Q&A: Inside Saint Avangeline’s Spellbinding Hinterland Debut
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY SHEVON GREENE ☆
Photo by Emily Carver
SAINT AVANGELINE IS ONE OF THOSE ARTISTS—who build entire worlds around their songs. Seeing her perform at Hinterland felt like stepping into one of those uniquely crafted worlds. Framed by a tree at the center of the stage and visuals filled with snakes, apples and blooming roses, every detail of her set felt intentional. Her voice throughout the set was haunting yet comforting at the same time, floating effortlessly between delicate dream-pop moments and heavier, metal-inspired turns that caught the audience pleasantly off guard. She even performed an unreleased track, “Flutter,” to give listeners a sneak peek into what her upcoming plans are.
Luna caught up with Saint Avangeline after her first-ever festival set to talk about embracing a new era of songwriting, the colors that inspire her creative process and why she hopes every listener walks away from her music feeling just a little more powerful than when they arrived.
Photo by Emily Carver
LUNA: Thank you so much for meeting with Luna. Congratulations on your set—it was so beautiful. I really loved listening through all the different eras of your music. “Rain Dance” especially feels like it's coming from a place of healing and a different perspective. Was it difficult shifting into that kind of songwriting, or did it feel natural?
SAINT AVANGELINE: It was kind of difficult for me because “Rain Dance” is my first song that's truly about pure, gentle love. All of my music in the past has been a way for me to cope with a lot of the sexual trauma and abuse that I went through. Then, I got into this happy, healthy relationship, and it was the first time in a long time that I felt stable. That actually gave me so much artist's block.
It was like, “Well, I'm really happy now, and that's amazing...but now I can't create.” It proved to be a really interesting new challenge for myself, but I'm so happy that I did challenge myself because I think this is a new era where I can be way more imaginative with the things I create. I can tell more fictional stories than I have in the past. I don't necessarily have to pull from so much pain. I still do, but it's nice to challenge myself in a different way and become more of a creative thinker, coming up with scenarios that I wouldn't have otherwise.
LUNA: You've described hearing music in colors. Has there ever been a song that surprised you with the colors it took on while you were creating it?
SAINT AVANGELINE: That's a great question. Typically, everything I've written starts with discovering the track first. That inspires a color palette for me, and a lot of the time that also inspires the lyrics that come into my head. I'll just kind of free-flow from there. There are some songs where, visually, I ended up doing the complete opposite color scheme of what it actually sounds like in my head. My song “Limerence” is a good example. The visualizer I made for it was bright red and black, but in reality, it sounds like dark blues, teals and greens in my head. That's usually where I write from. I really love cooler color palettes.
LUNA: I can definitely see that. But I can also see the red and black too.
SAINT AVANGELINE: Yeah, for Inferno, for sure. One hundred percent (laughs).
LUNA: I loved watching your set from the crowd. You started off with your softer hits, then suddenly shifted into the heavier, more metal side, and the crowd’s reaction was priceless.
SAINT AVANGELINE: (Laughs) I love giving people whiplash.
LUNA: They were definitely pleasantly surprised.
SAINT AVANGELINE: That makes me so happy to hear.
LUNA: When you're playing a festival for people who might not know your music yet, what do you hope they walk away feeling?
SAINT AVANGELINE: This was actually my very first festival, so that's something I'll probably continue thinking about as I keep playing them. I think my last song, “Flutter,” is a good example. I wrote it about the political unrest happening in this country and around the world. I'm very outspoken, and I have really strong feelings about everything that's happening. Sometimes I feel so powerless. I want people to walk away from my music feeling like they aren't powerless—that there is something they can do. Even if it just leaves them inspired or reminds them of their own inner strength, that's enough for me. My music is all about taking your power back and turning bad situations into beautiful ones. It's like finding a diamond in the rough. That's how I'd describe a lot of my music. You know when you leave a movie theater feeling like, “Wow...I'm going to change the world”? That's the feeling I hope people leave with.
LUNA: I definitely think people will feel that way after your set. Your music has become a place where a lot of queer women and survivors feel understood. Has that relationship with listeners changed the way you think about songwriting?
SAINT AVANGELINE: I don't think so. The first person I've always written music for is myself. The things that inspire me are still the same all these years later. I think if I let other people's opinions influence me too much, I'd end up being led astray. I try to stay really close to making things for myself and making them sound the way I want them to sound. It's just an added bonus that other people connect with them too.
LUNA: This year feels like such a big step for you with new music, your festival debut and your upcoming shows in Paris and London. What part of this next chapter are you most excited for people to experience?
SAINT AVANGELINE: That's another great question. I'm really excited about the visuals I'm about to create. I'm such a visual person, and I really want to give people an experience through color. I want to let people into how my brain perceives things. I'm also just really excited because I feel like this upcoming album is going to be my truest essence. It's the sound I've wanted for myself for a long time, and I'm really excited for people to hear what feels like my true form of music.
Photo by Emily Carver
