The Suffers are a gulf coast soul band from Houston, Texas that brings elements of classic American Soul and rock and roll to crowds that love to dance. Last semester, two Northeastern students, Felisha Cabral and Sanah RoyChowdhury, were given a unique opportunity to intern for the band. Now, fellow Northeastern student, Ben Heim, has the same internship working to help the Suffers promote their music specifically to college students.
“Boston holds a very special place in the band’s heart,” Kam Franklin, lead singer in The Suffers, said. “We have been touring there since our first year on the road, and having the opportunity to collaborate with Northeastern for this contest just fills my heart with joy. We are here today because so many people took a moment to believe in us. Being given the opportunity to work with the next generation of artists is a gift. Lighted Like (Craig) won the contest, but all of the submissions were incredible. We know that this is only the beginning for him, and if he and his peers are any indication of what the next generation of musicians sound like, we are in for a treat. Working with and collaborating with young artists is nothing new for us. Someone gave me a chance to sing, and I’ll never forget that first time and how it made me feel. Young artists need that guidance and encouragement on their way up, and I’m happy to provide it whenever I can.”
Last semester, Northeastern students in the Department of Music were given the chance to remix the Suffers’ latest single, “Take Me to the Good Times.” In December, Craig Short, Music Industry major and recent CAMD graduate, was announced the winner of the remix competition and will have his version of the song released on February 3 in collaboration with The Suffers. Interested in hearing Craig’s remix of ‘Take Me to the Good Time’? Listen here!
We had the opportunity to catch up with Craig and learn about his background in music.
What caught your attention about remixing an original song from the Suffers and what was your vision for the song?
The remix contest was actually organized by some classmates of mine who have been working with the Suffers on co-op, and they sent the information to the music industry program which is how I heard about the opportunity.
I never know how a song or remix is going to go before I get into it. One of the best parts of remixing the individual stems for a song is getting to listen to each instrument on its own. You find all kinds of little surprises and magic moments that you wouldn’t hear otherwise.
My strategy for remixes is usually to dig through and find moments like that, and then start constructing new architecture from those pieces and screwing them up in fun ways.
The Suffers were great for that approach – there’s so much going on with all the horns and percussion and backing vocals. In the end I gravitated toward all the cities that Kam Franklin lists at the end. It was a nice list of places that I would love to visit once it’s safe to travel again.
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Did you have previous experience with music and or arranging accompaniments?
I’ve been making music in lots of different forms pretty much since I was born. I’ve done a lot of more traditional rock songwriting, been in bands, done classical composition and vocal arrangements, etc, but I didn’t start remixing and producing electronic music until late in high school. That sort of music doesn’t always come very intuitively to me, but there’s pretty much limitless potential for making really weird sounds so I always have a lot of fun with it.
What have been a few highlights of your time at Northeastern? Any involvement in student organizations, etc.?
The best part of Northeastern for me was the people I met. The folks in Green Line Records and WRBB 104.9 FM are some of the best friends I’ve made in my life. I wouldn’t have learned half as much about anything at this school without friends to teach me, and those student groups to give me opportunities to really get my hands dirty. I got to record and produce a lot of music through Green Line and learned a lot about how organizations function by joining the e-board and managing teams of people. Really grateful for that.
Any advice to current Music students or prospective Music students?
My advice to music students: networking is basically just making friends. If you want to do cool things, make cool friends.