Santogold takes control

For most people in the music industry, working at a major label with other bands is about as close as they’ll come to rock ’n’ roll glory. But Brooklyn-based Santi White, a former A&R executive for Epic records, wouldn’t settle for making other acts famous; she wanted to be in the limelight herself.

“I knew I had to do something more creative,” writes White, who plays under the moniker Santogold, in an e-mail. “I didn’t have the stomach for all the corporate political bulls--t. I started to get sick every time I walked into the Sony building.”

With the daily grind getting to her (“It wasn’t about finding amazing new talent, it was about throwing way too much money at P. Diddy’s friends,” she says), White did the next logical thing for a music industry insider — she wrote her own album.

While her immense talent is the main reason everyone’s talking about her debut self-titled disc, it helped that she knew the ins and outs of the music business. “It gave me the experience to know when to put my foot down,” she says. “It enabled me to take control of my own project on many different levels, but while it’s a lot more fun, it’s way harder being on the other side. You don’t get to leave the office at 6 p.m. every day.”

Santogold’s not complaining about her ‘round the clock gig, it’s just that she’s one of the busiest new performers around. She’s played so many shows, done so many interviews and flown across the world more than a few times that her voice is completely shot, hence our e-mail exchange.

There’s a good reason the artist is in such high demand — by blending high-energy indie rock, new wave and dance punk, White’s created one of the most infectious rock records of the year. There’s the intense club-ready Creator, which combines talk-ish vocals and wild electronic background noises, and the Stokes-meets-Tegan and Sara opener L.E.S. Artistes. But while the sounds are varied, the album’s theme, which is generally about the need for the less fortunate to speak their mind, unifies the record.

“I write about things that are relevant to me, and it’s impossible not to be influenced by the current social and political climate that is more than disturbing,” she explains. “People feel powerless, and so I wanted to write songs that said, ‘We’re not powerless at all, but we have to make an effort. We have to use our brains and our voices to have any impact at all.’”

Judging by the enthusiastic response to her music, her messages of empowerment are reaching the masses. Luckily, she’s not letting the growing buzz derail her message. “It’s been really exciting for me, but I don’t pay too much attention to the hype,” she says. “I’m just glad that people are into my record and are inspired by what I’m doing. (The album’s message) is something people need to hear right now.”