By: Breeze Jackson

Remember the first girl whose conversation caused you to be aroused? Not the girl that kept you on the phone and after a lifetime let you go with nothing but slippery dreams. No, I mean that girl who called when her parents were gone asking you to come over. The girl that caused your uncles to raise their eyebrows and smile when they saw her. Yeah you remember her, she was sexy because the only person she looked to please was herself. Well four of those girls formed a group and started making music. I introduce Electrik Red, whose members include the Canadian born Naomi and Sarah, as well as the New York natives Lesley and Binki. These ladies are former back up dancers for the likes of Usher, Mariah Carey and Ciara. After showcasing the talents of others they decided to step into the spotlight themselves. We caught up with them right before their performance in Dallas, TX.

UTM: I was checking out your video for “Drink In My Cup” and I see that you ladies have a very strong international feel because of the visual aspect and your sound, who are some of your influences?

Sarah:  Well from a performance standpoint and reinventing ourselves I would say Madonna, as far as sound we listen to everyone. I think there’s a little Prince and Vanity 6 in there as well as that rawness of Total from back in the day. We are also influenced by The Spice Girls,

(In unison they sing “We Getting Spice Girl Money OOOHHH”)

UTM: How did the Group come about, I know you were all in the business but what made you take this step?

Sarah:  We were friends first, and I don’t think anything made us decide really. We all crossed paths working with different acts and it was more of a natural progression. We started out as dancers and when you accomplish your goals as far as who you want to work with in this business, you look for other things to motivate you. Naturally being artist we have more to say. There is a void in the music that we feel we can fill. Binki approached me to do the group I said Hell Yeah, I brought in Naomi from Toronto they fell in love with her and there you are.

UTM: I heard a few songs from the album and I was surprised there weren’t any ballads. Will the full length album have ballads?

Naomi: You better believe it we got some F#*K Ballads let me tell you. We have songs that will make you want to go home and make a baby, and we have songs that will make you hug your pillow and cry because you miss whomever so much it hurts. Hell we even have a song that will make you go spider monkey on your man, you know what I mean. But the album is very well rounded there are club songs as well as some more laid back ones.

UTM: So tell me each of you what is your favorite track and why?

Lesley: Kill Bill is one of my favorites because it’s so in your face and real. It’s about what you would do if you find out that someone is cheating on you. I think it is going to touch a lot of people.

Binki : For me it would be BedRest, (Naomi says damn as if that were her answer) Bed Rest sounds like an early 90’s song that mixes Janet and Jodeci. It’s a sick song I can’t wait for people to hear it.

Naomi: Well since I can’t pick BedRest I like On Point it’s really cocky you know. As a woman talking to a man it’s about bringing you’re A game. Whenever I play that the top is down and the chrome is spinning, and my mind is on money.

Sarah: I am gonna go with my daughter’s favorite song Go Shortie, it’s on some old H-Town shit and I love it.

UTM: Tell me since you all have backgrounds in some aspect of theater and performing how much does that influences your performance.

Binki : I think that is the major thing that distinguishes us from other acts. We are rooted in the performing arts. We were all raised with the fundamentals of music and the arts and thinking outside the box. Our thinking and creative process is so apparent in everything that we do. It’s amazing to have four women with such similar backgrounds together on the same page. It really is a force to behold.

UTM: Since all of you have a background in chorography whose responsible for coming up with the routines?

Lesley: We have worked with so many different chorographers that we have an idea of who would give the best performance for each song. It’s a blessing to have such a large variety to choose from but thankfully we have great working relationships with everyone. Also sometimes it’s easier to have a fifth set of eyes come in and give a direction.

Binki : They take our opinions as well, when we are in the studio we are in there for hours at a time so you do ask yourself questions like how does this song make me feel? How would the video look? So naturally we have general ideas for each song on how we will perform them and how they will be shown.

UTM: All of you have worked with more established artist in the past describe what it is like to move from the back of the stage to the front.

Lesley: It’s a huge difference.

Naomi:  Colossal

Lesley: We are able to bring our own creative ideas to the forefront. In the past we have all contributed to other artist success and now we can focus on our own. And that is the best reward.

Sarah:  Yes it is way more personal and everything we put out now is 100% us. It is who we are and that makes everything crucial. I mean there was a time we were on tour and we could go to the mall and spend ALL our money (she says with a smile), but now we have interviews and meetings. We are adjusting to no sleep and having constant eyes on us. We have to be on our A game all the time.

Binki :  And making decisions too, there are a lot of decisions that have to be made. There are a lot of (I)’s to dot and (T)’s to cross. Sometimes that in itself is a bit stressful. Being on the road as a dancer we didn’t have to deal with that. Now there are many conversations that go “What do you think of this?” or arguing with out manager about a picture that doesn’t need to go out. Or a million other things.

Naomi: We are already performers so that aspect hasn’t changed. I think being at the forefront is what we have all been training for all along. That’s it for me; this is what we are supposed to be doing.

UTM: Talk about the production I see that you guys are working with The Dream how is that experience?

Lesley:  It was amazing watching his mind work, he is a genius. Tricky Stewart and Dream created our entire album in a day. We recorded it in two weeks in the Palms in Vegas. They were able to capture our personalities in 2.2 seconds.

Naomi:   Tricky is amazing he talks to you and is totally in his music at the same time. He says he grew up in a musical family so there you go parents get your kids a damn horn to blow they may end up rich.

UTM:   How involved were you guys in the song writing process, because the songs are so in tune with how women really are?

Binki : It was Dream, Loc, and Sean Hall who wrote our album, but what they did was take all of our suggestions and put them on paper. No other group of women could have produced what we did. Dream got with us and just talked. We played some songs that were dear to us and he was able to craft what he did. After he was done the first song he played for us was “We Fuck You”. The moment I heard it I was like Hell Yeah he got it. It’s a raw song and there is some strong language in there but it is a song for women who take back the power of not only sex but everything that may make them feel powerless. And some other artist may have asked him to pull back but we encouraged him to go hard or go home. And we are very happy with the finish product.

UTM: What it’s like being on tour with your friends at this point in your career?

Naomi: Being on our promo tour is amazing; right now we are opening for Lil Wayne, Neo, Jasmine Sullivan and Musiq Soulchild. To be doing our songs and hearing our music on the radio is a dream come true. To see people who have never heard our songs, hear them for the first time and have a reaction that is amazing to me. And to have Def Jam with LA Reid in our corner it’s more than I could ask for.

UTM: How did you come up with the name Electrik Red?

Binki : I am a Jimmy Hendrix fan so it’s a play on his song Electric Lady and the color red is just so damn sexy. It feels good in your throat..LOL

UTM: Talk about your lyrics they are very in your face. 

Naomi: You mean in your mouth LOL

(The entire table erupts in laughter)

UTM: Was that by design or is it something that just happens in the studio?

Binki : The in your mouth lyrics are just a reflection of who we are. The energy we give off is captured in our music, we are honest with it. How I talk to you is how my songs are.

UTM: So what is the name of the album?

Binki : Its called How To Be A Lady Vol 1

UTM: Is there anything else you guys want to add?

Binki : I wanted to thank Neo’s crew and they have helped us with our set and I really wanted to thank you guys. Peace and Love and take care…