They haven’t even released their first single and already the SugaRush Beat Company are being described as a soul supergroup. Rahsaan Patterson, Jarrad ‘Jaz’ Rogers and Ida Corr are the trio at the midst of the SugaRush whirl, with Patterson and Corr successful solo artists from the US and Denmark joining forces with Aussie writer & producer Rogers with some style. They played their first headline gig in London at the end of April, and an appearance on Jools Holland shone a light on their amazing combined talent. RealMusic Blog caught up with them in a central London studio recently to chat about their hasty rise to fame and how they’re enjoying the suga-coated ride so far…
Tell me a bit about your upcoming single, “L.O.V.E.” - it wastes no time grabbing you…
Rahsaan: “That’s true - the arrangement of the horns make it feel upbeat. Compared to the other songs though, it’s calmer…”
But from what I’ve heard, most of your songs are fairly upbeat and energetic. Why did you choose this as your first single?
Ida: “We’re so attached to all of the songs, so it’s difficult for us to choose. But our manager thought that this would be a good one to start with, so we went with it.”
Jaz: “It’s a great track too. It harks back to the old school and shows where we’re coming from but it’s not too intense for a start-off…”
You recorded the new album all over the world, and in some odd locations like Ida’s lounge and hotel bedrooms - do you have a favourite location?
Ida: “My lounge was fun, but the studio in LA was my favourite - and Malibu was pretty cool too.”
Jaz: “My favourite spot was The Standard Hotel on Sunset in LA. Rahsaan was sitting on the edge of a bed, I was meant to bring a mic stand but I couldn’t find it, I was going to buy one but I couldn’t afford it. So when Rahsaan walked in, I was like, here you go - I gave him a big old studio mic with a pop shield in front of it and he sang in the room. We walked out onto the balcony with the mic while he was recording and you can still hear the pool noise in the background.”
Rahsaan: “Really, is that still there?”
Jaz: “Yes… That was the scariest time, because he’d just sung an amazing vocal and I was praying that it would come out. Thankfully it did…”
Did you ever consider doing a Coldplay or Radiohead cover on the album to balance out the euphoria?
Jaz: “Not this time, but you never know!”
Where does the name come from?
Rahsaan: “The song “SugaRush” came first, then we added Beat Company to it…”
Jaz: “There’s a lot of dreary, negative music out there, so we want our music to put people on a high - hence the name. That’s not to say we always will though.”
The band formed when Rahsaan and Jaz met in a studio in Oz and instantly hit it off musically - tell me about that…
Jaz: “We didn’t form until a while after we met, but we certainly had a look in our eye that something could come of it. When we said goodbye to each other, we both had a feeling…”
So who made the first move?
Jaz: “Probably me because I’m so intense - I actually had probably called him five times before he got to the plane - I know I wanted to!”
Rahsaan: “After we did the first two songs, he came to LA and asked if I wanted to get together again, so we did. Then we got together a couple more times before it hit me that this was a bigger project than I’d originally thought. I think it was the appropriate time in all of our lives for something new and creative to appear and it was exciting to imagine that we’d be sitting here right now. It was something that I could see, the timing was right and then Ida appeared and everything fell into place.”
Ida: “That’s right, I just appeared out of nowhere and said ‘Hi guys, I’m Ida’!”
Jaz: “She’s our genie!”
Rahsaan: “Straight out of Bewitched!”
And did Jaz bug you too?
Ida: (Smiles) “All the time…”
I know you’ve all done solo stuff before, singing, writing and producing, but have you been in bands before?
Jaz: “I was in a band with my brother when I was young. It was awful.”
Ida: “I formed a girl group when I was 11 with some girls in my class - we were good. I played drums too…”
Jaz: “I bet you were so cute! Do you still play drums?”
Ida: “No, but I want to start again. A set of gold drums would be cool.”
You’ve been compared to Prince, Sly & The Family Stone, OutKast - how do you feel about that?
Ida: “Very flattered. It’s up to people to decide what they feel, but if they have to compare us to someone else, there’s nobody better to be compared to.”
You appeared on ‘Later… With Jools Holland’ recently - has interest in you piqued since then?
Jaz: “It definitely kicked everything into gear. It was totally unexpected, as it’s hard to get the producers to come and see you and even then you never know. We were told that the producer would be there for 20 minutes, so we got there early to prepare, but then the venue’s power wasn’t turned on… They must have seen something they liked though.”
Ida: “I didn’t even know who Jools Holland was to be honest - I didn’t know the show or him - but in retrospect, it’s amazing. It was a big day.”
Pop, jazz, gospel, soul, schizophrenic - is that a good summation of your sound?
Rahsaan: “Schizophrenic definitely…”
Jaz: “I like that description - perhaps with a bit of rock thrown in too.”
Mark Ronson has included your remix of “Valerie” on his new single “Just” and you’ve also worked with Groove Armada - any other dream collaborators you have?
Rahsaan: “Bjork would be cool.”
Jaz: “Somebody unexpected would be good - it would be great to combine polar opposites and see what happened.”
Do you think that England’s more receptive to your music than anywhere else?
Jaz: “We’ll let you know in six months… Maybe is the answer. Rahsaan and I always said England would be a great place to start it. We also think it would be great to take it to Japan, and obviously, Rahsaan’s so respected in America so there’s interest there. Our sound is transcontinental, so hopefully we’ll be able to touch people all over the world.”
I heard you described as a soul supergroup the other day…
Jaz: “And we haven’t even released a single yet…”
Ida: “That’s not a bad title…”
Jaz: “That group is super!”
You’re all going to carry on with your solo stuff?
Rahsaan: “We all are - I’m still promoting my last album in the US which came out last year.”
Jaz: “I really think that’s a strength of the group, as much as some people think it’s strange. That’s what makes us, bringing all our influences and experiences together.”
What’s the most played song on your MP3 player at the moment?
Jaz - “The Beach Boys’ ‘Pet Sounds’ at the moment.”
Ida: “Prince - When Doves Cry’.”
Rahsaan: “Norman Connors’ ‘Be There In The Morning’.”
That’s great - thanks so much for your time and good luck with the new single and album.
Ida: “We’ve enjoyed it!”
Check out SugaRush Beat Company performing new single “L.O.V.E.” right here…
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SugaRush Beat Company’s new album “SugaRush Beat Company” is due out September 15th; single “L.O.V.E.” drops on June 23rd. They’ll be touring to support the new album. For more: www.sugarushbeatco.com/intro/
(Clare Lydon)
