By Keith Walsh
Nail Club is the project of Sara Storm, based in New Orleans. Her music involves analog synthesizers and lo-fi processes to create compelling synth pop that’s intriguing and mysterious. Part of that mystery is how accessible the tunes are, while shunning conventional approaches.

For her latest work, Absolution, Storm finds tons of inspiration in the sounds of the Korg Minilogue and Monologue, two powerful and accessible analog synths. Storm records her tunes to a Tascam four track cassette recorder, with results that are intimate and warm. Boosted by the addition of some cover tunes, Absolution is an excellent example of lo-fi music with a commercial twist.
‘Inspired By Girl Groups’
In an email exchange, I mentioned to Storm that I felt the Absolution tracks are somewhat more accessible than her previous Mise En Abyme, and I asked what different processes were involved? She writes: “For Absolution I am actually using a Minilogue and a Monologue and the (Korg)  KR55, with sometimes the Behringer 808. For these tracks I noticed that I put an emphasis on the voice being more upfront, as some of these songs are covers of classics such as Gang of Four or the Shirelles.”

“I am very inspired by Girl Group songs as they’re very simplistic, usually with backing vocals and so I tried to echo this style in a way that’s somewhat sarcastic,” writes Storm. “Noticeably on ‘Dedicated to the One I Love’ I omit the line ‘you love me’, because within Absolution there’s a theme of lack of love or reassurance.”

Indeed. The cover tunes on Absolution aren’t straightforward by any means. Storm takes the Shirelle’s “Dedicated to The One I Love” and rearranges it, twisting it into a darker, more anxious tune. For The Gang Of Four’s “Love Like Anthrax” Storm maintains the artiness of the original while neatly replacing the thumping bass and distorted guitars with resonant synth bass and heavily distorted electronic drums.

I asked about the theme of the album. True to lo-fi convention, the lyrics are often unintelligible, though there is a uniting theme. Is ‘absolution’ accurate? “’Absolution’ is the perfect definition for what these tracks convey, even if some are covers,” Storm tells me. “To rid of one’s guilt or shame, guilt that something doesn’t work out and the longing for forgiveness. ‘Latitude’ expresses the need for wishes in the line ‘you have got a star, it keeps me up at night.’ This is a running theme of connecting lines between what could potentially happen, the wish and how sometimes wishes can also lend themselves to guilty feelings which only someone else can forgive.”

Storm continues: “‘Absolution’ would also be something personal for anyone going through these processes. In a way, it’s an absence of the five levels of grief, because one knows exactly what they want in the instance of forgiveness. For example, both “Love Like Anthrax’ and ‘Dedicated’ have similar running themes of knowing exactly what they want and expressing them clearly. Sometimes if I can’t find the words to convey it’s nice to make something out of someone else’s stanzas.”

‘Sexy Songs’
Despite some of the darkness of the Absolution set, there’s a pop sense here. I asked Storm about influences on this current batch of songs. “I never really listen to pop music, necessarily,” she tells me. “But I do love disco or inherently sexy songs. I would say perhaps these songs were made with body movement in mind, more for myself. If these songs were performed in front of an audience, I assume naturally my body would move along with the music which is better perhaps to get the point across of feeling when the body and mind connect. Maybe in some way that’s how pop music correlates, tedious love songs?”

As we discuss inspiration, musical equipment, or gear, comes into play, again, inevitably. Storm tells me:  “I cannot stress enough how much Korg’s ‘logue; systems changed making music for me. Their ease of use is one component and I believe anyone can use these synths without intimidation. The (Korg) Volca sampler is the drum machine I enjoy using because you can easily change or reshape tones. The only odd thing is having to connect your telephone device in order to upload specific samples.”

Storm writes: “My studio space has always been in my bedroom and this allows a lot of creative elements for me at all times. In a strange way I can create at all hours and record what I call ‘skeletons’ to come back to at some other time and then eventually these skeletons will become full blown tracks. That’s another perk of the ‘logue’ series Korg has created, since you are able to create and save sequences and tones immediately, and tweak them later. Every time I purchase a new piece of gear it always pales in comparison to what the ‘logue; has given to me, so I always think ‘what’s the use? It can’t get any better!’”

Nail Club On Bandcamp
Sara Storm Interview On Popular Culture Beat

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