Photo courtesy of Santii
Writers, producers, and vocalists, Miki and Alex of [Santii](https://www.instagram.com/santii_________/?hl=en), bring us Tsunami ft. Hanami, the most recent single from their forthcoming album _SO2_. The single features a west coast, beach aesthetic, mixed with funky electronic Euro-pop sound integrations. With creative backgrounds in various realms including film scoring and project branding, Santii introduced their debut project _S01_ earlier this year. Their sophomore album is set to launch January 2019.
With great insight, Santii shared with us, a little bit about role of language in their work, their creative process, and the strong sense of artistic collaboration that informs their projects.
**Tell me more about singing in English as a second language. Do you feel that the message you want to evoke in your music is ever lost in translation?**
Sometimes writing in a language that is not your native language reveals certain parts of you that you didn't know. Sometimes it allows you to summarize things that you wouldn't be able to untangle with your native language. This can be beautiful, to put sounds together in a flow where they might otherwise get "lost in transition." The complicated part is that in Europe or even worse, in Italy, we catch the syndrome of “lost in translation.”
**There are so many genres of music. How would you describe your own sound, and what has drawn you to it?**
The influences are so many - attitudes, characters, movie soundtracks, our lives. It's a way of putting it all together through sounds, the summary of the people we are.
**You wrote, produced and mixed your debut album. SO1. Tell me more about your creative process as artists. What other artistic elements exist in your work and how does this influence or change the music?**
Our creative process is very solitary, yet at the same time influenced by a lot of people. We try to let in things like ideas, songs, other people - features for example.
**You’re a duo, which obviously means you collaborate, and it also seems like collaborations are a big part of your work with collaborations with artists like Irish rapper Rejjie Snow and Chicago-based rapper Mick Jenkins. Why is collaborating with other artists important to you? What collaborations can we expect in SO2?**
Collaborating means to transfigure yourself, allowing others the possibility of invention. It’s to discover new things about ourselves and to let the guest discover new things about him or herself.
**When can we expect SO2? What can we expect in this album? How does it feel different from your debut album SO1?**
Perhaps the only thing I could tell you is the fact that it was written without thinking, more emotionally, even in the lyrics. It glows more romantically.
**What do you love about your forthcoming album single, TSUNAMI feat. Hanami?**
We really like the way in which, like a wave, the song begins as a 90's song with a classic guitar riff, then builds to reach the PC music atmosphere. Also the fact that it is sunny but melancholic - not that we necessarily feel saudade. But maybe I only hear that when I listen to it again, remembering those days in May in bright, sunny London, where we recorded this song.
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