I really believe in albums, even though some people believe the year of the album has passed. I love singular pop songs or tracks, but what really affects me most deeply is if there's an hour of music or 45 minutes of music that flows really well and tells a story.
One of my favorite things is producing other artists because, in many ways, it's a lot more freeing than working on your own music.
Everyone knows Earth, Wind & Fire. We know 'September,' all the big sort of hits from going out and dancing and stuff. When I was developing St. Lucia, I really started listening a little bit deeper, listening back to their stuff from the '70s and '80s, and really dug into it.
The music has a very strong escapist quality to it. In the moment where you feel like you need to escape, or when you are escaping, that's a good time to listen to 'When the Night.'
We've always enjoyed touring, which is fortunate because we're always on the road. The most difficult part is that time passes by so quickly. It's hard to pay attention to your normal life because shows are all-encompassing.
The name came about from me just closing my eyes and sticking a pen on a map of South Africa. St. Lucia was the fifth place that the pen landed on.
You can only absorb when you look back at photos: like when we played Coachella, and there are thousands of people in the audience, and you just walk on stage.
I like to make bombueti, which is basically the South African national dish. It's basically a South African curry shepherd's pie kind of thing.
When I start working on an idea, I immediately record without judging it.
When you work together in a creative way, you have to be less selfish about your ideas and learn to let both parties feel valued. Of course, that's also a really great quality to have in a relationship, too.
I used to do this huge jump off the drum riser. I had a good way of landing so I wouldn't hurt myself, but then one time, I landed on my elbow.
I'm kind of a little allergic to that whole, 'Let's go to L.A. and write a bunch of hits.'
I basically work all the time.
St. Lucia in South Africa is this exotic place where you might go on vacation, and it evokes this nostalgic, hazy vibe.
The upside to doing commercials is you have to work in a lot of different genres and make stuff that you never thought you'd be making.
I will readily confess that I'm a coffee addict.
We love the idea of having a really great lighting production.
I find that when I'm under pressure, I work really well, but then you have those days where you sleep for four hours because you drive to a venue overnight and arrive there the next day, and you're cranky and not dealing with it very well.
I feel like Hawaiian shirts have definitely made a comeback.
St. Lucia represents, for me, where I found myself musically once I stopped trying to be cool, in some way, and stopped stopping these guilty pleasure influences I had from coming through.
