EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: SCARLETT MONASTYRSKI OF SABÏRE (AUSTRALIA)

With a unique and blistering Acid Metal sound, Australias Sabïre have delivered some slabs of smouldering metal through ‘Gates Ajar’ and ‘Mistress Mistress’ since their formation. Now in 2023, after a turbulent few years, Sabïre are slowly making their way back and Scarlett is ready to tell the world where they are up to! Get ready for new music…

THE NWOTHM: For those who do not know who you are, can you tell us your band name, who is in the band and where you are from?

Scarlett Monastyrski: We are + S A B Ï R E + from Sydney, Australia. We are Paul Corbin, Shane Robinson, Johnny Flaws, and myself; Scarlett Monastyrski.

THE NWOTHM: How did the band form and is there any interesting story surrounding its formation?

Scarlett Monastyrski: There are two stories for this, y’know? One is that the project formed in December of 2010 alone by myself, and whatever version of the band I had in Canada formed in 2012. Then the version the world knows formed in January 2019 when I had to pull a band together in order to play Keep it True. I had no one. So I asked Paul who drummed on “Gates,” Zoran whom I had jammed with previously, and Ivor whom both gentlemen had played together with for over a decade before in a band called Devine Electric. Everyone agreed and we began rehearsals for Europe and the rest is history.

THE NWOTHM: What bands and artists have influenced you and helped you to carve your sound?

Scarlett Monastyrski: Aw look, I used to say there are 4, sometimes 5 bands that Sabïre is influenced by, but that is not necessarily musically. The real answer is I don’t even know anymore. The further I go along with my life, I keep rediscovering artists that TRULY shaped the way I approach music. It’s essentially just the Offspring, Rudimentary Peni, Crass, the S-Haters/Underlings, Dogs, the Beatles, Bathory, Venom, W.A.S.P., and Motörhead. There are so, so many others that have played a role here and there. I think those, though, are the real big ones.

THE NWOTHM: Do you have any interesting stories surrounding ‘Mistress Mistress’ and ‘Gates Ajar’? Any particular songs you would like to highlight to people discovering you for the first time?

Scarlett Monastyrski: Other than the HELL of trying to record Gates Ajar, learning everything as I went, having three versions of the album before it was final, living in the depths of a hell I would never wish upon my worst enemy? Naw, nothing to report. As for highlighted songs, I’d say all of them. Gates is a showcase mini album in which to show 7 sides of a singular idea. Each song is it’s own band, each song is saying and doing something that the other is not. Our next releases will be less like that and more focused. For the most part, that is.

THE NWOTHM: After ‘Mistress Mistress’ and ‘Gates Ajar’ which have proven to be great releases and popular among fans, you released ‘Ice Cold Lust.’ Can you tell us more about that song and how it came about?

Scarlett Monastyrski: Well thanks, mate. I sure hope they are! Ice Cold is a great track, we love playing it live. It would be a delight to tell you all about it, truly. Ice Cold had it’s origins in maybe 2016 or 2017. I came up with that main progression whilst thinking about a Plasmatics Song “Want You Baby.” I just gave it that exact working title and left it there for a few years.

In November of 2018 I was going through the zenith of personal struggle with my purported feelings for a close female friend of mine while I was still married. I wanted to say what I couldn’t say aloud. It consumed my life at one point and I could not make it go away. I wrote quite a number of songs about this time period which will definitely see release in the future, one of them is also on the new album; “The Shadow in my Heart.” Writing really helped me a lot.

It was an afternoon in Sydney’s southern shire when it all came to a head for me. I had just finished writing the lyrics to “Lower the Axe,” which is quite an aggressive song, and I wanted to write its antithesis. I just started with exactly what I felt: “ooh I want you, baby” and the rest just flowed out from there. It began to feel quite hot and steamy fairly quickly to me, risky even. All I could think about was the mood of “The Chase is Better than the Catch” as I explored these new lyrics. Everything I wrote was 100% real and what was going on in my mind. Songwriting has always been cathartic for me, but this was one of its most satisfying moments.

After I wrote those lyrics on that warm sunny day, I went home to demo it up to the end of the first chorus. I ended up with, what I thought to be, the most amazing sound when combined with the bass’ cords. I couldn’t stop listening to it, and felt such potential with it. I put it on my phone under the album name “Jätt” on a whim, and soon realised I had the name, concept, and direction of the next album decided upon. I heard the colour immediately and knew the entirety of “Jätt” had to be blue. 

When I wrote down the beginning of the album’s accompanying epistle, the album’s concept just grew from there, and it felt like stumbling onto something big. I have been excited ever since, but truthfully am so utterly over this bloody record and just want it done!! It is so beyond time to move on to the next album that’s going to ruin my life hahaha.

THE NWOTHM: You have been very open on social media about your demons and fans have been very supportive. How are you doing currently?

Scarlett Monastyrski: A lot better, thank you. Medicated and educated. That year away from working on music allowed me to focus on getting better and work through the problems I was having that got me there in the first place. It’s a lot of work, but I’m thankful to be still alive.

THE NWOTHM: It has amazing to see the response that the band has been getting on Spotify? You hit some pretty great numbers on there! That has got to feel amazing?

Scarlett Monastyrski: You know what? It really has. Ever since “Ice Cold” came out, it’s all been on the up in that regard.

THE NWOTHM: Your debut full length was delayed for multiple reasons. Where is the band with the album currently and can you tell us anything about the debut?

Scarlett Monastyrski: Almost done. Bit of a hobble over the finish line, battered and torn. The album is a 15 track “half-concept” album. It will be best enjoyed as a physical copy, mainly for all the accompanying writing. The music’s fine on its own but, a lot of the work has gone in to what it’s all about as a package.

THE NWOTHM: What shows have you got coming up for 2023? Any major performances you would like to highlight?

Scarlett Monastyrski: Bloody none! I think we have only 3 shows for this whole year and only in Australia.

THE NWOTHM: Any other plans for 2023? With it being a new year, what do you hope to achieve in the upcoming months?

Scarlett Monastyrski: Finish “Jätt,” get those pesky shows out of the way, and get straight into the next album, “Flesh to Death.” We have music videos to maybe scrape money together for and shoot for “Jätt.” I’d desperately like to do that in order to complete my vision of the album, but alas, we lack both the money and the time to make that happen. That’s the reality though, and that’s ok. Life doesn’t always allow us to do everything we want, so we must just make do with what we can. It still sucks though!

THE NWOTHM: Where can people check you out on social media and buy your music/ merch?

Scarlett Monastyrski: Through our Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and our Band Camp for merch.

https://www.instagram.com/sabireofficial/

https://www.facebook.com/sabireacidmetal/

https://sabireacid7.bandcamp.com/

THE NWOTHM: is there anything else you would like to mention?

Scarlett Monastyrski: Nothing at all, thank you for having me. Thanks again for your time, keep creating amazing music and all the very best for 2023!