Hot Local Singles: Sarah Coolidge Plays In-Studio Ahead of June 4 Show

Can you even believe this was Sarah Coolidge's first time in the BFF.fm Studios? We can't! Cause we've been loving their music for literal YEARS.

We're soooooo excited to be co-presenting the FREE Total Accord x BFF.fm BBQ show featuring Sarah on June 4 from 5-8pm at El Rio! Ahead of that sure-to-be-incredible show, Sarah stopped by Hot Local Singles to play tunes and talk to Cosmic Amanda about their experiences making and returning to music, the collaborative vibes of the local scene right now, songwriting, witchcraft, etc. The two also bond about being from the greater Boston area, working in the publishing industry, how much they love the library, and more!

Here are a few snippets from their chat:

On how they walked away from and returned to making music: "I joined my high school music scene and was really active in it. It was a big part of my life, and then I went off to college and got very serious about literature. I'm actually an editor in my day job for a small press here in the Bay Area. I was very black-and-white about it and was like, 'I'm choosing books over music.'

Then I had this moment, I think in 2017 or 2018, where I went to the Kurt Vile/Courtney Barnett show at the Fox. It was before the pandemic, so things were a little looser, and I was sick but I still went. I think I was a little feverish, and I just like really felt the power of a good show, which I'm sure everyone who loves music has felt before, where you just feel it in your body and you feel emotions and you can't quite explain why you're feeling what you're feeling. And it just clicked. I was like, you know, I really like words and intellectual things and explaining things, but I also really like getting out of my head and into my body."

On pandemic-era realizations:"I think in the end it gave me a lot of time to think about why I was doing music...I mean, a lot of people had existential questions during the pandemic, but I think in a really beautiful way it was like, why do we make art? I think a lot of those of us who are creative -- like, I know you talked with Marika Christine about this last week -- but you say you're in it for the love of music and then you start a project and you get so focused on a product and the outcome. I think a lot of us had a kind of realization that it was not about the product and that we should make music that feels honest and work with people that we like. Like, I don't want to play with bands that are mean just because they have a following. I want to play with nice people whose music I want to watch and listen to and record with people who are genuine sweet people. It kind of clarified some things."

"As things are so dark out there, I'm trying to remember to focus on where I feel like I've entered little pockets of community and found hope in realizing that people are really coming together to make beautiful things."

On the collaboration and support in the Bay Area scene right now:"I've always liked a very small band, like I'm in a trio, so it's not a ton of actual collaboration you're seeing on the stage, but behind the scenes there's so much inspiration I'm getting from other people's music, jamming with people, sharing bits of information, sharing instruments. Then things like Total Accord, having support from people who are not making money at the moment but are dedicating time and energy to supporting artists that aren't necessarily profitable at this point -- some probably are but many are not -- and just seeing the way that collaboration can happen on that level. Not all musicians are good at scheduling or money, that kind of thing, so I think the more skill-sharing we can do, the better for everyone."

On their songwriting: "I usually start with chords. I always talk about myself as a guitar player who became a songwriter just because that's how I got into playing music, writing guitar parts in other people's bands. I've tried the opposite, but I think honestly for me the chords have to come first, then I'm just kind of singing really random words over it. Then I just play it on repeat until things start sticking that I like...It has to come organically. I've tried writing more like a poem and fitting it, and it just doesn't sound natural to me...Anytime I've tried to force anything onto a song, it just doesn't sound natural to me. I really feel like with songwriting I like it feeling conversational and kind of the way I speak instead of, like, poetry necessarily."

Sarah Coolidge's recommendation for three Bay Area bands: Suver, For Your Pleasure, Spacemoth

Listen to the full episode to hear acoustic versions of Sarah's songs, plus the songs they chose from the bands they recommended. AND come hang with us at the June 4 show! Details below: