Interview with Sugar Pit
By Noah Kubacki
You were recently invited to the Pornhub Awards, how was that?
It was spectacular. It was electric. It was tantalizing and humbling.
Got any funny stories from the tour?
Yes. I did just recently do a house show tour. There was snakes involved. There was hosts of house shows that were blackout drunk. I got a pair of free shoes. I stayed in a Motel 6.
What was with the sponsored dildo?
Oh. I sold a dildo. Yes. That was official Sugar Pit merch hand made by me.
It’s a 1 of 1.
It’s a 1 of 1, just like most of my merch.
Can you speak a bit on the inspiration of the song “Pay Me”?
For a long time I was working very crusty, dusty, impossibly low paying jobs. Including a barista, valet, I even did an interview to become a birthday clown. I was just doing a bunch of bullshit and I was trying to scrap everything together to make rent. I was just getting to a point where I felt I was constantly spending all of my time making other people money and I had no money for myself. I was just coming from a place of survival mode and rage. [It’s frustrating] just how much of your time you give and how little you receive. [It’s] difficult to meet all your ends on what the federal minimum wage is, or even the state minimum wage.
Your work right now seems to be a little bit anti-work culture, is that a correct interpretation?
Um. Yeah sure. I think I’m just speaking from personal experiences and my frustrations with just being alive in 2024. I’m pissed off.
That definitely comes out in the music.
Anthony Fantano just reviewed your song, how does that make you feel?
It was incredible. It was surreal to hear him say my name. He’s actually reviewed a couple of my songs. So I’m feeling really like a hotshot.
You are a hotshot.
Thank you.
8 years ago you released the “Mitten Fingers EP”. Those songs seem to have a folk style motif, a style that’s a little different from your last few releases. What inspired the change in your music?
Wow. That’s a deep dive. That was some of the first songs I’d have ever written. I was 15 or 16, and I was living in Carbondale, Illinois. That was just sort of the style I was into at the time. Eight or nine years have passed since then, this is just the natural development of things.
You started creating music in your bedroom in 2015 when you were just in High School. Looking back if you could give yourself some advice what would it be?
I would say stop worrying about the details so much.
What do you mean?
I think when you first start off a lot of people have a tendency to approach their work as if they’re making their magnum opus. There’s a sense of preciousness that comes with that. I think a lot of people put too much pressure on themselves to make it “big” and “perfect”. Thinking like that is really counterproductive and slows you down.
What do you think your fanbase is like?
Sweet. They’re really sweet people. I met a lot of them on the house show tour and I think that many of them like myself are weird, misfits, dirty, grimy, sweet little punks.
Your stage presence is very lively and fun, are you a serious person in your personal life?
I’m very serious. I do take my work very seriously. I’m also silly and I like to have fun. I’m serious about how silly I am.
Any message for your fans.
Be yourself. Be a freak. Fuck ‘em. ★
