Sudan Archives for Frieze Music Los Angeles 2024: “Dancing is healing”
The LA-based musician played an exclusive gig at Frieze Los Angeles 2024 and gave this interview where she talks about the pressure of creating and performing on her own
The LA-based musician played an exclusive gig at Frieze Los Angeles 2024 and gave this interview where she talks about the pressure of creating and performing on her own
Based on her electrifying show for Frieze Los Angeles 2024 at the Hammer Museum in LA, it’s hard to imagine Brittney Parks—aka Sudan Archives—is a performer who suffers from nerves. But in this exclusive interview for Frieze, the LA-based singer, songwriter and violinist explains that not having a band to be part of and to jam with brings its own set of pressures. “At one point I had so much stage fright,” she says. “I made all this in my basement. How am I supposed to even present this?”
Since releasing her debut EP as Sudan Archives in 2017, Brittney Parks has made two full-length albums and another EP. Largely self-taught, she draws inspiration from sources including punk, rave, Irish folk fiddle and many kinds of African string-based music which she studied as part of her ethnomusicology degree. Consistently featuring in end-of-year best-of polls, in 2023, Sudan Archives won two Libera Awards for Best Breakthrough Artist and Best R&B Record.
Watch the video for more of Sudan Archives’s performance at Frieze Los Angeles 2024 and the interview. And remember, as Park says, “At the end of the day, dancing is healing.”
