INTERVIEW: Santogold
- Posted on April 15, 2008 2:23 PM
- 0 comments
Interview By Katie Spain
Let me introduce you to Santogold, some say she's the hottest female artist you will lay your peepers on this year. Yep, this girl has a spiky edge that makes Edward Scissorhands look like a blunt tool.
Encompassing elements of Rock, Pop and Reggae, Santogold has created a delectable sound that could very well be the soundtrack to a sizzling summer. So long as the sun keeps up its side of the bargain.
The New York pocket rocket is a singer/songwriter turned musician who calls Brooklyn home. She penned tracks for the likes of Lily Allen and Ashlee Simpson before deciding to try her ideas out for herself. Thank the musical God above she did. What we have before us is a fine songwriter who knows how to work a melody or two. She makes funky, danceable tracks that rival the likes of M.I.A. not that there's any competition. The two ladies are good mates. We caught up with Santogold in a Shepherd's Bush hotel to chat about her upcoming album release, the joys of food in your teeth, vintage shopping in New York and a near-miss London mugging.
What is your first musical memory?
I would say that my earliest musical memory was when I was nine. I watched a movie – a musical movie - and that was when I decided to write my first song. It was called City Streets. It was really funny. I don’t remember the whole song but I remember one line in it "City streets, city streets, people need our help out there and no-ones there to listen."
Was that when the music bug first bit you?
No, not at all. It was way later. That was when I first started writing songs, so in that sense, yes, but for me it was more about writing and that was just one way of writing. I had no intention of being a performer as my career choice or anything. I never wanted to be on stage or anything. It was the writing, however, that drove me to that years and years later. I was writing from about nine until college - I was a music major – where I was writing melodies. I then worked at a record company and started writing songs for other people. After that, I decided that I would like hear the songs the way that they are in my head and so I started singing.
As a writer, are you one of these girls that have journals from way back?
I have journals but only from when I was a teenager. I still have a journal but I probably write in it once a year when something is really weighing on me. I still have them all. The thing is, even though I don’t write in my journal, I have lyric books. It has bits and pieces of something, sometimes it ends up having one random journal entry. I still write a lot and therefore I don’t need to have a journal because I am writing all the time already.
You have written for a lot of people including Lily Allen and Ashlee Simpson. Did you find that when you saw them performing the songs you thought that should be me?
When I wrote for them I was already doing music. It is a very different thing to write for someone else and to write for yourself. It’s a job. It is a very different thing to be supporting someone’s art instead of creating your own. It’s like an exercise. We go to the gym because we want to be in shape – I say we, I don’t do that! It’s something that you do because you need to stay sharp. I think it is really good to write with other people especially when it is something that is not what you do. It’s practice. To be able to walk in and pull a hit chorus out – that’s hard. It’s easy to practice when it is totally disconnected from any creative pressures of your own. I like to put myself in those environments. It is good to work with different people and it opens doors. I don’t always find it easy and I don’t always like it. I love working on my own stuff and that’s where my heart is.
Your debut album is out very soon. Has it been a long time coming?
It has. I had almost done this record a year ago. I then switched labels. It has been a good thing because it has allowed it to develop organically. Also, it gave me time to have some people come in on it. It allowed me to be a perfectionist.
You had some special people on it. Can you tell me a bit about who has helped you out?
I worked primarily with a guy named John Hill. He is a long time friend of mine, a great producer and the bass player in my band. I also worked with Switch on a couple of songs. Disco D worked on one track with Spank Rock. My boyfriend sang on ‘I’m a Lady.’ I did a song with M.I.A but it’s going to be a B side.
Your press release used the term ‘nuclear powered Pop tunes.’ Is your music heading down the Pop route?
Pop means, to me, songs that are accessible and radio friendly, nothing underground and no songs that go on for seven minutes. In that sense, I definitely am a Pop song writer. But, what I have done is tried to bring an artistic sensibility back to music. When Prince and The Police were making music it was great. Nowadays, I don’t know what happened, but the Pop is not art anymore and the art is not ever accessible. I’m trying to bring that back.
You had a very tough time when your dad died. Is it difficult to keep the creative flame burning when times are tough?
Well, when things are really tough, there is no creative flame burning. It takes everything you have to keep going and to get through. When you get a little bit of distance it turns into creativity, depending on where you are in your head though. It’s difficult to recognize what it is. That song ‘You’ll Find a Way’ is the fist song I wrote after my dad died. It was a journal entry. It might have intended to be a song but it was definitely a quick thing that I wrote. I was like, this is so angry, I’m not ready to write yet. I took some space and when I came back, I was like, this is good. That happens a lot. Sometimes things get too much and it takes all that you have to process it and get through it. A lot of what I ended up writing about on the record is was about coming out of that time in my life where I was frustrated, disillusioned and disappointed that people don’t stick up for what they believe in.
Your press release tells us of about where you live in New York with chicken bones in the street and wolf whistles at your butt. It sounds like my London street! Does having friends close by help?
It does but we are never home. M.I.A is there but I haven’t been. When we are home together, it is really exciting. We are like let’s go and get a smoothie.
Do you talk music when you catch up?
Never! If we need to, we can though. It is nice to have someone that understands what you are going though. My neighbourhood is choc-full of everything. There are gun shots down the street but also cute little kids. I live in a block where families have lived for generations. Everyone looks out for each other which is nice. Oh, I almost got robbed last night. I forgot to tell anyone this today. I was on my way to a friend’s house and in a taxi. I had to stop at an ATM. The taxi parked and the ATM was around the corner. I am punching in the numbers and this guy rides up on his bike. It is totally dark and there is no-one around. He rides up and just stops. He doesn’t even look at me. He sits, facing a gate, and just waits for me to take my money out. In New York, he would have pulled a gun out on me so I am like, oh my God. I just pressed eject card and ran back to the taxi and said this guy is going to rob me! The taxi driver came out and with me and as he did the guy rode off. He was totally waiting for me to get the money out.
What is the most memorable gig that you have been to?
Diplo. They are my favourite band. I saw the in New York. It was an amazing show; full of energy, funny, smart and clever. The drummer broke his hand while he was drumming and carried on playing six more songs. It was so good. They kill every band that is out now.
Related Links
Win tickets to see Santogold at Reading Festival
Santogold MySpace
Concert tickets.
Sign up for our newsletter for the chance to win gig tickets.
Tags
Post a comment
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.seatwaveblogs.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/2853
