Ahead of his performance at Arts Commons’ Origins: Courage, the genre-bending musician opens up about his influences, the pressures of the industry, and why his music is anything but saintly.

Who are you?

I’m New Saint! I sing, I rap, and I shit-post on TikTok. I’ve been on a lifelong journey with all expressions of art but music always seems to come back to me. I wanna try directing a movie one day, but also learn how to develop a video game the next. Let’s see where it goes!

How would you describe your sound/work to someone unfamiliar? Any prominent artist or genre influences?

Expect nothing and everything at the same time. My first introduction to music was through hip-hop when I first moved to Canada, but since then I’ve explored all sorts of genres and forums to find crazy underground shit and bootlegs. I had this Ying Yang Twins deep cut on vinyl, the promo ones they used to send to clubs.

But, my first brain chemistry-altering experience was moving to Vancouver for school and getting exposed to all the local indie and punk bands in the city. That entire era of me was fuelled by Death Grips and $3 breakfasts. I also don’t wanna say “Asian Post Malone,” but someone said that in a hurtful IG Reels comment once and it’s not even true. 

If you could only perform one song of yours for the rest of your life, which one would it be and why? 

I like that this question implies a nightmare situation where I’m a one hit wonder, but somehow will get a nasty shock or die every time I even try to sing one of my other songs. I would say “BALISONG” because then at least we’re having a good time and not (as) fucked up.

Is there a particular feeling or state of mind that you need to be in to create your best work?

I do my best work when I’m having fun and relaxed, but sometimes I just put on an angry beat and yell some bars to belt out some stress. Some of them I release, some of them are just for me and my hard drive. You just gotta move accordingly.

How do you respond to people who say music isn’t as meaningful today as it was in past decades?

It’s hard to break out of the same Billboard Hot 100 habit, especially when your streaming platform keeps magically playing the same songs over and over back to you in a big feedback loop powered by AI shit. But thankfully, it will all be worth it when we look back at this era and see it as a golden age of real human culture. The music is so good. Maybe we’re taking it for granted. Music will always reflect its reality and things like that tend to switch up.

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Have you ever felt that the pressure of the music industry has impacted the authenticity of your work, or do you find ways to resist that pressure?

There’s the music industry, where millions of real people who work in music related jobs have long and successful careers, and then there’s the entertainment industry. Okay, story time: I was like 18 and touring the US as a singer/songwriter. The second stop was a Canadian themed bar in LA during Canada Day. First stop was Seattle, but we don’t talk about that one (empty bar because our promoter didn’t do his job).

Played the show, had a great time, then ended up in the smokers’ corner outside. A drunk guy comes up to me and says he wrote the movie where Shia LaBeouf gets chased around by the government or something. Told me it made a million dollars or something, but he barely got enough for a car payment. I was like “Damn bro, that sucks,” then went back inside. We knew the owner from Calgary, so we literally slept in the bar when everyone left.

Moral of the story: yeah man, that industry shit sucks, but you just have to stand up for yourself and stay true to who you really are. 

If there was one message you could leave behind in your music for future generations, what would it be?

Be good, be creative and don’t be an asshole.

New Saint is performing at Origins: Courage, presented by Arts Commons and TD Amplify, on Jan. 31, 2025. Taking place at Calgary’s Engineered Air Theatre, the showcase also features performances from interdisciplinary artists Mera Reyes, Christopher Gamble, Emily Martinez, B Beats, and more.

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