Genre-bending Naarm/Melbourne-based musical force of nature Saint Ergo recently released their long-awaited debut album Lived Experience. I caught up with this exciting artist to chat about this new release, their creative influences, and why they’re shunning streaming.
You released your debut album Lived Experience this month. What can you tell me about this collection of songs?
Out of a whole bunch of songs I have written over my life, these are the ones that rose to the top as needing to be nurtured into life. I didn’t really understand at the time, but each song narrates a story where some experience needed acknowledgement, whether that be painful or joyous and explored to a place of contentment or at least purpose. These are deeply personal songs and if I was only ever going to do one album, this was going to be it.
You’ve been releasing music as Saint Ergo since 2020. Why did this feel like the right time for an album?
Albums hold a special place for me, where a genuine narrative complexity can evolve and be expressed. At a time when singles seem to be more common, these songs needed to be brought together as a collective. I have listened to “experts” in the music industry, but I think that in the last few years I have decided to pay more attention to what my own heart wanted. I dreamed of having my own album since I was a child and I think the state of the music industry is so bleak, where there is zero interest in nurturing talent, was a kind of morbid encouragement to just do what the hell I wanted rather than trying to meet some kind of market.
In a world where streaming has become so ubiquitous, you decided to only release your album in physical formats and for digital download. Why was that important to you?
A huge part of the decision to make a full album, in part was an expression of a tactile need to pick it up and experience it physically. Really there are three main reasons I have chosen to do this.
One: The Career Choice. Streaming no longer makes sense for an independent artist unless you are trying to build a large following. I’ve never wanted to make music for a broad audience; I want to make music for an audience of one. Collecting likes and clicks doesn’t necessarily translate to a valid career. I only have 1100 followers on Instagram, but I know all these people follow me because they are invested in what I do. I don’t think what I make is designed to have millions of streams and a massive marketing budget. I think what I make is a decidedly personal, niche and it is impossible to sustain financially using the streaming platform’s architecture. It is a volume business, not a boutique business. Much like the difference between your favourite local café and a large restaurant chain. Both can make a decent product, but it is for a different market. Selling 100 records will return me more than all the streams that I can possibly garner, and it took me years to make this. I’m not letting it go easily.
Two: The Experience. I want my fans to experience music the way I experienced it growing up. It became something of a safe harbour. A physical companion where it has smell, weight and texture. These things are difficult to impart through a playlist. I am serious about community, and I want to get behind the small independent record store rather than making it available everywhere. I want people to have to make a little bit of effort, to work for this experience. These songs were not emotionally cheap to make and so to release it into the void of streaming felt wrong somehow.
Three: The Value. I strongly believe that while streaming is just a technology, the behaviour that it induces has really devaluated the role of music in society. I’m not talking about just financially, but there is no work required, no effort needed to find and play music. If you spend $65 on a record, there is an investment of money, time, discovery, equipment and the emotional rewards are commensurate to the investment. People really understand this when it comes to physical fitness. You gotta work out to build muscle. It is too easy just to skip something if you don’t immediately like it. Musical knowledge may be required to get the most out of it. I think accessibility has become the same as AI. Making easy the things that should be hard and make hard the things that should be easy.
As part of the release of Lived Experience, you participated in Record Store Day 2026. What can you tell me about your involvement with that initiative?
In some ways it was a happy coincidence. I was initially going to release the album a bit earlier but Record Store Day approached me about supporting my release and I thought it made perfect sense to change the release date to Record Store Day. Sarah, from RSD reached out and has been a great supporter of what I am doing for a long time, and this was a way she could support me.
One of my favourite songs from this album is your most recent single “Bodies in Motion,” which saw you collaborating with Maddy Herbert. How did that come about?
This song had been a solo song for a long time but about two years ago it hit me that it really should be a duet at least. I offered it to a few different artists, but nothing ever eventuated. After much frustration, I happened to hear Maddy singing in some of the demo of the last Velvet Bloom album. I was giving some feedback on the mixes, and I suddenly thought that Maddy would be perfect. I almost didn’t ask but I was so pleased when she agreed! The song only felt like it really worked once she laid down her vocals. It became the benchmark for the rest of the album.
If you had the opportunity to collaborate with anyone, who would it be?
I would absolutely love to collaborate with my favourite songwriter and artist Sam Phillips. I don’t think it would ever happen, I would melt into a puddle if that ever did.
Saint Ergo is such a strong artistic name. Where did it come from?
It’s a funny story but one with some poignancy. When I was originally married, my partner at the time decided to be married under a chosen name. We chose the name Stergo as our surname from our mutual appreciation for church history, especially Greek words and one of the four Greek words for love is Storgos. Stergo is etymologically drawn from that word, and it translates roughly as “To cherish with great affection” So StErgo you can see comes from that. A long-time musical friend, Phil Lester, kept calling me Saint Ergo as a play on the surname and I thought it was funny. I decided that would be my artist’s name. When I got divorced, I thought about changing it but I decided to keep it both as a bit of homage to that life but also it had built up a fair amount of brand recognition and being an AuADHD girl it felt too difficult to reinvent myself. It also has a quite strong implied meaning of religious questioning, which I quite like.
Your music is so unique, with a sound that borrows from so many different genres. Who are some artists that have influenced your music?
I think I have been influenced more by producers than artists themselves but there are many elements that borrow from people I admire. Quincy Jones, Charlie Peacock, T-Bone Burnett, Imogen Heap, Prince, Hugh Pagdham, Peter Gabriel, Sting, Sohn are all a few examples. Some very specific people like Stewart Copeland have really influenced my drum programming with hi hats. Sam Phillips is a massive influence on my songwriting and so is Paul Simon. As a singer, I am greatly influenced by people as diverse as Emma Kirkby, Tracey Chapman, Joni Mitchell and so many of the Māori folk I grew up with in NZ. I will listen to an artist like Sohn and be inspired with a bassline. Much of the synth bass on the album became these long textural notes. I love soul music, but I think it has been from little grabs of things that I have heard by Bass players like Vernon White, James Jamison or Pino Paladino. I could probably write an entire book just about these influences.
Will you be playing any shows to support the release of Lived Experience?
I am playing some shows as I have the capacity to organise them. It is something that is still evolving but I am happy to take my time and not feel I must meet any timeline. It took 10 years to make it, maybe it will take me that long to tour it. LOL
Do you have a message for the Australian music lovers out there?
Work at finding out your local music scene, don’t just accept what the algorithm sends you. Invest in what you love and buy their music, buy that t-shirt and wear it. If you think you can’t afford to buy it, that’s cool but to be a true music lover means prioritising it. You might love music but really, it’s artists that make this stuff. Love the artist too.
Lived Experience is available on vinyl or CD from selected independent record stores and online from ElasticStage. Saint Ergo will officially launch the album at the Black Bee Craft Beer and Wine Bar in Wurundjeri Country/Belgrave on May 8.
Image used with permission from Maddy Herbert
