Rollo & Grady Interview // Shayde Sartin – The Fresh & Onlys
Over the years, Shayde Sartin has performed with The Dutchess and the Duke, The Skygreen Leopards, Papercuts, Citay, and a few other Bay-Area bands, but he seems to have found a permanent home with his current project, The Fresh & Onlys. This group started off in the spring of 2008 as a home-recorded collaboration between Sartin and longtime friend Tim Cohen (Black Fiction). Before long, they had written over forty songs and eventually enlisted the help of Grace Cooper, Wymond Miles, and Heidi Alexander to round out the band.
To date, The Fresh & Onlys have opened for rock legends Stephen Malkmus and Rodriguez and released several EPs and two full-length albums. Their most recent album, Grey-Eyed Girls, was released yesterday, September 15th.
I spoke with Shayde last month about the band, other people’s bands, and his new living arrangement.
R&G: What’s going on?
Shayde: I’m headed home. I just signed the lease on a new apartment. I’m happy: I got a great deal.
R&G: That’s cool. What sparked the move?
Shayde: I’m moving in with my lady [Kristen].
R&G: How long have you guys been together?
Shayde: She’s been living in Atlanta, so it’s been on and off for a year. She’s a tour manager. I actually met her while I was on tour with the Dutchess and the Duke and we started flying back and forth to hang out. It’s been cool, but really hard with the long-distance thing. We just decided to take the leap.
R&G: I bet she’s excited you’re about to go on tour for several months.
Shayde: [laughs] She was so pissed. She’ll be here for like two weeks and then I leave. Then I get back and she leaves. The cool thing is that she understands touring. The bad thing is that she understands touring and everything that goes along with it [laughs]. She gets a little nervous when I’m out there.
R&G: If you were like 24, I could see it being a problem, but you’re in your thirties.
Shayde: That’s what I try to explain to her, but she’s 27. She was also the tour manager for Black Lips, and those guys are fucking deviants.
R&G: They’ve actually calmed down bit, but they’re still wild.
Shayde: Totally. She just thinks that I’m like them. I’m a heavy drinker, but I’m not doing anything fucking stupid.
R&G: Who else has she worked with as a tour manager?
Shayde: She’s worked with Deerhunter and Black Lips for years. She’s been the tour manager for King Khan and the Shrines, Dutchess and the Duke and King Khan & BBQ Show. I can’t even remember all… she’s done a lot of crazy one-off stuff for different artists. That’s how she made her living for a long time.
