EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW SCARLETT • MONASTYRSKI OF SABÏRE

photo credit: Lauren Horwood

SABÏRE began at the tail end of 2010 as an idea to have a band that played simply what came naturally on guitar to Scarlett Monastyrski with no set genre or category. Simply the natural music. Shortly thereafter, the concept grew to accompany that sound with a big show and distinctive stylisation. The biting and sharp sound production, along with their personal lyrics, birthed for them a label for their music: ACID METAL.

Not to be confused with the mind altering substance, Acid Metal took its name from the concentrated corrosive fluid not unlike the blood of the Xenomorph in the Alien films.
The instruments are awash with acidic modulation, “like a drop of acid in the dark.” The lyrics all hold a tinge of biting realism that once realised by the listener, stings them like a droplet of acid resting upon their skin. To take their metaphor further, their distinctive production style let’s stand apart from the rest of the “modern” sound that degrades the potentcy of many new bands. They call it “brick culture,” because it all sounds the same. Concentrated acid burns all the way through anything solid leaving a hot trail behind it, like the band continues to do so with garnering the attention of the world of heavy music.

SABÏRE now return in 2024 with a 15 track epic, self-styled “half-concept” album, “JÄTT”, which took 5 years to make.

Band leader Scarlett Monastyrski comments :
” ‘JÄTT’ is meant to be THE sound of SABÏRE. A monolith to what we stand for artistically. We wanted this album to be its own art piece rather than simply a collection of arbitrary songs, a really ‘blue’ coloured sound. The physical copies hold beautifully styled texts detailing the concept for those chosen songs, as well as small epistles to accompany each track.”

“ ‘JÄTT’ is a “blue” sounding album; the colour. You may understand that more when listening to the album yourself. The cover of ‘JÄTT’, “Dante and Virgil in the Ninth Circle of Hell” – Gustav Doré, 1861, could be seen through a symbolic lense in which the listener is symbolised as Dante, the artist as Virgil, and the bodies locked within the ice of frozen lake as the music surrounding them; we as the artist are shepherding the listener through the mire. This could be perceived like this, or you may just see it as an attractive album cover. “

“We put our heart and soul into this one and can’t wait to give our Wild Ones and Acid Fiends what they’ve been so patiently waiting for.”

SABÏRE are a band with a hellbent determination to be different, break the mold, and shake up the status quo. Unafraid to show their hearts. The band bows to no one and will bring their Acid Metal to the world, burning all through the monotony of modern heavy metal.

Listenable Records

photo credit: Lauren Horwood

Interview

I can not believe it has been a year or so since we last caught up with Scarlett from the Acid metal kings that are Sabïre! At that point they were putting finishing touches to their new album Jätt and now in 2024 Sabïre are back, on form and raging and I must say on a personal note the wait was worth it!

I was fortunate enough to be one of the first to review the new album and to me this is some of the bands best music so far. It has a perfect balance between the vibes of their early material and of course new ideas and It left it excited wanting more. So now that we are on the verge of seeing Sabïre’s new album unleashed on the world, I thought it was a perfect time to catch up with Scarlett and get some insights into what they have been up to.

TheNwothm: Hey there Scarlett, Its great to be talking to you again. How are you doing?

Scarlett: I’m doing well, Rob. I trust all is well with you as well.

TheNwothm: Since we spoke last year, what’s new in your world with the exception of the new album?

Scarlett: I’ve moved to Canada!

TheNwothm: You have been quite open about your mental health! In reflection of the new album it seems things have turned around?

Scarlett: Looks can be deceiving! Hahaha truly though, all is well. However, it definitely took a beating recently this year, but I am back to normal and stronger than before. Or so it feels!

TheNwothm: You mentioned last year that you were really wanting to get “Jätt” finished and out as it’s been a long time in the making. Now its release is fast approaching, how does it feel that you’re almost there?

Scarlett: It feels like it has always been finished. It’s as though all the time I spent on it, all those years with those memories that are strong, it is like they never happened now.

TheNwothm: After I listened and reviewed the album, I was blown away by how good it is! it feels like a mix of your earlier ideas with of course evolution in your writing. Do you feel like all the time spent on it and the obstacles you faced might have helped you create some of the best material to date?

Scarlett: Definitely helped. I remember reading something from some Greek review of “Gates Ajar” that said we had poor-songwriting. I thought that was unfair, and quite frankly, not true. But it make me look twice at what I was doing and asked myself if I could find room for improvement. But what is “improvement” in this regard? In my mind, “improvement in songwriting” meant expanding on ideas I’d have for songs. Pushing myself to do things like change tempos, or add changes in pace more frequently in songs. My only fear with this is losing good simplicity in songs that don’t need all the extras. It’s an anxious worry. I likely have nothing to worry about.

TheNwothm: Fans of sabïre will know there’s a lot of raw lust and passion running through musical and lyrical ideas in your music. Do you feel that comes from your life experiences and how you are as a person in general?

Scarlett: Yes it does. I can flaty tell you that everything I am is in my lyrics. I write what I feel, and as a result they are the most natural of lyrics to write.

TheNwothm: Where did the idea of your stage image and the Mezcalizer come from?

Scarlett: Oh from many places. I had always fantasised about looking this way since I was a young boy: being a villan or anti-hero all clad in black, dark makeup, and wild hair. Lucky me, that’s excatly how I turned out hahaha! Influences for onstage for me were always Cronos, Blackie Lawless, Pete Burns, and even Eddie Murphy! The Mezcal-izer is fun little story. I was working in a kitchen one Canada Day back in the year 2012, and this bloke I worked will had been left of work earlier than the rest of us grunts. Well, when he came back that evening to gloat about being able to party while we continued to slave away, he brought a little surprise with him: a small pump-action watergun filled with tequila. We all got a gracious mouthful. The idea was born then, but “Sabïrified” of course.

TheNwothm: So let’s talk more about the new album “Jätt.” Can you give our readers a brief overview before we dig into some of the details?

Scarlett: Ahh not this again! God, it’s almost as though choosing to be a musician means you have to explain your art all the time or something 😉 The record is a “half-concept” album which means the album has a theme but no songs written for that theme, rather chosen for their common lyrical similarities. “Jätt” is the word for “hell” in a fictional language I came up with when I was young teenager called “Streckish.” The songs that are written for concept, the intro, interlude, and outro, deal with the literal location in Streckish culture for what we would only refer to as “hell” in English. So in the physical copies of the album there is this big long letter to the listener explaining what “Jätt” is to the Streckens.

TheNwothm: We got “Ice cold Lust” quite a while back which is one of the first tracks on the album. At the time of release what made you decide on that song?

Scarlett: Well, “Ice Cold” is the “flagship” song. It’s the song we built the whole album around!

TheNwothm: You have just put out “Call Me Bastard” which is a killer track, and one that has a lot of attitude. How did you come up with the idea of the song? How far back did you write it?

Scarlett: Thanks mate. I wrote that riff back in January 2014 on a friend’s unplugged guitar while she was in the bathroom. We were about to go out for a night on the town the way we usually would. We would drink nothing but champagne straight out the bottle, brazenly, and in public. What magical times. I digress, I began to toy with the riff years later on evening while all the lights were out, and I began singing nonsense over it, soaring along while spontaneously playing what became the verses and chorus. I sang, “bastard!” and jibberish afterwards, which painted a golden opportunity to flesh out an idea for a song about being hated. And then I promptly stored it up in my head hahaha. Years later I wrote all the lyrics and finished it while jamming by myself. Then it finally got selected for the record and I frickin’ did it!!

TheNwothm: The video is as equally awesome! Where did the idea for that come from?

Scarlett: Thank you, thank you! The idea came from my head hahaha! I got inspired by I don’t even know what anymore, it’s been that long. We wanted it to look like the “Sacrifice” video by Motörhead with all the reds and greenscreen. Then I wanted to elevate that to something in the vein of high fashion. High fashion photoshoots are a big influence on our visual directions. With those sorts of videos I want to give a rich and inspiring visual experience to the viewer. I didn’t want to hold a guitar at all in this one and leave my guitar solo to be substituted with dance! Hell yeah. The video turned out very well, but it’s no way like the X-Rated version we originally had!

TheNwothm: While the new album has your typical all out tracks, full of speed and fire you seem to have slowed things down on some of your other tracks and some feel very different to what we have heard before. Do you feel like a lot of the events in your life had a huge influence in the direction of some of the new material.

Scarlett: Well it all influences it, doesn’t it? Naw, I know what you’re asking, and the answer is no. I have always written like this. This is just simply the first time that everybody else has heard it. However. An event in my life that directly affected a song that was then immediately decided upon to be included on the album was, “The Last Day.” The second I wrote that I needed to have it on the album. It’s partly how the album became so big as an idea in the first place.

TheNwothm: Any particular songs that feel particularly close to your heart?

Scarlett: No, not really. Not anymore. If you had asked me two years ago I would have said, “The Last Day,” and “Alone Again.”

photo credit: Lauren Horwood

TheNwothm: So the fact that Jätt is coming soon fans are going to be jumping for joy as you mentioned in our last interview that you are already working on the next album. How long have you been working on it and what stage is it at currently? Care to give us some hints in what to expect?

Scarlett: I’ve been “working on it” since 2019 hahaha. By “working on it,” I mean “think about it, plan about it, change and evolve it” hahaha. What can I say, I’m a artist! It’s at the stage of having all the tracks decided, studio equipment chosen, art direction. Except I can’t the life of my remember what the cover looks like. It’s the oddest thing. The sound is red and bloody. It’s also just a record, nothing fancy this time. Well, maybe just a bit of fance. I won’t say much more.

TheNwothm: You guys are in Australia but many fans want to know if you will be heading to the likes of mainland Europe, the UK or the US any time soon?

Scarlett: I won’t say anything other than we will be touring again in 2025.

TheNwothm: What new merch have you got coming out and where will fans be able to buy it?

Scarlett: Yes! Visit our BandCamp store immediately and give us money so we can afford to print this merch in the first place! And be sure to pre-order the album from the Listenable Records web store. The sooner it sells out, the sooner we get paid!

TheNwothm: Lastly is there anything else you would like to tell our readers?

Scarlett: If you made it this far then you ought to get a reward. Go on, treat yourself to some ice cream. Tell ‘em Scarlett set ya. And if they say now, then screw up your face real mean and snarl to them, “FEEL THE ACID!!!”