At 5 a.m., Sarah Gross jolted awake. For weeks, she had been trying to piece together the lyrics for the chorus to her band’s latest single, “I’ll Remember You.” Now, in the early morning hours, the Syracuse University sophomore had a fully-fleshed chorus that had somehow materialized in her sleep. 

 “I remember I woke up randomly and the chorus popped into my head,” said Gross, a sound recording music technology major and singer-songwriter. “And I have a really, almost scary voice memo on my phone of me whispering the chorus into my phone while my roommate in Haven Hall was asleep.” 

 Gross unveiled the new single on Feb. 14, the second off of her newly announced album, “Songs from the Passenger Seat.” With an album dropping in April and a tour over spring break, Gross will be busy recording with her bandmates and prepping for her first formal tour. In addition, Gross opened for Clark Beckham last night at The Westcott Theater. 

 The songs on Gross’ latest concept album have one unifying theme: All of them were written before she got her driver’s license. Gross said that she is a historically poor driver and has always had numerous people drive her over the years. 

 “It’s just a personal thing that I think is funny,” Gross said. “I also think that it’s a tribute to anyone who has ever driven me somewhere. It’s like, ‘Thank you for driving me to any musical opportunity. Here’s an album instead of gas money, and there you go.’”  

 Gross said that this album is also an attempt to showcase a lot of the different corners of her music. Traditionally, Gross describes her music as “singer-songwriter folk with jazz influences.” But her sophomore effort will simultaneously feature funk-influenced songs alongside both R&B and acoustic pop tracks. 

 To assist Gross with the creative vision of this project was senior backing vocalist Gillian Pelkonen. The two met through a cappella choir rehearsals in 2018 when Pelkonen asked Gross to perform with her in a last-minute Funk ‘n Waffles set. Since then, they have remained friends and frequent collaborators, singing harmonies on each other’s pieces. 

The latest album by Sarah Gross is essentially a love letter to anyone that has ever driven the singer-songwriter to a music event. She said that the album is an alternate form of payment to gas money. Will Fudge | Staff Photographer

 “I have been working with her for so long, at this point I can just tell by the way she’s breathing what she’s about to do,” Pelkonen said. 

 Gross added that “Gill’s my moral support to say, ‘keep that, that’s good.’”   

 Meanwhile, the duo worked closely last year in writing the deeply reflective single “I’ll Remember You,” which they debuted at The Ark, an off-campus music venue. 

 Gross explained the song is about the freshman year cycle of gaining and losing friends. “I think it’s my ‘thank u, next,’” Gross said, referencing the Ariana Grande track. 

 As her album title suggests, Gross will be in the passenger seat while Pelkonen drives for the duration of the band’s tour. Pelkonen said the group will start at Drexel University and stop in Philadelphia, Long Island, New York City and will eventually end in New Paltz, New York.

Only a few from Gross’ extensive band, however, will be touring. Of the six members that make up her band at SU and the studio band she records with back at home in Long Island, only four members are traveling: bassist Mitchell Taylor, drummer Ian Yates, Pelkonen and Gross.  

 “It’s Sarah and a whole lot of Grosses,” Yates said.  

 Yates recalled Gross recruited him as the drummer for the band in a less-than-traditional manner. During a tech rehearsal for the First Year Players production of “Newsies,” Gross leaned down in the band pit below the stage and asked him to join her band. 

 He added that the band is still in the works of solidifying a name for themselves. Initially, they were called “Sarah and the Grosses,” but lately the name is just “I’m Sarah Gross and these are my friends.” 

 “The band is super, super fun,” Pelkonen said. “We all click really well with each other. We have a lot of silly banter. I would just say that we really enjoy making music with each other, and I know personally I admire them as musicians. And I would say just respect, but it goes to an admiration of all of them.” 

 On average, the band meets for rehearsals for two hours and then records for six to 12 hours per week, Gross said. Both the album and the tour have put added pressure on the group. In an attempt to reduce the stress of booking shows and handling promotional content, senior Andy Torres-Lopez entered Gross’ circle. 

 Torres-Lopez said his roles span that of a publicist, a marketer and an agent.  

 “For me, being a manager is being a really big fan who can advocate on her behalf whether that means reaching out to press, reaching out to other bands, venues to book her,” Torres-Lopez said. 

 Even with Torres-Lopez’s assistance, Gross has encountered daily challenges connected to making music in a college atmosphere. Gross said that all of these issues revolve around one central issue: respect.  

 She has found that in a creative field, the most difficult aspect is convincing people to take the band seriously and preventing herself from being used. Gross added that with every negative experience, she is learning to “juggle all these things with a smile on my face.”  

 Just in February, Gross said that the band was cheated out of the money that they had earned performing at an off-campus music venue. 

 Even so, Gross maintains a positive outlook on her music career and covets her time at SU making music with a cohort of band members. 

 “My whole philosophy with that is just like ‘I’m in college,’” Gross said. “After college, when are you gonna get the chance to literally get together with your friends and just have fun? At the end of the day, it is something I really do want to push career-wise, but right now I just want to have fun with it.” 

Published on March 3, 2020 at 9:56 pm