Today, we sat down with Sara, Chris, Austin, and Rob from Fool Saint to talk inspiration to write music, what they would be doing if they weren’t musicians, and much more! Be sure to check out Fool Saint music below after the interview on Spotify!
Interview:
What is your inspiration to write your music? Is it your
surroundings?
There are many visual influences for us collectively- misty nights, neon skies and lights, colorful pastels, the vast cosmos, and mother nature are a few that come to mind. Of course, we are also influenced by other forms of art, media, documentaries, film, books, etc
As far as musical influences are concerned… well, all five of us are living on different musical planets (aka the list goes on and on.) Our influences range from Jefferson Airplane and Pink Floy all the way to Stephen Sonheim and more contemporary artists like Wolf Alice, St.Vincent, and Explosions in the Sky. Oh, and we all grew up listening to either punk, pop-punk, hardcore, and metal. So there is that influence floating around.
What type of music did you listen to growing up?
Each one of us comes at our music from different artistic/ musical backgrounds so the range is rather large. For example, Sara, is a natural born performer and draws on her Musical Theatre training rather heavily, but don’t let this fool you… she is a total metalhead and cites Opeth as one of her most dominant musical influences. Austin grew up spinning records from the grunge, pop-punk, and posthardcore eras. This is definitely apparent in his writing and performance style. Kyle and Rob both love the classic rock era. and Christian.. well he primarily listens to instrumental music that ranges from Progress Metal artists, such as Plini, post-rock bands like Explosions in The Sky, all the way to Brazilian Handpan drumming.
Is there someone you looked up as a hero?
We are all very big on family values. Our parents would certainly fit this role for all of us.
If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing today?
Sara: If I was not a musician, I might seriously consider a Ph.D. in Public Health or Agriculture, Food and Environment.
Chris:. If I were not in Fool Saint, I would be more severe about my classical guitar practice. I would get my DMA (music performance doctorate) to teach and perform classical music.
Austin: Around the inception of one of my former bands, Gatherer, I was enlisted in the military. That ended up falling through, so that’s when we started to make moves with that band which eventually turned me into the musician I am today. So, I can only imagine, if I never committed to that band then I probably would’ve stuck with joining the military and being a completely different person. *Phew* so glad that didn’t happen!
Rob: In a parallel universe where I never picked up the an instrument, maybe I’d be a surrealist painter.
Kyle: If it wasn’t for drums and music, I’m really not sure how I’d choose to spend my time. To me it’s both a hobby and therapy all at the same time – instant mood booster. So I’d want to do something that matched that!
What advice do you have for our fans out there that want to create
music?
A friend gave me this advice and it stuck with me throughout the years- “create the record that is missing from your collection.”
Music: