Santino Le Saint Is Very Much His Own Man

“That’s the only thing I really care about doing. Being timeless is very intentional”, Santino le Saint tells me as we sit down for a chat about his upcoming tour for Beautiful Disaster, his latest album. Fresh from a trip to The City of Angels, the 24-year-old musician sits comfortably on a stool, dressed head to toe in cool black, with a few rings and chains added for good effect. He’s just been through a shoot for this interview, turning and posing for more shots than we both care to remember. 

His journey to the studio in south London was fairly easy, he tells me. His London base isn’t exactly a trek from here, and he’s used to travelling around for stuff anyway: “My mum lives in Surrey. Dad lives in Brixton, and I went to school in Wandsworth.” He’s journeyed back for his big tour, performing the tracklist of Beautiful Disaster to audiences across Europe. From the way he casually strides from one camera lens to another, it’s hard to tell the 24-year-old has a few big dates ahead. He’s the coolest cucumber, a man with no interest in rushing things. He’ll take his time, preferring to get things done right – not fast. That obsession with an authentic creative process translates into how he makes music: “I spent like four or five months researching and other stuff. I wrote it in Kent. I spent five months listening to old stuff and researching before I even dived into the project.”

Jumper £225, black leather trousers, £195, and shoes, £195, all Diesel.

The “creative process” is something all artists swear by. The ever-consuming period of time where art cannot be rushed. Rome wasn’t built in a day, they’ll tell you – and neither was any great album or artistic piece. And whilst that may be true, the artistically inclined still need deadlines. Without them, hardly anything gets done. To help avoid the trappings of being artistic, he’s assembled an all-star Avengers team of trusted advisors, comprising of old-time friends and managers: “It’s me, David and Ben – my two main managers.”

Santino’s understanding of music is far more impressive than most. He’s a musician’s musician, an artist in possession of a holy trinity of talents: singing, playing and producing music. It’s something the 24-year-old inherited from his parents, especially his dad, he tells me: “I was always like a music guy because of what my dad’s influence on me was. He plays a lot of jazz at the moment. He grew up playing in a couple of rock bands.” In his formative years, the young artist was exposed to the sounds of music’s most legendary names, including the great Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, and Jimmy Hendrix. That’s bound to make an impact on anyone, especially a young kid with an obvious talent for music.

Blue crew neck jumper, £179, Percival. Jeans by Represent. White Nike Air forces, £110.

“I spent like four or five months researching and other stuff. I wrote it in Kent. I spent five months listening to old stuff and researching before I even dived into the project.”

Of all the many, great musical influences, it’s Jimmy Hendrix, the legendary guitarist, that the south London born singer finds himself being compared to the most. That probably has a lot to do with Santino’s own guitar playing abilities. What does he think of those comparisons? He doesn’t really care is the honest truth. That’s not to say he isn’t a big of Hendrix – quite the opposite. 

Dark violet jumper, Diesel.

He’d just rather we all think of him as his own man, leaving comparisons to others behind. In that way, he’s much like Frank Ocean, I tell him, another musical genius with a carefully curated, individual sound. His response? A smile and a look that tells me all I need to know: thanks, but I’m Santino le Saint. On how he’d describe his own musical identity, he’s fairly candid: “I started making music when I found out about a lot of trap soul stuff. So I’d say that’s a very recent influence for me. You know, like the PARTYNEXTDOOR stuff, the Weeknd, and the Bryson Tiller stuff.” That’s not all he’s about, though. Evident of his thirst for different things and experiences, the album is laced with sounds from just about every genre. It’s a beautifully assembled body of work, a therapeutic recital about an emotion we’ve all never got to grips with: love. And as far as love stories go, it’s a good one, even if it includes moments of despair and heartbreak. It’s a beautiful disaster if you will.

Santino le Saint is also a really good singer. And in an industry fraught with engineered sounds, that’s not always a given. He’s a rare gem, a name to look out for amongst the many millions of artists looking to impress. On Beautiful Disaster, he seizes an opportunity to translate deeply personal feelings into song, bringing his legions of fans on a journey about romance, pride, tragedy and redemption. 

His reasons for putting pen to paper are equally poetic: “There’s this thing [love] that we obviously know nothing about and people keep talking about, and no one has the answers. I think it’s because love is something that you can’t apply logic to, and I found that in my own personal life.” All 14 songs, bonus tracks included, are representative of those very thoughts, a collection of experiences felt by a 20-something-year-old man. 

Glasses by Farewell Division. Jewellery and chains by Pendant Jewellery

Whilst you’d be right to argue that love songs aren’t exactly a new invention, Santino le Saint’s work deserves its flowers. He strikes a sound of perfect chaos, shifting from slow to fast, simple to heavy, with everything from the influences of the old-school greats to the rhythms of modern beat-making infused. It’s an album incomparable – in terms of sound – to any other. He’s felt what he’s talking about, giving us something that is genuinely nice to listen to.

That, he tells me, is a very intentional thing. He has no interest in making short-term music, the kind the kids sing along to for a month, before moving on to whatever TikTok decides is the next big thing. He’s much more about timeless music – something he got from listening to the likes of Miles Davis, his dad and a string of other legendary musicians. 

“There’s this thing [love] that we obviously know nothing about and people keep talking about, and no one has the answers.”

His style of music is also hard to narrow down. Like other modern artists, he’s reluctant to stick to one sound, choosing to spread his talent amongst different genres. On Beautiful Disaster, he capers from rock to soul, eventually ending up with a few songs that bear the influences of jazz and R&B: “When you grow up listening to loads of different types of music and you like loads of different types of music… me not fitting into a category is just because I just make what I like.”

All of that – the unique sound, the confidence, the ability to play music – makes for a really good show, one many fans around the world have taken note of. At the height of the pandemic, he landed his first COLOURS feature, drawing in millions of views. It’s something the London-born artist is very proud of: COLORS was a great moment, it was a great milestone to have in your career. It’s just being able to be in front of a plain background and perform, yeah.”

Soon, he embarks on a tour for the album, starting his show in Bristol, before flying to the rest of Europe, eventually concluding his tour in Bergen, Norway. It’s a chance to do what he loves best, he says – especially after a global pandemic locked us all inside. He’s worked hard on this album, and he’s keen to give the rest of his team the credit they deserve.

As for what comes next, he doesn’t really know. He’s not the kind to plan out destiny. What he does know is how to make good music, possessing a knack for surrounding himself with a team that allows him to do so. That’ll probably lead to a Grammy or two soon, I tell him. He looks up, offering a smile that seemed to confirm his ambition.

“When you grow up listening to loads of different types of music and you like loads of different types of music… me not fitting into a category is just because I just make what I like.”

On matters of style, he consistently strikes the right note. Sporting an all-black outfit, he described his go-to look as “more street style”, with elements of classic rock star added here and there. He prefers comfortability over everything else, something any style enthusiast would agree with. On set, his three looks illustrated his personality, bringing out the best elements of his personal style.

Beautiful Disaster is an impressive album, a body of work inseparable from the man who produced it. Chatting to him was a breeze, an enjoyable experience with someone so obviously destined for great things. He’s cool, stylish and musically gifted. But most important of all, Santino le Saint is very much his own man. 

For tickets to his upcoming tour, visit this link: Beautiful Disaster tour

Looking for things to watch? Here are the best British TV shows