Spotlight: Sara King Evolves With Her Newest EP 'Erotica'
A “ONE TRICK PONY” IS SOMETHING YOU WOULDN’T USE TO DESCRIBE — Sara King. A creative in music, visuals, and design, she is innately inspired by many things she comes across in music, media, and the environments she spends her time in. A product of King’s own artistic evolution and personal growth over the last few years, her latest EP, Erotica, narrates a strong and daring deviation from her previous releases. Beyond the dreamy and euphoric musical universe she has created for the project, Erotica feels almost like a moodboard and roadmap of Sara King’s inspirations and creative mastermind.
But it’s all about having the right timing. Whether it is going on tour with Puma Blue — who has been a huge inspiration for her — two days after releasing Erotica, or finally dropping her newest project when it’s been almost three years in the making, for King, it’s all about timing.
“The first song that was written was ‘Cherries in the Spring,’” she recalls. “I wrote that in the summer of 2018. Not knowing where it was gonna go; just kind of writing for fun. It started off as a dark, soft, kind of an interlude-like R&B situation, and it morphed throughout the years into something completely different.”
But the first song that was written for this EP specifically was the opening track, which is ‘Welcome to Erotica,’” she explains. “I was in a session with my producer, Cowboy Lansky, and we were browsing through ’70s Italian film scores. And we were just looking at all these sample packs and listening to them. We found this one that was really inspiring, so we just built an idea around that.”
While trying to pick a favorite moment regarding the making of Erotica, King admits that there isn’t just one. “I have two favorite moments,” she says. “One is in ‘Blue Moon.’ There's a break in between, and it sounds like a saxophone, or a little trumpet sample. But it's actually me doing it with my mouth. So that's one thing I think is super dreamy in that song. And then another favorite moment of the EP is in ‘Showgirl.’ At the very end, when it gets super intense; where the breakdown is ominous. That whole breakdown is really visual for me. I can see movie scenes in my head when I listen to that. My friend Josh co-produced that part and built that whole outro section for me, and it just completely made the song and took it to a whole other level.”
While Erotica is undoubtedly inspired by vintage film and music such as those mentioned above, it is also a body of work that reflects King’s life and her creative muses within the past few years. Since her move to Los Angeles, she has been slowly morphing into this current version of Sara King as she takes inspiration and comfort in the new environment.
“I feel more confident in where I'm at with my artistry and how I can finally be like, ‘Yeah, this is my music,’ and feel okay about sharing it with people,” she says. “Before this EP, I was kind of embarrassed about my old music. But now that that's gone, this is my new era. It's a clean slate, so it feels good to have this out.”
In terms of inspiration, there’s no surprise that erotic arts have been a big influence on the making of Erotica. “I'm inspired by old films. I'm also inspired by vintage photography. I've always been really drawn to vintage Playboy specifically, like ’70s and ’80s Playboys.”
Besides this, she also mentions how her apartment in Los Angeles has helped in the process. “I moved from Texas to LA, and I have my first own apartment,” she shares. “I've been designing it by myself, and I have creative freedom to do whatever I want with it. That has really inspired the entire look and the entire feel of who I am as an artist. To be more specific, all of the things that I have in my space are very much my color palette and inspiring as far as art that I keep around me. I'm putting that towards my music, in a way, if that makes sense.”
Alongside the almost subconscious inspiration she collects from her daily life, there are also more direct influences that transpire into the tracks featured on the EP. “David Lynch is one of my biggest inspirations, especially Twin Peaks,” King explains. “That's my favorite show. Twin Peaks inspired ‘Soft as Satin’ completely. Before I named it, the title was actually called ‘One Eyed Jacks,’ which is what one of the main locations in Twin Peaks is called.”
When asked about what excited her the most in the past month, King brings up what she thinks of as the most creative holiday of the year. “I think every time Halloween comes around, I get really inspired just because I forget how much I love it,” she shares excitedly. “It's an opportunity to create and just be whoever you want to be. I think it's the most creative holiday. So I think every time that comes around, I'm like, ‘Ooh, what am I gonna do [to] spark creativity?’ I was Madonna this year in her Erotica era. When I finished Erotica, I was searching to see if anyone else had an album or an EP called Erotica, just to see what was out there. And I discovered Madonna's Erotica album, and I had never listened to it before — I didn't even know it existed. It just kind of solidified the path that I was on, because I love Madonna and I think she's such a force.”
Photo By Natalie Hewitt
Even though she does not currently have a certain collaborator in mind, King shares that she would love to have Alex Turner potentially cover her track “Showgirl.” “I don't know why, but I really want him to cover it,” she says. “He really inspires me; Arctic Monkey is really inspiring, especially [with] their most recent album. That had a lot to do with the whole feel of Erotica as well.”
As an artist herself, King aspires to be a “Jack of All Trades.” In fact, that has always been her approach over the years. She is the creative director for her own clothing brand, Little Cowboy, as well as her social presence online. Moving onward, King is definitely keeping a grip on her creative freedom and enjoying the process of execution. “As far as what I see myself as an artist down the line, I think I just want to be an overall powerful influence,” she says. “Music is obviously first in line for me and is my first priority because I find so much joy in singing, performing — being an artist. But at the same time, I think I want to do a lot of things. I just want to be a force. And I think the bottom line of it all is [that] I want to create, whether it's music, photos, clothing, videos, directing… Anything of that sort in the creative world.”
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