Satellite Citi
American alternative hard rock band released their new EP “Negative Space” on March 5th.
Formed by Anna Gevorkian (Lead Vocals/Drums) and Shaunt Sulahian (Guitars/Backing vocals) in 2015, the name Satellite Citi derived from the notion of a city where people communicate thoughts through their satellite minds.
After the release of their new single “Pyramid”, the Los Angeles-based duo is now offering an inspiring and powerful EP, delivering important messages about today’s society.
“Negative Space” is now available on all major streaming platforms.
Introduce yourselves.
Hey guys thanks for having us. We’re an LA based hard rock band.
Anna Gevorkian – Lead Vocals/Drums
Shaunt Sulahian – Guitars/Backing vocals
When and how did you guys meet? At what point did you know you had to create Satellite Citi?
-Shaunt: I contacted Anna to intern at the recording studio she was working at, and the rest was sort of history. Instead of working at a studio, we started working together and writing music. Soon we discovered that we were having way too much fun writing together and thought that it would be realistic to pursue it as a potential career.
How would you define your sound?
Hard rock with a bit of everything else!
Could you tell us about the band’s name? What’s the story behind it?
-Anna: I was daydreaming one day in the car and thought of this planet/city where people use their satellite minds to communicate telepathically. I also didn’t imagine it to be a regular city but rather somewhere in another galaxy…explaining the weird spelling. This was around the time when we were thinking of band names so I pitched the idea of “Satellite Citi” to Shaunt and he was into it!
Tell us about your new single "Pyramid”. Who did you work with? How was the recording process?
What’s the inspiration behind the single?
For this song we used satire to expand on the conspiracy theories society indulges in. A big one being Illuminati which inspired the song’s name. It was a pretty out of body experience writing this song. The lyrics kind of came out of nowhere and that gave us the idea to push the theme of the song further.
Recording this record was some of the best times we’ve had as a band thus far. We worked with our good friend Brad Wood, who produced, engineered and mixed the record. We then passed the songs off to Hans DeKline, who did his magic and mastered the record for us. Before recording in the studio we did a ton of pre-production, and even wrote some songs in between recording sessions that ended up making it on the EP. Coincidentally, ‘Pyramid’ being one of those songs. Brad is an overall tremendous producer and person. He really made sure the process was as smooth as can be, and in the end we not only got a record we were extremely proud of, but made an awesome friend.
“Negative Space” is the title of your new EP. What can you tell us about this debut EP? How was it like to record your first project together?
It’s the first group of songs that we decided fit together both lyrically and musically so well that we should probably group them together and release it. We think it’s really important for musicians to love every song they record so that was our main focus with Negative Space. We’ve actually been recording together for the past 3 years, and its been an incredible journey so far, but Negative Space is the first project that we’ve spilled so much of our soul into.
What message do you want to deliver through your music?
One message would be the fact that going through tough times is okay, because many individuals are in the same boat. Everyone has their demons, and the goal is not to push them away forcefully, but to learn how to live with them and still be the best version of yourself.
What’s your favorite song to perform? Why?
- Shaunt: Probably “Undead” since it’s one of the first songs we wrote and fell in love with almost instantly.
- Anna: I love playing “The Reckoning” live cause it’s just a fun song to sing and drum simultaneously.
What vision do you have for your art?
We’d like our music to constantly grow and evolve with our culture and society. Most importantly though we’d aspire to inspire as many people as we can with our art.
What do you think of today’s music industry? If you had to change one thing, what would it be?
Well feel like the industry is constantly changing. It’s an incredibly volatile, unstable industry to be in. Mark Cuban actually stated that it’s the top 3 hardest industries to break into, and although we agree whole heartedly with that statement, we think the music will still find a way to speak for itself. If we could change one thing it would be for rock music to be in the forefronts again and for hardworking musicians to get the opportunity to get their music heard by everyone.
How does Los Angeles help you shape your creativity?
We’re surrounded by lots of creative minds and artists here in LA and we definitely don’t take that for granted. Even though we love collaborating with people from all over the world…living in Los Angeles makes getting in touch with creatives easily accessible here. We’ve had the pleasure of working with talented directors, artists and of course our producers/engineers who all live nearby.
How do you promote your music? From your experiences, what’s the most efficient music promo tool?
Visual content/music videos usually get the most response and feedback. People tend to love those. Also, playing as many shows as we can while simultaneously keeping people engaged with social media.
Watch the “Undead” official video here.
Who’s helping you build your career? Who are you working with?
We’ve got a team of amazing people surrounding us who’ve helped us get to where we are today. Couldn’t have pulled off our record without the help of Brad Wood and Hans DeKline. Our team of talented directors who have created such amazing visual content for us - Rosie Geozalian (“Alive”, “Blue Orchid”, “Slow Kill” - coming soon) and the dynamic duo, Powell Robinson + Patrick Young (“Undead”). Also we can’t forget our good friends and Spacewalkers, who dress up as astronauts and join us on stage on guitar and bass.
What makes music so special?
It’s a type of expression that can be combined with any other form of art and help take that art to another level. Without music film and tv wouldn’t be the same. It’s also a way for us to captivate our emotions in a way that words can’t. The world wouldn’t be the same without music.
Any advice for the ones who’d like to pursue their dreams?
Just don’t stop. Get a day job/raise money and do what you need to. Financial stability is hard to come by with your passion project, but that’s why you can’t stop until your able to support yourself with the same project.
What’s your purpose?
To encourage unity and self assurance with our music. To inspire the youth to pick up a guitar again or ask for a drum set for their birthday and create something with their hands. To bring rock music back into the forefronts because there’s still a lot left to explore in the genre, contrary to popular belief.
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