Interview: Karina Pasian - Singer and Pianist - Page 4

As a student of voice and music at the Professional Performing Arts School in New York City, how does your classical training impact your contemporary work?

Well, I’m still in school, so it really helps because we tackle different styles of music. We sing opera, we sing in different languages, gospel, everything. Being in the choir definitely helps me be grounded because it’s not all about me. It’s all about being a part of a team and giving my all for the choir. I feel that definitely helps me. It really molds who I am and how I sing.

That’s quite a juggling act, being in school and being out on the road and promoting and everything. Is there a sense of awkwardness being a celebrity-in-the-making and still being the girl-next-door?

To be in school and be a "celebrity?" I guess it is, kind of. I have an album that I know the kids in school will know when I go back to school, so I hope it’s not too awkward for me. They’ve been very supportive though. They’re just fun.

In preparation of your debut, you recorded 70 songs for consideration on First Love. How did you go about selecting the final track list?

That was really hard – I’m not going to lie. There were so many songs that I loved and I had a connection with, We couldn’t have 70 songs on the album, so it was hard to choose. We just chose the whole sound. We put all the songs together to see how they would sound. If there was one song that we chose that didn’t sound right with the whole album, then of course we took it off and kept recording – even after we chose everything. It was a hard process but I feel really good about the choices. The songs we didn’t choose will probably end up on my second album.

You’ve gone on record to say that "Winner" is your favorite track. When you sing it, live or in the studio, what kind of emotions or memories pop up?

I would say memories of my family and how they always make me feel like a winner. They never let me give up – especially my dad. He’s always been supportive of me. He always makes me feel like a winner.

Article Author: Clayton Perry

Clayton Perry's mission parallels that of John Hope Franklin, Marcus Garvey and Carter G. Woodson. As the founder of the NUBIANO Project, Perry facilitates the design of projects that give voice to the Black diaspora, empower the Black community, …

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