A MUSIC EXPLORATION WITH SAUN SANTIPREECHA
SAUN SANTIPREECHA is a composer and sound artist from Thailand whose work often explores the inescapable interiority of experience and those singular moments which cast a shadow across the plain of one’s existence, examining and questioning this from a multitude of angles. On a thematic level, these inquiries resonate outwards towards exploring the relationship between ourselves and nature through technology, creating a sonic womb within which opposites, reflections and refractions bounce back and forth, often juxtaposing moments in time to create an impression of timelessness and allowing the audience to engage in both internal and external dialogue. Aside from his solo work, he often collaborates with artists from various fields including filmmakers, singer-songwriters, fashion designers and writers.
What hot sounds in the city should fans be listening to of yours right now?
I’m not sure if the ‘wet’ sounds of Dandelye help but perhaps they’d offer some kind of solace from the heat that’s permeating everywhere right now. I recorded a number of them up in the Angeles Crest mountains as the ice was melting and another prominent recording was during one of the rarer rain storms here in Los Angeles. How has the reception been to the new music?
The reception has been great! I’ve been very touched to hear and read people’s reactions to Dandelye. What are you looking forward to most when it comes to the new music?
Being primarily a studio artist, there is always a bit of a disconnect with the audience as I rarely, if ever, perform live. But in a way I really cherish this distance which allows for a different kind of connection, perhaps a more private one. As we all know, it’s more often than not that we have a certain way we interact with those around us and there are few people that perhaps we could say truly knows us and we truly know them, and even then, we wouldn’t really understand and know everything beneath the surface of what they’re telling or showing us. This is the incredible beauty and power of art for me. I suppose it really dawned on me growing up reading a lot, particularly first-person novels: you really get to live within that character throughout the duration of the novel and often it stays with you. For some reason, Jane Eyre always comes to mind here. I suppose it’s what I’ve always tried to capture within my music, that sense of being within a mind, a person that maybe isn’t you but through which you can experience the world anew. I’ve always personally felt that that experience has the potential to be more impactful when it is a private one, or at least I’ve always tended to prefer those, so that distance in both space and time between the artist and the audience can allow for this. What was the intention set for your music?
I had hoped to create a space within which opposites and contradictions could co-exist. I suppose ultimately, as in most of my work whatever medium, I’m very interested in exploring what it means to be human, particularly from an internal point of view which is what I think music (meaning music without lyrics) does best. The ephemeral and temporal nature of music, particularly without the concreteness of language, seems the perfect vehicle to exploring and painting what is within and how one wrestles with oneself, how one changes over time. I come from a background in visual art so I always tend to think in those terms, particularly in the sense of object and shadow and the layering of paint and texture as in oil painting. Each project is like a collection of paintings and with each I try to find my palette. Dandelye was very much about finding a certain concreteness even though it’s an exploration within a void so-to-speak, so the way sounds from our environments enter and become fused and distorted within our space was a big part of that album. What was the most important message to impart with your music?
I try to embody an experience within the form I’m working in rather than have a particular message to impart as I’m always a bit leery of being didactic. For Dandelye, I tried to create a semblance of space within a void that the audience could touch and feel their way through, some things would be familiar, others would not but hopefully the experience would allow one to think and feel things one hasn’t before, maybe even about oneself. What is the call to action you want yourself to do after the release?
I’ve been experimenting on what seems to be the next project, a series of portraits in sound/music. Having admired the Francis Bacon portrait paintings most of my life, I’d always wondered what that might sound like, to do portraits of people I know, trying to capture their essence, but in sound. So after Dandelye and some time to clear my mind, I began to explore this and am very excited at the possibilities of it. What are the lyrics you want your fans to be repeating for the rest of the summer from this new music?!
I don’t work with lyrics in my music though I have been recording my mother reciting her poetry which I hope to incorporate into a project but I doubt it will function in the way lyrics do in a song. I do love the texture of the human voice and of wind instruments so I’m always fascinated by how I can incorporate them within my work in various ways. Drop all your streaming links to make sure to get continued support on all you do!!
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