Robert Brink - Writer

Santi White unedited interview

April 16, 2007 | Skip To The Comments (1)

Here's the raw email transcript from my Santi White interview. Enjoy...

How old are you now?
Legal.

Where are you living?
Bed Stuy, Brooklyn.

What's with all the Santi & Gwen Stefani comparisons?
Lack of imagination.

Where do you think they come from?
Limited musical exposure.

How do you feel about it?
I find it annoying, and a bit insulting. But I know a lot of people mean it as a compliment, so in that case, I may just tilt my head and give a fake smile. I've been practicing those this year.

Do you think they are valid?
Naw.

Your resume/job history is quite random and sporadic. Internships, music, fashion, e-commerce, galleries, etc. Is there a method to the madness? Did you have a plan?
I guess I'm just connecting the dots, still trying to figure out the big picture. I know that it all adds up, and I know that I'm onto something. It's just been a sort of "follow your nose, it always knows" experience.

There are so many things I'm interested in that I could never really master them all in one lifetime. So my natural inclination is to have a bunch of projects going on at once. Like I worked in the music industry while I was finishing college. I had the e-commerce business while I was writing the Res album. I worked at the gallery while I was recording the first Stiffed EP. And I'm always working on about four projects at once. The plan is just to do something that matters, to get to where all I have to do is create, and to have an impact on the world in some way. That's a vague enough ambition to grow into I think.

Have you always been sort of entrepreneurial in nature? Hustlin'? Trying out new ventures on your own?
Yup. I think my earliest venture was when I was about 7. I started a hair salon in our bathroom closet. It was kind of a crawl space underneath the steps that short people could walk in. I had hair supplies and perfumes all lined up on the floor, and drew a couple pictures for the walls. I think I even put up "Grand Opening" flyers around my block and was kind of bummed when no one but my little brother came on the big day.

Did you ever think, while you were doing it all, that you'd end up where you are now? Being a songwriter, fronting a band, and owning a publishing company?
Well, I never really wanted to be a performer or anything. It just kind of snuck up on me. I am a bit surprised, but when I think back it makes sense. Really, I've been writing songs since I was 9. And I really hate office jobs.

So at the moment, what are your major projects? What are you working on and looking forward to or want to talk about?
Right now I'm just touching up the mixes on the Santogold record. I'm really excited about it.

Describe the similarities/differences in writing music/lyrics for someone else vs. writing for your own band.
Writing for someone else in a situation where you're submitting songs (not writing directly with the artist) is usually more technical work than art. You're hired to create a formulaic, perfectly bland product. Not too sharp, not too dull. The art is in how good you are at making something that's easy to swallow and relevant too the majority. You have to deal with a bunch of A&R people telling you how to make music that's perfectly what the label or the artist is looking for, when nobody really knows what anyone's looking for. I find this kind of work uninteresting and can rarely follow through, which is why I haven't written for other people in a long time. The Res record was different, because I was developing and executive producing the project, so I felt very connected, which made the work still feel like art to me. I did write on the new Lily Allen single, "Littlest Things", with her and Mark Ronson. That was a lot more fun because Mark is a good friend of mine, and we were all just hanging out writing together, which is a more natural and creative process, an actual artistic process. And both Mark and Lily are really strong writers.

How about solo projects vs. Stiffed?
I think everything comes when it's supposed to. When I was in Stiffed, it was the best thing I could think of to do. I wasn't ready to do a solo project then. I was barely ready to be on stage. But now Santogold feels much better. It's been really fun to work with a bunch of different musicians and artists on this project, while still building on the very special writing relationship I already had with John Hill, the bass player from Stiffed who is also a brilliant songwriter/producer/artist. John and I wrote this record together, and then I brought in a bunch of my friends for collaborations. Almost everyone from Stiffed played on this record, but I also got to work with people like guitarist Clifford "Moonie" Pusey from Steel Pulse, Disco D (50 Cent, Trick Daddy), Switch (M.I.A, Lady Sovereign), Spank Rock, and Trevor "Trouble" Andrew.

With all you've done so far, I wouldn't be surprised if you started dabbling in acting or theater or something like that…you seem very versatile and motivated. Any aspirations to move into other things as well?
Yes! I really want to be a comedic actress. I love comedy! It's something I've wanted to do for a long time, but like I said, there are so many things. I try not to trip myself up.

Also, you were in the punk band Stiffed, but you work on songwriting with pop singers and such. How about the two worlds colliding? Does it come naturally to you or do you need to get in different zones to do it?
Well, Santogold is definitely not a punk project. It draws on elements of punk, like I think a lot of my vocal style comes from a punk sensibility, and the instrument sounds we use are definitely from that genre. But I write pop songs. I like songs you can sing along too. I think somewhere along the lines someone decided that pop songs had to be disposable cheap songs with no real substance. So, I guess I'm trying to bring art back to pop music. I think artists like Blondie, Prince, and The Police were all pop artists, but they wrote brilliant creative music as well. All that said, it does take an entirely different mindset to try to write stupid pop songs, which is what I think most of the "pop" music on the radio is today. I don't wear that cap too well.

Any desire to be a pop act yourself eventually?
I do want to be a pop artist in the sense that I want the most people possible to know my music. But I want to take pop music back from the wasteland it currently resides in.

How about a little bit of advice for younger girls who might want to get involve with what you do? Music, songwriting, etc. Maybe explain how you go from being like everyone else, interning and assisting to fronting a band and writing for pop stars? I'm sure we all wonder how these things happen as young people.
It's easier than ever these days to make music. Probably too easy. I would advise young girls to stop paying so much attention to pop culture. To spend way less time watching TV and videos and looking at magazines, and to spend more time writing in their journals, reading books, and traveling or exposing themselves to new experiences. Being an artist is as much about developing your mind as it is about skill. It's really important to know yourself, what's important to you, and what you have to say. Anyone can make music or art in general, but most people don't know how to think for themselves. People recognize and pay attention to things that spark something in their spirit. Also, I think that women have to work extra hard because society tells us from when we're young that our role is to look sexy and have a family, nothing more, nothing less. My advice for girls who want something special in life is "don't settle for the crumbs, take the cake".

Is your personal and professional life one in the same? Seems like there's a lot of crossover. Work is play and play is work, etc.?
My personal and professional lives are pretty much the same right now, though that hasn't always been and won't always be the case. I've been working a lot with my friends and executive producing my boyfriend, Trevor "Trouble" Andrew's album, so I definitely bring business home. I've been busting my ass this year, so I'm really thankful that I'm working with people I love, though it's like being with family, some days are so comfortable and fun, and some days you wish you were on a deserted island (to put it mildly). In general, I'm really enjoying myself. I've met so many amazing people over the past couple years, and these relationships are definitely a source of inspiration to me.

What are you listening to a lot these days?
ESG, Tom Tom Club, Talking Heads, B52s.

Who and what inspire you to be creative?
My boyfriend, my friends, the mere existence of American Idol, bad music, good food, my favorite author (Haruki Murakami), being broke.