Big Size, Bold Ambitions: Saints Amongst Sinners Let You In On Their Family Affair
With Saints Amongst Sinners, it feels just like family (Credit: Courtesy of Spikyfruits)
There is magic in togetherness. You witness this phenomenon more clearly when the magnitude of its occurrence plays in large strokes. That’s why the idea of the ‘big band’ format has always been a source of fascination, and following the footsteps of this formidable endeavour is a new collective called Saints Amongst Sinners.
The septet steps up to the daunting challenge with strident synchronicity, building a legion-esque sound with one hive mind. You can almost sense the psychic connection between its seven members – all of whom are friends outside of their musical escapades – as they simultaneously veer towards unexpected directions without friction or uncertainty. It’s a cohesive bond that makes you feel warm and fuzzy, and a chemistry that’s culminated in the fruition of their debut record.
Titled Y/OURS, the nine-track LP features material honed through the band’s years of performances that include The Esplanade (Rocking the Region) and Singapore Sports Hub (Shine Fest). Their songs generously feature octave-spanning duets from its two vocalists which exhibit a dance of tenderness, yet the other members – guitars, bass, drums and even a sampler – buttress this delicate union with startling contrast through magnificent, rock-conscious arrangements.
You hear this in the treacly dream-pop textures of “Wondering” and “Lover’s Dream” which shimmer with coats of psychedelia. It hits you when you’re walloped with the rolling shoegaze tsunamis of “Bitter Truths” that undulate vehemently. You have the elephantine stadium-rock sentiments of “Fealty” and its grand hooks. And just when you think you have them figured out, out comes the guttural, throaty yells that punctuate the beastly climax of “Bind”, exposing their esoteric hardcore influences.
Saints Amongst Sinners have been building their craft and identity since 2017 (Credit: Courtesy of Spikyfruits)
As a whole, Y/OURS represents a milestone of triumph for Saints Amongst Sinners. This is a band that’s been patient in their growth and their existence, surviving amidst the scene’s ongoing spate of rough waters. To them, putting this album out resembles a victory after so much hardship. A light at the end of the tunnel. Or in the context of their kumbaya-like dynamic, a group hug well deserved following the defeat of a gruelling ordeal. They’ve accomplished this, after all, as something close to family.
Now to tell you more about their giga-sized ambitions and how they keep their house in order, Saints Amongst Sinners opens their door in this interview feature.
Beyond their press shots, you can hear the camaraderie in the tightness of their sound (Credit: Courtesy of Spikyfruits)
The notion of a big music collective has always been admirable to me. What fuelled the vision of forming such a huge outfit?
Mat: I always liked the idea of big groups. Hari Raya, group outings, barbecues – I’ve always been a sucker for these things and the memories that come out of it. The trick is not bloating up the group with random people, but bringing people that all have connections to each other together.
The band performing at The Esplanade for Rocking the Region (Credit: Courtesy of Spikyfruits)
Were y’all inspired by other big bands locally and abroad?
Zam: Most of us in the band have different musical influences when it comes to songwriting. We literally listen to anything from shoegaze and r&b to hardcore punk stuff. I guess the main inspiration for us is definitely Title Fight and Whirr when it comes to guitars. As for our heavy parts, we were influenced by hardcore bands such as Counterparts and Knocked Loose. The list goes on.
The dual-vocalist format gives the band more layered perspectives in their lyricism (Credit: Courtesy of Spikyfruits)
Coming together like this and finding the right people couldn't have been easy. Did these encounters arise by happenstance or were they a result of years of strategic recruiting?
Mat: You can say that again. We’ve had soooo many lineup changes when we tried to start the band again. We knew who and what we were looking for, but it was not easy. After a few months of trial and error with different members, we settled with the current members that we have (with the exception of Matt; Matt joined us in late 2019).
Saints Amongst Sinners are not immune to the issues that stem from having a big band (Credit: Courtesy of Spikyfruits)
But of course, big bands come with big challenges. How do y’all deal with logistical issues and creative differences?
Dom: I think that the great thing about us is that we are generally open to any ideas with a ‘just try’ kind of mentality. But of course occasionally, we will have disagreements or clash in ideas. We always come up with a compromise at the end of the day.
Logistics-wise in terms of equipment, it’s usually not a problem. Most venues have what we need to support our sound. But we would struggle with finding a venue with a stage that can fit all seven of us. So venues like Lithe House or Music Parlour are not going to fit all of us.
The band believe in having a balance in their sound, despite the number of components within (Credit: Courtesy of Spikyfruits)
With so many members, it’s easy to go overboard with the output of your music. How do you keep arrangements balanced to leash the mass of sound?
Mat: Each member of the band will have their own specific part to play in the song and this can always be rotated since we have seven members. It is common for our sounds to clash and not meld together in the beginning stages of writing a song, and that’s where we would start figuring out how to appropriately assign parts amongst each other. Parts such as leads, rhythm or pads are usually rotated and we would tend to play more than one part in a song by switching at different parts of the song.
This allows for balance in the band, and that is most important as we wouldn’t want to always sound like a wall of noise. Most of it comes naturally and we wouldn’t usually have to think too hard about who does what.
Together with Day, Mateen delivers co-vocals for the band (Credit: Courtesy of Spikyfruits)
With two vocalists in the group, how are songwriting duties split?
Day: Lyric-writing between Mateen and myself has been very natural, in a sense where we have a gist of who will write what lyrics for which song. You would think there would be a bit of conflict between who gets to control the lyric-writing, but it’s been very smooth for us. I think this stems from the members just being great friends outside of the band so we understand each other’s workflow and sentiments towards the work we produce. It can be as easy as “Hey, I wrote lyrics for this song already” and the other person would support the story behind the lyrics 100% and work from there.
Interestingly, you also have a sampler in the group. How does this role enhance the sound of SAS?
Mat: Matt’s the spice in our music. He fills up a lot of the empty spaces that we have and he’s great at creating an atmosphere for each song. We wouldn’t be able to play some songs without him. It just doesn’t work or ‘sound right’. He’s the youngest of the band too, so his ideas are always fresh and interesting.
Matt, the “spice in their music” (Credit: Courtesy of Spikyfruits)
Let’s talk about the debut album. How long has this been in the making and what does it represent for the band?
Matt: The songs have been in the making for very long! Some of these songs like “Bitter Truths”, “Lover’s Dream” and “Wondering” were written even before I was a part of the band so I would say the album has been worked on for about more than three years. There have been countless amounts of drafts and thrown demos that don’t making the cut, but we truly feel that the current state of the album now is one that we are most proud of and it really represents what Saints Amongst Sinners is. We were also able to slowly form up a team of people over the past year that were the driving force to completing the album like Leonard Soosay from Snakeweed and Zuirfan, also known as UUhile.
The album showcases the different tastes and styles of each member mashed together nicely. I think some of these tracks could be a surprise to listeners as our band’s sound is definitely wider than what most people think! It is going to be an interesting album for sure.
“It felt right to just show everyone who we really are and this is the album for it.” (Credit: Courtesy of Spikyfruits)
Can you tell us more about the stories that the album explores?
Mat: It’s really about us and the people who have supported and believed in us. We wouldn’t be doing any of these things if it weren’t for the people around us. We wanted to share with everyone our own individual experiences. The lows that we hit (by low I mean really low; these past few years have not been easy on us as a band and as individuals), and the highs that we’ve experienced. It felt right to just show everyone who we really are and this is the album for it.
From your singles so far, it’s clear that you guys gravitate towards dreamy, psychedelic sounds. How did y’all stumble into this particular vortex?
Harist: To be frank, it just happened naturally. We often write collectively in a studio, so understanding everybody’s sounds and patterns became second nature to all of us after years of passing around ideas and rehearsing together. We try to rehearse once every week so we can catch up with one another and share our weekly experience through our instruments and it just happened to sound dreamy.
“Playing or even writing music is everything to us. It's what we love.” (Credit: Courtesy of Spikyfruits)
The pandemic has made it hard for many musicians to stay positive, yet you guys have managed to hold onto your spirit. How did you do it?
Zam: When the pandemic started a year ago, it wasn't easy for us to remain positive especially during the lockdown period. Shows were cancelled and we could not even jam or meet one another. It was a really dark period for us as musicians. When news came out regarding Phase Two, we immediately returned to the studio and continued songwriting for the full-length album after three months of not being able to meet up. I felt that what’s helped us remain positive during this pandemic is that all seven of us in the band are passionate, committed and dedicated to finishing the product that we have been working so hard on for the past three years. Besides, playing or even writing music is everything to us. It's what we love.
And lastly, how do you balance between your personal and creative lives? Or do they come intertwined with Saints Amongst Sinners?
Martin: Our day-to-day routine can be either overwhelming or mundane. One thing’s for sure is that the creative lives we lead have never been a thing we needed to balance. It’s more of an escape from everything else in life, like a treat for us at the end of such a tiring week. The jamming sessions are usually where the creativity assembles and it’s a common space where each and everyone of us look forward to the most.
Listen to Y/OURS by Saints Amongst Sinners on Spotify. Follow their Instagram page to stay updated with their activities.
