Genya Ravan in interview

Genya Ravan was interviewed at the Stereo Society
in New York, November 26 2001.

Streaming audio of Genya's answers can be heard by clicking on the player alongside each question. For help in playing music, see our Playing Audio page in the Big Help Desk.

Mike Thorne:
So your first language was Polish……?

……..and your second language is English. How come you sound like an R&B singer?

You need an updated version of AdoGet Adobe Flash playerbe Flash Player to listen - click button to download.



I was wondering whether you were starting to think in English at the same time you were really starting to sing.
You need an updated version of AdoGet Adobe Flash playerbe Flash Player to listen - click button to download.



But you were on stage in your teens…….
You need an updated version of AdoGet Adobe Flash playerbe Flash Player to listen - click button to download.



 How do you think it’s different today? What struggles do you see new singers facing now?
You need an updated version of AdoGet Adobe Flash playerbe Flash Player to listen - click button to download.



There doesn’t seem to be an easy entry anymore.
You need an updated version of AdoGet Adobe Flash playerbe Flash Player to listen - click button to download.



You went through a few years of Goldie and the Gingerbreads on this economical basis and then you promptly formed a ten-piece band. What were the logistics then?
You need an updated version of AdoGet Adobe Flash playerbe Flash Player to listen - click button to download.



Genya Ravan interview audio clips

So you went from the sublime to the ridiculous when you went from Ten Wheel Drive to the CBGB scene in the mid-seventies?

You need an updated version of AdoGet Adobe Flash playerbe Flash Player to listen - click button to download.



 It always seemed at the time that you had arrived somewhere you had always been trying to find when you were in the punk scene. It seemed to fit so well.
You need an updated version of AdoGet Adobe Flash playerbe Flash Player to listen - click button to download.


Goldie and the Gingerbreads were not really the sixties Spice Girls were they?
You need an updated version of AdoGet Adobe Flash playerbe Flash Player to listen - click button to download.


Being a 'girl' has worked against you, I would guess.

You need an updated version of AdoGet Adobe Flash playerbe Flash Player to listen - click button to download.




But it was even harder to get people to take you seriously when you became one of the first female producers.

You need an updated version of AdoGet Adobe Flash playerbe Flash Player to listen - click button to download.


Do you think it’s changed? You started producing in the mid-seventies? Do you think the misogyny of the record business in general has lessened now?

You need an updated version of AdoGet Adobe Flash playerbe Flash Player to listen - click button to download.


So producers tended to get a bad name. Do you think that artists were pleased to take over with the possibilities given by home recording?

You need an updated version of AdoGet Adobe Flash playerbe Flash Player to listen - click button to download.


Are you really looking at the past through rose-tinted spectacles? You’re talking about those early days as if they were savagely business oriented, as well.

You need an updated version of AdoGet Adobe Flash playerbe Flash Player to listen - click button to download.


And, it sounds like you have some unfinished business left as a singer.

You need an updated version of AdoGet Adobe Flash playerbe Flash Player to listen - click button to download.



It’s a long time since you sang, though. Has it been driving you nuts in the meantime? You made a very conscious decision to stop singing and work in production.
You need an updated version of AdoGet Adobe Flash playerbe Flash Player to listen - click button to download.


What might be next?

You need an updated version of AdoGet Adobe Flash playerbe Flash Player to listen - click button to download.