We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sage Suede. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sage below.
Sage, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
Thanks for thinking of me. I make a lot of music with deep vibes. One project was a dis rap I wrote about getting possession of drug paraphernalia for rolling a stop sign while smoking a blunt.
It’s important to talk about drug policy because it is public policy failure that leads to over-incarceration.
I believe in programs like clean needle exchange programs and no questions asked rehab clinics do more to help the community than over-policing and incarceration of drug users.
Recently, I’ve also had a lot of meaningful collabs. I performed live with Devin Alfather at Sahara Lounge during a pride event and at Full Circle Bar for Jyme’s birthday celebration. Jyme and I also made a single together called Im 2 Hot.
Another collaborator I work with a lot is Dazmin D’leon. We made a podcast together called Dazzlin Stage Music and met for the first time to perform in Denver this January at Globe Hall.
Sage, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m a singer-songwriter in Austin, TX that is multilingual, so my vibes are without borders and in a lot of different cultural styles.
The music starts with notes in my phone and then I arrange beats, make demo vox on a gaming headset and record at Blak Marigold Pro.
I’ve released 4 albums so far, including Savage Summer with reggaeton/electropop and Renegade in an alternative hip hop style.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
My advice would be that not everyone is an artist or an entertainer. A lot of people are more pragmatic or too logical to understand free thinking or abstraction in the same way as your vision may need to be manifested.
Entertainment is often a little controversial and a lot of people aren’t entertaining enough to understand when you get caught nude in a British tabloid or something.
Also, don’t feel bad about people that are too manipulated to understand the difficulties of growing a fanbase or getting your art seen without a corporate budget and competing against large multinationals isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. You have to be happy with your own progress and see how far you have come even when others rattle off vapid statistics about corporate artists that often make very little. It’s important for artists to understand this in today’s social environment.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I started SAGE SUEDE during the recent pandemic and didn’t get to perform my debut album Thicc Juicy Bass until this year in Denver.
You have to roll with the punches and when social isolation started cancelling the shows I had lined up, I made 3D music videos with Neuroplastic Studios in Canada and they were featured in The Gallery ATX.
I’m a big dude so I’ve never had a manager, because people always follow my lead. Instead, I just direct my own music videos and design/art direct my albums in different color schemes.
I’ve found a lot of support from queer communities and have a show coming up soon at Package Menswear that I am looking forward to:
Contact Info:
- Website: SageSuede.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/Sage_suede
- Facebook: Facebook.com/SageSuede
- Twitter: Twitter.com/Sage_Suede
- Youtube: YouTube.com/c/SageSuede
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6NSrJEMkOrZSkneHyRdPvm https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sage-suede/1222490608 SageSuede.Tumblr.com Soundcloud.com/sagesuede
Image Credits
These don’t require image credit.