photo by Monika Oliver
Brooklyn-based musician and artist, Saara Untracht-Oakner (of the surf-rock and roll trio BOYTOY) is set to debut her solo project under the name of SUO. In her own words, “… the project is an amalgamation of more than 15 years of songwriting, 10 years of national and international touring and a craving for growth, exploration and creation.” On July, 19 SUO will come to life at The Broadway in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Coincidentally, The Broadway also serves as a platform for her work where she has been booking shows serving as their talent buyer.
Inspired by artists like David Byrne, Prince, Lou Reed, The Supremes, Brian Eno, Patti Smith and Grace Jones, SUO’s songs are expected to be a variation of emotions focused on elevated songwriting and its melodic elements. Grace Jones, for example, is mentioned below as part of her most recent inspiratiotions in art (she also takes inspiring and very in your face photography). SUO is set to release “Dancing Spots and Dungeons,” produced and engineer by Kyle Mullarky who recorded and produced BOYTOY’s Night Leaf album. On the night of the big show, Saara will be accompanied by a squad of musicians such as, Chase Noelle on bass (BOYTOY, Cumgirl8), Veronica Bianqui on guitar, Eric Carney on drums (Navy Gangs, Dark Tea), Josh Rouah on keys (Kizmit studio), and Andrea Scanniello on back-up vocals and percussion (Dropper, High Waisted). To alleviate the curiosity on what to expect for Friday, here are a few things that Saara not only likes, but get inspiration from.
Sci-Fi short stories
I remember reading my first Ray Bradbury story, “The Veldt,” where a brother and sister kill their parents by essentially feeding them to their virtual reality safari room. I love the darkness and subtle social commentaries that hit so close to home. Along with Bradbury, I’ve consumed most of Philip K. Dick. Dick was such a visionary. I recently went to an R. Crumb show and he illustrated “The Religious Experience of Philip K Dick” and I truly believe he was tapped into something beyond space and time. Whenever I’m feeling a bit creatively sterile, these stories help spark up my mind.
Excerpt of “The Veldt”:
They stood on the thatched floor of the nursery. It was forty feet
across by forty feet long and thirty feet high; it had cost half again as
much as the rest of the house. “But nothing’s too good for our children,”
George had said.
Grace Jones
I don’t know how I was so late to Grace but I’ve been listening to “Living My Life” on repeat for about six or seven months now. She’s such a force. And cooooooool, damn that woman is so effortlessly cool and powerful. The whole album is awesome but this song, “Everybody Hold Still” stuck out to me right away. I’d like to cover it.
Cartoons
I’ve always been a big fan of animation. Usually the weirder the better. Ren & Stimpy was my favorite cartoon growing up. I still have two Ren and Stimpy stuffed animals that fart when you squeeze them. I drew a picture of my Ren doll farting when I was about 8. Luckily my parents saved my old sketchbooks. I loved the gross close ups and ink splashes they used. As for modern cartoons I love Adventure Time. It’s so smart and weird and beautiful. I was Lumpy Space Princess for halloween in 2010 and made my costume out of wires and felt. Very few people knew who I was supposed to be.
Mexico
I dream about ending up in the West Coast of Mexico in my older years. The culture is so warm and vibrant and fun. The food is amazing and the surf is good. I want a cute little house with a couple dogs, an avocado and mango tree. My parents have been going to Puerto Villarta for some years now and I’ve tagged along on a few trips. I had the best fish tacos of my life in Sayulita and the shrimp are about 9 inches long and taste like candy. Unfortunately the taco spot I went to is closed now, but I bet the shrimp are still there. I’ve never been to Mexico City but it’s on my list for this year. Also, FUCK TRUMP.
The Ocean
I grew up 20 minute from Long Beach, NY. Most of my early summers were spent on the beach and I’ve always loved swimming. I started surfing when I was about 11 and became obsessed. I subscribed to Surfer Girl Magazine and changed my screen name to Surfchik5. I’m drawn to the Ocean. Maybe because I’m an Aquarius, but it’s my meditation. Surfing especially makes me feel so good, physically and mentally. I know where ever I end up I need to be near the ocean and it needs to have waves. I’ve worked out tons of songs while sitting on my board waiting for waves to come. The ocean has a peacefulness and powerfulness like no other. Preferably warm water. Living in Bushwick, I mostly surf Rockaway now. The Ramones knew what was up!
My Olympus stylus AF
My brother is a photographer and gave me this camera. I’m on my second one since the first one broke, but it takes beautiful pictures for a plastic 35mm point and shoot. I bring this camera with me on most trips, tours, and nights out. It’s been a lovely relationship figuring out how to capture what I want and the ways the camera works best. Sometimes she’s a bit testy and won’t shoot when I want her to, but I’m mostly thrilled with the results every time I get a roll developed. She’s pretty sturdy too, although now she travels in a little case with me instead of raw doggin it. I post most of my photos on Instagram and have some on my website as well.
Karlheinz Weinberger’s photos of Swiss punks in the 1950’s
The first time I saw the book “Rebel Youth” I was totally blown away that these kids were from the 1950’s. They were full on punks! Their fashion was so ahead of their time. “From the late 1950’s he began photographing rebellious teenagers, in Switzerland they were referred to as ‘Halbstark’ or ‘half strong’. They were denim clad rebels with chains, large belts and buckles and other paraphernalia attached to their clothing.” They made the craziest outfits with horse shoes and chains and studs and fringe. The girls had beehive hairdos but teased them out all fucked up. These kids were innovative! You couldn’t buy this stuff in stores. They had to make their own outfits and each person had their own individual flare. I was so inspired that I styled BOYTOY’s music video for “NY RIP OFF” after the photos of these kids.
Alan Fletcher’s “The Art Of Looking Sideways”
My dear friend who has been my design sensei since college showed me this book. Alan Fletcher was an extremely prolific British graphic designer. This book is a culmination of design, photos, poems, quotes, mental exercises, anecdotes, stories, fonts, doodles. It’s pretty much the best thing to look at if you’ve got some kind of creative block. I have it on my coffee table and just flip to random pages. Every page is interesting and Fletcher designed the book so that no two pages are a like, either with paper texture, color, lay out or content. I show it to everyone who spends any time in my living room.
My 1975 Fender Musicmaster bass
I’ve been searching for this bass ever since I played a similar one on a Sean Bones tour that I was filling in for in 2012. The kid it belonged to said he found it on craigslist so for about 5 years I searched every now and then until I found one. The guy selling it was selling it for a friend and neither of them played bass, he was just trying to get rid of stuff. I got it for $400. Something about it, I don’t know, it just feels so good in my hands. It’s light and thin and has flat wound strings. It’s faded into a beautiful baby yellow. The master Jimmy Carbonetti fixed it up real good for me and now she’s singing like never before. I love her more than all of my guitars, but don’t tell them that.
She looks something like this:
My dog Pachi
Pachi is a 31lb. mix from the jungles of Puerto Rico. My old roommate was in PR right before the bad hurricanes two years ago. I had had a Puerto Rican dog before Pachi, my roommates and I round Rico on a trip to San Sebastian and brought him home. He was a sweet magical prince. Unfortunately he was hit by a car in Brooklyn and it was really devastating. When my roommate was returning for another trip to Puerto Rico we had discussed that with my lull in touring it might be a good time to get a puppy. She said she would check it out but then sent me a message saying she wouldn’t have time to go to the shelters to look for a dog. I thought it was probably better this way, I might want to meet the dog first before committing. Then two hours later she sends me this:
She was lost driving back from a day trip and pulled over to the side of a rural road when two puppies came running out of the bushes. Pachi jumped straight into the back of her car. No fear. The other pup was a bit more scared and stayed far away. Pachi got his ticket out. The hurricane hit the next day and the area they were in was totally flooded. He was 7lbs. He’s my best buddy. He’s extremely well behaved and love nothing more than to snuggle. He’s literally the dream dog I always imagined when I hugged my stuffed animals as a kid. And he’s so damn good looking he stops grown men on the street in their tracks. He’s basically a cartoon.
Catch SUO’s debut performance at The Broadway on Friday, July 19th with Luke Rathborne, Hennessey, and DJ Lenny Kaye.
