Sugar Scars release "Dark Charm" and connect with us about the magnetic journey behind their latest single
- STAFF
- Sep 24
- 10 min read
By: Staff
“Dark Charm” is a hypnotic, genre-defying masterpiece that immerses listeners in a haunting, transcendent experience.
With their haunting new single "Dark Charm," Sugar Scars pull listeners into a mesmerizing world where the lines between joy and melancholy blur. The song is a dark, hypnotic journey through shifting rhythms and intoxicating melodies, effortlessly blending genres from electronic to psychedelic to indie dance. But as you'll discover in our conversation with the duo behind the project, there’s so much more to their sound than just the music itself.
We spoke with the multi-instrumentalists from El Paso and Juarez about the creative forces that drive their work, the way their unique cultural backgrounds inform their sound, and the raw energy that powers "Dark Charm." From the emotional tone in their reverb-soaked vocals to the intricate production process, this track is a gateway into their much-anticipated sophomore album, Dark Spark White Light, set for release later this year.
What’s most striking about Sugar Scars is how they’ve managed to carve out their own space in an ever-evolving musical landscape. While their sound defies easy categorization, it’s clear that authenticity remains at the heart of everything they do. The duo shares how they balance artistic purity with industry expectations, and how they stay true to their vision despite the pressures to conform.
As "Dark Charm" begins to make its mark, we dive deeper into their world, exploring the inspirations behind their music and what lies ahead. It’s a conversation that reveals just how much more there is to uncover beneath the surface of their hauntingly beautiful sound.
Catch the full interview below, and get a glimpse into the future of Sugar Scars.
Keep scrolling to get into it with Sugar Scars.
Here’s how it went:
Begin Interview:
Hello Sugar Scars, we’re thrilled to have you here for this interview! We've had an amazing time exploring your music and diving into your creative journey. Now, we’re even more intrigued to get a deeper look into both your brand and your personal and professional inspirations.
Q - Sugar Scars, we loved "Dark Charm." How has your personal musical journey brought you to this point? Did your evolution into a professional career happen gradually, or was there a pivotal moment that set everything into motion?
A - Well, the reality is that the journey continues until you’re dead. Life is just like that. There doesn’t have to be an established end to a person’s personal evolution. No doubt it happens gradually, especially for progressive people. Modesty and humility usually help In trying to learn and make sense of life’s chaos. We would say that there comes a time when you reach a pivotal moment when you start questioning your purpose and reflect… that’s when you learn, if your music was just a phase, or if it’s part of who you are and can’t live without it because it’s pretty much therapy and gives meaning to your existence.
Q - "Dark Charm" pulls listeners into its orbit from the very beginning. Can you share the inspiration behind the song and how the title captures its magnetic, cryptic energy and the emotional journey you wanted to convey?
A - The song came about when we wondered about what made us attracted to other people. We figured that once a person is charming in a dark unconventional way, we were hooked. We usually start songs with no agenda or meaning. Then as we progress, the meaning starts to take shape, until we finally understand what the song has led us to . With his song we did unintentional brain storming. It took shape on its own and basically unraveled itself to be about a certain kind of energy people have that’s hard to describe and appeals to one’s heart. It's like this mysterious energy.It’s basically trying to explain a feeling that could only be put into a musical description with very vague lyrics. . At the end it only came down to two words, “Dark Charm”
Q. Your sound is a brilliant collision of genres, electronic, psychedelic, indie dance. Has this method of genre exploration always been your approach, or did your journey start differently?
A- It just seemed to be something that came naturally. Growing up, we always believed that the conventional way of doing things was really corny and fake. Our response was always challenging it, or finding a better way. We would always wonder why people would just follow like robotic, sheep, without questioning anything . I guess that same mentality also sinked in to our music. We Just did whatever we felt, without feeling bad about it. Just because other people did it a certain way, didn’t mean we had to as well. That was the only way we could be true to ourselves. People shouldn’t be afraid to do it differently. We see it as the only thing that could come out of it is a better refreshing way. It really does take courage because you're taking risks
Q- There’s a palpable tension between joy and sadness in your music. How do you strike that delicate balance? Is it a conscious choice, or does it emerge organically?
A- I would say organically.. I’ve had depression problems and anything happening to me that was good, I would always disqualify it or talk it down to nothing. With Major Depression you dont see results as bad, you see them as devastating. I guess I felt like good things couldn’t happen to me, because I was not good enough or even deserved it. You always judge yourself as an asshole. It was always either, I had some joy and then I would talk it down. The crazy part was always the chaos that was the in between. To me, the majority of life was that uncertain middle, and that’s what is probably reflected through our music. We then adapted to this feeling. And We would say that’s why our music tends to be about the in between of opposite feelings. This “in between” is the most interesting place to be. It’s where you’re in conflict with your hypersensitive self. We’ve dealt with this by the therapy we found through expressing ourselves with music. It was like our Cognitive therapy is the song itself.
Q. Where does the rough work of your music production begin? Do you kick things off in your home studio, or do you team up with an outside producer? And when it’s time to wrap things up, do you handle the mixing and mastering yourself, or bring in someone to help perfect it?
A - It all begins with a melody in your head. The beauty of technology is that any idea you get at any second you could hum it and recorded it on your phone or if you’re by a guitar, pick it up and just play the part and record it. Ideas never go to waste. From there, we start building upon the idea and it takes off, kinda like the invisible hand that guides the world economy. I don’t mean to say it in a cocky way. We always do all the production ourselves, and I believe every artist should do it themselves. Its not difficult. You only need 2 things: You need a good ear and the second is that you have to know exactly what you want. We believe A musical idea stops being yours once there’s too much outside influence.. That’s when its no longer part of your own original piece. Maybe in the future when we completely run out of ideas we can go out and get a producer or we just might meet a really awesome special person that inspires us to collaborate. This is all subject to change because on an organic journey its all subject to change. One thing we also do when we record is we leave mistakes in the songs because that’s part of being an imperfect musician. Sometimes the only ones that know the mistakes are us.. everybody else just sees it as part of the song. I don’t think any producer would be down with that idea. They’re all about dotting the i and crossing the t.., they make it sound all perfect and that’s kinda boring and unnatural. The beauty is sometimes in the imperfections/
Q - With your roots in El Paso and Juarez, both rich in cultural history, how does the essence of these cities shape your sound, and how do they reflect in the music you create?
A - Wow, there is no way around it. We’re from different sides of the border, but we’re both brought up in Spanish speaking families with the same culture.. Our parents listened to the same Mexican artist like Juan Gabriel and love Soccer and boxing. It’s like we're copies made from the same Xerox machine. If your honest and true to where you came from, the results will usually come out authentic. The majority of Hispanics in El Paso were originally raised in Juarez and have they're extended family still living there but as the generations are passing our original culture is disappearing.
Q - With "Dark Charm" as the first glimpse of Dark Spark White Light, how does this track set the tone for the album as a whole? What do you want listeners to feel as they begin this journey?
A - Well, for this album, each song carries its own identity. So I guess this is how we set the tone. Usually, the way we see our songs is not how the listeners do. And that’s perfectly fine.
As far as what we want the listener to feel is whatever they want. We understand our music is not for everybody. Lol.. just take a chance on us. Give us the time of day. I think all the songs are district from each other but they all carry this thing that lets you know its The Sugar Scars.
Q - You’ve said that your music focuses on authenticity, not image. In an age where spectacle often overshadows sound, what does it mean to create something pure and unfiltered, where the music speaks for itself? Do you ever get pushback from “industry types” who want to bottle up your creativity into their vision?
A - Recently, music has been all about what’s on the outside and not necessarily of what’s on the inside. In other words, this whole industry is based on superficiality, with all copy and no personal critique. People are not finding what’s in their personal music heart. It’s all being dictated, and they don’t seem to care. It’s usually rewarded by the Outer core appearance, and we can thank social media for that. It’s like judge the book by its cover and never read a word that’s in it. Today they listen to music based on how cool the singer looks and not by what’s coming out through his or her voice. This is all a negative result of how corporations are trying to profit and suck the milk out of art, just like they’ve done to almost everything else. I mean we’re open minded. We would only deal with industry types if everything is done on our terms and they’re willing to shift their ideals just a little bit for us, but that’s unlikely…. it’s like asking a psychopath to have compassion.. lol. There's no mystery to things anymore. Its all shown off and modeled by extroverts that want to prove their worth to people in a very shallow fashion.
Q - With Dark Spark White Light on the way, what are you most excited to explore on this new album that you haven’t yet? Are there any wild, uncharted territories you’re pushing into with this next chapter?
A - Well on this album, we’ll be releasing it on vinyl and will also include a drop card with digital versions of this album, out last album and like 30 unreleased songs that didn’t make the cut on this and the last album. So we’re totally slutting ourselves out on this album. As far as what’s next, we will only allow the invisible hand to guide us, so we can make something as authentic as possible. It will become something that we don’t even know, until it’s all finished. This is just the only way we know how to do it. Sure we can say the theme of the next album will be this, but by doing that, we’re limiting anything spontaneous and put a limit to what the future songs Have the potential to become.
Q - Outside of music, who or what has had the biggest influence on your personal growth or artistic perspective?
A - Damn that’s pretty tough. What Jesus Christ did in history is very interesting. His teachings are usually taken by human beings and twisted in a way that benefits them as individuals. Then they’ve created a narrative that contradicts what Jesus taught. Then the public judges Jesus, based on these people‘s two faced actions and it’s become all corrupted. I think that’s fascinating and shows you how human beings screw everything up. It’s like not just the environment and the genocides, but it even extends to what’s most holy to certain people. Well we also went through a Communist stage where we were fascinated by Che Guevara. Then it went towards political thinkers like Noam Chomsky. It’s all become very wild, but as for what we believe now, we will keep that private because nowadays anything you say can be twisted to look bad and then you get canceled and receive hate mail and get called names. This shows how divided the world is.
It’s like metals that don’t mix with clay thrown on top of it.
Q - What do you want people to remember most about you after hearing this song and reading this interview?
A - Well, all we want is for the people to at least read the interview and that's cool with us.
We’ve learned not to make big expectations because that usually means setting yourself up for failure. We understand that a lot of people don’t like to read anymore and rather look at videos and click on a heart.
Q - We love your artist name. Can you tell us the backstory of how you chose the name Sugar Scars?
A - We just threw a dart at a dictionary twice and picked the first words that the dart landed on. Lol jk.. Well, the truth is we both like the word scars because it’s a symbol of your past unfortunate history, either passed heartbreak or trauma. The other word had to be some kind of positive thing because if it wasn’t, our name would sound like some kind of death metal band like “Decapitation Scars” or something like that. We then agreed on sugar because it’s something sweet. Both words are kind of opposites , so we figured that two contradicting words that represent events in one’s life agrees with what we're about.
Q - We can't thank you enough for sharing these intimate details! So, what's next? Can you give us the inside scoop on your upcoming projects and what fans should be excited about? We'd love the readers to hear the news directly from you!
A- Well, we’re as clueless as everybody else. What we do know is that we will respond to every opportunity that comes out way and stay true to our vision (Whatever it might be at the moment). All we know is that there will be some kind of result that’s guided by the force of the invisible hand.. So stand by and don’t forget about us.
Sugar Scars, thank you so much, we appreciate you taking the time to talk to us!
End Interview
