Imagine, if you will, the splendor
of majestic, sumptuous quarters within a Spanish villa, adorned with plush velvet
couches and rich wine-colored tapestries. Now look out the window at the vista:
a regal castle in the distance, green mountains on one side, and the calming
ripple of the Mediterranean Sea to the other.
This is the visual equivalent
of the sonic signature Roxanna intends to share with the masses. Among the
Canadian singer/songwriter’s first recordings from upcoming debut album
“Exotica” is “Only You,” which serves as a case in point: It was originally
recorded as “Como Tú” by her elegant idol, Julio Iglesias, which she adapted
into English.
“Julio… the most sensual,
luxurious, vulnerable sound in the world,” Roxanna purrs, when discussing her
muse. “I want to be the female version, bringing back romance to contemporary
music. I believe the world is hungry to hear songs about love. Enough about bad
romance and hate and war. Music should be easy on the ear.”
She certainly brings a world
of experience to her passion—literally. Roxanna was born in Iran in the midst
of an ongoing war with Iraq. As a child, she turned to music for balance and
calm, and would phonetically mimic the English-language songs of Olivia
Newton-John, performing for friends and family as if she were the famed singer,
despite the fact that her hair was as dark as ONJ’s is blonde.
By age 11, her family
immigrated to Istanbul, Turkey, where Roxanna gained the freedom to dress as
she chose and indulge in Western music, including Madonna and Michael Jackson.
By the late 1980s, her family settled in Toronto, Canada, which she still
considers home. She enrolled at Winston Churchill Collegiate, mastered the
English language, focused on music classes and sang in a choir. “It opened my
heart so much more. I was able to catch up with the Western world,” she says. “I
felt closer to my dream.”
A decade later, in 1999,
Roxanna was sideswiped when her fiancé left her standing at the alter six days
before their wedding. It was a defining moment: “There was my gown staring at
me. I couldn’t walk past a flower shop. I was embarrassed and heartbroken.” For
refuge, she flew to her father, then based in Los Angeles. There, she penned
her first song, “Unforgotten,” a devotional to sadness, threaded with hope for tomorrow.
“That song was my therapy,” she notes. “It just poured out of me, and helped me
believe all of this happened for a reason.”
Advocating the expression,
“Physician heal thyself,” Roxanna then studied nursing in L.A., and earned a
degree from Seneca College in Toronto, where she became a RN. “I loved helping
people heal their bodies as I healed my heart,” she says. “I would use my
hands, but also sing to my patients to help them sleep. Music, like medicine,
is a great healer. As rewarding as it was, I continued to believe there was
something more… something else.”
In addition to modeling, Roxanna
performed wherever and whenever she could—and when people had asked why she
wasn’t pursuing entertainment professionally, she had always mentioned the time
was not right.
Roxanna contacted West Coast-based
producer Mark Portmann (Julio Iglesias, Barbra Streisand, Annie Lennox, James
Ingram, Luther Vandross, Celine Dion, Christina Aguilera) and sang Aguilera’s
“Lift Me Up.” In a moment, their bond was sealed.
Today, with Portmann serving
as producer for her debut album “Exotica”—due in first-quarter 2013—Roxanna is
ready for the world. Add the pedigree of vocal coach Ron Anderson (Neil
Diamond, Lenny Kravitz, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson, Seal) and two-time Grammy
winner Bernie Grundman, who is mastering the project. The first single is “Unforgotten,”
the song she wrote amid the heartbreak of her would-be marriage. In September,
she shot a music video with music video producer/director, Matthew Rolston, whose
photography and videography credits include Michael Jackson, Madonna, David
Bowie, Johnny Depp, Jewel and George Michael. Playing her paramour in the video
is “Days Of Our Lives” actor James Scott.
Roxanna
notes, “That show is my comfort food. It calms me down. And, come on, James is
the hottest guy alive.” She actually visited the show’s studio to request his
presence… followed by emails and calls. “I’m sure he thought I was a fan
stalking him.” With three days to go before the shoot, at last, Scott responded
with a thumbs-up. She adds, “We spent 18 hours in the desert for the video.
It’s sultry and hot.”
“Unforgotten”
hit YouTube and iTunes in October, likely followed by second single “Close
Your Eyes” written by Lindy Robbins &
Mark Portmann (Celine Dion, Backstreet Boys, Nick Lachey). The album also contains a
second Julio Iglesias cover, “El Amor,” sung in Spanish. “Exotica’s” remaining tracks are collaborations between
Roxanna and other noted songwriters, Edgar Cortazar & Mark Portmann. The
overall template: pop, with the grandeur of string orchestration, flamenco singers and Spanish and European influences. Roxanna’s music is organic and her music is
woven together with non-synthetic sounds.
Roxanna has taken the independent artist route by starting her own
label, Roxart, Inc
Roxanna
hopes it will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship between she and the
world at large: “Music should bring
pleasure, it should be elegant and relaxing. I want people to fall in love and make
babies as they listen to my songs. It’s all
about friendship, pleasure, romance, love and beauty.”
Website: RoxannaMusic.com
FB: RoxannasMusic
Twitter: @RoxannaMusic
YouTube: RoxannasMusic
Tune in to Roxanna's Interview on "The Sasha Marina Show Radio" Thursday, March 20th at 1pm EST / 10am PST!