In Her Element: “I like creating things that are slow and present”
This is an editorial series of portraits – written and shot by Nicole M. Gomes – spotlighting women from The Soulfuls community.
In our fourth edition, we meet current mentor Sara S. Frost, Founder of Soooundsss Listening Room. Sara takes us through 17 years of making things before she fully understood what connected them, from radio and independent productions to building a listening room of her own.
A conversation about finding the thread in your work, seeing yourself differently, asking for help, and creating something personal enough to mean something to someone else.
“I like creating things that are slow and present, something that you can immerse yourself in. Something you need to find.”
We’re at Copenhagen Contemporary - Why did you choose this space?
One of my things, before I opened Soooundsss, was that I was more intentional with going for a walk or going somewhere and listen to music. The last time I did that was here. That’s why I thought of it and this exhibition - it’s also just a place with interesting light that you can walk around. That’s one of the things I want for Soooundsss too, for myself and everyone to intentionally listen to music.
What are your main musical influences?
I listened to a lot of Nina Simone and soul music as a child. It can be so many things. Someone like Frank Ocean. I heard the other day that someone who inspires him was Dolly Parton - and that’s the thing with influences. They don’t have to be obviously connected. Listening to Dolly Parton and then creating what he creates, processed through him, with other influences and everything he is. No one else can do that. It’s timeless. For now, haha! I lived in an apartment back when Channel Orange came out, where the shower was in the basement. I would pack all my things and my towel and I would go down there and shower and listen - my first listening room. Showers - and cars - cars are a good place to listen to music too.
How did Soooundsss come about?
I had just ended doing a music deep dive podcast. I really immersed myself in that and it meant a lot to me. Then I did this other thing and I decided not to move forward with it, it just didn’t feel good at the time. I didn’t have a plan and it made me feel a little blue at the time.
One day August Rosenbaum, someone in the music industry, called me out of the blue. He’s a pianist, someone I consider as insanely good at what he does and a good person too. I was on my bed doing nothing, sat up immediately and did my best to sound normal. “Hi August!”. He said “I’m doing this project and I feel like you’re such a good curator of music, do you think you could help me out?” He described the project to me in depth and wanted to know where I saw that going sonically. I shared some thoughts and we hung up. I felt like he made me see what I’d been doing for more than seventeen years. I’ve created little worlds, through sounds, visuals, communication. He made me feel like an artist too in some sense and I’d never seen or understood myself like that before. That was when I thought - I want to create a listening room and I could see everything clearly - how I wanted the place to feel and how I wanted to get there. That’s the origin story of Sooooundsss.
“I’ve created little worlds, through sounds, visuals, communication. He made me feel like an artist too in some sense and I’d never seen or understood myself like that before.”
What was your career before Sounds?
So many different things! Early on, I was a radio host.
How did you get that job?
I was living in a youth home, where I spent a lot of time in my room and I remember I would listen to the radio everyday. One day, I suddenly understood this is something you can do for work - sit down and talk on the radio about music. My aunt builds organs in the church, my mum sings in choirs and the foster parents I partly grew up with are musicians too. I feel a deep connection to music, but I didn’t know anyone in the industry, I had no connections there.
I e-mailed a local radio station. They let me have this night time show. The only thing I wanted in life was to do something with music on P3 and at 22, I started freelancing there. I was so thankful. I thought I was going to be there for the rest of my life, but soon I could see that the way they wanted me to connect to the listeners wasn't one that felt good to me. It didn’t feel like the best place for me to learn more. So I ended my time there at 25.
Then I did a YouTube talkshow called “Alle Gamer” (“Everyone’s Game”). It would be me and a guest on a couch gaming, having a conversation. It was the first project that was my own, from inventing the thing to producing, editing and hosting it, with help from some good people. It definitely shaped how I work, what I do now and how I do it. No one really thought it would be something and it was really special.
Did you make money from that?
I did! I had PlayStation on as a collaborator. People still message me all the time about that project. I miss it too. It was actually the project that I wanted to bring back to life a couple years ago, but it was this whole thing of how commercial do I want this to be - and for what price? I ended up deciding to produce it completely independently, with no help, last year - and honestly it was too intense. I can’t be the host I want to be if I’m also checking the camera, lighting and sound is still doing what it needs to do, etc. I can’t do and fund everything myself. That’s when I understood “you’re too independent - and asking for help doesn’t come naturally to me.”
What is the aim with the listening room?
I like creating things that are slow and present, something that you can immerse yourself in. Something you need to find. I’ve thought about how to create this in a way that connects to, not necessarily as many people as possible, but to people. They don’t come only for the music, but because they feel a little alone sometimes too.
It’s very deeply personal?
That’s what I’ve come to realise.The artist thing we talked about before. Everything that’s inside me I can put out there and it becomes something and that’s an artist to me. It’s so, so personal, down to the logo I drew by hand, references to my whole life, the games I’ve played, the music I’ve listened to. When I’ve created something that I’ve felt this way about before, it’s become something special for other people than myself. And I see that now in Soooundsss.
“Everything that’s inside me I can put out there and it becomes something and that’s an artist to me. ”
The Soulfuls - How did you get involved?
I had been following them and seeing everything online and I was just thankful that they are there. When I was invited into The Soulfuls, I was so thankful, but thinking how can I contribute? I think I realised oh I’ve been doing this for 17 years, and they’re inviting me in, then maybe there is something meaningful for me to do here.
What was your experience with mentoring?
I had the best time! I felt little and overwhelmed too - so many people coming in with something I felt the need to hear and understand. I was a little sponge in the beginning, soaking up everything. When it came to the mentoring, I wanted to be the best mentor ever. I met my mentee with that in mind. We spoke for a while and she said, this is good and everything, but I need a job. And I said to myself Ok, let me throw my version of this out of the window for now. Job it is! It was a special moment, when she invited me to have dinner at the restaurant that she’s now doing production and social media for. That was my first round of mentoring and a very practical example of what the Soulfuls can be. This was my first round of mentoring, she needed something and she got there.
