Originating from Asheville, North Carolina, Sallie Ford established herself in the Portland, Oregon scene where she latched on to music, performing acoustic guitar at house shows across town. Now, given a few years and a crew of talented instrumentalists, she is launching a new avant-garde sound that is sure to catch the indie music scene off-guard. Untamed Beast, Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside’s most recent album, is eclectic, classic, and progressive — but more than anything, it’s exciting. This album is distinctive and accessible, somehow finding an alcove in music that has not been explored, at least not recently.

In the following interview with Sallie Ford, we unearthed a bit more insight into how her band’s fantastic sound has taken shape — plus a few tidbits about crowd-surfing.

You have recently released your new album, Untamed Beast. How do you think your music has evolved since the release of your debut album Dirty Radio?

I think all of us have grown up a lot. We have gotten better at playing together. Our style has changed slightly, but basically, my main goal for the record was to rock! I think we achieved that.

In an interview with NPR you mentioned that “the untamed beast” refers to being the passionate, “wild and free” version of yourself. Have you watched your music unveil the untamed beast latent within your fans during shows?

I suppose there have been some shows where fans have let loose. There was one show in France where people were awkwardly crowd-surfing. Jeff joined in! It was awesome.

We like to encourage audience participation and invite people on stage. We tend to see some “untamed beast” dancing sometimes!

Do you seek to inspire a sense of freedom among your fans through the music you write?

I guess I want to have that sense of freedom for myself. When I sing, I feel powerful, like I could do anything, but yet vulnerable with honesty. I hope others can feel that way when they are being creative or enjoying art and music.

Your vocal styling has been compared to that of Ella Fitzgerald and Tom Waits. Are these the artists you feel you can best relate to, or can you name a few additional creative influencesm whether musical or otherwise?

There are many singers I look up to. For the first record I was heavily influenced by Waits and Fitzgerald, but I didn’t feel the need to copy as much for the second record. I definitely had more of an idea for the music style for Untamed Beast. I was influenced by surf and garage rock from the ’60s, like The Sonics, The Ventures, T. Rex, and The Cramps. Not many girls in those bands, so you can see why it’s tempting.

Recently I’m pretty obsessed with Skeeter Davis. I can’t seem to get tired of her songs. I also dig The Monks. They were like punk before punk.

In Untamed Beast you seem to have fun playing the typeset of 1950s conformity against modern ideas of feministic emancipation. How does the irony of your musical style paired with your progressive lyrics enrich your music?

Since women weren’t very empowered in the ’50s and ’60s, I think singing the lyrics I sing really drive in a feminine modern perspective. I sing for fun and don’t always take lyrics so seriously. Using bad language and naughty lyrics is one of my favorite ways to write because I think it makes people pay attention. I would be bored to write any other way.

How did Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside form? Did your signature rockabilly sound shape itself intuitively, or was there a length of time during which you tried other sounds?

We all come from different musical backgrounds, as well as having a variety of musical tastes. Personally, I think there are a lot of different styles going on in our music, in addition to rockabilly.

All music is gonna be retro. I just think music before the ’80s is more fun to play. Eighties- and ’90s-style music may be more in fashion now, but really every band out now has a “retro” sound when you think about it. We will continue to just make music that comes naturally.