In Her Own Words - Regina Spektor Issue #28

Regina Spektor briefs us on her latest album, Begin to Hope

By Kristina Francisco
Published: June 1st, 2006 | 10:09am

With Begin to Hope, Russian-born, Bronx-bred, and classically-trained pianist Regina Spektor delivers an album that veers from the electric “Better” to simple piano tunes like “Samson” and “Summer in the City,” from the shimmying “Hotel Song” to the dark “Apres Moi.” Here, she shares about letting go of her controlling ways and the excitement of recording her new baby. — Kristina Francisco

As these things go, it is impossible not to have prior images of a long-awaited event. A birthday present... A trip... A love... In this case, a new record. I, as usual, had many abstract images before I began working. Many sounds, arrangements, and though a lot of them ended up on the record in some capacity, something very unexpected happened as well.

When I began working with my producer, David Kahne, I began to realize that I was less and less controlling of the process. It was a very exciting realization for someone who tries to control everything and think it through ahead of time, usually starting with the worst-case scenario. This, of course, was due to David's ability to share tremendous amounts of knowledge (I accidentally called him "my professor" instead of "my producer" numerous times) in a very non-pressuring or dominating way.

It was very innocent. There was an atmosphere of two kids in a science lab, wearing goggles and lab coats, playing and experimenting until a little Frankenstein was born. To work like this had been a dream of mine, but I thought it would be years before it happened. I definitely tried to put every loving aspect of myself into it. We played with wires and sounds, set the lab on fire a bunch of times, laughed, and started again... And then it was all done.

I really hope that this little record gets to hang out in the world and be useful to some people. That's the most anyone can ever hope for.