Lost And Sound
Lost and Sound is a podcast exploring the most exciting and innovative voices in underground, electronic, and leftfield music worldwide. Hosted by Berlin-based writer Paul Hanford, each episode features in-depth, free-flowing conversations with artists, producers, and pioneers who push music forward in their own unique way.
From legendary innovators to emerging mavericks, Paul dives into the intersection of music, creativity, and life, uncovering deep insights into the artistic process. His relaxed, open-ended approach allows guests to express themselves fully, offering an intimate perspective on the minds shaping contemporary sound.
Originally launched with support from Arts Council England, Lost and Sound has featured groundbreaking artists including Suzanne Ciani, Peaches, Laurent Garnier, Chilly Gonzales, Sleaford Mods, Nightmares On Wax, Graham Coxon, Saint Etienne, Ellen Allien, A Guy Called Gerald, Jean Michel Jarre, Liars, Blixa Bargeld, Hania Rani, Roman Flügel, Róisín Murphy, Jim O’Rourke, Yann Tiersen, Thurston Moore, Lias Saoudi (Fat White Family), Caterina Barbieri, Rudy Tambala (A.R. Kane), more eaze, Tesfa Williams, Slikback, NikNak, and Alva Noto.
Paul Hanford is a writer, broadcaster, and storyteller whose work bridges music, culture, and human connection. His debut book, Coming to Berlin, is available in all good bookshops.
Lost and Sound is for listeners passionate about electronic music, experimental sound, and the people redefining what music can be.
Lost And Sound
Sudan Archives
Sudan Archives aka LA-based composer, producer, performer and violinist Brittney Parks burst out of LA’s experimental electronic scene in 2017 with a distinctly visual approach to music making and a deep love of violin.
One of the things that makes Sudan Archives' sound so captivating is her revolutionary approach to this instrument. Learning by ear in church rather than through classical training, Parks developed unconventional techniques through pure experimentation. Discovering that an amplified electric violin produces percussive sounds when struck, collecting "stone age violins" that connect her to the instrument's global heritage, and playing upside down on a stripper pole – these unorthodox approaches have yielded a sound that has moved through breakout moments like Come Meh Way to the upfront party energy of her new album, The BPM.
The name Sudan Archives itself tells a fascinating story. Originally a nickname suggested by her mother during Parks' journey of cultural self-discovery, it took on deeper significance when she found striking parallels between Sudanese folk music and other global violin traditions. This cross-cultural connection resonated with her own experience seeking representation as a Black violinist. Though sometimes misunderstood, the name reflects what I really feel is a genuine passion for violin cultures worldwide and her own musical journey.
When I caught up with Brittney, she discussed her evolution from bedroom producer to innovative artist, her experience with imposter syndrome at Stones Throw Records, and how her latest work embraces a more playful, sometimes "silly" aesthetic that might surprise longtime fans. "The BPM" drops October 17th on Stones Throw – prepare for a boundary-pushing journey that honors the house and techno traditions of Detroit and Chicago while remaining unmistakably, uniquely Sudan Archives.
Pre-order and preview tracks fromSudan Archives’ The BPM here
Follow Sudan Archives on Instagram: @sudanarchives
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Huge thanks to Audio-Technica – makers of beautifully engineered audio gear and sponsors of Lost and Sound. Check them out here: Audio-Technica
Want to go deeper? Grab a copy of my book Coming To Berlin, a journey through the city’s creative underground, via Velocity Press.
And if you’re curious about Cold War-era subversion, check out my BBC documentary The Man Who Smuggled Punk Rock Across The Berlin Wall on the BBC World Service.
You can also follow me on Instagram at @paulhanford for behind-the-scenes bits, guest updates, and whatever else is bubbling up.
so looping violins and party bpms. It is so much the sedan archives episode of lost and sound that you're about to hear any minute now. Hi, it's paul here and welcome. Welcome to lost and sound, the show that goes deep, with artists shaping music and culture from the underground up. I hope you're having a really great september. So far, I've got to say this is one of my favourite months. It's one of my favourite times of year coming up. I know that's not the most popular thing to say after the blockbuster behemoth of summer, but there we go. So got a bunch of really exciting episodes coming up for you, and this begins in a minute with what you're about to hear. But before we get going, lost in Sound is sponsored by Audio-Technica. Over 60 minute with what you're about to hear. But before we get going, lost and sound is sponsored by audio technica. Over 60 years old and still a family-run company. They make headphones, microphones, turntables, cartridges. Their gear is studio grade, affordable and built on the belief that great sound should be for everyone. So, wherever you are in the world, head on over to audio technicacom to check out all of their range of stuff. Okay, okay, should we do the music? Yeah, I think so. Thank you, hello and welcome to episode 183 of Lost in Sound.
Speaker 1:I'm Paul Hamford, I'm your host, I'm an author, broadcaster and a lecturer, and each week on the show I have conversations with artists who work outside the box about music, creativity and about how they're navigating life through their art. So, whether you're new here or you've been listening for a while, hello, hope you're doing great. Or you've been listening for a while, hello, hope you're doing great. And yeah, this episode is, as I'm sure you're aware, out a day later than usual. It's just been a very, very busy week this week and I've been largely offline working on something. So, just getting back to you now-ish because there's been some really nice feedback as well in DMs about last week's episode with Devendra Banhart I really, really enjoyed having that chat and it's really nice to sort of get some comments back and messages about that, about what you all thought of that.
Speaker 1:So today on the show Sudan Archives is my guest, the nom de pleur of LA based composer, producer, singer and violinist, Brittney Parks. I remember hearing her self-titled debut EP back in 2017, in particularly the track Come Away, which kind of shot out of a very key point in electronic music that emerged out of LA, la at that time think of the hugely influential Low End Theory Club, where she was part of the scene, and the stones throw record label, which she still releases records on, um and released her first record as well, um, I think she's one of the biggest artists that emerged from that loose school of artists if you can call it a school, uh that have included, like the glitch mob no such thing and flying lotus as well. And one of the things that made her music stand out and so unique is the central place that the violin takes in it, like the way she loops, it distorts, it plays around with what it can do, plus also what the violin represents. Park studied ethnomusicology at pasadena city college and you can hear this really deep connection with the African and European heritage of the music traditions that she expresses through it in her own unique and very contemporary way. Her new album, the BPM, has a real party energy to it. It's got faster tempos, a sort of letting open of a threshold of pure fun in places that as, as she goes on to say in the interview that she was perhaps a little bit reluctant to enter into before.
Speaker 1:So Britney describes herself as a visual artist that happens to make music, and one very visual cue that happens a few times during what you'll be listening to as audio is she mentions about the violins that are in the room around her, and they're really there. I've never seen violins like a like a row of violins on a wall. Look so cool. So I am going to attempt to make a reel this week of part of the video that that shows that, so you get to get more of an idea of what's going on there. But anyway, yeah, this is a great chat.
Speaker 1:I really loved having this chat and we had it on 22nd of august 2025. So, yeah, before we get going, um, if you haven't done so already and you like what I do, please do give it a little. Subscribe really does help. Um, if you've got a few minutes of brain length, brain brain width, bandwidth, that's the word I mean. Um, and you fancy leaving the show a review that's always really really super appreciated you can leave a review of the show on the platform of your choice. That could be like apple, that could be fucking spotify or wherever, wherever. But anyway, this is what happened when I met up with sudan archives hi hi britney, how you doing uh, it's going good
Speaker 1:good stuff. Good stuff, um, yeah, okay. So thanks so much for speaking with me today. Um, I really I've been following your stuff since like about 2017. I've been following your stuff since like about 2017. And there was a quote of yours that I really loved, which where you said you see yourself as a visual artist that happens to make music. Now, I know like quotes that we say, you know, like that might've been something that was said a few years ago and we change all the time and every day, but I was wondering what that means for you. What do you mean by that?
Speaker 2:I feel like it means like always, I don't know, I think I think I see sound, so like everything is just very visual for me. I've always been a visual learner. I feel like everything that I've learned how to do musically I had to basically see someone do it and replicate it to teach myself. And I also feel like whenever I make music, I see the story of the song in my head. So I'm always trying to basically like sonically convey what I'm seeing.
Speaker 1:Right, so do you feel? I mean would you say, you've got synesthesia.
Speaker 2:I think I could probably say that, but from what I've read about what that is, it does feel similar to that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've definitely had formative experiences of listening to like music that has just left like a really visual impression like sort of certain albums.
Speaker 1:Yeah, colors to them for sure yeah, I mean and like so you're coming back with the bpm. Um, I mean, what do you think for you was like the sort of leap forward was it? Would you go into like making an album with an idea that you want to try something that you haven't done, or is it more like you're just doing what you're doing and it kind of captures it as you do it?
Speaker 2:it's usually like I'm doing what I'm doing, but for this one I knew that I wanted the bpm of the songs to be like double the bpm of what I used to do, because a lot of the BPMs before were like 70, 90, kind of mid-tempo, but I knew that it had to be 120 and up.
Speaker 1:And why was that?
Speaker 2:Because I just felt like I feel like I'm 31 years old and I feel like this feels like to me this feels like the prime of my life.
Speaker 2:I know I haven't lived anything older than that, but when I look about, when I think about my twenties, I feel like I was just trying to figure things out, like I was learning how to produce throughout this whole time of being an artist at the same time.
Speaker 2:So I think a lot of the music I made was me slowly, kind of like figuring out what I'm doing, like and slowly cultivating the sound, and I just feel like right now the BPM of these songs actually match what I really want to replicate sonically. I feel like before it was just slower because I was figuring it out, but I do think that I just feel like you know, after this album I'm probably going to want to do something maybe more orchestral, and I just wanted to get all the jitters out, like I wanted to just dance it all off and like I felt like this would be a good album out. Like I wanted to just dance it all off and like I felt like this would be a good album, like in time to do it because after COVID. After all these things, I feel like we all just want to dance yeah, I mean.
Speaker 1:I mean because the album does feel so kind of party driven in a way and and you mentioned about COVID and the previous album like, like didn't you record like during COVID?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so there's that sort of real sense of like. I guess you know shaking that off a little bit, mm-hmm, I was mad to think that's actually five years ago now, isn't it? Does that? Does that feel like a different era to you?
Speaker 2:I was looking at my um tiny desk performance, because that was five years ago. I was looking at that and I was like I just look different. I like I'm skinnier.
Speaker 1:I just feel like my voice sounds more like younger or something. I don't know how to describe it, but I feel like.
Speaker 2:I just see all these differences. I'm like, oh wow, I sound so different. I look a little different. Looping violins I think I've grown into a more confident person over just five years. It's kind of crazy to look at yourself, I mean you've built up a reputation as a bedroom producer, today with sedan archives. Hi, paul here. Welcome to lost in sound, the show that goes deep with artists shaping music and culture.
Speaker 2:I mean you've built up a reputation as a bedroom, but before we get going yeah and sound is sponsored by audio technica with bpm, you know, because there's a sense of like much more of this kind of like escalated yeah um, was it still very much a bedroom production built on the belief that great sound should be forever. So wherever you are in the world, was it still very?
Speaker 1:much a bedroom production for you. Yeah, for me it was, because it always starts like I had a studio in my basement so everything was kind of there for me to just put all my ideas down I had all my gear that I normally make music with.
Speaker 2:So it started with me just like Monday, wednesday, friday, with my engineer, just like getting out all of my ideas, like all of the drum ideas that I had, like rhythmically how I wanted things to go, and like melodically and lyrically how I wanted things to go, and then basically there was like three people that would add things to it after that process.
Speaker 2:So Ben would add a lot of like effects to things and like do a lot of really cool like dance, kind of rework things, even like vocal chopping, like making things feel more like repetitive in that way to make it feel like a dance record and like adding these really cool effects. And then Eric in Detroit, he would like maybe like take some drums that I did and like reimagine them to make them more if I described hey, I want this to sound even more dance here, like because he has all these really cool like vintage drum machine emulators. So he would hear how the rhythm, how I wanted to like feel rhythmically and kind of rework it. And then, once everyone kind of added their parts, then we kind of took it to Chicago and we had a quartet play over the whole thing. And then after that, ben would like mix the quartet with my violins and find a perfect way to blend them together.
Speaker 2:That's amazing and it sort of connects up different parts of like places in America that you've lived in before as well yeah, because I've never lived in Chicago or Detroit, but my mom's from Detroit and my dad is from Chicago and I wanted the record to pay an homage to those places, because this record is kind of like my biggest like dance influence record and that's where the house and techno originated.
Speaker 1:So and is that something that you've always sort of carried in you? Do you think that the kind of the house and techno influence from chicago and detroit, is that something that, like growing up you, you were aware of?
Speaker 2:I think that, um, subconsciously it's always affected me. I just never really noticed it, but I grew up in church, so a lot of the church music was a huge influence. But yeah, I just kind of feel like my beats are always going to be, it's always going to have that, it's always going to have this like detroit, chicago, like kick happening, like it just kind of comes naturally yeah, yeah, and like making music outside of a traditional studio as well, I think.
Speaker 1:I think for most artists now, that's like quite probably economically driven as well as like anything else. But what do you think that that gives you? You know, like sort of, if you, if you were like given the choice between sort of going into like a big lush la studio or you know what, what do you think it gives you like not doing that and like recording at home or recording, I think that you get really like cool experimental sounds because, like this violin right here is a MIDI violin.
Speaker 2:You have to connect it to this like synthesizer to get the violin to create all these other instrument sounds. So I have all of these instruments here in my bedroom like that I can just kind of like mess around with and resample and like get really cool like sounds out of like the one song Los Censi I played this one on it and this, this one has this like really cool like sounds, almost like a a lady screaming kind of sound, and I feel like you know, if I was in these big studios I wouldn't bring all of these instruments. So I just feel like I'm able to kind of experiment and be in my own little laboratory and that takes a lot of time because you're just basically playing these instruments for hours until you find the perfect kind of sound to incorporate in a song.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think quite often I hear stories about people that feel, when they're in studios and there's like engineers that perhaps they don't know and producers that they don't know, but these engineers bring like a kind of a form of gatekeeping into the sort of situation and like you know, oh, that's how you EQ this, that's how you set this up. You know, I've been doing it for 20 years. That's, how has that ever played?
Speaker 2:been doing it for 20 years. That's, how is that? Is that ever played? That's kind of happened to me before, like because you know you're taught a certain way of how sound should go. And then you know you might be like, hey, turn that up. And they're like, oh, it's distorting. And then you don't want to turn it up, it's distorting now. And then sometimes I'll have to be like, well, I don't care that it's distorting, it sounds cool, keep distorting it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely I mean, but you're also quite known for like unconventional ways with instrumentation, like is it true this thing about learning violin whilst being suspended upside down?
Speaker 2:I think I just learned how to play violin upside down because I have this stripper, pole Right.
Speaker 1:And like.
Speaker 2:I taught myself how to play upside down on it, but the biggest thing that I learned about getting a really cool sound out of a violin that you wouldn't normally do is basically when you have a violin amplified, because normally violinists they have regular violins, they don't amplify, they don't have regular violins, they don't amplify, they don't have electric violins. But when you have like a, um, a violin that you can put the chord in it and have it amplified, the whole violin becomes amplified. So, um, the first cool thing that I discovered that's unconventional with getting like a really cool sound on the violin is if you actually hit the violin, it sounds like a drum. So you're not supposed to hit it though, because it's really expensive and you shouldn't hit the violin. But if you hit it and then create these like rhythms on it and press record, you get these like really organic sounding drums and is this something?
Speaker 2:is that something you found, like yourself, just for experimentation and playing and time, yeah all of these um instruments like this one right here, it's like there's a pickup on it so you can plug it in, and all of these um, well, that one I got in japan, but I'm gonna get it amplified as well, because it's basically like I'm really passionate about stone age violins. Like this is like a regular violin, but these are all of the like ancestors of the violin why?
Speaker 1:where did this passion come from?
Speaker 2:it just came from the passion of just like wanting to play violin but also wanting to understand the roots of the violin, and I just feel like it was. There's so many different types of people that play these instruments, so you're able to see all different walks of life playing it. It's really cool to know the history behind it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and I guess it sort of connects you with that history. And how did the violin first come into your life?
Speaker 2:It came into my life when I was in fourth grade in a Jewish community in Ohio called Wyoming and a fiddle club came to my school just to show us fiddle music and they were playing like Irish jigs and they were, like you know, dancing and it was a very like party kind of vibe and that made me want to play the violin.
Speaker 1:Right, did you get one quite quickly afterwards, or was it something that you were like, okay, I've got it, yeah.
Speaker 2:I just begged my parents to get me one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and did you? Did you? Was it like, did you go through like a formal educational thing with it, like the kind of conventional classical route with learning it, or what was your sort of approach to learning it?
Speaker 2:There was like a year or two where the school had a program, but we moved to a different school that didn't have any of that. They had like other programs like band and stuff, but they didn't have orchestra. So I just basically went to church three times a week Sunday, wednesday and Thursday because I just started playing in church. So Sundays I would play and I didn't know what I was doing. I was just the only violinist in the choir and I was trying to just replicate. I was basically learning how to play by ear, but it sounded really bad at first. And then I would go to choir rehearsals on Thursdays and they would find these songs that have violin in it, and then I would listen to the songs and try to figure out the parts that they're playing. And then eventually it worked and I just started. That's how I knew how to play by ear.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, yeah, I mean, do you feel like that's kind of helped you? Because I know that sometimes when people like go the kind of classical route and they go to conservatories and learn, they have to sort of do quite a bit of unlearning as well. You know, they get taught perhaps too much of a technique that they have to sort of do quite a bit of unlearning as well.
Speaker 2:You know they they get taught perhaps too much of a technique that they have to learn. Do you feel? They told me that I wish I would have learned my own style first, before learning the technical things, and that's kind of what I'm doing now. Now that I have my own style, I can, like you know, hire a fiddle teacher to kind of like help me learn a couple of things like that I have questions about. It's like the learning is coming now. Everything else was just me developing my own sound right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So you have the ammo now. You. You have the intent now and the ability. You moved to LA at quite a young age, yeah, when I was 19. What was it like for you when you got to LA and what sort of drove you to move to LA? Was it to sort of seek out something musical or what?
Speaker 2:I just thought that I was going to have to have a job and still do my passion with music. So I just was thinking LA is a good place to work on your music and also have a job, because the weather's great and I think I was just sold on like the long term, just good weather, because I really hate winters. And then, yeah, I just thought LA is the best place to be if you want to be an artist, but also I knew that I was going to have to like work and like go to college and things like that. So I was just thinking LA is probably the perfect place to do all of those things at the same time.
Speaker 1:Did it take a while to find your feet, though?
Speaker 2:It did take a while. It took a couple of years. Like I moved out there when I was 19. And then by 24, I got signed to a label and I had to drop out of community college. Because once I got signed to the label my career started kind of taking off a bit and then the touring started happening immediately to where it felt like, oh, everything I'm going to school for I'm kind of already doing so I don't know what's the point of going to school anymore. And then I've just been touring ever since and been like a self and I've been supporting myself, me and my team. We've just been like, you know, I through those years I got a manager, a booking agent and, um, the label, and so everything's kind of set up now to where I don't need to worry about ever getting a job that is nice.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and um, I did, because I also sort of read the. The low-end theory was quite played like a some like a role in your musical development and in terms of like, orientating to a scene, you know how, what was your kind of memories of that Like? What role did it play for you?
Speaker 2:I have really good memories of that because I remember like no Can Do, he was like one of the owners with a couple of other guys, a couple of other guys, and that was like that ended up being like a partner that I was with for years that I recently broke up with. But I remember when I was going to Low End Theory I didn't know him at all and I would always see him and seeing like Anderson Paak for the first time, seeing a lot of people. That really inspired me and the reason why it played a significant role was because I went there and I met Matthew David there and Matthew David was really, really, really interested in my music career and he would always ask me to send him stuff. So I basically one day did and he was like, oh my God, I want to sign you to Leaving Records. We should work on a record. You know, we should put out some music.
Speaker 2:He was working at Stone's Throw at the time as an A&R. So I think Stone's Throw was like can we just sign her to Stone's Throw instead? So I feel like if I never went to Low End Theory and hung out around there, I wouldn't be going Stone's Throw.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and that was such a good, that was such a time when Stone's Throw established such a kind of individual like, became like one of those labels that just have a thing about them, like an identity, and even though a lot of the artists are very eclectic on that, you know, did it feel great being part of that.
Speaker 2:It did because at first I felt like I don't fit into this label, sound Like I know I make my own beats but like not in the way that it felt like it did. I didn't, I don't know. I mean it might have been a little bit of imposter syndrome at the time because I was just learning everything and everything was such an experimental approach that I was doing. Everyone else to me felt more like contained and like well-versed in, like a specific, like beat machine or like their DAW program. But I was just kind of figuring out everything right then and there. But I think that's what made it so cool. I think people really wanted to see me grow in that way and support me.
Speaker 1:Hmm, and do you feel I mean, how do you feel about like imposter syndrome now, I think most artists have their own experience of that Do you feel like that's something that still comes up for you, or do you feel like, like, as you were saying, with like becoming more confident in the studio, you know, and technically, do you feel like that's something that you've also become more confident about?
Speaker 2:I'm more confident about it now because I just feel like it doesn't matter how well versed you are in a tool like in a DAW program, in any kind of you know instrument, it doesn't really matter. I just think, as an artist, if you know what you want and you know how you want it to sound, there's so many ways to get there and it doesn't matter how you get there, as long as you try and like, no one can take that away from you. Even with AI and everything that's happening and all these robots and stuff. No one can take away the creator of those robots and everything. So it's just all about. It's all up to you and what you know, the creativity inside.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I definitely I agree with that. I think so much of imposter syndrome comes from the people or the situations or the institutions that tell you how things are and then when you have a different idea or a different situation that doesn't fit in with that, it can create.
Speaker 1:Create that, I think yeah so I mean also like the name as well, um, sudan archives. I mean, is there a point where you use that as a sort of form of identity, like is there a? Is there a britney parks? That's very different from sudan archives.
Speaker 2:I think Sudan archives, I don't know. I kind of it's weird because, like when I was young, I would always go into these African stores and I even thought I wanted to go to college for African history because I was very interested in, like you know, there was a lack of blackness in a lot of spaces that I was growing up in. Like I always went to church and it was a Black church and I always went back home to visit family on summer vacations in Detroit and Chicago, but we always would go and progress to these better schools because my parents would like be doing really well and then they would want us to go to, like this really good school. But as we progressed and got to the better schools, it became wider and wider and wider. So I feel like in those spaces it was, like you know, to the point where sometimes I would be the only Black girl in my classroom and I think because of that I became very curious in like, the roots of Black Americans and like African history, because I just maybe wanted to make sure that I was preserving that part of me, because when you grow up in spaces like that, you might want to like look like people around you and you might feel like you're not as beautiful because, like there's a lack of representation.
Speaker 2:So I think when I was young, me and my I have these memories of, like me and my sister using YouTube and basically discovering like just little things that like how deodorant has aluminum or like how toothpaste has this thing in it that actually kills you. We would like research those things and we'd be like, oh, why are we doing that? Let's use natural deodorant, yes, let's use this. And then you know, like we were getting perms which basically, like our hair is naturally curly, but we were getting perms every month to just straighten our hair. But then we were like realizing we're just doing that so we can fit in more with people around us that have straight hair. Like why are we straightening our hair? We realized that the perms are actually like chemicals that kill you and we're putting it in our head every month. I think we started like to have this awakening and we were like kind of like fighting that.
Speaker 2:But the name sudan came from that, because I think my mom noticed that. I think when we started making music because we were both making music and creating we wanted to, you know, have a name and then I think I mentioned that I wanted to I can't remember the name it was but she was like don't call yourself that, call yourself Sudan. And then it kind of became a nickname. So then, you know, I wasn't really doing music professionally but I was just creating all the time and hanging out with a lot of artists. We would just call each other by our artist name. So then it just became you know this like name and everyone started calling me Sudan. Yeah, and what's weird is it was just like a nickname. She thought it was a pretty name.
Speaker 2:But when I started to research the music history of Sudan, I started to realize that there's a lot of like Sufism in their culture but there's also a lot of violin culture in general.
Speaker 2:And that was really interesting to me because my first string like introduction was the fiddle music, the Irish jigs and all that. I really liked that because it was very wild. But the music in Sudan it felt very similar to the Irish jig music and then the Irish jig music felt very similar to a lot of other traditional violin music that I was listening to from all over the world and I think it was just kind of really cool to find that similarity between all of the violin cultures that I was experiencing. But what's really cool, though, is like the nickname kind of like gave me more representation of like Black people playing violin, because in fourth grade it was a lot of. It was just kind of that a lot of African Americans play violin and a lot of Africans played violin and they still do and it's like to see all of the people playing the violin in their own way. I think it really inspired me.
Speaker 1:But what inspired me the most is how similar it is you mean like how similar was like sort of also like hearing that the Irish jig music.
Speaker 2:Yes, like the Irish jig music felt very similar to the Sudanese folk music.
Speaker 1:How do you feel? Do you feel like you know having this, like absorbed this and like absorbing it into your name and into your musical identity? Is there a sort of sense of responsibility on this for you? You know, in terms of, like, how you portray this, um, is it? You know what is that? Where? Where does that sit in you now?
Speaker 2:sometimes I feel like I get a little bit of shit for my name because people think that I'm trying to be from sudan maybe. Or they think that I am from Sudan because the name is Sudan Archives, or they might think that if they see a song that I have out and they don't like the song, they think, like this is a disrepresentation of Sudan, what the fuck. But it's kind of like my artist name and it means a lot to me for my own musical journey. It has nothing to do with Sudan, but it happens to be violin culture in Sudan that I really like. But the whole thing is that violin culture all over the world is so inspiring to me. All over the world is so inspiring to me. But sometimes I do wish that maybe I just should have called myself something else, because it's a very like woo, wooey, nerdy kind of name. It's like you know, it's just like a lot.
Speaker 2:It's like I wish I would have just called myself, like one word, something simple, that doesn't mean something, but it really does mean something to me and no one can take that away from me, and I'm not trying to like appropriate anything, I'm just trying to be myself, like it's just kind of like a name like India, ari, or like Paris Hilton, like yeah, but it does mean something, though, too, which is really cool, like there's a whole. It kind of like the name led me to more violin inspiration, which is really cool because at the end of the day.
Speaker 1:Violin is the reason why I do music yeah, it seems like a name that does have that kind of spell factor to it. You know, it's like. You know, like that, like words can spell things and then they can kind of create something through, just like what they mean and represent. You know, and that can be sometimes be quite a heavy thing to hold, and other times it can propel you forward and sometimes you stop and think about it and you're like, oh fuck, right, yeah, that is, that is quite a lot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sometimes, as I'm older, I'm like, oh my God, that is so much like. This is such a. I should have done something simpler, but I'm just not a simple person. It just makes sense for it to just be this like weird, interesting name and um, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And I also think sometimes, when you know you sort of mention about like, um, if, if there's criticism, like from people, I think it's, it's like a very, it's quite bland when, like people can lump something all together. You know like it's like, I think, in any kind of form of identity or artistry, you know there's so many elements that go into it and you might choose to highlight one as your name, but like it is also like a plethora of different strands and stuff that goes in.
Speaker 2:You know it's not like, this is just it, this is just one thing, yeah, and I feel like as an artist, you're going to be a little bit of a disruptor and I feel like a lot of the things in things that I've put out in the past have been really easy for people to receive. But I do think this album is a little more disruptive because I made it in Detroit, in Chicago. So there were sessions where I was in Detroit and my cousin who's literally super silly and brings out the most silly moments of me she was there like saying the most funny lines and then I was riffing off of them, like, for example, pac-man was only created because me and my cousin were like drinking wine and like we were yelling and like having a good time and we made this really silly song. But I would have never made that song if I wasn't around her.
Speaker 2:So I feel like this album is a little bit disruptive, because some people might hear that song and be like this is horrible, and then I'm just like, yeah, I know, it's just a silly, horrible song and it's just brainless activity, just pure fun. Like it's no, there's no. Like technical, cool, violent arrangements, it's not, it's just a, it's just like a crazy beat and crazy words. Like it's just when you listen to the whole album.
Speaker 1:That's just the part of the album where the gadget girl just goes full silly yeah, because you say gadget girl, because I think that you bring elements of like things like video games and like visual art, uh, particularly into like what you do live. What role is that for you? Like, how did that come about? Like you know, rather than just going out on the stage and just being like aha, like performer, just you voice instruments, what was it about bringing this sort of sense of like visual identity in with you?
Speaker 2:I just feel like it was the only way to really kind of like tell the story, and I just think that people react really well to sound effects. So I just thought it's a really creative way to, you know, tell the story of the songs, because whenever I'm on stage and I pull out my bow and I trigger the, the, the sword sound, people just start to, they'll like make a huge reaction and then they'll start to follow the story more yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely, yeah, definitely, definitely, and, and and just sort of.
Speaker 1:Finally, just kind of wrapping up, I wanted to kind of know, like, if you could go back and speak to the younger Brittany just before, like you know, before you moved to LA, you know, but just when the seeds of music were deep inside you and you could just pop back like in a time machine just for 10 minutes, like what would you tell yourself?
Speaker 2:I wouldn't tell, I wouldn't change a thing. I don't know, maybe just I would tell her just keep making more music, like keep playing the violin and it's funny because that's what everyone's told me. That has like, like, before my uncle passed away, he was like don't ever stop playing the violin. And my stepdad, he was like the violin is gonna be your way or something to get somewhere. So I just feel like I would make sure she just knows that that's really good, that's really nice.
Speaker 1:Quite often guests and I love everyone's answer, but quite often guests will have something really specific but I think I think there's also a kind of like a real beauty and just like letting yourself just get on with things, just giving yourself a little bit of encouragement. You know subtly, yeah yeah britney, thank you so much for chatting with me.
Speaker 1:Thank you for chatting with me on a friday morning thanks pa okay, so that was me, paul hamford, talking with sudan archives full of lost and sound podcast, and we had that chat on the 22nd of august 2025. Thank you so much, britney, for sharing your time and thoughts with me there. Uh, the bpm, the new sudan archives album, is out october 17th on stones throw, and if you like the show and you haven't already, please do give it a subscribe. Give the show a rating and a review on the show, and you haven't already, please do give it a subscribe. Give the show a rating and a review on the platform of your choice. It really, really, really does help.
Speaker 1:And if you like what I do and you want to hear a little bit more, you can listen to my radio documentary the man who smuggled punk rock across the berlin wall by heading on over to the bbc sounds app or on the bbc world service home page, and my book coming to berlin is still available in in a lot of bookshops anyway. Um, and oh yeah, by the, by the publisher's website. Velocity press audio technica are the sponsors of lost and sound, the global but still family-run company that make headphones, turntables, cartridges, microphones, studio quality, yet affordable products, because they believe that high quality audio should be accessible to all. So, wherever you are in the world, head on over to audiotechnicacom to check out all of the range of their stuff and the music, the, the lovely, lovely music that you hear at the beginning, at the end of every episode of lost and sound, is done by tom giddens hyperlink in the podcast description. So, yeah, that's it. Hope, whatever you're doing today, you're having a fucking lovely one and I'll chat to you soon, thank you.