SATE is one of the most dynamic acts out right now. Â If we take sate back to the literal meaning; satisfy a desire to the full, the definition eerily describes seeing this rock and roll goddess perform as well as being immersed in her music. Accompanied by her complete #DGAF style and energy SATE is an artist that will appeal to you most primal instincts. We caught up with rockstar at AFROPUNK 2016 and she gave us an insight to her life growing up with music in Canada and performing for the masses now.
Where are you based?: Toronto.
Album?: Itâs called Red, Black, and Blue. It was released on June 10th.
How long have you been performing?
Since I wasâŠwell, my momâs a performer, so rolling around in her womb. I was probably singing background for her then and she put me on a stage around 6 years old or so.
What was your motherâs act called?
Salome Bey.
Describe your sound.
I describe it as bluesy, raunchy soul meets dirty rock ân roll.
Who in the realm of music inspires you?
Bette Davis! Who elseâŠthereâs new and old. Thereâs Melitia Vox and Tamar-kali. A couple of local ladies. I love Reignwolf as well, and he’s actually a Canadian guy, but been doing a lot of shit down here. Royal Blood, Queens of the Stone Age, Jack WhiteâŠ
Diverse influences!
Yeah, I mean, I listen. I just listen. I love funkadelic too. Love Fishbone, love Living Color.
Who outside of the realm of music influences youâŠArt? Literature? Philosophy?
Salvador Dali I love, Frida Khalo, Twyla Tharp, Bob Fosse.
Where are you headed to next?
France in October. Thatâs the next place.
Why France?
They WANT me! Those damn French, they get all the best people. I wonât stay, though. I really love New York. I have a real love affair.
Do you think youâll stay living in Toronto?
I donât know, I really love New York. So it always calls me. My thing about moving here is I donât ever want to lose the magic and Iâve heard sometimes people who move here lose the magic.
Thatâs understandable. A lot of people are stifled in New York by the sheer magnitude and competition and overstimulation of the senses.
Well, see, you know what? Toronto I think can be stifling, just because it doesn’t have the magnitude of this. There are different things at work here in New York than in Toronto. Toronto is a great incubator ofâŠwe’ve got fucking amazing talent, but there’s no structure to really support it and grow it, and really make it blow up worldwide. You know?
Absolutely. So many brilliant people there, though, so I hope that infrastructure for fostering talent is cultivated in the coming years! On the subject of traveling/touringâŠdo you have any particularly memorable tour stories you can share?
Um, yes. My uh, keyboard player, he’s amazing. We love him. But he has a slight tendency of leaving things in places and just dropping them and leaving them. So, we were doing a show in Philly, and at the end of the show he said, “I lost my cell phone, I don’t know where it is.” We’re like, “What?!” And we have to be in Cleveland the next day. And, we’re like, “Okay, well we gotta … where are we going to find it?” Turns out he had placed it on top of someone’s car. And that person left with the phone on top of the car. My manager was calling the phone and finally on like the 5th ring a woman picked up and said, “Your phone has been run over. So, come here and pick it up, I’ve got it. And you’ve got to come now because I need to get on the bus.” He eventually got there, but she was gone, she left it in a Redbox. THEN, my manager came back after the show and heâs like, âI lost my passport.â What the fuck is happening?! Yeah. So he left it on the same car, okay? And by some stroke of God or the Universe, we found his passport!
photos + story /Â Maeghan DonohueÂ
