We were introduced to Leana, the Swedish Diva, with a photo her walking away from us on the cover of her debut single "Dance With a Stranger." No longer a stranger to clubland, her string of club hits – "Embrace Me," "I Just Died in Your Arms," "Faith" and "Pack Your Bags," have all stormed the Billboard Club Chart. Her new CD, Feel Me, is a great club soundtrack featuring remixes by Stonebridge, Eric Kupper, Soul Seekerz, Chris Cox, and more. From Sweden to cabarets to the dancefloor, clubland has Faith in Leana.
DJ Ron Slomowicz: I've got your great CD, Feel Me. When I listen to your voice,
what should I be feeling?
Leana: Well, I guess that I will have to leave to each person's
imagination. Let that be a personal choice.
RS: The CD is all dance productions and remixes. What about dance
music do you like so much?
Leana: You feel it in your body.
RS: You wrote the song, Faith in Myself. What was in your mind
when you were writing that song?
Leana: It's about finding faith in yourself – to go for your dreams,
to find the strength within you, to do it, you know, to dare.
RS: You're a very confident woman. You can tell that in your song
Pack Your Bags. Was that about a different story?
Leana: I think everything you write has a little bit of truth in it.
We all have felt that feeling, and you kind of draw upon that. Some of
it is taken out of context, some of it is exaggerated, and some of it
is very real.
RS: As a Swedish woman, you're probably compared to ABBA a lot.
Which of these songs on the CD reminds you the most of ABBA, and why?
Leana: I grew up with ABBA, literally so. A lot of producers that I
work with say that I channel ABBA. It's not because I try to do, but
it's because that's where I'd usually go out with my gospel-
subconsciously.
RS: You work with a fellow Swede, Stonebridge, a lot. What's it
like, working with him?
Leana: I adore Stonebridge. He's such a good guy, and a good artist, too.
RS: You work with a lot of different remixers and producers. How
to you choose them?
Leana: It depends on the song. Usually it's a joint decision,
considering feelings from the song. You kind of go with your gut
feeling, and with what's happening in the industry. You try to go with
your best feeling and go for the vibes.
RS: I've got a hard question for you. What's your favorite remix
of any of your songs?
Leana: Well, that's hard to say, because then you feel like you're
not appreciating the other peoples' work. So that's going to be off
the record.
RS: OK, then we'll go on to something else. You wrote Pack Your
Bags with Jack D. Elliot and Janice Robinson. How did you collaborate
on that?
Leana: I collaborated mostly with Jack Elliot, and the funny thing
is, when we went in to record the song, I'd actually never met him. It
all went via eMail, back and forth. I'd actually not even spoken to
him. Janice had spoke with him, and I eMailed. We sent the track back
and forth, and then I went to Florida to work with them, to put it
together.
RS: That's the way things are going these days. How did you
choose I Just Died in Your Arms, the cover song?
Leana: That was because it was Universal, in Sweden – they wanted me
to do an 80s song because they felt that it would draw in my market,
which is gay men and women over thirty. They thought it was good,
market-wise, for me to have an 80s song. It was literally me going
back and forth with the executives at Universal, and we agreed on that
song. And then they chose a producer for me.
RS: I also see that you work with Jack Ellis.
Leana: Yes, him, too.
RS: That was a joke. Jack Ellis, get it a mix of Jack Elliott and
Ellis Miah? Its so hard to tell those two people apart.
Leana: Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
