Interview with The Womack Sisters

What is going on? It is Adam. Welcome back to bringing it backwards. A podcast where both legendary and rising artists tell their own personal stories of how they achieved stardom. On this episode, we had a chance to hang out with the Womack sisters over zoom video. The Womack sisters are the granddaughters to the legendary Sam cook. Their parents were in Womack Womack. Their uncle is the singer songwriter R and B icon, Billy Womack. So obviously a very, very, very musical household. It's interesting. Every record, every Womack Womack record that our mother is pregnant with one of them on the cover. I think that's so awesome. They grew up on the road, lived all over the world. 3 (1m 39s): They're obviously able to kind of soak up so much musical knowledge and so much experience. Whether that be, you know, roading for their parents, singing back ups, helping their parents do harmonies while they're writing music. They've been immersed in the music industry, their entire lives. They talk about forming the Womack sisters, dealing with a lot of loss from their father, passing away to their uncle, passing away. Their father was their manager, and then their uncle ended up taking over as their manager and their father passed away, but they were able to continue on and the release, a couple of records. They have an EAP coming out and they tell us all about it. You can watch the interview with the Womack sisters on our Facebook page, in YouTube channel at bringing it backwards. 3 (2m 23s): It would be awesome if you subscribe to our channel like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and tick-tock at bringing back pod. And if you're listening to this on Spotify, apple music, Google podcasts, it would be amazing if you follow us there as well, and hook us up with a five star review. 4 (2m 42s): We'd appreciate your support. If you follow and subscribe to our podcasts, wherever you listen to podcasts, 3 (2m 48s): We're bringing it backwards with the Womack sisters. 5 (2m 52s): Thank you for having this is definitely a beautiful thing. You know, the process, the lease New York, you know, we went through so many different journeys to get to where we are now, as far as releasing ourselves independently, you know? So 3 (3m 9s): Yeah. Amazing. Well, I can't wait to hear it. I'm just, I guess, first off you're all sisters like blood sisters, correct. And who's the oldest through the youngest, 5 (3m 24s): All this middle 3 (3m 28s): Age difference. If you don't mind me asking. 5 (3m 30s): Well, there's some noise. There are seven of us. 3 (3m 36s): Oh, wow. Okay. So it doesn't go oldest or is that just the order here? 5 (3m 41s): Oh boy. In between A girl that's under her, which is the youngest five girls. Two boys. Yeah. 3 (3m 55s): Wow. That's a big household. 5 (3m 57s): They really loved each other. They were the best, best of friends. 3 (4m 1s): That is amazing. Where did, where did y'all grow up? What part? A 5 (4m 10s): On the road with them? You know, they, they, they had a singing group, their selves on writers and producers for other artists. And they took us on the road with them, like everywhere. Some of us were born on tour and we really did the majority of their shows with them. They went through a little phase of trying to leave this home because they had a home. We had a home in Virginia and they would tour. And that was probably their first album. But then my dad kind of felt, you know, that he was missing a lot of our upbringing. So he wanted to take us everywhere with him. And after that period, so pretty much every album we were somewhere else. 5 (4m 54s): She was born in Nassau. I was born in LA, but shortly I was in London afterwards. I was born in and you know, our parents were moving New York and London and Amsterdam. So it was 3 (5m 8s): Cool 5 (5m 10s): Moving. Yeah. 3 (5m 12s): Wow. What was that like growing up on the road like that? 5 (5m 15s): Oh my God. It was, it was crazy. I mean, thank God. It was so many of us because we were friends, you know, but it wouldn't be lonely. Other than that, cause we didn't get a chance to meet like other kids. We moved like every year having our built-in friends, definitely. We were the best of friends just because of the, you know, because our parents were like in another city, like every other month or every other day. And depending on whatever the business was, I guess he would move. Yeah. So we lived in Paris and Amsterdam, Germany, south France. We lived in Thailand for the law. Our parents had great success in Europe, so they didn't day of the state's pretty young. 5 (5m 59s): And we stayed with them in Europe and then Asia, cause our dad just proved very fond of it through a couple shows that they had out there and we wanted to stay. So we ended up having two homes out there, which was one was in Pooka and one was in big sorority. I think of our brain probably 13 years back and forth. Yeah. 3 (6m 25s): Wow. That's cool. I love that your parents took you on the road with them. I think that's so awesome. Like, you know, kind of keep the family together and tour around the world and everyone gets kind of, you know, soak up what, what your, what your family had worked for. 5 (6m 41s): Yeah. It meant a lot to us because we would have, we wouldn't have seen them, you know, their mother and her father and grouped together. They loved it. They loved it. You know, it wasn't a job to them. So We would have never seen them that they didn't take this with them. So, 3 (7m 4s): But I mean, yeah, definitely. I mean, and then your grandfather, obviously a massive legend and even your, what your uncle was also a songwriter 5 (7m 18s): Grandfather, Sam cook, 3 (7m 21s): A legendary Sam cook. We have to add that piece. 5 (7m 26s): And our uncles, Bobby Womack, we toured with him on his last album. And that was definitely a learning experience for us. He taught us a lot and I don't know, we got to say our parents to me, with him as well. They actually, we were there. That was our first backup singers, backup saying it, every job you can do on it, we opened for them once we had formed our group and kind of started rehearsing together as a group. Yeah. And that was definitely all of the teaching that went into us. 3 (8m 6s): I'm curious to know if your other sister and your brothers are musical or not, or are they just not interested in it? 5 (8m 14s): Yeah. Dad was always throwing harmonies at us in the kitchen when we're cooking and snap. And I think all of us have a love for music and our brother actually has some music that he's going to be releasing. So he sings and raps and such the V6, such an international sound. And I'm really looking forward to him releasing his projects and our sister she's recently become a mother. So that's her main focus in her life. That's always been a great song writer and a great vocalist and yeah, she's definitely has that love for music as well. 3 (8m 53s): That's so cool. So cool. And with, I mean, obviously you just said you were like roading for your parents and singing backups and when does it all kind of like, are you able to watch them kind of, I mean, were you able to watch them write songs growing up? Like tell me about the process of like what you were seeing and how that then you utilize that. Now 5 (9m 13s): Part of our like every day, like surrounding, like our father was in the living room of where we were living and just kind of going over ideas in front of us and he would probably even have us do some of the harmonies to kind of help him load the song. So we seen it from the ground up as far as this process, you know, and anything when we're traveling, you know, our dad always kept his tape recorder and he would, he would jot down his ideas or at least his tape before to sound something out. And we just seen it developed like bit by bit. And that's how we create our songs. You know, now it's a lot of good experience and then you have those moments in your life where you might be out and we might be inspired for something you see, and that becomes a part of your song. 5 (9m 60s): So it's beautiful how it all unfolds a little process for us. Yeah. Watching. 3 (10m 9s): Wow. That's so fascinating to me. I think that's so awesome to be able to like be around that because all I've I've interviewed people that have they come from, if they're family or member of their family who was a musician or big musician at some point, and like, you'll either hear, like, we loved it. We were blah, you know, soaking up every second and then they may have a sibling that's just like, not interested not into it, like whatsoever. Like, you know what I mean? 5 (10m 35s): Yeah. Some people do have those stories and you know, we have friends that have families that have a similar background and some of them, you know, linen another direction as far as what they wanted to do. And that would be like a distraction if your parents said to just surrounded with music all the time, because unfortunately yeah. That same passion for music. And so it wasn't a hindrance on us, you know? 3 (11m 5s): Sure. Yeah. It's amazing that you all have that passion, right. I mean, if you didn't, then you wouldn't be in this group and we wouldn't be talking, but 5 (11m 14s): Yeah. Even that, you know, cause some black to reach out and kind of put together a group to kind of fit in there or have a love for music, the same era, we all want a similar have that similar love for music. As far as the, the sash, you know, we were talking about that the other day, you know, in my mid sixties and the 50 sound and just that full on big band, you know, that's what we really appreciate. And it comes up 3 (11m 47s): Where you all writing independently and then kind of came together and decided to start this, like, how did the group form, like what was the 5 (11m 57s): Actually gave us our group name, singing back up for them. And we started off as a gypsy queen. Well, your opening now was early on when we first started opening for them and their shows that was like early 2002. And so, 3 (12m 13s): And you guys were writing you hadn't like original material, they'd go out and perform before they're set. 5 (12m 19s): Yeah. We actually were able to do our opening of their stay probably about five. This shows when we first became a group and then the rest of the time we're singing back up and then we started molding our sound and do more stuff. And once we did, we moved to Los Angeles and that's when we recorded like several other projects with different producers and we molded and molded in. And at that point we decided, okay, our need should really match our sound. And our sound is solvable, but new age, Eastern mystic version of girl groups, you know, we kind of messed it all up in the blender and came up with our sound and it's funky and it's, it's definitely battle. 5 (13m 8s): And I want, I want us to portray that, you know, the great things about girl power and the sexiness and, and just the colorful aspects of being, you know, that's what 3 (13m 24s): Was, was it always a group like the three of you guys were always a group or did you have aspirations to be solo artists at one point? And this just made more sense. 5 (13m 34s): When we first came together, our dad had us as addiction Queens. There was four of the group at the time because he was kind of filling things out. Actually, no, there was three members of the group Are all those sisters with the baby when we actually started. But our other sister was in the group, the one that's a mother now. And so when we were <inaudible> she was like, oh, you know what, I'm going to fall back. She got married. So she was already roomed up into the groups. 5 (14m 17s): So we ended up again. But yeah, there was always, I was always in the group. Yeah. And we thought our younger sister was going to grow them up, like contributed and want to be in the group. She's like not. 3 (14m 39s): Ah, okay. And then she, but then she got married and she's a mom. So she's a songwriter now or at mom first and foremost, 5 (14m 48s): You can have them the appreciation for the traveling, you know, on the road and stuff. So she wanted to settle herself down and only perspective that because being a mother and starting your family, this is a beautiful journey. And, and it's so loud, 3 (15m 4s): Time consuming journey. I have chickens in my arm and I get it 5 (15m 8s): And it's a blessing. And now I understand it was a real big deal when your partner and you do the same thing, it's easy because our dad and mom had each other to travel with and to take care of the babies and stuff. So it's different when you have a partner who's like, you know, working a regular job or a job or they're confined to one city. And so that's the thing with starting with them. Yeah. It's different her for that, she's still a part of our creative process. She always comes to the studio and since she helps us with our backgrounds and whatever, we are having little moments with, so we still get that from her. 5 (15m 51s): And as far as the three of us, it was needed to be, cause we're so alike in certain ways, as far as how it, and you know, our songs, you know, it was meant for us to work, to get it. Cause I think all of us all as siblings, you know, you locked, like you lock the most. 3 (16m 9s): Okay. Well, just to, I mean, I want to give your mom a lot of credit here. Cause you said they both did the same job, so it was easier for them to be around you and help the kids. But you have what? Seven there's, seven of you, five of you. 5 (16m 26s): I 3 (16m 26s): Mean, I have two kids and I'm like, like I can't imagine having five more, 5 (16m 38s): Two days after I was born and revealed me there and I'm like, get out of each like album cover and we'll Release the new baby every time 3 (16m 54s): That's nuts. So you could look at the record and be like, oh, okay. So-and-so is in there. 5 (17m 2s): That's crazy though. I do respect. It takes a lot. It does a lot on, 3 (17m 10s): Oh yeah. Not only that, but then to have such a successful career and then being on the road all the time and then raising a handful of kids. And it's just like, like that to me is wow. 5 (17m 21s): Yeah, it takes a lot, but we see a lot more women than, and now, you know, almost the only one at the time that I saw doing something like that and then carrying with them, like on television radio, like so stuck with them, even if it was like a problem with the organization. 3 (17m 41s): That's awesome. That's cool. I love that. Did she just know if you want us to be here and do this? My kids are coming, so 5 (17m 51s): They tend to do a lot of the ways for them And then, yeah. 3 (17m 56s): That's so cool. So cool. And so you guys moved to LA, what year do you start putting this together? Or I guess you said there was a, the earlier version was, did that start in LA? 5 (18m 8s): I moved to LA. No. You mean, when did we start putting this together? Like really? 3 (18m 13s): Was that in LA when you had already lived there? 5 (18m 16s): I would say 2000, to be honest with you 2014, because those Rocky time for us, our dad used to manage us. Then he fell ill in 2012 and passed in 2013, our uncle kind of came and rescued us from this. What are we going to do? I'm wanting to do anything, you know, it's that dark cloud that I'm sure anyone who's lost, a parent gets in and you just don't really want, you don't want to look. You don't want to just move forward. You don't want to sit still for a moment and just Did that for a year and then I'm getting founders. 5 (19m 2s): Yeah. He reached out to us. He wanted us to go on tour with him. And so that's when we had flown back to LA because we were living in Georgia. So, so warm, just like we basically just like, you know, kind of put his arms around us and just very much like another father. And we lived with him and traveled and producing our album, took over as manager for the group and it was really beautiful and he, you know, fell ill eventually. And I'm glad you explained to him a lot, but that was in the spirit. 3 (19m 43s): Was it hard to, I mean, of course it was hard, but how did you, was it just the phone call from your uncle that kind of lit the fire under you again, to want to continue to do this and perform? 5 (19m 53s): Yeah, it does back into the musical mode because we, you know, after seeing our dad one moment, cause he had Sloan out to see us and yeah, he was, he was, you know, the same year that he passed when he passed, he was, he was out of century. He wasn't with us. One of those moments. We want to just sit and enjoy the time with an app with a completely love because you don't know that last moment. It's so it's so it just shakes you up when that happens. 5 (20m 34s): It's not experienced a good enough. 3 (20m 44s): And there's a, is there a trash truck backing up? 5 (20m 57s): Sorry. 3 (20m 59s): No, it's all good. The beauty of zoom. 5 (21m 2s): Okay. They're a little bit too excitement. 3 (21m 7s): Oh, it's all good. I just heard the beat. I didn't no, no, it's all good. We'll cut this out. Nope, no worries. No, no need to be sorry. I need to be sorry. Okay. So just starts helping guys. You're riding you tour with him and then he, he gets sick. Is that what you said and where, what happens from there? 5 (21m 35s): You know, it was almost like a, it was like a whole replay of what was, how motions only. It was more, it was, I don't want to say just more of a shock. It's just like, I can't believe it. That's an angel came swooped in and gave Tom the first fire damper of disappointment loss in income. Just that confusion as to what does this mean? Is this like a sign? You know, are we headed in the right direction? But after, you know, a little time went by, we, we got back in the studio, we worked on a song that actually was originally by the Womack brothers father and our uncles group when they were coming up, they actually had a great success under our grandfather's label, which was SAR records. 5 (22m 35s): And the rolling stones actually re cut their song, looking for love, which 3 (22m 41s): Was crazy, 5 (22m 43s): Their biggest hit in the United States. And that was where we got our inspiration from as far as kicking off with our sound, we flipped the song, which is entitled dial-in and that inspired us so much. <inaudible> there was, there was a death in the family, our grandfather, well, our uncle that is really tore up the brothers before that our grandfather was, and now they were on his label, the same kind of distraught that we were going through. 5 (23m 32s): A lot of them like our, one of our uncles decided focus on Stanley and third group dissolved different things happened, but for whatever reason, they followed their paths. And it was such a, it was a trigger for us to kind of look at that like, okay, this is our calling to carry the torch and for the Womack brothers and make that meat, that sound relevant in today's news. And we're proud to do that. 3 (24m 1s): It's amazing. And you have had a couple of records out now, When did you start writing those was this, where does the pandemic fall? Cause what darlin came on 2017. So that was a record. And then a few years passed by pandemic kits. You said, you know, obviously stuff happens within the family. And then when do you start working on blocked? 5 (24m 26s): Well, block Came out in, that was like last year, it's a video on everything. It was so inspired to basically what it's about. Well, for me personally, it was anyway for me personally, it's a romantic experience, disrespectful, you know, through, you know, sometimes dealing with people, especially to find in this new age, we kind of take the devices and phones and stuff, people for granted like, you know, go see ghost or, you know, take a long time to apply the, just certain little things to be disrespectful. 5 (25m 44s): I think, especially if that happens multiple times over and over again at that point, no like things are being played with, so yeah, it's about, you know, got to be black, black, a coworker or a family members, you know, it's just about creating that boundary. You know, you feel comfortable at that age. In fact, when they want to take notes a little bit too, you know? 3 (26m 22s): Right. Isn't it bizarre. Like if you think 15 years ago that when you left work, like you wouldn't have to worry about somebody bothering you about work for the next, you know, 12, 13, 14, 15 hours. Now it's like any moment of any time somebody like can reach out to you and if you don't respond within a half hour, it's like, I know you have your phone. Like, what are you doing? It's crazy. It's so crazy to think about that. 5 (26m 51s): Yeah. So yeah. Relationships, you just want to be your cronyism buddy or your, with someone you want to make sure that you're engaging in some form of compensation when women shouldn't be like a six months period of time When you hit them up, all of a sudden somebody who's just kind of looking at shoes. Yeah. There's no regular. So there's a lot of reasons to blacks. I think the song definitely just gives you that daily. 5 (27m 39s): I'm not gonna frame. 3 (27m 46s): So what do you hold? What do you all been working on recently? I mean, block, you said came out last year and then do you have more records coming out soon? 5 (27m 54s): Yes, we have. We're really doing the promo for that. We're trying to get a lot of shows because it's all about the tour and shows really connect with the people and make sure they're feeling the music and like what we're doing. And that's the best thing for us to be doing right now. So I'm trying to get with, and consistently he, you know, cause you can never recording the piece coming out, but the actual album we're still crafting it's we have a lot of, 3 (28m 42s): Okay. I like that. I like that. And you said you're working on putting together live shows as well. 5 (28m 47s): Yeah, we, yeah, we have two guys that we actually, you know, we're still having great success going on right now, but they're touring. So we're putting together another group of people that we're going to be soaring away and we are performing them on April 7th, all female back. So this is going to be exciting and Yoshi's is definitely a great spot. Heard so much about it. And it's been around for years. 3 (29m 24s): Oh, you're playing, you're playing Yoshi's in Oakland. Okay. I know that spot. 5 (29m 31s): So yes, Silicon core to it. It's no be jam session. You know, we just want to have that chill moment and really connect with the, and it's going to be in may say yes. 3 (29m 44s): Amazing. Well, thank you so much for doing this. I really, really appreciate it. Of course. I do have one quick question. I want to know if I can get an answer from all of you individually, if that's cool. If you have any advice for aspiring artists, 5 (30m 1s): Okay, we'll go out Sunday. Yes. It looks like everyone has this funding. Right. But what it really takes to start any business. And that's exactly what this is, is for you to put your own skin in the game. You've got to fund yourself, make your own music videos. Like you're on the album. If you can educate yourself on how to record and master it, then that all better. You're going to be doing a lot of this yourself. So don't think that you're alone. Everyone has, there really is nobody. Then other people come in and they might assist you, but it will always be with change you, if anything, just there's always an opinion with it, with, and stay at the forefront of your funding fund yourself. 5 (30m 54s): Yeah. And stay consistent, get where you need to go a lot faster. He feels the same way I do. So her answer is probably gonna be similar. 3 (31m 13s): It's so obvious that you're all sisters. I love this. So good. 5 (31m 28s): Yeah. I think personally, when you are an epidemic, if you have no experience, I think you can figure out one thing that works for you and just stay consistent is key. I feel like you're good at and just get better and better, but stay consistent with your message.