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Nashville based musician Dara Sisterhen is nothing but pure passion in motion. She does it all- from acting to songwriting and singing, Dara started performing at an early age and it shows. With a bright future ahead and a new EP on the way, GroundSounds caught up with her for an exclusive interview, we chatted about her latest endeavors, new music and more, check it out below.
For those just discovering Dara Sisterhen, can you tell us a little bit about your upbringing in North Carolina and how you got started with music?
I’m from a really small town called Denver. For the most part, it was a great place to grow up. I never really thought of pursuing music until I was around 8 and I started begging my parents for a guitar. I’ve been singing my whole life but it wasn’t until I started playing and writing my own music that I really didn’t care about anything else.
We are excited for your upcoming Boom EP, can you tell us about working on this project and bringing it to fruition?
Well thank you, I’m excited as well. I’ve been writing for such a long time and I just knew exactly what I wanted to do as an artist and was ready to bring it to life. So I called Dave Cobb up and told him I’ve got a collection of songs I’ve been building up and I’m ready to knock out an EP. We picked the top 6 of all the songs and recorded at Low Country Sound in Nashville for about a week.
Can you tell us about the creative and writing process for “Sets Me Free?”
During the time I wrote “Sets Me Free”, I was actually having a bit of writer’s block. I went back home to North Carolina for an entire summer, which was something I hadn’t done for about 6 years having been in LA pursuing my acting career. The experience was eye opening and frankly, kinda strange. I was feeling all sorts of emotions and had to let it out and the result was “Sets Me Free”.
What was it about Hank Williams and Patti Smith that helped to influence your music?
They don’t sugar-coat anything. I love that. They have a fearless sense of expression and that is so human to me. Life isn’t filtered and sometimes you just wanna feel angry or sorry for yourself. They’re poetic heroes.
What do you enjoy most about Nashville? Has this city started to influence your sound?
Most definitely. The people are just so crazy talented and I’ve really learned a lot since I’ve been here. I really feel at home. There’s something so small town about it, and yet there’s a lot to do. I always feel productive here.
Can you tell us about working with Grammy nominated producer Dave Cobb?
I met Dave in LA through a guitar teacher when I was 12. I would write a new song and show it to my guitar teacher every lesson and eventually he just said “you have to meet this producer friend of mine”. I kept in touch with Dave over the years and when I was 14, I made a record with him that was never released. I had a switch in management and by the time we were ready to do something with it, I had already creatively moved on. At 17, I called Dave up again and told him I was ready to record an EP with my new material. I flew to Nashville in April 2014 and thus, Boom was born. Dave is amazing. I am a huge fan of everything he does and he knows exactly what I’m trying to do. It’s always a great environment working with him.
What was the inspiration for your track “Forever’s Not So Long?”
I had that song title for a while but never knew what to do with it. One day, it just hit me like a strike of lightning, and I sat down and wrote the song without stopping.
What musicians/bands are you currently listening to?
Mostly Temples, Nick Drake, BRONCHO, Woody Guthrie, Fleet Foxes, Sturgill Simpson, XTC, Crosby Stills Nash & Young and The Raconteurs at the moment.
After the EP release what is next for Dara Sisterhen? What can fans look forward to?
Well, they can look forward to a tour. I’ve got quite a few new songs I’ll be playing live. I’ll also be releasing some b-sides.
Social links:
http://twitter.com/darasisterhen
http://facebook.com/musicbydara
http://instagram.com/darasisterhen
http://darasisterhen.tumblr.com
