What is Satori, you say? Music created by this artist, is exactly what his name represents.
— Enlightenment and Energy–
We are born in a chaotic age, all looking for our own space.
A space that exists beyond ideas of what’s right and what’s wrong.
A space where we can surrender, and find ourselves. Satori helps us find our way.
We had the chance to talk with Satori as he just released his debut album ‘Maktub’ on Crosstown Rebels.
Electronic Groove: Hi Satori, thanks for your time. Where does your name come from? Does it have a special meaning?
Satori: Thanks to you. Satori comes from the ZEN Buddhism. It means a short moment of enlightenment. I believe Buddha had 5 Satori moments before he reached his final enlightenment, before he reached Nirvana. I think these Satori moments are very similar when it comes to musical experiences. We all have these moments from time to time with music that it can enlighten us for a short moment of time. Every show I am on a quest to reach a Satori moment with the crowd.
EG: Congratulations on your latest album ‘Maktub’. How do you feel about this musical achievement?
Satori: Thanks a lot. The musical achievement for me was really special. It’s the first time I made music from out of a theme. The theme is the Arabian nights. My approach to my music is a very worldly one where I’m aiming to break boundaries and to combine cultures. The trap is that it can sound a bit random. Like a random mix from worldly sound. After this album my live shows also got way more meaning and depth because it moves around a theme.
EG: ‘MAKTUB’ will be out on Crosstown Rebels. Can you explain how the project was born? Did Damian Lazarus made the initial approach?
Satori: My agent in the US, Inbal, sent my track ‘Imanis Dress’ to Damian, which became the first single of the album.
Damian loved the track and asked if I had more. I first met Damian over a lunch in Tulum, and there was a good vibe between us so I suggested that I created him an album, and Damian said: “if the rest is as good as ‘Imanis Dress’ I am very interested in that.”
So I left Tulum, rented a farm in the mountains of Belgium, I literally swapped the beach, 30 degrees, mezcal cocktails for minus 10, snowstorms and my daily white cabbage, grapefruit smoothie. But it was the best! It was so great to be locked out from the world and focus on making this album. At the end, I sent the whole piece to Damian and he loved it. He didn’t even doubt a track, it felt for him complete, as it did for me.
“It’s the first time I made music from out of a theme. The theme is the Arabian nights”
EG: Through the twelve track LP you pull the listener into an exotic world, blurring the lines between electronic and meditative sounds. Is there a special message that you want to send the world with your music?
Satori: There is not a straight forward message but I do believe that this album resonates with a more collective unconsciousness that’s driven in our society and that is that we are losing, boundaries, entities… Social media, airplanes, WhatsApp, it’s all brought the world together. It has made the world one big village. We all travel so much, become friends with people on the other side of the world, get to know cultures that resonate with a specific mindset you have. All these little inspirations you collect in the world becomes part of you. It’s like each one of us is writing their own customized religion. Within this collective mindset, boundary vanish and the country where you live becomes less important because you are creating your own world.
I don’t have a message with this album, the only thing I am doing is showing you in a musical way the world that I have created and I want to invite you to step in and stay there for a while.
EG: Also a few remixes from ‘Umama’ are out from artists like Louie Vega, Joeski and Riva Starr. What are your thoughts about these interpretations from your original track?
Satori: ‘Umama’ is a 75 bpm track for specific moments, so we wanted to have a few more uptempo remixes so it could also be played in clubs. But besides this all, isn’t it just the coolest thing that Louie Vega did a remix for ‘Umama’! It’s such a big honor to let him jam on my recordings.
EG: Is there a tour planned to promote the album? Can you mention some of the cities that are confirmed to receive your show?
Satori: Yes, there will be a big tour coming up in cities like New York, LA, Miami. Mexico City, Oaxaca, Amsterdam, Berlin, Ibiza, London, Paris and many other magical cities around the world.
EG: How was the Summer for you? Any special highlight worth mentioning?
Satori: The summer was really great. The craziest one I’ve ever had… So many highlights that it’s hard to pick one. Saga nights of Bedouin in Ibiza, my North Africa shows in Tunisia, Egypt with my band, Paris on a boat, the festival in Amsterdam, my 10-hour set with Acid Pauli. Believe me, I can go on all day. So check this, last night I had a lonely dinner before my show in Ibiza and my phone was empty. I asked for a pen and paper and wrote key words down that came up to me when I thought about last summer. So it’s a coincidence you ask me this now, maybe best thing to do is just to share the keywords: Adventures, Fire, A life, Love, Tired, Intense Structure, Next Level, No Focus, In My Own World, Imani, Rebirth, Narrative music.
So you figure out yourself with these words how my summer was 😉
“I don’t have a message with this album, the only thing I am doing is showing you in a musical way the world that I have created and I want to invite you to step in and stay there for a while”
EG: What do you like to listen when you’re chilling?
Satori: Music from West Africa, mainly Mali. Country music. Or film music. But lately, I am also into old blues, stuff like Son House or Muddy Waters.
EG: Can you mention a very inspiring track to finish the interview?
Satori: Bon Iver – ’29 #Strafford APTS’
This track has it all, amazing texture, a sick combination of electronic and acoustic and the specific deep Bon Iver drama. I think now he is at the top of the game. You cannot play with this guy, he is somewhere up at an untouchable level. What a titan he is!
Satori’s debut album ‘Maktub’ is available to stream here. Grab your copy here.
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