Multinational singer/songwriter SONiA from Disappear Fear released her 17th album, Broken Film, on Sept. 17. A self-described dedication to John Lennon, Broken Film draws on the socioeconomical seasoning reminiscent of a life well-pronounced.
"Here in America, we are seeing a lot of beautiful green pastures and hearing sexy male cowboys and farmers talking about how they love their land and the beautiful natural gas underneath it. These commercials are 99 percent propaganda," SONiA said. "We need to not be persuaded by Halliburton, Exxon Mobile and Shell to sell the rights to extract the natural gas under our land in any of our States to these greed mongers. To allow any kind of fracking on any land is pure suicide and genocide. Even if pretty faces and people you normally elect like Obama and Clinton say it is ok. It ain't OK at all."
Before she released the CD, SONiA talked with Windy City Times.
Windy City Times: On Sept. 17 you will release your 17th album. What inspired you to create the music we all hear on this new release?
SONiA: In two words: dedication and perspiration. My Life inspired this new CD, the window of my heart, mind and body that I look, love and live through. My songs develop like the process of the irritating sand that become pearls in oysters, grinding them through my craft and vision of what they ultimately sound like on the recording.
WCT: Which musicians personally inspire you to continue recreating your career?
SONiA: I feel a connection with John Lennon, not that I would site him for recreating my career—that is a constant thing—but there is some kind of connection. I dedicated this CD to the vision of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. I left an earlier mix of the Broken Film CD for Yoko on her birthday, which is my birthday, too.
WCT: If you could select a few major events over the past five years that helped shape your current work, what would they be and why?
SONiA: My marriage to Terry, my dad losing his battle with lung cancer, my mom's stroke and my sister's divorce. I know that I am in it with Terry [and that] she is who I want to always navigate life with. I am thankful every day for my time with her. I miss my Dad. I started to grow up and really hear in a new way. With regard to my mom, I am the primary person responsible for my mom now and it has really helped me to be a more responsible person. My sister's divorce paralleled our own parents' divorce and struck some deep chords of pain and the awareness of some missing ingredients like respect and forgiveness.
WCT: How do your songs on this album differentiate from previous releases?
SONiA: I really put effort into finding the sweetest key for my voice—using my Shubb Capos. Another differentiation is [that] I actually enunciate a good deal more than on previous CDs. Last Hanukah a fan/friend from NYC gave me a pink baseball cap with the letter "G" on it. I was dumbfounded. He said I needed it because I never pronounced the "G" at the end of words when I'm singing. I noticed he was right, so on this CD I am very aware of where to and not to put the "G."
WCT: What can longtime fans of your work expect from this new album?
SONiA: My longtime fans know that I will never stop evolving as a person [and] as an artist. That said, early feedback from old fans is that the songs and sounds remind them of our largest selling CD, Disappear Fear's self-titled CD from 1994. In fact, I chose the same engineer for this project, Mike Poole, he has a way of minimizing the techy stuff and letting the true acoustic soul rise loud and clear and somehow get the best performance out of me and the band. I am super-proud of this new CD, Broken Film, and I am really thrilled to be on the road with my new Disappear Fear band making the tunes come alive for you.
WCT: Can you share with us a memory or two of Chicago that you hold dear?
SONiA: One night at the Metro Cabaret with Disappear Fear, we did our gig and then also that night Lowen and Navarro—another acoustic duo—had a gig and came to ours. Then the Indigo Girls also had a gig that night and mentioned that we were playing and that they were heading there. So, backstage three awesome duos were hanging out trading notes and guitar licks. It was a blast.
Another time we were on tour and I had this purple and pink tie-dyed bra hanging in our van and Amy [Ray] wanted to see our touring van, so we showed it to her and my bra was just right there waving in the wind...very embarrassing for me.
One other thing comes to mind. Jill Sobule [asked me to sing] "I Kissed a Girl" with her onstage at Halsted Market Days. I was in the Porta John backstage when she announced the song and I kind of jumped out of it when she announced my name, which was completely visable to the first rows in the crowd, and then I kissed her at the end of the song. That was fun.
I have had some great times in Chicago with good friends at Shubba's and the Kitchen and running out of gas on Soldier Field on the way to Women and Children First bookstore signing.
WCT: As the world changes, so does your music. How is your art affected by the political climate of a possible war with Syria?
SONiA: Of course, being called a political songwriter and with 16 albums and now my 17th CD coming out this September, I have several songs that address the political climates of war. The song "I am the Enemy" and "Sugarcane"—on the No Bomb Is Smart CD—both directly speak to [the] 9/11 tragedy. On this brand-new CD, Broken Film, the first song is called "Start" and it was, in part, inspired by my nephew saving the life of a fellow Marine in an IED incident in Afghanistan. It is exactly about how "You don't need hands to hold somebody's heart."
And the main character's daughter went off to war [and] did not return and never told her Dad she loved him, but then he found a note she left for him. We in America—except for the soldiers and veterans—are so isolated from these wars. And we are so ill-equipped to make good decisions or even have any kind of intelligent opinion on these topics. We sit here fat and happy and safe away from the desperate souls in the Middle East wars.
I am a peace activist and I believe in the great Gandhi at the same time. I really think that some folks have no remorse and kill without a moral code. This baffles me. I see no choice other than to empower those who can remove them from access to making war on their fellow citizens and the modern world. This is not 1776. This is not 1492. This is not 1933. This is 2013, and we are completely and irreversibly connected.
WCT: Do you have a particular viewpoint on the homophobia in Russia? Is there a message you could share to help your fans under Putin feel a bit less isolated?
SONiA: I would say, "You are not alone." I have friends who are lesbians [and] who are from Russia. It was not easy there for them. Any society that strives to make their citizens cookie cutter replicas of some robotic ideal will self-destruct or be destroyed in time. Come to America, we will embrace you.
Russia has a long history of persecution of human rights. In fact, there is no word in Russian for "gay" or "lesbian." There is a song I co-wrote posthumously with an African-American poet named Countee Cullen called, "Who's So Scared," about racism here in the USA. Another song in my repertoire is called "By My Silence"; [it] addresses the victims of the Holocaust which, at first, were political dissidents and homosexuals. I think it is important to speak up for what you believe in, face the music, and it will have your back.
WCT: What would you want your young fans to know about their history?
SONiA: The world today—for those of us who are not white, Christian, straight and male—is a whole lot more inclusive of us by those very own people. Amen.
This year, the passing of gay marriage in the States and recognition federally is a huge step forward for Americans and humankind. Until now, so many of us [have] lived in fear and shame. By extinguishing the flames of discrimination, we are a better nation of wholeness and ability. But truly our children inherit all of our traits good and bad. It is up to each of us to disappear fear and walk the talk on a moment-by-moment basis; this sets the strongest path of transformation into a better quality life.
WCT: If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self just getting started in the business, what would it be?
SONiA: The one piece of advice I would give to myself when I was just getting started in the music business would be to enjoy the whole ride and realize it will never be high enough or big enough or loud enough, so just grab all the gusto and let love in.
See disappearfear.com .
