Saint Daniel is a UK-based refugee artist not letting anything keep him from his music. With a pretty intense and tumultuous life-long journey, he is using music as an outlet to share his story. Growing up in Russia, Saint Daniel gained much of his inspiration from his father showing him Pink Floyd’s The Wall and The Beatles Yellow Submarine. When he turned seventeen, he took action for some change and moved to London to pursue his dreams and bring his project to life. For nearly a decade, Saint Daniel struggled through a tough immigration system that did not agree with his sexual orientation. Finally granted asylum in 2015, he was ready to make his dreams come to life! His style is reminiscent of trip-hop, alternative R&B, and dark pop tunes carrying through with conceptual lyrical themes.
Saint Daniel recently released a new single titled “Ménage A Trois". Right into the track I get this lapalux dark alternative feel yet there is something poppy about it. The choice of lyrics in this track is very complementary to the instrumentals chosen. And you can sort of hear a double up of his vocals throughout the track making it trippy. What sounds to me like a piano is a subliminal character in this composition and I love it! So many things to love here and I owe that to Saint Daniel himself. I can hear the passion throughout the track and how ready he is to live out the dreams he worked so hard to get to. His story and his music are both are extremely inspiring and we can't wait to hear what's next from Saint Daniel in 2019!
Listen to “Ménage A Trois" here and get to know Saint Daniel in our interview below!
Hello there. Would you please introduce yourself?
Hi, I’m Saint Daniel - UK-based Refugee Artist. Originally from St.Petersburg, Russia but I’ve been based in London for 12 years now. The name comes from The Book of Daniel, as for years I’ve been captivated by The Writing on the wall and its portrayal of the end of time and biblical apocalypse.
Can you tell us more about this risque track “Ménage à Trois”?
The track certainly has a provocative title, it is somewhat like my personal “Like a Virgin”. But despite the fact that I use quite a lot of innuendos in the lyrics, the song is not about non-traditional domestic arrangements or any sexual explorations, quite the opposite - here I present self-acceptance and self-love as a form of internal polyamory. There’s always me, myself and I, we’ll dwell in our Ménage à Trois. In terms of the sound I really wanted to bringing back the dark feeling of the late-90’s trip-hop, somewhat reminiscent of Massive Attack.
What made you chose this track as your first single?
This was the first song I developed specifically for this project and the subject I touch on summarises my internal strivings over the past decade. It is important to discover your true self and start loving yourself for who you are first, before proceeding to loving others.
It serves as a promo single and a good initial introduction to what I’m about to present to the audience within the next few months.
How has your life inspired your music?
This whole project is the culmination of the tumultuous, life-long journey I’ve taken, from facing persecution and abuse due to my sexual orientation in Russia, which led me to settle to the U.K., through a decade-long struggle with the immigration system to attain asylum.
All the emotional whirlwind I went through manifests itself in my music.
After you drop the EP, what is next for Saint Daniel?
The debut EP “Escapism” is currently in the making and I’m planning to drop it mid-2019.
Apart from releasing music I’m working on a book, working title Something Gotta Ease The Guilt, where I’m describing my whole story as a refugee and take on serious subjects such as mental health struggles, accepting my sexuality and claiming asylum, but I present it all in an ironic and satirical way. It’ll be a highly entertaining read full of shocking moments.
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