SHAB Talks New Single, Album And More

Global pop-sensation SHAB has released her latest single ‘Swerve’ which is taken from her forthcoming album ‘One Suitcase’. We chatted to her about the new single, album and more: 

When did you begin songwriting?
I began writing my first songs when I was living in Fort Lauderdale during the brief period when I was first in law school. My boyfriend at the time, a Brazilian guy of Turkish heritage, was a neophyte music producer — just as a hobby I began composing songs in my native Farsi language.

And although I am composing my songs in English these days, one of those Farsi compositions eventually served as the basis for one of the songs on my upcoming album, ONE SUITCASE — an upbeat dance number called ALIVE.

What is your earliest musical memory?
During first eight years living in Iran barred by the oppressive persecution of femininity as well as the war with Iraq, my elder sisters & would pass the time dance parties at our house. In that regard, music became our refuge from the ugliness of the environment and which we were then living — and music became a foundational value of my personality, with proven ability to uplift, energize and cause one to dream of a different future.

Your new second album ‘ONE SUITCASE’ will be released soon. How did you want to approach the making of the album?
I would not call this work exactly confessional in its tone or emotions, but ONE SUITCASE definitely manifests certain events, reflections and convictions that have occurred or developed in my extraordinary and blessed life. I wanted ONE SUITCASE to give my listeners a flavour as to my journey as a person, woman, lover and citizen.

Where did you record the album and who produced it?
The album was largely produced in studios found in Los Angeles, Dallas and Atlanta. During the making of ONE SUITCASE, I worked extensively with my longtime producer Damon Sharpe as well as the legendary Dallas Austin, rising hitmaker JHart, RoccStar, the extraordinarily gifted duo of Eric Zayne & Naz Tokio and my Dallas producer Remi Rafael. My Musical Director, Mike Manning, was also integrally involved in the process 0f making this album.

Do you have any interesting, funny or memorable stories from the album recording sessions?

I have a wealth of memorable recollections, actually — but almost every day in the studio during the course of the making of this album was interesting and funny as well
It was a daily treat to walk into Damon Sharpe’s studio, with Damon bringing his A-Game and JHart manically and joyfully adding to the mix. My love for Damon is well-documented: and JHart has a magnetic and positive personality that makes him a joy in the studio.

My sessions with Eric Zayne & Naz Tokio were less akin to a work effort than a party with my friends. We gathered in Eric’s studio on maybe two dozen days, most days really never knowing what we were going to write or record.
And I cannot express what a joy and it was work with Dallas Austin with Naz on ONE SUITCASE. Dallas likes to work in his cozy home studio that is nestled into a hilly and thickly-wooded area of Atlanta and his relationships within his own team absolutely mirror those we maintain within the Shab Squad. And it was a joy to be able to work with someone so accomplished yet so humble and down to earth.

Did you use any particular instruments, microphones, recording equipment to help you get a particular sound/tone for the record?
We mainly worked with the equipment that we already had at the studios where we recorded the songs, all of which and high-end stuff. I can only think of a couple of exceptions, being the guitars that my music director Mike Manning would carry along for guitar work: but also the voice of my guy, who did the spoken word park on the song WOMAN. (And he nailed it with perfect tempo and cadence on the first take….)

One of your tracks is the new single ‘Swerve’. What was the story/inspiration behind the track?
I was in the studio with Damon and JHart, working with a base 16 bar track that Damon had conjured. The AfroBeat nature of what became SWERVE seemed appropriate for a song with a good dance sequence: and the phrase SWERVE was frankly something that JHart just uttered on an impromptu basis. And interestingly, my choreographer and Creative Co-Director Richy Jackson used the American Sign Language motion for the word SWERVE as the foundation for his dance sequence.

Was it a difficult album to write?
For the most part, the main difficulties in the creation of this album were in the scheduling of the studio sessions themselves. I live In Dallas and much of the album was written and recorded both in Los Angeles and Atlanta, working around the schedules of the various producers involved. We would often work on some of the tracks back in Dallas with my local producer Remi Rafael — boat regardless of where we were to be found in the creation of this album, every day in the studio was a Win (and even in regard to the songs that didn’t make it on to the album). It was pure joy working with all of these guys and there was no Darth of ideas and creativity in any particular studio session.

Which of your new album tracks hear you at you’re a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?

At my happiest, it would have to be LIPSTICK, which is a ’80s throwback pure Pop love song.
At my angriest, it would have to be NOSTALGIA, which is basically a dark and vengeful “you really screwed up, Buddy” song.
And at my most reflective, it would probably be either the title track, a ballad called ONE SUITCASE — it’s a song that speaks to the loneliness and anxiety of leaving everything that you have known and search of a new life — or otherwise CORE, which is something of a reflection as to whether one is at the foundation of their lover’s world.

What two things do you hope to have achieved once you have left the stage?
That’s pretty easy. I hope that people will say that my songs either spoke to them or animated their life. And almost as much, I hope that they find that some of my songs made them to dance!

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, microphones etc?
Not really. Most of my music is electronically driven, so as result there isn’t really any special instrumentation other than the guitars selected by Mike Manning for his licks — and particularly the Duesenberg Starplayer TV Pearl Series Semi-Hollow Electric Guitar that we bought for him as a birthday present a few years ago.

Other than that, probably the only unusual instruments for the genre were live horns on maybe three of the tracks – but also was the use of a slap vibe on WOMAN, for which my guy has a bit of a fetish.

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?
While I was raised in greater Baltimore, I now consider Dallas as my hometown.
Despite the fact that Dallas-Fort Worth is already America’s fourth largest metropolitan area, it is continuing to grow at an astounding rate — and the US census bureau actually predicted that within 25 years it would overtake New York as the largest metropolitan area in the United States.
People from all over the United States are moving to Dallas – particularly from California — and it is an incredibly gray area in which to have a terrific work-life balance. Texans are probably the most independent and some of the friendliest people in the United States and the culture is heavily influenced by Latin American themes. It is a very family-oriented locale, but with terrific infrastructure and it is incredibly easy to get to just about anywhere In the Americas, Asia & Europe from Dallas.

How do you look after your voice?
I am a firm believer in hot lemon water end of variety of different throats treatments that my vocal coaches have prescribed. And I try not to yell at my family too much.

You are given the opportunity to write the score for a film adaptation of a novel that you enjoy. Which novel is it and why?
The Immortals of Tehran by Ali Araghi, who is a novelist that I had the chance to meet in connection with my involvement with the University of Notre Dame. His book is a brilliant multi-layered tale about a family curse and the various interactions among family members at the outside of the fundamentalist revolution in Iran.

You also collaborated with legendary hip-hop artist Fat Joe on the single ‘VooDoo’. How did that collaboration arise?
One of my former team members on the Shab Squad — as we call it – Duke Richman, add noticed that there was opportunity for the interweaving of my lyrics from my original singer, SPELL ON ME, with the rhythms and beats of Joe’s Club Anthem, LEAN BACK. My team sent the idea to Joe and we waited for a while to hear back as to whether he was interested in doing the collaboration. What we later learned – as he said on a video that appears on my YouTube channel — was that is a main part of rationale for doing the collaboration was his impression that my voice gave him “Madonna vibes.”

Who are some of your musical influences? Do you have any recommendations?
My musical influences are all over the map! Shakira & Alanis Morrisette, J-Lo & Frank Sinatra, Selena & Craftwork, Paul Oakenfold & Diana Krall. My GoTo Music at the house when having over guests is a rotation of Chet Baker songs. And I am particularly getting into World Music at the present, listening to a lot of AfroBeat, Middle Eastern & Latino tracks.

Do you have any further music releases planned for 2024/2025?

After dropping ONE SUITCASE, we are thinking about releasing an EP that we might call BE-SIDES – essentially, songs that we would like to release but did not make it onto the upcoming album.
And we will be making music throughout 2024 and expect that I will have three or four releases following the debut of ONE SUITCASE.

18 – Do you have any live dates planned in the UK/Europe in 2024/2025?
Not at this time, but I would be unsurprised to pick up a tour during the later part of the year and after the release of ONE SUITCASE.