Santino Le Saint

Musical geniuses come and go day in, day out. Santino Le Saint is on a mission to grace the ears of those far and wide whilst paying homage to his true self. From throwing out the music manual around release etiquette to being incredibly selective to his work environment and colleagues, this is an artist who lives by his own rules.

Santino’s music has been on my radar for quite some time, as we reunite 5 years on from performing on the same small stage in Kingston. As we catch up I congratulate him on the release of his album last year during COVID lockdowns.

So, not long ago you released your album which must have been exciting. How did the release live up to your expectations?

It was great, but it didn’t feel too different as I’ve released things before. It was kind of a long time coming but I’m excited about another project, of course, I’m happy that’s out but I’m ready to move on to the next single or album.

I’m not surprised you’re hungry for more following the success of your debut album. On the topic of expectations, listeners obviously have their interpretations of each piece of music released but did it have the angle in the way you planned?

I think it did turn out the way I planned. Over lockdown, I was inspired by rock music and I wanted to be able to push people further towards their teenage angsty side of things. So, I made loads of playlists, references, and samples, of my favourite bands and took a lot of melody references to the studio spending a couple of months working on a better sound before making any songs. I went to the boys that I made the album with and said here’s a bunch of songs I’ve made. Here are some of the reference playlists, let’s use all of this and make the album.

You had the opportunity to work with some real muses, producers who’ve worked with names like Mabel and Jorja Smith. How was working with legendary producers like Benji and Thomas Totten?

Yeah, it was amazing, but they’re also my closest friends. So, it’s fun working with my boys and having people there who you click with because I don’t usually like working with loads of random people. It’s just fun to be able to go record a bunch of my friends who are so talented.

Would you say you prefer working with friends rather than an acclaimed artist who may be a stranger?

Definitely friends. Because I think that it can be hard to be able as honest, open in sessions and bounce off people to find the same wavelength in a very short amount of time. So, I’d pick working with people close to me.

Working with people you have a pre-established connection with must have been a key part of coming out with a product that you love and that you’re proud of. The album itself has notes of both R&B and Rock intertwined, were there muses that helped inspire the intertwining of genres?

A huge one was Paramore. They are a huge influence, and although you’ll never hear it necessarily in my music as their music shares the same points of how people are afflicted by things, I guess it’s more of a feeling reference.