The three musicians who shaped Hope Sandoval: “She’s a brilliant songwriter”
The heavenly voice of Hope Sandoval illuminates every song she appears on. As the lead vocalist of Mazzy Star and Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions, the singer has created some of the most ethereal albums of the past 30 years. She has also collaborated with equally dreamy artists such as Air, The Jesus and Mary Chain and Massive Attack, establishing Sandoval as one of the most iconic voices of the 1990s.
During the ’80s, Sandoval was a fan of bands from the Paisley Underground scene in California, where she met David Roback and soon became the replacement lead singer of Opal. The band soon evolved into Mazzy Star, with Roback taking on most of the instrumental duties while Sandoval wrote and sang the lyrics.
Mazzy Star never achieved much commercial success, apart from when their song ‘Fade Into You’ suddenly became popular. They released three albums in the ‘90s before Sandoval formed The Warm Inventions, with whom she has released three albums, all of which are criminally underrated. Then, we were lucky enough to get a Mazzy Star reunion in 2011, and they released two songs which would end up on their fourth and final album, Seasons of Your Day.
Sandoval’s airy voice couldn’t be more perfect for the music she makes – melancholic, romantic, dream-like, mysterious. Especially present within Mazzy Star’s music is an allusion to Californian landscapes, dusty roads and long summers. There’s a specificity, a certain image that is evoked through their sound, which helped to establish the band as a cult favourite.
The singer has been inspired by several folk artists throughout her career, and while Mazzy Star wasn’t exactly a folk band, Sandoval’s voice is perfectly suited to the genre. Talking to Dazed, she revealed that Bert Jansch has significantly influenced her music. She has been lucky enough to collaborate with the late Scottish musician several times, including on the first Warm Inventions album, Bavarian Fruit Bread. “He was an amazing guitarist and an amazing person,” she revealed. He played guitar on two tracks, and Sandoval subsequently sang on one of his songs, ‘All This Remains’, from his 2002 album Edge of a Dream.
Recalling her experience of working with him, Sandoval explained that “He was never a guest on somebody else’s record. He always did his own thing. He came in, and everybody was nervous.” She couldn’t believe it. “We were very lucky. Grateful that we had some good songs that he liked.”
Sandoval also cites her close friend Sylvia Gomez, who she made music with as a teenager, as another huge inspiration, too, revealing her as an influence behind Mazzy Star’s song ‘California’. Their band, Going Home, was Sandoval’s first foray into making music, leading her to meet Roback and leading her towards Mazzy Star. “She’s a brilliant songwriter, an amazing guitarist and a big influence on me. She’s not really that into releasing music; I think she may be interested in releasing a Going Home record, but for the most part, it’s not her thing,” Sandoval said.
Elliott Smith, who made music at the same time as Mazzy Star (and today their fanbases typically overlap), is an artist whom Sandoval didn’t get into until after he died in 2003. His music was widely heralded, and he even received an Academy Award nomination after he wrote a song for Good Will Hunting. “I only recently got into his music. I love it so much,” she said back in 2013. She particularly admires his cover of ‘Figure 8’, stating, “I remember growing up with that song and thinking, ‘That is the most beautiful song.’ It’s a really sad little cartoon. His music is so beautiful, though.”
