Interview: Sa!nt
At first glimpse, Sa!nt may seems like any other musician. But when you take a closer listen to his tunes, listen to the words and music/remix all put together, you’ll understand how different and catchy this stuff is.
He have a show coming up on January 8th – go check him out if you can!
How would you explain SA!NT?
SA!NT is me, Sean Timothy Brown(ST=SA!NT). It’s everything, musically, I have in me. I have a lot of talented friends that I wanted to collaborate with but never really had the chance when I was playing in bands so I wanted to create an outlet that had no boundaries and could showcase what “the desert” is capable of.
What is the project about and what are your aims?
It is a solo project in the sense that I arrange all the songs on my own as well as track all the instruments. I get a lot of help when it comes to lyrical content and overall song themes and I can’t stress enough how much Blake Williams(my producer) really brings my ideas to life. Blake and I are really aiming to do something that sonically hasn’t been done before, we want to blur genres and make music that is just that, MUSIC, not rock or pop or electronic or hip hop but just good music.
What’s your musical background?
I’ve been in bands since the age of 12, mostly taking on singing and guitar duties. I have a very musical family, which since a young age, have encouraged and supported, in every way possible, all of my different musical ventures. My mom is an amazing jazz singer and my dad cut a few pop records in the 60′s so music has always been a gigantic part of my life. Music has really always been my first and probably last love.
What’s the best piece if praise you’ve received so far?
A lot of people tell me they aren’t sure what to call my music and I absolutely love that. I don’t want to have fans based on the genre of music I play. I don’t want to ever be predictable and it’s incredibly flattering for someone to be simultaneously confused and enthused by my songs.
Where do your lyrics come from, what inspires you?
Well my lyrics come from everything and everyone. I mostly aim to match my lyrical content with the mood the instruments make. Anything that sounds clever or wise or makes me laugh could end up being the catalyst to an entire song. “If We Die” is a special song cause it took me four years to write the lyrics; I was literally in each of the locations when I wrote the location specific lyrics (I.E. in Utah when I wrote about Utah). It turned out to be very special because after spending a good amount of time in these places I was able to, pretty accurately, write from the perspective of the locals.
!f We Die
Do you prefer performing live or recording?
There’s really nothing like a good live show. I love recording because of the amount of experimentation that can go on but once you finish a song and get to play it in front of a crowd and see the reaction it gets… well nothing really tops that.
You’ve a show coming up on January 8th – what can people expect from a typical Sa!int show?
They can expect loud beats, insightful lyrics, fun melodies and maybe even a couple cool “SA!NTed” cover songs. I’m starting to get some more live instrumentation going too which I’m really excited about. The Date Shed is the first venue in the desert that I think has the potential to actually bring in legitimate touring acts. It’s a really cool place with an amazing sound system and an awesome layout. I’m absolutely ecstatic about how I will sound in there.
What instruments do you play?
I dabble on everything but my weapon of choice, other than my voice, would be guitar. Most of my percussion is programmed and although I write the keyboard parts, I wouldn’t be confident playing them live… yet.
What were your favorite records of 2010?
Well other than lady gaga and taylor swift? Joking.
I’m really loving Pilot Talk by Curren$y
I think everyone loves Cosmogramma by Flying Lotus
Lately I’ve been listening to Culdesac by Childish Gambino
& my favorite album from last year was probably Cerulean by Baths
Oh yeah and everyone needs to listen to ODD FUTURE WOLF GANG KILL EM ALL (OFWGKTA) those kids are fuckin nuts and possibly pure genius.
There were lots of really good DJs and Hip Hop albums last year. If I listed em all we could be here all day.
What does 2011 have in store for you?
In 2011 I plan on recording a ton of new songs, I’ve been writing a lot and I’m really excited about the ideas and sounds coming out of me and the emotions that the songs will/could bring out in people. Basically I want to further blur the genre lines till people stop dropping genres like names of celebrities they met. Hopefully I’ll be playing lots of shows and getting lots of new fans. This (SA!NT) started off as a selfish endeavor, solely for me to write what I wanted to hear but it quickly turned into something much bigger, much more communal. I want to continue to make it bigger and better and involve more of the local (Coachella Valley) talent, that I believe is as good, if not better than, anyone doing music anywhere.
Follow Sa!int on Reverbnation, Twitter, Facebook and The Sixty One.
