Saka Gives Fans a Look Into the Heroic Journey That is ‘Monomyth’

After releasing Monomyth, Saka stopped by to talk about his production evolution, a new project with FLY, his favorite anime shows, and more!

When Saka‘s mind spills out into production form, each beat tells its own story and his exploration of new boundaries has landed him in a distinctive niche that inspires innovation and artistic expression. What makes him even more remarkable is his ability to unlock listeners’ inner dance desires by throwing in infectious rhythms while bringing them closer to the earth’s vibrational frequency in a meditative-like state.

Last week, Saka’s latest EP, Monomyth, told fans another story through sound. This time, his sonic soundwaves share the tale of a heroic journey, depicting the artist’s musical maturity. Each track further proves Saka’s evolution. His foundation, on which he built his sound, remains the same; the only change is that his talents have been fine-tuned since his debut EP, Slipstream.

After the release of Monomyth, we thought it would be a great time to chat further with Saka about the inspiration behind his EP, his experience collaborating with Of The Trees, an upcoming project with FLY, his favorite anime shows, and more. Check out his latest release on Spotify or your favorite platform, and read on to learn more about his latest journey.

Stream Saka – Monomyth on Spotify:

Hey Saka, thanks for chatting with us today! First, congratulations on the release of Monomyth! You mentioned online that this is your best work yet. Can you share why this EP best represents your vision thus far?

While I’m quite happy with my whole discography, especially with my EP Silk, where the tracks were purely time capsules of emotion for me. “Monomyth” represents a return to the same type of intention I had with my debut EP, Slipstream, where I got to plan the tracks out in totality before writing them and, therefore, have each of the songs come together to tell a story. The biggest difference is that I feel now as if I am quite familiar with my toolbox as a producer – so this project feels quite a bit more mature and evolved to me personally.

I love how gently “Soul Ties” introduces us to Monomyth. Its infectiously happy energy is a genuine representation of how a positive connection feels. Will there be more UKG-inspired songs like this that we can expect from you in the future?

Absolutely! “Soul Ties” is actually my favorite of the bunch. I actually wrote it on the beach when I took my dad out to Big Sur last year (I only get to see him about once a year) – it was both of our first times out there, and the environment around me deeply inspired me; I wrote the entire idea in one sitting on my laptop. I’ve always been deeply inspired by the sonics I hear out of Europe and the UK, and “Soul Ties” certainly is a nod to that with my own American twist on it.

For “Ghoul,” you teamed up with Of The Trees, and the chemistry you two have on a track is monumental. Can you give us a peek into how the creative process was for you guys to make this seamless blend of your sounds come to life?

Tyler is a very close friend of mine; we’ve known each other for years at this point, and so we’ve actually written a few ideas before writing “Ghoul.” That being said, none of those ideas felt like something that represented either of our sonic identities until we wrote Ghoul. I flew out to make a pit stop in Denver when I played nearby and planned to have a few days together in the studio.

We ended up just hanging out a ton and playing a lot of chess with sound design sessions sprinkled in for the first couple of days, and on our last day together, we spent almost the entire time working on another idea that wasn’t quite it; we agreed to try and come up with something else and go back n forth online, and I decided to just make a little beat on my laptop at the very end of the night, which later became the intro for the song. Tyler rushed back upstairs with an idea for the main drop, and we chased that same little dose of inspiration all night til we finished the idea. Sometimes, the inspo just hits when you least expect it!

You recently had your first experience playing a festival set in Asia, and we would love to hear a bit about it. Are there any significant differences between festivals in China and the US?

Oh definitely. I had a great time playing out there; the promoters really took care of me, and my Chinese fans are super, super sweet. I was definitely a bit of an outlier sonics-wise at that festival; The Chainsmokers and R3hab were the headliners. [Laughs] I learned that the festival didn’t permit any alcohol in and also didn’t sell any alcohol, despite being a Budweiser-sponsored event, so I was very worried I wouldn’t get too good of a reaction, but at several points, they were literally moshing. The biggest difference I think is that Chinese fans are just grateful to get to rave whereas Americans choose to attend fests for the specific act they love alone.

Now that this EP is out for the world to enjoy, do you have any other milestones you’re excited about for your project this year?

Personally, I’m super excited about the project FLY and I are planning for later in the year. We’ve been best friends for more than a decade, and we’re finally getting to plan out music together. He brings out the energy/heaviness out of me, I feel like I always get lost in the sadboy sauce sometimes with the UKG/D&B influences but FLY brings me back to what we were originally most inspired by which is honestly hip-hop / the grittier bass music side of stuff.

Just for fun, Fans are often curious about what their favorite artists have on their riders. What items can be found on yours that people may not expect?

I specifically had Super Smash Bros Melee and a CRT on my rider for years. It was only ever fulfilled once (shoutout to South Dakota), so now I’ve just changed it to the normal latest Smash Bros, so promoters are more likely to do it now. [Laughs]

Finally, as someone who has often sampled anime clips, what are your top three favorite anime shows?

I feel like my answer for this changes all the time depending on my mood, but my concurrent favorites of all time (if we’re including manga, too)

Berserk

Steins Gate

The Fate/Stay Night Series tied with Hunter x Hunter

Special mentions to Jujutsu Kaisen, Hell’s Paradise, and Naruto, for being my childhood favorite. [Laughs]

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