My liking towards Ximena Sariñana started when I was a tween and I used to watch novelas with my grandma. I had to be around 11 or 12 and here I was glued to the TV watching the Mexican soap operas Luz Clarita & Gotita de Amor (soap operas she was part of.) Who would have ever thought that some 15 years later I would be interviewing her?She disappeared from her soap operas momentum and I came across her again when in 2002 I watched the movie Amar te Duele where she played a part and had also written and sang for the movie soundtrack. Well, fast forward to the year 2008 and I stumbled upon her latest facet, a CD titled Mediocre. If you haven’t checked it out I definitively recommend it! She has that jazzy, mellow vibe and her voice is worth listening to live.
Ximena performed at the Red Devil Lounge on May 18th and I was lucky enough to interview her (courtesy of UNION ROCKER) right after her sound check. She talked about her miniseries of acoustic concerts which brought her to San Francisco. Ximena also talked about how excited she was to perform these types of concerts which are more intimate and bring her closer to her fans. She has been working on a new album which is due to be out early next year (and to you all my non-Spanish speaking readers, her new CD will have songs in English.)
Ximena is all about twitter and myspace (yes, she still personally checks it) and is very into writing blogs to keep her fans updated about what she is up to, her time off, the things that inspire her songs and the music she listens to. On her myspace blogs she is known for letting her readers know about specific bands she is listening to at that moment, her taste is very eclectic, from Led Zepellin, Gorillaz, The XX, Little Dragon and even Gustavo Cerati. When I asked her how is it that she decides to listen to a particular band, she told me that she is a very visual person. If she likes the artwork on the cover she is most likely to buy the CD (yes, the actual hard copy, no itunes here.)
She was so sweet to interview and I must say that I was a bit nervous because I didn’t know what to expect, what if she was a mean one like the characters she portrays in her movies and before in the novelas she was part of. To the contrary she was humble and willing to talk to the UNION ROCKER crew even though she had been on the road for the past 8 hours coming from LA. The concert was simply breathtaking, her voice is so gorgeous; I was so pleased to have been there and I cannot wait till her new CD comes out, yes, I will have to wait for almost another year but I know it will be worth the wait.
From her past CD Mediocre here are the songs I recommend: Vidas Paralelas, Un Error, Medicre, Un Error (my absolute favorite), Reforma, La Tina and Monitor (a cover/duet with Mexican band Volovan.)
You have to check out her pages (facebook, myspace & twitter) :)
