21 SAUCES OF INSPIRATION – Sally Shapiro

March 12th, 2010 | By

Sally Shapiro’s delightful mixes of disco and pop have always garnered a strong reaction from the online music community. Which is somewhat expected, this publicity shy Swede injected credibility back into disco music with the help of long time producer Johan Agebjörn.

Back in 2007 her first album Disco Romance seduced the music press with the devilish Pitchfork giving her a rare 8.5 out of ten. She then went on to have her album remixed by fans such as Junior Boys, Jon Brooks, Lindstrøm, Holy Fuck and Juan Maclean.

Her most recent album Guilty Pleasure is chock full of delightful hooks, pop decadence and a dash of Swedish kitsch.

We sat down with ‘80s obsessed Shapiro and Agebjörn to find out that pop star Dido, cult act The KLF and cheese A-lister Hugh Grant all permeate their delicious disco world.

1. What gets you both going in the morning?
Sally & Johan : Coffee.

2. What five records would you take to a desert island and why?
Sally:
Mylène Farmer “Les Mots (CD 1)”
Suzanne Vega “Suzanne Vega”
Dido “No Angel”
Madonna “Immaculate Collection”
Mecano “Descanso Dominical”
Because these are some of the (very few actually) records I mainly listen to.

Johan:
Kraftwerk “Radioactivity”
Pet Shop Boys “Introspective”
Various Artists “The Italo Disco Collection”
Voodoo Child “The End of Everything”
The KLF “Chill Out”
Because these records represent my favorite genres: disco and ambient.

3. What inspires you to create?
Sally and Johan: Other music, and all experiences of being in love or other important moments in life.

4. What book or piece of literature are you reading at the moment?
Johan: C.S. Lewis: “Out of the silent planet”
Sally: Erlend Loe: “Blåst” (“Tatt av kvinnen” in original language)

5. Favorite piece of literature and why?
Johan: Science fiction novels by Isaac Asimov. They are imaginative, smart and somehow realistic.
Sally: “Naiv. Super.” By Erlend Loe. Well, mainly all books by Erlend Loe and Inger Edelfeldt.

6. Favorite club?
Sally: Doesn’t go out so much these days. Different synth pop clubs the times I do.
Johan: Skoldisco in Gothenburg.

7. What one historical figure inspires you or would you like to meet?
Sally: I´m not so much into history. Maybe some old communist thinker.

8. List five movies that you couldn’t live without?
Sally:
Music and lyrics
Bridget Jones diary
The Sound of music
Bagdad Café
Amelie (Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain)
Mamma Mia
Midvinterduell and Saxofonhallicken (two short films by Lars Molin)

Johan:
Solaris (2002)
Space Odyssey: 2001
Magnolia
Mulholland drive
Logan’s run

9. Favorite director or actor?
Sally: Actor(s) – Hugh Grant, Drew Barrymore, Meryl Streep, and Colin Firth.
Johan: Director – David Lynch.

10. Favorite piece of architecture or building?
Sally: That would be an old cottage from the 1800´s century in the countryside.

11. Favorite combination of food or recipe?
Sally: Soy burger, boiled potatoes, carrots and green beans, mushroom sauce and lingonberry jam. And then pancakes with whatever.
Johan: Fried tofu with peanut sauce and rice.

12. Favorite musical genre in the last 100 years and what would you mix it with if you could?
Sally: 80s disco. It would just get worse if it would be mixed with some other genre.
Johan: Italo disco. Would like to mix it more with ambient, like in my remix for Glass Candy.

13. Favorite Internet site?
Johan: MySpace. Such an easy way to get in contact with musicians all over the world – I doubt we could have made two remix albums as easily without it.
Sally: Wikipedia.

14. Who has had the biggest influence on you in your life?
Sally: My parents probably.

15.What is one record you should never be seen dancing to in a club?
Johan: Anything by Eminem.
Sally: Any boring repetitive drums-and-bass-with-no-melody-techno. (I do like Eminem though.)

16. Favorite 5 music artists currently listening too?
Sally: Madonna, Dido, Au Revoir Simone, Belle and Sebastian, Doris.
Johan: Bogdan Irkük, Lindstrøm, Au Revoir Simone, Friday Bridge, Sandra.

17. Favorite piece of art or artist and why?
Sally: Mylene Farmer.
Johan: Aphex Twin. Probably the greatest artist of the 90s. He did such a lot for electronic music and even though I make music in very different genre I’m taking influences from his fantastic building of melodies and twiddling of synths.

18. Artist you’d most like to collaborate with?
Sally: Maybe Leonard Cohen. It would be a nice mix of voices.
Johan: Richard X, but he keeps ignoring my MySpace messages.

19. One obscure band you think should be more popular?
Johan: Intellivision (who released a CD on spacesynth label Hypersound a few years ago).

20. What’s your ringtone?
Sally: The first one that is pre-programmed in the phone. I seldom have it on. Just checking SMS once in a while.
Johan: My cellphone was stolen at a DJ gig, so none at the moment.

21. Does Sally Shapiro have a favorite sauce?
Sally: Swedish brown sauce.