Our favourite New Zealand electronic production duo SACHI have been dropping ethereal dance-pop tracks left, right and centre. From the anthemic ‘Take Me Back’ to the dreamy lightness of ‘You’ (A La), they’ve spent the last year really honing their sonical vision in the follow up to their breakthrough 2019 EP ‘Nights With Ruby’.
Their new single ‘Down On Your Luck’ continues that experimentation with a song that echoes an infectious hook with smooth vocals. Layered over an experimental house influenced beat, they have fleshed out a pop infused euphoria that will help make this song immediately get stuck in your head. Reflecting on being there for someone during their darkest moments, they make sure the listener knows they aren’t alone when they feel this way which is an important message to put out into the world especially in this current climate.
I recently caught up with Will Thomas and Nick Chrisp from SACHI to discuss the creative process behind their empowering new single ‘Down On Your Luck’, found out what grounds them personally when they are feeling down, and chatted about what is inspiring them moving forward with their new project. Check it out BELOW;
THOMAS BLEACH: ’Down On Your Luck’ is an empowering electronic-pop track all about being there for someone during their darkest moments. Can you explain how this track creatively came together?
WT: We wrote ‘Down On Your Luck’ when we were living in LA in 2019, with the amazing writer and producer Candace Sosa. The day we wrote it, it was this euphoric minimal progressive house record. We took it away and worked on the arrangement and re-mixed and then re-re-mixed the production until we found how it sounds today, as that’s how most of our songs take shape. You can work on something forever, there’s no definitive indicator of when something is “done”, but for us there’s often moments that we try something on a song and it just feels right. For ‘Down On Your Luck’ when we wrote the bassline we knew we had found something interesting.
TB: What was sonically inspiring you both with the production for this track? What did you particularly reference in the sessions?
NC: Between the two of us we listen to a lot of different stuff. I think when we first wrote the song with Candace we were listening to a lot of older electronic stuff Daft Punk, Cassius and The Chemical Brothers, and also the newer Rufus Du Sol and Soulwax stuff. Then towards the end of finishing ‘Down On Your Luck’, we were influenced by Eno’s ambient work for the textures and soundscapes that sit beneath the song.
TB: With the song really being an anthem of solidarity within vulnerability, what is your favourite lyric and why?
WT: “You could never waste my time” is special. That sentiment of unconditional love carries a lot of weight for me. When you hear that, and if you can make that known to your loved ones it’s so restorative. It’s not necessarily a romantic sentiment, either, but it could be.
TB: The last year has really amplified that we all go through hardships and that mental health is something we need to speak up and talk about more. So when you are feeling at your lowest, what helps ground you personally?
WT: Exercise! Honestly the difference a nice walk or a big run can make to your mental health is insane.
NC: Yeah, exercise is huge. Yoga and meditation keeps me grounded and resilient. Making sure I’m considerate about what I’m consuming and what I’m exposing myself to, whether it’s my diet, what I’m looking at on the internet, or the people I’m spending time with.
TB: Talking about anthems, earlier this year you dropped the epic ‘Take Me Back’ which really inhabits this pulsating euphoria. How long did this song take to hone its sonical vision?
WT: This was another one of those songs that had many different lives and versions. We wrote the first version of ‘Take Me Back when we were living in LA in 2019, and then dug it out and workshopped it with our friend G Flip over New Zealand’s four week lockdown in 2020. How we were feeling about the pandemic, the sudden loss of live music and social gatherings at that time caused the idea of the song to take on a whole new shape. We then took it to our friend Montell2099 and he did some additional production on it, then took it back to our studio and re-mixed it further to what the song sounds like now.
TB: From releasing ‘Nights With Ruby’ in 2019, to working on this forthcoming next body of work, what is the biggest thing you’ve learnt about yourselves as artists and what you want the SACHI project to represent?
NC: We want our music to be remembered in people’s favourite memories. It’s always changing and evolving as to what we are experiencing, but above all the band represents oneness and unity, and we want to make people dance.
TB: The sound you’ve been really honing in this new music is a lot lighter than some of your earlier material, what do you think has explicitly influenced that?
WT: I feel like our current sound is just a more mature version of our early sound. Time passes, we have more experiences and are exposed to different things that influence our work. In the past we haven’t put too much thought into our “sound”. We work in a way that is incredibly fluid and spontaneous, following our inspiration wherever it leads us. It’s a very enjoyable way to work.
TB: Lets play a quick game of rapid fire questions. You ready?
WT: Let’s do it!
TB: The emoji that best describes ‘Down On Your Luck’ is…
WT: The simp eyes face
NC: The couple with the love heart between them
TB: A hobby or weird obsession I’ve picked up during lockdown has been…
W: Cooking/barbecuing
N: Gabber music
TB: The colour of my toothbrush at the moment is…
W: Black
N: Red
TB: When I think of Australia I think of…
W: Schnittys
N: Family
TB: Pineapple on pizza is…
W: Big red flag
N: Intolerable
‘Down On Your Luck’ is out now!