Corinna May - I can't Live without Music

Corinna May - the year 2002 made her well-known in Germany. The blind singer won the national competition for the Eurovision Song Contest and went to Tallin, Estonia, with her song "I Can't Live without Music". She only placed 21st but since then her name was known in Germany.

16/06/2006

Initially, the 35 year old became a certificated masseuse and balneotherapist. But she gave her job up for her love to music. REHACARE.de spoke with Corinna May about the commencements of her singing career, her disability and her wishes for the future.

REHACARE.de: You worked several years as a certificated masseuse and balneotherapist. How does it come that you chose a career as a singer?

Corinna May: I have always been singing next to going to school and working. At the beginning I sang in the choir and later in a jazz band. After I have had a lot of performances I started thinking about earning my money with singing. It has always been my dream. At the end of 1996 I met my manager and 1997 I quit my job.

REHACARE.de: You sing German beat music, you cover and you sing English pop and jazz. Which genre stands really for Corinna May?

Corinna May:First of all - I don't like these categories. The category that is most often associated with me is that of a beat singer and I do not fit in this one. I am not only a beat singer. I am a singer and this includes that I try all genres. Music has so many different facets that I cannot choose only one genre. To concentrate solely on jazz would be boring and just beat music would be boring too. I need variety. But my new album "Jetzt wie noch nie" (Now like never) is in German. It will be released in autumn and combines German pop with German beat music. Besides I also make jazz music with my trio.

REHACARE.de: Which kind of difficulties have you experienced performing on the stage or working in the sound studio while being blind?

Corinna May: None. Before the performance I personally check the stage. Most of the times I have a bar stool on stage in order to orientate myself. And in the sound studio there are no difficulties either. One doesn't need to see when one is singing.

REHACARE.de: Have you ever been discriminated in the hard music business?

Corinna May: Basically it is always complicated to get a record contract. But I have never experienced discriminations. At the beginning the record labels were sceptical. They thought it would be more difficult than it is in reality for a blind person. They did not know how to react. This is mostly due to fears of contact. But as soon as they got to know me these contact fears disappeared.

REHACARE.de: Have you ever made your disability to be the central theme in one of your songs?

Corinna May: No, I didn't. It bothers me if I read "blind singer” in the media. The blindness has nothing to do with my music. I want to be noticed like every other artist. And I don't want to hear the word "pity bonus" which I heard at the Grand Prix 1999. This makes me angry. I want to be noticed because of my talent and not because of my handicap.

REHACARE.de: Which people mostly affected your life?

Corinna May: My parents affected my private life. My dad has a huge jazz record collection. I grew up with jazz and probably listened this kind of music already in the belly of my mum. Later I was affected by soul and R&B. In the jazz sector I was influenced by Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. At the end of 1985 Whitney Houston came on the pop market. Someone who sings likes her is just blessed with the voice. And with soul, Aretha Franklin affected me.

REHACARE.de: What do you imagine for your future?

Corinna May: I wish that my album receives good approval by my fans and that it goes on with my career. Another wish: the journalists should learn to see a handicapped artist simply as an artist. And they should write only "singer". Blindness is not relevant for the musicality of a performer. It is not important if someone can see or not. Joanna Zimmer and I can sing and we probably could do it also if we could see. It is absolutely independent from each other. We received our voice as a present from god.

REHACARE.de: If you had the power what would you improve for blind people?

Corinna May: I would change the infrastructure. Sometimes there are many traps. It starts with standing at the traffic light and there is no signal for visual impaired people. Or at the supermarket: The food is often relocated and since they save money on the employees there are no contact persons. So I have to search permanently. Life concentrates so much on vision.

REHACARE.de: What advice can you give people with handicaps?

Corinna May: Be open-minded to other people. I live my life nomally. Often the others have fears to contact a handicapped person. If you are asked if you need help and you don't need it then refuse friendly. Otherwise the people won't ask anymore. So they see that you are a disabled person but you act normally. If I need help I simply ask. And if the first one passes by, I ask the next. There aren't always helfpful people around.

REHACARE.de

- For more information on Corinna May visit her homepage at: www.corinnamay.de