Debórah Bond Transcript (Music up) Debórah Bond: I knew I had a connection to music probably at like five or six, and I somehow heard my own voice. I don't even remember, that's how much it's been a part of me. (Recording, Debórah Bond singing) That’s singer Debórah Bond, and this is Art Works, the weekly podcast produced by the National Endowment for the Arts. I'm Josephine Reed. This is the second installment of the series, Dual Lives. Dual Lives is where we celebrate the work and commitment of successful and accomplished artists who still have to work a day job to make ends meet.   Meet Debórah Bond. She is a singer/songwriter who can belt out a tune and then bring you to tears. Debórah has three CDs to her credit. Her most recent Madame Palindrome was number one on the UK Soul Chart for three consecutive weeks.  Her videos have been featured on VH1 Soul and MTV-UK. She's opened for musician Roy Ayers and collaborated with the British jazz/soul band Incognito on their 30th anniversary album. A dynamic performer who owns the stage, Debórah’s been featured at the Capital Jazz Festival outside of Washington DC, as well as music festivals in France and Mexico. And that's just some of her work in the past year. Yet, as talented, dedicated, and successful as she is, she can't support herself through music. She needs a day job. Debórah Bond:  Day job is in radio. I do a lot of production work. I kind of consider myself like an audio secretary keeping certain channels sounding clean, editing interviews, also running live broadcast, which surprisingly enough is really not my bag. I don't consider myself tech savvy, but I was thrusted into that world, and I just went in head first. It's interesting to work in radio, of all places, as a singer, because you just get the scoop on a lot of what's happening in music from a different perspective. And it's a balance. It's a real deal, heavy-duty balance of really two completely separate worlds for me. Being an artist and having a persona, and carrying myself a certain way around other artists and being onstage, and then coming into work, and being someone's employee. It's a very different-- very big contrast. Jo Reed:  When did you decide that you really wanted to give a go to a career at music? Debórah Bond:  I really decided to get serious about it, probably at the tail-end of college. Late '90s. Because I went to school for journalism for broadcast journalism. And I swore for a certain period of time in my life that I was going to be like the next Barbara Walters, or-- I was really into investigational reporting, and things like that. So I thought that that was going to be the direction that I went career-wise, but I knew inside that music, singing, performing was the ultimate dream. And so when I got to college and I started to meet some really cool and quirky musical people that were just really motivated and just a lot of fun, they kind of helped me realize that it's time to take it more seriously. And once I think that mental decision was made, things just started happening. Just meeting musicians and so forth and things like that. Jo Reed:  What city was this? Debórah Bond:  This was in Washington, DC. Jo Reed:  It is in Washington, okay. Debórah Bond:  Yep, American University. That's where I went to school, and then I minored in vocal performance. And so I was taking voice lessons, and not really into it actually, 'cause it was from a classical point of view, and I was 17/18, wanting to just belt out Luther Vandross, or you know, I was taking some of that knowledge for granted at the time. Jo Reed:  So where did you begin when you knew you wanted to make a career in music? What were the first steps? Debórah Bond:  You know, the first thing I really wanted to make sure I was comfortable with was recording myself, even more so than performing in front of people. I really wanted to have a form of recording. And during the late '90s, everyone-- that was still during a time when folks would have their demo. Your demo tape. Or your demo to give to a pro-- Jo Reed:  Your demo tape, oh that’s so sweet. Debórah Bond:  Do you know what I mean? Right! So folks still had their demo. So I knew I had to have demo. And I knew I wasn't really familiar with producing music. So I was seeking out producers, and I found so many on my college campus. And we began setting up systems in dorm rooms and figuring out ways to make makeshift booths and closets, and I met a guy named Keion Joyner, his stage name is Keion Asamoah. And he started to create tracks for me. And I basically could tell him, "I'm listening to this, and I love this sound! Can you make something like that?" And he'd flip it for me like that, and I would just try to get used to recording myself. And that was the first really, really strong step, because once I heard myself on a recording, I was really familiar with harmonizing, I bought myself a karaoke machine in high school with my first job. So I learned how to like multi-track and layer my voice and harmonize and do those kind of things. So once I got a real producer that could let me do it in a more polished form, I was just hooked. I was just hooked. Jo Reed: And I assume you also performed, who did you play with? Debórah Bond: I got with these group of guys, a really cool group of guys at American, and we kind of formed this little collective. We called ourselves the Rebels of the Lost Son. I don't know why we called ourselves that. But we-- we just decided that we were going to collaborate a lot, and we were going to record ourselves as much as possible, and we were going to try to find open mikes and places that we could perform, and just get in people's faces, and it really set things off for me. It really did. Jo Reed:  I know nobody wants to be put in a box, but if you had to describe the music you sing and record, what would you say? Debórah Bond:  I would call it progressive soul. At the time when I first started doing music, seriously, there was the term neo-soul, that became very popular, because they were, saying that these were the new school kids of soul music. And so I latched onto that with no problem. I agreed that my sound was kind of in that vein. But I have to say that I'm more of a progressive soul artist in the sense that I love so many forms of music, that my sound is going to continually morph and change and grow. So there's always going to be some reaching, some kind of progress in the new direction that may make you think, "Well, is she a soul singer? Is she an R&B singer? Because this sounds like something else." I've never really, of course, many of us artists, we don't really want to get boxed in, but I would definitely say "soul" is the root-- between myself and my bandmates, we have so many influences that it can progress into all kinds of sounds. So progressive soul. That's what I'd call it. Jo Reed:  Okay. Your band, what you call a collective, now it's called Third Logic. Debórah Bond:  Third Logic. Jo Reed:  Tell me the difference between working as a collective, and having a backup band. Debórah Bond:  That is a great question. That's very important to me. Working as a collective, to me is in the essence of the traditional band. And I did grow up with a lot of that Earth, Wind & Fire, Sly and the Family Stone. I grew up seeing bands perform together and watching that chemistry. So I have always deep inside wanted that for myself. Especially because I'm a huge Sade fan and people don't realize Sade is actually a band. I think that there's a difference with-- as far as energy and synergy onstage when you are part of a collective when you are practicing the songs together all the time. When you're writing the songs together as opposed to being a front woman, or front artist, and presenting music to a band and saying, "Hey, guys, this is my music, learn it. And we're going to do some shows together. We're going to hit the road together." There's a certain disconnect that can translate even to the audience when it's not a collective situation. And so, I've gotten really spoiled, because right off the bat, once I decided that I wanted a certain type of sound, I immediately found these musicians, and we made a commitment to each other right off the top to just lift each other up, work with each other, create together. And so many of my fans, they've said to me like, “We can tell you guys are like a family. We can see it onstage. We can feel the vibe from you guys.” And I think that's really important. Because I think that's lacking right now in music. So it's more of a connection and more of a-- for me, more of a comfort zone to have a collective and to be a part of a unit that I know and trust and create with it. It’s so much cooler to know that these musicians are going to take this music really seriously because they created it. It’s just-- it's that family affair. It's really special. Jo Reed:  How long have you been together? Debórah Bond:  We've been together now about 13 years. Jo Reed:  Wow. Debórah Bond:  Yeah. Jo Reed:  Now you write your own music, the collective. Debórah Bond:  I do, yes. Jo Reed:  I mean, tell me how that process works. Debórah Bond:  Oh, that's a cool process, and a crazy process, too. I really lean on Third Logic to present the musical sound, because I play piano, but not very well. And I don't read. I play mostly from ear, and a lot of chords. So, I don't consider myself a producer. And that's their niche. And they all come from different backgrounds, musical backgrounds as well. The three of them create either things together or they create things separately, tracks through, you know, music software programs, really skeleton-type tracks with just a basic foundation, some drums, some keys, some sounds, some baselines. And they present me all kinds of stuff. They'll say, "You know, I was working on this last night, what do you think about it?" And depending on what I feel, I'll say, let me just start sketching from that, and let me lay some vocals, ideas down, and I'll pass it back. And if they really like where I'm going, we just keep it going. And it's like a back and forth, and then maybe one of the guys will present it to me initially, and I'll start something, and then one of the other guys will hear, and they'll say, "We could tweak it this way. How about we change this bridge, and make it sound like this. And so it really is just like a-- I don't know, it's like building a house or something. We just start with a very strong foundation, a groove, and then I get the music, and I really base what I write on how I feel about the sound. (recording, Debórah Bond singing) Debórah Bond:  I'm a very personal writer. But I also am a dreamy type of personality, so some of the things that I write come from like fantasies or things I dream about. And sometimes things happen really fast, like with the first album. And then sometimes the words, they just take forever. Like with my second album. So it's just-- it's one of those roll of the dice kind of things. But it's a good time, because these guys, they have great minds. And we really, really do get each other musically, so once we get that ball rolling with the creating, it just goes. Jo Reed:  You still have the day job. Debórah Bond:  Still have the day job. Jo Reed:  You work at SiriusXM. Debórah Bond: Mm-hm. Jo Reed: Tell me about the day job. Is it an eight-hour day typically? Debórah Bond:  Typically an eight-hour day. Sometimes night shifts, sometimes holiday shifts, especially for live broadcasting. We have a lot of really cool events that happen on, you know, holiday weekends that we broadcast to all of our listeners, so during those times, my particular department, we tend to be running the board for those broadcasts. So it kind of means every now and then sacrificing some weekends, or sacrificing some late nights. And then, in addition to being in the nine-to-fiveish, eight-hour structure, which basically means trying my best-- and I will say, trying my best, striving to stay focused those eight hours and the duties at hand, when on the side, in the back of my brain, or in my ear, I might have someone-- I remember once, when Madame Palindrome, my second album really first dropped, there as a big buzz in London and a lot of UK journalists wanted to interview me, and there's a time difference, so most of the time, they want to interview me around noon, or, you know, 1:00 or 2:00 p.m., which they were my work hours. So figuring out the juggle of how I can keep some of that musical stuff that's in the back of my mind, some of the things I need to handle, keep it at bay, so that I can concentrate on my duties, but also not let certain opportunities fall to the wayside because of timing and things. So it's really interesting, and it shows me how strong I am, and how much I can get done. But it also is quite frustrating. Jo Reed:  That's a lot to juggle. Debórah Bond:  Yeah, yeah. It's definitely a lot. And when you-- any juggling act, there's-- you're bound to drop a ball here or there. And so that has happened, of course, on both ends. You know, where I've missed an opportunity or two. I actually missed last year something quite major, in my opinion. I missed the opportunity to go on tour with a group that I had done a small leg of a tour with in South Africa, they offered me a complete European tour with them from, about four months last year. And I had to make a decision, if I could do it or not. Like could I realistically go on a tour that long and then come back and have a job? And I couldn't. So I had to turn it down. And I will say that group, I love them so much, and they're such a great group of people, they were really disappointed. They really wanted me to think about walking away from here. And that was probably the hugest struggle for me, because you just need to live, you know? And I know that if I would have taken that tour, it would have been amazing. I would have made great money. But then what happens when that tour is over? And they haven't been touring since November or December. So here we are now in March, what would I-- how would I have money coming in, if I decided to really do that and be that bold? But at the same time, being here, it was a drag to know that I was missing that, because of course we got social media, we got all these ways of keeping in contact with people that you admire, or just people. And so I would be watching them from the road, and seeing them in London, and seeing them in Amsterdam and all these places, and all I could think was, "I was supposed to be with them." But I had to be responsible and keep my job so that I can live. And that was-- that was really tough. Jo Reed:  We talked about the collective, "Third Logic," was that also a consideration about it would mean leaving them? Debórah Bond:  Yes, that was a major part of it as well because "Third Logic," they are really my backbone, and they are my family. And they come first musically. And I make sure that's clear with everyone that I collaborate with or even people I work with here. That's my heart and soul is with that unit. So even when I was contemplating it and speaking to them they were supportive. They’re always supportive. And I mean I think that the majority of them, maybe two out of three really thought I should just go for it because they also know how much it’s hard on me to juggle. But I also wondered like this is the time I’m working on a new album. This is going to cut into my writing time. This is going to cut into anything-- what if something comes up where we could hit the road, and I’m already on the road with another band. So I had to really think about that as well and that was a portion of why I decided to stay as well to focus on myself and Third Logic, but they would have been supportive of it. Jo Reed:  Well, even just in thinking about what you did last year. Debórah Bond:  Mm-hm. <laughs> Jo Reed: You went to France and sung in a music festival there. In Holland where your voice is known in commercials on Dutch television. And Mexico you performed with Third Logic. And then South Africa you toured with another group. Debórah Bond:  Yeah, that’s the group I could have gone on the road with. Yeah. Jo Reed:  I just want to begin very practically, how did you get time off from work here? Debórah Bond:  Yeah, hustle and bustle. That’s what that’s called. Luckily I’ve been with this company for so long that I have a decent little chunk of time. But it’s also really about how do I put this? Careful planning and manipulation of my time because some of those trips, one of them, the Mexico trip was a holiday weekend so there’s a Monday that’s already off. So if I can get on the road, if I’m on a Thursday, I’ve got Thursday, Friday, Monday’s off, back to work by Tuesday. Things like that. Like really, really careful planning so that it was never really-- I think the longest I was away was France and Holland because they were back to back. So it was probably about six or seven days straight that I was gone, work days not including the weekend. But besides that it was a lot of a little take two days here, three days here, and for some reason by the grace of God I did not run out of leave. So it was really careful planning. But I had made a promise to myself last year to go with it and to – “Go for what you know,” is what I was saying. Go for what you know. Go for what you believe. And so anytime an opportunity came up where I needed to go and travel or be away I didn’t think twice about just saying to the good people of my day job, “Listen I need to do this, and I think I have some leave,” and it’d work out. So there was some good support there, I will say and from the company. Jo Reed:  You also collaborated with the British soul jazz band called Incognito on their 30th anniversary album which is called… Debórah Bond:  Yes. The album’s called Amplified Soul and that was probably the 2014 dream-come-true moment for me because I’ve been a fan of their music since I was in college. And my band, myself and Third Logic, we’re so influenced by that group that to know that they wanted to collaborate with me was just a blessing, and they’ve been in the game for 30 years. And they’re not pop stars. A lot of people don’t know who they are.  They were kind of—they got really big in the nineties for a quick second. But they’re still under a lot of mainstream listeners’ radars but to the jazz fusion world, they are quite rock stars. (Recording, Debórah Bond singing) Jo Reed: How did that come together? Debórah Bond: I met Bluey who is the leader of that band, and I just said, “Hey, I’m a huge fan. I have a CD, and I have another one coming. And I’d love to just pass you this music.” And he was such a warm spirit and such a-- just a warm musical loving vibe from him. And I didn’t know if he’d listen because I’ve passed my music to a lot of people, and you never know if they’re going to listen or you’d never know if you’ll hear from them ever again. And coincidently, he came to SiriusXM. And when he arrived I was in the lobby, and I saw Bluey and I was like, “Hey, you’re here.”  He’s like, “Hey,” and gives big hugs. And he goes, “I’ve been listening to your new album like crazy. I’ve been playing it for the band. It’s really good.” He goes, “You know, I’ve got to just ask you right now, do you want to be on my next record?”  And I’m just sitting there like “I don’t-- this is really?  Okay.” But I really still didn’t think that it was going to happen, and fast forward to a year later. He presented me with a track, and it was so me and it was so them and it was just like the perfect Debórah vibe that that song came to me in about 30 minutes. I never write that fast, and Bluey I sent it to him, a scratch demo of it, and I was really scared to give it to him and he wrote me back this beautiful email and said, “Thank you for sharing a beautiful piece of your spirit and your soul with us. I love this song. Let’s record it.” And now it’s on their album, and I’m still tripping. <laughs> I still can’t believe that one. Jo Reed:  You were also artist in residence at the Strathmore. You were part of that program. Debórah Bond:  Yeah. Mm-hm. That was another really, really important part of this journey I’m on right now because the Strathmore, a lot of people outside of the DC area are not familiar, but this facility is just a hub for music education, live performance. And I’ve heard so much about this program, it’s a combination of-- you get some solid performances in their mansion at Strathmore, but you also have to take these workshops that range from everything from taxes for artists to how to collaborate. If you’ve never worked with another individual, such a wide spectrum of learning for me. So I decided I was going to do it. They did have an age limit, and I was getting close to the edge. I was the oldest. I said, “Well I’m just going to try for it.” And you had to go through a process, and there was about probably 60 people in this area that applied, and they only picked 8, and I got picked. I was one to be picked, and I had a great year of performing with them. Your performance aspect of it is you have to do three shows in their mansion, two that are open to the public, one that is private for donors and sponsors of the Strathmore, and then you also have to do a lecture of some kind like a master class on anything you want and that was a great experience because I’ve never done anything like that before. And it was just a positive experience. And once you’re an AIR you’re always an AIR, and “AIR” means artist in residence. They call on you for lots of events and fundraisers. So I just did one not too long ago that was a fundraiser for the AIR program, and it was themed “The Rhythm of the Night,” and it was all eighties. It was a cabaret, and we did a Motown theme one last year. Jo Reed:  Was it difficult to go from Strathmore back to SiriusXM? Debórah Bond:  Mm-hm. Well, it as all happening together. It was all happening at once, so there would be many nights that I’d leave work and then rush to the Strathmore for a workshop. A lot of the workshops were in the night because there were a lot of folk that had day jobs. So they really structured the program so that you could still live your life and do things, and be a part of their artist in residence program but it did mean a lot of that—again-- juggling of time and yeah-- it was just intense, and then it felt like it was a whirlwind and then it was done. And it was kind of like, okay back to normal life, again, or so I thought because I still work with the Strathmore all of the time. Jo Reed:  And as busy as you are with your music and your full-time job, you also do volunteer work with empowerment for girls. Debórah Bond:  Yeah, I decided a good while back that I had to make sure that in the midst of pursuing music that I took a little bit of myself out of the situation, and I remembered to just give back to the community, give back to people. For some reason, my focus just began to hone in on young girls or even young teens. And I feel like the minute I mentally decided that I wanted to start working with girls these opportunities just came to me. I didn’t even really have to seek them out. There was a thing called “King Me” where myself and a few other artists got in a room full of all of these bright-eyed girls and we talked about our musical journeys and we encouraged them. And we got them thinking about like how they feel about themselves and realizing that flaws are okay. You’re fine the way you are. Don’t let anyone take away from you your self-worth. Jo Reed: And you also released a song called “Perfect” which kind of deals with some of these issues. Is it tied to the work you do with empowerment for girls? Debórah Bond:  Yeah, when I released the song “Perfect” the lyrics and what that subject matter was about, it really fit what I had already been kind of saying to these young people. So I decided to kind of bridge the video and the song with playing it for young girls, you know, “How do you feel about yourself? The video is really kind of a little small personal story about like a day in Debórah’s life. I wanted it to be a contrast between reality and illusion because I feel like we’re in a time now where social media is really an illusional space. You can make people think you’re on top of the world by what you put on your social media. (recording, Debórah Bond singing)  Debórah Bond:  So, I decided to have this video be kind of like you see me in certain aspects of the video where I’m very glamorous. And then it’s kind of contrasted with me kind of sitting in a space where there’s bills that are past due, a little cluttered. And that’s really the reality, so I’ve been using that video just to talk about reality and illusion, you know how you really feel about yourself, what’s the reality of your life in contrast to what you might be putting out there for the world to see. And then at the end of it all just realizing you’re fine. You will be okay. And it has been going quite well. It’s been going really well. Jo Reed:  Well, let me ask you a hard question-- Debórah Bond:  Yeah. Jo Reed:--and that is, do you think you would be okay if you still are doing the day job five or ten years down the road? Debórah Bond:  I will be really honest, I would not be okay. I don’t believe that’s my destiny, to be honest with you. I do believe that it is my destiny to travel and perform and to write and to inspire people and heal people and help people purely through that, not through sitting at a desk pressing buttons. I just don’t believe that. Now, I will say a lot of things have shifted in my mind in the last five years as far as what I feel like will be success for me. Jo Reed:  I was just going to ask you, what does success look like? Debórah Bond:  I really just want to do it full-time. When I was maybe about 17, 18 I had dreams of being a superstar, but at 38 I don’t feel that way anymore. To me success is doing what you love. So, for me it’s really just being able to fully live in it and be able to live in it, like not be dirt poor. So, mean I think I can do it. It’s tough. In this time of music people aren’t making money from recordings much these days. Jo Reed:  It’s all performance, isn’t it? Debórah Bond:  Yeah. It’s a lot more-- you’ve got to get those shows. And that’s honestly where Third Logic and myself thrive. Our live stage show, I’m proud of it. So, I know, once we are able to put ourselves on the map to the extent where those bookings come and those shows really pick up, there’s no choice but to blast off from that because we’ve got the goods. (Music up) Jo Reed:  That was singer Debórah Bond. You can check out her website at Debórahbond.com. You've been listening to Art Works produced at the National Endowment for the Arts.  This is podcast is part of a series we're calling Dual Lives, a celebration of artists with talent and dedication who have to work regular day jobs to make ends meet. I’m Josephine Reed. Thanks for listening.