Interview by Jack Kennedy
CANE SUGAR, aka Scarlett St. Clair, released her third EP last week. The title is called Speak it is a conceptual project. It is very thorough. It does exactly what it was supposed to do. It is short & sweet, leaving more to be desired.
Speak is an airy experience, like floating through the clouds while someone off in the distance is playing guitar for you. Shades are an absolute must up there, it’s bright as hell. Occasionally you will be pushed along by 808’s like a Super Mario level where you can’t turn back to chase that mushroom that’s running away from you.
It’s also like the feeling of waking up to your alarm, knowing it’s a workday, probably slightly hung-over knowing that you can’t go back to bed and you must must must seize day. Your eyes are still glued shut. You start making noises with your mouth that seem to come from another place, almost automatically, as if they weren’t yours to offer, but still, they must exist. It is not so bad though, because some day you will be a star, someday you will do something great with your life, and you must take care of this now before any of that can happen. This is the story of “It’s Early (But I’m Awake)”. You hop on a conveyor belt like George Jetson and the rest is history.
You can check out ‘SPEAK’ at
https://canesugar.bandcamp.
You have described the EP to me as the feeling of “dramatization”/ “romanticizing something very early” and “something that’s not yours but you want it to be” … can you elaborate on that?
Well, the whole idea for the project was early onset romanticizing– or rather, wanting something that’s not yet yours. Falling for something that you don’t yet have. I wrote the majority of the release with that idea in mind, but by the time I’d done final touches on everything, I had already gotten and lost what I wanted, which I think ended up being reflected as well, to me at least.
In a way, finally releasing it was a sort of closure.
Do you think getting lost in it had anything to do w the abruptness of having the rug pulled out from underneath you?
In my personal life? Haha, absolutely. I have a tendency to get real deep real fast, and I’m not a very good swimmer.
Would you say that the EP is a clear representation of your mind at work?
Yeah, definitely. I wrote this release very much as a way to convey what I was feeling as I was feeling it. I think that’s really visible in “Speak (Softly)”, which was one of the last tracks I finished and it definitely came out more abrasive than the rest.
That is my favorite track on the EP.
How do you think you’ll look back on this EP in 2 years / 5 years ?
I think I’ll dislike it and think it’s amateur, like I do most of my old work lol. But I’ll be grateful for some of the publicity it got me, and also for opening up some doors to experiment with different sounds.
In relation to past projects how do you feel about this one? Does it feel like the best yet?
Well, I haven’t had a lot of past projects, actually. I’ve had two EPs, the first of which was… god, three or four years ago? And that one got me a little notice (from STYLSS, etc) and people still seem to enjoy it, but like I said, it makes me cringe now to listen to lol. My second EP, which was only two songs, I actually made in a day. And I’m still fairly proud of that one. It was kind of slept on but I like it, personally. This one has definitely felt the most complete yet, though. I feel like it tells a consistent story.
What about your plans for the future?
That’s a weird question for me. I don’t know what my goals are as a producer. Like anyone, there’s a part of me that hopes to work in a major studio or hear my work on the radio one day. But I think right now all I’m thinking about it staying on my grind. I just want to put out what I like, what speaks to me, and hopefully other people will appreciate it and I’ll get mad famous and maybe be able to afford a whole car or something one day.
But other than that, I want to start doing vocal work as well. So hopefully you’ll be hearing some of that as well very soon.
Nice! You mentioned that you couldn’t rap on your own production, who would you like to work with?
Skrillex.
As far as me rapping goes, I need to learn to crawl before I run, but I hope that maybe Fifty Grand would contribute a beat. I’d really just love to just work with SESH in general. I don’t know beyond that–my own beats typically aren’t fast or uppity enough for me to lay anything out to.
A lot of the people I’d like to work with aren’t involved with rap though. KatieJane Garside, Purity Ring, Chelsea Wolfe, Clams Casino, Boards of Canada (I can dream)… There are way too many people to list.
You ever think about clique’n up?
Haha. I was in TEAMCVLT with a dude named Mothman, as well as MOIST, who’s another producer, for a bit, but that really was more of just a low-key fun thing for a while. I’d def be open to the idea though, absolutely. I’d also definitely consider forming a little collective of my own at some point. 😉
i see you winkin.
i ain’t sayin nuffin
Any releases you’ve got your eye on to drop soon?
sadfem’s got her first full release coming out soon and I’m super stoked to hear what she’s done. But I’m probably not supposed to tell you that. But I am anyway. Sorry Lauren.
If you could travel back in time / or forward
Getting deep here now haha. The cliched answer of course would be I’d travel back to some points in my own life and do things differently, but that’s boring. I’m actually very happy in the era I’m in and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, although I’d love to travel to, like, 4015 to see if dolphins ever develop legs. Does evolution work that fast? Maybe it will in the future.
Science is amazing.
Shout outs?
Rap game Chris from Orlando.
