Sally Shapiro: Euro-Pop's Reigning Princess
Words: Aubrey Bramble
Photo: Linnea Helmersson

Sally Shapiro is an accidental pop star. She was discovered quite inadvertently by friend and current producer/composer Johan Agebjorn as they casually sang Christmas songs together one evening in late 2004. From there her story unfolds in a very Grimm Brothers fantasy in which she goes on to record a song that sparks record company interest, with the final version eventually snowballing into a hit single in the Italo Disco universe. Now some four years and just as many albums later, Sally is getting remixed by Junior Boys and was recently nominated as one of PLUG Independent Music Awards' "Female Artists of the Year" for 2007. Talk about a Cinderella Story.

With her sweet sparrow voice and flaxen hair, Sally is not that unlike the fairy-tale heroines she evokes. In addition, she is notoriously shy and equally enigmatic. Songwriting and lyricist duties fall squarely and unapologetically on Agebjorn; Sally simply lends her girlish vocals and wide-eyed spirit to the tracks. She also adamantly refuses to perform live. For her upcoming inaugural tour of the United States, she will simply be spinning records. If you want to hear her belt out a tune, best hit the "play" button on your music player instead.

I got in touch with Sally recently, and true to her whimsical reputation I was both charmed and delighted by her correspondence. If you haven't already been seduced by the pure pop bliss of Shapiro and Agebjorn, I suggest reading further and following the links at the bottom of this article to properly baptize yourself in their clean, bright tunes.

REAX:  How does it feel to be nominated as one of PLUG's "Female Artists of the Year"  for 2007? How would you celebrate if you won?
Sally Shapiro: It feels pretty amazing! I haven't even thought of how I would celebrate, I think the chance to win something is very very small. I'm happy just with being nominated. And with being asked to DJ at the event.

REAX:  It has been mentioned that your are quite shy and will not perform in your own music videos, and that you prefer to record vocals alone. Why?
SS: It's true that I'm shy when it comes to those things, because I think the voice is a very personal thing and I feel vulnerable about that. I'm more relaxed when I'm alone with the microphone. I did appear a bit in the "Jackie Jackie" music video though, but only a little.

REAX:  Your very first U.S. tour is coming up soon. Will you be singing live on this tour, and if so, how did you decide to overcome your fear of being on stage? If you are not singing live, what can your audience expect from your appearances?
SS: I won't sing live...this is a tour where I and my producer/songwriter Johan will DJ our favourite dance music, and a lot of our own tracks of course. The audience can expect a lot of good melodic disco music but I think they will be surprised as well by some of the tracks that we will play.

REAX:  What are you most looking forward to about touring the U.S.?
SS: A lot of things - to be able to say that I finally dared to do it, after having doubted that...and to be served with free drinks and chocolate before the gigs...

REAX:  What musicians inspire you to make music?
SS: I like Mylène Farmer for example, a French 80s disco queen. I sometimes listen to her before I record the vocals. Then we are inspired by a lot of Italo Disco like Valerie Dore and Fun Fun.

REAX:  If you could do anything besides make music, what would it be and why?
SS: I would like to be able to write books...but I don't think I will!

REAX:  If you could collaborate with any American musician, who would it be and why?
SS: I don't know if I could collaborate with one, but my favourite American musician is Suzanne Vega.

REAX:  How did Junior Boys come to be involved on your upcoming remix album? What was it like putting that album together? Who else provided remixes?
SS: Junior Boys is a band we like and we think we have something in common - electronic, soft music with a pop feel. So our record label Paper Bag which is based in Canada asked them and they were interested. It was difficult to put the album together, especially to decide the final tracklist. Other people who made remixes are Lindstrom, Holy Fuck, Juan MacLean, etc, my favourite remix on it is actually by a quite unknown artist called Jon Brooks.

REAX:  What plans do you have in 2008? Will you be making a new album? Collaborating with anyone new? Scheduling more appearances?
SS: We have a few twelve-inches coming out and maybe we will make a new EP and some more appearances - we'll see what we feel like to do!

REAX:  I know that Johan writes the lyrics to al of the songs, but do you ever help out? Have you ever written your own lyrics? Why do you prefer to have him write, and you simply sing?
SS: I often suggest lyrical themes, like for "Find My Soul" I asked Johan to write a song about having a boyfriend that doesn't understand you. I have written one song myself though, maybe we will record it for our possible next release. Johan is pretty much the driving force of the project, he has most of the ideas, I'm pretty comfortable with just singing and with criticizing his songs.

myspace.com/shapirosally
johanagebjorn.info/sally.html