Date: July 2001
From: Variety Magazine

Sacha Sacket Interview
by Olivia Hemaratanatorn

- What makes you different from the next kid?

I have guts. Most people really wouldn't be as honest as I would. I haven't met many that can put it all out there. I think that's my greatest strength. My integrity, my sense of self.

- What inspires you to write a song?

Songs usually come out of my need to see a situation clearly. When I am finished with a song, I usually see something completely differently than when I started. It's my own teacher. Helps me grow, become wiser, see life clearer. Heals me. That's why I love it so much, why it continues to be an engaging process over the years.

- What are you trying to convey through your songs?

I go a lot of directions. Some of my main themes derive from my unruly heart, it really doesn't behave a lot of the time. I end up falling into sticky situations and writing songs about that. I mostly write about trying to become complete within myself: putting back the pieces. I think it's a lot harder to really see a situation for what it is and write about it from your heart. It's hard to be that vulnerable. That is something I am constantly pursuing as an artist. I find really difficult places in my life and bring them to my instrument. Eventually, there is a healing process that occurs within the song. A place for realization.

- What philosophies do you think represent who you are/what you want to be?

I believe that if you really focus in on what you LOVE and find where your life resonates on a powerful level, nothing else will ever matter. You transcend selfish purpose. I think that we are all put on the Earth with something amazing to contribute; it just takes a lot of guts and self-examination to claim it. It's not supposed to be easy, but I think that's what makes it interesting and stimulating. We all aim for things in order to get ahead, to rise up in the food chain. I think that our highest goals in life go beyond that. When you are doing it purely for the love of it, to connect to your highest self or spirit, then I think you have found your calling.

You have to move towards anything that scares the crap out of you. I believe if you have an irrational fear of something that is where you have to go. Only after you face it will you understand yourself better. You have to see life with unprejudiced/open eyes. Oftentimes, things we fear are things that we don't understand. Every difficulty and fear that I have faced has brought me to my highest power. That's why I get up in front of an audience, why I share my ideology, my voice. I think our culture allows people to be chickens. A lot of Americans are fine with being victims. I think that role strips you of your power. If you face the things you are scared of, you are essentially taking responsibility over your life. There is no such thing as a victim once you do that. You begin to realize that you really cause all the fuck-ups in your life. One some level, we cause all these messy situations. I think you have to claim that before you can become a powerful person, someone with integrity and character.

Honesty is a huge thing for me. I believe that when you lie to someone you are honoring his or her opinion over your own. You are more worried about what they think than in who you are. When you tell the truth, especially in difficult situations, you are honoring yourself over that other person. I believe that my honesty has really built my self-confidence. I am much more sure of myself now just because I decided to open my doors to anyone that was knocking. Deciding to live my life out of integrity was one of the most empowering things I have ever done.

- How long did it take you to record your album? How many tracks are
on it? What is it titled?

About 9 months. 11 tracks. It's called Alabaster Flesh.

- What inspired this album?

The album is really a story. One song leading to the next. I've written a modern day hero's myth. The process of me being able to bring my spirit and ideas into physical form. Having that confidence. Conquering my fear. The album is really about me claiming my voice, claiming my power. That is the goal of a hero. I really studied a lot of myth. Iron John by Robert Bly and Joseph Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces are 2 books that really affected me. I read many books on myth in different cultures though.

All the hero myth really comes down to the same essence. I read Joseph Campbell's book after I had already established all the songs and their place on the album. I was startled by the coincidence in the correlation within the book and my songs. I had written the music in response to a lot of cultural myth I had read while traveling through Europe. It was something that I naturally gravitated towards at the time. Hero with a Thousand Faces outlines a series of rites that heroes undertake from cultures all around the world. There is this common thread between all of them. My album eerily followed that path to incredible detail. It was ridiculous really. I had already decided on the order, then I picked up the book and there it was… That's when I realized I had really written my own myth.

In the beginning of the album, I thought it was about finding my masculinity. I think now it really is more the deep masculinity: taking action in things we really believe, doing something for the good of mankind. Kind of like Martin Luther King and Gandhi. I think those were the real "men." They understood what masculinity was. I think women also have the deep masculine in them as well. It's not a gender thing. That's what I thought beforehand. That I was looking to be the man that society tells us to be. I wanted to be responsible and in control. I wanted that rite. I wanted to be able to come into my own power. To be a man that isn't afraid of the world. The classic man's man. What I obviously found was that we really have a misconception on what makes up a man. The men America lauds are Arnold Swarzenegger, John Wayne, or Michael Jordan. Of course, I think they have it all wrong. It's not about being "don't screw with me" tough guy (which lacks true emotion). I think that's what a lot of men really aspire to, or try to be thinking that they are "strong" or "tough." A lot of guys are trying to act like their father. Trying to be in control of all situations like they thought their fathers were. It's this cycle that is rooted in a strong common misconception. The truth is that this assurance just doesn't exist. These men just learn to bottle it up really good and becomes failures at life in the end. They think the Holy Grail is being able to be someone that no one can mess with. Someone that can control his heart, can control his life, and can sleep with any goddamn woman or man he wants. But they end up never facing their real demons. They never get past their great fears of inadequacy.

The real masculine is something that has a lot to do with taking spiritual purpose or deep inspiration and transforming that into something material. Taking a concept like world peace and really CREATING something out of that like John Lennon did. That is what I found was to be a real "man." Doing things like that take a lot more guts than being "tough." This album marked my transition through that rite of deep-masculinity. This album took a lot of guts for me. It took more courage for me to be vulnerable than to be "in control." My myth was about true courage, not something feigned or posted on a Marlboro ad.

- How does the feminine principle work?

The deep feminine is a lot more about the cycle of life, understanding the spiritual world. Women are already in the cycle of life. They become a part of it when they get their period. Men don't have that initiation. Women are creating life. That is their nature. That is why we call it "Mother Earth." Men, as an energy, really just traverse around what women already are. Men are the travelers; the deep-feminine entities are the map. Of course this can be taken on a gender level and I think that is incorrect. I am talking about the deep-masculine and the deep-feminine. These are both inside all of us. Like yin and yang. It has nothing to do with gender roles or stereotyping men and women. This has a lot to do more with our subconscious. I had already gone through the rite of the deep-feminine. I knew my heart; I understood my deep-spiritual side. I was really in touch with who I was and what I was after. I had already claimed the goddess archetype. I sorely needed to balance that out. I didn't have the courage to put myself on the line with these deep concepts. That is something that a hero is able to do: To create something material out of personal convictions.

- Why Alabaster Flesh?

The idea of "the word made flesh" found in the bible, which kept resonating through my head. Bringing something spiritual into the physical. Alabaster Flesh was a very self-reflexive thing. The album content is about really being able to declare myself for the first time. The album was ABOUT making that album.

Alabaster is a yellowish white color, an almost spiritual shade to me. In Primordial, I sing: "I can transfigure this flesh into soul." The title of the album mirrors that sentiment. Also, Orion as a hero figure really influenced me. The idea that Orion's flesh is the stars. I like that idea a lot. He has alabaster flesh. That and my skin is also pretty pale to begin with :) It all tied into my bringing my vision and spirit into something grounded. Finding enough belief and strength to create it.

- What inspires you to write a song?

Songs usually come out of my need to see a situation clearly. When I am finished with a song, I usually see something completely differently than when I started. It's my own teacher. Helps me grow, become wiser, see life clearer. Heals me. That's why I love it so much, why it continues to be an engaging process over the years.

- What are you trying to convey through your songs?

I go a lot of directions. Some of my main themes derive from my unruly heart, it really doesn't behave a lot of the time. I end up falling into sticky situations and writing songs about that. I mostly write about trying to become complete within myself: putting back the pieces. I think it's a lot harder to really see a situation for what it is and write about it from your heart. It's hard to be that vulnerable. That is something I am constantly pursuing as an artist. I find really difficult places in my life and bring them to my instrument. Eventually, there is a healing process that occurs within
the song. A place for realization.

- What philosophies do you think represent who you are/what you want to be?

I believe that if you really focus in on what you LOVE and find where your life resonates on a powerful level, nothing else will ever matter. You transcend selfish purpose. I think that we are all put on the Earth with something amazing to contribute; it just takes a lot of guts and self-examination to claim it. It's not supposed to be easy, but I think that's what makes it interesting and stimulating. We all aim for things in order to get ahead, to rise up in the food chain. I think that our highest goals in life go beyond that. When you are doing it purely for the love of it, to connect to your highest self or spirit, then I think you have found your calling. Honesty is a huge thing for me. I believe that when you lie to someone you are honoring his or her opinion over your own. You are more worried about what they think than in who you are. When you tell the truth, especially in difficult situations, you are honoring yourself over that other person. I believe that my honesty has really built my self-confidence. I am much more sure of myself now just because I decided to open my doors to anyone that was knocking. Deciding to live my life out of integrity was one of the most empowering things I have ever done.

- Where were you born? Where did you grow up?

Tehran, Iran. Moved because of the Revolution going on there when I was one. My crib was put behind a brick wall so that stray bullets wouldn't hit me. My mother actually got shot in the chest. She survived and my parents promptly left after she recovered. We moved to LA. Lived here the rest of my life. I am half Persian and British. My dad is the Persian.

- You were a theater and film major at USC?

I've been acting since I was in kindergarten if you can believe it. Acting has always been a passion of mine. Music was always #1, but I think acting is a really cool art. You really have to understand psychology to be any good. Understanding how human beings work, motivations, etc... I've read plays upon plays just because I am so interested in character study: what makes different people tick. I think that affects my music in many ways.

- What instruments do you play?

Piano, Guitar (began in college), voice. Also splicing beats on the computer (tracking) and drum machines, synths, etc... Also, I make films, write. These are both things that I am looking to pursue in the future. I am interested in incorporating that into my art at some point.

- What do you do in your spare time?

I read a lot. I TRAVEL!!!!!!! I love going to foreign places. Hopefully this fall I will be going to Moscow and through Eastern Europe. I read tarot cards. I always like to check out what's new coming out in music. I am quite a fan. My music collection is expansive. Always trying to hear what is new out there. See people doing something different with music. Keep up with the scene. Love film too. I write too much poetry. I journal a lot. Fill books with my thoughts at a ridiculous rate. It really helps me realize what where my desires are. I figure out what I should do next just through journaling oftentimes.

- What are your personal goals? professional goals?

To dig as deep as I can as an artist. I am very interested in craft, in creating something important and vital. As a songwriter, I am interested in finding places where it's hard to look and to really study and write a story about those issues. It's a lot about unearthing, searching through the rubble. I like writing about things that don't get written about. I think a lot of the songs on this album were also because I couldn't listen to songs being written about these subjects anywhere else. I think I am truly original in that sense.

Professionally, just to get heard. To reach people. To help people through my music. A lot of what I do is about voicing a population that doesn't get heard really. Singing emotions on subjects that most people are scared to venture to. My life has always been fraught with the individual against the group. I was teased pretty intensely in school, I think my urge to perform for audiences is me coming back to that group environment and sorting through my demons. My biggest challenge in life is to be able to be honest and myself in front of all these people. That is something I was not able to do when I was young. Something I sorely wanted to do during those years. I was dying to just be myself. But I was too scared to say anything back then. When I think about it, there wasn't much to be scared of. I could have been beaten up, but really, that would have been fine. If I had gotten the chance to stick up for myself verbally, I think I would have been cool with getting my butt kicked a few times. But I was a very scared kid. I didn't talk back. I walked away with my tail between my legs. With my music, I feel I am honoring myself now through that process. I am reclaiming my voice. My art has become such an important and incredibly engaging process because of that.