![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Regina-Spektor-JulyAugust-2012.jpg\" "\\"Regina-Spektor-JulyAugust-2012\\"")
<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nThis quirky Russian-American original lets her art speak for itself \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Regina Spektor\u2019s current world tour included two stops in Russia\u2014the homeland she hasn\u2019t visited since her family moved to the Bronx 23 years ago. \u201cIt feels incredibly big and emotional and overwhelming,\u201d she said prior to the trip. \u201cI\u2019m also excited to see who will come to my show. Are there fans in Russia?\u201d She needn\u2019t have wondered. After six inventive albums, Spektor, 32, has won fans the world over. Produced by Mike Elizondo, her latest effort, What We Saw From the Cheap Seats<\/em>, debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. The eclectic, piano-centric songs range from whimsical to contemplative and feature Spektor\u2019s signature vocal flourishes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How do you pick the songs?<\/strong><\/p>\n I have so many songs waiting to be recorded and produced properly, so it depends on what feels right in the moment. It\u2019s a pretty haphazard, free-associative way of making records. I just write songs as I live life, and they accumulate. Sometimes there\u2019s a song I\u2019ve wanted to have on the record for years, but every time I try it\u2019s not right. Sometimes really new ones sneak in, or ones I hadn\u2019t even thought about. Or the producer comes up with a sound that I realize would be perfect for a song I haven\u2019t thought about in so long\u2014then all of a sudden that song ends up on the record, totally out of left field.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Why did you choose Mike to produce?<\/strong><\/p>\n When I worked with the four producers [Elizondo, Jeff Lynne, David Kahne and Garret \u201cJacknife\u201d Lee on Far<\/em>, 2009], I loved it\u2014it was fun having four shorter, more fleeting kinds of experiences. And then it was fun to go deeper with just one producer. I would do a full record with any of those people. Something great happens when you just come in and do a few songs, but something else great happens when\u00a0you do a whole record.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How do you maintain your sound?<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s all about collaboration and being really open. I\u2019ve never worked with somebody who tried to impose anything on me, and if I ever did I\u2019d probably be out of there in a few hours. The whole point of working with a producer is to help you flesh out your vision and express your songs. But I definitely love interacting with these wonderful musicians and having their ideas. Mike Elizondo is a virtuosic bassist, just amazing at upright and electric. He\u2019s also an amazing programmer and finds beautiful sounds. There are so many things I wouldn\u2019t be able to hear\u00a0in my head without his help.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Your following has grown, what\u2019s it like playing for a larger audience?<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s really exciting\u2014the idea that somebody is going to take that music and put it onto the backdrop of their life, like having the view out their window and hearing traffic along with the music that I made. Or walking with ear buds and hearing street sounds, or ocean sounds, or wherever they are, interacting with whatever song they\u2019re listening to. That collective kind of experience\u00a0is the exciting thing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Do you feel fans should interpret your music a certain way?<\/strong><\/p>\n As a matter of fact, no. It\u2019s all about it being something personal for whoever is experiencing it. It\u2019s meant to interact with their associations and their memories. That\u2019s why I never talk about lyrics or explain anything, because to me it\u2019s just a very boring way to go about bringing your art. The whole point is that people should have their own time with it. I love that.<\/p>\n \u2013Heather Ebert<\/p>\n REGINA SPEKTOR This quirky Russian-American original lets her art speak for itself \u00a0 \u00a0 Regina Spektor\u2019s current world tour included two stops in Russia\u2014the homeland she hasn\u2019t visited since her family moved to the Bronx 23 years ago. \u201cIt feels incredibly big and emotional and overwhelming,\u201d she said prior to the trip. \u201cI\u2019m also excited […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[4910,4909,4912,4911,3907,4538,842,970,1640,4913],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7449"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7449"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7452,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7449\/revisions\/7452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"