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INTERVIEW WITH A FUNKYWHITEGIRL!!!
Christina Fasano: Live & In Person
by Sounni de Fontenay
http://musicdish.com/mag/?id=899 OR www.musicdish.com
Christina Fasano, aka Funkywhitegirl, has been making quite
an impression on the music scene; including being a two-time
winner of MusicDish's Battle of the Bands. From her homebase
in California to around the country, Christina has been
solidifying her position as a diva of funk & soul. Read on
and find out what Christina Fasano is all about: her music,
her spirituality and more...
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ALSO CHECK OUT INDIEPORT.COM
FOR ANOTHER GREAT INTERVIEW by Leonard Ives
Aficionados of independent music who mine for jewels among the rhinestones should prioritize the CD "Spiritually Wet" by Christina Fasano.....
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Started singing at 12 with a band that I put together in my church. I used to wear a blond wig and bright green eye shadow to match this ugly green dress that I thought was the bomb!
A heavy metal band called Wizards was my first step into singing and writing original music. I would wear black leather and chains and spike heals or boots and scream my hair sprayed head off!
Then came blues. I put a band together called Stone Blue and we did some gigs. We played all the material I wrote. One song called Ruby Ruby was about a protitute who fell out of the 13 floor of the building she lived in and songs like that. Hey...it was a start! Ha.
Before long I started to figure out that blues was not gonna bring in a real living of any sort or the kind of fame I wanted deep inside of myself, so I began to write from the other places in me and in doing that I really began to discover who I was and am. It's a real gift to do any kind of creative thing - because it offers one a chance to look inside and give from what's in there. Especially for me in lyric and poetry writing. It's a true healing process as well.
Throughout this time I continued to do silly showcases(and dragging all my poor fans along!), and going to songwriter meetings and horrible pitch sessions and having so much hope getting dashed right and left. Then through one of the singer/songwriter contests I was entered in, I met the producer of my CD, Kaylene Peoples. She approached me after the 4th round telling me she thought my song would be good for Madonna. I swallowed hard so as not to make a comment and smiled. She then ask if I had any more dance material I could send her as she was working on a film that needed songs. I said yes. She gave me her number and left. I called her and arranged to meet face to face. And it went from there. We demoed several of my songs, then mid-stream I changed producers, wrote more material, and we ended up hooking up again to get my current CD 'Spiritually Wet' done.
In the middle of working on the CD I had a small record label approch me for backing and promotion. I was so excited and ready to bend over backwards to do whatever it was they needed to see or hear to convince them of what kind of monster they could have on their hands! ha. The rep. came down here and took me to dinner a couple of times and came down to some of my band rehearsals, even took photos of the band, and he would make comments like 'Wow, Christina, you are really serious! I've got my work cut out for me!' And he would look sort of worried when he said that. As it turns out, I'm the one who should have been worried! I put on a huge showcase, spent lots of money on getting the band in shape, the flyers, mailings, t-shirts, etc. He never showed up. Never heard from him again. It seems this is very typical. And it's sad. I could tell you lots of other little horror stores - all artists could - but I'm gonna save it for Oprah!
So FINALLY here I am with my 'calling card' in hand ready to out there and make people 'feel good!' Its been a long journey and I really hope you like what you hear, cause...it's time to have fun and get 'funked up!'
Live performance is what I was born for.
Prince, Prince, and more Prince, The Artist Formally Known As, Maxwell, Chaka Khan-(Rufus); George Clinton, Parliment, Cameo, Bar Kays, Ohio Players, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Ike & Tina Tuner, Prince (oh did I already mention him?! ha!). Anything soul, funk, old school R&B & soul, stuff with energy dug from deep down in da bones, the stuff that makes your face scrunch up and the hips fall into that juicy loose rollin' groove and makes you wanna say Ugh! Anything that has a FUNKY pumpin'bass drivin' deep into the funky chunky wah wah chickin' pickin' geetar. NUFF SAID.
Soul
Don't complain, don't blame.