Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Hotel lounge singer Sandra Tremblay transformed herself into a dazzling dance diva for a recording session back home in Canada and has returned to the kingdom triumphant with a single video release looking set to achieve a staggering one million views on YouTube.
She is part of the popular duo Piece of Cake which entertains diners at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay. The other member is Alex Le Kid who composed the song Shots that has become a social media sensation.
“I am really happy and delighted with the response to our music,” Sandra said. “I’m a perfectionist so I’d say there is always room for improvement and there is so much more to come!”
News of the duo’s return has already sparked much frenzy in the kingdom after a diner at the hotel’s popular Friday brunch posted a short video of a performance and within days more than 1,000 people had liked his post.
And there’s something extra scheduled for Sandra’s solo career with a Bahraini twist. She hopes to record a fully revamped cover of a famous Arabic song. “A few Bahraini friends have helped me out with the pronunciation to ensure I get it word-perfect.
Video footage will also be shot 100 per cent in Bahrain!” she said. The experience gained from putting together album material will no doubt prove invaluable and the reaction to two YouTube releases have made all the hard work and scrimping and saving every last dinar as musicians worthwhile.
Sandra and Alex originally came to Bahrain as part of a seven-piece band playing at Rocky’s Café at the Ramee International Hotel during an eight-month stint starting in 2014. The purpose was to help finance a Better Late Than Never 14-track album project.
“Alex is an incredible musician!” said Sandra. “He is the brain and heart of my album and composes and produces everything from scratch - from the drum-beats to the littlest of add-on effects!
“When the songs reach my ears all I have left to do is write down the lyrics! His core activity was more rock and blues but what I liked the most about this guy was the professionalism and dynamism and at first he said ‘no’ to producing my album but when I sent him some videos of me singing live, he changed his mind and said: ‘OK, let’s do this!”
They come from Drummondville, a town 45 minutes away from Montreal, and stepped in as a duo at a Four Seasons brunch one Friday in 2015 and proceeded to wow the guests. “The management liked us so much they hired us on a four months contract and extended it to nine months until 2016,” explained Sandra.
“We just came back again last week and we are set to stay until Ramadan.” The time away back in Canada from June proved highly productive. They set up a photo-shoot for album branding and met up with choreographer Karine Jalbert, who they had had been in touch with during the last month of their last Bahrain contract, to help with a promotional video to promote the first single which has the same name as the album.
Sandra was given a dance routine to master to perfection alongside four professional dancers. The video shoot took place in an abandoned asylum in Ste-Clotilde de Horton which is rumoured to be haunted. “I guess we were too noisy for the ghosts as we didn’t see any!” said Sandra.
The shoot was staged in two parts for day and night footage and a team of 10 worked on the project which took 16 hours to produce. Multi-talented musician and producer, Alex, who plays drums, keyboards, lead guitar, bass, as well as other stringed instruments, and Sandra, then worked with the team on building on and editing the recordings, working alongside an executive video producer, and spending around 100 hours in total preparation for its release in October.
“The lyrics I wrote for Better Late Than Never are all about taking control of your life, not settling for less than you deserve, and flushing away all that is a nuisance to your happiness!” said Sandra.
It attracted 121,000 views on YouTube and the reaction spurred them on to release the second single Shots. Alex had finished composing the song and melody and Sandra said at the start she was sitting there with ‘blank page syndrome’.
“I didn’t feel like Shots should have as much meaning in the lyrics as Better Late Than Never,” she explained. “I wanted a dance club song, something catchy.” They put their heads together and came up with an impressive hook. “It’s literally an ear worm!” exclaimed Sandra.
The pair decided on a completely different type of retro video to support it. “We used black-and-white images and old dance and train movie clips,” she explained. The song was only released on December 17 and had an instant online impact. “We are delightfully surprised with the results as it has been seen more than 800,000 times so far!” said Sandra.
“First of all, for Better Late Than Never, we expected around 20,000 views at most and got 100,000 more … for Shots we hoped for 100,000 and got eight times that number. “If we could top a million while we are in Bahrain that would be amazing!”
However, for the first time in her life, Sandra has been confronted by internet ‘trolls’ leaving nasty comments although the majority of reaction has been supportive and positive and big business is also showing an interest offering potential sponsorship deals.
Alex, who also runs his own company, 3am Productions, is equally delighted. He said: “For me, with Sandra it’s about the voice, since day one - it’s a voice that cuts well. “The challenge is to write songs that put that voice in evidence without being over- pushed like the ‘Mariah Carey’s’ of this world … sure, it’s a question of taste, but this is not what I’m looking for.
“The album is a travel in time and styles. My aim has been to avoid allowing Sandra to get stuck in a particular mold which is why the album will cover many styles. “She is like the Energizer battery rabbit, is always happy and smiling, full of energy and she wants her album to be like that - and that’s what she’ll get! Her major influences are Christina Aguilera and Lady Gaga and mine are Etta James, Aretha Franklin and Ella Fitzgerald so what do you get between the North Pole and the South Pole?
The answer, the Equator and warm, dancing, partying countries - that’s what you get!” They have ‘so much more to come’, both say, including at least a couple of collaborations coming on the album, one with a renowned Cuban singer for a Latin release and one with a country singer from Alaska, who writes and records in Finland.
And, where better to be further warmly influenced than in the kingdom? “For the last three years, we’ve spent more time in Bahrain than anywhere-else and we are so happy to be reunited with our local friends here,” said Sandra.
“The management, team and guests have made the Four Seasons feel like home.” The softer side of Sandra as part of Piece of Cake with Alex works perfectly here. Hotel manager Bob Suri said: “Piece of Cake brings a piece of heaven to every mind and soul. “We hope our guests will share our excitement whenever these two talented musicians are performing.”
Join Piece of Cake at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay on Thursday nights in the Bay View Lounge (lobby) from 8pm to midnight, Friday brunches at Bahrain Bay Kitchen from 12.30pm to, Saturday brunches at Re Asian Cuisine between 12.30pm and 4pm and Sunday afternoons in Bay View Lounge again from 3pm to 7pm.
Check out www.sandra. buzz and https://sandraofficial. bandcamp.com and follow Sandra on https://web. facebook.com/sandra.buzz. official/ and on Instagram at Sandra.buzz.official, SnapChat at sandrabuzz and https://www.youtube.com/c/ SandraOfficial, www.sandra. buzz - also, scan the QR to see the video that’s set the internet alight.
