RS: Well, speaking about Sony, can you tell us your Ricky Martin story?
Calanit: I had been offered to play a song for Ricky Martin and I said, very innocently, that I am a bit selfish about my music, since I've worked really hard and ate bread and butter for years. It was very hard for me to let go and even to place it to other people to even hear it, because I didn't really care about money and I still don't.
I treat my songs like my children and I didn't want anybody to listen to them because I wanted to do them myself. I was asked just to play it for him, if I want, and I said no, just give me one good reason why he can do it and I can't. I ended up, after a while, being convinced that that's the way to go since I've been told that I'm a good writer, so why not? It can open up doors for me and probably the world was not ready for me to sing them, it was ready for other people to listen to them and to listen to my songs. So, it was a little while until I was convinced that that's just OK because I knew that I can write lots of songs nonstop, and I said I'm going to do it, I'm going to go with the wind instead of against the wind.
I've been convinced by Benjamin Groff that this is the right thing to do, and I gave it a plus. I've been asked by Paulina Rubio that they want to record the song, and I just said OK after a while. She recorded it and it came out really good, and she released it on her latest album, Border Girl.
RS: Yes, the song Baila Casanova. I was going to ask you, so you speak Hebrew and you learned English, but Baila Casanova, was that written in English and then you translated it to Spanish ?
Calanit: We recorded it in both ways, they recorded it in English and in Spanish. The original was in English and then they translated it to Spanish, and it's been on her album, the two versions. For the Spanish version they made music video that was big on MTV.
RS: Oh, it's a hot video.
Calanit: Yes, did you see it?
RS: Oh, yes.
Calanit: Ah, I know it's very hot. This song actually won in a lot of places outside of the United States, like in Russia it was number one of the chart when Madonna was number three. I was like 'no way,' it was good. Every Spanish person, I asked them do you know Paulina Rubio and they're like yes, and you know, everybody sings for me the song Casanova. Like the Casanova tune, it's just a great feeling to know that my music is being heard and people are liking it.
RS: Did you ever work with Ricky Martin?
Calanit: Yes, I actually did on his last album called Loaded, I did some Arabic chants on the song called One Night Man. I worked with him in the studio for a day and it was just a beautiful, beautiful experience. I remember when they called me up, because it was not easy to get to him. It was the hard work, what I've been doing in the past that lead me to certain situations and I knew why I had to go to this place and why I had to be in New York and why I had to meet this person.
It was the most funny thing ever, two people were talking to Jon Secada about the same person, and Jon Secada was telling the other person 'no, no, no, I've already got someone,' and the other person was talking about me. He was like, 'no, no, no, I don't need anybody, I already got someone.' And they were both talking about me. All of a sudden, the person sees me in the studio and he tells Jon Secada 'this is the girl I was talking about.' It was a great, amazing, spectacular situation. I worked with them in the studio and it was a pleasant thing. He's fierce. He has a beautiful personality, down to earth, understanding and beautiful inside and out, it was a great experience for me.
RS: You also had a song called "I'm Going To Fly" in a movie soundtrack. How did you get involved with that project?
Calanit: Becky Baeling from Universal recorded that song. She recorded that song and it was one of my first songs that I wrote, actually in the bathroom believe it or not. They helped out with the song and she recorded it, and it just sounds really amazing. They took it to the next level, which I really digged. They had it in the soundtrack for a movie called The Guru, and also the song Casanova was placed on the soundtrack of Kangaroo Jack as well.
