Interview with Sarah Blackwood

Hi Sarah, thank you for doing this interview, how are you doing?

I’m very well thank you! Just had a lovely mini break for Easter, went walking in Cornwall.

You left Client some time ago, how did you come to this decision?

The decision was more about getting Dubstar off the ground again. I wanted to produce new material and have fresh tracks to work with and Steve and Chris have the same goal. It is important to us to work together as musicians and composers. I won’t ever allow myself to work in a solely performance ensemble like the Sugarbabes became. Dubstar have always been very focused on producing new material, and plan to keep that up!

You told me it was a hard decision to do, what made it so hard?

I put my heart and my soul into it and to leave was to leave a part of myself behind. ClientB was my alter ego, my focus and my identity. I love the Client fans and the relationship I had with them, I think that was the hardest.

Do you have things that soften this decision, like the thought of giving a lot of fans many pleasurable moments over the years?

I’m relieved and grateful for their understanding.Client was wonderful. I learned so much about myself, visited the most fantastic, bonkers places, met lots of lovely people and I look back on a whole load of happy memories and I feel very very lucky.

A short while has passed now, how would you describe the time with Client?

Hard work but ultimately satisfying…. I have fond memories of wearing tight skirts and high heels staggering under the weight of the gear! It was important to me to be in a project where I wrote as well as performed, after my time in Dubstar, where I was best known as a lead singer.

You are now back with your former band Dubstar, can you give a brief introduction to the band?

I met the boys in ’93 and within 6 months we had a record deal with Food/EMI records and were labelmates with Blur. It was so crazy . I had wanted to be in a band for as long as I could remember but when it happened it happened so fast I had to keep on pinching myself to check I wasn’t dreaming. We made three albums (so far) had six UK top 20 hits and performed at numerous festivals.

Why did the band take a break for almost 10 years?

We ran out of steam in 2000. We just didn’t know which way to turn. Steve had started writing for other artists, Chris was writing with Mark Owen (Take That) and I was wondering what on earth to do with myself when I ended up going on tour with Depeche Mode……..

Sarah Blackwood

How was it to come back in Dubstar, was it like a reunion of friends?

Yes it has. Really lovely. I feel so privileged. It’s a special thing rediscovering each other again. Being able to look back and laugh, even at the bad times and the things that drove us crazy with each other.

Dubstar is now recording a new album called “United states of being”, in what way will it deviate from the prior albums?

Oh….we’ve actually done some more songs now. A couple of those songs have made it to the new, as yet untitled album, so we have quite a lot of unreleased work……..The new stuff is as ‘live’ as it possibly can be for an electronic album. I made Steve plug in all his REAL synths and get the noises from there rather thanjust using plug ins…..all the strings have come from Chris’s guitar. I love the fact that he just loves experimenting and likes to make noises that aren’t obviously “oh here’s the guitar part”…and his gorgeous playing is there too. The songs are still bittersweet and cynical and we have tried to keep the vocals as live and one take wherever possible.

When can we expect to hear some new music?

We are just mixing the album right now.

What is your role in the band, are you just the singer or do you contribute to the songwriting as well?

Erm…. Thanks to the education of ClientB I’m getting quite good at bossing the boys around. I’ve left the words to Steve, he’s just so good at songwriting I cant compete. I do quite good harmonies after too much coffee though…..

What are the goals for Dubstar, you were pretty big in the ‘90s so it will be hard to make music just for fun?

In this current musical climate it would just be nice to get the music out there and get to play some shows. On a very regular basis!!!

How does the singing for Dubstar deviate from singing in Client?

Themelodies in Dubstar are a lot more challenging as opposed to the experimental nature of the songwriting in Client….a lot more singing will be involved and I’m very nervous but very excited too.

What will be next for you?

I’ve stopped trying to plan, just see what unfolds and look at it positively.

Any last words for the readers?

See you all soon!

http://www.dubstar.com
http://www.eblackwood.com