The Galway tallent, Saul Blake, is a multi genre artist with emotional and personal lyrics. Though his sound is always changing Saul always keeps true to himself in his songs and in his life. Jumping from slow and somber hip hop ballads to high energy punk, pop and rap his lyrics always remain distinctive and relatable. ‘X’ is a song about the internal struggles of drug dependency and dependency on a loved one. Accompanied by acoustic guitar and rising percussion Saul really shows off his singing in the chorus while pouring out deep and powerful lyrics in the verses.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Kamil) Hey Saul Blake, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. What first got you into music?
Hey Kamil, I’ve always loved music and growing up there would constantly be music blaring around the house. But when I was about 9 or 10, our primary school had a talent show and these kids came up with a drum kit and a guitar and blasted out ‘7 nations army’ by the white stripes. It was my first time experiencing that kind of live energy, the whole room was electric and seeing these two kids really giving it everything on stage inspired the hell out of me. It took a few years after that but eventually I got my first guitar at around 14 and I bet you can guess the first song I learned.
What is your creative process like?
It varies to be honest, sometimes it's very hectic and spotainius, meaning I will need to rush off to my pc and start creating IMMEDIATLTY or the moment will be lost. Then with other songs it may take me starting it and revisiting the track a couple of times till I like it. Either way, I think constantly changing what I listen to and new experiences in life help to keep the creativity flowing.
Your latest song is 'X'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?
X Is a song I wrote when I was struggling with things. For me, It's about dependency and self doubt. The vocal tone and singing style was something relatively new to me while i was writing this, it was a lot of fun to initially create. It’s also the first time I had the pleasure of working with Jeremy Rompala, a very talented engineer and producer from the US. And IOF, a fantastic guitarist and producer from Greece.
What was the most difficult challenge you faced?
I don't think there will ever be a more difficult or important challenge than trying to always do right for my son Ezra.
What is the biggest mistake you have made within your career to this point?
Not releasing enough, and not networking more when I was younger. But its all learning.
How do you know when a work is finished?
That’s a tough one, you could work on a song forever. But I just take it step by step and once we are past arrangement and the initial mix the rest is just polishing.
What are your long term goals?
When it comes to goals I try and take it year by year and reassess depending on where i'm at, this year its 50k listeners on spotify, 100k on one song..and some other things i can't mention. Who knows what next year will bring.
Do you have a mentor or coach?
There's a lot of people I admire but honestly, no, I’m just trying to be a better me everyday.
What memorable responses have you had to your work?
Ive had some pretty cool song coverage and some great interviews, especially speaking with detroit unplugged. But the best responses are always when I meet someone who listens to my music. I just think its cool as fuck.
What are your plans for the future?
Music video for ‘X’ is on the way, working on multiple releases for 2022 (and maybe a little something else) and we're talking about an ireland/uk tour in the summer.