Santogold Broadens Her Audience

New York via Philadelphia singer-songwriter Santogold (real name Santi White) may have released one of this year's most unclassifiable records. When it came time to tour, it only made sense that the genre-hopping spitfire would open for Coldplay, a band with some of the most homogenous crowds (in terms of musical taste) on the planet.

"[Opening for Coldplay on their North American tour] was a great experience, though not always easy," says the 31-year-old former Epic Records A&R representative, "to get out in front of an audience that most often had never heard my music, or even anything like it. It's important to put yourself in front of audiences like that, though, to help broaden your platform as an artist."

Santogold's eponymous debut record, which brings together elements of reggae, dub, punk, new wave, indie rock and electronic, has been frequently compared to the work of her friends M.I.A., Diplo and Spank Rock.

But Santogold originally fronted a Philadelphia-based ska punk band called Stiffed where she was the lead singer and primary songwriter. The band dissolved in late 2006, and by that time White had moved on and was already writing songs for what would become her first solo album.

"I don't compartmentalize things in my head like that, so I was just writing songs," she says.

"Once Stiffed broke up, though, I made more of a conscious decision to work with other people and push the boundaries farther than I had when I was writing for a four-piece band, incorporating more of my influences. I didn't know exactly what I wanted it to sound like, but I knew that I didn't want to place any restrictions on myself."

Curiously enough, despite Santogold's stage presence — and with her eclectic fashion sense — she never intended on becoming a stage performer, and preferred to concentrate on writing and creating music.

As a mercenary writer, Santogold co-wrote Ashlee Simpson's 2008 Timbaland-produced single "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" and Lily Allen's "Littlest Things." Seeing as she's now struck gold on her own album, Santogold is more comfortable with her role as performer, and likely will be putting writing for others on the backburner.

"I love making music and I love sharing my music," she says. "But once I started doing shows with Stiffed, I loved performing as well. Performing your songs is like physically bringing the music to life."