Stiffed Issue #25

The dub-punk band’s frontwoman, Santi White, talks about rotating band members, touring with Bad Brains, and getting burned again

By Kara Oehler
Published: September 1st, 2005 | 4:01pm

Stiffed frontwoman Santi White is a car singer. “I make up parts for myself. I really think there’s harmonies in there that are my part. Parts where you actually stop singing and you’re like, “That’s not in there? I’ve been singing it in there for 10 years!” Until a few years ago, the car was the only place she sang or even wanted to sing. Stiffed started out in a different way than most punk bands do. She worked for Epic records behind a desk, but she quit when she had the opportunity to write pop songs for soul artist Res. She wrote Res’s demo and decided what she really loved was writing music.

When did you realize you wanted to write your own music?
After writing for Res, I realized I wanted to do something where I could actually finish my thought. Not where I’m writing lyrics and the producer’s going to do whatever he wants. It wasn’t like, “and I want to perform and sing,” but I realized through doing what I was doing that I could sing. So I called Chuck, who was our old drummer, and I was like, “Do this demo with me. We can make a record and never perform it!” And he was like, “All right, Santi.” And Chuck’s from punk-rock tradition, like, from McRad skate rock days. He toured with Bad Brains and [said], “There’s no way you’re going to make these punk songs and not perform them live.”

That’s not what I would expect to hear from a lead singer of a band.
You know how most people who end up doing some sort of entertaining or performing thing, they’re like, “I love being in the spotlight.” I never wanted that. At least I never admitted to myself that I did. I wanted to own a record company. I started working in record companies, and then I realized that I don’t like this business stuff. So I thought, “Well, I’ll write songs.” Originally I wrote hip-hop. I wrote raps since I was little. Me and my brother would break-dance in front of the TV and that’s how I really started writing songs anyway.

You produced Burned Again and your EP with Darryl Aaron Jenifer from Bad Brains, right?
I love Bad Brains. My sister was the one who got me listening to them when I was like, 12, and she would come home from shows dripping, and I would be like, “I wanna go.” I never got to go until I was older, so I kinda missed the ’80s era of it. But I grew up listening to it. And then, my fourth show that Stiffed ever did was opening for Bad Brains in D.C., which was crazy. I don’t drink and I had a couple of drinks because I was so nervous. And then I ended up going on a little tour with H.R. [Bad Brains lead singer.] That’s how I met Darryl and ended up doing this.

That tour must have been amazing.
I wish we were really good by the time we did it. But they were cool because they were, like, “Man, you were good.” I knew I wasn’t good, but each one of them approached me separately and said, “You should let me produce your record. Don’t listen to him.” You know? So that was good.

How long did it take you to write Burned Again?
We wrote it in probably a couple of months. So they would come over a couple times a week, bang out songs, and then we would go in. I mean, when we’re in the studio, we bang it out. It’s pretty amazing. The studio we recorded at was amazing, too. It was in the middle of Rinebeck, New York, in the middle of the woods. You know, great sound, great energy. So you know, we just go and get in the zone.

So your band is called Stiffed and this album is called Burned Again. Can you talk about that?
I think that largely I’m not a negative person. I’m like, “What do I do, focus on negative shit in life?” I don’t know, maybe. With Burned Again, a lot of it is talking about getting fucked over or general unrest and disillusionment with things that America says it is. But on a more individual level, it’s just gripes. Especially mass-culture mainstream shit, it just makes me throw up. I feel like it’s the struggle to be an original, thinking person amidst today’s culture. You get screwed over if you try to be a person of integrity. Whether it’s artistic integrity or just general integrity, you’re always disappointed.

There’s a song called “Burned Again” that’s about STDs. It’s become the most normal situation for any single person to have to deal with the scare of STDs all the time. And the song is about dealing with that scare. But in the song, I’m like, “Yeah, I run with all those hot boys and sometimes you get [STDs] and sometimes you don’t.” You know, so I overdid it, and I was just like, “We swing both ways,” but it was just about what’s true for a lot of people.

We’re really sarcastic as a band in general. Everybody I’m friends with, it’s all sarcasm and everyone telling me I’m the biggest hater that they know. Like, I hate everything, I’m like, “That’s stupid. I hate that.” You know? But I think that comes out in my music.

You’ve been through a few band members. Your guitar player, Matt Schleck, is the only one who’s stayed since the beginning. Why?
The drummer situation was a long time coming. He’s got a lot of kids and responsibilities. It’s just really hard to be a responsible family guy and be in a punk band. It’s like, “Come on, let’s go play some shows for no money! And now let’s tour.” And he’s like, “I’ll help you guys find a new drummer.” But he’s awesome and he helped us find this new guy that’s really amazing from the School of Rock in Philadelphia. So this kid, he plays drums, bass guitar — he’s fucking amazing. And he has the best posture when he’s playing. And then, the bass-player thing, I don’t know what happened. It was an e-mail I got, and that’s all I’m going to say about that. But we got a new bass player now and it’s tight and I’m excited to start recording with these dudes.