Sandra-Mae Lux
Interview conducted on November 29, 2023
Award-winning multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Sandra-Mae Lux was singing almost before she was walking. Even at a young age, Sandra-Mae had an ear for melody and was already penning songs by the time she was 10.
Completing her academic training at Capilano University British Columbia, Sandra-Mae graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies on Saxophone. She received multiple awards such as the Phil Nimmons Scholarship for Outstanding Achievement in Jazz, and was spotted as a stand-out Top 30 Under 30 in a Vancouver newspaper. She has performed twice at the Ottawa Jazz Festival where she shared a stage and performed with many recognized artists such as Robert Glasper, Herbie Hancock and opened for Dave Brubeck.
What is your upbringing?
I grew up in a fishing village called Steveston on the outskirts of Vancouver, BC (Canada). My parents were immigrants from The Netherlands so I grew up bi-lingual. I’ve always had a natural draw towards music, and my mom told me that I sang before I spoke haha. Some of my earliest memories are standing on tables and singing at family gatherings!
At what age did you get into music?
My parent’s divorce at age 9 hit me very hard, and it started me on a road to episodes of deep depression which I still struggle with today. Plus, in high-school, you tend to only get “socially elevated” when you’re good at sports, rather than the arts. And while I was very good at a lot of sports, especially soccer, I was a gawky and nerdy kid who loved everything music. So, inevitably I got very bullied. It got so bad in high school, that were it not for encouragement from my high school music teacher Jeremy Hepner, I might not be here.
After high school, I went to university and got my bachelor’s degree in music in jazz studies on sax.
I started playing piano at age 6, took up saxophone at the age of 11, and guitar at 13.
How did you discover music?
My mom told me that I sang before I spoke, and had the ability to sing along in perfect pitch with the songs that came on the stereo, and then recite them at will. She also thought that all young kids could do this, until I went to school for the first time and she realized that might not be the case!
I’m also very lucky that my family members and parent’s friends had great taste in music, and would always bring around their latest finds whenever they came over. So I grew up listening to artists like Frank Sinatra, Diana Krall, Astrud Gilberto, Stan Getz, Otis Redding, Etta James and Bob Marley. All of those artists (and a lot more now) inspire the music I create today.
How did you start to write music?
I think growing up with a piano in the house really helps because it’s just always around, and you can always go to the piano and tinker. I was bullied a lot growing up, so many afternoons I’d come home from school, sit at the piano and just…play. It was a kind of therapy, an escape, a way to exorcise some of the negative emotions I’d been feeling throughout the day. That’s pretty much where it all started!
Describe your music.
I would say my music is an upbeat fusion of soul, disco, MOR and pop, with elements of jazz. In terms of songwriting, my partner and I write in a similar style to the golden age of Brill Building songwriting duos (think Goffin & King, Weil & Mann, Sadaka & Greenfield, etc).
What was your first performance like?
The first performance I can remember was a piano recital at age 7. I was very lucky that my piano teacher’s husband at the time owned part of one of Vancouver’s nicest studios, and we got to have our piano recitals there. I remember it so well; I got to play a beautiful grand piano in a huge studio with wooden floors, walls and ceilings. I learned all my music by ear, and my piano teacher had no idea I couldn’t read music! At this recital, I took the music up to the piano, and played the song without actually reading it. She did eventually find out, and that’s when I started learning music theory.
Royalties never appear like magic. Royalties are only sent to you through work undertaken by a PRO to ensure that their members are getting paid. If you’re not yet signed up to a Performing Right Organization like ASCAP, BMI or SESAC, you may not be receiving all the royalties you deserve.
Do you belong to any songwriters’ organizations like the International singer-songwriter association, SESAC, BMI or ASCAP ?
Yes I do! It’s totally essential to join a PRO to track usage and receive regular pay-outs.
What makes a good songwriter?
Talent! But seriously, I think a good songwriter has three important qualities:
1 – An intuitive ability to completely observe a moment in life.
2 – An understanding of form (but knowing when to throw it out the window).
3 – The ability to perfectly articulate a complicated feeling in 3 minutes.
Oh, and it takes a lifetime to master. See? Easy! Personally I feel like the best songs have all been written by teams of 2-3 people. Think of all the incredible Brill Building songwriting duos who churned out hit after hit. And I’ll bet that even the greatest of solo writers (Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, Billy Joel) all bounced their best songs off of other people. It’s kind of arrogant to think that you do it all on your own.
Tell me about being a finalist in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest?
Another unexpected honour with my track “Moment In The Sun!” I’ve always known this song really has something, so it was nice to have it confirmed by such a prestigious songwriting contest. I look forward to seeing this track really find its place in the world.
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
I actually don’t remember, and didn’t record it! However, the first song my songwriting partner and I wrote was called I Believe, which made it to the finals of CBC’s Searchlight Competition. I re-recorded it for my album titled “Happily Ever Now” which you can listen to here.
What is the process of writing your music?
My writing partner Alan and I have been writing for years together, and he’s mostly the lyric side, while I’m more on the music side (think Bernie Taupin / Elton John or Greenfield / Sedaka). However, we both influence each other’s work. Generally, I’ll come to Alan with an “emotion dump,” or an idea for a song, and he’ll write it down (kind of like a therapist haha) and then he’ll make sense of it and create lyrics.
Alan does a lot of automatic writing, and sometimes a poem will fall out. Both of us feel that a poem in its original form doesn’t necessarily make good song lyrics. So we’ll edit the poem and transform them into lyrics. Other times a great stray line will just fall out randomly, either from him or myself, and that becomes the basis of a new song. We have tons of stray lines written on post-it notes scattered all over our flat – we’ve got a lot more songs to write!
After we’ve finished finalizing the shape of the lyrics, I’ll then sit at the piano or pick up a guitar and let the lyrics guide where the melody/harmonies/arrangement/groove wants to go. The song will tell you what it wants to do; all you have to do is get out of its way!
Tell me about your song Perfect Weather?
This is one of those songs that just “fell out” during an inspired moment!
This song is really about two lovers who weather their relationship through any weather – (metaphorically) good or bad.
Originally it fell out as a classic Bossa, but once Juno award winning producer Chris SD got his hands on it, and put a heavy beat behind it, the song really lit up. I added a sax solo, and – voila! A lovely track that just makes you smile, rain or shine.
How was it to be on the UK Soul Charts with your song You Me and Tomorrow?
It really was an honour, and definitely not something that I expected! This was another one of those songs that just “fell out” and wanted to be here, so my writing partner and I just got out of its way and let it happen. I also made a conscious choice not to promote it heavily, and see what it wanted to do. What a lovely surprise to see it get to No. 3 on the UK Soul Chart!
What are you feeling about streaming music?
Wow. Where do I even start?
I think streaming was a great idea that was completely hijacked by the Big Three record companies (Sony, Warner and Universal).
Streaming is now completely unsustainable for independent artists and is the death of great independent music. Artists get paid almost nothing for streaming. Literally nothing. Actually, just the other day it was announced that Universal has cut a deal with Deezer in an attempt to define what a “professional” artist is. Their benchmark for being a professional is getting more than 1,000 streams per month, which so many independent artists do not get. How dare the Big Three and the DSPs set the rules to what is and what isn’t considered “professional” and then pay those people even less per stream! A stream should be worth the same for every artist. If you want to stream an artist you like, why should a huge part of your monthly subscription fee go to big artists you don’t even listen to? It is wrong in every way.
But here’s the kicker – they are keeping track of all the analytics! How do we know that it’s even honest? There are no checks, no balances, and at the moment they control the outlet. They want to define what music is, and then control the music, the outlet, and the marketing completely. In any other industry, this would be classified as restraint of trade. But once again, the artists are completely at the mercy of their record labels.
And guess what? Record companies have never known what music is, and what people actually want to hear. When streaming is the only game in town (because gigging and touring are also completely financially unsustainable now), you have to ask yourself what kind of a music world do you want to live in? If you turn on the radio right now and listen to new music, it all sounds exactly the same. And that is a direct result of the total monopolization of the music industry, and the way we consume music, ie streaming.
The symbol # is known as the number sign, hash, pound sign and a sharp sign in music. The symbol has historically been used for a wide range of purposes Since 2007, widespread usage of the symbol to introduce metadata tags on social media platforms has led to such tags being known as “hashtags”, and from that, the symbol itself is sometimes called a hashtag. Are people forgetting that the # is a part of music?
Ha! Yes that may be so! Having studied music and music theory since the age 7, the use of the # has always been music first for me. The # as an accidental actually started showing up in music notation as far back as the 11th century.
Digital vs. vinyl?
Definitely vinyl for me! I have a lovely vinyl audiophile set-up at home and it truly is a different experience. There’s so much more warmth and depth with vinyl, and the listening experience is so much more intimate and interactive. Also, the mix can sometimes be very different from the digital version of the same recording. Sometimes I go back to vinyl recordings, and I’ll hear things that I couldn’t in the digital version, which is a real treat! Although digital is a more convenient way of listening to music, sometimes it is because of its convenience that it makes the listening less active. I’d love for more people to start actively listening to music again instead of just listening to wallpaper playlists on the streamers.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what is the meaning that song means to you?
The song Lush Life by Billy Strayhorn has been going around in my head lately. The lyrics are incredibly poignant, and the arrangement is just sublime. It really is a stunning jazz ballad that doesn’t actually get played that often. The chord changes are delicious! When I was about 13 I was enamored by the chords and learned them all. It was like a masterclass in theory!
Is pay to play still a thing? Now pay to play also means things like a playlist on the internet and opening slots for a major band on tour.
Unfortunately, yes it is. I could book 10 gigs tomorrow if I wanted, but there’s no way I could afford to do them. Venues now charge (a lot!) for the hire of their sound engineer, a percentage of ticket sales, and sometimes even a percentage of the merch sold. I’d also have to pay for promo materials, pay all my band members (a proper fee), pay for rehearsals and rehearsal studio time, travel costs, food, etc.
It’s a similar situation to open for a band on tour; you’d have to pay for the travel, accommodation, performer fees and food for the entire band, plus any promo.
And yes, paying to be playlisted on a DSP is also definitely a thing, although I really do not recommend doing that because there are a lot of shady playlisters out there, and if the DSPs find out that you’ve paid to be playlisted they can blacklist you and your music in future releases.
The show Star Trek introduced people to the holodeck: an immersive, realistic 3D holographic projection of a complete environment that you could interact with.
Today holograms are already being used in a variety of way, such as medical systems, education, art, security and defense.
Performers like Tupac, Michael Jackson, Roy Orbison, Frank Zappa, Elvis Presley, Amy Winehouse, Buddy Holly, Ronnie James Dio, Marylin Monroe, and Whitney Houston have done it already. The band ABBA just announced that they will be making a comeback together after nearly 40 years as holograms on their next tour. With ABBA it was with the help of George Lucas.
If the cost was down to the point, you could do it also, would you be willing to do Holographic concerts in our living room?
I’d definitely think about it, considering the current prohibitive costs of touring! P.S. I’m a huge Star Trek (Next Gen) fan and think Gene Roddenberry was incredibly brilliant and so ahead of his time. Did you know that without Lucille Ball, Star Trek would never have happened?
In the past if a musician stopped doing music they found a new career. For example David Lee Roth from Van Halen became a licensed EMT in NY for 6 years, San Spitz (guitarist for Anthrax) became a master watchmaker, Dee Snider (Twister Sister) voice over work for SpongeBob SquarePants.. If you can’t do music what would you like to be doing?
Well actually I am a professional voice actor! My latest project is playing Eve in the #1 New York Time’s Best Selling Audible Audio drama Sandman by Neil Gaiman, directed and adapted by the brilliant Dirk Maggs. So if I ever stopped doing music (very unlikely), I guess I’d just keep on doing voice work.
What is your happy place?
Anytime I’m behind a mic (as a singer, sax player or voice actor), or behind an instrument working out a new song or arrangement. Whenever I’m doing those things, it feels like time ceases to exist and I’m in complete flow. It’s an incredible feeling.
Red Hot Chili Peppers are about to sell their entire song catalog for $140 Million. In the past year a lot of musicians such as Stevie Nicks ($100 Million) , Bob Dylan (over $400 Million), Taylor Swift, Journey, Def Leppard, K.T. Tunstall, John Legend, ZZ Top and Shakira have sold their catalog rights within the last year. Bob Dylan sold his entire catalog for a reported $300 million. Neil Young sold 50 percent of his worldwide copyright and income interest in his 1,180-song catalogue to Hipnosis Songs Fund limited. Once you get to the age of about 70. Publishing is far more lucrative than the mechanical royalties paid to artists based on sales, airplay and streams. A good example of this is Michael Jackson brought the rights to the Beatles catalog in 1985. And in the late 80’s the Beatles Revolution appeared in a Nike commercial.
The lump sums being offered by publishing firms are more tax friendly concerning estate planning.
On January 19, 2021 Hipgnosis Song Management acquired 80% of Kenny Chesney’s recorded music royalties, covering the country superstar’s discography from his 1994 debut In My Wildest Dreams through 2017’s Live in No Shoes Nation.
Someone who was totally against selling his rights was David Crosby. He did not want to sell his publishing rights. In addition, it was not an easy thing for him to do. However, by making a deal with Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group, it took a big weight off his shoulders. He could pay off his house and cover other bills. Now he does not have to work for a living. It should be noted that David is battling tendinitis in his hands, which hurts his ability to play guitar.
Do you think you would be willing to sell your back catalog if someone like Universal is willing to buy everything, such as all the rights to all your songs?
If the price was right – absolutely! I can always write more songs.
There are many platforms out there that allow artists to get their music heard. Artist Republik, DistroKid, Tunecore & plenty others offer distribution services. These services enable independent artists to put their music on some of the most popular streaming services globally, from Spotify to Apple Music & everything in between. If you’ve been in any part of the music industry in recent years, you probably know someone who has distributed a song.
Spotify reports that in 2021 were about 8 million artists on the platform. Of those 8 million artists, about 57,000 are raking in a whopping 90% of the total revenue from streams. That means that .71% of the artists on Spotify are making good money. In 2020, there was a total of around $5 billion paid out to artists on the Spotify platform alone.
Therefore, it’s reasonable to assume that, by the end of 2021, SPOT will be home to over 90 million tracks. And that in the early part of next year, it will surpass a catalog of 100 million for the first time.
What do you think that could mean to independent artists?
Unfortunately, it is the death of independent music. It is an absolute killer for independent artists. We are just getting buried by the sheer avalanche of music being uploaded – almost half a million songs per week. And the streamers, under pressure from the Big Three (Sony, Warner, and Universal) have always biased subscription revenues towards the biggest artists (number of streams). That means that I get paid a lot less for one stream of my music than someone like Dua Lipa. It’s the “winner takes all” attitude. Computers now could have incredibly accurate analytics (just look at the ads that pop up on your phone)! Are you telling me that streaming services, with all their analytics, can’t track which artists someone actually streams, and have their monthly subscription pay for who they actually listen to?
The current model is completely unsustainable in this “winner takes all” streaming approach. The major labels control 70% – 88% of Spotify’s playlists, so the game is rigged.
Over half a billion active users around the world share their favorite music on TikTok either with something like a dance challenge and lip-sync videos or creating a funny skit or candid camera moment.
TikTok has become a great platform for music promotion, sharing songs, and finding new listeners. In which it has become a place for music artists to earn revenue when people use their music. In many cases the daily promotion on TikTok has led to huge boosts on other platforms like Spotify, Facebook and YouTube.
TikTok algorithmically generates a feed of content for each user, which you see as the displaying of #. The more a user engages with content, the smarter TikTok gets at guessing what kind of videos the viewer wants to watch.
Because a song can go viral because of this.
Sony Music and Warner Music Group- , The ByteDance-owned video app revealed that it has struck an “expanded” global licensing agreement with Universal Music Group. Now that TikTok is now fully licensed by all three major record companies, will you start using TikTok more?
I really enjoy TikTok as entertainment, and I actually learn a lot there! My algorithm is mostly funny animals, spirituality, and cooking – which says a lot about me ha-ha. I don’t think I’ll use it more, as my music has already been licensed for use on TikTok for a few years now.
Breaking news: TikTok is launching TikTok Radio, a full-time SiriusXM music channel going live this summer. The station will be available in vehicles and as a streaming channel on the SiriusXM App, desktop, and all connected devices.
Some of the members on TikTok include Cassyette, YukoEXE, Ashinikko, Palaye Royale, Josh Dun (Twenty One Pilots), Yungblud, Morrissey, Ozzy Osbourne, Joan Jett, Gene Simmons, and Mick Jagger.
The station will be part of a new TikTok collaboration with SiriusXM and its subsidiary, Pandora, to jointly promote emerging talent. Do you think this platform could become a force in the future of streaming music?
I sure hope so, especially for independent artists! However, if the Big Three have anything to do with it, it will most likely only play and promote signed artists.
Are you into Dr. Who?
As a UK resident, I think I have to be haha! The Russell T. Davis did an amazing job with the Dr. Who reboot. I haven’t really taken the time out to watch through the entire series, but living here you do feel like you get to know the series by osmosis. Fun Fact – my songwriting partner has been in a couple of the Dr. Who audio dramas! His latest was playing HP Lovecraft in The Lovecraft Invasion.
How was it being a part of ALIEN- Sea of Sorrows?
Voice acting brings me so much joy and fulfilment and being a part of this No. 1 New York Times Bestselling Audio Dramas (directed by the legendary Dirk Maggs) was incredible from start to finish. And getting to work with other actors at the top of their game is just an absolute thrill.
Do you think it will be made into a movie.
Who knows?! The scripts, story, score and sound design are all there, so I feel like it’s pretty much a movie already!
Anything you would like to say in closing.
The music industry has gradually eroded the earning power of artists, to the point where they are being paid virtually nothing for their creations. When someone buys an album, song, mug or t-shirt directly from an artist, they circumvent the middleman, and all the people who have nothing to do with the actual creation of the music. Why should a music fan pay multi-billion-dollar record company executives, or CEOs of streaming services (who have virtually nothing to do with the creation of the music), for the songs they like, when they have the ability to pay an artist directly?
The current system of remuneration for an artist is unsustainable. Purchasing music directly or becoming a patron to an artist, cuts out the middleman.
If I have to work three jobs just to survive (which I do), that leaves me very little time and mental capacity to create new work.
Composers and artists like Mozart and Beethoven were financially resourced through direct patronage. Maybe it’s time to look at that system again.
On that note, feel free to purchase my music on iTunes or BandCamp at Merch from Sandra-Mae Lux
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