Mis à jour 18-11-2007 21:49

Anita Pointer : "When I hear the music, I just want to shout"

The Pointer Sisters, one of the most famous female band in the world celebrates 30 years of disco. Metro met one of the sisters.

The Pointer Sisters are back! Celebrating 30 years of disco, the Pointer Sisters are now tow sisters and one nice, Issa, Ruth’s daughter who joined her mom and Anita in one of the most famous female bands of all time. Much has changed in their lives, but the passion for music is still there. And we’re still dancing to “I’m So excited” and “Automatic”… Anita tells us more from her home in California .     

You have a career spanning nearly four decades. How do you get the drive, passion and inspiration after all this time?

It’s just in me. When I hear the music, I just want to shout. I love to do it. The people and the audience, they have a lot to do with it as well. If our fans feel like they’re having a good time, it gives me more energy.

You have quite a fan base. Many come with their kids, who weren’t even born when “I’m So excited” came out.

(Laughs) Yeah, I love that! We have grandmothers and kids at our shows. That’s the good thing about the Pointer Sisters. It’s a fun show. It’s not a vulgar show, so you van bring your grandma and you can bring the kids. They’re not going to get a corset in their face! (Laughs)

Do you think a lot of concerts today are more adult-oriented?

Well, some of these concerts can get wild. They want to shock you. We have great music and songs that bring them great memories. We haven’t had a hit album in a long time, so it’s time to do a new album.

Are you working on it?

I’m always working on one, but it’s hard to get the industry behind an artist who’s not 25. We’re trying to do it ourselves, but it’s still hard. It’s really hard.

Are you writing new songs? Are you influenced by new sounds?

I listen to different music. When I wrote “Fairy Tale”, I was listening to James Taylor – I love him. I just think he’s so great. I was sitting in this motel room in Woodstock and listening to James Taylor. And I wrote “Fairy Tale” that night. Writing is definitely a part of what you live and what you her and what you feel. That’s where it really comes from.

A lot of newer artists like Queen Latifah cover the Pointer Sisters. What do you think of these covers?

Oh, I’m really honored! Oh, I love it! (Laughs) It’s such a compliment to have the young people let us be influences on their music. They love it enough to record it and I think that’s great.

Do you have any unreleased material from 20 years ago that you eventually want to release?

Yeah, I do. I have songs that I have written that didn’t make it on the album.

What’s your favorite song?
”I’m So Excited”. There’s a common thing that relates to everybody, that just makes so much sense ‘cos life can be so exciting. Things can happen all the time that are so exciting. And it’s been a great sing for us. It’s been played a lot. It’s been used for commercials and in the movies. So people seem to get excited about it (laughs) and they get touched by that song, and that makes me happy.

You also have a new bandmember.

Yes, my niece, Lisa, is singing with us now.

What does she bring to the band?

She brings youth. She’s young and she’s exciting. She’s got a lot of energy and she’s got a great voice. She loves being a performer. Her dad is one of the Temptations, the one who sang “Papa Was a Rolling Stone”.

So she’s got pretty good genes from both sides!

Exactly! She was singing before she got with us. She was doing shows locally – bar mitzvahs, weddings and private parties with little groups she had back East.

Does she help you discover new artists and influence you guys?

Yeah, she does. She brings a lot to the table as far as turning us on to what’s happening now.

How did you choose your set list because you’ve got such a huge catalog?

We’re going to give people what we think they want to hear – all the hits – and just have a lot of fun with everybody.

Is there anyone you’d like to work with?

I’d love to work with Missy Elliot, Queen Latifah. There’s so many people I’d like to work with as far as performing.

Do you produce?

You know, I do and I don’t. I don’t really like producing. I don’t like spending that much time in the studio. I don’t like spending hours and hours and hours listening to the same thing over and over and over! We always co-produced our albums, picking instruments, certain solos, the type of instrumentation that goes into a certain type of song, and also doing vocal arrangement. We did all that on our own when we recorded. In a sense I do produce. I guess it’s the mixing that I don’t really like.

It becomes tedious.

It does. You have to be in the studio for hours and hours listening to the same thing over and over. Especially when it’s my voice! I might produce somebody else (laughs) – that might make a difference, working with someone else’s voice. It can make all the difference in the world.

You mentioned earlier that the music industry changed since your beginnings?

Yes, it has. Women are doing a lot more now. They’re producing, they’re writing. When we started, you couldn’t find a woman producing or even writing their own songs. We were some of the first to write their own songs.

You mentioned that the industry is closed to women over 25. Is there more pressure on women imaged-wise?

Yeah, there is a lot of pressure to look a certain way. But it’s on everybody – women and men. Everybody needs to be more health-conscious. The way people are eating and the food their pushing on people like drugs. It’s horrible and it’s killing people.

Do you have any career regrets?

No, not really. I have no regrets. I’ve had a really great career. Very successful and lucky and fortunate to be still working.