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Sasami is headed out on the road to play her new album, Blood on the Silver Screen, for fans — and this time, she has a new instrument in her arsenal.
“I’m really excited because it’s the first album cycle where I’m touring with my French horn,” Sasami, 34, exclusively told Us Weekly. “We’ve seen guitars, we’ve seen drums. It’s time to bring out some new instruments.”
The singer-songwriter is a classically trained musician, but attendees won’t be hearing any Mozart at her upcoming shows. Blood on the Silver Screen is her most pop-forward album yet, which came as a shock to fans who got to know Sasami on 2022’s metal-inspired Squeeze.
“I just wanted to write from a place that was relatable to me,” she said of her new songs. “That’s kind of all you can do as a songwriter, is make something that makes you feel something or that you relate to, and you just hope that other people might glean something from it.”
Blood on the Silver Screen is out now. Keep reading for more of Sasami’s behind-the-scenes secrets of life on the road:
Pre-Show Ritual
One of them is definitely doing my makeup. It’s so funny because I’ll be opening for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs or Haim, like a giant crowd, and I’m not at all nervous about performing, but sometimes I’ll be really last-minute getting my makeup done and my fingers are shaking just trying to get the lipstick right. Anything that’s kind of a visual art is definitely more vulnerable for me. Just singing and performing doesn’t feel stressful at all, but sometimes putting my makeup on can be the most nerve-racking part of the ritual before the show.
Ideal Afterparty
My ideal afterparty would probably be sitting in a room that’s completely cushioned in a bunch of Japanese meditation pillows and just laying there drinking tea and listening to ambient music. You feel like an orange — the orange peel after it’s been juiced. That’s how you feel after the show. You’re a little bit zesty still, but for the most part, it’s just pulp.
Lucky Charm
Right now, my French horn is definitely my lucky item. I’ve adorned her with a lot of lace and pearls, so she’s kind of like the princess that I’m ushering on and off the stage. I named her Wilhelmina when I was in middle school and I have no idea why. It’s pretty royal.
Favorite Song to Play Live
It changes from night to night, but I had a lot of fun playing “Slugger” live when I was on tour in Texas opening for this other band. I invited volunteers to come up and do a line dance on stage, and that was really fun. [And] because of the French horn, I’m really excited about playing “Nothing But a Sad Face On,” which is one of the B-sides on the record, but it does feature the French horn, so I’m excited to bring her out.
Most Cherished Souvenir
I am actually really into mycology, and one of my favorite things [about] traveling around the world and around the country is going on different mushroom hikes. My photos of all the different mushrooms I’ve seen all over the world is definitely my favorite keepsake.
I remember foraging a lot of Clitocybe nuda or Lepista nuda, blewits, there’s a lot of names for them, when I was on a tour and we were in Maryland. We went for a hike and we were on the bus and we made a big mushroom egg-scrambled breakfast the next morning. They’re one of the only purple mushrooms and so they’re very, very recognizable. They kind of smell like Minute Maid frozen orange juice.
Her Craziest Tour Experience
One time when I was on tour in Ireland, I don’t know why I was possessed to chug an Irn-Bru. Before the show we chugged Buckfast, and then while I was on stage, for some reason I was possessed to chug an Irn-Bru and I literally had to leave the stage during the show to use the bathroom very quickly. I was like, “I’m gonna be sick.” That was a risqué moment.
Irn-Brus aren’t [alcoholic], but Buckfast is a fortified wine that monks in Ireland make. It used to be illegal in some places, but the pre-show ritual was that we chugged the Buckfast, but then on stage I chugged the Irn-Bru, which is like an Irish soda. It’s kind of like their version of Mountain Dew or something like that. Performative chugging is European too. I feel like that is a colonizer trait that came from Europe that Americans do now that we can leave behind.
