Interview: Atlanta Based Singer-Songwriter/Producer Sabiine Talks About Her Debut Single/Video "Secrets"
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Atlanta based singer-songwriter and producer Sabiine is the latest artist we’ve had the honor of connecting with for an exclusive interview, and we’re excited to share it with you right now. Sabiine just dropped her fire debut single/video entitled “Secrets”, so it’s only right that we pick her brain about it, as well as find out about her upcoming EP, her creative process for writing new music, and learn how her fashion sense coincides with her music.
After reading our Q&A with Sabiine, be sure to connect with her on Instagram, and stream “Secrets” on your preferred music service!
We're blown away by your new single/video "Secrets", which was self-written and produced. What are you most proud of with this debut release?
First of all, thank you! It’s an incredible feeling to know that people are actually listening to the music I create and appreciating it. Especially with a video like “Secrets”. It’s an amazing feeling to have an idea, and then work with great people make that vision come to life. I’m so thankful for my creative partners. John Roche and Ben Martin, who filmed and directed the video were brilliant and are clearly going to do great things in their time here on earth. I’m so happy to have found them because they believed in me and the project and I think it shows.
I’m thankful for my producer Jesse Owen Astin, who laid down the beat and brought my vocals to life with his professional recording experience. I’m just really proud we were able to make a video which tells a story which fits so well with the music and lyrics. It feels like a big achievement to watch my little idea turn into a whole song/video production. It was an amazing experience and I’m really proud of our work.
How did you and the directors of the visual come up with the treatment of the video?
Obviously every young woman has something to say about dating apps, but it doesn’t necessarily follow that “Secrets” is a song about dating. Well what’s a really scary secret someone could keep? You know how women always think things like, I can’t go home with him, I could end up in a dumpster, well I just thought I’d take that idea and turn it on its head with the woman as the predator. I love horror/thriller movies, the idea of doing a scary themed video came naturally to me, but usually when you see a horror movie all the tension and the fear comes from a man preying on a woman. Women can be scary too. Go ahead and swipe right, I just might kill you and eat you. Now you know how we feel.
After that, it was a process of turning that story into an actual video production and that took planning, lighting, a team of people who knew what they were doing. We pinned down the narrative and the plot of me as a seductive-man-eating-vampire, set the scenes to work and support that theme, and amped up the sexiness a little bit because I’m not shy. We wanted haunting, urban mood lighting so we went for a red-blue color scheme to keep the vibe darker and more sinister. I do all my own stunts… and I’ve always wanted to be a bat anyway, it was a feat figuring out how hang upside down from the ceiling. Lights, video editing, staging, shot angles I left up to the guys to sort out and they did a stellar job. My theory on collaboration is put a lot of work up front in finding people worth working with and then get the fuck out their way. They don’t tell me how to write music, I don’t tell them how to shoot a video.
You've mentioned that your project is in development; what can you tell us about it? Is "Secrets" indicative of what we can expect from it from a sonic and thematic perspective?
I’m very excited. I’m working on my first EP. Everything in life is hard to do until you’ve done it. Six months ago I’d never recorded a song before and was wondering about things like how do I go from recording things in my bedroom on garage band to having an actual song recorded and posted on streaming services. Back in early July I’d never filmed anything and making a music video seemed really complicated. Not that I’m now an expert by any means on either song recording or video production, but I’ve done it both at least one time which is one more time than I could say six months ago. Now I see the next step in my development being to write and produce an EP that really showcases my voice and songwriting abilities. Every artist wants recognition. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want that too, but the point of making this EP is to challenge myself to create a collection of songs that can stand together as a whole. One thing I’m working on for this album is to step in front of the production a little bit and put my voice and writing front and center for the world to see. One song in particular I absolutely love, but I’ve been holding back in recording it just because I wanted to build experience with production and promotion before releasing it. I can’t give everything away, but I can tell you to expect some different sounds from “Secrets”.
Tell us about your creative process when it comes to development of new songs from a songwriting perspective.
Writing is hard except when it’s easy. When I’m lucky, I’ll just be driving around and a melody will land in my lap and I’ll rush home to work on it but there are a lot days when I’m sitting there and it feels like I’ll never write a song again. I suffer from the same maladies as a lot of young people in any situation. Starting songs can be easy, finishing them takes more discipline and it’s always easier to surf Instagram or whatever than work on a specific bridge. Usually, I’ll get most of a song written, but there will be parts that aren’t quite right. A lot of times, I’ll just wait until the answer comes to me. I probably have a dozen songs sections written that require a better hook or a bridge or I where I’m not totally in love with the lyrics yet. Some ideas are just delivered by the universe and that’s wonderful when that happens, but on most days we’re all there searching our experiences and work that really impresses us for ideas that work in our own lives.
When I feel blocked or like nothings working my go to is to just relax and play other people’s music. I was playing Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” yesterday, and I discovered something they did in a transition that I didn’t see that way just from hearing it. It’s not like I take that transition and put it in my song, but studying and practicing the craft of others and going through the steps of making those sounds myself can spark new ideas.
With 2019 winding down, what are some of your goals musically for 2020?
To have a number 1 single and to rule the pop charts of course. If someone in this business tells you they don’t want that they are lying, but honestly that’s not something I have control over. What I can personally do is focus on creating quality music that I’m proud of and putting it out there for the world to interact with. Maybe people will love it and that’s great, but if not, I still have the song and the knowledge in my heart of whether I think it’s good or not.
Like I said earlier, my biggest goal for 2020 is to record my EP and that’s where I’m currently focusing most of my energy. Even with a song I really love, maybe especially with a song I really love, there’s work involved in recording it in a way that reflects me as a person and sings in the way that I want it to see. So, priority one is to get my own stuff out there. Another thing I learned this year is that it’s fun and inspiring to work with other people. I get a lot of ideas that way so priority two is to expand my creative network.
We're big fans of your style; how would you say that your fashion sense coincides with the music that you create?
Fashion is a form of expression and I think I can express a lot with what I chose to wear. The world reacts to and experiences you differently based on what you wear, and what you wear says something about your expectations for yourself and from a situation. I think it’s fun and exciting to play with it and my fashion has always been a big part of my identity. It engages my mind to make conscious decisions about what I wear.
With the video, I presented a lot of different looks. With the lingerie, I intentionally used something revealing because it worked with the theme and it was fun to be a little sexy and feel myself. Later though, when Vampire Sabiine is wreaking havoc, it’s always in outfits that project an understated power, cool, and elegance. Yohji Yamamoto, Ann Demeulemeester, Maison Margiela and Comme Des Garcons, are all featured in the video and they all design clothes that create a presence and persona that commands the screen.
There are parallels between fashion and music. There are all sorts of choices you make in music that effect how you’re perceived. Lay down a techno beat and you’re an EDM artist, go acoustic and you’re a folk single. Every song comes with a choice of whether to strip it down or build it up. Just like fashion I’m making conscious decisions about how to present my music. On the EP, I plan to present something a little different and I’m so excited to get it recorded so I can do that.
Connect with Sabiine: Instagram