Saint Harison has been creating music since his childhood, surrounded by a medley of influences from musical theatre, R&B, soul, motown, and pop. Recognising the power of songwriting from a young age, he utilised the outlet to articulate his experiences and process emotions during hardship. With a central mission statement to “be the artist he needed growing up”, Saint makes meaningful music with purpose and power. His debut EP, “lost a friend”, shows just this.
Harison recently released a new video for the EP’s title track, directed by Teeeezy C. Cinematic and stripped back, the video shows the artist singing to the camera while getting a tattoo. Completely calm despite the painful procedure, he visually depicts the duality evident in the song. His vulnerable, honest, and raw lyrics shine through with captivating vocals and a message of healing.
We had the pleasure of speaking with Saint Harison about his early influences, being vulnerable since his start, and his own favourite tracks from “lost a friend”.
Watch the video…
Read the interview…
How are you? What are you up to right now?
I’m good, just sat on my bed watching Friends!
What or who were your early musical influences?
Definitely a lot of Motown. My Grandad introduced me to Aretha Franklin, Barbara Streisand and Marvin Gaye, and that’s the earliest I really remember.
When did you start creating music yourself and when did you realise it was what you wanted to do as a career?
I won a local singing competition when I was 13 and bought a MacBook with the winnings just to use GarageBand and make music, so that was the beginning of that. Career-wise it was weird, I’d always ‘wanted’ to sing and I remember I wanted to be a Pop star as a teenager, but as I got older I started teaching music and found so much joy in that and stopped chasing the dream for a bit.
How would you define your sound?
I would say my sound is a huge mix of all the genres I grew up and love, but at its core R&B!
Do you have a typical songwriting process?
Not yet, it kind of just comes when it comes. I usually start in the same place – sitting down and listening to music that I want to feel inspired by and then I go from there.
What was the decision to release “why didn’t you call???” as your debut single? What did it tell the world about you as an artist?
I think the honesty in the song just hit so hard for me, it was so real and vulnerable that I wanted to start how I meant to go on. I’ve always admired artists who don’t hold back lyrically, and this was a song I really nearly went back and changed some of the lyrics. I was worried of looking too silly or whatever – but yeah, I’m glad we stuck with it.
We love your EP, “lost a friend”! Can you talk about this project and what you hope to say with it?
Thank you! “lost a friend” focuses on a really unique relationship and narrates the story from beginning to end. All the songs are kind of a marker on the timeline of events, and was really just a huge, nearly two-year-long therapy session for me. When I started writing this project I didn’t even know what I was writing for, I was just trying to find my sound and figure out what my songs were going to be about. It all just figured itself out quite organically in the end.
Do you have a favourite song of yours?
For vibes: “ego talkin”, I love the hook on that record.
For personal crying sessions: “why didn’t you call???”
Your career has been evolving so quickly! Has there been a moment where you’ve felt like, “wow, I’ve made it”?
It’s still very surreal to be honest. I mean, I still live at home with my family so I think they keep me very grounded. I’ve had some beautiful moments with fans when I’ve been out and about. It’s those moments that catch me off-guard and I’m like – wow people are really seeing me and connecting to the music.
What is next for you?
Shows! I’m actually going to be playing these songs live this year, which is crazy. But yes, lots of shows and I’m hoping for a run-in to Jazmine Sullivan at some point, crossing fingers.