We already knew Sufjan Stevens plays the oboe, sitar, banjo, flute, xylophone and English horn, but now you can add scissors, stapler, rotary fan and the Vermont state quarter to the list. On DM Stith’s new album Heavy Ghost, fellow Asthmatic Kitty artist Sufjan Stevens played piano and tambourine on the song “Pity Dance,” but the song needed a few overdubs:
“I was like, ‘Okay, we gotta try this sound and this sound.’” Stith told EW. “He grabbed a stapler, so there’s a stapler on there. I was like, ‘Oh, we need scissors,’ so he got a couple pairs of scissors. He plays a floor rotary fan with a Vermont state quarter — that’s that broooop sound in the beginning. That’s how I work. I hear a sound and I grab whatever is around me to make it. And he was totally into it.“
You can listen to Stith and Sufjan Stevens jam on everything and the kitchen sink at Stith’s Muxtape here.