In March, SCAD Radio’s former Content Director Alex Holmes and current Music Director Hailey Feller had the opportunity to attend the 2022 Savannah Stopover music festival. One of the headlining and most anticipated performers of the two-day festival was SASAMI, who had just released her second album, Squeeze. 

SASAMI gave one of the most intense performances at Stopover–she mimed electrocution via guitar cable, engaged in satanic rituals, and had the crowd entranced by her demonic on-stage antics. There were moments of cathartic release brought on by heavy and fast metal songs, and there were moments of angelic highs created by SASAMI’s gorgeous writing and stunning voice. 

Below is Alex and Hailey’s conversation with the musician: 

SCAD Radio : Could you introduce yourself? 

SASAMI : Hi! I’m SASAMI and I’m a musician from Los Angeles and my backing band, Barishi, are from Vermont, and we’re here in Savannah, Georgia! 

SR: What were some of the inspirations behind your performance? You have a really unique stage presence—what’s inspired that for this album cycle? 

S: Demonic channeling and…demonic meditation. 

SR: It feels really ceremonial in a super awesome way. 

S: I kind of black out for 40 minutes, so I don’t really know what’s happening. By the end, I’m covered in bruises and cuts and I know I’ve earned my check somehow! 

SR: There’s a major shift between the two albums you’ve released—they’re worlds different from each other. 

S: As people change and go through different moods, like sometimes we have periods of our life where we’re partying and being f*cking unhinged and sometimes we have parts where we’re like “I just want to take a bath and read books and not talk to anyone”. I think it’s pretty normal to make art that goes all over the place. And also, this album is 50 percent of my catalog, so for people to perceive my sound as one album is misguided. 

SR: Who are some of your biggest inspirations? 

S: I was really inspired by the Japanese art horror film scene, like Hausu and Lady Snow Blood and watching a lot of Miyazaki films and kind of getting into this fantasy headspace when I was making the album because I wanted it to be not as autobiographical and more about creating a fake world that people could project onto. 

SR: Thank you so much for talking to us and thank you for the great show!

S: I hope I come back!