Celestial Sounds: Introducing Saint Clair
She's a jazzy, buttery-voiced powerhouse of an artist and an undeniable talent to be reckoned with. We’re convinced that world domination is on Saint Clair's agenda, so make sure to get ahead of the curve by adding her to your playlists and seeing her perform live before she becomes untouchable.
I remember the first time I saw her live. Back then I knew her as Emma, my older cousin's mate. Tagging along one night to see her gig at the Troubadour I had no great expectations but as she started singing my jaw just hit the floor. The voice was extraordinary. Not only was I in one of the coolest music venues around but was witnessing this magic with my gun-slinging, Parisian, actress of a cousin bopping along to my right. No wonder I had an appropriately smug 'I'm with the band' grin smeared across my face. Absolute bliss.
Pan forward a few years and she's established herself as a highly talented musician with her fingers in lots of musical pies including playing bass and singing in the wonderful Childcare (don't worry- interview’s on it's way).
Having just come back from supporting Bastille on tour, she joined me for a wander through a beautiful, sunset-soaked Brompton Cemetery and we talked all things Saint Clair.
LB: Where does the name come from?
Saint Clair: It comes from Sinclair Bay, which is a tiny area of Northern Scotland where my granny is from. She’s a part of the Sinclair clan and I mixed it up a bit and thought Saint Clair would be a lovely way of tying in the family connection and also, because I went to a French school and speak fluent French, I thought it would be a nice phonetic way of drawing on that.
What music did you listen to as a kid? Who are your musical inspirations?
I had a few phases. I was a real garage head and used to go to lots of underage garage raves in Kings Cross warehouses, so that was phase 1. Phase 2, I got really into post-punk, so my mates and I used to go to Reading and Leeds and Download festival where we would just mosh and crowd surf and stage dive. I think it was probably my mid-teens where I started getting into Stevie Wonder and the Beatles and more classic, soulful song writing. I think that was probably when I started writing my own music off the back of that.
How would you describe your sound?
With difficulty! I would say it is pretty traditional song writing with an electronic production element to it. It’s quite vocal heavy with lots of backing vocals used as textures, and then real guitars, real basses, real drums mixed with synths and electronic pads as well. So yeah, an organic electronic mash-up?
For people that don’t know about you, what song would you recommend them starting with and why?
Ooh, I think my personal favourite is ‘Human Touch’, just because I love it. I love how it slinks along and like the sounds used on it, but maybe 'Heavy on my Heart’ because that has the most Spotify plays... so apparently that’s the best one.
Tell us about the combination of fear and excitement that come with being a solo artist, and how different it is to working in a band.
It’s really hard…! It is really exciting when stuff comes together because you know it is all your own vision and has all come from your mind, so the pay-off is probably bigger because it is such a sense of achievement. But the amount of work and effort, along with the self-doubt and lack of support you get when you’re on your own can be really testing. I’m a good collaborator, in the sense that I do ask people’s opinions and try to rope them in on stuff, so I have lots of great sounding boards. The band is so great because we all pull our weight, we can all take responsibility for things, but they’re also really fun and good pick-me-ups so that makes things a little less terrifying.
How was supporting Bastille on their Swedish leg of the 'Still Avoiding Tomorrow' tour?
Opening for Bastille was incredible! We played some big, juicy shows in some of my favourite cities around Scandinavia. I've been focusing on writing and recording for so long that it dawned on me that I hadn't actually played live in ages. Getting the set together, playing the shows and travelling around with my best friends was dreamy and very cathartic. The Bastille boys couldn't have been a more lovely, welcoming bunch.
Talk to us about the ‘I’ll Stay’ music video and the process behind it. It’s so beautiful and the detail makes it seem almost like a short film rather than a music video.
Thanks very much! I really wanted it to be narrative based rather than sort-of abstract/conceptual. Generally I find it much more interesting when a music video gives you something to sink your teeth into, instead of just the ‘singer lip-syncs to camera and looks beautiful’ thing. It’s a bit dull and certainly doesn’t capture my attention, so needed to make something a bit more interesting. I met up with the director (Jamie Delaney), knowing I wanted to portray inner turmoil of some description from the start. So we set it in a corporate London world and had our protagonist, kinda like in Fight Club, coming up against a lot of aggression and violent outbursts that are unclear as to whether they're in her head or real. So yeah, basically wanted to personify rage and addiction… fun topics!
I really loved watching you just beat the shit of people. It's massively refreshing seeing pure, unapologetic female rage as so often it's men that are allowed to be shown in this light in films and music videos-seeing a female character who wasn’t just ‘sexual’ was very invigorating.
You’re right, I did beat the shit out of a lot of people. That was Mike I attacked with the laptop, I also beat my mum up on the tube… who else did I beat up? Oh yeah, myself emotionally-of course. Yeah I agree though, it’s either always very sexual, especially in pop, and even if it’s not super sexy it is still pretty which is just so dull, so I’m glad that came across.
Looking back, what were your musical highlights of 2018?
Oof, I loved Rosalia. Her record sort-of came out of nowhere... I saw her on Jools Holland and really loved it. I also discovered a love for Nirvana that I never really had before, so that's been really fun. I play in Holly Walker’s band, and think she’s really brilliant. She’s only put one thing out, but I think she’s going to put more stuff out this year and is totally great, so look out for her. She currently sings with Maribou State.
Finally, looking forward, what are your plans for 2019? When and where can we see you next?
Later in the year I will be releasing a kind-of short film, but this time four music videos that all link together with 4 singles running through, which will be directed by my sister. It’s a look at grief and loss and a journey through the different stages of that through different vantage points. I’m really looking forward to having that out.
The first album you bought was…
I know my first single was ‘All My Life’ by K-Ci & JoJo, but my first album… it might have been Dr. Dre-2001 or maybe Eminem-The Marshall Mathers EP (I bought them at the same time).
Your favourite album is…
These are so hard! I love Abbey Road by The Beatles and also love Channel Orange by Frank Ocean.
First concert you went to was…
I mean the first one that comes into my head is Ricky Martin at Earls Court. Is there anything cooler than that?
Your shower song/artist is…
Probably Whitney. Bathrooms always have great acoustics so I tend to go full-on diva, because that’s not how I sing normally, so it’s like a little secret session.
Your dream artist to collaborate with is…
I think in terms of being on a level, I would say James Blake. But yeah, Stevie Wonder would be great as well. If I could bring someone back to sing with… Marvin Gaye? Or Ella Fitzgerald. Yeah, that would be nice.
Saint Clair will be performing at Hoxton Bar & Kitchen in June. Get your tickets here!
You can keep up with Saint Clair on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
You can also find her music on Soundcloud and Spotify.
