Tell us about your new single, “Crushed.”
“Crushed” is the second single off my forthcoming EP. I recorded it mostly in the basement apartment where I was living last year, during some pretty dark times. The song reflects some of that darkness but also makes it fun and exciting.
Is there a lyric you would like to highlight?
I like the lyrics: “I wish the night could last forever/ I don’t care if all things wither/ when I’m with her all things sink to shivers on the skin”. It is a little more poetic and abstract, but still feels enjoyable to sing and sing along with. It still feels like a pop song. This is a balance that I am often trying to strike. I write poetry as well as music, so I like the idea of bringing these two practices closer together.
How did Sufferin Mall as a project first come together?
Sufferin Mall started as a stupid name. I grew up in Toronto near a pretty (in)famous mall called Dufferin Mall, and I spent a lot of time there as a kid. So Sufferin Mall was a bit of a silly pun on that, but I liked it because it suits my music, which is pretty emo (Sufferin) and pop (Mall). Then I started thinking more about what the project could mean to me and I had a lot of ideas around the relationship between suffering and desire, which was a central question in my life at the time. The Sufferin Mall project became to me a conceptual space, rather than an identity, that I could use to explore that central theme. To me, it is really a life project to build and fill up Sufferin Mall brick by brick. These musical projects are only some of the bricks but there will be other, non-musical bricks in the future
Describe your sound in three words.
My sound in three words: driving — hysteric — emo
What inspired “Crushed”?
Crushed was inspired by some personal events where I kept being hurt by a situation but kept returning to it. It made me think about whether I actually was enjoying the pain of it, whether the pain was partly the thing that kept me coming back.
Who did you work with on the track?
I came to my friend Casey Moon with the track mostly finished and he helped to put some final production flourishes onto it and bring the whole thing together. He also mixed it. Shout out to Casey Moon and go listen to his music!
What has been the biggest change in your life over the past year?
The biggest change in my life… there have been many but since this is a music interview, I will keep it musical. Starting to release music has been a huge change. I spent many years plagued with self-doubt about where I would be making songs but never putting anything out into the world. There are a lot of anxieties associated with releasing music, but I am proud of myself for getting this journey started. It is a big relief, and I feel like I am finally starting to do it in a way that makes sense to me, where I can see the bigger picture.
Where would you perform tomorrow if you could go anywhere in the world?
I would perform in some gothic or renaissance cathedral somewhere. In Italy. I have been thinking a lot about those spaces of worship, spaces of ritual, and how I could incorporate them into my live performances. It might be a little sacrilegious though. I would also like to perform in a cave
What is next for you?
I am releasing another single on October 13th, and then my first EP will be coming out in November. I have a lot of music projects planned over the next couple of years, but that is all I can concretely talk about for now.
And finally, where can readers follow you?
Follow me on Instagram @sufferinmall
