The talented singers, musicians, songwriters & visual artists from the NY/NJ area and beyond. Peace to Pat, Slim Pickens, K Moore, LaRon Land, Melodie, Keima & Milton, Vindikayt & Dr. von Rollalot!
Influences
Great songwriters from the 60s, 70s, 80s and so forth! Listening to dance/disco, soul, jazz, funk, go-go, rock, top 40, punk. You named it! Reading liner notes and discovering songs I loved as a kid and still continue to do.
My favorite songwriters/wordsmiths (not in any particular order) Ashford & Simpson, Huff & Gamble, David & Bacharach, Joni Mitchell, Phoebe Snow, Carole King, McCartney & Lennon, Becker & Fagan, The Eagles, Jam & Lewis, Peven Everett, U2, Talking Heads, Sting, Led Zepplin, Omar, Sade, Vanessa Daou, Peter, Gabriel, Rufus & Chaka, Rod Temperton, Peter Tosh, Bob Marley, Prince, Cee-Lo, Lizz Fields, Nina Simone, Roberta Flack, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Womack & Womack, Bobby Womack, Sy Smith, Me'Shell Ndegeocello, Van Hunt, Count Bass D, Mary J. Blige, Erykah Badu and countless others!
Sandi Soler is a Brooklyn (Bed-Stuy) based songwriter/lyricist bringing her unique Jazz, Space Funk, House and soulful melodies into lyrical fusion. For over 10 years she has collaborated with self-taught & jazz-trained musicians to create unique and groovy sounds. This experience spun into Brooklyn Ink Songs, which is Sandi Soler’s songwriter collective created in 2004. This collective consists of rock jazz guitarist/vocalist Pat Shepard (Park Slope), Slim Pickens/Keima & Milton’s Cracked Dome (Park Slope), Kurt Moore (Rahway, NJ), hip hop mc/producer KBanger (Perth Amboy, NJ) and many others.
In the summer of 2010 look out for Sandi and her BK collective’s debut, chapter 1 of a 4 part series EP project entitled- Brooklyn Ink Songs presents Elation Collaborations.
Sandi’s precocious beginnings are rooted in her native Washington, D.C. As a child she’d spend hours listening to her mother’s soul, funk, gospel and disco records, as well as digging in her family, friends and neighbor’s albums/45 collections. Her love for music replaced dolls and other toys.
As a young woman Sandi became frustrated with the mundane 9-5 world, so she took a job as an assistant/LP buyer at Tower Records in Washington, DC. Bitten by the music bug, she started incorporating her poetry into songs. Within this creative environment her musicians-friends collaborated, performed & recorded a couple of her tunes: Time & Space and Hey There, Baby.
In 2001 Sandi moved to New York City (Harlem) to pursue her life in the arts. As administrative support to the President of Studio Museum in Harlem (SMH) and the Cultural Institution Group, Sandi coordinated events/meetings for 33 art/cultural institutions members throughout NYC. She wasn’t completely satisfied in the art world, so in her spare time became music contributor for Giant Step (GS), the popular on-line music/trend marketing site. For 2 years, her best music reviews hailed by tastemakers and colleagues alike…
Mehmet Dede Director, Lifestyle Marketing & New Media at Giant Step Team comments Sandi’s review -- Sinead O’Connor ‘Throw Down Your Arms’ (Rocket Science Records) produced by Reggae legend Sly & Robbie.
“Sandi Soler does it again with a top-notch review for Sinead O'Connor's new roots/reggae album. Check it out...”
&
Fellow GS tastemaker, KaeDilla gives kudos to Sandi’s review on Sufrajett self-titled cd (Giant Step Records)
“Sandi-->the review, you nailed it! Lady, you could sell air and make me buy it...”
After her 4 years stint with SMH (2002-2006), she moved onto MusicNet, an indie/major labels & music license distribution site. Her brief time there was split as taskmaster to SVP of Content & SVP Biz Dev and curating art shows with graffiti-artist/husband SEN ONE in the tri-state area and Philly including live art painting at the 7th Anniversary Body Rock show w/Illvibe Collective featuring DJ King Britt.
Sandi is the Jill-of-all-Trades as Music Curator for her podcast show on Podomatic, her slogan reads “Music is the Soundtrack to My Life” caught the attraction of a fellow listener who convinced her to sign up for the Scion 2008 playlist contest. Selected as the top 14 semifinalists by Wax Poetic Radio, this avid music connoisseur is never too far away from curating her next mix show to collaborating with creative musicians/beat makers bringing a unique brand of House, Space Funk, Soul and Jazz to the universe.
And watch out for Elation Collaborations in summer 2010 and if you want to hear what’s Sandi Soler’s Brooklyn Ink Songs is about visit… Brooklyn Ink Songs or follow her on Twitter
