It’s been a while since Sarah Anna Psalti-Helbig worked in Greece on her project KEEP SHELLY IN ATHENS with RΠЯ.
Seemingly, even the magnificent ‘Oostende’, taken from their debut ‘At Home’ couldn’t keep Sarah in Athens, seeing the songstress relocating to Berlin for a much needed new challenge and the change of scenery.
Following her directness on ‘Free’
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK is chatting to the lady herself, about the past, present and future for SARAH P.
Congratulations on ‘Who Am I’; it’s a very grown-up record…
Thank you so much! During the time working on the record, I want to believe that I matured a lot, so it makes me happy hearing that my album sounds like that, too.
‘Free’ saw a very direct approach, depicting times when you found yourself at the crossroads, would you describe ‘Who Am I’ as a description of a more settled state of affairs?
Absolutely. ‘Free’ came out of a dark place. It’s about my reckless years where I took many risks and didn’t always emerge as the winner. On ‘Who Am I’, I’m way more considerate – I’m saying what I want to say but in a calmer manner.
Many things changed for me during the time between the two records – my lifestyle changed, I got married and to be honest, I had quite a change of heart about several things (people, situations, beliefs) that affected me, not only as a person but also as a creator.
‘Finding Sigi’ was an exciting step into your acting career. With the new album out, are you just concentrating on music, or is there any more talk about pursuing the movies?
For the moment, I’m concentrating on music, however, if an appealing proposal comes in, I’ll gladly take it on. There are moments where I miss acting so much!
With EraseRestart you can dictate your own rules. But surely things are harder without the support of an established label?
Of course. I mean, we’re mainly two people – my husband and I are the core duo. There’s a lot of juggling going on. But the thing is that, now that I know how it is to be in charge and have the full creative control over my work.
Even if I got offered the most amazing record deal (and I’m talking about a direct signing), I would find it hard to go back to being submissive to other people’s wishes and exceptions from my music and image.
I have a very specific vision of how I want things to play and I only see committed partners in the picture. I’ve been active in music as a professional for the past seven years and this is the most autonomous I’ve ever been. It comes with a lot of work, but I wouldn’t change a thing.
More and more women excel in writing, performing and producing their own music, like GRIMES I AM SNOW ANGEL, GAZELLE TWIN and FIFI RONG to mention a few, who have been reaping successes recently. With the latest album, you’re proving that point further…
Thank you. I’m all down for that girl power. I remember the first time that I sat down to write something on my computer – I was terrified. At the time, I was told that I shouldn’t even try – that I wasn’t able to make my own music. It was really hard to break from those inferiority complexes that you develop as a young woman in the music industry.
Imagine that up to today, whenever we pop up somewhere with my husband, people tend to assume that he’s the mastermind behind my project. I find it utterly sad that we’re still not used to women being equal to men when it comes to creation, capability, and opinion.
But there are so many things going wrong in this world that gender inequality seems like another drop in the bucket.
Elena Alice Fossi aka SPECTRA PARIS has returned with a fantastic album while MARSHEAUX still maintain a loyal following; do you follow and take inspiration from other successful ladies in the synth genre?
Sure I do. I think that women have a completely different style and approach when writing and although, as a young listener, I grew up influenced mostly by male artists, I find myself to be way more drawn to female acts nowadays.
I love love MARSHEAUX and how committed they are to their style – I’m always fascinated by artists who are consistent and never get to disappoint. MARSHEAUX are like a dream! Other inspiring ladies that I love are IAMAMIWHOAMI / IONNALEE, AUSTRA and ZOLA JESUS.
Your output on ‘Who Am I’ is very eclectic, do you set out to make things sound one of a kind?
Not at all. Whenever I sit down to write a song, I start off with a blank canvas and in most cases, I have no clue what I want to write about – I just follow my instincts. I just want to put out music that’s thought-provoking – that’s all I care about.
The ‘Who Am I’ track was a key statement for you?
All ten songs hide key statements in them. The whole album needs time to be understood – not because it’s complex, but because it’s very different from what’s on the radio nowadays. It’s raw! My vision was that the album becomes some sort of treasure hunt, with the treasure being the meanings of the songs. And there can be so many interpretations of them, so there’s a unique treasure for each and every listener.
To go back to your question, ‘Who Am I’ is indeed the heart of the record and means a lot to me both musically, but also lyrically. An early version of it was one of the first tracks I’ve ever written on my computer. In that sense, and connecting to what I mentioned earlier about the prejudice that many have – that women can’t write or aren’t good enough in producing, this song is celebrating the person I am today, the person that I’ve become.
On the other hand, lyrically, the theme I’m approaching is way more sombre. Although it’s manifested in a very understated way that’s open to many reads, ‘Who Am I’ is inspired by the images of refugee camps and tells the story of a young man, who’s waking up in a bed, not remembering a thing about himself and / or how he got there.
It’s pure imagination and I can’t even understand how it is to be violently uprooted from your native land. Writing and singing that song is my way to salute those people who are going through those incredibly hard times.
What was the genesis of ‘LoveStory’ as a song?
Coincidentally, ‘LoveStory’ was also one of the first tracks I ever wrote, but it took me a lot of time to write meaningful lyrics to it. As a true millennial, I struggled for many years to find a love that’s pure and not one-sided. I suffered multiple heartbreaks – they’re countless, really, and I was so defeated that when real love came to me, I was incapable of even realizing it. For a long time, I was trying to destroy it, before it destroyed me. That being said, my partner (who would later become my husband) was extremely patient with me. He was able to tear down my defence walls and “fix my wounds” as I sing.
I understand that selfless love has become very difficult to find, but if my husband and I managed to meet and fall in love in a big city like Berlin, I would say that everything is possible. ‘LoveStory’ is inspired by my personal history, but also by my friends and their friends who have had their hearts broken into pieces by their love interests. It’s also a wish – a lucky spell, if you please, for them to be paired up sometime soon if that’s what they want.
So how did the video for ‘Summer Prince’ spring out of nowhere? Do the visuals ever come into your head during the writing?
’Summer Prince’ is based on memories I have from vacations with my parents and dreams I had as a teenager. I knew that, if we were to film a video for it, the visuals had to be summery and playful. While in Athens, we got the chance to escape for a couple of hours and go to the sea. Very spontaneous as we are, we decided to film this summery adventure, we cut it together and released it the very next day. It’s nothing grandiose – it’s exactly how it should have been. ‘Summer Prince’ is a delayed eulogy to my long-gone innocence and anything too stylized or touched-up would have felt terribly wrong.
As far as your writing technique goes, do you prefer to work with hardware versions of synths or like many today, you don’t shy away from the soft equivalents?
I’m a softy – at least, I became one, due to the circumstances. It was only until late last year that we got to build my home studio. Up to that point, I did everything on my laptop. But hey, I bought some new things, brought my first ever keyboard from Athens and I can already tell that my next album will be way more analogue.
What’s your take on cover versions? Would you ever borrow someone else’s material to make it your own?
I would and maybe I have already, but I can’t say more. I like covers – they’re like being in the attic of an old house and opening the window to let in some fresh air. As long as they’re respectful towards the original pieces, covers are great!
Are we likely to expect ‘Who Am I’ being showcased in live environments any time soon?
That’s become the most difficult question for me to answer during the promotion of ‘Who Am I’. I said before that I won’t play any shows and that’s by choice, opposing a bit the stereotypical idea of putting out a record and performing it live to spread the word.
However, later on, I realised that the way I expressed my views on the matter sounded a bit wacky and kind of negative. So I’d like to clarify that it’s not that I don’t want to play live shows, it’s that I’d like to perform in places and under circumstances that make sense to me and do not cause a headache to me and to my team.
I know that the music lovers and concert goers do not really care about what I’m going to say, but I’ll say it anyway – it’s often that promoters and venues not only dare to just ‘invite’ you to play to places and expect you to cover all of your costs on your own (note: an invitation often means that there’s no fee paid to the artists and the bands), but also do their job very poorly when it comes to promotion, basic professionalism and / or respecting the artists’ riders (and I’m talking about common riders, not the diva-esque, extravagant ones).
I don’t like to generalise – as there are many unprofessional promoters and venue managers, there are many unprofessional artists, too. However, I believe that change can only come when you do something about what’s wrong and that’s the reason why I haven’t confirmed any live shows for the time being. So far, I didn’t receive any offers that met with my terms. And just to be clear, the problem is rather in the morals than in the pockets.
It’s not about getting offered an astronomical amount of money to perform – I’m not Justin Bieber, it’s about not settling down to being treated in a disrespectful manner that’s resembling illegal prostitution in so many ways. I hope this doesn’t sound too insensitive and that nobody gets offended by my words. It’s just how I see things.
What does the future hold for you?
I’m currently producing visuals for the rest of the songs of ‘Who Am I’. I also already started recording and producing my next album. There are several things coming up that I can’t announce just yet, but I will soon enough!
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to SARAH P.
Special thanks also to Robert Helbig at Hellbig Music
‘Who Am I’
https://www.facebook.com/sarahpofficial/
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Text and Interview by Monika Izabela Trigwell
Photos by Fotini Chora
15th July 2017
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