Project Description
Interview with
SAAKB
(September 2020)
Interviewer – Dave Bruce
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Have you always wanted to be a musician? When did you get the song writing bug?
When I was four years old, I would take my dads round hair brush and pretend it was a microphone. I would then stand on the glass coffee table in my living room (glass that I broke quite often as a kid), in front of the television set with MTV on, and mimic the likes of Michael Jackson and New Kids On The Block.
How would you describe your sound? Why do you think people resonate with your music?
I write love songs. I studied pop music growing up, and in the 80’s, 90’s and early aughts (2000), love songs were all I heard. Pop music didn’t start getting darker until 2010, and the darkness is really cool, but it’s not me. As MJ said, “I’m a lover not a fighter.”
Which artist’s music and/or performance, past or present, inspires you today?
Again, I’m a student of pop music, and the man at the top was literally the King of Pop (Michael Jackson). If you listen to my music and my voice, it’s no secret that I’m a vocal descendant of that man. In addition to MJ, I became a huge Craig David fan and student the minute I heard that run he did in “Walking Away” (“And I don’t wanna live my Liiiiiiiife, too many sleepless nights”).
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Your new single has just been released! Describe its origin and evolution.
The song was produced by Noden of Mixtape Seoul. I heard the instrumental on Beatstars about twenty minutes after it was posted and I immediately messaged Noden on Instagram and told him how much I loved it and that I already had a melody in mind. He was gracious enough to send me the stems and we worked together to finish the song and artwork. It’s a joint release between SAAKB and Mixtape Seoul.
The song is about forgetting about the troubles of the world and enjoying moments with the one(s) you love.
Is there an EP or Album on the drawing board?
Yes – though I don’t have a release date set in stone. I’ve written and recorded hundreds of songs and I’m still figuring out how to piece them all together. Some of them may never see the light of day, and that’s okay. I just want the album to make sense musically. Since I’ve written and recorded songs to almost every subgenre of Pop/R&B, it’s getting a bit difficult to make the tracklist cohesive. But I hope to have a body of work released in early 2021.
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With COVID putting a halt to concerts, are there any upcoming live stream concerts fans expect? What are you looking forward to, and what can the fans expect?
I’ve gone live on Instagram a few times since COVID took over our collective lives, but there’s something strange about watching the number at the top right of the screen increase and decrease. Also, it cheapens the entire experience. If I do a livestream performance, it’s got to be unique, and it definitely won’t be for free. I’d love to do something similar to what Bad Bunny did recently, where he was on top of a vehicle driving through NYC, performing live and simultaneously streaming. I obviously don’t have his clout or bankroll, so I would have to be a lot more creative than that.
Long story short: it’s unlikely.
If you could perform with any music artist, Alive or Dead, who would you choose? And why?
I’m going to leave out the obvious answer here and choose an artist who’s currently living: Bruno Mars. In all honesty, I don’t even want to perform with him, I just want to be a fly on the wall while he writes, records, and rehearses.
Do you have any long-term aspirations as a music artist?
I just want my music to connect with as many people as possible. I’m blessed enough that I have the tools to facilitate this goal, but so does everyone else. The attention wars are real and they’re expensive for an independent artist.
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What is the best thing about performing to a live audience? What’s been the career highlight so far?
To be honest, I’ve never performed my music in front of a live audience, but I’m looking forward to it. LIve performance is a completely different animal from writing and recording songs in the studio; it’s an artform in and of itself. I started cutting my teeth performing live a couple of years ago at this great open mic called “RoseHill Mondays” in midtown Manhattan. The musicians there are a million times better than I am (one of the hosts, Melanie Daniels, was a lead background vocalist for Mariah Carey), so it was humbling being around these geniuses. Thinking back at it, I really do miss Monday nights in the city. It was soul-cleansing.
Finally, a few questions for some quick answers –
FAVOURITE:
Album – “Off The Wall” – Michael Jackson
Artist – The King of Pop
Movie – Everything by Christopher Nolan
Place to visit – New Brunswick, NJ (Lots of memories there)
Venue to play – RoseHill Mondays
Food – My mothers’ Biryani
Drink – Perrier Lemon
Person in History – Jordan B. Peterson
Tattoo – (If you don’t have one, what would you get?) No tattoo’s for me. They’re a slippery slope, and people rarely ever just get one. The first one is just a gateway drug.
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Check out SAAKB below
Facebook, Instagram and Twi
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Rising pop and r&b artist
SAAKB
releases his new single entitled
“Move Until You’re Numb”
Listen to “Move Until You’re Numb” here
New Jersey-based artist, SAAKB, recently released of his new single “Move Until You’re Numb.” SAAKB is no stranger to the Toronto music scene, he’s worked alongside Toronto-based artists Yassin and Rizzla on the tracks “Shame” and “Summer” the remix, garnering SAAKB almost 1 million streams on Spotify. For this single, SAAKB wanted to turn from his familiarity sounds of slow r&b to a fresh upbeat pop and r&b mixing. Co-produced by SAAKB himself and Seoul, Korea based producer Noden of Mixtape Seoul, “Move Until You’re Numb” is the perfect blend of energetic and positive vibes that will be sure to pull listeners out onto the dance floor. The animated lyrical video, created by Melinda Mouzannar (based in Beirut, Lebanon), was able to be completed upon the release of “Move Until You’re Numb” despite the difficult hardships faced throughout Beirut.
You can listen to “Move Until You’re Numb” here. The single is available on all streaming platforms including Apple Music and Spotify.
Inspired by the events of the quarantine, “Move Until You’re Numb” is a tribute to forgetting about the status of the world and spending quality time with the ones you love. “Move Until You’re Numb” is an uplifting song about removing uncertainty and enjoying life, loving yourself and loving those around you. The musical styling within the single reflects those of SAAKB’s inspirations: Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Bruce Swedien, Rod Temperton, ToTo, and everyone else involved in making the album’s Off The Wall and Thriller. The lyrical styling tells the story of the highs and lows of the internal struggles of being quarantined with your partner. Though at times it may be tough, focusing on the positives will help you get through anything, even in the darkest of times.
“Move Until You’re Numb is an uplifting song about removing uncertainty and enjoying life,” says SAAKB . “It’s about loving yourself and loving those around you. No limits.”
With the world slowly moving forward to a new normal, SAAKB is busy in the studio working on new bodies of music and has an album in the works that is set to be released in 2021.
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