TEN EMAILS with SARAH LIPSTATE

Sarah Lipstate is a Brooklyn based sound and video artist who works under the name Noveller. She has also been a member of Parts & Labor and Cold Cave. Lipstate is currently traveling across the US and Canada on a solo tour and has started her own label Saffron Records. Saffron's first release will be a solo Noveller album, available June 22nd.

Email 1

Sarah you began working as a solo artist while living in Texas, but have since moved to Brooklyn.
What was better about Texas music scene?

I started recording and releasing music as Noveller while I was living in Austin, but didn't start playing live as a solo performer until I moved to New York in 2007. My duo, One Umbrella, was pretty active in the Austin experimental music scene though. I really enjoyed the enthusiasm and creativity of the few people who put on avant-garde shows in town. There was this great space called The Church of the Friendly Ghost in East Austin where this guy Aaron Mace would host great experimental shows. It used to be a functioning church and sometimes people from the neighborhood would show up during events and ask if they could join in and pray. There was also a great space called Ballet Austin that was a dance studio in a beautiful old building and they let kids rent out the space to put on shows. I played at a noise fest there once that was a lot of fun. Actually, my friend Lori Varga is probably the best thing about the Texas music scene. She's the resident 16mm film/multimedia genius who does live projections for bands around town. She lives for celluloid and is a true diamond in the rough.

Email 2

Moving to Brooklyn also seemingly led to you being a member in Parts & Labor as well as Cold Cave. How were your experiences with those bands? Do you prefer solo performance over being a part of an ensemble?

I joined Parts & Labor a little over a year after I moved to Brooklyn. I was 23 at the time, and had never played in an actual rock band before. A mutual friend from Austin introduced us online, and we emailed back and forth for a while before I met up with Dan Friel at their practice space to play together. After a couple of sessions, I met the rest of the band and rehearsed with them maybe twice before they asked me if I would go on tour with them down to SXSW in a few weeks. Everything happened over a very short period of time and I still can't really believe that I agreed to jump into a van with three strangers and hit the road. Playing with those guys was a really important experience for me and I learned a lot about touring, playing, recording, and just being in a band. They had been around for about 6 years previously as a trio and were already pretty well established, so it was interesting for me to come in and add shake things up a little bit.

My time playing in Cold Cave was very brief, but there were some interesting moments. I had known Caralee McElroy (who's also no longer in the band) for a little while and it was nice playing and touring with a friend.

Ultimately, I feel like I'm much happier playing my own music and performing solo. I have much more confidence in what I'm doing as Noveller and really thrive on the intimacy of being alone on stage with the audience.

Email 3

How smooth was your transition from recording artist to live performer? Do you always strive to play songs the way you composed // recorded them or to just jam // feel it out?

For the very first Noveller performance (at the Sonic Circuits Festival in D.C.), I spent a lot of time learning the structure of two recordings, "Salt on Sand" and "Tablet II", and built upon those foundations with improvisation for about 19 minutes. Since then, the transition from recording to performing has become much easier for me. I used to not bother to write down the tunings I used for recording with my double-neck, so sometimes the tuning pegs would bump around when I'd travel with my guitar and I would be completely screwed when I got to the show and have to wing it. I've learned to document the tunings and effects settings that I use now when I record new tracks. Most of my older compositions were recorded live with no overdubs, so those were pretty easy to translate to a live setting. The new recordings that I've been working on are richer and have more layers, which makes it almost impossible to recreate live, but that doesn't really concern me. I usually try to translate the key components of the piece into a live arrangement and let the song evolve from there.

Email 4

what made you pick up the double neck guitar to begin with? too many van halen and zeppelin videos as a kid?

Haha, not exactly. There was this amazing pawn shop in Austin called Doc Holidays that I used to frequent looking for used gear. One time when I went in, I saw this used Epiphone double-neck guitar and immediately picked it up and plugged it in. The idea of me playing this beast of a guitar was so absurd that I knew that I had to own it. Having 18 strings at my disposal on one guitar completely blew my mind. I had no idea how I would put the guitar to use, but that didn't stop me from putting it on layaway immediately.

Email 5

Has living so close to NYC and the friendships you've made led to an amazing wealth of new cheap awesome equipment?

A while back, Carlos Giffoni gave me a Moog MurF pedal that he wasn't using anymore. I've been using it a lot in my new recordings and it's a pretty great pedal. I also just scored a cheap Ampeg Superjet guitar amp thanks to one of my friends in Brooklyn. Overall, I've been trying to focus on making the most out of what I already have instead of constantly swapping out gear and buying new things. I'm all for improving my sound and making my setup more efficient though, and there are a lot of great resources for doing that here in New York.

Email 6

Carlos is a rad dude, I toured with him, probably 5 years ago, and he was yelling BUSHWICK out of the car window in Montreal.

How did you meet him and get your spot at No Fun Fest and a release on No Fun Productions?

Nice! I'll keep that in mind when we are all up there in June. Bushwick is my neighborhood now. Carlos has moved on up in the world. I first met Carlos at a show I played at this crappy bar in Greenpoint called Tommy's Tavern. He watched my set and then introduced himself and we talked at the bar for a while afterward. He later contacted me online to talk about doing a release for No Fun. It wasn't too long after that that he asked me to play the fest. Actually, I don't think he really asked me.. he kind of told me not to be on tour in May (I was still in Parts & Labor at the time) because I was going to be playing at No Fun Fest.

Email 7

How was your experience playing at No Fun Fest, did the exposure to that many fans of the noise scene open any doors for you?

I had an incredible time playing at No Fun Fest. I felt good about my set and really enjoyed just being there and seeing everyone else play. I did catch the infamous "No Fun flu" though, and was really sick for a week after the fest. In terms of exposure, I think that it definitely caught the attention of a lot of noise fans who were unaware of my music beforehand. I just played this great college show at Tufts University in Boston with Growing and White Rainbow, and I found out afterward that the kids who booked me had seen my set at No Fun. I also got to play at the No Fun Fest Sweden last year in Stockholm, and that was really fun. Regardless of the location, No Fun Fest really pulls an international audience of noise fans and it's really an invaluable experience getting to play for such a diverse and dedicated group of people.

Email 8

Sweden must have ruled, I was there once for work, and had a complete blast!
Are you disappointed that there will be no New York area No Fun Fest this year?

Stockholm was fun. I also got to open the Jesus Lizard show there while I was in town. I didn't get to see much of the city, unfortunately, so I'd love to go back sometime.

I think it's good that Carlos is taking a break from the fest this year. It seems like a lot of new festivals are popping up to try and fill the void. There was a Denver Noise Fest in May, and in August there's going to be the Neon Marshmallow Festival in Chicago that I'll be playing These festivals aren't nearly on the scale of NFF, but that's okay. It's interesting to mix it up a little bit and see what other festival curators come up with.

Email 9

Does No Fun Fest or the noise scene ever seem like a sweaty smelly boys club? Or is that just rock n roll. The few times I was at NFF, I always noticed the No Fun Funk smell

Yeah, that's just music in general. You become desensitized to the smell after a few years.

Email 10

I have not been going to shows, because I just rock out in my room and bottle the odor, I'm totally hitting next fashion week.

Look like a rock star, act like a rock star, party like a rock star.
SMELL LIKE A ROCK STAR.
A new fragrance from kitty play.

Well thanks for your time, and following through with all this nonsense.
If you could please toss me a photo to run with the article that would rule.
xo

My pleasure.

S