Sabrina Chap

So last year around this same time, I discovered an album called Oopma by lovely, honey-voiced Sabrina Chap - and I'm pleased to announce that she's coming back to Seattle with a week full of shows! Burlesque, caberet, piano-playing, crooning - you name it, Sabrina is doing it. Man oh man, I love this woman! She's currently cooking up her new album, We Are the Parade, and could use a some dollas to help finish it up and get it out the door. I'm a sucker for kickstarter campaigns, so I donated. You too?

{Ed. note: Sabrina decided to share a song from her new album so y'all could hear what's next, so we switched out the track!} Ms. Chap generously offered up a preview of some of her new stuff for our imaginary readers! Take a listen to this track from We Are the Parade: - Three Imaginary Girls

So last year around this same time, I discovered an album called Oopma by lovely, honey-voiced Sabrina Chap - and I'm pleased to announce that she's coming back to Seattle with a week full of shows! Burlesque, caberet, piano-playing, crooning - you name it, Sabrina is doing it. Man oh man, I love this woman! She's currently cooking up her new album, We Are the Parade, and could use a some dollas to help finish it up and get it out the door. I'm a sucker for kickstarter campaigns, so I donated. You too?

{Ed. note: Sabrina decided to share a song from her new album so y'all could hear what's next, so we switched out the track!} Ms. Chap generously offered up a preview of some of her new stuff for our imaginary readers! Take a listen to this track from We Are the Parade: - Three Imaginary Girls

In 1999, English playwright Sarah Kane hanged herself by her shoelaces in a hospital bathroom. Only 28 years old, Kane was regarded by many as one of the rising stars of her generation, and her death sent shock waves through the theater world. For Sabrina Chap, a college student and artist who had recently worked on a production of Kane’s play Phaedra’s Love, the news was devastating.

“I don’t remember exactly where I was at the time,” says Chap, who grew to become a singer, playwright, and spoken word performer. “What I do remember was the shift in me, the space slightly to the left of my heart that hurt when I heard it was suicide.”

Nearly a decade later, Live Through This, a selection of artwork and essays by women artists, was born from this heartache. Edited by Chap, the book challenges the myth that a creative woman is doomed to self-destruction by recounting stories from those who suffered conflicts and survived.

“A lot of people are famous for their self-destructive tendencies,” says Chap, who cites Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Anna Nicole Smith, and even literary characters like Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina as among the casualties. “It’s time we heard the stories of the women that lived.”

Now in a rerelease, Live Through This delves deep into the psyches of poets, dancers, playwrights, and performers (including Patricia Smith, Eileen Myles, Kate Bornstein, and Margaret Cho) to reveal the forces that drive artists toward both passion and pain. What keeps them going? How do they overcome hardships, in order to survive and thrive? Dealing with subjects such as Weight Watchers, flossing, and chemotherapy, the entries move from laughter to tears with the turn of a page.

Chap’s own sustaining force is music. Since she was 5 years old, Chap has played classical music on the piano. The passion led her to study composition at a liberal arts college, where, due to a feminist spirit and sapphic stirrings, she felt at odds with her conservative classmates.

“I dealt with self-destructive impulses in college,” Chap says. “I looked around, and I seemed to be the only one that was dealing with these issues. And I didn’t have a community of like-minded artists to turn to as a means of support.”

The experience planted the seed that would become Live Through This, which is intended as a resource for those in similar straits. At the time, however, she immersed herself in her art, where she encountered a love that would change her life: composer Scott Joplin.

“I picked up Scott Joplin’s ‘Maple Leaf Rag,’ and it was so much fun,” Chap says. “Like classical music, it’s technical, but there’s a rhythm to it. You can really dance to it. Ragtime is pure joy.”

“Joyous” could also describe Chap’s latest album, We Are the Parade, a veritable marching band of tracks that incorporates 25 horns into its production. The record — which draws inspiration from Jacques Brel and the atmosphere music of 30 Rock — channels the raw energy of ragtime and an old-school musical, with lyrics that evoke a contemporary Cole Porter or Tom Lehrer. The album art features Chap with a drum strapped to her chest, her mouth open in an exclamation of delight.

“I used to be a drum major in high school, and I wanted my album to have an out-in-the-streets, rousing feel,” Chap says. “I consider it a rallying cry.”

Chap’s queer identity is not often addressed in her album, but the title track is a clarion call to pride: “So you’re thinking you want to marry me? Well, baby, take my hand. It’s a long walk up to equality, and so let’s strike the band up.” The artist wrote the lyrics after the passage of Proposition 8, the ballot measure that defined marriage in California as a union between one man and one woman.

“When a whole state gets together and decides that you’re not worth equal rights and you’re not worthy of love, that’s a terrifying thing,” says Chap. “This song was my way of establishing a form of protest that wasn’t angry but rather celebratory.”

The music video features footage from last year’s pride parade in New York City, newly jubilant from the passage of marriage equality. Chap portrays the grand marshal, ushering waves of drag queens, same-sex couples, and rainbow flag-bearers down the street. Don’t blink — even Dan Savage, founder of the It Gets Better campaign, flashes a smile at the camera.

For Chap, the parade isn’t confined to a summer’s day on a Manhattan avenue. Throughout the year, she tours colleges and imparts lessons of survival and support from Live Through This.

“Growing up, I didn’t even hear the word ‘lesbian’ until college,” Chap says. “You don’t even know that someone sitting next to you be can be your strength. It’s important for that kid in a small town to know that safety, that community isn’t confined to Chelsea. They can find it anywhere.” - the Advocate

As a premium for being an Indiegogo contributor for Sabrina Chap’s We Are the Parade, I got a lyrics booklet. A Chap-book, if you will. In it, she writes, “Please do not read the stories behind these lyrics without having listened to the songs first, and forming your own opinion on what you think they’re about.” I took her advice and found it rewarding. The album was full of rags, marches, hope and disappointment, but mostly honesty.

Chap began playing classical piano at 5, “was a BIG MARCHING BAND geek in high school” (per the lyrics book), flew the folk flag, found ragtime piano and formed the Schlapentickle Family Burlesque and Revue. Her previous album Oompa! was a vaudevillian bounce. We Are the Parade ups the marching ante with fuller instrumentation.

It strikes me as being a particularly American album. Having a Bulgarian father and an Ecuadorian mother, Chap says, “I’ve never felt truly American, and was consistently told I wasn’t by my mom.” A sense of musical history runs through the songs, with tastes of ragtime, doo-wop and soul.

“When I Grow Up, I’m Gonna Dance” starts with pretty piano tinkling and piles on the instruments. There’s a slathering of Dixieland jazz like “Big Noise from Winnetka” (not the least of which is in the drum break).

“One Night Stand Serenade” brings the Sapphic bawdy with a little Benny Goodman. Or maybe Artie Shaw. Anyow, I think it’s a jazzy clarinet, but I’m more interested in lines like “the things I wanna do to you are the things I think you’d like to do to me.”

Sabrina goes Latin on “Fly Away.” She calls it her “Gloria Estefan song,” but I think of newer wavier things like Modern Romance. Ladies and gentlemen, Pan Am Flight 409 is leaving for Acapulco in 5 minutes!

Things cool down a little for the next few tracks. “I Transatlantically Love You” looks at being together at a distance. “’Til It All Stops” is a waltz on a marimba. “Oh My, Oh Me” countries it up a little with fiddle and backup harmonies.

“The Denial Rag” kicks up a rapid-fire patter about “not” seducing a gentleman caller’s sister. Musically, it’s a wild ride. Lyrically, it’s a giggle-fest.

“To the Ones Who Never Call Back” may be the closest to her writing in the booklet. It’s funny, honest, to the point and has a mouth like a goddamned sailor.

“Everything’s Great” is an oldies-souding toe-tapper. It bops like Sha Na Na. I know that it would be cooler to cite early Roxy Music, but I really enjoyed watching Sha Na Na on Saturday nights when I was little. If you don’t like it, up your nose with a rubber hose.

The title track “We Are the Parade” was written in response to California’s ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8. How do you fight something like that? With a marching song filled with love, love, love! The song is personal, polticial, loving, a bit angry, hopeful and, well, it just makes sense that this it the title track.

“My Poor Heart” is the sultry Stax Records make-out soul song. Except that it’s not.

“Wrecking Ball” plays out like the Left Banke’s “Walk Away Renee” (or maybe “Pretty Ballerina”) until the ball comes crashing in when Chap leaves you in shambles.

“La Luna La Luna The Moon” paints a picture of the belonging and separateness of her Italian family. You can see the plates if spaghetti and the men watching the game and the women cooking the meals and everyone greeting and saying goodbye with “Ciao!” Except that Sabrina is Bulgarian-Ecuadorian. The scene is so well painted that I was shocked to find this out in the booklet!

In that sense, it wraps up why the album is so American. It’s an understanding of heritage whether is via family or music. It’s a first-generation American grappling with what roots may or may not be. Pardon the cornball sentiment, but it’s about yearning to breathe free.

We Are the Parade will be available in July 2012 at sabrinachap.com and iTunes. - Sepiachord

As a premium for being an Indiegogo contributor for Sabrina Chap’s We Are the Parade, I got a lyrics booklet. A Chap-book, if you will. In it, she writes, “Please do not read the stories behind these lyrics without having listened to the songs first, and forming your own opinion on what you think they’re about.” I took her advice and found it rewarding. The album was full of rags, marches, hope and disappointment, but mostly honesty.

Chap began playing classical piano at 5, “was a BIG MARCHING BAND geek in high school” (per the lyrics book), flew the folk flag, found ragtime piano and formed the Schlapentickle Family Burlesque and Revue. Her previous album Oompa! was a vaudevillian bounce. We Are the Parade ups the marching ante with fuller instrumentation.

It strikes me as being a particularly American album. Having a Bulgarian father and an Ecuadorian mother, Chap says, “I’ve never felt truly American, and was consistently told I wasn’t by my mom.” A sense of musical history runs through the songs, with tastes of ragtime, doo-wop and soul.

“When I Grow Up, I’m Gonna Dance” starts with pretty piano tinkling and piles on the instruments. There’s a slathering of Dixieland jazz like “Big Noise from Winnetka” (not the least of which is in the drum break).

“One Night Stand Serenade” brings the Sapphic bawdy with a little Benny Goodman. Or maybe Artie Shaw. Anyow, I think it’s a jazzy clarinet, but I’m more interested in lines like “the things I wanna do to you are the things I think you’d like to do to me.”

Sabrina goes Latin on “Fly Away.” She calls it her “Gloria Estefan song,” but I think of newer wavier things like Modern Romance. Ladies and gentlemen, Pan Am Flight 409 is leaving for Acapulco in 5 minutes!

Things cool down a little for the next few tracks. “I Transatlantically Love You” looks at being together at a distance. “’Til It All Stops” is a waltz on a marimba. “Oh My, Oh Me” countries it up a little with fiddle and backup harmonies.

“The Denial Rag” kicks up a rapid-fire patter about “not” seducing a gentleman caller’s sister. Musically, it’s a wild ride. Lyrically, it’s a giggle-fest.

“To the Ones Who Never Call Back” may be the closest to her writing in the booklet. It’s funny, honest, to the point and has a mouth like a goddamned sailor.

“Everything’s Great” is an oldies-souding toe-tapper. It bops like Sha Na Na. I know that it would be cooler to cite early Roxy Music, but I really enjoyed watching Sha Na Na on Saturday nights when I was little. If you don’t like it, up your nose with a rubber hose.

The title track “We Are the Parade” was written in response to California’s ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8. How do you fight something like that? With a marching song filled with love, love, love! The song is personal, polticial, loving, a bit angry, hopeful and, well, it just makes sense that this it the title track.

“My Poor Heart” is the sultry Stax Records make-out soul song. Except that it’s not.

“Wrecking Ball” plays out like the Left Banke’s “Walk Away Renee” (or maybe “Pretty Ballerina”) until the ball comes crashing in when Chap leaves you in shambles.

“La Luna La Luna The Moon” paints a picture of the belonging and separateness of her Italian family. You can see the plates if spaghetti and the men watching the game and the women cooking the meals and everyone greeting and saying goodbye with “Ciao!” Except that Sabrina is Bulgarian-Ecuadorian. The scene is so well painted that I was shocked to find this out in the booklet!

In that sense, it wraps up why the album is so American. It’s an understanding of heritage whether is via family or music. It’s a first-generation American grappling with what roots may or may not be. Pardon the cornball sentiment, but it’s about yearning to breathe free.

We Are the Parade will be available in July 2012 at sabrinachap.com and iTunes. - Sepiachord

Sabrina Chap is a lady of gargantuan talent. This Brooklyn-based songwriter has been playing piano since the age of five, and these days produces songs that are pristinely intelligent, deeply moving and deliciously funny. She plays hot jazz, making it sound ruder than it ever was. She's edited a very useful book, called Live Through This, about the relationship between creativity and self-destruction. She's written and produced a bunch of plays. And now she's created an anthem for the fight for LGBT equality, in the form of the title track of her most recent long player, We Are the Parade.

Initially, this song was Sabrina's response to California's Proposition 8, the constitutional amendment passed in 2008 that took away the right of same sex couples in that state to marry, but it turns out that it is about a lot more than just that.

She tells me that, prior to the appearance of Proposition 8, she hadn't thought too much about the issue. "I rarely date, and don't think about marriage personally. But, when California denied marriage equality, it just floored me. I mean, San Francisco is like the gayest city in the world! The west coast had always seemed so forward thinking - how in the hell could they deny gay marriage? It seemed outrageous..."

How then to approach a situation where homophobia and ignorance have (temporarily) won out?

It's a hateful action to deny gay people their right to be married. Initially, I wanted to respond with outrage and anger. But then I thought that by responding with hate and anger wouldn't be the smartest thing, mostly because hate is an emotion that separates. I wanted the song to unite, not divide. So I thought about how wonderful the queer scene is - what joy it is borne out of. I couldn't understand how the world could deny the validity of that joy, and realized that our joy might be our strongest weapon. I thought, "I'd rather combat them with joy." And the most joyous thing that came to mind was of course the gay pride parades. The parades have become a bit corporate in New York, and are not seen as politicizing as they once were, but they are still a political act that is joyous.

I also thought about how hard it is to be visibly gay, and how each time you step out as a visible queer, whether you think it is or not, it is a protest. It takes courage. I wanted to equate the joyous protests of the gay pride parades with the bravery that it takes to be an out queer and show that together, we're strong. And also, together we'll get to the point of having equal rights. It will happen for sure.

A few hours after we spoke, Sabrina contacted me to say that a friend of hers had been gay-bashed in London

Same-sex marriage is now legal in 14 countries and in 12 States in the US, and in the UK equal marriage rights could soon become a reality with the Cameron-backed Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill. But, while celebrations might be just around the corner, it is crucial that the battle doesn't stop there. Homophobic, bi-phobic and trans-phobic violence are on the rise in Europe and poverty, homelessness, domestic violence and mental health issues are increasing among LBGT communities in the UK.

A few hours after we spoke, Sabrina contacted me to say that a friend of hers had been gay-bashed in London, on his birthday night out. "The reality of what can happen to queers when they're out and about simply enjoying their birthdays, the reality of the courage it still takes to be out, is why I did the song."

It is hard to find a response to homophobic malice, yet 'We Are The Parade' is huge and full of love, a reminder to be bigger than the haters. But is there a risk that equal marriage becomes a carpet under which all these other realities, like violence and economic exclusion, are brushed - exactly the issues that affect the poorer and younger members of LGBT communities?

Gay marriage itself is not my biggest concern - it's what it stands for. So many people, even queers, think that the fight for marriage equality is such a small fight, when the actuality is that it's important because it's just another step in the law recognizing gay equality - that gay people are as equal and deserve the same rights, as everyone else.

It is weird that as queers we're fighting to get into an institution, when we've had to spend our lives not getting institutionalised! I forget who pointed out that the biggest fights in the queer scene seem to be about getting entry both into the army and the institution of marriage, which when you think about it, can seem pretty bleak. The truth is, these fights are fights to integrate into a heterosexist society. And smart queers everywhere know that. But laws that equalize marriage rights are a step in the right direction of demanding equality.

We have to remind ourselves of the joy, that we - together - are the p - the F Word (UK ZINE)

Sabrina Chap is a lady of gargantuan talent. This Brooklyn-based songwriter has been playing piano since the age of five, and these days produces songs that are pristinely intelligent, deeply moving and deliciously funny. She plays hot jazz, making it sound ruder than it ever was. She's edited a very useful book, called Live Through This, about the relationship between creativity and self-destruction. She's written and produced a bunch of plays. And now she's created an anthem for the fight for LGBT equality, in the form of the title track of her most recent long player, We Are the Parade.

Initially, this song was Sabrina's response to California's Proposition 8, the constitutional amendment passed in 2008 that took away the right of same sex couples in that state to marry, but it turns out that it is about a lot more than just that.

She tells me that, prior to the appearance of Proposition 8, she hadn't thought too much about the issue. "I rarely date, and don't think about marriage personally. But, when California denied marriage equality, it just floored me. I mean, San Francisco is like the gayest city in the world! The west coast had always seemed so forward thinking - how in the hell could they deny gay marriage? It seemed outrageous..."

How then to approach a situation where homophobia and ignorance have (temporarily) won out?

It's a hateful action to deny gay people their right to be married. Initially, I wanted to respond with outrage and anger. But then I thought that by responding with hate and anger wouldn't be the smartest thing, mostly because hate is an emotion that separates. I wanted the song to unite, not divide. So I thought about how wonderful the queer scene is - what joy it is borne out of. I couldn't understand how the world could deny the validity of that joy, and realized that our joy might be our strongest weapon. I thought, "I'd rather combat them with joy." And the most joyous thing that came to mind was of course the gay pride parades. The parades have become a bit corporate in New York, and are not seen as politicizing as they once were, but they are still a political act that is joyous.

I also thought about how hard it is to be visibly gay, and how each time you step out as a visible queer, whether you think it is or not, it is a protest. It takes courage. I wanted to equate the joyous protests of the gay pride parades with the bravery that it takes to be an out queer and show that together, we're strong. And also, together we'll get to the point of having equal rights. It will happen for sure.

A few hours after we spoke, Sabrina contacted me to say that a friend of hers had been gay-bashed in London

Same-sex marriage is now legal in 14 countries and in 12 States in the US, and in the UK equal marriage rights could soon become a reality with the Cameron-backed Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill. But, while celebrations might be just around the corner, it is crucial that the battle doesn't stop there. Homophobic, bi-phobic and trans-phobic violence are on the rise in Europe and poverty, homelessness, domestic violence and mental health issues are increasing among LBGT communities in the UK.

A few hours after we spoke, Sabrina contacted me to say that a friend of hers had been gay-bashed in London, on his birthday night out. "The reality of what can happen to queers when they're out and about simply enjoying their birthdays, the reality of the courage it still takes to be out, is why I did the song."

It is hard to find a response to homophobic malice, yet 'We Are The Parade' is huge and full of love, a reminder to be bigger than the haters. But is there a risk that equal marriage becomes a carpet under which all these other realities, like violence and economic exclusion, are brushed - exactly the issues that affect the poorer and younger members of LGBT communities?

Gay marriage itself is not my biggest concern - it's what it stands for. So many people, even queers, think that the fight for marriage equality is such a small fight, when the actuality is that it's important because it's just another step in the law recognizing gay equality - that gay people are as equal and deserve the same rights, as everyone else.

It is weird that as queers we're fighting to get into an institution, when we've had to spend our lives not getting institutionalised! I forget who pointed out that the biggest fights in the queer scene seem to be about getting entry both into the army and the institution of marriage, which when you think about it, can seem pretty bleak. The truth is, these fights are fights to integrate into a heterosexist society. And smart queers everywhere know that. But laws that equalize marriage rights are a step in the right direction of demanding equality.

We have to remind ourselves of the joy, that we - together - are the p - the F Word (UK ZINE)

It felt fitting to interview Sabrina Chap, author, speaker, and songwriter, about her sophomore release We Are the Parade—after all, our friendship got a jumpstart after I interviewed her for Sadie after her first release, Oompa! This newest album, out this past fall, came at the same time as the talented New Yorker’s reissue of Live Through This, an anthology she edited on women, creativity, and self-destruction.
Sabrina is well-versed in taking audiences and the world by charismatic storm, and her newest work proves it. Animated, joyful, and whimsical, We Are the Parade positions her as an even more formidable stage performer and force to be reckoned with. Read more about how she made the album below.

Katy: How did the writing of We Are the Parade differ from Oompa!?

Sabrina: It was so very different. Oompa! was my first studio CD, although I had been writing and performing songs already for at least ten years. I had written scores of songs before then. With Oompa!, it was the first time I felt like, “I have to record these songs before I write more. OK, I have to get these down,” so I felt very confident in the material. We Are the Parade was inspired by a photo shoot that was initially done for Oompa!, but once the shoot was over, I looked at the photos and realized that the photos seemed happier and more vibrant than the music on Oompa! was. I knew we had to reshoot, but I was interested in making an album that sounded as joyous as the photos looked. So, I based We Are the Parade on that photo session.

A lot of the writing was different because it was the first time I was composing for something bigger than me and a piano. I was hearing different instruments and wanted to really explore musically in the studio, so a lot of the songs on WATP lend themselves to that. Also, a few of them were written on assignment—two were initially written for Cinema 16, a New York event where musicians score silent movies, and one of them was written because I was sick of playing “Never Been a Bad Girl” at burlesque shows. I wrote “Til it All Stops” because I needed to have another slower song on the album, and “Oh My, Oh Me” was written as a poem first, which never happens. So for the most part, the writing of it was completely different, but probably the biggest difference was that I knew it would be a more orchestral album, so the lyrics (sometimes) have more space on them to fit the instruments.

Katy: Tell me about the orchestral arrangements on We Are the Parade. Did you write them all? How did you choose collaborators?

Sabrina: I either arranged or musically directed ten out of the thirteen tracks, and then helped on one more. I’ve learned that the trick is getting musicians that are smarter than you. I’ve had great luck with musicians. Since I knew this album would be horn heavy, I enlisted the help of three different sets of horn players—one that specialized in Dixie, one that specialized in Latin and jazz, and another jazz trio. The Dixie people are great because in songs like, “We Are the Parade,” I basically just tell the clarinet player, “I would like you to enter here and do something that sounds like this,” and then she does it and it’s brilliant. The clarinetist is Janelle Reichman who just stuns me with her awesomeness. On stuff like “When I Grow Up,” I studied Big Band scores and listened to [Gene] Krupa stuff and Benny Goodman stuff. I was a musical composition major in college, and though I had been so scared to be in the studio on Oompa!, when the Dixie trio from the great band the Red Hook Ramblers came in on the track, “Failed Waitress/Failed Astronaut,” I realized that there was no reason to be afraid. I could be as ridiculous as possible—so I sort of let myself flip out orchestrally on this album, sort of using it as a master’s in remembering and doing music composition again. It was hella fun. Tracks like “I Trans-Atlantically Love You” were very much included because I wanted to score them, and I’m really proud of how they turned out.

I choose collaborators by finding people that are good at their instruments and are nice to work with. I was very lucky in working with great musicians on Oompa! who I brought back for this album, and then finding new awesome people by mostly having recommendations thrown at me by people I trust. That being said, I am very lucky to have found Lee Free (MEN, Bitch and The Exciting Conclusion, Circus Amok) to work with for this album. My old drummer, Ethan Short, moved to New Orleans, and I auditioned about six different drummers before finding Lee, whose innovative drumming really allowed me to discover and mentally begin the arrangements for the tracks.


Katy: As I write this, you are in England. What role has Europe played in your development as a musician?

Sabrina: Europe has played a great role in my development as an artist, not necessarily a musician. I say this because I owe a lot of my creative freedom and desire to be an a - Sadie Magazine

It felt fitting to interview Sabrina Chap, author, speaker, and songwriter, about her sophomore release We Are the Parade—after all, our friendship got a jumpstart after I interviewed her for Sadie after her first release, Oompa! This newest album, out this past fall, came at the same time as the talented New Yorker’s reissue of Live Through This, an anthology she edited on women, creativity, and self-destruction.
Sabrina is well-versed in taking audiences and the world by charismatic storm, and her newest work proves it. Animated, joyful, and whimsical, We Are the Parade positions her as an even more formidable stage performer and force to be reckoned with. Read more about how she made the album below.

Katy: How did the writing of We Are the Parade differ from Oompa!?

Sabrina: It was so very different. Oompa! was my first studio CD, although I had been writing and performing songs already for at least ten years. I had written scores of songs before then. With Oompa!, it was the first time I felt like, “I have to record these songs before I write more. OK, I have to get these down,” so I felt very confident in the material. We Are the Parade was inspired by a photo shoot that was initially done for Oompa!, but once the shoot was over, I looked at the photos and realized that the photos seemed happier and more vibrant than the music on Oompa! was. I knew we had to reshoot, but I was interested in making an album that sounded as joyous as the photos looked. So, I based We Are the Parade on that photo session.

A lot of the writing was different because it was the first time I was composing for something bigger than me and a piano. I was hearing different instruments and wanted to really explore musically in the studio, so a lot of the songs on WATP lend themselves to that. Also, a few of them were written on assignment—two were initially written for Cinema 16, a New York event where musicians score silent movies, and one of them was written because I was sick of playing “Never Been a Bad Girl” at burlesque shows. I wrote “Til it All Stops” because I needed to have another slower song on the album, and “Oh My, Oh Me” was written as a poem first, which never happens. So for the most part, the writing of it was completely different, but probably the biggest difference was that I knew it would be a more orchestral album, so the lyrics (sometimes) have more space on them to fit the instruments.

Katy: Tell me about the orchestral arrangements on We Are the Parade. Did you write them all? How did you choose collaborators?

Sabrina: I either arranged or musically directed ten out of the thirteen tracks, and then helped on one more. I’ve learned that the trick is getting musicians that are smarter than you. I’ve had great luck with musicians. Since I knew this album would be horn heavy, I enlisted the help of three different sets of horn players—one that specialized in Dixie, one that specialized in Latin and jazz, and another jazz trio. The Dixie people are great because in songs like, “We Are the Parade,” I basically just tell the clarinet player, “I would like you to enter here and do something that sounds like this,” and then she does it and it’s brilliant. The clarinetist is Janelle Reichman who just stuns me with her awesomeness. On stuff like “When I Grow Up,” I studied Big Band scores and listened to [Gene] Krupa stuff and Benny Goodman stuff. I was a musical composition major in college, and though I had been so scared to be in the studio on Oompa!, when the Dixie trio from the great band the Red Hook Ramblers came in on the track, “Failed Waitress/Failed Astronaut,” I realized that there was no reason to be afraid. I could be as ridiculous as possible—so I sort of let myself flip out orchestrally on this album, sort of using it as a master’s in remembering and doing music composition again. It was hella fun. Tracks like “I Trans-Atlantically Love You” were very much included because I wanted to score them, and I’m really proud of how they turned out.

I choose collaborators by finding people that are good at their instruments and are nice to work with. I was very lucky in working with great musicians on Oompa! who I brought back for this album, and then finding new awesome people by mostly having recommendations thrown at me by people I trust. That being said, I am very lucky to have found Lee Free (MEN, Bitch and The Exciting Conclusion, Circus Amok) to work with for this album. My old drummer, Ethan Short, moved to New Orleans, and I auditioned about six different drummers before finding Lee, whose innovative drumming really allowed me to discover and mentally begin the arrangements for the tracks.


Katy: As I write this, you are in England. What role has Europe played in your development as a musician?

Sabrina: Europe has played a great role in my development as an artist, not necessarily a musician. I say this because I owe a lot of my creative freedom and desire to be an a - Sadie Magazine

From the woman who was once described as the love child of Julie Andrews and Divine – the wonderful, the talented and the irrepressible Sabrina Chap – comes a hymn to marriage equality, ‘We Are The Parade’. This is what she had to say about it: ‘We Are The Parade’ is a big gay anthem. “Well you think you wanna marry me, come on take my hand, it’s a long walk to equality so let’s strike the band up”. Filmed at New York Pride, 2012, the video is a glorious celebration of love, and an upbeat hymn to equality. To download the song and listen to the other tracks from the album, click here: We Are The Parade

Read More at http://www.polarimagazine.com/bulletin-board/parade-sabrina-chap/, Written by Designer, Copyright © Polari Magazine - Polari Magazine

From the woman who was once described as the love child of Julie Andrews and Divine – the wonderful, the talented and the irrepressible Sabrina Chap – comes a hymn to marriage equality, ‘We Are The Parade’. This is what she had to say about it: ‘We Are The Parade’ is a big gay anthem. “Well you think you wanna marry me, come on take my hand, it’s a long walk to equality so let’s strike the band up”. Filmed at New York Pride, 2012, the video is a glorious celebration of love, and an upbeat hymn to equality. To download the song and listen to the other tracks from the album, click here: We Are The Parade

Read More at http://www.polarimagazine.com/bulletin-board/parade-sabrina-chap/, Written by Designer, Copyright © Polari Magazine - Polari Magazine

We Are The Parade is Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter/vaudeville performer Sabrina Chap’s second album. Enhanced with bright strings, brass and the raucous Lee Free on drums, the full band buoys Chap’s intimate, witty songwriting.

“Fly Away” stands out, featuring summery guitar and horns. So does the sweet, strings-heavy waltz “’Til it All Stops,” in which Chap’s lyric “I’ll sit with you through the tik tok’s, in the rain drops,” shines.

The album is a confident, messy, happy mix, best showcased in the title track/gay marriage anthem “We Are The Parade.” From the grittiness of subject and lyric (“I love the fuck and the fight”) to the loose, joyful sing-along chorus, it has all the edge, personality and charm of Chap and her songwriting.

Listen to this: When you need a motivational soundtrack to get active; personally, publicly, or politically.

— Jo Schornikow - Tom Tom Magazine

There's no one way to describe Sabrina Chap -- and that's what we love about her.
She's a musician and songwriter — her latest album, "We Are the Parade" boasts a title track about marriage equality. She often performs with burlesque and variety shows. And she plays a mean kazoo. "Someone once called me a mix of Julie Andrews and Divine, which I love," said the 35-year-old, whose real last name is Chapadjiev. "I've also gotten 'Tom Waits with a hint of Phyllis Diller.
And though she lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., Chap has often performed in Baltimore for the past few years. On Thursday, Chap returns to town to pefrom at the Charm City LGBT Film Festival Kick-off Party at the Creative Alliance (8 p.m.; $10-$15). She talked to us about working with burlesque dancers, the joys of frozen Thin Mints and more.
Worst pet peeve? People cutting their fingernails in public places.
Film you're most excited to see at the festival? "I Am Divine!" "Glenn went from the often-mocked, schoolyard fat kid to underdog royalty, standing up for millions of gay people, drag queens, punk rockers, misfits, and freaks." And it features Baltimore? Heck yeah!
Your worst habit? Forgetting that I'm human and overbooking myself.
Thing you miss the most while on tour? Knowing where I will pee next.
Trend that has exceeded its natural lifespan? Homophobia ... ummm, and hipsters.
Entertainers you look up to professionally or creatively? Tom Waits, Amanda Palmer, Mr. Rogers.
Best thing about performing with burlesque dancers? I'm astounded at the people I work with. By day they're government workers, therapists, sex workers and doctors, and then by night, they're amazing performance artists who are asserting their notions of sexuality!
Favorite and most loathed fashion statement? It's not really a fashion statement, but onstage, I often have a kazoo in my cleavage for easy access. I don't think it looks that great, but it's necessary.
Last great meal you had? I love to cook for myself, so the other day I made some couscous, chicken, cinnamon, date and peanut thing while watching Top Chef and pretending I was an actual gourmet. Then I had some Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies that I had frozen for dessert. Pure bachelor decadence.
Favorite place to get a drink in Baltimore? The Windup Space, hands down.
Best advice you ever got? Drink a glass of water for every shot you take.
Favorite thing about Baltimore? Dr. Sketchy's. It's one of the best events in Baltimore, combining live art drawing, amazing performers.


Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bthesite/bs-b-0605-like-dislike-20130604,0,486307.story#ixzz2Wbtco4bZ - Baltimore Sun

There's no one way to describe Sabrina Chap -- and that's what we love about her.
She's a musician and songwriter — her latest album, "We Are the Parade" boasts a title track about marriage equality. She often performs with burlesque and variety shows. And she plays a mean kazoo. "Someone once called me a mix of Julie Andrews and Divine, which I love," said the 35-year-old, whose real last name is Chapadjiev. "I've also gotten 'Tom Waits with a hint of Phyllis Diller.
And though she lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., Chap has often performed in Baltimore for the past few years. On Thursday, Chap returns to town to pefrom at the Charm City LGBT Film Festival Kick-off Party at the Creative Alliance (8 p.m.; $10-$15). She talked to us about working with burlesque dancers, the joys of frozen Thin Mints and more.
Worst pet peeve? People cutting their fingernails in public places.
Film you're most excited to see at the festival? "I Am Divine!" "Glenn went from the often-mocked, schoolyard fat kid to underdog royalty, standing up for millions of gay people, drag queens, punk rockers, misfits, and freaks." And it features Baltimore? Heck yeah!
Your worst habit? Forgetting that I'm human and overbooking myself.
Thing you miss the most while on tour? Knowing where I will pee next.
Trend that has exceeded its natural lifespan? Homophobia ... ummm, and hipsters.
Entertainers you look up to professionally or creatively? Tom Waits, Amanda Palmer, Mr. Rogers.
Best thing about performing with burlesque dancers? I'm astounded at the people I work with. By day they're government workers, therapists, sex workers and doctors, and then by night, they're amazing performance artists who are asserting their notions of sexuality!
Favorite and most loathed fashion statement? It's not really a fashion statement, but onstage, I often have a kazoo in my cleavage for easy access. I don't think it looks that great, but it's necessary.
Last great meal you had? I love to cook for myself, so the other day I made some couscous, chicken, cinnamon, date and peanut thing while watching Top Chef and pretending I was an actual gourmet. Then I had some Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies that I had frozen for dessert. Pure bachelor decadence.
Favorite place to get a drink in Baltimore? The Windup Space, hands down.
Best advice you ever got? Drink a glass of water for every shot you take.
Favorite thing about Baltimore? Dr. Sketchy's. It's one of the best events in Baltimore, combining live art drawing, amazing performers.


Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bthesite/bs-b-0605-like-dislike-20130604,0,486307.story#ixzz2Wbtco4bZ - Baltimore Sun

http://kexp.org/playlist/2013/04/21/7AM/3000 - KEXP

http://kexp.org/playlist/2013/04/21/7AM/3000 - KEXP

No one will ever be able to sum up Sabrina Chap's musical style in a single phrase. She flits from genre to genre, flirting with blues, jazz, big band, country, ragtime, and god knows what else. Many bands reanimate one genre to define their "sound," but to experiment with almost every style of music invented between 1900 and 1960 is terribly ambitious.
This is what makes OOMPA! is so unique. Sabrina Chap is fluent in melodic diversity, and manages to make various genres of music seamlessly coalesce, packaging them into a charming patchwork cabaret performance.

In fact, the theatricality of the songs is so strong that one can almost imagine the album as a soundtrack for a musical. Many bands who incorporate an older style of music into their art make their sound feel forced, but Sabrina's startling lack of self-consciousness and lighthearted approach diffuse any feeling of artifice, and makes her a joy to listen to.

OOMPA! has some particularly striking songs, lyrically resonating with any listener. "Never Been A Bad Girl", which is a rebellious ditty about casting away the need to please while evolving into a more carefree, naughty individual. "Ze Paris Song" highlights her experiences while living in Paris, sung in a hilariously bad French accent, and finally, "The Boat Song", which greatly piano-driven reminding listeners of Carole King or a more playful Tori Amos.

Perfect music for a dinner party, OOMPA! has the power to spark creative conversation and positive atmosphere. Sabrina Chap is guaranteeably vaudevillian chic and undeniably impressive. Your company will feel a unity with Chap and request to hear her latest creation over, and over, and over again. - GO Magazine

No one will ever be able to sum up Sabrina Chap's musical style in a single phrase. She flits from genre to genre, flirting with blues, jazz, big band, country, ragtime, and god knows what else. Many bands reanimate one genre to define their "sound," but to experiment with almost every style of music invented between 1900 and 1960 is terribly ambitious.
This is what makes OOMPA! is so unique. Sabrina Chap is fluent in melodic diversity, and manages to make various genres of music seamlessly coalesce, packaging them into a charming patchwork cabaret performance.

In fact, the theatricality of the songs is so strong that one can almost imagine the album as a soundtrack for a musical. Many bands who incorporate an older style of music into their art make their sound feel forced, but Sabrina's startling lack of self-consciousness and lighthearted approach diffuse any feeling of artifice, and makes her a joy to listen to.

OOMPA! has some particularly striking songs, lyrically resonating with any listener. "Never Been A Bad Girl", which is a rebellious ditty about casting away the need to please while evolving into a more carefree, naughty individual. "Ze Paris Song" highlights her experiences while living in Paris, sung in a hilariously bad French accent, and finally, "The Boat Song", which greatly piano-driven reminding listeners of Carole King or a more playful Tori Amos.

Perfect music for a dinner party, OOMPA! has the power to spark creative conversation and positive atmosphere. Sabrina Chap is guaranteeably vaudevillian chic and undeniably impressive. Your company will feel a unity with Chap and request to hear her latest creation over, and over, and over again. - GO Magazine

In the works for MP4 is an interview with Sabrina Chap, musician, playwright, burlesque performer, writer, editor, all-around dynamo. She edited the anthology Live Through This: On Creativity and Self-Destruction (Seven Stories Press, 2008) — I’ve posted her responses to questions about the collection over on Montevidayo in three parts: one, two, and three.

Here’s a short excerpt of our interview about Oompa!, her debut CD (ERT Records, 2010):

I’ve been songwriting for years. Years. This is the first time I’ve been brave enough to say, “Fuck it. I think these songs are good enough. Let me put them down so I can get on with my life.” I’ve had people ask me for CDs ever since I started songwriting. First ten songs I had- people were like “Where’s your CD?” I was like, “They’re my first ten songs. They’re not very good.” (Though I’m not gonna lie: a few of them were pretty good). Still, I was getting people giving me their CDs for free left and right at every coffeehouse I went to, and I’d go home to listen to them and they’d suck. And then I’d throw them away and feel awful, because it was wasteful. In fact, that was why I wasn’t shy about making chapbooks and selling them when I was a spoken word artist. I though, “Fuck it — if someone doesn’t like it, they can just recycle it and I won’t have to be filling landfills.” You can’t recycle bad CDs. I’m really hard on myself, and I didn’t want to put out a bad one.

When I got into the studio with Oompa!, it really was because I was straight up proud of these songs. “Never Been a Bad Girl,” “Idiom,” and “ Little White House”: That’s good songwriting. I’ll argue it in court.

Saving the rest for the print issue — January 2011. And that one is firm. - Mildred Pierce

In the works for MP4 is an interview with Sabrina Chap, musician, playwright, burlesque performer, writer, editor, all-around dynamo. She edited the anthology Live Through This: On Creativity and Self-Destruction (Seven Stories Press, 2008) — I’ve posted her responses to questions about the collection over on Montevidayo in three parts: one, two, and three.

Here’s a short excerpt of our interview about Oompa!, her debut CD (ERT Records, 2010):

I’ve been songwriting for years. Years. This is the first time I’ve been brave enough to say, “Fuck it. I think these songs are good enough. Let me put them down so I can get on with my life.” I’ve had people ask me for CDs ever since I started songwriting. First ten songs I had- people were like “Where’s your CD?” I was like, “They’re my first ten songs. They’re not very good.” (Though I’m not gonna lie: a few of them were pretty good). Still, I was getting people giving me their CDs for free left and right at every coffeehouse I went to, and I’d go home to listen to them and they’d suck. And then I’d throw them away and feel awful, because it was wasteful. In fact, that was why I wasn’t shy about making chapbooks and selling them when I was a spoken word artist. I though, “Fuck it — if someone doesn’t like it, they can just recycle it and I won’t have to be filling landfills.” You can’t recycle bad CDs. I’m really hard on myself, and I didn’t want to put out a bad one.

When I got into the studio with Oompa!, it really was because I was straight up proud of these songs. “Never Been a Bad Girl,” “Idiom,” and “ Little White House”: That’s good songwriting. I’ll argue it in court.

Saving the rest for the print issue — January 2011. And that one is firm. - Mildred Pierce

The love/hate relationship between family members is one of the staples of modern entertainment. From Ralph Cramden’s, “One of these days…” to Homer Simpson’s, “Why you little…” writers have spent decades breaking apart familial bonds to put together daring, irreverent comedy. When it comes to striking, dangerously funny family dysfunction, however, even Matt Groening could not have conceived of (and Fox censors never would have allowed) the sexually charged, cutting, depraved hilarity that is Schlapentickle Family Burlesque and Revue.


Marla Meringue
The show’s characters are a Fruedian wet dream from the sweet, naïve, devoted young daughter Marla (played by Marla Meringue) to the cheesy, eager to please scheister of a son Paco (played by Paco Fish.) The family matriarch, the boozy, bluesy floozy Mama Schlapentickle (Sabrina Chap) is a demanding, unforgiving disaster of a mother who splits her time between sleeping around, loving her children (not like that… well, maybe like that) and feuding with the family nanny, the daredevilish Miss Pussykatt. Dropping in for a visit for the Lower East Side performance at the Parkside Lounge was the family’s dear, quirky, freewheeling cousin, New York’s own Lefty Lucy.


Sabrina Chapman, Paco Fish and Marla Meringue



Marla’s numbers were couched in raunchy innocence with each performance seeming like a not-quite corruption of an otherwise sweet young girl. Whether during her bubble-bath themed show opener (bonus points for use of loofah) or her “homework assignment” studying Dionysus (how many places can YOU hide grapes?) she kept up a bright smile and winning, perky persona. Though she may need a bit of work on her tassel twirl she’s well served by her innate enthusiasm and bounciness and of course her beauty and girl-next-door charm.

Though he might have just returned from business school worlds away, Paco seemed more demented clown than executive – literally. His exaggerated, off-balance movements and constant mugging for the crowd recalled Charlie Chaplin (if Chaplin had a third arm hidden in his pants.) His business-suit strip tease drew catcalls and laughs in equal amounts, yet it was his juggling act-turned possessed air guitar solo that got the most applause. His wacky brand of humor kept the show nimble and fresh.


Marla Meringue


Miss Pussykat Grinder as The Nanny


Sabrina Chapman as Mama Schlapentickle
Not to be outdone Lefty Lucy injected herself into the act at points, stealing the spotlight like visiting cousins always do. Perhaps better than any performer in New York, Lefty perfectly blends sensuality and comedy into characters. Her Chiquita Banana Lady – complete with fruit cornucopia headdress – had more than a touch of Lucille Ball as an “equipment malfunction” forced her to worriedly speed up and slow down the tempo of her dance – including some of the city’s finest hips. From her facial expressions to her hand movements to her costume falling to the stage she didn’t miss a beat. Her later rendition of Carmen Sandiego may have forever ruined a childhood icon, but out of its ashes rose a stunning and memorable icon of adult-themed adulthood.

With an absentee mother it’s a wonder children such as these didn’t run completely wild (or, wilder as it were.) A look at the long-time family nanny erases all such questions of discipline. Well muscled and sporting sleeves of ink, Miss Pussykatt immediately commanded attention and seeing her roll, bare skin over broken glass, is enough to keep any audience in line. This stunt that would be terrifying to most mortals, however, was just a warm up for her. Pussykatt followed that up by bringing out the angle-grinding act that dropped jaws and entranced David Hasselhoff on America’s Got Talent. Scraping power tool on metal breast-plate (and crotch-plate) she made sparks fly in the most dangerous, seductive and electrifying way possible.




Paco Fish Miss Pussycat Grinder

Throughout the evening Mama Schlapentickle popped up, almost always with a fresh beer. Though her descent into drunkenness showed the least amount of skin in the performance she managed to pour out the greatest amount of talent. While her speech may have slurred her fingers never erred as she played up and down the baby grand piano. She ranged from ragtime numbers deconstructing traditional gender roles to ballads graphically detailing a long, sordid (and comedic) sexual history. As a sultry lounge songstress she recalled her failings as a parent – a live action Jessica Rabbit after a few (hundred) trips around the block. Regret oozed from the stage as she sadly and breathlessly lamented past lost love.
Each member of the family brought such a unique element to the show that the final product was a robust, full experience of lust, humor and razor sharp wit.

Schlapentickle Family Burlesque is much more than tease and sex. It’s both high and low comedy. It’s calm innocence and dark, deep, unrepentant gu - New York Cool

The love/hate relationship between family members is one of the staples of modern entertainment. From Ralph Cramden’s, “One of these days…” to Homer Simpson’s, “Why you little…” writers have spent decades breaking apart familial bonds to put together daring, irreverent comedy. When it comes to striking, dangerously funny family dysfunction, however, even Matt Groening could not have conceived of (and Fox censors never would have allowed) the sexually charged, cutting, depraved hilarity that is Schlapentickle Family Burlesque and Revue.


Marla Meringue
The show’s characters are a Fruedian wet dream from the sweet, naïve, devoted young daughter Marla (played by Marla Meringue) to the cheesy, eager to please scheister of a son Paco (played by Paco Fish.) The family matriarch, the boozy, bluesy floozy Mama Schlapentickle (Sabrina Chap) is a demanding, unforgiving disaster of a mother who splits her time between sleeping around, loving her children (not like that… well, maybe like that) and feuding with the family nanny, the daredevilish Miss Pussykatt. Dropping in for a visit for the Lower East Side performance at the Parkside Lounge was the family’s dear, quirky, freewheeling cousin, New York’s own Lefty Lucy.


Sabrina Chapman, Paco Fish and Marla Meringue



Marla’s numbers were couched in raunchy innocence with each performance seeming like a not-quite corruption of an otherwise sweet young girl. Whether during her bubble-bath themed show opener (bonus points for use of loofah) or her “homework assignment” studying Dionysus (how many places can YOU hide grapes?) she kept up a bright smile and winning, perky persona. Though she may need a bit of work on her tassel twirl she’s well served by her innate enthusiasm and bounciness and of course her beauty and girl-next-door charm.

Though he might have just returned from business school worlds away, Paco seemed more demented clown than executive – literally. His exaggerated, off-balance movements and constant mugging for the crowd recalled Charlie Chaplin (if Chaplin had a third arm hidden in his pants.) His business-suit strip tease drew catcalls and laughs in equal amounts, yet it was his juggling act-turned possessed air guitar solo that got the most applause. His wacky brand of humor kept the show nimble and fresh.


Marla Meringue


Miss Pussykat Grinder as The Nanny


Sabrina Chapman as Mama Schlapentickle
Not to be outdone Lefty Lucy injected herself into the act at points, stealing the spotlight like visiting cousins always do. Perhaps better than any performer in New York, Lefty perfectly blends sensuality and comedy into characters. Her Chiquita Banana Lady – complete with fruit cornucopia headdress – had more than a touch of Lucille Ball as an “equipment malfunction” forced her to worriedly speed up and slow down the tempo of her dance – including some of the city’s finest hips. From her facial expressions to her hand movements to her costume falling to the stage she didn’t miss a beat. Her later rendition of Carmen Sandiego may have forever ruined a childhood icon, but out of its ashes rose a stunning and memorable icon of adult-themed adulthood.

With an absentee mother it’s a wonder children such as these didn’t run completely wild (or, wilder as it were.) A look at the long-time family nanny erases all such questions of discipline. Well muscled and sporting sleeves of ink, Miss Pussykatt immediately commanded attention and seeing her roll, bare skin over broken glass, is enough to keep any audience in line. This stunt that would be terrifying to most mortals, however, was just a warm up for her. Pussykatt followed that up by bringing out the angle-grinding act that dropped jaws and entranced David Hasselhoff on America’s Got Talent. Scraping power tool on metal breast-plate (and crotch-plate) she made sparks fly in the most dangerous, seductive and electrifying way possible.




Paco Fish Miss Pussycat Grinder

Throughout the evening Mama Schlapentickle popped up, almost always with a fresh beer. Though her descent into drunkenness showed the least amount of skin in the performance she managed to pour out the greatest amount of talent. While her speech may have slurred her fingers never erred as she played up and down the baby grand piano. She ranged from ragtime numbers deconstructing traditional gender roles to ballads graphically detailing a long, sordid (and comedic) sexual history. As a sultry lounge songstress she recalled her failings as a parent – a live action Jessica Rabbit after a few (hundred) trips around the block. Regret oozed from the stage as she sadly and breathlessly lamented past lost love.
Each member of the family brought such a unique element to the show that the final product was a robust, full experience of lust, humor and razor sharp wit.

Schlapentickle Family Burlesque is much more than tease and sex. It’s both high and low comedy. It’s calm innocence and dark, deep, unrepentant gu - New York Cool

Sabrina Chap has talent to spare and she's the forefront on her new release, "Oompa!", this collection is all about her vocals, piano and production.

Sabrina's obviously having a good time exploring and interpreting vintage americana (blues, ragtime, jazz, hints of bluegrass, a bit of swing), there's an upbeat sense of fun on this CD that's hard to beat.
Collectively "Oompa!" is cabaret music, a sort of proto-lounge jazz that's best enjoyed in an intimate club, drink in hand and friends at your side.

The production (handled by Chap herself, a gutsy move by anyone on their second release) is clear, clean and pop-worthy. Sabrina's always the center with her strong, rich, textured vocals making the songs go down easy. Songs like "Never Been a Bad Girl" and "Boat Song" bring a smile to my normally sour puss.

There's a downside to this production strategy though: there's a lot of great playing by Sabrina's band but they generally come across as being there just to support Sabrina (with a few notable exceptions: the fiddle on "Carolina", the trombone on "Never Again"). That's too bad, Chap is smart enough to surround herself with talented musicians and featuring them more would just increase the dynamism and variety of the album, give it a more full texture.

Overall "Oompa!" is a very strong album, one I enjoy.

But on progressive listens I found myself hearing a blueprint for future releases. The songs are good but it seems to me that Sabrina is still searching, trying to find the parts of early jazz and americana that are distinctly "her's", the ones that will reveal her the best.

Right now these wonderful songs sound as if they could have come from the pen of a number of talented songwriters. I find myself hunting for the bit that is uniquely Sabrina Chap, there's no mistaking her vocal style but I think she's still in the process of finding her singular voice.
- Sepiachord

Sabrina Chap has talent to spare and she's the forefront on her new release, "Oompa!", this collection is all about her vocals, piano and production.

Sabrina's obviously having a good time exploring and interpreting vintage americana (blues, ragtime, jazz, hints of bluegrass, a bit of swing), there's an upbeat sense of fun on this CD that's hard to beat.
Collectively "Oompa!" is cabaret music, a sort of proto-lounge jazz that's best enjoyed in an intimate club, drink in hand and friends at your side.

The production (handled by Chap herself, a gutsy move by anyone on their second release) is clear, clean and pop-worthy. Sabrina's always the center with her strong, rich, textured vocals making the songs go down easy. Songs like "Never Been a Bad Girl" and "Boat Song" bring a smile to my normally sour puss.

There's a downside to this production strategy though: there's a lot of great playing by Sabrina's band but they generally come across as being there just to support Sabrina (with a few notable exceptions: the fiddle on "Carolina", the trombone on "Never Again"). That's too bad, Chap is smart enough to surround herself with talented musicians and featuring them more would just increase the dynamism and variety of the album, give it a more full texture.

Overall "Oompa!" is a very strong album, one I enjoy.

But on progressive listens I found myself hearing a blueprint for future releases. The songs are good but it seems to me that Sabrina is still searching, trying to find the parts of early jazz and americana that are distinctly "her's", the ones that will reveal her the best.

Right now these wonderful songs sound as if they could have come from the pen of a number of talented songwriters. I find myself hunting for the bit that is uniquely Sabrina Chap, there's no mistaking her vocal style but I think she's still in the process of finding her singular voice.
- Sepiachord

At some point during the latter part of the 20th century, the term burlesque became somewhat synonymous with the type of striptease act featuring seductive dancers wearing pasties that Don Draper would take one of his out-of-town clients to see in an episode of "Mad Men."

While this connotation isn't completely wrong — sexy striptease does indeed play a role in the show — Sabrina Chap of modern burlesque act The Schlapentickle Family is hoping to educate audiences one show at a time about the true spirit of the genre that exactly 100 years ago was a mainstay of vaudeville. The troupe makes its Cleveland debut tonight at the Beachland Ballroom.

"I think burlesque means to make fun of something," said Chap, a singer-songwriter, calling from her Brooklyn, N.Y., home. "In the very early days, they were having burlesque shows and it would not be striptease. There was a story line where you slowly revealed yourself in a sexy and funny way. And the body was more than a body, it was a character that was showing itself and stripping."

The Schlapentickle Family is part of a modern burlesque scene that includes the Suicide Girls, BurlesQuepade and Marilyn Manson's ex-wife Dita Von Teese. The movement began in the '90s on the coasts and has since slowly crept to the Midwest. Chap's involvement began when she tired of touring as a solo artist. After enjoying the wildness of the burlesque circuit, she decided to form her own troupe featuring sideshow acts, performance art and live music. The current Schlapentickle Family lineup includes Chap, Miss Pussykatt, Marla Meringue, Paco Fish and Scarlett Let-Her.

"America's Got Talent" viewers will recognize Miss Pussykatt and her spark-inducing electrical grinder act. However, as you'll find out, her talents — as with other Schlapentickle Family performers — go beyond just grinding away at her metal chastity belt.

"Miss Pussykatt does basic stuff like nailing things up her nose or swallowing balloons and walking on glass," Chap said. "We also have Paco, who does boy-lesque. His style is really hilarious, a little bit twisted. There's always something hidden with him. You're never sure when he starts stripping what is the core of his character. Like there's this very, very, very dirty businessman character he does, and at the very end of the act he has this big hand that sticks out of his crotch and he asks people in the audience to shake his hand."

She continued, "There are different types of burlesque performers. Marla Merengue does really sort of twisted burlesque. She's 21, really sexy but also her stripteases are a bit demented. Like she does one where she forces people to be dominated by oranges. She takes volunteers from the audience and sees how far she can push them in terms of doing what she wants using oranges. It's weird. So there's a little bit of theater in there as well. She does straight burlesque where she strips but there's little vaudevillian moments of just sort of creating an atmosphere of sexiness and bizarreness and definite entertainment."

In some ways the burlesque show is similar to that of an R-rated movie minus the full-frontal nudity. In fact, Chap admits The Schlapentickle Family plays up the misconception that their show is nothing more than a striptease act.

"Yeah, some people think that, but I don't mind them," Chap said. "I don't care. I'm not saying we're the most intellectual thing. Basically, this entire show is about very base entertainment. It's fine if people think it's a (expletive) show. It's not completely — there are breasts in it and the furthest we go down to is pasties. We do the infamous Carmina Boob-rana sketch, which is probably my favorite part of the show, where we all just grab our breasts in our hands to the tune of ‘Carmina Burana' with flashlights attached to our head and move our breasts up and down. It's hilarious. It's sexy but also just ridiculous. And everyone laughs their (expletives) off."

One person sold on the movement is Beachland Ballroom Public Relations Director Katherine Isenhart, who over the past few years has increasingly booked more burlesque acts into the venue on Cleveland's East Side. - News-Herald

At some point during the latter part of the 20th century, the term burlesque became somewhat synonymous with the type of striptease act featuring seductive dancers wearing pasties that Don Draper would take one of his out-of-town clients to see in an episode of "Mad Men."

While this connotation isn't completely wrong — sexy striptease does indeed play a role in the show — Sabrina Chap of modern burlesque act The Schlapentickle Family is hoping to educate audiences one show at a time about the true spirit of the genre that exactly 100 years ago was a mainstay of vaudeville. The troupe makes its Cleveland debut tonight at the Beachland Ballroom.

"I think burlesque means to make fun of something," said Chap, a singer-songwriter, calling from her Brooklyn, N.Y., home. "In the very early days, they were having burlesque shows and it would not be striptease. There was a story line where you slowly revealed yourself in a sexy and funny way. And the body was more than a body, it was a character that was showing itself and stripping."

The Schlapentickle Family is part of a modern burlesque scene that includes the Suicide Girls, BurlesQuepade and Marilyn Manson's ex-wife Dita Von Teese. The movement began in the '90s on the coasts and has since slowly crept to the Midwest. Chap's involvement began when she tired of touring as a solo artist. After enjoying the wildness of the burlesque circuit, she decided to form her own troupe featuring sideshow acts, performance art and live music. The current Schlapentickle Family lineup includes Chap, Miss Pussykatt, Marla Meringue, Paco Fish and Scarlett Let-Her.

"America's Got Talent" viewers will recognize Miss Pussykatt and her spark-inducing electrical grinder act. However, as you'll find out, her talents — as with other Schlapentickle Family performers — go beyond just grinding away at her metal chastity belt.

"Miss Pussykatt does basic stuff like nailing things up her nose or swallowing balloons and walking on glass," Chap said. "We also have Paco, who does boy-lesque. His style is really hilarious, a little bit twisted. There's always something hidden with him. You're never sure when he starts stripping what is the core of his character. Like there's this very, very, very dirty businessman character he does, and at the very end of the act he has this big hand that sticks out of his crotch and he asks people in the audience to shake his hand."

She continued, "There are different types of burlesque performers. Marla Merengue does really sort of twisted burlesque. She's 21, really sexy but also her stripteases are a bit demented. Like she does one where she forces people to be dominated by oranges. She takes volunteers from the audience and sees how far she can push them in terms of doing what she wants using oranges. It's weird. So there's a little bit of theater in there as well. She does straight burlesque where she strips but there's little vaudevillian moments of just sort of creating an atmosphere of sexiness and bizarreness and definite entertainment."

In some ways the burlesque show is similar to that of an R-rated movie minus the full-frontal nudity. In fact, Chap admits The Schlapentickle Family plays up the misconception that their show is nothing more than a striptease act.

"Yeah, some people think that, but I don't mind them," Chap said. "I don't care. I'm not saying we're the most intellectual thing. Basically, this entire show is about very base entertainment. It's fine if people think it's a (expletive) show. It's not completely — there are breasts in it and the furthest we go down to is pasties. We do the infamous Carmina Boob-rana sketch, which is probably my favorite part of the show, where we all just grab our breasts in our hands to the tune of ‘Carmina Burana' with flashlights attached to our head and move our breasts up and down. It's hilarious. It's sexy but also just ridiculous. And everyone laughs their (expletives) off."

One person sold on the movement is Beachland Ballroom Public Relations Director Katherine Isenhart, who over the past few years has increasingly booked more burlesque acts into the venue on Cleveland's East Side. - News-Herald

After much hard work (and lots of concert-going fun), we’re proud to present the debut episode of our new online video series, the Flavorpill Fix. Created in memory of NYC TV’s dearly departed New York Noise, the Fix is a collection of new music videos, live concert footage, and exclusive interviews meant to be consumed in order, in its entirety, like a TV show or a mixtape.

We’re excited to kick off the series with talent including Screaming Females, Double Dagger, Future Islands, MiniBoone, Hammock, and Sabrina Chap. After the jump, watch the Fix, learn more about the artists involved, find out how to submit your band’s videos for the next episode, and let us know what you think. - Flavorpill

After much hard work (and lots of concert-going fun), we’re proud to present the debut episode of our new online video series, the Flavorpill Fix. Created in memory of NYC TV’s dearly departed New York Noise, the Fix is a collection of new music videos, live concert footage, and exclusive interviews meant to be consumed in order, in its entirety, like a TV show or a mixtape.

We’re excited to kick off the series with talent including Screaming Females, Double Dagger, Future Islands, MiniBoone, Hammock, and Sabrina Chap. After the jump, watch the Fix, learn more about the artists involved, find out how to submit your band’s videos for the next episode, and let us know what you think. - Flavorpill

A lot of creative fodder comes from the destruction of something. Sabrina Chap's new album Oompa! seems to be the cathartic love/hate child of such an event. I'm guessing it was a break-up, but Oompa! replaces the angry retributory tone of most beak-up albums with a more facetious wink-and-smile approach.

Chap is a classically trained pianist and her experience shines in her effortless execution of many musical genres—country, jazz, blues and big band, among others. Each song belongs to a different genre, which gives the album a theatrical flair and makes it feel more like the soundtrack to a vaudeville show than a cohesive piece of art.

Adding to the schizophrenia Chap takes the most formulaic aspects of each genre and infuses them with cheeky, quirky lyrics that alternate between banal and novel. If it weren't for Chap's sincerity and sense of the absurd a hardened cynic could mistake it for a karaoke album from a Carole King devotee. In ways it feels more like musical masturbation than something multi-layered and compelling. That said, it is fun to listen to and I would recommend it as party music, especially for those with a penchant for burlesque.

Oompa! does have mildly resonating points, as in the lyric, "You made me cry and dye my hair again" from the song "Blueprint for Destruction." In the sardonically titled "Ze Paris Song" she sings in an intentionally terrible French accent about baguettes, the Eiffel Tower and horny foreign men. And my favorite track, "The Boat Song," has a heavy King influence, which immediately reminded me of the rainy days of childhood I spent inside watching Really Rosie.

Chap describes herself as having, "the onstage antics of Phyllis Diller and the voice of a whiskey angel." I don't know about the whiskey angel part, but I'm sure she provides a knee-slapping, bawdy good time. - The Killing Floor

A lot of creative fodder comes from the destruction of something. Sabrina Chap's new album Oompa! seems to be the cathartic love/hate child of such an event. I'm guessing it was a break-up, but Oompa! replaces the angry retributory tone of most beak-up albums with a more facetious wink-and-smile approach.

Chap is a classically trained pianist and her experience shines in her effortless execution of many musical genres—country, jazz, blues and big band, among others. Each song belongs to a different genre, which gives the album a theatrical flair and makes it feel more like the soundtrack to a vaudeville show than a cohesive piece of art.

Adding to the schizophrenia Chap takes the most formulaic aspects of each genre and infuses them with cheeky, quirky lyrics that alternate between banal and novel. If it weren't for Chap's sincerity and sense of the absurd a hardened cynic could mistake it for a karaoke album from a Carole King devotee. In ways it feels more like musical masturbation than something multi-layered and compelling. That said, it is fun to listen to and I would recommend it as party music, especially for those with a penchant for burlesque.

Oompa! does have mildly resonating points, as in the lyric, "You made me cry and dye my hair again" from the song "Blueprint for Destruction." In the sardonically titled "Ze Paris Song" she sings in an intentionally terrible French accent about baguettes, the Eiffel Tower and horny foreign men. And my favorite track, "The Boat Song," has a heavy King influence, which immediately reminded me of the rainy days of childhood I spent inside watching Really Rosie.

Chap describes herself as having, "the onstage antics of Phyllis Diller and the voice of a whiskey angel." I don't know about the whiskey angel part, but I'm sure she provides a knee-slapping, bawdy good time. - The Killing Floor

Sabrina Chap debuts her first self-produced studio album Oompa! (ERT Records). Comprising her collection of songs made up of the same “oom-pa, oompa” left hand stride beat songs. Chap’s initial challenge in production was taking songs with the similar rhythm and making them sound different. While “Idiom," has a classic ragtime feel, “Carolina," featuring fiddler Melody Berger has more of a Bluegrass energy and “Failed Waitress/Failed Astronaut"—features members of Brooklyn's premier Dixieland band the Red Hook Ramblers lending their by-gone era swank to Oompa! In the end, Chap achieves her goal as the songs complement one another while exploring a variety of musical genres.

Musically, the finger snapping songs on Oompa! can be compared to Scott "King of Ragtime" Joplin who's style was a great inspiration to Chap, while lyrically Chap’s lyrical prose can be compared to Ani DiFranco’s storytelling style.

"The captain never made it, we’re going to have to sail this ship by ourselves," begins the playful tune “The Boat Song," Chap’s attempt to mimic the writing style of Tori Amos by taking something she didn’t understand—a situation she’d never experienced and working off of that. The result, Chap admits, is not necessarily reminiscent of Amos, but she is pleased with the outcome and it’s overall appeal.

The impressive video for “Never Been A Bad Girl," the albums first single was also self-directed. She gathered local celebrities Murray Hill and Linda Simpson amongst others to join her in the production, which was created in one week and inspired by a video art piece she viewed at The Brooklyn Museum Feminist Center For Art.

Chap had been experiencing a personal crisis. Her philosophy was that she could either “sit and cry for a week” or “make a video." She chose the latter, which is one of the most intriguing things about Chap as an artist in general. Chap edited the book Live Through This: On Creativity and Self-Destruction (Seven Stories Press) credited as Sabrina Chapadjiev—a collection of original stories, essays, artwork, and photography from a diverse array of contributors including cutting-edge Nan Goldin, Eileen Myles, and bell hooks (Gloria Watkins).

A dynamic performer, Chap spent this past summer promoting Oompa! on a nine-city tour, not in the traditional sense, but instead with the theatrical cabaret-burlesque group, Schlapentickle Family Burlesque and Revue where Chap played Mama Schlapentickle, the leader of the dysfunctional family while she played songs from Oompa! along side the amazing burlesque and slideshow artists, Paco Fish, Marla Meringue and Miss Pussykatt. Chap has plans to rejoin the group for another tour after recording her next album.

Perhaps Chap sums up the impetus for her creation Oompa! best, “I think a lot of my inspiration was just to even have a happy release after focusing on Live Through This for so long. I’d been focused on self-destruction and suicide and all these depressing, serious things, and it was so nice to just put together and album of my favorite songs, add some horns and hope people could bounce around to it. It’s saucy and fun and ridiculous, but it’s very much me.”
- Venus Zine

Sabrina Chap debuts her first self-produced studio album Oompa! (ERT Records). Comprising her collection of songs made up of the same “oom-pa, oompa” left hand stride beat songs. Chap’s initial challenge in production was taking songs with the similar rhythm and making them sound different. While “Idiom," has a classic ragtime feel, “Carolina," featuring fiddler Melody Berger has more of a Bluegrass energy and “Failed Waitress/Failed Astronaut"—features members of Brooklyn's premier Dixieland band the Red Hook Ramblers lending their by-gone era swank to Oompa! In the end, Chap achieves her goal as the songs complement one another while exploring a variety of musical genres.

Musically, the finger snapping songs on Oompa! can be compared to Scott "King of Ragtime" Joplin who's style was a great inspiration to Chap, while lyrically Chap’s lyrical prose can be compared to Ani DiFranco’s storytelling style.

"The captain never made it, we’re going to have to sail this ship by ourselves," begins the playful tune “The Boat Song," Chap’s attempt to mimic the writing style of Tori Amos by taking something she didn’t understand—a situation she’d never experienced and working off of that. The result, Chap admits, is not necessarily reminiscent of Amos, but she is pleased with the outcome and it’s overall appeal.

The impressive video for “Never Been A Bad Girl," the albums first single was also self-directed. She gathered local celebrities Murray Hill and Linda Simpson amongst others to join her in the production, which was created in one week and inspired by a video art piece she viewed at The Brooklyn Museum Feminist Center For Art.

Chap had been experiencing a personal crisis. Her philosophy was that she could either “sit and cry for a week” or “make a video." She chose the latter, which is one of the most intriguing things about Chap as an artist in general. Chap edited the book Live Through This: On Creativity and Self-Destruction (Seven Stories Press) credited as Sabrina Chapadjiev—a collection of original stories, essays, artwork, and photography from a diverse array of contributors including cutting-edge Nan Goldin, Eileen Myles, and bell hooks (Gloria Watkins).

A dynamic performer, Chap spent this past summer promoting Oompa! on a nine-city tour, not in the traditional sense, but instead with the theatrical cabaret-burlesque group, Schlapentickle Family Burlesque and Revue where Chap played Mama Schlapentickle, the leader of the dysfunctional family while she played songs from Oompa! along side the amazing burlesque and slideshow artists, Paco Fish, Marla Meringue and Miss Pussykatt. Chap has plans to rejoin the group for another tour after recording her next album.

Perhaps Chap sums up the impetus for her creation Oompa! best, “I think a lot of my inspiration was just to even have a happy release after focusing on Live Through This for so long. I’d been focused on self-destruction and suicide and all these depressing, serious things, and it was so nice to just put together and album of my favorite songs, add some horns and hope people could bounce around to it. It’s saucy and fun and ridiculous, but it’s very much me.”
- Venus Zine

The admirable thing about vaudeville is that it really can’t be done half-heartedly. It’s a style that requires a lotta shoulder-shimmy and real fire in the belly. If you can’t channel that awesome power of entertainment, the spotlight will drift away quicker than the tip of a hat. A good thing, then, that Sabrina Chap has this ability by the barrel. The ragtime swinger has been a classical pianist since the age of five, and though Oompa! has a distinctively Dixieland style, her debut album Bedroom Sessions was a lo-fi, guitar-based affair inspired by that great matriarch of acoustic jams, Ani DiFranco. Mastering Scott Joplin’s ‘Maple Leaf Rag’, however, lured her back onto the ivories and set the rich, jazzy tone of this glorious follow-up.

Clearly not afraid of hard graft, Chap has toured heavily throughout Europe (she’s a respected veteran of Ladyfests all over the continent) and can boast an intimate familiarity with most of the small bars and clubs in both New York and Chicago. Not only that, she’s edited and published the Lambda-nominated book Live Through This – On Creativity & Destruction, a collection of essays from notorious figures such as Nan Goldin, bell hooks and Christy C Road. It’s a theme that continues rather neatly from tome to tune with the wild upright bass twang and dizzy trumpets of Oompa!’s blinding opener, ‘Blueprint For Destruction’.

With her feminist polemic firmly heart-on-sleeve in nature, it’s no surprise that there’s a bold, queer-ish, empowered narrative running through Oompa!’s ragtime antics. ‘Never Been A Bad Girl’ teams impeccably comedic timing with a hip-swish of good-girl-gone-bad theatrics, while the piping bluegrass violin of ‘Carolina’ (which comes courtesy of Chap’s fellow feminist editor, Melanie We Don’t Need Another Wave Berger) works things up to dizzy heights of thigh-slapping fun. Whether it’s tequila and one night stands with garter-donning women or coffee and the welcome-home tingle of a familiar city, Chap sings songs of life lived in full colour.

The inventive time signatures on each of the album’s eleven acts are magnificent, with touches of burlesque fizzing up proceedings sweetly. From the lazy, big band pace of ‘Failed Waitress / Failed Astronaught’ to the uptempo, toe-tappin’ ‘Illinois’, Oompa! goes down like a perfectly mixed tipple with laughter and tears poured out in equal measures. ‘Nobody Home To Sing The Blues’ sets drawn-out angst against the melancholy trumpet and nouveau jazz brush taps of ‘Never Again’, while the funny, colloquial tourist-bashing dished out on ‘Ze Paris Song’ is balanced by the pathos and slippery, off-kilter bar piano of ‘Idiom’.

The fishnets and cigarettes that streak through Chap’s tales and travels are enjoyably bawdy, though ‘Little White Lie’ shows the performer can do heartfelt sentiment with equal, if suitably restrained gusto. Despite its bittersweet shades, Oompa! never really falters along its boldly convivial path, revelling in music born from performance. Though any UK dates have yet to be announced, Chap has plans for a tour that will see her scores acted out with the help of a travelling circus sideshow including “a fire-eater, burlesque performer, magician and herself as a one-woman band”. Better get your gladrags ready. - Wears the Trousers Magazine

The admirable thing about vaudeville is that it really can’t be done half-heartedly. It’s a style that requires a lotta shoulder-shimmy and real fire in the belly. If you can’t channel that awesome power of entertainment, the spotlight will drift away quicker than the tip of a hat. A good thing, then, that Sabrina Chap has this ability by the barrel. The ragtime swinger has been a classical pianist since the age of five, and though Oompa! has a distinctively Dixieland style, her debut album Bedroom Sessions was a lo-fi, guitar-based affair inspired by that great matriarch of acoustic jams, Ani DiFranco. Mastering Scott Joplin’s ‘Maple Leaf Rag’, however, lured her back onto the ivories and set the rich, jazzy tone of this glorious follow-up.

Clearly not afraid of hard graft, Chap has toured heavily throughout Europe (she’s a respected veteran of Ladyfests all over the continent) and can boast an intimate familiarity with most of the small bars and clubs in both New York and Chicago. Not only that, she’s edited and published the Lambda-nominated book Live Through This – On Creativity & Destruction, a collection of essays from notorious figures such as Nan Goldin, bell hooks and Christy C Road. It’s a theme that continues rather neatly from tome to tune with the wild upright bass twang and dizzy trumpets of Oompa!’s blinding opener, ‘Blueprint For Destruction’.

With her feminist polemic firmly heart-on-sleeve in nature, it’s no surprise that there’s a bold, queer-ish, empowered narrative running through Oompa!’s ragtime antics. ‘Never Been A Bad Girl’ teams impeccably comedic timing with a hip-swish of good-girl-gone-bad theatrics, while the piping bluegrass violin of ‘Carolina’ (which comes courtesy of Chap’s fellow feminist editor, Melanie We Don’t Need Another Wave Berger) works things up to dizzy heights of thigh-slapping fun. Whether it’s tequila and one night stands with garter-donning women or coffee and the welcome-home tingle of a familiar city, Chap sings songs of life lived in full colour.

The inventive time signatures on each of the album’s eleven acts are magnificent, with touches of burlesque fizzing up proceedings sweetly. From the lazy, big band pace of ‘Failed Waitress / Failed Astronaught’ to the uptempo, toe-tappin’ ‘Illinois’, Oompa! goes down like a perfectly mixed tipple with laughter and tears poured out in equal measures. ‘Nobody Home To Sing The Blues’ sets drawn-out angst against the melancholy trumpet and nouveau jazz brush taps of ‘Never Again’, while the funny, colloquial tourist-bashing dished out on ‘Ze Paris Song’ is balanced by the pathos and slippery, off-kilter bar piano of ‘Idiom’.

The fishnets and cigarettes that streak through Chap’s tales and travels are enjoyably bawdy, though ‘Little White Lie’ shows the performer can do heartfelt sentiment with equal, if suitably restrained gusto. Despite its bittersweet shades, Oompa! never really falters along its boldly convivial path, revelling in music born from performance. Though any UK dates have yet to be announced, Chap has plans for a tour that will see her scores acted out with the help of a travelling circus sideshow including “a fire-eater, burlesque performer, magician and herself as a one-woman band”. Better get your gladrags ready. - Wears the Trousers Magazine

After much hard work (and lots of concert-going fun), we’re proud to present the debut episode of our new online video series, the Flavorpill Fix. Created in memory of NYC TV’s dearly departed New York Noise, the Fix is a collection of new music videos, live concert footage, and exclusive interviews meant to be consumed in order, in its entirety, like a TV show or a mixtape.

We’re excited to kick off the series with talent including Screaming Females, Double Dagger, Future Islands, MiniBoone, Hammock, and Sabrina Chap. After the jump, watch the Fix, learn more about the artists involved, find out how to submit your band’s videos for the next episode, and let us know what you think. - Flavorpill

After much hard work (and lots of concert-going fun), we’re proud to present the debut episode of our new online video series, the Flavorpill Fix. Created in memory of NYC TV’s dearly departed New York Noise, the Fix is a collection of new music videos, live concert footage, and exclusive interviews meant to be consumed in order, in its entirety, like a TV show or a mixtape.

We’re excited to kick off the series with talent including Screaming Females, Double Dagger, Future Islands, MiniBoone, Hammock, and Sabrina Chap. After the jump, watch the Fix, learn more about the artists involved, find out how to submit your band’s videos for the next episode, and let us know what you think. - Flavorpill

In a world of flash-in-the-pan acts and pop music saturation, it’s a joy to discover Sabrina Chap, a deeply talented musician who’s well grounded in songwriting and grand performanceship . When her songwriting career collided with a discovery of ragtime years ago, it launched her in a new direction, creating jazzy-heavy tunes with vintage, hearty vocals. Clever lyrics and a penchant for cabaret only amped up the appeal. And as if queering up ragtime wasn’t enough, she’s also the editor/curator of the acclaimed collection Live Through This: On Creativity and Self-Destruction, an anthology that collects the writings and art of Eileen Myles, Kate Bornstein, Nan Goldin, and more. Gearing up for the release of her new album, ‘Oompa!’ Sabrina recently hit the road to create a one-woman three-ring circus–singing, modeling as a nude artist, performing burlesque, and giving talks on Live Through This. Wildly articulate, witty and passionate, Sabrina Chap is an artist to look out for.

Courtney Gillette: How was your tour?

Sabrina Chap: A-mazing. Really. I thought I was an idiot booking a tour through the East Coast in February—which still was probably not the brightest idea, but I just got back and I’m still sort of in shock from the incredible response I received. I’ve played in a burlesque show only a few times before, and wasn’t sure how people at the Cheeky Monkey Sideshow or Dutch Oven Burlesque would like me. I mean, they’ve got people walking on glass and driving nails up their nose—or extremely sexy ladies taking off their clothes in hilarious sketches—so I was pretty nervous about holding my own. Luckily, I just put on some fishnets and a halter top and sang my dirtiest and bawdiest songs. After I came off stage, one of the burlesque ladies turned to me and said, “This is your home”, which made me feel great.

The lectures on the book also went incredibly well. It was a bit hard to make the switch from coming home at four in the morning, to getting on a train the next day, dusting the glitter off and immediately lecturing about women, art and self-destruction. It was a bit hard to switch hats like that, but talking on this subject is always good because the audience is almost always one that has a real vested and personal interest in the topic.

CG: Does burlesque play a role in your music?

SC: Sometimes. It’s weird. I wrote the song ‘Idiom’ years ago and just got really entranced with the whole ragtime feel. It’s impossible to be sad when you’re playing ragtime because you’re forced to dance. Your left hand is doing the basic “oom-pa oom-pa” back and forth, and your right hand syncopates. It’s just fun to play. So once I got entranced with ragtime, I started writing in that style. But a lot of my stuff is super tongue-in-cheek (or tongue-in-somewhere-else…) and it’s a fun way to be witty and sexy and put on a character at the same time. The burlesque songs sort of write themselves. ‘Never Been a Bad Girl’ just spilled out. The entire album is a mix of Americana styles. I’ve got a bluegrass tune, a Dixieland tune, and your basic heartbroken ballads. I also just bought an electric guitar and want to do a PJ Harvey-ish collection of songs. All my songs beforehand are folk songs, and I come from a classical background. This burlesque gig just fits right now.

CG: You seem to have many different creative outlets. How do you juggle being such a jack of all trades?

SC: I don’t. I’m a mess. In fact, I’m crying right now.

Just kidding. About the crying. Not about the fact that I’m a mess and am not good at juggling all my artistic endeavors. I’ve done a million things in the past. Toured as a spoken word artist, put up plays, edited collections of interviews with women writers ( for my zine, ‘Cliterature’). My signature move is to focus on a project with intense abandon until it’s done and I have some sort of awesome breakdown. Usually it lasts about six months and I don’t want to talk to anyone and I sit in my room and watch episodes of Top Chef. And then I’m like, “I should put out a book,” and I put Top Chef on pause and I’m up and going again.

I’m really excited about ‘Oompa!’ because as soon as I was done [making the album], I was already planning how to do the next one. That never happened before. After I edited the book, I turned to all of my friends and said, “Don’t ever let me do that again. If I say I’m going to edit a book again, hit me in the face with a fish.” I was just exhausted. But putting this album out is the first time I’ve been energized by a project. Hopefully I’ll just learn to start saying no to the projects that exhaust me, and yes to the ones that make me energized and excited.

CG: Is there a queer sensibility to your music/your performances? How would you describe it?

SC: Well, all of the songs off the album are about ex’s, which have been women, so in that sense, yes, there is a queer sensibility there. Although it sort of surprised me that some people haven’ - The Queerist

In a world of flash-in-the-pan acts and pop music saturation, it’s a joy to discover Sabrina Chap, a deeply talented musician who’s well grounded in songwriting and grand performanceship . When her songwriting career collided with a discovery of ragtime years ago, it launched her in a new direction, creating jazzy-heavy tunes with vintage, hearty vocals. Clever lyrics and a penchant for cabaret only amped up the appeal. And as if queering up ragtime wasn’t enough, she’s also the editor/curator of the acclaimed collection Live Through This: On Creativity and Self-Destruction, an anthology that collects the writings and art of Eileen Myles, Kate Bornstein, Nan Goldin, and more. Gearing up for the release of her new album, ‘Oompa!’ Sabrina recently hit the road to create a one-woman three-ring circus–singing, modeling as a nude artist, performing burlesque, and giving talks on Live Through This. Wildly articulate, witty and passionate, Sabrina Chap is an artist to look out for.

Courtney Gillette: How was your tour?

Sabrina Chap: A-mazing. Really. I thought I was an idiot booking a tour through the East Coast in February—which still was probably not the brightest idea, but I just got back and I’m still sort of in shock from the incredible response I received. I’ve played in a burlesque show only a few times before, and wasn’t sure how people at the Cheeky Monkey Sideshow or Dutch Oven Burlesque would like me. I mean, they’ve got people walking on glass and driving nails up their nose—or extremely sexy ladies taking off their clothes in hilarious sketches—so I was pretty nervous about holding my own. Luckily, I just put on some fishnets and a halter top and sang my dirtiest and bawdiest songs. After I came off stage, one of the burlesque ladies turned to me and said, “This is your home”, which made me feel great.

The lectures on the book also went incredibly well. It was a bit hard to make the switch from coming home at four in the morning, to getting on a train the next day, dusting the glitter off and immediately lecturing about women, art and self-destruction. It was a bit hard to switch hats like that, but talking on this subject is always good because the audience is almost always one that has a real vested and personal interest in the topic.

CG: Does burlesque play a role in your music?

SC: Sometimes. It’s weird. I wrote the song ‘Idiom’ years ago and just got really entranced with the whole ragtime feel. It’s impossible to be sad when you’re playing ragtime because you’re forced to dance. Your left hand is doing the basic “oom-pa oom-pa” back and forth, and your right hand syncopates. It’s just fun to play. So once I got entranced with ragtime, I started writing in that style. But a lot of my stuff is super tongue-in-cheek (or tongue-in-somewhere-else…) and it’s a fun way to be witty and sexy and put on a character at the same time. The burlesque songs sort of write themselves. ‘Never Been a Bad Girl’ just spilled out. The entire album is a mix of Americana styles. I’ve got a bluegrass tune, a Dixieland tune, and your basic heartbroken ballads. I also just bought an electric guitar and want to do a PJ Harvey-ish collection of songs. All my songs beforehand are folk songs, and I come from a classical background. This burlesque gig just fits right now.

CG: You seem to have many different creative outlets. How do you juggle being such a jack of all trades?

SC: I don’t. I’m a mess. In fact, I’m crying right now.

Just kidding. About the crying. Not about the fact that I’m a mess and am not good at juggling all my artistic endeavors. I’ve done a million things in the past. Toured as a spoken word artist, put up plays, edited collections of interviews with women writers ( for my zine, ‘Cliterature’). My signature move is to focus on a project with intense abandon until it’s done and I have some sort of awesome breakdown. Usually it lasts about six months and I don’t want to talk to anyone and I sit in my room and watch episodes of Top Chef. And then I’m like, “I should put out a book,” and I put Top Chef on pause and I’m up and going again.

I’m really excited about ‘Oompa!’ because as soon as I was done [making the album], I was already planning how to do the next one. That never happened before. After I edited the book, I turned to all of my friends and said, “Don’t ever let me do that again. If I say I’m going to edit a book again, hit me in the face with a fish.” I was just exhausted. But putting this album out is the first time I’ve been energized by a project. Hopefully I’ll just learn to start saying no to the projects that exhaust me, and yes to the ones that make me energized and excited.

CG: Is there a queer sensibility to your music/your performances? How would you describe it?

SC: Well, all of the songs off the album are about ex’s, which have been women, so in that sense, yes, there is a queer sensibility there. Although it sort of surprised me that some people haven’ - The Queerist

What's it called?:
Oompa!
What It Sounds Like:
The soundtrack to the most amazing Film Noir never made, this album is all about good girls gone bad and the men that made them that way. Picture a seedy bar, where the drinks are stiff and the customers keep themselves to themselves. At the piano in the corner a sultry siren sways softly as she sings you tales of heartbreak and revenge. Sabrina unpacks her troubles in a new location with each song, moving effortlessly from the burlesque theatre of “Never Been A Bad Girl” to the backstreet cafe of “Ze Paris Song” passing through a variety of speakeasies, blues joints, jazz bars and spit-and-sawdust saloons along the way. There is plenty of dark humour to be found in the lyrics, which match the genre shifts perfectly without being too clever and bring in a few modern touches amongst the old-fashioned musicality.
What Does It All "Mean"?:
Don’t let the bastards get you down – write a heartfelt and witty song about them instead.
Goes well with...:
a stiff drink, a late hour and a pensive mood.
Might Suit People Who Like...:
I imagine if Peggy, Patsy, Aretha, Janis, Carole, Carly, Dolly, Emmylou, Dusty and Joni had ever had occasion to gather round a piano with bottle or two of wine, the results might sound a little like this. - Word Magazine

What's it called?:
Oompa!
What It Sounds Like:
The soundtrack to the most amazing Film Noir never made, this album is all about good girls gone bad and the men that made them that way. Picture a seedy bar, where the drinks are stiff and the customers keep themselves to themselves. At the piano in the corner a sultry siren sways softly as she sings you tales of heartbreak and revenge. Sabrina unpacks her troubles in a new location with each song, moving effortlessly from the burlesque theatre of “Never Been A Bad Girl” to the backstreet cafe of “Ze Paris Song” passing through a variety of speakeasies, blues joints, jazz bars and spit-and-sawdust saloons along the way. There is plenty of dark humour to be found in the lyrics, which match the genre shifts perfectly without being too clever and bring in a few modern touches amongst the old-fashioned musicality.
What Does It All "Mean"?:
Don’t let the bastards get you down – write a heartfelt and witty song about them instead.
Goes well with...:
a stiff drink, a late hour and a pensive mood.
Might Suit People Who Like...:
I imagine if Peggy, Patsy, Aretha, Janis, Carole, Carly, Dolly, Emmylou, Dusty and Joni had ever had occasion to gather round a piano with bottle or two of wine, the results might sound a little like this. - Word Magazine

This was a performance review for the song/performance series Book Burlesque- where
New York artists are asked to write original material on a book. The book of the month was "The Curious Sofa" by Edward Gorey.
******************************************
"Sabrina Chap performed a rousing ditty, channeling Alice, the main character of “The Curious Sofa.” She is a depraved soul who has “kissed a million strangers in the dark.” But now that a man has “made her fall in love,” they can “do it without a protective glove.”

Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2010/02/fiction-fetish.html#ixzz0etNn4zT3 - New Yorker Blog

This Saturday I saw legs, improbable ass gyration, a halter topped piano player and a thick dark bull slay a matador in pasties. God bless the performers at the Dutch Oven Burlesque show this past Saturday at Palace Of Wonders: Lil Dutch, Sugar Ann Spice, Ouioui Nonnon, Strange Powers, Ava After-Dark and Sabrina Chap. Bless their sequins, false lashes, feathered fans, and thigh-high nylons; but most of all, God bless the sexual bravado celebrated through their self-stylized identities and erotic sketches.

http://www.brightestyoungthings.com/live-dc/live-dc-dutch-oven-burlesque-palace-of-wonders/ - Brightest Young Things

A few weeks back, Sabrina Chap (born Chapadjiev) contacted me to see if I wanted to review her new album, Oompa! Never one to turn down a free meal from female musicians, I obliged and she mailed me a copy (with a handwritten letter, no less — thanks, Sabrina!). While the item was in transit, Kjerstin Johnson at Bitch reviewed it for B-Sides.

Having not heard Chap before, the article gave me a good idea of what I’d be listening to. The cabaret sensibility of “Never Been a Bad Girl” suggested The Dresden Dolls (though not Evelyn Evelyn’s super-problematic crip drag) on first listen, as well as Inara George and Jolie Holland in louder moments. The emphasis on classical and ragtime instrumentation also recalled Squirrel Nut Zippers’ dedication to jump blues, jazz, polka, and swing. Both the Zippers and beloved Austin mainstay White Ghost Shivers have cultivated antiquated aural aesthetics to undermine nostalgia with biting observations, sly asides, and at times bawdy lyrics about the realities of modern life. Finally, Chap also seems to share similar feminist camp sensibilities with fellow New York-based retro revisionists Ménage à Twang. I haven’t heard Chap on KOOP’s “What’s a Girl to Do” program, but I think she’d be a perfect fit.

I don’t offer these artists up to slight Chap as derivative, but rather to put her in a larger context of artists. I believe Chap’s talents stand up on their own. I’m also interested in pursuing her written work. She’s penned some plays and edited a zine called Cliterature. She also edited Live Through This, an anthology about women who use art to work through self-destructive tendencies. The book contains interviews from Nan Goldin, bell hooks, Inga Muscio, Kate Bornstein, Eileen Myles, and Annie Sprinkle. That’s a helluva dinner party.

Most of Oompa! charmed me. The songwriting is sharp, the melodies are catchy, and Chap’s band possesses the sort of musical precision that allows it to really swing. I especially liked the self-effacing opening track “Blueprint for Destruction,” idyllic “Carolina,” reflective “Illinois,” spunky “Never Been a Bad Girl,” and the uncertain but defiantly optimistic “Boat Song,” which closes the album. “Failed Waitress/Failed Astronaut” may rank as my favorite track, as it turns the all-too-relateable subject matter of being college educated yet maligned by limited career prospects into a fun little jig. The slinky “Idiom,” which documents a clandestine hook-up with a sexy female stranger, is a close second.

Unfortunately, there are two songs on Oompa! that I can do without. “Little White House” brings to mind the nuclear family idyll espoused in Little Shop of Horrors‘ “Somewhere That’s Green,” which feminist-minded pop stars like Paula Cole critiqued in “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” I’m of the mind that Chap is doing similar work here, as the minor key and stately pace suggest compromised expectations. However, much like I felt with “Cowboys,” it’s hard for me to not hear this song as being condescending to its subject.

I also cringe when I hear “Ze Paris Song,” a song about a tourist trying to fit in with her surroundings while eating baguettes and brie as she reflects on the tragic men who love her and eschews the Eiffel Tower. That Chap delivers it in a put-on accent doesn’t help matters. Much like “House,” I believe Chap is being critical here. The results just rub me the wrong way.

Yet despite those minor grievances, I’d still recommend Oompa! Give it a spin on the ol’ Victrola. - Feminist Review

A few weeks back, Sabrina Chap (born Chapadjiev) contacted me to see if I wanted to review her new album, Oompa! Never one to turn down a free meal from female musicians, I obliged and she mailed me a copy (with a handwritten letter, no less — thanks, Sabrina!). While the item was in transit, Kjerstin Johnson at Bitch reviewed it for B-Sides.

Having not heard Chap before, the article gave me a good idea of what I’d be listening to. The cabaret sensibility of “Never Been a Bad Girl” suggested The Dresden Dolls (though not Evelyn Evelyn’s super-problematic crip drag) on first listen, as well as Inara George and Jolie Holland in louder moments. The emphasis on classical and ragtime instrumentation also recalled Squirrel Nut Zippers’ dedication to jump blues, jazz, polka, and swing. Both the Zippers and beloved Austin mainstay White Ghost Shivers have cultivated antiquated aural aesthetics to undermine nostalgia with biting observations, sly asides, and at times bawdy lyrics about the realities of modern life. Finally, Chap also seems to share similar feminist camp sensibilities with fellow New York-based retro revisionists Ménage à Twang. I haven’t heard Chap on KOOP’s “What’s a Girl to Do” program, but I think she’d be a perfect fit.

I don’t offer these artists up to slight Chap as derivative, but rather to put her in a larger context of artists. I believe Chap’s talents stand up on their own. I’m also interested in pursuing her written work. She’s penned some plays and edited a zine called Cliterature. She also edited Live Through This, an anthology about women who use art to work through self-destructive tendencies. The book contains interviews from Nan Goldin, bell hooks, Inga Muscio, Kate Bornstein, Eileen Myles, and Annie Sprinkle. That’s a helluva dinner party.

Most of Oompa! charmed me. The songwriting is sharp, the melodies are catchy, and Chap’s band possesses the sort of musical precision that allows it to really swing. I especially liked the self-effacing opening track “Blueprint for Destruction,” idyllic “Carolina,” reflective “Illinois,” spunky “Never Been a Bad Girl,” and the uncertain but defiantly optimistic “Boat Song,” which closes the album. “Failed Waitress/Failed Astronaut” may rank as my favorite track, as it turns the all-too-relateable subject matter of being college educated yet maligned by limited career prospects into a fun little jig. The slinky “Idiom,” which documents a clandestine hook-up with a sexy female stranger, is a close second.

Unfortunately, there are two songs on Oompa! that I can do without. “Little White House” brings to mind the nuclear family idyll espoused in Little Shop of Horrors‘ “Somewhere That’s Green,” which feminist-minded pop stars like Paula Cole critiqued in “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” I’m of the mind that Chap is doing similar work here, as the minor key and stately pace suggest compromised expectations. However, much like I felt with “Cowboys,” it’s hard for me to not hear this song as being condescending to its subject.

I also cringe when I hear “Ze Paris Song,” a song about a tourist trying to fit in with her surroundings while eating baguettes and brie as she reflects on the tragic men who love her and eschews the Eiffel Tower. That Chap delivers it in a put-on accent doesn’t help matters. Much like “House,” I believe Chap is being critical here. The results just rub me the wrong way.

Yet despite those minor grievances, I’d still recommend Oompa! Give it a spin on the ol’ Victrola. - Feminist Review

Don't let the picture fool you--Sabrina Chap's forlorn album cover of Oompa! doesn't reflect what inside: bouncing rhythms, complex instrumentation, and intelligent lyrics covering everything from heartache to performing femininity. And lest the title makes you think you're in for another Bohemian revival act à la Gogol Bordello or Dresden Dolls, once you being her debut album, it's quickly revealed that Chap is skilled in more than a few genres, including jazz, pop, and swing--the last of which is most clear with the the rousing, upright bass and strong vocals that break the album open with "Blueprint of Destruction." Classically trained in piano, Chap had a folk career until she discovered ragtime, an influence that shines throughout Oompa!

The fiddle-heavy "Carolina" is one of my favorite tracks, whose country sound stands out in a good way. Chap's got a strong voice that carries an expressiveness she's not afraid to exercise, especially on tracks like "Never been a Bad Girl," below:

If her musicality isn't impressive enough, Chap is also a feminist writer and editor. The Loud issue of Bitch magazine featured an interview with Chap (well, with Chapadijiev, Sabrina's full surname) about creative women and self-destruction, the subject of Live Through This: Creativity and Self-Destruction (Seven Stories Press, 08), an anthology she edited. The book was also reviewed in that issue, and features essays from bell hooks, Nan Goldin, Kate Bornstein, and others. She's also edited the zine Cliterature (good title, even better cover), and has written several plays.

Oompa! doesn't just show Chap's versatility as a writer and performer, but a musician as well, as she provides piano, guitar, and "terrible whistling" in addition to her expressive singing. "Boat Song," which rounds out the album, is one of its best as well, highlighting Chap's voice and piano-playing skills. Listen to it below...


The fun, lyrics-intensive, and musically rich album is available June 3rd, and anyone who wants a little bit more..well, oompa! to their singer-songwriters should pick it up! One more reason to dig Sabrina Chap is that it's available for a sliding-scale price on her website. - Bitch Magazine

Don't let the picture fool you--Sabrina Chap's forlorn album cover of Oompa! doesn't reflect what inside: bouncing rhythms, complex instrumentation, and intelligent lyrics covering everything from heartache to performing femininity. And lest the title makes you think you're in for another Bohemian revival act à la Gogol Bordello or Dresden Dolls, once you being her debut album, it's quickly revealed that Chap is skilled in more than a few genres, including jazz, pop, and swing--the last of which is most clear with the the rousing, upright bass and strong vocals that break the album open with "Blueprint of Destruction." Classically trained in piano, Chap had a folk career until she discovered ragtime, an influence that shines throughout Oompa!

The fiddle-heavy "Carolina" is one of my favorite tracks, whose country sound stands out in a good way. Chap's got a strong voice that carries an expressiveness she's not afraid to exercise, especially on tracks like "Never been a Bad Girl," below:

If her musicality isn't impressive enough, Chap is also a feminist writer and editor. The Loud issue of Bitch magazine featured an interview with Chap (well, with Chapadijiev, Sabrina's full surname) about creative women and self-destruction, the subject of Live Through This: Creativity and Self-Destruction (Seven Stories Press, 08), an anthology she edited. The book was also reviewed in that issue, and features essays from bell hooks, Nan Goldin, Kate Bornstein, and others. She's also edited the zine Cliterature (good title, even better cover), and has written several plays.

Oompa! doesn't just show Chap's versatility as a writer and performer, but a musician as well, as she provides piano, guitar, and "terrible whistling" in addition to her expressive singing. "Boat Song," which rounds out the album, is one of its best as well, highlighting Chap's voice and piano-playing skills. Listen to it below...


The fun, lyrics-intensive, and musically rich album is available June 3rd, and anyone who wants a little bit more..well, oompa! to their singer-songwriters should pick it up! One more reason to dig Sabrina Chap is that it's available for a sliding-scale price on her website. - Bitch Magazine