BAND OF THE WEEK: Sally Dige
It's pop, but it's pitch black.
Remember Terrorizer magazine? An absolute unholy bible for adventurous metalheads, legendary since the early ‘90s until its sad demise around 2016 or so. Anyway, that fine tome once published, at the end of that decade, a list of the best albums of the ‘90s, and among them, perhaps surprisingly (given the scope of the mag, I mean), was Depeche Mode’s ‘Violator’. Sure, the motto of the mag was “Extreme Music - No Boundaries!”, but still. On the corresponding blurb, it said “it’s pop, but it’s pitch black”, presumably an elegant way to try and get the more hardened metalheads to still give the thing a shot, but hey, it was also an absolutely accurate description of that extraordinary record. An admirable attempt at horizon-broadening, and I’m sure it turned a lot of otherwise oblivious listeners to what is indeed a particularly bleak album that entirely fits what fans of “heavier” or more extreme music are generally drawn to. Well, I was reminded of that quote these last few weeks, during my frequent listens of Sally Dige’s new album, ‘Holding The Sun’. Perhaps more subtly than Depeche Mode’s finest hour, it’s also a predominantly synth pop album, but with a morose, shadowy vibe that will entirely fit the needs of those who need some darkness injected into even their sunniest tunes. Today is an important day in the album’s existence, as its new single ‘Sow The Path’ was finally released. The album is coming on July 11th, but this gorgeous song will, I’m sure, keep you satiated for a little while:
Though this album is a much more evolved beast, there’s a great quote on Sally’s Bandcamp, on the description of her old album ‘Holding On’, which says “Think Gina X flavored post punk-disco rubbing against Twitch-era Ministry‘s lost Sade collab or Enya on LSD after a break up.” Parts of that lovely jumble kind of still holds up in her sound, though I think the songwriting comes across as so much more lush and warm on her current music, more obviously atmospheric rather than a sharper kind of actual pop. To me, it sounds like a sort of Natalie Mehring (Weyes Blood) let loose in a synth shop with both members of Azure Ray (Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink - go listen to them!) forcing her to write songs for one of their records while listening to Werner Herzog’s jungle speech about the lack of harmony in the universe on repeat in her headphones. But maybe that’s just my brain, I don’t know. I’m also evaluating it more from a perspective of having heard the whole album, privileged bastard that I am, rather than just this admittedly beautiful single. But rest assured this was a good pick, it’s one of the coolest songs and in a way quite representative of the whole thing, as possible as that can be. There’s a delightful timelessness to this music that gives it a kind of ethereal quality - you can imagine this being released in 1992, as well as 2032, and it makes sense both ways. Just to give you another dimension of her work, here’s another song, one of my favourites of her, an older tune that might or might not have something to do with the new album:
One particularly important thing about Sally (Dige is, by the way, pronounced “Dee-Ah”), a Danish-Canadian artist based in Berlin, is her fierce DIY approach: she writes, records, and produces all of her music, while also creating the visual material and running her own label. Though this song in particular (today’s single, ‘Sow The Path’, I mean), for example, features an impressive cast of collaborators - Martha Rose on violin, Sebastian Selke on cello, Tobias Humble on drums, and even a full choir! - everything beats to the drum of Field Commander Sally, and that is mightily impressive. Considering the instrumental diversity present throughout the entire piece (mandolin, balalaika, harp, strings), I can only imagine how busy a place must her mind be during the creation process. In her bio alone, she mentions post-punk, darkwave, folk, dream pop and goth as genres whose shades you can find on the record, and yet it’s impossible to really slap on of them clearly on it. Apart from awesome. Is that a genre?
Anyway, to help us understand her mind a little bit better, we talked to Sally for a little while and that lovely interview is right here below. Enjoy and mark the release day of the album on your calendar, it’ll be worth it.
‘Holding The Sun’ is out on July 11th via Dige Records.
You can find Sally Dige on Bandcamp, Instagram, Facebook and Spotify.
“If I am not exploring, I start to feel like a factory worker just churning out a product.”
-- Sally Dige
I’d love to hear about your musical origins – when did you decide to become a musician, what were your first recordings like?
Sally Dige: I started playing official shows when I was 17 years old and prior to that I had bands with my classmates in school. My earliest recording experiences happened before I started my solo project (Sally Dige). At the time, my bandmate was working at McDonald’s and had a co-worker who was studying music engineering. That co-worker needed to record some songs as part of his school assignment, so he offered my bandmate to record two of our songs at his school studio. We loaded in in the evening and recorded through the night until morning. There were moments in the AM hours where we started to feel deliriously tired, which made it challenging for recording vocals, but it was still exciting to hear our punky songs played back on big speakers through a proper mixing desk. It felt much more official than our usual tape recorder recordings. One major way I’ve evolved as an artist - especially now that I write, record, and produce my own music - is in how I think about space and presence in a song. Back when I was young and in a band, it felt like every member needed to be playing something throughout the entire track; to be doing something on stage at all times. Now, I’m comfortable with certain instruments only appearing for a moment in a song.
I love your DIY approach. Can you elaborate on the main reasons why you choose to work like this, and can you imagine working in any other way in the future perhaps?
Sally: There are a lot of reasons behind it: lack of money, wanting to work at my own pace, staying true to my own creative process, not always finding people who match my style, or who are available to collaborate, and sometimes I just don’t have a clear direction yet of what I want to do - so I figure it out as I go, which is also part of the creative process. I also like having control over my work and not being at the mercy of anyone else. All of that plays a role. That said, I don’t necessarily want to stay completely DIY forever. Doing everything yourself takes a lot of time and can really slow down the process of writing more songs or releasing more work. It also just tires me out. For example, hiring photographers instead of setting up the camera and lights myself and trying to jump into frame or getting designers to help with merch designs has helped to reduce some of the stress. Over the years, I’ve started to find a small circle of close friends I love collaborating with and supporting, and I’d like to work more with them. Building that kind of creative community has been really rewarding.
Still, I think that work ethic is a great example to anyone waiting on someone else to get their art going – you’ve shown that you can earn recognition and attention without anyone else interfering in your process. Maybe it’s not a path for everyone, and it does require that you’re awesome at what you do, but hey.
Sally: Exactly. For me, a big part of going DIY and self-learning so many of my skills initially came from frustration - either from having to wait on someone else or simply not having access to help in the first place. I get really anxious when I have to rely on others. It makes me feel powerless, sometimes even vulnerable or weak, and I don’t like that feeling. That said, I do love collaborating, but I also want to feel in control of my creative output. Being able to create and release your work - whether or not anyone else is involved - is incredibly liberating.
Yeah, despite that fierce independence, you’ve also shown to be a very collaborative artist - I confess I actually didn’t know about your session with Thorsten Quaeschning, for example! I also love the absolutely all-star cast that appears on the single alone. Are there artists with whom you’d explicitly like to collaborate, is there a secret shortlist? Or do these things happen more spontaneously?
Sally: I’d love to do more collaborations. I think working with another solo artist would be especially fun and interesting partly just out of mere curiosity to see how they approach their creative and recording process. Björk would be amazing because she is such an iconic, unique artist. I would also love to do some collaborations with Zanias, Boy Harsher, Riki (she actually approached me about doing a song together, which we haven’t gotten around to starting yet), Bat for Lashes or Madonna (might as well manifest big!). All of my past collaborations have come about quite organically - those artists approached me and asked if I’d like to sing on their tracks. That was the case with Thorsten Quaeschning and Agent Side Grinder, for example.
Your new album ‘Holding The Sun’ is wonderful, and I think a little different from anyone who might have heard you before, including your previous two albums. So much warmer and more organic, and yet I feel your musical personality shines through just like before. What were the main reasons behind this shift in direction (or mostly instrumentation, I would venture)?
Sally: I wanted to challenge myself, explore new soundscapes, and push my limits with different instruments and sounds. In some cases, I might have even gotten a bit too ambitious which made it challenging to finish the song (laughs). My previous album ‘Holding On’ was recorded with one synth that I carried back and forth between Berlin and Copenhagen on the bus. After that album I needed a change. I decided that I would use synths as little as possible. Change is really important to me. I’m not the type of artist that can stick to one sound or one style forever. I need to feel like I am always exploring. Learning to play new string instruments I hadn’t used before, or writing string arrangements for the first time, kept things fun and creatively challenging. If I am not exploring, I start to feel like a factory worker just churning out a product.
Some of these songs at least are already a few years old, isn’t that so? I remember you releasing some of them as singles during the pandemic. How much is this record a product of those years, and how much of it is more touched by the actual coming out of those years, you think?
Sally: Yes, some of the songs on ‘Holding The Sun’ were written and released as singles during the pandemic. That time was such a strange and emotionally charged time, but I wouldn’t say it shaped the music overall. For instance, I had already released ‘It’s You I’m Thinking Of’ before the lockdowns began, so I was already in the process of my transformation of sound and visual direction. Of course, the pandemic did affect the recording and release process in some ways. I actually had COVID while recording the vocals for ‘Sow the Path’ which I recorded in my home studio. It was a struggle to sing, but I was running out of time to finish the album, so I just had to do it. I also couldn’t work during the pandemic because it meant not being able to go into the office, so financially things were tight. This is also partly why I could only focus on singles at the time as it was what I could afford since musician fees, mixing, mastering, music videos, press, etc all started to add up and it’s better to do what you can, than nothing at all. There were also some other recording aspects affected by the pandemic like the inability to meet up with other musicians during lockdown. However I would say that impact was minimal, since many of the musicians I collaborate with are able to record their parts remotely and send me their stems. I also write, perform, and record most of my music in my home studio anyway.
Do you actually have songs that you’d like to mention, not necessarily your favourites, but some that might point out any hints for your future compositions, stuff you’d like to explore more, for example?
Sally: This is so hard to say, but from the new songs ‘Strength in Me’ is one of my favourites. I'd like to experiment more with different tunings and time signatures in the future. I also keep telling myself that I want to create more stripped-down songs - but I say that at the start of every record and somehow always end up falling back into my habit of massive layering. The way I make songs is a lot like my everyday life: I try really hard to be a minimalist, but I always end up slipping into my hoarder habits. [laughs]
Would you like to talk about the lyrics and the conceptual aspect of the record? Is it “about” anything in general, do you find some kind of thread running through it, thematically? And what kind of lyric writer are you, do you feel you need to be in any particular state of mind, or is it more free flowing than that?
Sally: Lyrics are definitely the hardest part for me. I’ve never felt they were my strength, and it often takes me a long time to finish them - sometimes even up to a month for just one song! I sometimes feel my lyrics are rather average or simple, like from a pre-teen poem from their diary. Melodies come much more naturally to me, and I always prioritize a strong melody and flow over the lyrics. If I have to choose between poetic lyrics that look more interesting on paper but are clunky to sing, and simpler lyrics that fit the melody, then I’ll always choose the latter. Flow and sound are more important to me in the end. When I write lyrics, I usually start by singing gibberish to find the melody - just letting my subconscious lead the way. Sometimes actual words or phrases emerge from that, and I build on them. It’s not always logical or structured and doesn’t always make sense in the end either, but that’s part of what makes it interesting. I know a lot of other artists work this way too.
Speaking of that I would love to hear about some of your favourite artists. I don’t even mean “influences” or whatever, but what does Sally put on at home to listen to, what are some of your go-to records throughout the years?
Sally: This is embarrassing to say, but I don’t feel like I listen to enough music! I listen mostly to podcasts or debates. I enjoy listening to people talk and have conversations, or debating each other. I love listening to people tell stories. There is so much new music all the time and I feel I am behind in trying to keep up. My phone usually just has my demos or mixes on it that I listen to. The last album which I was listening to on a loop was Ministry's latest album, ‘The Squirrelly Years Revisted’, Nilüfer Yanya, ‘Just a Western’ (Boy Harsher Remix), and the Russian band Kino. When I like a song, I usually listen to it on repeat for days.
What are your plans now once the album is released? Will we be seeing you return to playing live a lot, hopefully? Do you have any goal that you’d like to achieve, in that regard?
Sally: I would like to get back to playing live again! I’m trying to work out a new live set now, hopefully with some additional musicians on stage with me. The songs will need some rearrangement, so we will see how it will sound live.
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