With a band name like Sick of Sarah, you have to wonder who Sarah is, and what she did that was so annoying to be immortalized in such a way. But the Minneapolis band says that while Sarah happens to be an ex-girlfriend of drummer Brooke Svanes, the moniker is based on the real Sarah being sick of her own name.
Svanes had a few initial qualms about naming the band after her ex, but said it became a non-issue quickly.
“I didn’t want her to be bitter or anything,” Svanes said. “But she thinks it’s funny.”
Sick of Sarah is a five-piece pop rock band of 20-something women. They’re currently on a quest to make music their full-time jobs and “conquer the world.” In August, they released their self-titled full-length album on Adamant Records.
Out guitarist Jessie Farmer (who at one time played bass for Babes in Toyland) said the group formed casually in 2004 when she met vocalist Abisha Uhl and guitarist Katie Murphy. At the time, Uhl and Murphy were a duo playing under the name Sparkle Motion.
“When I joined the group, I was like ‘OK, I totally want to be in this band, but I won’t be in it if it’s called Sparkle Motion,'” Farmer said. “That’s way too gay for me.”
Luckily, her bandmates agreed to let the Donnie Darko-inspired band name go, and after finding Holm and Svanes to round out the quintet, Sick of Sarah set out to write some songs and consistently play live, touring a large part of the past three years.
“We want to tour as much as possible and get out there as much as we can and see all the people that we’ve connected with through MySpace and stuff, which is a huge tool for us,” Farmer said. “We live in a digital age, and we definitely use MySpace to branch out of the Midwest region.”
By utilizing the internet and booking shows in most of the larger metropolises in America, Sick of Sarah has spread their breed of pop rock by word of mouth. Their debut album on Adamant Records has several radio-worthy hits, including the single “Daisies” and the new Brunch with Bridgettheme song, “Not Listening.” “Our music is pretty catchy and accessible,” Svanes said. “It gets stuck in your head.”
Farmer agreed, saying there was never a discussion on what kind of sound Sick of Sarah would have.
“It’s not like we’re thinking ‘Let’s write like this today,'” she said. “I am heavily influenced by a lot of pop-rock music, especially from the ’80s and you can really hear it through my chord progressions.”
With three guitars in the band, Sick of Sarah is able to create intricate pop harmonies with their chords and with two of the women providing backup vocals to Uhl’s saccharine purr. The music has a ’90s influence that calls to mind Letters to Cleo and early No Doubt, before ska became a fad featured in Clueless. A mix of their Minneapolis post-punk roots and the days of riot grrrl has inspired Sick of Sarah to create interesting, multilayered songs that just happen to have head-bopping appeal.
“Generally it starts with an idea, and we get together and mess around with the sound and bring it to the other women,” Farmer said of the songwriting process. “It usually involves a cocktail and we jam it out a bit.”
Farmer also said their label, Adamant Records, has appreciated their individual styles and has only encouraged them to be themselves, musically and otherwise.
“Our label does not give a s–t, like at all,” she said. “Be as gay as you want to be, be yourself. They’re really into our personalities. Fortunately we don’t have any pressure to hide anything, which we never would have wanted.”
With five females in the band, one might think there’s bound to be some inter-band love connections while on the road.
“I mean, you know, five girls in a band traveling – it’s kind of crazy, you can imagine,” Svanes said with a laugh. “We try to remain kind of professional.”
Their professionalism aids them in connecting with fans, whether live or on the internet. Sick of Sarah boasts fans from all over, with a wide demographic that, of course, includes many women of the same-sex persuasion.
“Our fan base is so diverse, but we definitely cater to the lesbian demographic, for sure,” Svanes said.
“I’m very, very out, for as long as I’ve been alive, pretty much,” Farmer said. “We definitely love the community, and the community supports us. It’s part of who we are. We generally try to stay pretty gender neutral as far as lyrics go, so everybody can take away from it what they want. We don’t want to isolate any genders.” Along with the recent album release and touring planned for the next quarter of the year, Sick of Sarah are lining up a few more things for the future, including a performance on an Olivia cruise ship at the end of November.
But Svanes said her idea of hitting it big is playing on everyone’s favorite weekend comedy and music show.
“I, personally, would love to be on SNL,” Svanes said. “That would be the pinnacle for me.”
Her dream host? Someone AfterEllen.com readers would certainly tune in for.
“I’d have to go with Eliza Dushku,” Svanes said. “She’s pretty hot.”
Until Lorne Michaels comes calling, Farmer said Sick of Sarah will continue on the well-traveled path they’ve treaded so far.
“We’re just gonna push this record as far as we possibly can,” she said. “Of course, the ultimate goal is to make it big and this would be our job. We wouldn’t have to work, we’d just be doing what we love.”
What she wants right now, however, is to see the fans at the band’s shows.
“Make your fandom visible to us,” Farmer said. “We want to party with [fans]. We really love our fans and hanging out with them on more of a personal level. That’s very, very important to us.”
Check out Sick of Sarah on MySpace.com/sickofsarah.
