SUMif recently released her latest EP, Kinda Real, and it's the summer vibe you've been waiting for. With synth pop sounds that will send energy throughout every part of your body, each track beautifully and honestly tells the story of falling in love. The album is a self reflection of a whirlwind romance SUMif had with a woman over the summer. Each track will give you a different memory of your summer fling and all the butterflies in the stomach that entail. As an outspoken queer woman in music, SUMif uses her art to empower others who might feel alone. Check out our interview with her below and stream the EP here!
1) Hey SUMif! Thanks for chatting with us. How did SUMif come to be?
A few years ago while I was playing and writing acoustic-pop/country music, I realized there was a disconnect between the music I liked to listen to and the music that I made. I was listening to lots of indie electro-pop and started SUMif after I hung up my acoustic guitar and started watching tons of YouTube videos on the basics of electronic music production.
2) Love how you use your music to offer a safe space for all genders and sexualities, how do you go about creating that safe space for your listeners?
I try to be as out, open, and proud as I can be about my sexuality and I hope that it makes people feel like my shows and my music helps them be seen and feel safe.
3) WayOUT sounds AWESOME! How did you get involved with them?
After the 2016 election my friends and I got together and decided we needed to do something to support the LGBTQ+ community when the president and his cabinet were actively spreading hateful rhetoric. We started off my gathering online donations for The Trevor Project - after raising over $10k in a matter of weeks we thought to ourselves, "what if we could rock the world of a smaller organization whose budget isn't nearly as large? What if we threw a big event to do so? A gayla of sorts?" So we collectively decided that our priority would be supporting programs or centers that focused on helping and supporting LGBTQ+ youth and ended up raising over $100k at our first event.
4) What advice would you give to others who want to pursue a career in music?
Pursue music for yourself, write songs for yourself, don't ever expect that a big paycheck will ever come, you have to love it, you have to love it more than almost anything.
5) If you could have dinner with any musician, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Max Martin. I would just kill to get in his head... how on earth does one human write continuous #1 pop hits for over 20 years?!?!?
6) Who are you currently listening to?
Lots of Scandinavian pop - Dagny, Sigrid, Leon, Tove Lo, Anna of the North, & Alma.
7) Any upcoming shows? Best place for fans to follow you?
On instagram: @sumifmusic