Sarina Paris is a Canadian singer and songwriter, best known for her international dance-club hits "Look at Us" and "Just About Enough".
Early life and education
Born on December 22, 1973, Paris is of Italian descent and grew up in Toronto, Canada, in a working-class family who were originally from Italy. She began singing in preschool in school plays and church choir. She moved back to Italy in 1996 after her mother died to get in touch with her ancestral roots.
Career
1990s
In 1995, Paris' debut song "Mystery Man" was released in Canada. In 1996 during Italian singing contests, she was discovered by Italian manager/producer Vince Tempera who invited her to work alongside some of the most respected and talented producers and musicians from La Scala Milano. Maestro Tempera invited Sarina to collaborate in music festivals across Italy where Sarina sang songs from soundtracks backed by twelve piece orchestra. Sarina later met musician and band leader Walter Muto who invited her to join his band ‘Rock for fun’, an educational band covering the history of rock music where sarina sang the ‘women in rock’ segment and toured Italy and Spain. Sarina also become a member of the Gam Gam Project alongside dance producers Max Monti and Mauro Pilato in Rimini, Italy which aimed at teaching Italian children to sing in English. A year later she moved to Milan where she worked as a receptionist at a CX music publishing and production where she was discovered by Charlie Marchino and Nico Spinosa of EMI's Italian division, and began her career as an international recording artist. Sarina returned to America continuing to perform in nightclubs but had this desire to sing for her community and so she joined local musicians singing jazz at conferences, local bars and restaurants, and weddings. Sarina discovered a love for jazz and romantic melodies from movie soundtracks, cole porter, Nat king cole, Mina and so her repertoire grew to please audiences who are looking to awaken romance. Sarina continues to write songs for tv programs in italy, and film and continues to sing with jazz bands but she never lost her love for electronic music either. She continues to write and record jazz and electronic songs. “I don't feel there is one type of music we should be boxed into. Yes, Jazz is my heart and soul, but everyone moves their body and taps their feet and sways their hips to a good dance beat. Either way people wake up with music. It's a language of the soul. Sometimes in life we need to use a soft soothing voice and sometimes we need to party it up. I love how music can make us talk with our body. I wish I could get everyone to sing at least once."
2000s
Her initial single, "Look at Us", charted on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2001, but did not reach the Top 40. The song did make it onto the Rhythmic Top 40. It also became a dance-club hit internationally. As a result of the success, she was signed to the U.S. label Priority Records. In 2001, she released her debut album, Sarina Paris, composed of songs she co-wrote, with the exception of a cover version of Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors". In an interview, she said the album was "nothing too intellectual—just music to make you happy and to make you feel good" and that "I wanted to make an album that kids could listen to with their parents. Songs that were clubby for mom, but weren't x-rated so the kids could play and dance along with." She received feedback from her 14-year-old niece as she wrote and recorded. Indeed, the record label's target demographic was noted to be 12- to 25-year-old women. The single "Just About Enough" was released as a club-exclusive single. She released another dance track, "This Is My Life", found exclusively on a Canadian dance compilation Euro Mix 5 through SPG Records. In 2000 "Do You Love Somebody" was released exclusively on the compilation Dancemania x7 in Japan under Toshiba/EMI record label. A remix of "Look at Us" appears on the Konami dance simulation video gameDDRMAX2. Paris toured with La Toya Jackson in Hawaii in May 2004. For the rest of the 2000s, her music career had been mostly on hold, although she released a new song, "You Are My Valentine", available only on EuroBeats Vol. 3.
2010s
On May 27, 2011, nearly marking the tenth anniversary of "Look at Us", Paris released the single "Sophisticated".
Discography
-Mystery Man 1995 -The Protagonists soundtrack mixed and mastered at Abbey Road Studios London 1999 co-written with Andrea Guerra starring Oscar winner Tilda Swinton -UFO Robot anime soundtrack vocalist 1999 -* Sarina Paris -"Look at Us" appeared in Festival Bar compilation and other compilations worldwide. -"Butterfly" 2013 Italian TV series "Le Moe amicus” -Theme song for international Italian TV series "Che dio ci aiuti"2014
