09
From RustonAfterDark.com: An Interview with Sara Sullivan
Filed Under (Blog) by Ben on 09-01-2010
Tagged Under : music, writing
For the past year, I’ve been running a website for the Ruston, La night life with mediocre success. It seems it’s pretty hard to run a site about a city you no longer live in. But, since I wrote a bunch of kick ass articles and got it published in a few trades and newspapers, I’m going to save the articles I wrote for it here for posterity.
Happy hour in Ruston on a Friday. Make that a rainy Friday. I sat at the bar by myself listening to the old timers talk about how the lakes are floodin’ and how good the fishin’ll be next week. It was completely different from the Sundown I was used to at 10 o’clock… much more relaxed and quite somber with the rain filling up the patio area.
The old timers wives kept asking me why I was there alone writing in my notebook. I told them about the site and that I was there for an interview. They thought it was cute and bought me a beer while they told me about their grand-daughters. That was when Sara walked in the door.
“Excuse me ladies, but that’s the girl I’m waiting for.”
I excused myself and bought two fresh drinks and met Sara at a front table. I got out my notebook and voice recorder and she immediately went red.
“Wow, getting all professional on me? Didn’t think you’d actually record it.”
It was surprising to see someone like her get embarrassed. I’ve known Sara for a while, and on stage, she’s anything but shy. The night before, she had been playing with John Henry’s Hammer to a packed house only twenty feet from away from where we were sitting. She’s very much in her element on stage.
So how did it go last night?
Oh, it was great! We actually recorded last night’s show. Put on a light show, too. We did it real old school and took a couple of projectors and put some glass plates on top of them and mixed some oil and water and rotated the plates all psychedelic like. It made for a great environment. I mean, we had a few artists and people in the crowd play with the plates and move the colors.
Wow, that’s a pretty new thing for a place like Sundown. You were playing with John Henry’s Hammer?
Yeah, I started playing with them this summer. The guys in the band are guys I went to school with, even before college. So it was an easy transition, already knowing them. And I love it. They’re great. It’s really taught me a lot about being in a band and collaborating. It really allows me to release my inner rock-n-roll side.
So you really like to let your hair down and play to the crowd?
Yeah, I’d really like to say the lightshow was my idea, but it wasn’t. It’s a lot different when I play by myself, though. I’m not one of those people who like to talk about my songs, really. I like to think that my songs can stand out on their own so that people can interpret it themselves.
Any Sara solo shows coming up?
Sort of. Most of my shows are during other peoples set breaks. A lot of my time is allotted between school and working.
Working, as in DJ’ing for 107.5?
Yeah, I work for 107.5, the mid-day DJ, or as my boss calls me, the mid-day Diva. I’m the only female DJ for the station. But no one really calls me the mid-day Diva.
Well, they will now after I write about it.
Ha! I hope not. I’ve been working in radio for a while. I used to spin 45’s and 33’s back then. It was great. But I’ve been on the mid-day for a little over a year. The job is great because it keeps me in music and in the scene.
Do you ever get to plug yourself on air?
I have! I’ve plugged my shows before, but I’ve never played any of my music. I’m really more interested in song writing. I’ve been writing for a long time and some of it turns into music or just turns into crap that I throw away. In reality, I think I have more of a capacity to write than perform. Don’t get me wrong, I like performing, but writing is my passion.
Which is probably why you’re doing your masters program in English.
Exactly! I hope it would make it a better writer in a more artistic field. My school work has been a huge source for my inspiration. I’ve even written songs on the books that I’ve read for it.
Well who’s your favorite writer?
Oh, I don’t know. I think probably the greatest writer is Shakespeare. I went to England this summer and went to see about 5 of his plays at the Globe Theatre and saw Stratford Upon Avon, his birthplace. It’s different seeing it in its original environment.
What about your favorite singer? I know you like Bob Dylan.
Ahhh, these are the hard questions! Yeah, Dylan is one of my favorites; the other would be Walt Wilkins from Austin. I play a lot of his songs down here.
So you like playing in Ruston?
I love Ruston. I’ve lived here my whole life. I think that people underestimate the level of art and culture that this town has to offer. There’s really a lot here for people to do. People who want to come here and hear music or see an art gallery…it’s a good environment to do it. The North Louisiana Art Council is having an art crawl and I’ll be playing at that this November the 13th. Should be a lot of fun.
The weather had started letting up by the time I put my recorder away. We took our drinks outside, made a few friends, and talked about music, Halloween costumes, and Patrick Swayze movies. Ruston can be random like that.
