Roberta Carter
Harrison

Musical Discoveries: Can you fill us in on what else have you been working on since the last Sleepthief recording?

Roberta Carter Harrison: Sure I should preface by saying that our musical life timeline is now divided into BT (before twins) and AT(after twins). Output has slowed down considerably during the boys early years. However, there has been time for collaboration and that has been a nice balance.

I sang on our friend ATB's new record. A song called "Swept Away." I also sang on our friend Alex M.O.R.P.H.'s debut record. That song is called Photograph and is available through VANDIT. They are both great guys and awesome to work with, much like Justin. We are in the early stages of planning a solo record and hope to work closely with Justin on that. Also toying around the idea of a cello and vocal record with our friend Matt.

How did your participation in the last album influence your career?

Working with Justin has been really great. He is such a positive spirit with great ideas. Ken ended up signing with Justin's label to put out his solo BOYWONDERBREAD record. That has been such a good experience that we're hoping to continue working with Justin in the future. He is one of those renaissance men with so many different areas of expertise. Not sure if he dances the quadrille but I wouldn't doubt it.

How did you get involved with this Sleepthief album?

Justin had an idea to cover the FRIDA song and away we went. I think K-Os sampled the FRIDA track on his new record. A nice synchronicity.

What exactly were your responsibilites on this recording?

I think Ken demoed it and sent some skeletal tracks to Justin and Israel along with a bunch of different vocals and they did the rest.

How did you make the track?

Thank God for YouSendIt. We've never recorded in the same room as Justin!

What do you think contributes to the immense popularity of Sleepthief's music?

It's universal. The themes. The melodies. And so great that he works with so many different singers. It's exciting to be in such great company.

What can you tell us about your live performances?

I'm going to be singing with ATB in concert in Europe in November 2009 along with Tiff Lacey and Jan Loechel. That'll be fun.

And we've demoed about twenty songs for my solo record with Justin. Going to get started as soon as the dust settles.

As for live performances with Sleepthief ... that would be awesome.

And anything that happens live these days inevitably makes its way to video.

What else occupies your time these days?

Did I mention the twins? They start junior kindergarten in September. You should hear them singing "76 Trombones" in unison.

What do you think of MySpace and FaceBook?

I'm hoping there will be a direct brain to twitter application developed in the near future! Any technology that allows artists to connect with fans is great.

Digital distribution?

We tend to buy our music digitally these days but still love the experience of listening to an entire record from beginning to end. Really excited about the labels who are putting out vinyl records with free mp3 downloads. Both ends of the spectrum.

What else would you like to tell our readers?

Thanks for listening. Hope you like the Sleepthief record!

More Roberta Carter Harrison:
Sleepthief The Dawnseeker (2006)
Sleepthief Labyrinthine Heart (2009)

interview, review and HTML © R. W. Elliot 2009
images © Wild Strawberries 2009
last updated 31 August 2009