Ethereal electronic singer, songwriter and producer Fi Sullivan launches her brand new project with the release of her new single ‘Shades of Forest,’ out on 7 April. The track is accompanied by a music video, directed by Maddy Goodhart and filmed in the White River National Forest of Colorado.

Tell us about the genesis of your project Shades of Forest.. How did you get to where you are now?

I started recording and collecting sounds and images for ‘Shades of Forest’ while I was researching human vocal continuity at the intersection of music and technology around the world as a Thomas J. Watson Fellow 2019-2020.  During this time, I lived in many different forests – urban, rural, frozen, rock, tropical – throughout Germany, Austria, Iceland, Greenland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Australia, and Argentina.  When COVID escalated and I had to return home early to Colorado, I was spending a lot of time in the Rocky Mountain forests around me, thinking about the different forests I had walked the previous year.  ‘Shades of Forest’ is a song for the forest I wander in my dreams – the existing trees I hope never vanish.  I composed this mosaic while searching the unknown – listening for a breath beneath the earth – feeling the energy of roots underground…“watching the world from under a pine tree.”  After having lived in Australia during the bushfires and Colorado during the forest fires, I am fortunate…the forests I roam continue to breathe.”    

What should a song or piece of art communicate in your opinion?

A song or piece of art should communicate unseen energies, feelings, worlds, emotions, dreamscapes–they should communicate new feelings and thoughts through hidden dimensions of your heart and mind–they should transport you to a new world and time–they should touch you and your soul through windows of beauty, whether that beauty is unseen, futuristic, natural–they should help you experience new and old hopes, dreams, love, and feelings.  

Who were your top 3 artists last year?

Sevdaliza, Joni Mitchell, TSHA, Caroline Polachek 

What do you do when you’re feeling uninspired?

I like to go for a run or walk so I can listen to music/ natural surroundings and move my heart…I’ll also tell myself to remember my voice and my sound–I will just sing it out!!… jazz, a form of an aria I used to know…or I’ll improvise…usually sing a little Carole King.

What are your 2022 projects and goals?

I am preparing for a solo headline show at Globe Hall in Denver on June 24th…I am so excited and honored…my goal is to sell out the 300 person capacity venue.  Woooo!!  

I am also preparing to perform at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival June 16th – June 19th.  I am unbelievably excited!!!  I’ll be headlining the Motherfunk tent Saturday night of the festival (live set with vocals and electric guitar), and I will be DJ-ing Wednesday and Sunday nights.  I’m also looking forward to Bonnaroo because I am coding and building an interactive projection mapping touch sensitive installation wall for the Motherfunk tent.  Looking forward to using my computer science background for this generative and immersive art projection piece.

Favourite movie or TV show?

OOoo…favourite TV show..!!  Parks and Rec– never fails me, always get at least one really true, deep from within the soul laugh 🙂

What is something you would want to change in the music and entertainment industry?

More emphasis on the support and cultivation of great and beautiful art.

Can you outline your creative process?

All my compositions start with mind mapping and a sound… the imagination/visualization of the sounds I physically and mentally gather all living, layering, and interacting with the natural environment and humans in new worlds–their own worlds.  My songs start with a dream scene that appears in my mind…either before or while I’m playing guitar or jamming in Ableton on my computer…I usually find the chorus or main dance moment first…then the vocals and lyrics come intermittently in waves as I try to describe my soundscape and feelings.  I usually enter a feverish flow of creative energy while songwriting and producing…it’s hard for me to pull away. 

Who inspires your style and aesthetics?

Peggy Gou, Caroline Polachek, Fiona Zanetti, Joni Mitchell, and my mom (she is a visual artist)

What is the achievement or moment in your career you are the most proud of and why?

The moment I am most proud of in my career thus far is having had the opportunity to perform my song, “We’re Not Alone,” on the TEDxMileHigh stage in October 2021 in front of 1000 people.  I was so honored to be a part of TEDxMileHigh’s event, RETHINK, and share the stage with such an incredible group of hearts and minds. 

I am also really proud of opening for German techno marching band MEUTE at the Gothic Theatre in Denver because I got to sing and perform in front of a sold out house of 1100 people!!  Incredibly honored.

What do you think an artist should sing about nowadays?

Anything they want <3 We need music to transport us everywhere and anywhere…as long as it’s not spreading hate or evil.

Do you have any regrets?

Not yet fingers crossed…hmm well actually, I got Kamasi Washington’s number at Pitchfork Paris in 2017 when I was still in college because I sang and “scatted” him a line in this underground after party night club scene at 3am…the regret is not reaching out to him sooner with my music haha…but at the time, I was just starting to produce and compose a more ethereal electronic pop sound, and I was veering away slightly from my more experimental avant-garde-generative-vocal cave-interconnected root system floating in outer space vibe.

What is some piece of advice you would give to yourself right now?

Remember the music, the sound, and the art..stay tough and persistent…release the worry and doubt…vibe with and have faith in the uncertainty…(these are my current phrases tbh haha).