Published:
March 10, 2010
With a new EP out today, and a spot in this weekend's NX35 schedule, things are going pretty well for the former Denton songstress Sarah Renfro. Even though she now calls Brooklyn, New York her home, it is clear that she still has a very soft spot for little D. I had a chance to talk with Sarah early this week about some of the finer details about her wonderful debut EP, You Should Be Somewhere Outside, as well as her future in music and if Texas might once again be on the horizon for her.
Josh Hogan: How long have you been in NYC now?
Sarah Renfro: About 3.5 years. I moved August of '06 days after I graduated I had a deadline. I had tickets to see the Yeah Yeah Yeah's and Sonic Youth at the McCarren Park Pool
Josh Hogan: Hahaha. Sweet!!!
Sarah Renfro: I got in just in time. Threw all my stuff in the apartment, turned the rental truck in and rushed to the show haha
Josh Hogan: That is awesome!
Sarah Renfro: I was soooooo tired but it was worth it. they rocked HARD
Josh Hogan: Yeah I bet, its a goal in my life to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs live!
Sarah Renfro: They were really good, but Sonic Youth blew my mind Their sound engineer must be a genius. It was loud but never LOUD. It was perfection.
Josh Hogan: so, first thing is first, you have a new EP out? A long time coming eh?
Sarah Renfro: Yeah I started working on it in in May of 08 The songs kept growing and changing. We ended up adding a lot of layers by the end of it. New band members came along
Josh Hogan: I've only heard what you have up on MySpace so far, but from what I have heard the album sounds great. How pleased are you with the final product?
Sarah Renfro: I love it. When I got it in the mail I couldn't stop jumping around. I couldn't believe it was finally in my hands.
Josh Hogan: I BET! I remember talking to you in the summer and hearing how excited you were to be working on it, it must be a relief to finally be able to have it done!
Sarah Renfro: Such a relief haha It's so funny to think about the different stages of the whole process. It started out in an analog studio in Brooklyn. After that I felt completely overwhelmed and didn't touch it for months. Then I met Zach Landreneau who's an amazing musician and engineer. I was planning to move to Portland, OR but I decided to stay and work on the record with him. We recorded at his apartment over a good period of time, played a lot of gigs together here in New York, then he relocated to Austin. I felt overwhelmed again because I knew it was up to me to tackle the learning curve and finish tracking by myself. So I saved up some money, bought some equipment and recorded the flügelhorn, violin and additional vocal parts myself. It taught me the most effective way to make music is to be as self-sufficient as possible. I had much more confidence by the end of the project because I learned so much about how records are made.
Josh Hogan: Thats amazing, I bet it just made the whole thing that much more special knowing how much more of yourself was put into the record
Sarah Renfro: Yeah, definitely. If I was someone else looking in, I might say that spending 2 years on a 6 song EP is excessive. I needed that time to grow into the project. Also, the songs are about sensitive times in my life, especially Mabel and Edge of the night, that at times I really just needed a break from them.
But in the breaks of not working on the album, I've written enough for a full length. I think this next one will go a little faster.
Josh Hogan: Have you let yourself begin to think about the next album, or do you need time to let the excitement of this one fade away a bit first?
Sarah Renfro: I've already started recording the first song of the full length. No rest for the wicked! At first I thought technology was such a pain in the ass. There are so many things I don't understand since I'm not an engineer. But Zach and I have established a good system of going back and forth with material even though we live across the country now. It's kind of like The Postal Service except we use YouSendIt.com instead of packages in the mail.
Josh Hogan: I noticed on your Facebook page that you alluded to maybe making a move back to Texas at some point. Could Austin in the future for you?
Sarah Renfro: It's something I kick around quite a bit. There are a lot of things I miss about Denton, but I think if I moved back to Texas it would be to Austin because I really haven't spent much time there. It's exciting to think I could have a Texas experience that's completely different from the first 25 years of my life.
Josh Hogan: Are you excited to be back in town for North By 35?
Sarah Renfro: Yeah, I can't wait to see how much has changed. So many people I knew from Denton live in Brooklyn now and we feel like the Denton we knew kind of came up here with us. It's a whole new scene down there. I moved right before Fry Street burned down so it's an eery vibe to go through that area. It feels like NX35 is getting everybody's spirits up and getting the Denton music scene the attention it deserves I didn't hear about it until after it happened last year, some friend's of mine from Brooklyn played in it so I made sure to submit my stuff for this year. I was so happy I was selected! One of the songs on the EP is called "Denton, my love" which is a bittersweet little song about leaving a place I loved so much for a new place that is so hard to adjust to. Oh, and the song "Little white house" is about Denton also. I found out about a week before I moved that there was this little meditation house behind Juliet's Jewels on Sycamore. I really wished that I had known about it the whole time I lived there. One hectic and horrible New York day, I sat down and wished that I could just transport myself there and leave it all behind. All the greedy yuppies, tragic homeless, and creeps jacking off in the subway... I've seen far too much of that.
Josh Hogan: Yeah there is certainly not much of any of those sorts of things going on down here!
Sarah Renfro: I think the good 'ol boys would put a stop to it real quick.
Josh Hogan: hahaha! Very true! And we still have plenty of them!
Sarah Renfro: I'm not gonna lie. I kind of miss them! I miss people holding the door for each other, saying please and thank you, letting pedestrians cross the street... it's the little things I didn't know I'd miss
Josh Hogan: Are you planning anything else in terms of touring to support the EP or are you going to continue to focus on the Brooklyn scene and preparing to full length?
Sarah Renfro: I'm in the beginning stages of booking a tour for the south. I also want to do something in the Northwest this summer.
Josh Hogan: Tell me a little about Tanner And Hannah. It seems to have a little bit of a different vibe than most of the other tracks.
Sarah Renfro: Tanner and Hannah... hmm where do I start? That was actually one of the first songs I ever wrote in high school. But only the first few lines I had a crush on a boy named Tanner and sang him that song over the phone. I think he wasn't really paying attention though, because he didn't really say much about it. Either that or he thought I had major cooties. I'm bisexual so many years later I finished the song adding the hypothetical "Hannah" to complete the story.
Josh Hogan: That is very cool, and a very very great song!
Sarah Renfro: Thanks! I felt like "Denton, My Love" and "Tanner and "Hannah" didn't really fit in with the other songs and I almost didn't include them. But I decided that since my personality is diverse the record should reflect that. Also, I really like those songs, so whatever. =)
Josh Hogan: What about the rest of the album?
Sarah Renfro: When I wrote "State of the Union" it was politically fueled. I was so sick of hearing politicians speaking for the masses and feeding us bullshit. A friend of mine had a different perspective of the song and heard it as an anthem for personal independence. When I listen to it now, and remember what I was going through personally at the time, that's totally what it was. I felt a prisoner of a lot of things and always had. That song was me declaring that I wasn't going to stand for anything that hurt me any more. I've made a lot of positive changes in my life since. "Edge of the night" was written after watching the whole Twin Peaks series. I had Angelo Badalamenti's themes in my head all the time. I imagine Laura Palmer listening to that song on a old car radio out in the woods somewhere. "Mabel" is about overcoming past injuries and growing to help other people in similar situations instead of repeating the same old patterns.
Photo of Sarah by Travis Williams Photography
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After our interview was over I got a chance to hear the entire album, and it is fantastic from start to finish. "Mabel" sounds as good as it ever has and the changeup Sarah throws in there with "Denton, My Love" and "Tanner and Hannah" give the EP a breath of fresh air. Even though she spent most of her time perfecting other areas of the album, the thing that stands out the most is her incredible voice. And no matter how good Sarah gets at recording or engineering, it is that voice which is her most valuable tool. Overall it is a good quality album delivered by an outstanding artist, what more could you ask for?
