Violinist, singer and songwriter Sudan Archives

Episode notes

(Photo: Kevin Ferguson)

Sudan Archives has been making music for all her life. She grew up in Ohio, where she played violin in church and school bands. Her dad was a label guy, and he tried to make a pop duo out of Sudan and her twin sister, but it didn’t take. Sudan needed to do her own thing. To be an artist in her own right.

When she got her high school diploma, she headed out to Los Angeles. She then started hanging out at a club called Low End Theory, home to beatmakers Flying Lotus, Daedalus and Nosaj Thing. It was there she found her voice as an artist.

Sudan Archives is a violinist who breaks new ground with what the instrument can do in pop music. However, she’s not just a violinist. Playing the violin is only one color she paints with, one arrow in her quiver. When combined with her voice, her beatmaking and her songwriting, Sudan Archives’ music is mesmerizing.

She recently released a new album called Natural Brown Prom Queen, which has been met with rave reviews. The album just came out this Fall and Sudan recorded it at home, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sudan Archives joins Bullseye to talk about her music and new album Natural Brown Prom Queen. She also talks about her process for creating music and performing it live. Plus, Sudan dives into some of the violinists who inspire her.

In this episode...

Jesse Thorn

Host

Kevin Ferguson

Senior Producer

Jesus Ambrosio

Producer

Richard Robey

Maximum Fun Producer

Daniel Huecias

Maximum Fun Production Fellow

Daniel Arón Speer

Video Editor

Guests

Sudan Archives

About the show

Bullseye is a celebration of the best of arts and culture in public radio form. Host Jesse Thorn sifts the wheat from the chaff to bring you in-depth interviews with the most revered and revolutionary minds in our culture.

Bullseye has been featured in Time, The New York Times, GQ and McSweeney’s, which called it “the kind of show people listen to in a more perfect world.” Since April 2013, the show has been distributed by NPR.

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