Santigold's elevation

Take 5. The people you love play five songs they love and tell you why. I still remember the very first time I heard Santi Gold.

Me, I'm a creator Thrillers to make it up the rules I break Got me a blaze up on the radar Me, I'm a taker Know what the stakes are can't rule it back is understood Got to play I could.

It was like a bolt from the blue. An upload to MySpace that sounded like nothing else around. The trilling high vocal, that deep, bassy ownership of song. She came onto the scene demanding to be noticed, and I stood to attention with my ears wide open. Her debut album would be a big hit and I'd soon learn her backstory in punk bands. Working at labels, understanding the wild 360 of the music industry and spitting it back and making it her own. Santa Gault has always done it differently and always been one of my favourite people to chat music with, which is why I asked her to take five. She's just released a new album, too. Spirituals is a reach for transcendence made when Santi couldn't physically leave the house during the pandemic. She soared within her own mind and created an album that elevated her out of the lockdown she was in. So I riffed on that idea for her Take five and asked her to share her songs of elevation.

I got that mana for you, mama I take your money, fools and then off to the Bahama.

Before we dove into her extraordinary selection. I asked her about that song High Priestess, and how early it came once she knew what kind of record she wanted to make.

Yeah, I had started working on it pretty early and I finished it pretty late because for that one, it was just like I even came up with the beginning of that song before I even knew where I was going with the record, before it was named Spirituals or before anything. And I actually went back and changed the chorus to make it work better with the theme. But I knew I wanted to make a song that was like, mixing the energy of rap and punk. And so, you know, I started it with a producer, Ray Brady, who's a good friend of mine. And we just, you know, put on all these, like, subs and 808s and sort of new wave synths and, you know, the energy that came with vocally. And then I reached out to Boys Noise and he killed it with this, like, all this other stuff that. With all these analog synths and, like, sick stuff, drum stuff that he did. But then it was still. I was just like, it's just not. It's not really feeling punk to me. And so, you know, we tried everything. We tried throwing in some guitars and some live drums, and it just sounded so, you know, it's a very, very delicate line to trying to make a cool rap and punk song, and you could end up in really cheeseball territory. And that. That's what was happening. And so finally I. I invited Simon and then he brought in Ryan Olson and they killed it, because what they did was they stopped trying to take a literal approach to punk. And they basically brought the energy and the angst and the aggression, but with more like futuristic sounds and a different. A fresh approach, so. So that it feels punk, but it's not in the way of what you would think of as punk, you know?

Yeah.

And you feel the push and the pull and the stop and start, and it just was so cool and. Yeah. And as far as the High Priestess, I mean, it's just like a brag and boast rhyme, really, about, you know, I'm the best. But it really talks about going a little bit deeper, which I think is in line with the theme of the rest of the record. It's just like being the guardian of a spirit space that's, like, not really navigated by many in pop music, you know, just a really thoughtful, introspective space.

Have you been pushed in the last few years, given the context of what's been going on in the world, to kind of take yourself places that you've never been before? Because, I mean, sonically, talking about what you're talking about there, these are areas that you've always explored. That mash of electronic music, punk, you know, hip hop, all of that has been part of your DNA. But I guess thinking about creatively, this record, did you take yourself into new zones making this new album?

I took myself into new zones, but not in the way that, you know, you would think. I wasn't, like, setting out to achieve a certain sound or. Or a certain style in the creation of the music, you know, I just. I took myself into new places on a level of, like, human evolution and in really exploring myself and my behavior patterns and my survival patterns and, you know, things that are really important, especially over the last couple years that have been really challenging and very strange times and dark in a lot of ways. And I really. For me, this record was more about finding my way through and saving myself and in the process, creating some beauty and some light to move towards for myself and then also for whoever else could grab on and get that from it as well. So for me, it was a real work of exploration within, you know, and finding out how to continue to have hope and. And find the fight and touch into the power that I know I possess and that all of us possess to keep going. And it was about human resilience. And so those are some things that I had to grapple with in a way that I maybe never had before. And I think that that's what really sets this album apart. And then as far as, like, what it ended up sounding like, that just happens, you know. I didn't say like on this record I would really like to explore these. These new sounds. It was just like this is where I was. This is what I knew I wanted. I wanted it to feel like. I wanted it to feel, for example, you know, So I wanted. I wanted a lot of, like, subs, which I may have not played as much with in the past. And I wanted. I also wanted it to feel ethereal. I wanted to feel like you were moving through dimensions. So I guess that stuff just took form around what I was experiencing.

Well, it's a beautiful sounding record. You know, you made a choice to create beauty and to pull yourself towards that beauty. And you've done that with us as well. And today we're going to kind of trek through some other artists who have done the same for you. And we're going to kick off with a epic song from Jimi Hendrix. Voodoo Child is your first choice. How does this elevate you, Santi?

I don't know. It just makes me so happy that we've been talking about Food and Child and Jimi Hendrix right now. I mean, I just. I don't listen to Jimi Hendrix a lot anymore. And the reason I picked the song is because I did in, like my super formative years. I listened to Jimmy all the time. And when I was looking for songs that elevated me, I mean, I really have to kind of go far back because there's not much music out now. That music isn't the same. It's been so commodified and it's so much about what's sellable. But the music I grew up on and the music that influenced me to make, the kind of music I make was always music that was topical and that talked about things and really pushed boundaries. And Jimi Hendrix, hands down, I mean, you didn't have to say he was a pioneer in black artists doing rock and pioneer and guitar playing alone, Venturing into the world of the electric guitar and using his instrument to speak, you know, like he spoke through his guitar. There aren't many musicians that use their instruments in that way anymore. So just with him as a black artist who was, you know, pioneering into genres that, of course, black people helped to create but then also were just, you know, considered out of bounds for black artists, Jimmy was just, like, bucking down all the, you know, all the barriers. And he's one of the best of all times in the world of rock music. And the fact that he called himself a voodoo child, I love it because it just means that he. I mean, I'm talking about punk, you know, He. That's a punk statement. He's like, I am what I want. I am what you might view as scary. I am free, I am magic. And talk about claiming his power. And then as I was listening to the lyrics, I was like, oh, my God. I quoted this song in my yearbook. I love. I didn't realize I'm standing next to a man. I'll chop it down with the edge of my hand. Pick up all the pieces, make an island. I wrote that down. Might even little, Might even raise a little sand. That was my quote in my yearbook. This next choice is Too Short. Getting it. Get everything you want. Get real, get your mail, get your girl to make bail and get your ass out of jail. You should be getting it everything you want, everything you dreamed of, never have the front should be getting it.

That song is a mantra for motivation, Santi. I mean, why did you pick this song? Do I even need to ask? This feels like your jam.

Oh, my God. I loved Too Short so much. Like, I am such a Too Short fan, and I don't know why. I just love him so much. Like, I like his flow, and I like his beats that he chooses. But I was just searching tall and wide for my. My fifth Elevation song. And then I was joking, and I was like, how about Too Short? And I started playing this song, which is, like, one of my favorites. And I was like, oh, my God. This is an elevating song because it's about getting yours, man. It's about, you know, and it's about his past and how he made it, you know? And it's. It's totally a song about following your dreams and making it happen and go Too short, you know, this song makes me really happy. And two, that's another thing. This song actually makes me happy, even if I wasn't listening to the lyrics. It's just such a fun song. I get so excited when I hear it.

It really takes you back as well in the production to 1996. Like, there's certain hip hop songs that just take you back to a capture of a time, and I feel like that's one of them. It's a real moment in time.

Yeah. This one, I was working at Epic Records at the time this came out, and I actually know about the CD because it landed on my desk, like, physically landed on my desk, back when CDs, like, you know, when the CD would be placed on your desk. And I took it home because I asked. I didn't steal it, but I took it home and it became one of my favorite records of all time. Get it while it's good. Get it while you can.

You should be getting it.

Get it while you're getting. It's good. You should be.

You strike me as someone who's always getting it. You've always been highly motivated. You've always tried new ideas, pushed the limits of what you can do. Has that always been in you from when you were a little kid?

Yeah, I think I'm just like one of those people who. I mean, I have so many ideas all the time, and it's just. As a kid, I didn't always have the outlet for the energy, for that Creative energy. Yeah, I created, but not on the scale that my brain was going. And I would get really down when I didn't feel like I was doing enough, you know, and now I don't ever feel like I'm not doing enough because I'm doing. I'm always beyond my own capacity, which I'm working on. Just, like, kind of reeling it in a little bit. But, like, it really feeds my spirit to be able to create constantly. And it doesn't mean music all the time. As everybody knows, I'm not always working on music, but I'm always working on something. And I really do believe, as far as music goes, that, you know, sometimes you need a fallow period, Sometimes you need to wait for the next inspiration, or else, you know, you'd be at the same place that you were when you finished the first, the last record. Sometimes you need a little bit of life to happen in between. And so during those moments, that's when I get to create other things. And I think that is. That's definitely who I am.

Yeah, it all feeds everything else, doesn't it? And I really respect that, that you've taken the time through your career, you know, this is your fourth record. You haven't just, like, churned stuff out at the whim of, or the want of a label or a Manager or anyone who said, you've got to get stuff going. And every record has been different from the last. This album, I think, like, for me listening, you know, both vocally and sonically, it's sort of your style feels elevated on this record in terms of it sort of, you know, dances in this really light sound. Did you want the sound of the record to kind of echo what you were reaching for, like, mentally and lyrically on the album? Did you want it to sound that sort of transcendent way?

I think that what it was was that what it was doing for me dictated what it sounded like. You know, there was no process where I was thinking about what I wanted this record to sound like. It just was. Like I made the songs how I felt, and I sang in the voice that felt. That I felt encapsulated, the feeling the best, you know, so there wasn't a conscious choice where I was like, oh, this record's gonna sound like this. It just came out how it needed to come out to get how I was feeling in the moment across. And I think that's the cool thing about, you know, making records in the process of your own personal evolution, because they sound different depending on where you're at when you make them. But, yeah, it wasn't really a conscious choice. I don't even know. Like, I don't have that perspective. I'm too in it. I don't even know how this record's different from the other records. I don't know how it sounds different. So it's just that part's up to the listener, really.

You mentioned as well earlier that Boys Noise got on board with helping on one of your songs. There's a bunch of great collaborators on this record. Rostam, Nick Zinner. You know, you've always been such a huge collaborator across your own work. Working with others is that kind of an act of transcendence as well, do you think, opening up your creative brain to let others in and to play in that shared space?

Yeah, I think that collaboration, particularly in music, is part of what music is about. You know, I've studied hand drumming when I was in college, and I studied traditional African drumming and Haitian drumming. And it was so much about doing it with other people. Like, you couldn't play these traditional rhythms. These rhythms were meant to be played by a group of people, and there were different parts that locked together in a certain way when they were all played, that made the song open up. That's what brought it to life. Only when all parts were being Played. And I really believe that music is a communal affair, you know, whether it's meant to be listened to together while you're at, you know, dancing together or made together, played together. And for me, I'm bored when I'm all by myself trying to make music. I don't think I would do it if I had to be by myself. Now, writing, I like to write by myself, you know, because that, to me, is a whole different thing. It's like that's writing, and that's what's so great about music, is you get to be an artist as a writer and as a musician. And for me, writing is private because I like to really go deep into myself and get all my feelings and the things that I want to say the exact way that I want to say it. But during the music part, I just love the camaraderie and the community.

One of the favorite songs for me on the record is the collab that you do with Subtract. Amazing producer, and he worked with you on Shake. It's got a really shuffling kind of rhythm to it, which I love.

Shake, shake, shake.

Also that message again, you know, you gotta keep on. And the video for this song as well, shows you dancing with a tambourine. And then you start getting blasted by this high pressure hose. What was the story you were telling with that video clip?

I was talking about fight. You know, I was talking about resilience and fortitude and strength and courage. And from my perspective, you know, I wrote a lot of these songs when. During protest and, you know, specifically during a lot of the Black Lives Matter protests, after all the instances of police brutality and just, you know, coming to a head. And I was just thinking about the protests of the past and in particular, like, some of the ones that took place during the Civil rights movement. And, you know, what it took for those people to endure all that they did, including high pressure water hoses and fires burned by the Klan in their yards and beatings and shootings. And they kept going and they kept going and kept going and they changed the world. And I was thinking about now and all the things going on that we need to be fighting against or fighting for, whether it's women's rights, whether it's Black Lives Matter, whether it's, you know, gender rights. And it's such a hard time. And I just wanted to kind of pay homage to those that came and fight, fought before us for us to even get to this place. And so, you know, I just. It's almost like an art, a performance Art piece, you know, where it's just like, I'm going to try to see if I can even keep singing the song and through a high pressure hose to see if I can even keep doing that, you know, and it hurt and it was really hard.

I was going to say that's really intense that you like. That was actually. What we're watching is actually what was happening. You were feeling the full force of that hose. That's really intense.

Yeah.

Well, your next choice is. From an incredible activist, a singer, a pianist, a legend, you've chosen Nina Simone. I wish I knew how it would feel to be free I wish I.

Knew how it would feel to be free I wish I could break all the chains holding me.

Santi, why did you choose this song?

I guess because, like I said, I've been thinking about all these things that I just said, and this song encapsulates all that emotion and the struggle for freedom. You know, I feel like on so many levels I've been struggling. We've all been struggling for freedom lately in so many different ways. And this song is just so. A lot of these songs that I chose, they're so emotional. They really tap right in on the pain and the anguish of not having that freedom even, you know, and like, my song, nothing even touches on, like, what is it like to live beneath a veil of invisibility? Like, what is that experience, experience like? And what does it do to a being to have to constantly, you know, remind themselves over and over that they matter, you know, and so you can feel that anguish in this song, in. In many of Nina's songs. She's one of my favorite favorites of all time. I mean, I can listen to song and just start crying because I can feel every bit of pain and. And strength as well in. In her voice and in her lyrics.

Before I press play on this song, knowing how much she means to you, I want to ask you. You were name checked alongside Nina in the Madonna remix of Beyonce's Break My Soul recently. The Queen's Remark. Tony, Janet, Tierra Whack, Missy, Diana, Grace Jones, Aretha, Anita, Grace Jones, Helen for La Cha de a Deux, Jilly from Philly. I love you, boo.

Don't just stand there, get into it.

Strike a pose. There's nothing to it.

Vogue.

Did you know that was coming, that you were going to be name checked alongside a whole bunch of other legendary artists?

No. No, I didn't. It was a nice surprise and I felt honored to be amongst those names. I also thought it was cool that Beyonce Used her platform to bring some light to some black female artists who have changed music, you know, in history, who have changed the history of music for black people, for all people, many of whom never really received the recognition that they deserve. I think a lot of people probably don't even know who some of the people are, like Rosetta Tharpe or Bessie Smith or me. Like, a lot of people don't know who I am. And I think that was cool. Especially in a place where in the original version of Vogue, Madonna had named all white Hollywoods stars. You know, I thought that was cool. And yeah, just to be named, you know, just to be. To know that anybody would think of you in that framework of Nina Simone and Grace Jones and Bessie Smith, you know, And I mean, and then I met Grace Jones later that week in Jamaica. I mean, that was like a dream come true.

Wait, what the.

I know what. Same week I was in Jamaica when I heard the remix came out days later, here comes Grace Jones and we got to actually hang out. It was amazing.

An angel walking towards you. Like, I know what does it mean to hang out with Grace Jones? Because to me, she's just like otherworldly. How do you hang out with Grace Jones?

I don't know, but she was like the sweetest, most down to earth, wonderful. It was just. I mean, she's literally one of my icons and literally the most. Well, it goes hanging out with a friend. She was so warm and so wonderful.

I love that.

My next choice is John Coltrane Loves Supreme Part one.

How does John Coltrane fit into your theme of Elevation? Santi?

I think of him as one of those artists who really understood the relationship between art and spirit, you know, and really understanding that as an artist, all we really need to do is move ourselves out of the way to let ourselves be a vessel of something higher, to come in and come out through the music. And I really feel, particularly on this, I mean, John Coltrane in general, but particularly on this, in this song Love Supreme. And I think that's even in the title, like, it's what he's talking about. It's about letting this higher elevated energy come through through song. And it's what music does, it's what art does. It's something that helps us. It takes us to a different space. You know, even like if you think of rhythm and brain waves, you know, it alters our brain waves, drums, you know, to kind of take us to a next level. And I think music on some level does that. And it's. That's why it's so universal and, and that's why it's healing, you know, And I think that he really understood that and to. To be creating music that most often doesn't even have lyrics, you know. This one I know he murmurs like, you know, but you don't even need the words because he's another person, like Jimi Hendrix I was talking about, who speaks through his instrument and so powerfully that you can feel literally the elevation that's happening to your being while you're listening to the song.

And that idea too, of the supreme Being, a higher power.

Exactly.

We're kind of talking a lot about spirituality and elevation through this conversation. And your record is called Spirituals, but I feel like we're talking about it in kind of non religious terms. What does spirituality mean to you as an artist and as a maker?

Yeah, you know, I think religion is meant to help people experience spirit in some way, you know, and I think that's the basis of what religious is meant to do. But as human beings, I think it's really like they get in the way. They mess up by putting themselves in it too much, you know, And I think that behind every religion, it's really the same message that there's a higher force, I mean, that we all really have access to. That doesn't have anything to do with religion, but it does have to do with like the part of ourselves that is connected to a higher energy, which is, you know, the part of ourselves that knows the answer to the questions we think we don't know the answers to. The part of ourselves where we find strength when we think we have no more to go forward. You know, I believe that spirit and this record is about plugging into that part of ourselves. And as humans, we're living in that space a little bit more so we can get it right, you know, and create a world that we all want to live in in a future that we all can inhabit on an earth that can sustain us, you know, and to me, that's the kind of spirit I'm talking about. I mean, kind of like, you know, natives often believe in all around from indigenous peoples of the earth. They really understood the relationship between humans and the earth and that, you know, the earth is actually like a living being and has spirit as well. And to be able to understand how we fit in and how we, how we work together. I think the whole understanding of like, spirit is kind of lost on people a lot nowadays. And I, you know, there's many different, like, oh, like New Age or like Religion or this. And it's like, really, it's what is underlying all that stuff that's important.

Is there a trust as well? Just going back to what you said very early on in our conversation of choosing to go towards the light, even if you're not necessarily sure where you're headed or what's going to be at the end, that trust in the mystery and intangibility of spirit, knowing that you have to make that positive choice as opposed to just sit in the same space that you are, that you have to always move forward.

Yeah, I mean, you have to move forward, but I think also moving forward is sometimes just being able to sit where you are and experience the discomfort of it, you know, because I think that sometimes it's uncomfortable to sit with your feelings and to sit in a situation that makes you afraid and see. That's why I think we run up against a lot change. Change is frightening for a lot of people. And I think that we run from change, we fight against change. And I think that's kind of what's happening in the world right now, with all the pointing fingers and shaming and divisive strategies, is based on fear, and particularly fear of change, because a lot of change has been happening, a lot of good change. But I think we've got such a major pushback because it's terrifying for the people who've benefited from things being the same for so long. Oh, they're gonna fight tooth and nail to keep the change from happening, but the change needs to happen. And that's what. That's what we're here on this planet to do, is to continue to change. And so sometimes I think it's not just about continuously moving. It's about sitting still and going inward and figuring out how can we change ourselves to help us all move forward. And I think that that's about spirit as well. You know, like, that is what we're all here to do, I think, as spirits, is to evolve. And in order to do that, we got to be able to deal with what makes us uncomfor and what's frightening. And I think it's like a personal thing that we need to do before we can change anything. It's like we have to change ourselves first.

Yeah, 100%. Looking at ourselves, reflecting back, sitting in it, as you said, and elevating, too. This is what we've been traveling through over the last five songs. And we're gonna finish with an extraordinary one by Sam Cooke, but this time sung by Otis Redd. I.

Was Born by The river open in this little old temple, just like this river I've been running ever since.

Why did you choose this recording of A Change is gonna Come?

I just love Otis Redding's voice. I mean, to me, I mean, Sam Cooke is so wonderful too, and his version is beautiful, but it's softer, it's a gentler one. And Otis is like, you know, I just like when you can just feel it. You know what I mean? You can just feel what he's saying. And I find that Otis Redding, the way that he's saying it, just same. Same with Nina. Just like you can just touch how he feels. You know what I mean? Like, it's just right there and it's intense. And I'm an intense person. I like the. I like the more. The more in your face version of anything. And so I really. I like Otis's version. I like Sam's too. But I chose this. I will go to my brother. I've asked my brother, will you help me? He turned me down. And then I asked my dear mother.

A bolshy version of a beautiful song by Sam Cook. It's Otis Redding winding out a transcendent Take five with Santi Gold. I loved that, and I hope you did, too. Over the next little while, we're going to be shifting gears with the Take five, because this special thing that we have that we've been sharing for 16 years, well, it's coming to your television. You'll see it premiere on Tuesday, September 20th on ABC TV and streaming on ABC. Iview, Keith Irvin, Missy Higgins, Tony Armstrong, Tori Amos and Guy Pearce are about to Take five with you. Here's a little sneak preview. I was the person who took the phone call in the green room. The phone rang in the green room. I picked it up, and this chick said, hey, it's Amanda from Mushroom Records. Can you tell Kylie that Locomotion's gone to number one? Oh, my God. Yes, you were the messenger. So I ran up the back to Lassiter's where she was shooting on my, you know, out the back. Kylie has got another one. I was wrapped. It was so great, so incredible. And as well as watching Take Five on tv, we'll be bringing you extended versions of the Take five exclusively on the ABC Listen app. So if you haven't already, download it for free from your app store and you'll hear that incredible conversation in full from Guy Pearce. Next time. Take five. The Take five with Zan Rowe. Every week, hear the people you love.

Hi, I'm Joan Jett. Hey, this is Nana Cherry, and I'm taking five.

Talk about the five songs they love. Hear stories of discovery. And I heard this thing coming out of the speakers. I was like, oh, my God. What is that noise? Wow. And the songs that changed how they.

Saw the world, it just affected me deeply. I never knew rap could be that powerful.

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