Age 25

C.V Interned for ABC.com, sonicnet.com, ivillage.com, SPIN.com and inside.com; editor at SPIN Magazine, managed the bands My Chemical Romance and stellastarr*. Author of The Pocket DJ: Ultragrrrl’s guide to building the best music library (due out on Simon & Schuster this fall), currently runs Stolen Transmission Records and works as a producer for VH1.

There’s been a ton of nasty shit said about Sarah Lewitinn, a.k.a. Ultragrrrl. You need only to check the New York Press (where she was ranked number 20 in their list of the city’s most loathsome citizens) and any trash-talking blog around to hear them rattle off variations of “privileged, dumb and shallow”. So if she sucks as much as the haters say, then why has she and the bands she’s championed (Interpol, The Killers to name a couple) made it this far?

The secret of her success might lie in any of the following areas. Sarah confessed to rarely sleeping, in order to juggle all her varied projects — writing a book, running a label, DJing and developing television shows. But maybe its her consistently upbeat and positive attitude, which any casual reader of her blog sees — whether she’s talking about her favorite band or what her friends are up to. Or perhaps it’s her tireless attempts to re-establish the connection between rock bands and their fans through every facet of her work, a bond that’s needed now more than ever in the age of digital division. Whatever it is, it seems to be working.

What are your thoughts on the relationship between blogging and music?
I think that blogging has really helped young bands gain a fanbase that normally wouldn’t have access to them. It makes the fan important again.

Tell me about your label, Stolen Transmission.
Stolen Transmission started out as a singles label through my blog. I’ve released singles from Louis XIV and the Oohlas, and upcoming singles include: The Spinto Band, Saints + Lovers, Nightmare of You, The Five O’Clock Heroes, and Ley Royal Scam. I’m in the process of turning it into a full scale label. I’m really looking forward to working with bands I believe in and helping them as much as I can.

With the advent of downloading, how will you entice people to check out the bands?
I am a criminal and a hypocrite cause I want my label to do well. I love downloading free mp3s . I am just going to hope that people will buy music from bands because they want to support them, because they like the packaging, and it’s easier to download an album on iTunes than Limewire.

How did you get involved with writing “The Pocket DJ”?
I had been approached by a bunch of agents and editors trying to get me to write a novel or something about my life — like a book version of my blog. But that didn’t interest me. I didn’t feel a little twerp like me had anything interesting to say, not to mention, I’m one of the worst story tellers of my generation. Simon & Schuster approached my agent about doing a book called “The Pocket DJ.” He thought I’d be the perfect writer for this and suggested me. It was assigned and I have to say I’m so happy that it was. I’m so proud of it and really hope to get it in the hands of aspiring music fans more than anything else.

You are involved in different facets of the music industry. How do you balance these things out? How do they work with / against each other?
They never really work against each other except for when I was at SPIN and wanted to write about bands I really believed in and thought would one day be huge — but was faced with the problem of the fact that they weren’t signed bands. That’s when I started my singles label, as a hope of bringing unsigned bands more attention and hopefully a lucrative record deal. My profile at SPIN brought the bands attention. It worked out for everyone, it seems. I made a lot of people a lot of money in 2004, except for me. I struggled to make ends meet.

What are your feelings on being voted one of “The Most Loathsome New Yorkers” by the New York Press?
Well, I will start off by saying that it’s been hard enough getting laid, that just made it a bit harder. I was actually totally surprised I was on it because I didn’t think I was famous enough to be acknowledged. When I told my parents about it they were shocked cause they didn’t know that anyone, outside of them, actually knew or cared I existed. I picked up five copies and was really stoked to be recognized, but then people started saying mean shit and that got me down. The whole thing just seemed pretty mean spirited, which is the anti-me.

Aside from the obvious common denominator of music, what do you think links all the things you are involved with?
Cute boys.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 15th, 2005 at 4:06 pm and is filed under clips.