by: Erica Medrano
Sarah Green has been making music and breaking hearts in and around Orange County for nearly a decade, most recently in the Long Beach band Spare Parts for Broken Hearts. Sharing duties on bass/guitars/vocals with seasoned musician Laurita Guaico, and joined by Tosha Jones on drums, the experimental grunge inspired rockers are currently selling out shows everywhere between LA and San Diego. I recently caught up with resident heartbreaker SG via email:
I know SP4BH will be playing San Diego Pride next month. Why is being an openly queer musician and playing events that support LGBTQIA community important to you? Has there ever been a time in your career when you felt pressure to stay quiet on this issue?
SG: Spare Parts is playing San Diego Pride next month for a few reasons. Some fans will like you because you are queer, some fans will like you because you are good. I hope that the last one comes first at this event. A new fan of either kind comes from good music or good marketing. We are playing this event strategically because of our target market, it also happens to be really fun to play in front of a crowd that’s already looking to celebrate something because it’s part of their experience. I’ve never felt pressure to be quiet about anything, if I ever did, it’s because I wanted people to like me. I don’t really care about that anymore. I don’t think it’s really important to talk about being a queer musician, it just happens to be two things I’ve been my whole life. One of those things I define myself by, and one in which other people define me.
What's the writing process like for the band? Do you all collaborate on music and lyrics or do you come up with these separately?
SG: The writing process for SP4BH has been a much anticipated evolution that seems to be arriving at a pretty magical place for us. When we got together, Laurita and I each had a catalog of songs we called our own. So to get out and play a show, we decided on the strongest combination of those songs for a set. Now we are in the phase where we can focus on new material. My attention is always on the lyrics, and either the structures manifest from a broken down version on an acoustic guitar, or from an iPod recorded jam played over and over until it’s solidified. I think I realized how lucky we were when we wrote the first new songs Sleeper and So Mine as a band. Tosha is more than an amazing drummer; she gets and can anticipate the vibe I’m writing about. Laurita is such a tasteful and creative guitar player. There is something deep and dark in the musical chemistry we have in this band. The most fundamental element to the writing process is something magical I don’t know how to explain. You are either in a room with those people or you’re not.
I know the band's EP just came out in May. Where can people find the album? Are you putting out any solo material in the near future?
SG: The EP is available at all of the live shows. It will be online everywhere within the next month or so. We will be releasing a second part before the end of the year with rumors of a really great video to also be released around then. I am very busy with SP4BH, but I do have and almost record full of songs I will continue to work on that probably don’t fit into this project. I can’t say when I will be able to release more solo material, but the making of another record is an inevitable pursuit. I’m excited to put myself out there like this again.
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