Elisa Schwartz wants you to know that Elisa Schwartz is gone for good: She's Elisa Jordana now.
Confused? Well, here's the difference. Elisa Schwartz is the former keytarist for Cobra Starship, the one who parted ways with the band under less-than-amicable circumstances last year. She was the "nervous girl who never really knew where she fit in." Elisa Jordana? Well, she's the confident, ultra-sexy pop super-starlet in the short, short skirt — which basically means she's the complete opposite, in every conceivable way.
"I feel like since the whole Cobra Starship thing happened, I've sort of turned into Elisa Jordana. I've been recording and doing photo shoots, and I've sort of turned into this glamorous pop star," Schwartz — er — Jordana told MTV News. "Like the other night, I decided I needed some press photos — and I really wanted to be in a bathing suit — so I called my friend, we found this Mexican taco stand that was open at, like, 3 a.m., and I just went for it. Elisa Schwartz never would've been able to do that. Elisa Jordana did. So that's the name I chose to use for my new project."
That upcoming project is one she started almost immediately following her exit from Cobra Starship: a vampy, unabashedly over-the-top collection of shiny, sexy dance-pop that's heavy on samples (check the entire structure of "Nymphomaniac," which borrows liberally from Michael Sembello's "Maniac," a.k.a. the song from "Flashdance") and completely devoid of any pretense. Basically, it's awesome party music designed for awesome parties, which is what Jordana wanted all along.
"When I left Cobra, they said I'd let people on the [tour] bus and have dance parties with them, and I'd do it again," she said. "If you have fans and they want to party with you, then that's a good thing. So that's sort of the idea I had when I started writing all my songs.
"I wanted to collaborate with the most awesome producers, make hits, get the biggest deal and have fun while doing it," she continued. "I mean, like, I really want to rap, so on 'Nymphomaniac,' I rap. It's that simple."
While she's very focused on her solo project, Jordana admits to tracking the success of her former band too. And despite what you might think, she's not jealous in the least of that success or of her keytar replacement, Victoria Asher.
"She's doing a real good job. I admire her. And she MySpace-messaged me recently, saying, 'I know you have beef with me, but I really love your songs.' She went out of her way to talk to me, which I appreciated," Jordana said. "And I love the new record [Cobra] did. I'll always admire Gabe [Saporta] and what he did for me. I mean, I'm aware part of the reason people are paying attention to me is because of Cobra Starship."
To that end, Jordana says she's talking to a handful of labels, but she's still very much a musical free agent. She's got a New York showcase lined up for the end of April, and her manager also reps Flo Rida and a host of hip-hop heavyweights, so she's looking to score a collaboration or two before starting work on her own album. And, of course, she's still rocking the keytar, which she promises will be a big part of her onstage shtick.
"Oh my God, of course! Actually, I can't talk about it too much, but I'm hoping to get my own signature keytar," she said. "I want it to be covered with hearts and flowers, and I want it to be wireless. I'm a really good dancer, so I want to be able to move when I'm performing. And I'm a gymnast, too, so I wanna do gymnastics in my set. But who knows? The keytar is pretty heavy."
