wouldn’t be able to tour as much as we do if we didn’t have the support that we have. I have just one van with the equipment in the back and there are three other members and an engineer and even though it’s growing it’s still a very expensive business. Q: You all seem to have a lot of fun while on the road, and it appears from the road diary entries that all the band members now have nicknames. What are they and how’d they come about? SALLY: Yes, we do have a lot of fun. Chris Soucy is "Doc" for "Doctor Seuss," and Seuss sounds like Soucy. Kenny calls me "Shmoop-Zilla" and it got abbreviated to just "Zilla." I don’t know what it means but it’s a very sweet I think. Kenny, because of the way we say his name-is a nickname. We roll it out like "Ken-eeeee…" It’s almost like "Yip-eeeee." Dean is called "Dino" is because he has the dinosaur Dino from the Flintstones tattooed on his leg. Chris Delucchi is either "Da-luke" or just "Luke, use the force Luke…" A fourth and final part of the interview is coming soon… To Interview Part IV Return to Top Page