Swag and charisma inspired by Sailor Moon, and violin mastery inspired by fiddlers, Sudan Archives is a fully realised artist to watch.

Ahead of her Eora/Sydney Splendour sideshow, Sudan Archives caught up with me on Up For It! Her most recent record Natural Brown Prom Queen features the violinist, singer and producer’s trademark instrumentation, conceptually exploring the ties between home, family, and belonging. The album is so easy to relate to, delving into the experiences so many of us have entering adulthood.

“When we were growing up, me and my sister couldn’t wait to leave Ohio…we just felt like it was not the place to be if you want to do music…Once we left, we kind of missed it, you kind of learn to appreciate it more, especially being in L.A which can be a weird place at times. You have to be grounded.”

Known for her mastery of the violin, I keen to get the story on how she first got into playing and how this developed into her signature style. Sudan Archives first came across classical instrumentation from a group of fiddlers who did some lessons at her school.

“I grew up in a small town called Wyoming in Ohio, when I was in 4th grade they had an orchestra at the school and they had some fiddlers come in one day from Canada or Ireland, somewhere out of the country. They were like “we’re here to teach you about fiddle music”, I was like “okay?”. They were playing the violin but they were dancing while they played, doing Irish jig. I was kind of intrigued, like “okay I think I can do that”. I started playing and haven’t stopped ever since.”

You’ll find Sudan Archives name drops Sailor Moon frequently on Natural Brown Prom Queen. During our chat I learned that anime, particularly Sailor Moon, is a big influence for her. Sudan Archives loves to channel her style, attitude and overall slay in all facets of her artistry.

“I don’t know why but I have this obsession with Sailor Moon… Everyone has those cartoon characters which for some reason resonate with them. With Sailor Moon, I’m just like, “she’s so dope”, I like her hair, I just want to be like her, I like the way she dresses…I kind of incorporate my favourite anime characters, recreate them in my style a little bit on stage too.”

Listen back to the full chat I had with Sudan Archives up top. Be sure to catch her show at Sydney’s Liberty Hall on July 22nd, deets here. Also, buy/stream her most recent album Natural Brown Prom Queen below.