Sumana
BY SHANNA SIVAKUMAR
Sumana is a singer-songwriter based in Minneapolis. Her debut album, Splen - did Isolation, was released September 1st, and I was lucky enough to sit down with her to talk about her album and artistry. She is also a senior here at the University of Minnesota. You can find her on Instagram @sumiseeth, and her music on Spotify @Sumana.
What got you into music in the first place?
Sumana: I’ve had a love for music for a long time. I think it started because my mom and her dad (my grandfather), they’re like a lineage of singers— not as professionals— but they love music. My mom is a singer and she loves singing around the house. Growing up, she and I were a part of Chinmaya Mission (a Hinduism school in the Twin Cities) and would sing bhajans during assembly. When I was maybe eight and my sister was ten, my mom put us in Sangeetham (Carnatic singing lessons) and I did that until I graduated high school, so I’ve always had music in my life in some capacity. And when I was younger I played the piano and violin but I never really stuck with instruments, I always preferred singing— I was always la-di-da-di-ing around the house or singing random songs here and there.
How would you describe your musical style?
Sumana: I’m not really sure, because it’s like, an ongoing thing. I want music to be like an onion for me. Like this is the first layer and every time [I make music] I just want to be able to dig deeper into something that interests me, whether it’s cultural influences from carnatic music, even Bollywood music too. A lot of the music I listen to is R&B, jazz, soul, pop, sometimes Latin and French music, and of course, a lot of Indian music. So I feel like I’m a combination of lots of different kinds of influences. I don’t necessarily know if there’s a particular genre of what it is that I’m doing. But a lot of people that have listened to my music have said that it’s soulful and genuine. It’s really just the shit that I’m making. I always try to remind myself to not try and mimic stuff. Inspiration is fine but it has to come from me, and you can never force yourself to sound or write like somebody else.
What’s the meaning behind the album title, “Splendid Isolation”?
Sumana: This album has been on my mind for a minute, I think, ever since I came to college. I had an itch to make something or write and express myself musically. I kind of struggled with constructively sitting myself down over and over again to bring something into reality. ‘Cause I think that’s the nature of anything— that you have to be consistent and you have to be disciplined about creating something, especially an album. It all kind of came about this summer. I had a lot of alone time and that’s why the album is called “Splendid Isolation—” it was made as a product of my alone time. The process of making the album itself was beautiful. I loved making it and anytime I wasn’t feeling it, I was like, “alright, let’s go hang out with my parents, or friends, or go on a walk.” I was never trying to force myself to make music. And I think that’s what made it a fun process. If I was feeling it, and I wanted to do it, then I did it.
How was the recording process for this album?
Sumana: Ooo, I love this question, because I didn’t go to a studio. I went to a lot of local shows this summer and I saw an artist named Ricki (Ricki Monique) perform and followed her on Instagram. In one of her posts, she had posted the credits of everyone that was involved in her album. At the time, I was looking for someone who would help mix and master my music. Through Ricki’s post, I eventually contacted Alec (Alec Ness), who is a music engineer that has worked with some big artists. I reached out to him on a whim and told him I’m in college and trying to make music for the cheapest amount of money possible. What should I do? He gave me a list of mics and different kinds of interfaces that I could use to vocal-produce my music the way I wanted. I bought a mic, good headphones, and converters that would help me record straight into my laptop. And after that, I just did everything on Garageband. Like literally from the safety of my own house. The final mixing and mastering was then done by one of Alec’s apprentices, Jake (Jake Rupert).
Who did the saxophone on your last track, “24K”?
Sumana: That’s actually a sample from a Jazz track that was then sampled by Amy Winehouse and I really liked the saxophone on it, so I just stripped that and then put it in my track.
And the guitar in your acoustic track, “on my own”?
Sumana: That was my older sister, Sanji. We were just sitting at our dinner table one night and figured it out. She’s very musically inclined, too. She’s the kind of person who can listen to a song and five minutes later, she can play it. I love making music with her because it feels so natural and there’s safety there, a space where you can make mistakes and sound bad and it’s not a problem, ever. I think we’ll always make music together.
What can we look forward to, regarding your music in the future?
Sumana: I want to sing live. I think that’s like, another skill to develop and it’s different from making music. Making music is one thing, because you’re in your own little bubble, but then, sharing it with other people— I mean, online interaction is one thing— but then sharing it in person is like a completely different experience because you’re in this living, breathing, moving interaction with people. But yeah, I’d love to eventually do a live performance of the whole album at some point. It’s just a pain to manage during the school year. I also have a lot of Virgo placements, so I’m a big “details, details, details” kind of person, so I would want it to be a performance, with choreography, costumes, and a vision. I have a lot of visual ideas as well, and I don’t want the visual ideas to be subpar to my sonic ideas, because I feel like the music I make is very detail-oriented. I want it to feel like that experience is brought to life. I know it’s going to take so much time to learn, but I’d love to do it someday.
I’m performing with a band very soon, and I don’t know how nervous I’ll be. I’m also working on another album right now. A lot of serendipitous things have been happening lately— I’m excited for the future.