 Just like there is "must-see-TV", there is such a thing
as "must-hear-CD". But if you ask me, Sandra St.Victor's "Mack
Diva Saves The World" is even more than that; it's a
"must-have-CD". Released without much fanfare on Warner in the fall of 1996,
it's one of the few modern-day R&B albums I'd dare to call a masterpiece. The record
captured me from the first moment I put it into my CD-player -which normally would mean
that I'd be dead tired of it after a couple of weeks- but instead, the album just grew on
me and continues to grow with each listening. I'm convinced that in ten or fifteen years
time,"Mack Diva" will be a rarity, sought-after by those who foolishly enough
neglected this gem and treasured by the others, who proudly will be able to boast
"yeah, of course I bought it right when it first came out". Needless to say, it
was a great pleasure for me to discuss this record with Sandra St.Victor herself.Maria "Funkyflyy" Granditsky:
The obvious first question is of course "what is a Mack Diva"?
Sandra St.Victor -Mack Diva" is just my term for a powerful, self-centered,
sincere, sensual, sexy sassy, attitude-giving, chocolate-bitch-kinda-woman. For me, it's
just like an offering, because we have so many other images that are horrifying me out
there, so it's just another offering that I hope is hip, but positive.
To me, "Mack Diva Saves
The World" is a more straight-ahead R&B album than anything the Family Stand ever
recorded. Was going fully for R&B on your first solo effort, as opposed to a
continuation of the Jazz-Rock-Funk-Soul you recorded with The Family Stand, a conscious
decision on your behalf?
-Oh, absolutely! Family Stand was or is, whatever, three people's energies coming together
and we all had diverse backgrounds and so, when we put it all together, we came up with
The Family Stand. I love all the genres that we fused together. But for my solo project, I
decided to concentrate on one particular genre, just for  simplicity and I wanted it to be definitely different than the Family Stand,
because Family Stand is what it is, so why come out and try to be Family Stand again? My
biggest fear with this album was that Family Stand fans would not like it, because it was
R&B and one genre, but I've been coming up against just the opposite, they've been
loving it and I feel that hopefully that's because they're into good music, whatever it
is. I'm elated about that, I really am. And there are folks that hadn't even heard of
Family Stand that are very much into what we got going with my album. Honestly, I didn't
know what this album would be until it was finished and I listened to it. With each song,
I tried to keep the continuity, in looking for tracks, working with people, trying to find
tracks that were gonna blend well together. I hoped it would not alienate anyone, but I
didn't want to try and direct it at anyone either. I just wanted it to be me, so whoever
likes me is gonna like the album and whoever likes the album is gonna like me.
It's impossible not to like
both! How would you describe your album?
-Sincere Soul music, sensual, serious, but it's also humorous. I think my album
is a mirror reflection of my personality. It's earthy and sexy and funny and serious,
little bitchy, hopefully non-threatening and hopefully non-intimidating. And hopefully you
can walk away feeling a little better about something.
One of my favorite tracks on
the album is "Knocked Up and Locked Down", which is a painful and bluesy song
about being trapped in an un-loving relationship. What inspired you to write that
particular song?
-Pain. Not necessarily mine in particular. I've never been in the situation where
someone was abusive to me and I hung around, not physically abusive anyway. Otherwise, I
have stayed in situations where someone was psychologically abusive, verbally abusive. If
you're really in love with someone, then you find justifications and rationalizations and
reasons, whatever, to hang out and so I have had to stand that process of working yourself
up to be angry. The pain just takes you there and you're packing and the whole nine and he
walks in and says two words and you melt. I've been through that, I know what that feels
like, so I just took it to the tenth degree, because I'm sure if he's hitting you and
coming back and saying "I'm sorry" every time, I'm sure it feels ten times worse
than what I went through. "Knocked Up and Locked Down'" is my best
bitch-in-the-closet Blues song.
You wrote, co-wrote,
co-produced and did the vocal arrangements on the entire album and one of the things I
love about it is the lyrical content, which sounds very personal, even if you, as you say,
didn't necessarily draw everything out of your own life. But I gotta ask, while you were
writing, did you ever stop and think that maybe you were exposing yourself a little too
much? Isn't that the danger of writing from personal experiences, drawing inspiration from
real life situations, as opposed to the "baby, I love you, bla, bla, bla" kind
of lyrics?
 -I really wanted the album to reflect me and the only
way to do that is to pour myself into it. I tried not to mince words or emotions, I
just wanted to put it out there, so yes, I'm wearing my heart on my sleeve. But I'm not
afraid, I feel like I have my guardian angels protecting me and they always have been
protective of me and there's nothing going to happen to me that I can't handle. But I felt
like the best way -and for me the only way- to be happy for me with my product, is to be
honest with myself and with the public. I couldn't just put together a collection of
songs, I wouldn't feel good about it, I really wouldn't feel good about it. It had to be
something that I could actually sit down and listen to and re-live each emotion myself,
during every song. Otherwise you get into critiquing for the hell of critiquing and it
becomes a not so pleasant experience. Also, my forté is live performances and if I don't
love the song, I mean LOVE it and MEAN it, I would hate performing that song after two
weeks and I don't wanna get to that point. I will feel "Knocked Up and Locked
Down" every time I sing it, I will never be up there faking, I just can't see it.
Maybe in 30-40 years, but nowhere in the near future will I be faking it. Even if I don't
feel like it when I start singing it, the lyrics will make it real to me.
The way I perceive this record
is that it's got a theme to it. The songs all evolve around love in different situations..
Is it a theme album?
-Yeah, it is. It's about love of self, love of community, love of Him, yeah, it's
all of that. I wanted it to be a very passionate album. Different levels of love,
different scenarios of love, different phases of relationships.
You cover so many areas on this
record, and although it's very deep lyrically, it's not a record that one has to
"figure out", meaning it's not too deep. And it's also got hilarious moments,
like the skit that opens the record and the intro to the song "Mph", where you
discuss men. How did that particular interlude come about?
-We were having a party at my house. It was my ex-manager's birthday and we were
sitting around talking and I said "let me tape this". We were talking about guys
that we thought had "Mph" enough to handle us and then we started talking about
what "Mph" was and that sort of thing and I just had the tape going and
everybody's like "yeah, yeah, who's that guy with 'Mph'?" Throwing out names and
who we'd met and who's the bomb and there were a lot of mentionings of people who we
thought did not have "Mph enuff", but of course I didn't wanna dog 'em out, so I
edited that. I just put the positive stuff from the tape, threw it on the album and it was
fun, going into that song, you know?
One of the guys you all agreed
has "Mph enuff" is Busta Rhymes.. (laughs)
 -Yeah, we like Busta Rhymes. He's a dope
brother. Tall, fine brother that ain't scared to be himself. That's what it's about, just
being real, somebody that's not conventional and feel they have to conform to fit some
mold and that kinda nonsense. Those brothers ain't down with the "Mack Diva
Posse" (laughs). Honestly, I didn't believe that men with "Mph" existed
because the problem with having "Mph enuff" is that when you get a brother
that's strong and self-centered and self-aware and hopefully aware of his surroundings and
his community and his culture and that sort of thing, then they don't know how to handle a
woman, because you have to be strong and sweet. You really do, you gotta be passionate,
affectionate, sensual, so it's hard to find that strength and that sweetness in one guy. I
wrote the song because I was like "None of y'all got 'Mph enuff' to handle me"
(laughs). The vibe of the song is kinda taunting and teasing because I didn't feel like it
existed, of course, soon after I write the song, the guy walks in the door! And here he is
and now I know exactly what it feels like.
 Tell me about the producers, writers and musicians
involved in the album.
-I did three songs with Jeff and that's "Mack Diva", "Rise"
and "Can't Live Without You". "Knocked Up and Locked Down", I did that
with Mark Batson, he's a writer/producer and a fabulous keyboard player. He has done stuff
with Caron Wheeler and some other folks and he had a group with his brother, but I forget
the name of it right now. Then there's Mixzo, he's a new guy, out of Atlanta, he did
"Lonely In A Crowded Room", "Don't Bring Me Down" and
"Chocolate". He did one song on Goodie Mob's album, basically he's a hip-hop
kid. Howard McCrary, who is Chaka's brother-in-law, and his partner Robert Palmer -which
is not the white Robert Palmer, it's another Robert Palmer- they did "Mph" and
then Cutfather and Joe, they're out of Denmark, did "Since You've Been Gone". I
did " Come Over" and "Wet" with Tim & Bob. They're up-and-comers
in the R&B community, they're from Atlanta and have done stuff with Boys II Men and
Monica.
This is pure trivia, but the
guy who plays flute on "Don't Bring Me Down" and "Lonely In A Crowded
Room", Prince Charles Alexander, is that the same Prince Charles that recorded all
those great, but highly male chauvinistic funk records ("Tight Jeans", "Big
Chested Girls", Skin Tight Tina", etcetera, etcetera) with his City Beat Band,
back in the early eighties?
-Yep, that's the same guy (laughs). I met Prince Charles when I started doing
sessions for Kashif, because he was Kashif's number one engineer. But you know, Prince
Charles does stuff for Sean "Puffy" Combs over at Bad Boys Entertainment. He
does Biggie Smalls, Total and all of them kids over at Bad Boy.
How long did it take to record
"Mack Diva"?
-Maybe a year. You know, I had a great time recording this album, because it
didn't feel like work. All of the producers were great, we had a good time. We set up
vibes in every studio we went to, I brought my incense and my candles.. It was relaxed,
easy-going, cool, always great sessions
Do you have a favorite song on
the album or is that like asking you to choose between your babies?
-My favorite song is "Don't Bring Me Down", that's my problem in
general. That's my thing; don't bring me down, let me be myself, accept me as I am.
You also did a duet with
"the gentle giant" on the beautiful "I Believe In You" on his latest
album "New World Order". What was it like, working with Curtis Mayfield?
 -That was the best! That was
a high point of my life! It happened via modern technology, because I didn't meet him
until after we had recorded the song. He did his part and they flew the track out to where
I was and flew the tracks back to him after they had mixed it and he loved it. After he
heard it, he sent me a dozen roses and a beautiful gift pack with scented candles and
toiletries. He just absolutely loved it and we just been having this love affair over the
phone and over the miles for a couple of weeks and then finally I met him just a while
ago. He's just the sweetest, most adorable guy, it was phenomenal. He's a beautiful
spirit, I really, really fell in love with that guy. And I really like that album.
Will "I Believe In
You" be released as a single?
-I don't know if they're gonna release it as a single or not, honestly. I know
he's started working on his next record, but I don't know.
Tell me about the song
"Soul Sanctuary", which you wrote the lyrics for and which is included on The
Artist Formerly Known As Prince's "Emancipation" set.
-Yeah, that was actually a song I wrote for me and he was gonna produce it for my
album. But he ended up re-doing it and putting it on his record, because after he finished
re-doing it, it didn't sound like me anymore. It sounded like a Prince song, so I guess he
thought the same thing. I met him via Warner Brothers, I was introduced to him when he was
on Warner.
I heard that Peter Lord and
Jeff Smith are recording as The Family Stand again.
-Yeah, with my girl Jacci McGhee, that used to sing with Keith Sweat, back on
like his first record. She did a duet with him on his first record called "Make It
Last Forever". So yeah, they are doing another record. Matter of fact, I have it,
it's done. It's pretty cool. I don't know when it's coming out, maybe at the end of the
summer or in the fall. It's different, it's not as rocky as we were, it's not as edgy as
we were, but I think it's good. It's probably more commercial than we were, so hopefully
they'll have good luck with that.
Were you asked if you wanted to
participate?
-Well, we spoke about it, but we just, you know, decided to do our separate
things. That was at the time when my record was just coming out and all that kinda thing,
so, it just would just have been kinda weird to try do two records at once and promote two
records at once.
The Family Stand was not only a
recording group, you wrote and produced for other artists, as well. Have you had the time
to continue working in that area?
 -Yes. I've been doing vocal production on a couple of
acts that have not as of yet come out, but that will be coming out in '97. But I've been
really focused on my album. The guys (Peter Lord and Jeff Smith) did three or four songs
on Des'ree's last album and they'll be working on her upcoming album too and hopefully
I'll be working with them on that. And they also have a new group out called Goodfellaz
and that's doing real well. Oh, and they did Corey Glover's album, the lead singer from
Living Color, and that's dope too. I wrote and did vocal production for a new girl named
De De O'Neal on LaFace and another new girl named Fadra Butler, she's on a brand new label
over at Sony. And there's also this new group on Warner Brothers called Phajja that I did
vocal production for. The single "What Are You Waiting For" just came out and
it's doing real well.
I understand the second single
from "Mack Diva" will finally be released soon?
-Yes! We're putting out "Chocolate" with the remix at the end of June,
I believe, and we got a couple of rappers; Yo Yo and Nonchalant on it. Warner act LeSchea
is featured on vocals and Phajja's on it too, which is real cool 'cause it's like a female
symphony now. (note: "Chocolate" came out in September '97).
I really like Nonchalant's
stuff. Did you meet her or was it through "modern technology" too?
-No, I definitely met her (laughs). We hung out in the studio. She's dope! And Yo
Yo is dope too. Both of them were mad cool. Went out to L.A. to do Yo Yo and did
"Non" here in Manhattan. We had a blast. I really like her a lot.
Finally I wanted to ask you
about your image. You have a really cool way of dressing, a retro- funky, 70's clothing
style. But do you dress that way always, or is it just "for the record"?
-Aww, man thanks! No, that's pretty much me, anybody will tell you, I've been
that way for the longest.
And that ain't silicone, baby!
-Nope, those are my own! (laughs) |
