New York, NY (Top40 Charts) "Trig" is the debut single from the recently formed band "Purple Witch of Culver," which features saxophonist
Sarah Safaie and producer / multi-instrumentalist Evan Taylor, being released for digital download and streaming platforms on Loantaka Records
September 18.
The song-just over four minutes of tight, interlocking bass and drums groove punctuated with blasts of saxophone and Safaie's stone-old intonations of chaos and hope-sounds like little else populating the current musical landscape. It's a reflection of the diverse influences both Safaie and Taylor brought to the spontaneous recording session at which it was birthed.
Raised on Bebop and straight ahead Jazz, before an obsession with Parliament-Funkadelic (the other Jazz kids took to calling her "funky child") illuminated other musical avenues. Safaie moved to New York City out of high school to attend the New School for Jazz. While there, she once again ventured out of the traditional Jazz world, discovering the city's vibrant experimental Noise and warehouse art scenes.
Ultimately it was her involvement with the legendary St. Mark's Church Poetry Project in the East Village she says is the biggest influence on "Trig." She cites seminal poets Eileen Myles, Alice Notley, and Bernadette Mayer as her chief inspirations, noting that all three "have changed the way I approach writing."
It's this literary intensity, culled from these luminaries, that fuels "Trig," as Safaie intones:
"there's sacred love
at the surface
so close to truth
ecstatic"
A move to Los Angeles in January 2020 followed by the onset of the COVID-10 pandemic, led her to finally distill these disparate influences into something of her own.
"I went to so many shows just absorbing, but now that I'm out here, and especially now that we're in this era, it just feels like the right time to put it all together and put something new out there."
Shortly after her arrival in L.A., she met and felt an immediate musical connection with Taylor, whose credits and list of collaborators include Jimmy Destri (Blondie), Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads,
Modern Lovers), mike watt, Theresa Wayman (Warpaint),
Money Mark (Beastie Boys), in addition to running the LA-based label Loantaka Records (Sofia Bolt, Jess Cornelius).
Most notably for Safaie, Taylor was part of the extended Parliament family, having worked as production partner with Bernie Worrell, the keyboard wizard of Parliament-Funkadelic, and collaborator with Talking Heads.
The song emerged out of thin air at an informal session intended to try out some new material Safaie had been working on with Taylor engineering. "Trig" was conceived and recorded in a single day at Loantaka Sound studios using a strictly analog recording set-up. The two of them contributing instrumental work; Safaie's vocal was delivered in one take.
Safaie says the experience felt both organic and electrifying, leading the pair to decide to make their partnership a full-fledged band. "We were so inspired by that first song that we just wanted to keep doing more."
"Trig" will be released on Taylor's Loantaka Records with plans to release more music in Fall of 2020 and early 2021.
