Interview: Five Minutes with Saint Rock

Saint Rock is a unique duo consisting of Adam Parker and Fabian Faupel who work on the same piece of music separately, in London and Paris. With this modern approach, we see both focusing on more recent influences for their sound as they have been creating music for a string of other artists before embarking on their own musical journey. The pair have a broad knowledge of music, choosing to focus on the most recent decades as they consider it more than a career but a true passion.

We decided to learn more about the spirited duo behind the music.

Your music has been described as “touching the genres of RnB, pop, urban, future bass, EDM, indie, soul.” Which of these would you say you gravitate towards most, and why does that particular genre draw you in?

Fabian: I‘d definitely say all of our music has a strong pop vibe, relatable to a broad audience, often influenced by different, new and current musical styles we find stimulating. But we can also dig quite deep into certain genres, emulate and develop something new in them if we write for other artists.

Adam: I really enjoy listening to different genres, I wouldn’t say we have a particular genre as you can hear the elements indie guitar/soul style chords, touching on urban trap beats on occasions but then we do have this tropical house EDM vibe that really makes it for me.

You are prolific songwriters and producers, having created music for a string of artists. How did the creative process differ for your own release?

Adam: We didn’t have to follow any specific playlist/guidelines, we had our own influences so incorporated everything we felt we needed to make sure our own released products are gonna represent everything we need to be successful artists hopefully 

Fabian: I guess it‘s our very own approach since we didn‘t co-write these tracks with other artists. Meaning our own, or friend’s, stories that inspired our lyrics and our current favourite artists that influence the sound.

Describe your sound for us. What do you want people to feel when they hear Saint Rock?

Adam: The more I learn about songwriting, the more I realise lyrics help the listeners to understand more about the track than the actual melody. I used to always just want to focus on melody writing but a big part of our sound is our lyrics 

Fabian: Every good pop song should deliver a certain vibe, a strong and defined emotion and should make you feel something. We hope we can express close to life stories in a refreshing way, in a sound which mostly has a touch of sunny tropical pop and light, cool and edgy indie feel.

Take us through your collection of gear, tech or software that accompanies your creative expression.

Fabian: Working mostly in two different places (London and Paris) we have different setups. Adam is on Logic while I‘m on ProTools. Adam is handling all the vocal and guitar recording and basic beats whereas I‘m laying down synths, drums, effects, layering etc and final mixing. Often using Serum, Massive and Omnisphere and Battery, Vocalign and Melodyne.

What outside of music inspires you to create?

Adam:
Most of the time just trying to figure out what actually is going on in life, a good movie or even just a party/gathering with friends and good company.

Fabian:
The crazy stuff you experience in everyday life, the ups and downs, the big questions in life, amazing and hard moments you or people you meet are going through. Inspiration and captivating stories are all around you, you just need to pick them up, find an angle and tell them in an interesting, new way. In terms of creating something else besides music, it would be graphic design and illustration. As a former art director, I love doing our artworks!

Which 3 artists have influenced you the most growing up?

Fabian: Billy Joel, Supertramp, The Corrs

Adam: Post Malone, Aloe Blacc, Avicii

What’s on your current playlist?

Fabian: Ralph, The Aces, PREP

Adam: Matoma, LiL Nas X, Danny Ocean 

If Saint Rock could work with, or perform alongside any artist living or passed, who would it be?

Fabian: Taylor Swift, Calvin Harris, Kygo, Mark Ronson

Adam: John Mayer, Lauv, One Direction, Chris Brown

Follow Saint Rock

Website – Instagram – Facebook – Soundcloud – Spotify