CHIRP Radio writesCHIRP Radio Q&A With Sarah Jane Quillin of Desert Liminal (Performing at CHIRP Night at the Whistler on 6/30)

Chicago artist Sarah Jane Quillin of Desert Liminal will perform solo at CHIRP Night at the Whistler on Sunday June 30th. We recently caught up with Sarah Jane to ask a few questions…

Tell us a little about the band.

Desert Liminal is a three piece experimental trio of me, Rob Logan, nd Mallory Linehan. I started Desert Liminal and am the primary songwriter, so I sometimes perform a stripped down set as Desert Liminal solo for smaller, active listening environments. I'm doing DL solo for the CHIRP benefit at the Whistler on June 30.

So...What’s going on? Tell us about your current releases and/or upcoming shows (such as CHIRP Night at the Whistler!)

After the June 30 solo show at the Whistler I am going to tour with the Desert Liminal trio in Europe for the first time. We are supporting DEHD on a leg of their Poetry album release tour and will be traveling to Germany, Amsterdam, France, and Switzerland.

I love DEHD who have been great mentors, I love my band, and I'm ecstatic to be going on this tour of Europe. After that, Desert Liminal has a finished record that will be released later this year.

How do you go about turning your thoughts, ideas, and feelings into sounds?

I play for long periods of time by myself until something small like a melodic phrase, a keyboard riff, or a rhythmic chord progression sticks. I build the rest of the song around the first thing that sticks, then do iterative demos on my phone, listening back to the freeform versions for things that stand out as pretty or interesting.

After the core is written, my bandmates Rob and Mallory co-write to build a rich arrangement around the song structure.

If your music was a kind of beer, ice cream, or coffee (take your pick), what would it taste like?

Black coffee after dinner.

Do you have any unexpected influences? Are any other artists or bands catching your attention at the moment?

I have been really inspired by Jason Balla from DEHD's poetic, bittersweet songwriting under his solo moniker Accessory this year. Possibly unexpected influences from my youth include Converge, Fugazi, At the Drive-In, and Thursday.

If you couldn’t make music, what would you be doing right now?

I'd be a detective.

What is it about Chicago that pleases you?

Chicago has the best music and experimental arts DIY community in the country. No, in the world.

What’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever done in a basement?

Pack in alongside 100+ other heads to listen to doom metal with no earplugs.

Do you take vacations? What’s your perfect trip?

Many of my vacations are tours, but my perfect trip is out to the river valley where I grew up to see my mom. 

If you were someone’s life coach, what are the top 2 life lessons you’d teach them?
 

Hard work and persistence matter more than raw talent in the long run. Check your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and change the batteries.