Exclusive Interview with Breakout Monstercat Artist Sabai

Sabai’s documentation of the rise and fall of a real relationship, the journey through ‘Where It All Began’ started earlier this year with February’s hit ‘Million Days’. 3 million streams on Spotify and a staggering 12 million views on YouTube instantly established Sabai as one to watch and opened his growing fanbase up to following works ‘Save You’ and ‘Broken Glass’. A beautiful blend of soft rock, seductive vocal lines and electronica elements woven around a Future Bass core, his work on  Where It All Began’ now culminates with ‘Memories’.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Hey Sabai! How’s it going man? Tell us what you’ve been up to lately.

I’m doing great! I’ve been working on my first EP “Where It All Began” this year which I just released in full on Monstercat on at the end of October. I’m really happy that I finally got to finish this goal of mine and the response has been amazing!

Congrats on the new single ‘Memories’. What’s the story behind the EP?

Thank you! This EP shows a love cycle that most of us go through. There are four songs in the whole EP: Million Days, Save You, Broken Glass and Memories. Each of the songs represent a chapter of the relationship, from the start till the end. I hope anyone who listens to this EP can relate to at least one of the songs!

Listen to ‘Memories’ on Spotify!

STREAM / DOWNLOAD

What did you learn from the relationship now that it’s over?

It’s very easy for all of us to fall into this stage where we take someone who is close to us for granted. But once the relationship is over and through the pain, I’ve learned exactly what I needed to do or change about ourselves to be a better partner. That is the lesson I took from this relationship.

Your single ‘Million Days’ from the EP did seriously well – what do you think it was about the single that connected so well with people?

I worked on Million Days with Hoang and Claire Ridgely and I think all our sounds work together very well. Claire has such a beautiful voice, Hoang also added a lot of pop elements into the instrumental, and I added Supersaw + Vocal Chop that give the song a bit of that uplifting energy. Take any one of us out of the equation and I really don’t think Million Days would connect with everyone like it did at all.

Listen to ‘Million Days’ on Spotify!

STREAM / DOWNLOAD

What has the feedback from fans been like?

The feedback has been incredible. I started to gain more followers from different platforms and people started engaging more with my content. I also got quite a lot of messages from fans sharing their personal stories about their relationship and how my songs have helped them get through tough times. A lot of the messages that I got also come from music producers who want my advice to improve their own production or wanting to understand more about the industry.

You’re actually part of the Monstercat team – did that influence your decision to release your EP with them?

It definitely made me want to release on the label! Because I know how talented everyone on the team is, I loved the experience of working with the team as an artist on the label as well. However, I wanted to release with Monstercat way before I actually started working here.

Was it strange being on the ‘other side’ of the label equation with your release?

Definitely a little bit but it’s also a very positive thing because it made me understand both sides of the coin more. It was really cool to go through the whole cycle of the release experience with the team rather than being there to support them from my ‘usual’ work side.

How many times have you tried to get your work signed by Monstercat before the EP, or did they just sign it straight away because you’re part of the family there?

It took 4.5 years of me sending demos to the music team. I have no idea how many songs got turned down but probably close to 15. If anything, it made it a bit more challenging for me to get signed because I had to show the whole team that I was serious about this & I was ready as an artist. But I will freely admit that by working at the label, I learned what a record label usually looks for in artists they’d like to sign. It’s not just music but everything as a whole. I made sure to use the knowledge I have to close all the gaps I was lacking as an artist.

Connect with Sabai

Spotify | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

Sabai – ‘Where It All Began’ is OUT NOW! via Monstercat