DJ Ron Slomowicz: How are you doing today?
Tina Novak: I am running all kinds of errands before I fly out tomorrow morning.
RS: Where you flying to?
Tina: New York, going to freeze my butt off.
RS: Well, where are you right now?
Tina: Florida. I'm partly based in Tampa and partly based in New York since I'm always back and forth.
RS: That would make sense.
Tina: Especially this time of year, I am really trying to be based in Tampa.
RS: With the weather and everything.
Tina: Oh my God, I run just sort of wince when it's cold outside. I mean I was born in Chicago but I've been in Tampa since I was six so forget it, I can't take it anymore.
RS: Well, talking about being in Florida, congratulations on your award for Best New Artist at the Winter Music Conference International Dance Music Awards.
Tina: Thank you.
RS: How did you react when you won that?
Tina: I was so excited when I found out. It's definitely inspiring to keep going and fuels you even more. You try to keep everything in perspective and don't take it too seriously but at the same time it was really nice.
RS: How did you get started as a singer?
Tina: Oh God, I really don't know anything else. Since I was two, I've been singing. I've been in community theater and singing groups since I was in kindergarten. I've been professionally trained and shopping record deals since I was twelve years old. So it seems I have been in the actual music business my entire life.
RS: I first heard about you when I got a record from Arista called Been Around The World. Tell me a little bit about how that song came along.
Tina: That was very interesting because Arista was great to me. I was the first artist on a new joint venture that was on Arista, and that's one thing that made it interesting. I was working with a producer named Shekspere as more of an R&B pop singer as opposed to the more dance-oriented Roc Project. Shekspere had this big mansion in South Beach and there were seventeen people living within. I was one of three girls with the writers, producers, engineers, and even the chef was there. It was crazy, like all these reality shows that are out now. This totally would have been perfect for TV because it was nuts. We were there for three months and then we moved to Atlanta and did the same thing there for another three months and it was very interesting. I was glad to get on the road and start touring, let's put it that way.
RS: So what happened when the album was finished and released?
Tina: It immediately took off and did really well in Japan. My first single went to number three and then the other two were also in the top ten. The full album was released in Japan and it did pretty well. Here in the States the first single did reasonably well because it did well in the northeast but it didn't get attention in other places. Then before the full album was released here in the States, Shekspere lost his joint venture on Arista, so it never really got the opportunity to see what was going to happen here. But I think it was a blessing in disguise. Now with Ray Roc and Tommy Boy there are all kinds of opportunities coming the Roc Project album. So, I guess I feel like it happened because it was supposed to.
RS: Well let me ask you this, as a solo artist did you ever go over to Japan and perform over there?
Tina: Yes, I was there for about almost a month and that was the most incredible experience ever. It was so awesome since the album wasn't released here, I wasn't expecting a whole lot when I went over there. In fact, when my label told me that the song was doing well, I thought maybe they were just playing it a little bit on the radio. But it was really weird because I wasn't expecting the reaction, there were fans waiting in my hotel lobby and they knew where I was going before I even did. You have fans waiting and it was very overwhelming. It was awesome think that far away, people who hardly even speak our language are enjoying my music. It was totally wild and so I loved it.
