Entertainment
Satisfy Your Soul with THEESatisfaction
It’s
not often you hear music that’s incredibly unique, yet classic at the same
time. So when you do, you listen. THEESatisfaction manages to meet both those
marks. That’s probably one of the
t’s
not often you hear music that’s incredibly unique, yet classic at the same
time. So when you do, you listen. THEESatisfaction manages to meet both those
marks. That’s probably one of the many reasons its signed to Sub Pop and
currently touring with Sleater-Kinney. With a freshly released album—EarthEE, shows at SXSW last month and its
tour, THEESatisfaction is on track to dominate 2015. Despite this explosion of
success, Catherine Harris-White of THEESatisfaction made time to speak with CULTURE. We talked about THEESatisfaction’s
background, music and of course, cannabis’ role in all of it.
When and how did
THEESatisfaction get started?
Me
and Stasia [Iron] got started in 2008. I was in school for music, and it was my
senior year of college. Stas at the time had gone away to study abroad. She was
studying in Cape Town South Africa. And she was just writing more and more
poetry during that time. And I’ve been doing music for most of my life, and had
been in bands since high school. So I was in between groups, and I was making a
bunch of songs on my own. Stas was sending me poems and things, and I was like
“Man, maybe we should try doing a group together.” So we just kinda got
together and started experimenting.
Where are you
guys from?
I’m
from Seattle, I’ve live here most of my life. I lived in Hawaii for a while,
but I’m definitely from here. Stas is from Tacoma and Seattle, pretty much half
and half.
What artists
have influenced your sound, both growing up and recently?
I’ve
always been inspired by Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones, just for their artistry
and creative collaborations, and also their individuality. In terms of vocals,
Sarah Vaughn and Ella Fitzgerald have always inspired me. But also, you know
people like Mariah Carey. I really love Mariah Carey.
We were listening
to your KEXP performance, and heard you guys perform a song about cannabis. What’s
that one all about?
I
know exactly what song you’re talking about. It’s called, “Do you have time?”
It’s off a project Transitions. It’s
from a few years ago, I think 2010. It’s
actually a mix-tape that’s available on our Bandcamp. We just wrote it because
we were going through it, and smoking a lot at that time. There was a lot of
really crazy weather going on. You know, it doesn’t really snow a lot in
Seattle, and it was snowing and it was just crazy. And we were just puffing
away, but it was kind of this magical journey. And we wanted to write a song
that was reflective of the magic of marijuana.
How has the “stoner
culture” of the PNW impacted your sound?
It’s
probably a huge part (laughs), in a good way. Because it gave us the freedom to
open our mind and think outside of what we thought was possible. I’ve been a
musician, and artist of all formats my whole life. I really was able to start
expanding my mind and opening up to myself essentially. It’s super laid back
here. It can be a very creative atmosphere here in Seattle. And with
legalization now, I feel like it’s even cooler.
