TRISH ANDREWS’ ‘These Five Words’ is currently one of the hottest indie soul albums. Tracks like ‘Comfort Zone’ are wowing the modern soul rooms while other cuts from the LP are being regularly rotated by some of the most discerning soul radio DJs… www.soulandjazzandfunk.com felt the time was right to catch up with TRISH and we began with the obvious and asked about her musical background and influences…
I’ve been singing since I was in the 3rd grade. The first song I ever learned was “Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell… I’ve had years of vocal training and worked on song writing skills with my vocal coach Janetta Deavers. I love all types of music, but favour Neo-Soul. Influences? Well – Jill Scott, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Maxwell, James Brown, Bobby Caldwell, Dianne Schurr, Musiq Soulchild, Raphael Saddiq to name just a few – but the list could go on and on. Above all, though, I enjoy performing live and getting up close and personal with my audience… to get that natural high from a responsive crowd. With this passion for music I began singing in talent shows, festivals, local venues and with jazz bands, blues bands, and top 40 bands. But I always wanted to have my own style and be my own person so I sorted out my own musicians and became Independent Artist Singer/Songwriter Trish Andrews. Now I find myself opening up for nationally-known artists such as Eric Benet, KEM, Walter Beasley, Mike Phillips, Frankie Beverly & Maze, Cameo, Whodine, The SOS Band and so on.
‘These Five Words’ is your debut album… Why did you decide the time was right for you to record a whole LP?
I first started out with a 3-Single CD titled “Can’t Keep Running”. Once everyone heard it they loved it and wanted more songs to listen to… but I didn’t have any!. So I teamed up with my producer Rodney Shelton to do an 11 song album project and end it with a bonus track, which was a remix featuring Eddie Owens. We would make the first 3 songs on the album the cuts from the 3-Single CD but we redid them to match the new ones. I wanted to have a little something for everyone on this album so it became a great mix of Jazz, R&B, Soul, and Hip-Hop.
What was the inspiration behind the collection?
I already knew the whole project would be about love and positive relationships, with grown up yet sexy lyrics. I would say 80% of this CD is sexually-driven but with clean sexual content in a round about way! I do think that a lot of today’s music is missing that “Real Music” and “Real Lyric” feel. No one hardly talks about real love anymore. In my mind, I feel love still exists so through my music and lyrics, I wanted to bring that magical feeling back. For me, love should be spontaneous, fun, serious, exhilarating and emotional. On the album therefore, the song “You Know What You Do To Me” is about fun sex, while “On My Mind” is about serious sex. Then again “These Five Words” praises the whole natural high/spontaneous type of sex while “Making Love” focuses on emotional sex. These types of intimate moments are driven through everyday love and relationships and this is what helps keep that special fire burning within one another… so very important to help build a strong and healthy relationship! So through my songs, I expressed it all without being too vulgar… I hope!
Do you write all your own material?
Yes, I write the melody lines, the chorus, and the verses. And my producer Rodney Shelton writes the instrumentation. With the exception of “Can’t Keep Running”, “Feels Like Heaven”, and “Already”. Those three we wrote together.
Tell us more about your producer, Rodney Shelton.
Rodney’s major role was as arranger of the tracks and getting the whole team together – my engineer, background singer and live musicians and then making sure all my mixes were exactly right. Rodney has already worked with many greats such as James Brown, Shirley Caesar, Keith Washington, Billy Griffin, Howard Hewitt and many more.
What are your hopes for the album and your immediate ambitions?
Well I hope to perform the album world-wide. And I definitely want to perform live in the UK. Soul lovers in the UK have shown me and my music so much real love and support . My dream would be to get on a major tour with someone like Maxwell, KEM, or Eric Benet… I think their style and my style are somewhat similar.
….. And the future for Trish Andrews?
To run my journey on this album and start my next journey for the next album. What will I write about next? I’m anxious to see what album 2 brings out of me.
TRISH ANDREWS’ These Five Words’ is out now and available via the usual internet outlets – or go to www.trishandrews.com
