“We wanted the song to ‘explode’ at some point, so we decided to go full-on grunge...”
Why are you reading this instead of listening to Night of Joy, the debut album by Songs for Sabotage? Seriously.
Ohhh. Are you listening to it while reading this? Well, that’s okay, too.
If you need to play catch-up, please do yourself a favor and head over to our Darkness Calling playlist. This week, we’ve added “Urgency,” a great track that blessed our lineup with some much-needed distortion. If you thought it was impossible to blend the worlds of 80’s post-punk and 90’s grunge, think again. This L.A. duo manages to pull off both effortlessly, and Lina Sophie’s smooth vocals would make Shirley Manson proud.
Darkness Calling was lucky enough to chat with Lina and her partner-in-sound Richey Rose. Read on to learn more about Songs for Sabotage.
DARKNESS CALLING: First, I'd like to ask about "Urgency," which we featured on our playlist. It's a great, moody song. What struck me about it is that the verses are kind of an 80's post-punk sound, but the chorus kind of kicks you in the gut with distorted guitars (maybe more of a 90's sound), before falling back. Of course, that’s not to call your sound derivative. Songs for Sabotage feels simultaneously classic and modern at the same time.
To get to the actual question [Laughs], what can you tell us about the distillation of your band's sound, and the writing/production of "Urgency" in particular?
SONGS FOR SABOTAGE: Nailed it — that’s exactly the vibe we feel like we bring to the table… classic yet modern. We’re heavily influenced by classic 80’s post-punk/goth/darkwave but also share a huge affinity for modern and 90’s mainstream production techniques a la Butch Vig (Nirvana, Garbage).
“Urgency” was one of the first tracks we wrote together (around fall 2018) before SFS was even a band. Lina started playing the alternating intro chords and then we came up with the main guitar riff after that. We programmed most of the drums next, and she also wrote the verse lyrics that day. We wanted the song to “explode” at some point, so we decided to go full-on grunge in the choruses/outro. Richey was guitar-sitting a Thinline Fender Jaguar (a somewhat rare model; only 500 were made) for a friend at the time, and as far as we can remember, that’s the only guitar we used on the recording. All the feedback at the end of that song is thanks to that guitar. We offered several times to buy it, but the dude wouldn’t budge.
DARKNESS CALLING: I read that you two met in a bar and bonded over musical influences. That must have been a magical night for it to culminate in a project that's lasted this long. Can you share any other memories from that night — the funny, stupid stuff that wouldn't be found in your press release?
RICHEY: I was DJ’ing at a spot in Williamsburg called Night of Joy (hence the album name), spinning mainly acid house, electro, and some drone/psych. At some point in the evening, Lina approached me and shared her appreciation for (classic acid house track) “Voodoo Ray” by A Guy Called Gerald. Not that that song is totally unknown, but it’s pretty niche for late 2010’s Brooklyn, so I was stoked she knew it. We were both in separate bands at the time, so we chatted about the NYC/BK scene, gear, influences, etc. We exchanged Instagrams [Laughs] and she said she was hopping to another bar but would come back later… “Yeah right,” I thought. A few hours later, she was back and we continued the conversation. I thought that was solid AF considering how flaky most everyone is these days! Soon after, we started writing together.
LINA: I was meeting some work colleagues at Night of Joy for a drink one night. I remember seeing this dude in the corner, hiding behind a wall of hair, playing old-school acid house tracks that literally no one in the bar was feeling except for me… so I had to give him some words of encouragement. Little did I know that we’d have so much in common musically and that he was very well-versed in Swedish pop, which definitely scored some points (he admitted he loved Neneh Cherry, Robyn, and Max Martin during our first conversation). I was supposed to continue the evening elsewhere, but something about the liveliness and honesty in our initial meeting drew me back to make sure we stayed in touch.
“...something about the liveliness and honesty in our initial meeting drew me back to make sure we stayed in touch.”
DARKNESS CALLING: I'm always curious about female/male music acts. Of course, I can't assume anyone's preferences, but (to me) it seems that there is often a challenge when working with someone on something as intimate as music and not becoming romantically involved. Are you two an "item," or is that something that has never been in the cards? If you're not in a relationship, are there challenges that arise from people or peers assuming this might be the case?
SONGS FOR SABOTAGE: Yes, we’re together now, but we weren’t for quite awhile. We had been collaborating for around 7 months before we became a couple. We were even dating other people/dealing with previous relationship dramas in front of each other back then. The musical relationship came very naturally, and after a period of time, we realized the personal stuff was just as natural, too — free of judgement, expectations, jealousy, etc. We felt like our bond was meant to strengthen and come together personally when it did, and not a moment before.
DARKNESS CALLING: You two also made a stellar video for your cover of Peter Murphy's "Cuts You Up." I really appreciate that there's a performance element to this video. It seems like more and more videos lately have gone the route of imagery-only. What can you tell us about the choice of this cover song, as well as the production of the video?
SONGS FOR SABOTAGE: We’re huge fans of Bauhaus, as well as each member’s individual/collective side projects. We had tickets to see Peter perform solo in NYC in August of 2019. He suffered a heart attack the morning of the show and, after his recovery, it was rescheduled for January 2020. The rescheduled gig was more than worth the wait, and it ended up being the final show we’d attend together before the COVID lockdowns began.
Being super inspired by the performance (and the fact Peter had overcome a heart attack to be there) we had already begun working on the cover soon after the gig. Once it became clear that that was going to be the last show we’d see this year, it seemed all-the-more appropriate to include “Cuts You Up” on the album. We actually finished the recording during quarantine back in April. We shot the video a few weeks ago here in LA.
To be honest, there wasn’t much of a concept — just the idea to passionately perform the song in a unique location. It was shot guerrilla-style on an unmarked trail in Griffith Park. We had to drive up the hill and sneak across someone’s property in order to get our guitars and camera stuff up there (otherwise you have to walk like 2.5 miles uphill, which wasn’t gonna happen in 90 degree heat with gear strapped to our backs). We were pretty paranoid about getting caught, so the whole thing was shot in about 45 minutes. We played through the song 5 times, maybe? Richey’s sister Caroline (@carolinemhaydon) shot it for us, and Lina edited it all together.
DARKNESS CALLING: What's next for SFS? I know COVID has limited most band's plans. But please let us know if there are any shows/livestreams/other plans in your near future.
SONGS FOR SABOTAGE: We weep for the industry, but mostly for venues, their staffs, and all the road crews who haven’t been able to work since March. We firmly believe that most will be able to eventually pivot in some way/shape/form, but right now, it seems very dire. SFS is blessed in the sense that we are a self-produced duo creating everything in-house. We’ve been able to maintain inspiration and momentum despite all of 2020’s shortcomings, and for that we are very grateful to the universe.
While we obviously aren’t able to play shows in front of a physical audience, we will be doing some livestreams this fall. We’re going to do one the day after Night of Joy drops, on Saturday, September 26th where we play the album in full. That will be streaming via our Instagram (@songs.for.sabotage) at 7 pm PST/10 pm EST.
We’ll also be doing a livestream performance for the iVoted Festival on Election Day (Tuesday, November 3rd). Otherwise, we’re working on lots of new songs/collaborations to release in 2021, and looking forward to the day we can pack our van full of gear and drive to a venue for a good ol’ fashioned rock-n-roll gig!
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