Sistr Sistr: an Interview with Kid Sistr
Kid Sistr is an all-women, New-York-born indie trio. The band’s bright sound and colloquial writing reflect their varied influences; a Kid Sistr listener will hear the bursting bubble gum of the Top 40 charts, the palatable peculiarity of 1980s new wave, the unabashed amplitude of 2000’s alternative rock, and the meticulous construction of the singer-songwriter style. The resultant songs are rosy shards of guitar-pop ear candy, ready to be unwrapped and dissolved.
Kid Sistr’s debut EP is a self-titled, six-track project scheduled for release in June 2020. The first single, ‘Little Sister Song’, is a spirited, rock-and-roll dedication to snarky younger siblings and rom-com teenager-dom. Although lighthearted in sound and verse, ‘Little Sister Song’ carries substantial sentiment for the band members. Sabel, Keden and Webster are all eldest children in sister-only families. This uniting fact not only provides the inspiration for the group’s name, but also heavily informs Kid Sistr's creative identity. The shared experience of sisterhood motivates Kid Sistr to represent the interests and realities of young women. Each track on the EP is a piece of a pooled consciousness between sisters. Together, the six songs on Kid Sistr make an equally humorous and emotive portrait of womanhood. Kid Sistr demonstrates the trio’s willingness to become shiny, strange, silly, or soft in order to tell profound stories of ambition, heartbreak, femininity, sexuality and friendship. Their debut singles, Little Sister Song and Dallas, are out now.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Tell us about yourselves
[SABEL:] I’m Sabel, I’m 23 years old and I’m from New York. I play guitar, I sing, and I write music along with Sara.
[SARA:] I’m Sara and I’m 23. I’m from Connecticut and I play bass and I also write the music.
[BECCA:] I’m Becca and I’m also from Connecticut. I’m 19 and I play drums.
[UNPUBLISHED:] How did you all meet each other?
[BECCA:] Sara and I did an after school music program called School of Rock in Fairfield, CT. I was 10 and Sara was 13 when we first started. We got really close because we were playing shows together. We wanted to start a band, and we tried a couple of times but nothing really worked out.
[SARA:] Then I went to the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. That’s where I met Sabel.
[SABEL:] Sara and I were in a small songwriting program. There were twelve people in our graduating class! We all got super close, and Sara and I became fast friends. We started writing together during our sophomore year. That’s when we wrote our first song, “Little Sister Song” which just came out as our first single. Junior year, Sara introduced me to Becca and I was like, “We should all play.” We decided to join forces.
[UNPUBLISHED:] How did you guys think of your band name?
[SARA:] We had a bunch of names and we struggled a lot with it. We eventually settled on Kid Sistr because all of us are the oldest of sister-only families. I have two little sisters, Sabel has one little sister, and Becca has two little sisters.
[SABEL:] When we wrote “Little Sister Song”, we wanted to write something about the experience of girlhood. Both of our sisters are the same age; at the time they were sixteen. It was that age when you're starting to become a teenager, and you’re half an adult but also still very much a child. Girlhood is a very important theme for us. We really want to bring music to young women.
[BECCA:] Especially younger girls. Very early on, young girls get discouraged from pursuing music in schools. Kid Sistr wants to combat that.
[UNPUBLISHED:] How would you describe the style of music you make?
[SABEL:] We’re all still trying to figure that out. It’s very different. We’re interested in pulling from as many types of music as we can. We try not to stick with one genre.
[SARA:] It’s a singular attitude that ties the music together. Regardless of what genre we’re pulling from, Sabel and I make similar compositional decisions when we are writing together. For example, we usually choose ear candy over cleverness. We are less concerned with whether a line sounds smart than if a line sounds good or sings well. Writing together is fun for us, because we don’t feel as much pressure to perform as we do when writing alone. We maintain a largely pop sensibility across all of our songs, in that we aren’t afraid to give the listener what they want to hear. It’s an attitude that stands through the whole project.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Who inspires you musically?
[BECCA:] A lot of classic rock, definitely The Police, Stevie Wonder and Steely Dan. School of Rock basically gave me an overview of popular music starting with Motown and early rock and roll in the 60s, and continuing through alternative rock in the 2000s. My influences aren’t just limited to the classics though; right now I listen to a lot of popular indie music. We’re all obsessed with Phoebe Bridgers.
[SARA:] Just to interject, I think Becca’s love of great songwriting is what makes her our secret weapon. She loves drumming, and has the chops to do whatever she wants on the instrument. She’s virtually unlimited as a player, but underneath those technical abilities lies a deep appreciation for iconic popular songwriting. She really listens and understands songs for what they are outside of the drumset.
[BECCA:] It’s true. My favorite stuff to play is great singer-songwriter music. That’s what makes me the happiest. I’ve played a lot of jazz but my favorite stuff to play is pop.
[SABEL:] Growing up, my parents were always playing me different things, but I fell in love with the singer-songwriter genre in middle school. In college I got into the artists St. Vincent and that’s why I started writing on the electric guitar. I had only played acoustic until junior year of college. Then I heard St. Vincent and that was a turning point for my sound.
[SARA:] I received the same overview of pop music, from Motown to grunge and everything in between. I gravitated towards David Bowie, The Police, Led Zeppelin, and Stevie Wonder. I also got into a lot of progressive rock during high school. Chris Squire from Yes is a huge bass-playing influence of mine. All of that stuff definitely got my chops up as a player. I also love pop punk and emo music more than I could ever express. I love My Chemical Romance.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Who are some of your favorite artists?
[BECCA:] For me it just has to be Stevie Wonder.
[SARA:] David Bowie. David Bowie was like a founding father. He’s got such a huge catalogue, I’m always digging and digging and finding new stuff.
[SABEL:] The Beatles. They hit every mark while still staying true to themselves.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What has been your experience with TikTok?
[SABEL:] I started getting familiar with it a year ago, but I only knew it for dancing. My high school friend kept saying, “You’ve got to jump on the train. You’ve got to get your shit on TikTok.” It felt like such a crazy thing, but since COVID started everyone has jumped on that train. My sister got a little bit of TikTok fame from impersonating Timothee Chalamet. We posted a funny video just for us, and it blew up. I was like, “Oh my god, the power of this app is insane.” I’ve been trying to get the gals on TikTok for a while now. Luckily, Becca has a beautiful backyard and the right equipment, so we’ve just been cranking them out.
[BECCA:] We have been getting a little bit of hate. It’s interesting.
[SABEL:] I feel like so many people are like, “Teens are so mean to each other online,” and “Girls are so competitive and bully each other,” but the only hate we’ve gotten is from adult men.
[UNPUBLISHED:] How many followers do you guys have right now?
[SARA:] We have almost 14,000 now which is pretty nuts. The video that got our account going is really hilarious to me. Becca and I grew up playing classic rock and we had to play “My Sharona” by The Knack more times than I can count. Initially, when Sabel wanted to cover it, Becca and I were like, “no.” Then when we played it again we fell back in love with it. And now, “My Sharona” is our most viewed Tik Tok video.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Has TikTok brought new listeners to the band?
[SABEL:] Definitely. The Tik Tok following has translated so well to Spotify listens, which is the main goal. It’s been really nice. The community that we’re on on Tik Tok is really supportive. It’s great to see all that support, as well as the translation between the two platforms. Following someone on Spotify is definitely different than following someone on TikTok.
[BECCA:] I agree. It’s different. It’s saying, “I’m with this band for the long run.” We’ve gotten so many comments saying: “We’re so excited for the EP,”. It’s so interesting because blowing up on TikTok overnight has led to the beginnings of a potential long term fanbase.
[SABEL:] A bunch of people have bought T-shirts! It’s so nice to see.
[BECCA:] Our success on Tik Tok has also translated to Instagram followers. We’ve gotten almost 1,000 new followers on Instagram followers since we started using Tik Tok.
[UNPUBLISHED:] How has quarantine affected how you create and release music?
[SARA:] We can’t play shows. We were planning a tour. Not being able to play shows really sucks. It’s a really different experience because when you’re making these recorded videos, you can listen back and shit on yourself all you want. Shows have that cathartic moment of release and communication that you just don’t have with pre-recorded material.
[BECCA:] Live music definitely reaches people in a different way. Both are dope and I think we should be doing both but the experience of seeing a band live is different. I can’t help but wonder what would’ve happened if we did go on tour, but the change of plans was also a blessing in disguise. If quarantine hadn’t happened we definitely wouldn't be on Tik Tok.
[SABEL:] It’s an oxymoron because we have a bigger audience but we can’t play shows. People keep asking, “Do you play shows?” We started off as a live band. We just started releasing music within the past few weeks and we’ve been together for years. We’re dying to get back on stage.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What is your writing process?
[SARA:] It’s always different. Sabel and I writing music together is like putting two birds in a room and just letting them sing at each other. A lot of really fast and chaotic back and forth. It’s like two cats hitting a ball back and forth.
[SABEL:] We’re also so chaotic with new things we want to write. Sara will write a heavy rock tune then the softest singer-songwriter tune; I’ll write a bubblegum pop tune then a rock tune. When we come together we’re like, “What are we feeling next?” We’re usually on the same page. We are also not nervous to criticize and reject each other’s ideas during the process. It’s not an ego thing, it’s not personal, we just move on.
[SARA:] It’s so quick. It’s a lot of surface-level aesthetic decision making. However, when we come to the final product, we always double check it by asking ourselves: “Does this carry the human sentiment that it needs to carry in order to be an effective song and access people’s emotions?” It’s a great balance of actually being concerned with how people will react emotionally to the product and making aesthetic choices in the lyrics and the musical composition.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What is your dream collaboration?
[BECCA:] Kasey Musgraves.
[SABEL:] Harry Styles and Stevie Nicks together.
[SARA:] It would be really cool to reach out to and collaborate with other female artists. St. Vincent, I would cry so hard. Debbie Harry. The Pretenders. Chrissie Hynde did it to ‘em on the female musician front.
[SABEL:] I like The Bangles. Working with the original women who rock would be huge, as they’re the ones that start it.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Where do you see the band in 5 years?
[SABEL:] Touring. My biggest dream is to tour the world.
[SARA:] Definitely touring.
[SABEL:] There’s so much shit I want to do. All of us appreciate different kinds of art. We love movies and visual art and music videos. We would love to just have the platform to be able to create the visions we have in our head because we have so many ambitious ideas. To be at a place where we can make that a reality would be amazing.
[SARA:] The ideal goal is to represent an idea that's larger than the three of us: the empowerment of not just women but people who aren't celebrated within the music world. Whether it's women, whether it's queer people, or people of color- anyone who doesn't get the support or the recognition that they deserve. A big aim for us is to provide music that's purely the perspective of the female experience. A lot of the songs are really lighthearted, but if you take a closer look at them, they carry a deeper message. Take “Little Sister Song”, for example. When we were writing it, my youngest sister went through the phase that girls go through during puberty; all of the sudden you get boobs and hips, and then men start to be really strange to you. So many older men don’t recognize that in spite of your body, you are a child. The female body is so sexualized in that way. I remember when I went through it and it’s a really scary experience. We also have this other song coming out called “Please Dump Him.” “Please Dump Him” is a hilarious f-you to one of my little sister’s boyfriends. The lyrics are funny, but again, they point to a more sinister phenomenon. Every woman that I know has been in at least one sexual or romantic relationship where they have been hurt, abused or traumatized in some way. My sister was in that kind of relationship, and we normalized it to be okay even as this person was doing a lot of really serious emotional damage to her.
[SARA:] It’s important to note though, that we are not interested in limiting the reach of our product to one gender. We're not here to be a band that’s like, “fuck men”. We hope all genders will be able to relate to our music.
[BECCA:] Again though, there’s not a lot of music that’s written for women by women. A lot of young girls consume content (music, movies) that is intended for them as an audience but doesn’t really see them or speak to their experiences in a helpful way. If we could just get to a point where our platform is big enough to actually influence people in a positive way, that would be amazing. That’s the goal.
[SARA:] All of pop music, everything on the radio, is directed at young women. It's all these hetereosexual love songs that are manufactured by adult men. I love Katy Perry, but Katy Perry is definitely a front. If you look behind the curtain you have this system behind her that's composed of adult men feeding content to teenage girls.
[BECCA:] That's what really needs to change in the music industry.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you have any advice for small bands on how to gain a following?
[SABEL:] Marketing is the hardest thing. I've had some cool connections that have very different opinions, “Stick to one genre. This song, Little Sister Song, it's not cool enough.” I nicely disagreed. I never went to the band and said, “Listen, I think we need to change this because someone whose opinion I trust said so.” Stick to your gut feeling because people want the authentic you. If your stuff doesn't sound like other stuff out there then maybe that's a good thing.
[BECCA:] Genre is definitely huge. I don't like the message that's perpetuated within the music industry that is, “You have to, not only find your niche, but you have to have a genre that's commercially viable.” Just look at Billie Eilish. There is always room for new sounds. Obviously you want to figure out who you are, what your sound is like, but I don't think you should be filtering yourself through the lens of genre as the industry perceives it. It just has to come out of you naturally. You're more likely to find success in that.
[SARA:] If there's one thing that I learned in college it’s that genre is a construct. There are no limits on what you can do. When you write from the perspective of genre, you are putting shackles on. In my opinion, it’s more important to take the time, put the work in and make sure that the product is good. If it’s your live set, if it's your production, you gotta give it the beans. You really got to give it the beans.
[BECCA:] Good doesn't mean commercial. It has to be good for what you're trying to do. Find your best version of yourself.
