Diverse singer Mary Fakhoury takes a 21st century look on pop music

Written by Kit Burns

You may think Mary Fakhoury (http://www.maryfakhoury.com) is more than one person. After listening to her EP Universal Worlds, Fakhoury’s unrestrained genre-leaping, cutting through the boundaries of French and Arabic music to vocal jazz and hip-hop, might leave you a tad dizzy. Certainly this is the kind of mesmerizing diversity that Madonna has aimed for throughout her long career; however, Fakhoury achieves it on one CD, remaining shockingly consistent in terms of song quality and vocal performance. Fakhoury could very well be the blueprint of the 21st century pop star, a one-woman United Nations on an iPod.

Kit Burns: Nearly all female vocalists on the scene today can fit into one genre or another; they’re easily labeled. You, on other hand, wear your eclecticism like a badge of honor. Have you always created music that is so varied?

Mary Fakhoury: For me it was inevitable to become so eclectic with my music. Growing up the child of singers, I was exposed to everything from Arabic music to Frank Sinatra. I come from a unique heritage of Greek and Arabic, but of course of American decent that I knew every style of music, stuff people have never even heard of. Music is a universal language that can be communicated in different ways. I have always created music that is so varied because to me I am telling a story or creating something of my expression.

Burns: You have an Arabic tune on your last EP. Do you have Middle Eastern roots? Is that a musical style you intend to pursue in the future?

Fakhoury: Yes, I do have Middle Eastern roots. Do I plan to have similiar tracks to this in the future? Yes, absolutely.

Burns: How much artistic input do you put in your recordings? Does the producer(s) mainly call the shots?

Fakhoury: I have 100% artistic input. It wouldn’t be mine if I didn’t. The producer takes care of the technical side of things but to let them control the direction the album is going, no, I can do that myself.

Burns: What did you want to do first – be a model or be a singer?

Fakhoury: I have definitely wanted to be a singer like my father. I think of him as Mozart in a way, incredibly talented but at the wrong time with the wrong crowd.

Burns: Given your balancing act with music, what is your live show like?

Fakhoury: Right now, my live show has more like a jazzy feel; think of yourself being in a cabaret in paris in the ’20s. If I had the millions that other huge names like Madonna have in their live shows I would do something befitting to every song or “story” I tell, soon, very soon.

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San Diego’s Mike Press injects Americana with hop-hop inspirations

Interview by Kit Burns

Singer/songwriter Mike Press is one of the few artists who is both influenced by Americana and hip-hop music – and you can actually hear traces of those radically different genres in his songs. While his tunes are colored by lap-steel guitars and country twang, Press’ rhythmic and sometimes funky vocal delivery is rooted in rap.

Kit Burns: Your music has the rootsy characteristics of Americana but your vocal delivery and spontaneous lyrical style almost remind me of rap. Did you listen to much hip-hop growing up?

Mike Press: I used to listen to a lot of rap.  Not as much anymore but I definitely was and am influenced by anyone with a good lyrical flow.  A Tribe Called Quest, Public Enemy, etc. I must say though I am very influenced by Bob Dylan and a NYC poet named Todd Colby.  I played drums in a band with him called Drunken Boat.  He is an amazing wordsmith, and he taught me a lot about playing with words, not being afraid to take chances. There was a time I wanted to do a rap project, and I have even written song rap songs but the whole white rapper thing got a bit played out; I coined the term Hick-Hop way b4 Kid Rock ever said it.  I have witnesses!

Burns: Some of your lines such as “I have a history of bad credit obligations” seem like confessions. Are you drawing upon your own experiences?

Press: Yeah, I pretty much draw solely on my own experiences.  I have been called selfish; every time I write it comes back to being about me.  What do I know about anyone else? That line, “I have a history of bad credit obligations ” was given to me by Sears when I applied for a credit card.

Burns: You’re based in San Diego now. Isn’t that mostly a punk scene there? Or is there room for singer/songwriters fueled by the alt country of Wilco?

Press: I am in San Diego, and I do feel like a fish out of water.  There are some Americana type acts around but they all seem to be either really traditional or what I like to call “cartoon-country” where they are just playing/acting hicks. Almost mocking redneck culture. I seem to be appreciated much more elsewhere. Boston will always be my home and, as you probably know, American roots music thrives there.

Burns: How long have you been writing songs? What have you learned since you began?

Press: I have been writing songs since I can remember but I was always the drummer in my bands.  Drums came to me faster than guitar.  These days I do both. I have learned that songwriting for me is best when I am not trying to target the music. I have a lot of half-written songs.  When I go to the studio I do not let that hold me back because I always find the words and lyrics best when under the gun.  Right as I am going to do a vocal take, words, rhymes, and concepts will come into my head that I never could have come up with if I was just sitting there a desk trying to force them out of my brain. I guess this harkens back to your first question.  I usually only have the first verse and a chorus when I go to record.  It is cool that you picked up on that.

Burns: You were once in the Boston group Sticky. Why did you split?

Press: Sticky split because I had to move out to California to be near my daughter.  We still do shows once a while and put out two CDs that are still available on CDBaby. I still work with all my Boston musician friends because quite simply they all rock and understand where I am coming from.

http://www.mikepress.com

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Rapper M.C. Mars finds humor in the darkest recesses of life

 

Reviewed by Kyrby Raine

M.C. Mars/Letz Cabalaborate

When M.C. Mars’ album arrived in our office, there was a mad tumble among staffers for it who mistakenly thought that Dennis Hopper had released a rap record under pseudonym. Yes, if you look at the album cover, Mars does somewhat resemble Hopper. However, he is his own person and possibly one of the most articulate and frank rappers in years.

Mars is unlike any other hip-hop artist on the scene today, at least from what I’ve heard. First of all, let’s start with his age; Mars is in his late 50s; secondly, he’s a cab driver, and his songs originate from real-life incidents on the road. Thirdly, he has HIV, and a couple of tracks, namely “A-I-D-S Is a Manmade Virus,” “Eulogy for Eazy-E,” and “High Inner Vision,” refer to his illness. But that doesn’t mean Letz Cabalaborate is a depressing album. Far from it. This is a CD brimming with life and high energy. Mars pokes fun at rap cliches on “Hip Hop Taxi” and “Cabdriving Is a Video Game” brings a macho outlook to taxi driving.

The genius of Letz Cabalaborate is in Mars’ stories. From the gender-bending shocks of “TV Humor” to the failed hooker hook-up of “Bob the Fertilizer Salesman,” Mars finds humor in the darkest recesses of the human condition.

http://www.mcmars.net

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