MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED for NPR News. I'm Mary Louise Kelly in Washington.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
And I'm Ailsa Chang in Los Angeles, where on a recent morning, I met up with the violinist and vocalist Sudan Archives in her home studio.
Oh, my God. It smells so good in here.
SUDAN ARCHIVES: Thank you.
CHANG: It's citrusy. Hi.
And dangling above a couch is this museum-worthy gallery of all kinds of violins from all over the world.
SUDAN ARCHIVES: This one right here, this is bowed (ph), and it's like an ancestor Japanese violin.
CHANG: It's only 3 strings.
SUDAN ARCHIVES: This is a Persian violin.
CHANG: OK. Wow.
SUDAN ARCHIVES: This is a African violin.
CHANG: And alongside these traditional instruments hang more modern ones too, like this electric violin she can plug right into a synthesizer.
SUDAN ARCHIVES: (Playing MIDI violin).
This is a MIDI violin. So this can make synth trumpet sounds, like...
(SOUNDBITE OF SYNTHESIZED TRUMPET NOTES)
CHANG: Oh, my God, horns.
SUDAN ARCHIVES: Like a lot of weird sounds that violins don't normally make.
CHANG: Yeah, a lot of weird sounds.
(SOUNDBITE OF SYNTHESIZED NOTES)
CHANG: Sudan Archives has a new album out. It's called "The BPM," as in beats per minute. And in it, you can hear layers upon layers of these sounds.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "A COMPUTER LOVE")
SUDAN ARCHIVES: (Singing) I don't want to wait for wedding rings...
CHANG: Sudan first picked up the violin as a kid in elementary school. But when she was a teenager, that is when she discovered the electric violin, and it was a game-changer.
SUDAN ARCHIVES: Basically, that was the beginning of my electronic gear nerd journey. Because I realized that I don't need to play in the orchestra. I am the orchestra.
(SOUNDBITE OF SUDAN ARCHIVES SONG, "LOS CINCI")
CHANG: On her new album, Sudan Archives introduces the world to an alter ego, a tech-obsessed persona she calls Gadget Girl.
Like, would you say you're always Gadget Girl...
SUDAN ARCHIVES: Yeah.
CHANG: ...Or is Gadget Girl a version of you that only resides, like, in your music, on this album?
SUDAN ARCHIVES: Gadget Girl is me.
CHANG: It's you.
SUDAN ARCHIVES: Yes.
CHANG: It's you through and through.
SUDAN ARCHIVES: Yes. These are gadget glasses.
CHANG: Oh, you're not even kidding me.
SUDAN ARCHIVES: I can record you right now.
CHANG: Those are CIA glasses. (Laughter) There's a flashing light coming out of her glass frames, guys.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOS CINCI")
SUDAN ARCHIVES: (Singing) ...Leave right now. Yeah, I'm done with people pleasing, so I'm mean right now. Crazy when you - crazy when you - crazy when you...
I've always been interested in technology since I was a little girl. Like, the thing I started making music on for the first time was an iPad. My dad sent me an iPad. And then I just started downloading these apps, these music-making apps.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOS CINCI")
SUDAN ARCHIVES: (Singing) I used to work at the mall. Now its not here at all. I used to hang out with y'all. Now I can't bear to call. Is it you? Is it me? Do you think that I'm tripping? All eyes can see everything feels different.
I have always loved sci-fi. Like, the very first sci-fi movie I think I saw was "Minority Report."
CHANG: Oh, yeah.
SUDAN ARCHIVES: I really liked watching "Kim Possible." Like, I really feel like I'm Kim Possible right now. But, like, I've always been Gadget Girl. Like, I'm not, like, the best singer, the best violinist, but I have these emotions, and they need to get out. And the gadgets help amplify them.
CHANG: The technology...
SUDAN ARCHIVES: You know?
CHANG: ...Enhances and transmits...
SUDAN ARCHIVES: Yes.
CHANG: ...Your emotions.
(SOUNDBITE OF SUDAN ARCHIVES SONG, "DEAD")
CHANG: So this album that we're talking about, it's clearly, like, a party album, right? Like, it's an electronic album. I felt like right when I put on even just the first track, like, my body just starts wanting to move.
SUDAN ARCHIVES: That's so good 'cause that's the mission.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DEAD")
SUDAN ARCHIVES: (Singing) I cannot fit in this brand-new - fit these clothes. And these matching gloves, what are the point of those?
I just wanted to move and dance 'cause I was tired of my own self and not moving and dancing on stage, and I'm trying to break a sweat. So I guess I wanted them to do the same. And also, what made me want to play the violin was fiddle. So violin and fiddle are the same.
CHANG: Yeah.
SUDAN ARCHIVES: But it's just, like, the culture - fiddle music...
CHANG: It's so much more physical.
SUDAN ARCHIVES: It's dance music.
CHANG: Yes.
SUDAN ARCHIVES: So fiddle music is dance music. And, like, Black people, white people, all types of people, back in the day, centuries ago, when they would go to the pub, the bar, the juke, usually a fiddler's playing, and everyone just starts grinding.
(SOUNDBITE OF SUDAN ARCHIVES SONG, "DEAD")
CHANG: Well, I also understand that you recorded "The BPM" in Detroit, in Chicago and here in Los Angeles. Like, were there, in your mind, distinct electronic music scenes in each of those cities that you wanted to weave together and meld together into this album?
SUDAN ARCHIVES: Basically all those places is where my parents are from. So it's not like I was trying to emulate house, emulate techno, but...
CHANG: Right.
SUDAN ARCHIVES: My family's in Chicago. My family's in Detroit. So they were all a part of it. So whatever that soul is, is on the album now. And it was just amazing because, like, I got to work with, like, all my family. And...
CHANG: Is this the closest you've ever worked with them on an album?
SUDAN ARCHIVES: Yeah, it is.
CHANG: Why did you choose to do that for this album?
SUDAN ARCHIVES: I feel like I'm at the point in my career where I have to give opportunity because, like, you know, you're dating a writer, really good writer, and, like, you know, your cousin's husband is, like, a producer. And you see all these people around you that are capable of, like, contributing, and it would almost be unfair not to invite them to be a part of this madness. And I've been doing this for about 10 years now, so I've acquired a certain privilege, like, you know, and you need to start, like, spreading that...
CHANG: Yeah.
SUDAN ARCHIVES: ...Energy.
CHANG: It's a generosity of spirit.
SUDAN ARCHIVES: It is, but it is also depressing because it does feel a little bit like everyone's, like, opening my journal and writing something in it, you know?
CHANG: Yeah, 'cause an album is so personal.
SUDAN ARCHIVES: Yeah.
CHANG: I mean, I would imagine...
SUDAN ARCHIVES: And then...
CHANG: ...To most artists.
SUDAN ARCHIVES: At the end, you feel a little bit more naked than ever before. You feel kind of stripped of your skin. Like, I'd rather be naked in my house doing this alone than doing this with anyone, to be honest.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SHE'S GOT PAIN")
SUDAN ARCHIVES: (Singing) Just a taste of what could come over. Tell me, can we win? When are you trying to leave?
CHANG: So when you go on tour with this album, what do you visualize in the live performances? Like, a huge dance party over and over again?
SUDAN ARCHIVES: Kind of, yeah. I envision a DJ set. So, like, I am inspired by the trance-ness (ph) of a DJ set, which is no silence and constant, like, loops. I already kind of do that.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "YEA YEA YEA")
SUDAN ARCHIVES: (Singing) From the top, red. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I hit the dance floor. Come on. Come on.
But I also envision it to be, like, this almost, like, church thing, where you go up to the altar, and then you just basically have the Holy Spirit or something. Because I've been through a lot, and for me, I'm thinking I'm going to be crying a lot. Like...
CHANG: Aw.
SUDAN ARCHIVES: 'Cause I haven't had a cry. So I...
CHANG: You haven't had a cry throughout the making of this album, is that what you mean?
SUDAN ARCHIVES: Yeah. I've had a cry or two, but I feel like the music is so emotive, I feel like it's going to have this, like, white-girl-crying-in-the-club vibe.
CHANG: (Laughter).
SUDAN ARCHIVES: Yeah. That's what I'm going for.
CHANG: That's the aspiration, white girl crying.
SUDAN ARCHIVES: White girl crying in the club.
CHANG: (Laughter) We all want to cry like white girls.
SUDAN ARCHIVES: Yes, you know? Like, I really want to, like, rave like a white girl, and I want to cry like a white girl 'cause...
CHANG: (Laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF SUDAN ARCHIVES SONG, "THE NATURE OF POWER")
CHANG: That was musician Sudan Archives. She's out with a new album called "The BPM."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE NATURE OF POWER")
SUDAN ARCHIVES: (Singing) Lovers and flowers... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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