Journal.....

 

So last night was pretty adventurous. We played up at Mont St. Sauveaur Quebec for the Shakedown snowboard competition. I gotta say, there's nothing like an outdoor concert in early spring, and i mean nothing.
We were invited by Bless, who those of you into Hip Hop would know. We played a 40min set bangin' out Bless' tracks, stuff we've been working on, and even flipped "Go On" for him to rap over. It was awesome. We had rain coming in at an angle, not a dry spot on the stage, wires with current flowing through them all over the place. I swear there were moments I thought would be my last.
But inevitably we rocked out. Bless made sure to get the whole thing on camera, so as soon as he uploads it I'll embed it into this blog, among other places. Can't wait for all of you to see it and I really look forward to hearing your feedback on it.   >>>Subscribe to SuLE's Blog<<<
Ciao.
Take care.

 

MUEN MAGAZINE INTERVIEW WITH SULE
By: Shauna O’Donnell

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MUEN: HI SULE AND THANKS FOR TALKING WITH US.

SULE: It’s A Pleasure

MUEN: YOUR FOURTH FULL LENGTH ALBUM “THE FALL” WAS RELEASED IN 2007. TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF THE ALBUM.

SULE: “The Fall” was put together during and just after a very tumultuous time in my life. I had been in a very toxic relationship that involved drugs, violence and some rather serious control issues. I made drastic changes and faced difficult challenges to turn it all around. On “The Fall” each song represents these challenges and what I did to meet each one. Even the album title reflects the story.

MUEN: WHAT HAS BEEN THE RESPONSE FROM FANS TO IT?

SULE: Response from fans has been great. I tried in my writing to be as honest as I could, thinking there are themes in my life many people can relate to. It seems I was right in my thinking. I got so much feedback from fans telling me how they’ve derived strength from my music during tough times. And that’s more then I’d hoped for.

MUEN: THE MUSICAL STYLE OF THIS ALBUM IS QUITE DIVERSE. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE IT?

SULE: The Album is mainly Rock. A kind of modern version of that 70s Rock sound that I like so much. I spent years studying and playing Jazz, Soul and R&B, but I was really into Rock when I was coming up so this project has been a lot like coming home for me. Still, you can hear a healthy dose of all the styles of music I’ve been playing over the years mixed in for good measure.

MUEN: YOU HAVE BEEN PLAYING MUSIC SINCE YOU WERE FIVE YEARS OLD AND YOU HAVE MASTERED SEVERAL INSTRUMENTS. WHAT ARE THEY?

SULE: Well let’s see…. I always sang, so I guess that came first. Next came the piano, then the guitar, which became my main instrument. I picked up the bass in high school, fooled around on the drums and percussion a bit and learned to play the harmonica. In college I picked up the violin, which I dropped as soon as I broke my bow trying to emulate Jimmy Page. And last but not least the vibraphone. That’s a crazy instrument given to me by a dear friend, and I still play it to this day.

MUEN: WERE YOUR PARENTS MUSICIANS AS WELL? WHAT KIND OF MUSIC DID YOU LISTEN TO AS A CHILD AND GROWING UP?

SULE: My mother was musical. She played the piano and sang and was always very involved in choral groups. In my formative years this must have had an enormous influence, but it was my dad’s wide-ranging collection of vinyl that really helped shape me musically. He had so much cool stuff. Billie Holiday, John Lee Hooker, BB King, Curtis Mayfield, Early Santana….It led me to discover my own tastes.

MUEN: WHAT KIND OF CLASSICAL TRAINING HAVE YOU HAD? DID YOU TAKE VOICE LESSONS OR DID YOU WANT TO PURSUE YOUR OWN VOCAL STYLE?

SULE: I was trained in classical guitar. It was one of those familiar stories where some kid dreams of being the next guitar hero. With a healthy diet of everything from the Beatles to Kiss, what else could I dream of. Well, after clearly articulating what I wanted to my parents, they bought me a classical guitar and signed me up for lessons. The surprise came when I actually began to like it. To this day I prefer to play classical style without a pic.
As far as vocal lessons go, I took about ten lessons at some point; mostly I just sang in choirs and built up singing skill.

MUEN: WAS IT A TOUGH TRANSITION FROM SIDEMAN TO SOLO ARTIST?

SULE: Not really. I think the biggest challenge was to get others to see me differently. It’s as though if you’re a sideman, you get compartmentalized in people’s minds as such, and people resist change. So I found new people. As the number of people who know me as a solo artist grows, the impression of me as a sideman has been steadily shrinking. Even those who’ve regarded me as sideman for a long time have been changing their minds.

MUEN: WHAT WAS IT LIKE OPENING UP FOR CELINE DION?

SULE: That was truly a trip. Firstly, although I have a lot of respect for her talent and work ethic, I’ve never been a big fan of her music. So getting an opportunity like that was a bit strange at first. I was a soloist and the guitarist for this 40-piece gospel choir. At anytime, getting up in front, playing and singing with 40 backup singers was awesome. That time it was in front of a packed arena for four nights in a row. The thing that sticks with me was how I could see all these reflections from people’s glasses as far as the eye could see. It’s breathtaking.

MUEN: YOU HAVE PLAYED IN FRONT OF CROWDS ALL OVER THE WORLD. WHERE WOULD YOU SAY YOU RECEIVED THE BEST RESPONSE FROM FANS?

SULE: New York City has been a longtime favorite of mine. It struck me while I was taking a cab that just being a citizen of New York makes you more cultured then most places. The city is stock full of museums, shows of all kinds, film, TV….not to mention the fact that as a New Yorker, you’re neighbors with some of the biggest names in showbiz. So you have this large group of native New Yorkers who are very culturally sophisticated, yet they’re not snooty about it. It’s a great city to play and a great audience to play for.

MUEN: ARE YOU OFTEN COMPARED TO LENNY KRAVITZ?

SULE: YES, and it can be a bit exasperating. I guess it’s normal though, we have a similar style and look so it’s a natural comparison. I had to consider the fact that every new artist gets compared with some established artist in their genre, and he’s good….I mean I could do a lot worse then Lenny right? But ultimately, you hope people realize that any similarities are purely superficial, and they appreciate you for what you do.

MUEN: TELL ME ABOUT BABY GROOVE PRODUCTIONS.

SULE: Well,…It started back when I was recording on an 8 track, reel to reel, analogue machine. I was building song ideas on an old Mac using MIDI, then bouncing that down to two of the eight tracks and using the remaining six to record live instruments. The file that held all these early song ideas was called Baby Grooves. As my studio grew and technologies got replaced the file got bigger until it hit me,….why not start a production company and use that as the moniker for all my work.

MUEN: ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON NEW SONGS FOR A NEW ALBUM TO RELEASE ANYTIME SOON?

SULE: The songs are done. I’m right now getting the artwork and duplication done on my new album. It’s called “Alive”, and it’ll be available online at iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody and Napster. I’m pretty excited about this record. I’m curious to see where it goes.

MUEN: ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO ADD OR SAY?

SULE: I’d just like to express my gratitude to everyone who supports indie music. It takes a certain kind of courage to step off the beaten path and recognize that there’s more out there then what’s spoon-fed to us. And without that support, artists like me would have no reason to do what we do. So thanks, and thanks to you guys at MUEN for doing what you do.

 

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WE REALLY APPRECIATE ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT, THANK YOU ALL!