Black Sugar Transmission ~ The Interview

Words and Photos by Joe Koch

Andee, the brainchild behind the New York-based band Pop*Star*Kids has re-emerged with his latest creation, Black Sugar Transmission. After finalizing the line-up with Matt Farley (Bully, Jerry Gaskill Band) on drums and Devlin singing, dancing and hitting things, they are ready to bring the songs to life, live on stage. Grab your dance shoes and hit the floor. We recently caught up with Andee in the Big Apple and he filled us in on the making of Black Sugar Transmission.

How did you finalize the lineup with Matt and Devlin? I know Matt was originally just a guest musician.

Yes, Matt was involved in the earliest Black Sugar Transmission recordings of two years ago, but he was always my number-one choice of drummer for the live band as well. Luckily for me, he has been very keen on playing drums with this project from day one, so it was really a foregone conclusion from the very beginning. As for Devlin, she slotted into place rather naturally and unexpectedly just a couple of months ago. I've known her for several years but it wasn't until very recently that Matt and I realized we needed someone just like her to make the band complete.

What is Devlin's history? Is this a lineup that you will tour with or is this mainly a recording project?

Devlin's husband, Julian, is a good friend of mine from when I was a resident DJ at the Galapagos club in Brooklyn a few years ago (he was the house sound engineer). I was having dinner with him recently and telling him about the predicament I was in with BST. We needed a female singer who can play other instruments and add some energy and visuals to our show and he immediately recommended Devlin. She was already familiar with my work in P*S*K and was immediately interested in trying out for the band. She, Matt and I ran a few a capella rehearsals and they went super smooth, and things have moved quickly forward since then. We have two New York City shows booked for this year (Nov. 15 at Arlene's Grocery was their debut) and we will play as much as possible thereafter.

Who would you like to tour with? Would the ideal be Kings X, Bully and BST?

Our show is extremely dancey so I'm not sure that would be the ideal bill, although there's enough common ground between the three bands that we would make at least some sense on the same stage together. But a more appropriate billing might be us, Kudu and The Faint, Grand National or TV on the Radio. Or Prince!

You have quite an impressive list of guest musicians. Is there anyone that you wanted to use, but it didn't work out? When you wrote the songs, did you write with a guest musician in mind or was it all about the song first and then finding who would fit into the song?

I did invite Jay Aston from Gene Loves Jezebel to guest on a song, but he never replied. But otherwise I've lucked out haven't I? All the songs you refer to were written first and paired with their respective guest musicians later. Basically, one day around a year ago I pulled my head out of my ass and realized I didn't have to sing and play and program every single note of every song I put out, especially considering some of the talented mother fuckers I know. Once I got the idea of having other performers get involved, it became very exciting. The first was Patti Rothberg, who sang on "Miserylou" last December. It just made me melt with happiness to hear the two of us singing together on that tune — the best Xmas present ever! Vernon Reid (Living Colour) had become a fan of BST around the same time and I thought, "Fuck, I should invite him to play!" He happily agreed. Imagine how honored I am to have that man put his stamp on one of my songs. Same with Dug from King's X — one of my top two or three favorite singers of all time, bar none. Acey Slade added a perfect vocal compliment to "I Dare You." I recorded a Black Sugar-ized Bee Gees cover and had my friend Chris Hall sang on it. It's absolutely over the top. So, you get the idea. The tapestry just gets more interesting with the outside contributors involved.

What's the biggest difference between POP*STAR*KIDS and BST?

BST is a bit harder, a bit darker than PSK. POP*STAR*KIDS was, at times, so whimsically upbeat that the songs were just silly. I've basically cut that element out of the BST aesthetic. Plus BST marks the first time I've written songs purely inside the computer.

Was P*S*K more of a collaborative effort between members and are you 100 percent the brainchild behind BST?

P*S*K and BST are both brainchilds of mine, for better or worse. I'm not a very good collaborator when it comes to songwriting, although in P*S*K the other members contributed great stuff when it came to preparing the live show and adding their personalities to the songs. But both projects came about exactly in the same way: I wrote a bunch of songs, recorded an album and put the band together afterward.

Is BST a long-term project or are you already thinking of future endeavors?

I see it as a long-term umbrella project that could conceivably include different outcroppings or evolve stylistically in any number of ways. The beauty of autonomy is that I can basically bring in whomever I want, in terms of guest musicians, without having to worry about upsetting the balance of a "band." In that sense, I see it as a collective. I would, however, like to see how the live band evolves and get Matt and Devlin more involved with the recordings in the future as well. They are super-talented musicians and I have access to them.

You keep yourself pretty busy with other side projects such as the Matt Farley Project, Jerry Gaskill Band. Are there any other projects in the works?

I've been recording, producing and playing on a slew of new songs for Patti Rothberg, which has been a blast. She's one of my favorite songwriters and we blend very easily together as people and as artists. I'm also playing lead guitar with Acey Slade (ex- Dope, Murderdolls, and Trashlight Vision). I played a ton on his new solo album and will be doing live shows with him as well. His new stuff is a very nice departure from his past work — much more electronic and sonically varied. Beyond that, I've been producing some great bands (Nuclear Blouse, Jen Urban and the Box, Teenage Millionaire, Magic Robot, Alex Calibur). I also have a Motorhead tribute band called Gimmiehead (crude name, I know) with some friends. It's an absolute blast. We play every two months or so in NYC.

Who would you like to collaborate with and why?

There are some great Brooklyn-based bands that I really admire that I think might make good potential collaborators: TV on the Radio, LCD Soundsystem, Kudu, In Flagranti. Why? Because they seem like very open, creatively flexible and interested artists and I admire their work. I would play guitar on a Prince or Madonna tour in heartbeat.

For more info go to: www.myspace.com/blacksugartransmission