Doctors & DealersFrom: Stockholm, Sweden
Swedish chanteuse Sparrow has taken some time out from being beguiling to tell the Devil about the origins of her nickname, her soft side and how you can help her from a life of vice.
The Devil: Why Doctors & Dealers? What other names did you ponder before deciding it had to be Doctors & Dealers?
Sparrow: It was summer -06, I had just starting writing and recording my own songs and I was hanging in a bar with the boys from Dirty Pretty Things and their posse. There was some silly football game going on and one of the dudes bet me that if one of the team made a goal within 10 minutes I had to name my project after one of their songs. Of course I lost that bet. But I had just got out from the hospital because my lungs were all fucked up from partying too hard, so the name Doctors & Dealers actually felt like a natural choice, and today I'm very happy for the name.
The Devil: Why Sparrow? Where did the name come from and what made it stick?
Sparrow: 2004, I was touring with a British band for almost 4 months and it was 10 boys and me in the bus, so they only referred to me as "the bird" of course. My boyfriend back then was also touring UK so our bands met up at T in the Park, where it was decided that I should suddenly sing a song with the band I was touring with. After the show, the boyfriend and my band members were laughing at my very shaky performance. Since I was so scared, they were all like "aww the bird looked like a scared little sparrow" and that was it. The fact that I'm almost 6 feet tall and not so tiny didn't seem to bother them much, a Sparrow I was and have been since then.
The Devil: Tell me something that you've never told anyone before.
Sparrow: My heart breaks so easily (aah that's so sad). No one knows about that, 'cause I'm always playing it cool.
The Devil: Who are the biggest influences in your life and on your music?
Sparrow: In life it's bars, boys, bills, broken dreams and broken hearts. On my music it's pretty much the same.
The Devil: What was the first record you owned and what was the first record you ever bought with your own money?
Sparrow: My older cousins started to make me mix tapes from I was like 4 years old, it was everything from The Beatles to Black Sabbath. Oh how I loved those mix tapes! The first record I bought was The Clash - London Calling. I was 7 years old and I probably bought it mostly because of the pink text on the cover. But now I say I bought it because I loved the music, that's cooler.
The Devil: What makes Doctors & Dealers stand out from the millions of other bands across the world? What makes you unique?
Sparrow: The fact I'm not really a musician. I can't play any instruments "for real", I don't have any training so I'm self-taught. When you play like that it broadens your perspective because you don't know the right and wrong, so you arrange your music a bit differently then let's say a trained pianist would've done.
The Devil: Which bands or artists on the current music scene make your spine tingle?
Sparrow: Two bands I listen to a lot right now are The Secret Sisters and Obi Best, they both have that little something extra!
The Devil: Fav
ourite song? Sparrow : Nat King Cole's Orange Coloured Sky
The Devil: Favourite book?
Sparrow: The Great Gatsby
The Devil: Favourite movie?
Sparrow: A Tale of Two Sisters
The Devil: Favourite website?
Sparrow: I hate to admit it but I think I've gotten addicted to Facebook. So not cool.
The Devil: If you weren't in Doctors & Dealers how would you keep yourself occupied?
Sparrow: I started to study to became a lawyer but it seems that I can't manage to finish… Maybe one day. I was also working as an actress back in the days, that was also something I could do again. Or a gold digger.
The Devil: If you were interviewing yourself what would your killer question be and how would you answer it?
Sparrow: What do think when you see yourself in the mirror? And my answer would
be: Some days I see myself as a pathetic form of an human being who's not worthy to breathe the same air as the rest of the humans and animals, some days I think "damn, what a fine young woman I am, my intelligence shines through my eyes and people should be happy to know me." But most of the days I'm just "meh, whatever."The Devil: Is there anything else you'd like to tell the Devil Has The Best Tuna readers?
Sparrow: Yes, and that would be: Please buy my EP. I'm really, really broke. My assistant Melissa moved to Sweden from Canada 4 months to help me with all my stuff and projects, and in our dreams we should make SO much money, become really successful in a heartbeat, so we were living like kings for a while, spending the money we only had in our dreams. We went to Côte d'Azur, it was champagne and French boys, we were living like there was no tomorrow. And here we are now, in Stockholm, it's freezing November and we are completely out of money. We have been thinking of becoming prostitutes but since we think our bodies don't match our pretty faces, that won't give us any food on the table. They say it's going to be the coldest winter in 1000 years here in Sweden (!!!), so our last chance to survive is to sell loads of EPs.
Go Try
Check out the exclusive track from Doctors & Dealers upcoming album, Every Sinner Has A Future which is due out Spring 2011.
MP3 - Doctors & Dealers - Bankruptcy Blues
This track is published with the permission of TheRedTurtles.Com and Doctors & Dealers so please don't claim breach of copyright
Go Visit
Doctors & Dealers - Myspace : Website : Last.FM
Go View
Doctors & Dealers
Deal With The Devil
Check out one of the artists that are making Sparrow's spine tingle...
MP3 - Obi Best - Taps - America The Beautiful (Medley)This track is linked direct from the Obi Best Last.FM site and is therefore already freely available so please don't claim breach of copyright
MP3 - Obi Best - Nothing Can Come Between Us
This track is linked direct from the Obi Best website and is therefore already freely available so please don't claim breach of copyright
Sentimental Education by Obi Best
Go Visit
Obi Best - Myspace : Last.FM