Before her appearance at RTRFM’s new festival Distant Murmurs at The Rosemount on January 17, we caught up with Mei Saraswati and found out what’s new…
Describe your music in five words or less.
Handmade, intuitive, economical, growth, stories.
What’s going on in the world of Mei Saraswati?
Got a band together made up of incred playas: Jack Doepel, Bryn Stanford, Natalie Mae, Tessa Darcey, Phil Stroud, John Brown, Andy Williams & Ben Witt. They all balance reverence in the translation of the songs with an independent creative take.
What motivates you to make music?
Emotional times. As a therapy. As a way to socialise with others. Need to experiment.
What have been the high and low points of your musical experiences so far?
High: anytime someone tells me they like the music… when people say they hear me on RTR, when Tess said her beaut lil boy wants to listen to me in the car, when Nanwyn Hunt said her baby dances to the music.
Low: at one stage getting caught up in making the music a ‘thing’ — PR, record labels, Skype meetings with people who just wanted to make business.
What music are you listening to at the moment?
Plant Devotionals by Jeff Lee, mbira music, Andrew Sinclair on Out to Lunch, Sade, Jorge Ben.
If you were stranded on a desert island, which member of the band would get eaten first?
Tess cuz she’s a vegetarian and a good person so she would have the purest meat… and she wouldn’t enjoy human meat anyway.
Here’s an opportunity to bitch about something, whether music related or not. What really pisses you off?
Too much bloody concrete. The Roe St Bus Station is a paved hell. Not enough trees on our streets, makes walking anywhere in summer real cruel. If you want people to use public transport you gotta make walking to the bus stop bearable… if you want people to be fit, make their environments enjoyable. Also the proposed Roe Hwy through the Beeliar Wetlands — get farked and build freight rail you idiots. Xo
You’re putting together your perfect gig featuring Australian artists. Who would you get to play and where? Feel free to include acts/DJs/bands/venues that no longer exist.
Everyone playing Distant Murmurs 
Mei Saraswati joins a stellar lineup of Perth acts — including Split Seconds, Long Lost Brothers, Adem K, Doctopus and over a dozen more — for RTRFM’s new festival Distant Murmurs at The Rosemount on Saturday, January 17. Tickets are on sale now through RTRFM.com.au.
