Saint Claire is a three piece Indie band from the Antelope Valley, consisting of the twins Cameron Mcallistr and Eric Mcallistr, and their childhood friend Kobe Mansubi. Cameron sing's, and writes, Eric is on the drum's, and Kobe sing's, writes, and play's guitar. Let's get straight into it!
How did the band start? And what lead to you all getting together to make music?
Cameron: Me, and Eric became friends with Kobe in the 3rd grade but we lost contact in highschool. We reconnected after we graduated though. And then the band started when we connected with Kobe at a show a friend of ours we're playing
Cameron: And obv me and Eric have known each other since birth since we're twins.
Kobe: I'd say that's a pretty unanimous answer.
Eric: Preach.
What are your biggest inspirations individually when it comes to music, and what inspired the sound of Saint Claire as a whole?
Kobe: For me, I'd have to say it's indie, DIY, and alternative rock music that have inspired me the most. Particular artist I love are Elliot Smith, Alex G, the Beatles, and others.
Kobe: Can't forget Title Fight too
Eric: For my drum parts, I take a lot of inspiration from Modest Mouse and Big Thief. But I'm also very inspired just musically by Elliot Smith, Built to Spill, Black Country New Road, Feeble Little Horse, and Phobe Bridgers.
Cameron: I would say Elliot smith, Bob Dylan, and Adrianne Lenker are the biggest personal music influences I have. I love Folk and Alternative music a lot because they incapsulate everything I love most about music melodically, lyrically, and thematically.
Eric: I think our collective appreciation for Elliot Smith has been the biggest shaper of our sound.
Cameron: I feel like our whole sound is very inspired by Elliot Smith but also the Beatles.
Cameron: And alternative bands like Radio Head, and Big Thief.
Kobe: I think the town that we live also plays a big role, in a weird way.
Cameron: Yeah I agree. I feel like there's a feeling that only people from the AV [Antelope Valley] have that we've brought into what we write.
Kobe: Midwest Emo vibes but also not Midwest Emo.
Can you expand more on how playing music within Antelope Valley shaped your music?
Kobe: I'd say it shapes our music because everyone who lives here is pretty bored and disillusioned. We're trying our best to make something interesting to entertain ourselves, I think it's the same for a lot of High Desert Band's.
Cameron: For me, I feel like the scene out here is kinda over saturated with a lot of the same kind of music. So it always made me want our music to stand out and shoot for something really grand.
On a little more serious note, is there a real world story behind Heroin? Have any of you had experience's with Heroin, whether it may have been you, family, or a friend?
Cameron: No, no it's 100% symbolic. The song is about losing yourself in a relationship.
Cameron: I've dealt with friends who've struggled with addiction and it's come out in some writing but not for that song.
Kobe: It's about dependence, drugs are just a metaphor for that, as Elliot Smith would say.
Gotcha! Can I ask how addiction has come out in some of your other lyrics?
Cameron: Writing can really help with grief and the feelings you're too hard to deal with head on. So I've had a few songs that were my way of dealing with those feelings of seeing someone else's addiction. None of the released Saint Claire songs have been about drug addiction though.
What's your favorite story behind a song? Whether it be how it came into existence, or what it's about?
Kobe: I think my personal favorite songwriting experience we've had was Can't Make a Sound. We had written this long ass rock epic from jamming over a chord progression from our keyboard player at the time. Then we came inside and were like what more does it need? We decided the already 6 minute long song needed to have a middle section added, so we wrote a riff for it, and the rest is history.
Kobe: It's an amazing feeling when we're able to have those breakthrough moments as a band.
Cameron: That's a hard one bc I feel like I have a few that the back stories mean so much to me. On purely just good memories Erase Me brings me such a sense of joy to look back on. It's one of the few songs we wrote all together and it was right when we started the band. Sitting in our keyboardist Julian's living room just coming up with something we thought was totally unique and exciting. I honestly felt like everything I'd ever wanted in my life came together at that moment.
Kobe: I look back really fondly on writing those early songs as well.
Cameron: On a more personal note, Seein' Roses is about my Grandma who means more to me then just about any human on earth. She passed away when I was 16 and because of her death I started playing music. So Seein' Roses to me is such a success because I can share what she's meant for me to other people in a song I'm very proud of.
Let's say aliens abducted you all at this moment, and forced you to play a show on their home planet to their entire species. What song are you playing?
Kobe: That answer might vary among us a bitt...
Kobe: But I'd have to say Sycamore.
Cameron: Maybe Sycamore, so the aliens would be like "damn, they're already sand" and just send us back home
Eric: I think personally, "Song about a friend" makes me the happiest and I think they'd appreciate it's upbeat nature and maybe their alien hearts would learn to be chill.
Earlier today, your band posed that you stand with marginalized, and oppressed community's. As the world changes, to one that is arguably dominated by hate, do you have a message to your fans, and the scene as a whole?
Cameron: That we don't tolerate any bigotry of any kind and at the deepest core of our music and persons is respect for love and compassion.
Kobe: Don't mindlessly believe anything you hear, and always remember that change is possible in this world if we are willing to put in the work.
Eric: I would say that we're all human and we get no where by trying to go after the least defended and marginalized people. That people have to choose love as their motivator, and not hate.
Well, that's all the questions I had for you today, is there anything else that you would like to add before ending?
Kobe: I'd like to say thank you for being so interested in us and our music, and we'd love to support you and your mission in any way we can
Cameron: Yeah, genuinely thank you! The articles you've done about us have been so insanely cool.
Eric: I couldn't agree more, I loved what you did with cutting down the sycamore tree, it was so cool to see someone use my art in that way.
Thank you all for making such great music, and being a shining light in the darkness!
Learn more about Saint Claire's upcoming plan's for new releases, their weirdest experience at a show, and their writing process behind song's by subscribing on Patreon!
That's it for this week's interview, stay tuned for a music review on Wednesday, and an artist spotlight on Friday! and please, please, please for the love of god... listen to Saint Claire. Thank you!
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