Su Na, the hazy electronic funk music project of Alec Ness, has flown under-the-radar locally for both how good his music is and how much attention he’s starting to receive nationally—including “new and notable” hype from Bandcamp. That’s soon likely to change, however, as Su Na releases the new Coral Angel, another step of his exciting musical evolution towards more experimental and techno sounds.
All that music-making has kept Ness busy, but we were able to squeeze in a very quick Q+A ahead tonight’s (Thursday’s) vinyl release show at the Loring Pasta Bar’s Red Room with his good company, Falls, Devata Daun, and Yon (DJ).
Secrets of the City: What genre(s) would you say your music is in? We’ve characterized it as electro-soul because of the chill digital vibe, would you say we’re close on that or no?
Su Na: I would say it sits somewhere in between uk-garage and experimental rnb.
Surface was one of our fav albums of 2016—still is in our heavy rotation. Your new Coral Angel (which has its release party at the Red Room) maintains that same soulful vibe as Surface, but seems you’re pushing out more with different sounds. Are you going in different music directions? Purer electronic? Growing your style?
Thanks! I certainly went in some new directions with Coral Angel. The biggest change is that I sang on the record singles instead of featuring several other vocalists like Surface. Thematically it’s more experimental and dynamic; dark at times and joyful at others. Overall I focused on making a more expressive record than Surface.
We’re constantly impressed with the company you keep when you perform—shows like The Soulstice party to Greenroom Sessions to collabs with Dizzy Fae to Red Light Special with Secrets fav Devata Daun and tha killa Dude It’s Rowsheen. How choosy are you for live sets? Do people seek you out these days?
There are some great people running events here, and most of the local shows or collaborations happen because I’m close with the people putting them together. People do seek me out for shows outside of my network, with those I feel like it’s important to be discerning about what’s a good fit stylistically.
How great is your text-only website? We’re going text-only hopefully soon.
That was the outcome of trying to edit the code of Squarespace themes unsuccessfully for hours!
What’s are the post-release plans? A bunch of local shows? A tour?
Likely both, working on some shows for 2018 that I can hopefully announce soon!
Su Na Coral Angel vinyl release show, Loring Pasta Bar Red Room, 8 PM. $8.