Borne in Motown, U.S.A., Sandy Frazier has been a singer and songwriter all her life. She was classically trained in her youth (flute) and played in orchestras. Her early influences in rock, gospel, soul and rhythm and blues are reflected in her singing style and songwriting. However, the years she spent in Chicago, Illinois and jamming with many Robert Johnson-inspired crossroads guitar players / singer / songwriters set her on a path to discovering her own songwriting abilities. Many of the great rock & roll and blues songwriters influenced her to write her pop rock tunes.
Singing at open mic's such as Chicago's The Earl of Old Towne and Somebody Else's Troubles where folkies like John Prine hung out fueled her passion for songwriting and performing.
In the early '80s, Sandy assembled an incredible cast and crew of talented musicians, singers, dancers and creative artists for two shows in Illinois called Acceptance. She wrote the original music and score and employed some marvelously inventive people to make a dream come true that all began when, as a teenager, she saw the Brian DePalma film, Phantom of the Paradise by Paul Williams.
Sandy studied voice under the legendary June Bonner at the Dock Street Theatre in Charleston, SC… but is mostly a self-taught musician, singer/songwriter.
Influenced by Elvis Presley, Leiber & Stoller, Doc Pomus, John Lennon, Kate Bush, Ian Anderson, Bob Dylan, Elliott Smith, Ronnie Van Zant, Delta blues, '70s Motown soul music, dance, electronica and trance/ambient music (to name just a few), soon she started writing and performing her own original songs and has continued throughout her lifetime.
"Elvis Presley was my biggest influence in my youth," she states, "He was so talented and filled with soul-purpose… and firmly rooted in American music through gospel, rhythm and blues, which has inspired almost all genres of music."
Sandy's songs are filled with universal lyrics that are skillfully entwined with tuneful melodies.
"I really believe artists are channels for a higher and much purer force which we have no choice but to bring out of ourselves. It took me experiencing a lot of disappointments before I could begin to live truer to myself. I write music to survive and I've actually LIVED each and every word of my songs."
Sandy spent many years writing, recording and producing her music and in 2000 released her debut CD, Resurrection – an album of songs inspired by her book The Mystic Artist filled with painterly delights. It is a blend of modern electronica, with a techno trance vibe and ‘ear candy’ to always keep the listener coming back for more.
"These are songs written by a painter; and so the album is much like a series of collage-paintings centered around the theme of water, with many colours, textures and unique brushstrokes," says Sandy of her collaboration with Gary Filadelfo, an excellent engineer and producer in New York. "For example, I did a painting called Egypt Over Arles – combining my love for Egyptian art and Van Gogh's home where The Yellow House was – and then a song just naturally followed… and now we’re combining effects along with swirls of light and colour like a Van Gogh painting… as though we're literally painting music."
"And my song for Gauguin started out to be autobiographical in the way I was relating to him and his journey through life; but then it became a song that was really a collage of his paintings in music."
Sandy's music is described as "ArtRock" – each song a Pop Cantata, a kind of poem set to music, colourful stories, each like an individual painting.
Sandy's album, Painting Music was released in December, 2016. Her singles are out on SoundCloud. Her EP, FAUVE is available on Amazon and sites all over the Internet. She is working on her fourth full-length album, SUPERSONIC, which will be out in 2021 and a new vinyl record, "The Collection."
Go HERE for the Discography and Lyrics.
"Resurrection" is an album of songs inspired by Sandy Frazier's book "The Mystic Artist" - a colourful blend of modern electronica, with trance-like qualities, combined with acoustic and electric guitars... and lots of 'ear candy' to always keep the listener coming back for more.
Resurrection
Ecstasy
The Haunting
Heaven's Flames
Confession
Water Wash Over Me
Scent of Things to Come
(Gauguin) Wrestling With the Angel
On a Journey to the End
"Painting Music" is described as "ArtRock" - each song is a Pop Cantata, a kind of poem set to music, colourful stories, like individual paintings. "PAINTING MUSIC is the theme of my life's work. I've written lots of songs about art and created lots of art about music." --Sandy Frazier
"FAUVE" is “the brushstrokes of ‘Painting Music’… the feral wild beast, vivid in colour…”
"I am the artist - I am FAUVE - the feral wild beast of rock & roll..." --Sandy Frazier writes about Matisse and the Fauves.
Sandy's new album is due out in 2021.
Sandy's first collection on vinyl - COMING SOON