Tuesday

Artists

Catching Up With Karen David

Her bio quotes her as a “stylish singer, songwriter and actress,” and she’s nothing less than these three! She was also handpicked by actor Bill Cosby to star alongside him in a TV commercial for Jell-O at the age of six. Oh, did I fail to mention that she also landed a role in the hit movie, “Batman Begins,”?

Yes, I’m talking about the one and only, Karen David, herself!

Born in Shillong – at the foot of the Himalayas – and raised in Toronto, Karen David can be coined as “ever-alluring,” and she’s never let herself be restricted or controlled by such things as ‘boundaries.’ She’s crossed hurdles, strived to prove she can be the best, and shinned in front of Hollywood and Bollywood greats.

One of Karen’s noteworthy moments, as an actress, came when she landed a supporting role in the acclaimed film, “Provoked”, alongside the actress Aishwarya Rai. This put her in the limelight with personalities in the Bollywood film industry, and the soundtrack for the film had her working with one of the best composers to come out of India, A.R. Rahman; together they wrote and recorded “Alive”, the theme song that personifies the quintessence of Kiranjit Ahluwalia’s story.

Recently Karen finished filming Universal Studios’ prequel, “The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian”, in Cape Town, South Africa. It’s in this movie she plays the spirited, aggressive, and beautiful ‘Layla.’ The film is directed by Russell Mulcahy, and she co-stars opposite Michael Copon (One Tree Hill), Randy Couture, and Simon Quarterman.

Fall of 2008 makes the release of this film, her second EP, and an album release! It’s been a journey in the making, and I had the chance to sit down with Karen and talk about her past, present, and future!

Tirusha: Karen, after MySpace messages back and forth, I have to say, it’s a pleasure to finally down and do this interview with you! For those who are familiar with you, give us a quick one-liner on who you are and what you do!
Karen: Everything summed up in one line…that’s tough! Uh…ok…hello! My name is Karen David; I am an actress, singer, and songwriter. My journey began in the Himalayas to Toronto, and then London, England. Oops, that’s two lines!

Did you catch that guys, she’s an actress and singer! So which came first, the actress or the singer?
I started off as an actress at the age of six doing a Jell-O commercial. I got the acting bite from that moment and knew since I was a little girl that I wanted to act, and sing.

How supportive was your family when you told them that the field of entertainment was where your career would be headed?
My parents have always been open-minded and always encouraged my older sister and myself to dream big. Of course we had to get straight A’s in school and nothing less! My folks told me since I was five years old that I had to work really hard, and take the initiative myself. They also told me that they had no connections to the music and acting industry so it was going to be up to me to make thing happen for myself, but I always had their support and for that, I am so lucky and truly blessed.

In regards to your singing career, you recently released your debut album called, “The Live Session EP.” Tell us a little bit about the ideas involved in creating this EP and the production alongside your amazing vocals!
It’s my second EP release. My debut album is planned for a fall release. We’re all headless chickens at the moment as we have the album deadline just around the corner. I grew up in a house filled with love for all kinds of music, and my parents would take my sister and I regularly to the local amusement park to hear some of the music industry’s greatest legends perform: Smokey Robinson, Herbie Hancock, The Temptations, Dionne Warwick, Kool and the Gang, and Neil Sedaka to mention a few. So no one was surprised when I told them I had wanted to record a live ‘sessions EP’ of some of my forthcoming album tracks – in the old school tradition. With no computer in sight, “The Live Sessions” EP was recorded organically and live at Antonio Feola’s Fish Factory Studio in Dollis North London on equipment from the golden age of valve technology. This has given the recordings a truly distinctive feel where the ‘The Live Sessions’ vividly captures what my rockin’ band and I sound like live.

The opening track ‘Magic Carpet Ride’ is an epic musical homage to Bollywood blockbuster “Dum Maro Dum”, while ‘Carry Me Home’ features the exquisite Inklein Quartet and the extraordinary string arrangements of Steve Bentley-Klein. ‘All I Need’ meanwhile is the result of collaborating with Jonas Quant, a young writer I discovered on MySpace, and who has since written for Kylie Minogue, while the flamenco-tinged “Pink Glasses,” and “Shillong Shillong” are an autobiographical song about my crazy roots!

What is your favourite track from the EP and why?
All my songs are like my babies. I don’t play favourites. It’s really impossible. Every track has something special about them to me.

What has the buzz been since you released the EP?
My fans have been writing in to my MySpace site or coming to my gigs telling me how much they enjoy the EP, which is super! The reviews have been coming in to glowing reviews, so I am one happy lady.

Are you ready to hit the fans with a full-fledge album yet?
Absolutely and they have been so patient, but it’s in the mixing stages at the moment. I’m so excited. I’ve waited a long time for this but it has been well worth it. Johnny Douglas (hit maker behind the likes of Kylie Minogue George Michael, and Estelle to name a few) has been working in the studio putting the finishing touches on the album and it’s sounding great! It is such a pleasure to see each song marry into next one to create a whole album.

You’ve had the chance to work with A.R. Rahman – something which every singer merely dreams of – for the movie “Provoked.” Tell us about this amazing experience!
I’ve known A R Rahman now for about 7 years. “Alive,” which was the theme song for Provoked, was our third collaboration. Each time we have worked together has always been an adventure. He brings out the best in me and always challenges me as a songwriter, and performer. Writing with Rahman is like walking on a high balance rope, blindfolded: you don’t know where you’re going but you know when you take the blindfold off, the end results are nothing short of brilliance.

As a singer, if you collaborate with any mainstream artist, who would it be and why?
How long have we got?! I would love to do collaborate with Burt Bacharach, Elvis Costello, Lenny Kravitz, Bryan Adams, Gorillaz…all of them have such a unique and quirky style about each of them, not to mention the fact that they’re super talented! I think with the artists I mentioned there are some nice contrasting styles between them and myself that collaborating could be pretty interesting.

What about any mainstream producer?
It would be easy for me to say Timbaland. He is great at what he does; but besides wanting to work on new material with Rob Wells and Johnny Douglas, it would have to be Billy Botrell. I think he did a fantastic job on Shelby Lynne’s and Sheryl Crow’s past albums.

We’ve briefly talked about this before, but have you had thoughts about collaborating with any artists or producers from the South Asian scene?
I’ve been spoiled, having always worked the great A. R. Rahman in the past. Of course there’s always room to work with other artists and producers from South Asian scene. I would love to work with Karsh Kale, Anushka Shankar, or Talvin Singh.

Okay, let’s just say your name was called out at the Grammy’s for ‘Best Female Artist.’ Which three people would you thank first?
I know it’s the ‘done’ thing but it would have to be 1. My angels above, 2. My family, and 3. My fans.

Now onto interviewing Karen the actress! You have got a damn good resume when it comes to acting. First let’s talk about your role in ‘The Colour of Magic,” in which you plated Liessa. How were you approached with the role and what was your initial reaction?
My agent set up the meeting and in my first meeting I was warned that Liessa’s character in the novel doesn’t wear much, more like Chain Mithrel. The casting director told me that I wouldn’t be naked but I would be showing some flesh, but I wasn’t too worried as I had read the terry Pratchett novel and knew that it wasn’t going to be anything distasteful. When I read the script, I was highly amused by the scenes where Liessa and Rincewind are hanging upside down sword fighting, and I thought to myself that this could either be fun or my worst nightmare! But I figured I’d cross that bridge if I got the part, and I did; and then I started freaking out! LOL! It was pretty tough fighting upside down; your sense of co-ordination is completely gone!

“Take 3 Girls” came out in 2006, in which you played the character of Lyla who was “a beautiful Indian girl with a voice like an angel.” You were an actress who played a singer, who’s actually a singer! Was it easy to play a role of someone who you already are?
Lyla’s character was quite a complex and mysterious character. She was a singer indeed, but she had also been a drug addict, had run away from home and had a lot of personal issues and dilemma’s. It’s those complexities that attracted me to the script. It would be easy to play just a singer, but playing Lyla meant much more than that. I got to dye my hair crazy colours – blonde and blue streaks, have a nose ring, and tattoos – it was so much fun to play a character who is so opposite to me. She was reckless, very street wise but had a good heart deep down.

Now it seems that many people don’t know this and it surprises me, but you were also in one of the biggest films of 2005, “Batman Begins.” What was shooting such a mega-blockbuster like? Did you get a chance to mingle with the stars, such as Katie Holmes?
I had a very small part in “Batman Begins” but it was my first step into doing Hollywood films. I only had three lines, but when I attended the premiere and saw my name on the credits at the end of the film, I had a lump in my throat. It was a taste of what I had wanted and dreamt of for so long. It made me even more determined to work harder and be the best actress I could be. It was such an inspiring moment. Christopher Nolan is a brilliant director, and his attention to detail is impeccable. Working on such a huge set and meeting Katie Holmes, Michael Caine, and Christian Bale on set was a bonus!

If you could re-enact any role such as Ingrid Bergman’s character Ilsa Lund from “Casablanca,” or Judy Garland’s character ‘Dorothy Gale’ from “The Wizard of Oz,” which character would you want to be and why?
Good question! There are so many roles I would love to re-enact; Audrey Hepburn’s character, ‘Holly Golightly’, in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Halle Berry’s character, ‘Audrey Burke,’ in Things We Lost In The Fire, or Charlize Theron’s ‘Aileen’ in Monster and ‘Doris Day’ in Pillow Talk. I could go on! There are so many parts! What I’m interested in a particular character are their complexities or simplicities; I love a challenge and the more challenging a character is, the better and more fun to play!

What if you woke up tomorrow morning to a phone call from Karan Johar or Sanjay Leela Bhansali from Bollywood and they asked you to be in their next movie, would you jump to the opportunity?
I’ve never done a Bollywood movie before, so if the part was right for me, of course I would consider it! The experience of acting in one would be a great experience to add to the resume!

Do you think that cross-over films such as “Bend It Like Beckham or “Bride & Prejudice” are helping to bring forth South Asian talent from within our community to the eyes of mainstream viewers?
Absolutely! Having been in a cross-over film myself (Provoked with Aishwarya Rai, Naveen Andrews and Miranda Richardson), it has attracted audiences from different demographics. I was so excited when Lagaan was nominated for an Oscar in the Foreign Film category. It didn’t win but plenty more people went to go and see it after it was nominated. Cross-over films are the way forward and I hope to see more films like The Rising, (which I loved!), come into the forefront of mainstream cinema.

Where do you see yourself five years from now?
Ideally, some more Hollywood films and good television projects under my belt, my first having been released and touring and then the release of the second album, and having a family. A tall order, I know!

What advice do you have for the young girls across the country that want to make a career in singing and acting but are too scared to do so?
Don’t let hard work put you off from wanting to follow your dreams. Dreams do not come for free. You have to work at them to make them a reality, but if you’re determined, have a good attitude, and are focused, it will happen for you. There is room for everyone if you want it bad enough. Never take short cuts to where you want to go. Play the game right, and lay the foundations which will give you longevity in your career. Most importantly, be true to yourself and have faith.

What final words do you have for all your fans, supporters, and the readers of Bravura Artist Magazine?
Thanks Tirusha! To the readers, thank you for reading and for your support! It means sooooo much. Drop me a line on my website, www.karendavid.com, and say hello! I always check in daily! My site has the latest on my album, gigs, upcoming appearances and films.