sirah – Vinyl Mag

Catching Up with Sirah

Posted on August 19, 2013October 8, 2013 by Jacklyn Citero

So you all remember the interview with our girl Sirah back at SXSW in March? Yeah, well…lucky us, we got to catch up with her AGAIN for a quick phone chat to see what she’s been up to since then. Turns out, it’s a lot. Read below to learn about her new EP, her current tour, and her fashion inspiration (she’s a goddess, as we all know).

Here we are just a couple of months later, and you have your EP release and your currently on tour, Let’s start off by talking about your very recently released EP Inhale… What do you hope listeners of the EP will take away in regards to you as an artist?

I think people shy away from touching on a lot of things [topics], but when it’s [the music] real and to be compelled towards different genres and different subjects, I hope people take away the fact that it is multi faceted. So whether it’s happy music or dark, they aren’t different it all comes from the same place. I think that a lot of the time people limit their selves and artists limit themselves.

I want people to get to know me with Inhale. I have moments where it’s really happy and light and fun, and talking about falling in love and the naivety of being a teenager. There are things like “First Impressions” and you know you want it where there’s true real life situations that are happening there. But basically, the light doesn’t diminish the dark side of a person, it can all come from the same place.

What was the creative process for the EP like, specifically with the writing of songs and recording it?

I think it really depends, I pretty much write everyday and sometimes, “Inhale”, the actual title track to the EP came to me and wrote it in just a few minutes. The same thing with “First Impressions,” there are some pieces where you can just hear what is going on. A lot of those songs come to me. And then there’s songs like “Icarus” that I sat down with this idea that I had and that I wanted to recreate and I try to make it real. If I get stuck somewhere I’ll generally just look at other people’s art or read a book or go out and run into actual human beings.

What are some of your favorite songs off of the EP?

I think it would have to be a toss up between “Inhale” and “Icarus” for me personally. It’s tough, it feels like having kids almost, even though I don’t have kids, I love them all, but you know what I mean. All the songs are pieces of me so it’s kind of hard to be like “This is my favorite and this is why I like it the best”.

Many people, before the release of Inhale, may only know you for your collaborations with Skrillex, can we expect some more collaborations with Sonny in the future or is there anyone else you would love to collaborate with?

I think me and Sonny will definitely work on something in the future. It’s kind of one of those things where when I didn’t expect things to come out it did. When we got into the studio to record things it never comes out the way we want, but when I send it to him from my bedroom or we do it on the USB mic in a hotel that’s something else. I don’t know what will happen with that, but right now we’re working on each others music, so I don’t really know what to expect. There’s definitely things in the works and in terms of collaborations beyond that…

I’m not really sure, I love making music so I get excited about people whether they are big or small, or sometimes I have beats sent my way and after I check them out I’ll end up working with the artist.

You’re currently on tour with Icona Pop & K. Flay- what has life on the road been like with 3 other strong female artists?

It’s awesome, girl power up in here! I love K. Flay and her camp, they are incredible. I think it’s one of those situations where you’re living on a bus together and you can’t really imagine it going that well because it sounds like some Real World type shit, but it’s been awesome and Icona Pop is just so sweet and it’s cool. We’ll all play and then we’ll all end up dancing together through their set, and I crowed surfed the other night in Atlanta- things like that. It’s a lot of fun and it’s a fierce line-up.

We only have a couple minutes left, but your fashion sense is incredible, can you talk about what inspires your outfits and how you go about choosing some of your clothes?

Growing up in poverty will make you mad crafty. I just wear what I like whether it’s high fashion stuff or even, I was getting down in Wal-Mart the other day – they have the whole line-up of Fubu Gear, so it’s real out there. I kind of just pull things I like, and I think that depending on how I’m feeling I wouldn’t wear anything that wouldn’t express what’s going on with me, just like music.

Thank you so much for your time and we all at Vinyl Mag wish nothing but the best and success for you!

Sirah: Inhale

Posted on August 12, 2013October 8, 2013 by Kate Foster

You’re gonna love Sirah.

It’s not that her new EP, Inhale, is all that groundbreaking in a technical sense. It’s not because her five-foot frame and candy-colored hair make the guttural raps emerging from her throat even more shocking. It’s not even the fact that she shares a Grammy with Skrillex for “Bangarang”, a collaboration between the two.

It’s because her music – notably the tracks on Inhale – makes you feel like you really can drop everything and just dance.

Take the EP’s title track. If M.I.A., Santigold, and Nicki Minaj collaborated for a day (a girl can dream, right?), this is what they’d come up with. My only question? Why, oh why, wasn’t this song released at the beginning of the summer? Heavy pop beats pair with lyrics that are already making me nostalgic for flirty summer nights. And there’s no way to talk about this track without mentioning that voice – it’s primal, deep, and powerful, a welcome change in her genre.

“On To The Next” is the standout track in my eyes. It’s catchy and danceable, but in less of a Miley Cyrus, Top 40 radio kind of way. It’s slower, which I prefer, but I can easily envision the hundreds of remixes that will warp this track through and through. Mark my words: the rave kids are gonna eat this one up.

A few more tracks follow in a similar way, but I’m more interested in the EP’s final two songs: “You Know You Want It” and “First Impressions”. Here, Sirah sheds her fairly obvious desire for pop fame and bares her rap skins. Between slow, electronic piano riffs, Sirah croons lines like, “I’m not the prettiest but I do spit pretty hard.” Sirah, I can’t say I disagree.

*Be sure to snag yourself a copy of this EP, out now!

SXSW with Sirah

Posted on March 20, 2013November 12, 2013 by Samantha Gilder

Grammy Award-winning Sirah describes herself on her Twitter as a “part time rapper, but a full time friend”, and after meeting with her during SXSW, I couldn’t agree more. Sirah is one of those rare breeds- you know, the kind that will schedule an interview with you and then invite you to eat cheeseburgers at the VH1 lounge first (which were incredible, by the way). Upon the first five minutes of meeting Sirah, I realized that this petite fireball has a heart of gold and a genuine concern for people that you just don’t see much of these days. Because of this, and without putting all of my SXSouthwest eggs in one basket, I can easily say that meeting, eating, and speaking with Sirah was one of THE top experiences of my entire trip. Thank you, Sirah, for being so gracious (and for having impeccable style and perfect hair). Without further ado, enjoy this post-cheeseburger/fat and happy interview we conducted with the lady of the hour, Sirah:

VM: Did you ever think you would gain this much attention from the music industry when you first got started?

SIRAH: I think I did on some level, but that was just me being young and all ‘I’m going to do this!’ But to be honest with you, it’s like an inner knowing; I knew that I was supposed to do this, and I knew this was supposed to happen. However, it actually being real is totally different.

VM: What was it like working with Skrillex?

SIRAH: It was awesome. He’s just fun, and it’s so easy and so natural working with him. He actually makes art and wants to create something, as opposed to people who do this to make money or whatever it is. It’s coming from such a genuine place, so I can just do whatever I want….that’s freedom. Every time we work together it’s really fast, easy, and it just flows. A lot of it is just free-styling.

VM: Tell me about your most recent album, C.U.L.T (Too Young To Die)– what were your major inspirations?

SIRAH: I actually ended up throwing it together in about two weeks, but a lot of it was just all of these ideas and feelings that I just needed to get out, because I was frustrated with how people were viewing me and things that were going on. Last year was such a weird and awesome year for me- I got signed. Before that I got a publishing deal….but there was so much going on in my life, I just needed to expel all of these feelings. The reason I named it [C.U.L.T.] Too Young To Die was for really personals reasons; a lot of my friends had died the year before – about six of them – and so that’s sort of where that came from.

VM: Your song with Skrillex won a Grammy this year- were you in total awe?

SIRAH: Oh my gosh. I was SO excited, and I didn’t really feel worthy of it, because Skrillex definitely had made all of this happen. But I was so excited to be nominated and be a part of it. When we won and I went up there, everyone was like, ‘you didn’t look nervous’, and that’s because I wasn’t. I was still confused. It’s such a surreal thing to be like, ‘yeah, I’m at the Grammy’s….and I won a Grammy’. It didn’t ever connect, and I don’t think it has still. I’m just going to wear it on my necklace when I get it.

VM: Oh, you haven’t gotten it yet?

SIRAH: No, they send it to you in the mail. She had to pull it back from me. She literally had to uncurl my fingers.

VM: How was the entire experience of just being AT the Grammy’s?

SIRAH: It was amazing. I’m just so proud of Skrillex, so just to see what he’s done was amazing. I remember when we were younger being like, ‘yo, we’re going to make art, and we’re not going to let anyone tell us what to do’, and I was all for it, because I was so underground and fighting the revolution [in my mind]. But to see that he’s actually made something so brilliant is mind-boggling. I was just watching him at the Grammy’s, and I was just really proud.

VM: You have an edgy and unique look- do you think that your music inspired this?

SIRAH: No, poverty inspired that. When I was growing up, we were super poor. Even when we did have money, my parents never bought anything new. So all of my clothes were all hand-me-downs and eight sizes too big. Then when I lived with my mom after my dad died, we were really just scraping to get by, so I ended up learning how to sew when I was five years old. I started making my own clothes just because I didn’t have any options. And that’s sort of what happens now. I’ve never spent $500 on a pair of jeans, and I don’t think I ever will [on principle].

VM: That’s incredible- I can’t believe you were sewing at five years old!

ROB (MANAGER): She’s also a really good artist and never tells anybody!

VM: Really? Did you just discover this recently?

SIRAH: I haven’t painted in like seven years, but I just did this painting the other day, and it actually turned out pretty good. What’s funny is that when I lived in L.A., I used to do graffiti…I was a part of a weird subculture. But when I got an apartment and a job, well not a job….when I had rent and stopped selling drugs, I was like, ‘what do people do to be grown ups?’, so I started airbrushing clothes and shoes and started selling paintings, and that’s how I made money.

VM: That’s amazing- you’re so resourceful!

SIRAH: Yeah, I got that hustle in my blood, but now I just use it towards positive things.

VM: You’ve recently played with acts like Macklemore and Icona Pop- do the musicians you tour with inspire you?

SIRAH: Absolutely. Throughout the years, there have been people I’ve toured with where I didn’t necessarily like their music before I got there, but when I got there I appreciated it. Being there changes everything. But yeah, Macklemore and Icona Pop are awesome; I was huge fan before I even got there. Icona Pop was so dope live, and they look so cool. Macklemore is dope, because he broke out of underground hip-hop, so that sh*t is awesome to me. He’s like living the hip-hop dream right now. He’s been grinding for mad long and literally broke out of a scene that, like, three people have broken out of.

VM: Speaking of touring, what’s your favorite part about being on the road?

SIRAH: I think it’s awesome, because you build these unbreakable relationships. Like even last night – I got home from doing some shows, and my band and my tour manager had surprised me with an Easter basket. It was really awesome. And on top of that, you just get so much better from watching other people and learning from it. Anytime I’ve toured, even if its been horrible, I’ve come out such a better person from it.

VM: What’s your favorite song to perform live?

SIRAH: “Where Do We Go”- it’s never been released, I just leaked it last week, but it’s my favorite song live.

VM: When do you plan on releasing it?

SIRAH: Well, I leaked it on my Tumblr, so holler at me. My bad, Atlantic [Records], sorry about that!

VM: Why do you write? Is it to make people dance or more of a personal thing?

SIRAH: I know C.U.L.T. was classified as dance music, but I’ve never been like, ‘I want you to dance to this sh*t!’ I do it so that I don’t lose my marbles; I have to write.

VM: What has it been like being at SXSW? Are there any particular artists you’re excited about?

SIRAH: I was really excited before I got here, but it’s all just crazy now.

VM: Have you had a favorite so far?

SIRAH: Well, one my favorite bands was playing last night [WHY?], but they were also playing next to Ghostface and Iggy Pop, so there was no way of getting in to it.

VM: What is next for you?

SIRAH: I don’t even know; I won a Grammy, I’m at SXSW….2013 has been pretty good to me already. I literally don’t know what will happen next, because if had to guess any of this I would have never believed it, but right now I’m working on my full-length album debut. I’m just making mad music. I’ve been getting beats from kids off of SoundCloud and rapping in my bedroom. So I don’t know what will happen, but whatever it is, it’s cake at this point.