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After Noah Sties, a third-year standing music industry major from Fort Wayne, Indiana, released his debut album SUNGOLD, on February 2nd, it’s clear to see that he is a musical force to be reckoned with. SUNGOLD features indie-rock sounds that have caught the attention of many audiences worldwide. Using inspiration from his life, and a few of his favorite artists, Sties created an album that transcends boundaries and tells a beautifully nostalgic tale.
Below is an exclusive and intriguing conversation we had with Sties about his musical journey.
KYLEN: Okay, I’m just very curious, what inspired the album in the first place?
NOAH: Honestly, other music mostly. I don’t just listen to music. I live in it a little bit. Music is like a very sensory experience for me. I don’t know if it’s like that for everybody, because I’m just one person. But yeah, listening to other music and albums that inspired this one just really wanted me to get up and go. And also, I’ve always had this desire to play shows and travel on tour and stuff, so that kind of motivated it. But on the practical side of things, yeah. Listening to other music and going to shows inspired me to make an album.
KYLEN: That is just so neat… Well, you just mentioned tour, what would be an artist that you’re dying to go on tour with?
NOAH: I really want to tour with Hippo Campus one day, they’re the band I’ve seen the most live. COIN would also be really cool. A lot of people are saying that I’d make a great opener for Peter McPoland. Just because of both our sonic vibes and also our personalities and aesthetics and stuff. So I sent my team to try to get in Peter’s ear, I don’t know if that’ll ever happen.
KYLEN: But I mean, fingers crossed, right? Okay, so, timeline, how long did it take to complete the album? And were there any major struggles that you went through?
NOAH: I’ve had the concept for the album for like two or three years now, a pretty long time. And then Fantasy, one of the singles, was made in 2021. So not counting fantasy, the rest of the album, took about six months of straight recording. I’m a full-time student and I have two jobs so I’m already busy. During the writing process, I would go home on the weekends to my parents. They live about an hour and a half away. And I would drive to my elementary school parking lot, at like one in the morning, and just write on my phone on GarageBand. I would record the demos and then I would come back to my apartment here and then do the production. But because I have thin walls here, I would go and drive to another parking lot and do the vocals at, also, one in the morning because that’s the only time I had after school and two jobs. So recording probably two or three hours a day, you know, over the course of six months.
KYLEN: So interesting. How did you record with audio equipment in your car? Can you elaborate on that?
NOAH: A MacBook, an interface, and a mic can make it work. I would cram up with my guitar in my backseat and squeeze in there. Yeah, I made it work. I have access to a studio and rehearsal space but, I don’t feel creative there because I feel like when I’m driving to a place with the intention of, “ I have to make something,” and like, I’m booking the space… I get there I’m like, well, I don’t want to work right now. But driving to the parking lot next to my apartment is not a big deal.
KYLEN: So you had to go out there at 1 a.m. and just be in your car kind of jamming out?
NOAH: Oh, yeah. The cops stopped me before. They thought I was cooking drugs in my car. No, I’m cooking, but not drugs.
KYLEN: For a first-time listener, someone who doesn’t know you or anything about you, what do you want them to feel when they listen to the album?
NOAH: I want people to take, not only my lyrics but my sound and kind of reinterpret it into their own personality a little bit…that’s what I do with my favorite albums. Not just lyrically, but sonically I’ll take these soundscapes and kind of apply them to my own life movie. You know, everybody loves to romanticize their life a little bit, but I kind of want people to soundtrack their own daily life with my music if that makes sense. Not to sound pretentious or anything.
Noah Sties
