A Quick Chat with Sarah Yagki

We love your new track ‘I Love You, I Lied’ - can you tell us a bit about the meaning behind the single?

The single is about recognising a love that is only based on the habit of being with someone, rather than having true feelings. It is the process of realizing everything toxic and wrong in the relationship, and it is a deeply personal one for me as I definitely ripped out myself and my own experiences in this track. “I opened up to you, you tore that up - I rearranged myself, for selfish love” for me is a line that sticks because it is the sense of betray, mistrust and hurt that happens when you finally are ready to walk away. 

This new single is the title-track for your upcoming EP - what can we expect from the entire body of work?

You can expect a shift in my music, an exploration of deeply personal experiences that I have created to be shared and felt with others, and overall a closer sense of who I am as not only an artist, but me.

I feel for the longest time the music I currently have out is almost too safe. The first two songs play that card, the digestible pop track that will stick in your ear. The middle track is a crowd favorite at shows, that is high-energy but also sticks to my core as a pop artist. The fourth track ‘Truly’, is my personal favorite. I am extremely visual in my creation of music, and this for me personally outlines an entire situation and is the closest song out to date of what it felt like being inside my head during troubled times. The final track is the title-track, and the EP starts with a sense of hope and finishes with a sense of chaos, loss and an overall sense of the question - What now?

What first drew you to create music?

A sense of isolation drew me to create music. Growing up I felt like I didn’t have a personal connection to myself, family or anything really around me - it was all a means of survival. When I was listening to artists that I loved, it made me feel like I had someone to speak to and understood what I was feeling. I wanted to create the same.

Who would you consider as your biggest musical influences?

The biggest musical influence I have is EDEN. The artist has the biggest influence over my lyrical inspiration - the way he crafts, develops and evokes emotion in his words hit hard for me. The music EDEN creates feels like every single musical choice is purposeful, and I love how whenever I hear a song he creates, it is so uniquely his.  

Do you have any weird talents or facts that people might not know about you?

I have a tattoo of a Pikachu on my arm, and also collect Pokemon pop vinyls! I have about 50 of them at home in a little collection that sits in my living room. I also have had my red hair for about 5 years now, and have a cat at home named Redbull! 

You’re about to kick off a pretty big national tour - what are you most excited about?

I’m excited about performing with my band. I love the people I work with and surround myself with, and for younger me it was all I wanted - someone to believe in my music as much as I did. I am lucky enough to have that and to be able to share that outside of Sydney and have the support of my band with me is incredible.

Who was your first celebrity crush?

Zac Efron - I couldn’t resist him in High School Musical.

What’s your favourite album of all time?

Vertigo - EDEN

Nectar - Joji

If you could collaborate with one person, who would it be?

I keep saying this - but Blake Rose. I love his voice, tracks, production and crafting of his lyrics. The first song I heard from him was ‘Gone’ and he has been on the top of my list of artists I want to collaborate with since then.

You have an EP and tour on the way, can we expect anything else from you in 2023?

This single and EP mark a shift in how I represent who I am as an artist. The releases coming are like nothing you’ve heard yet, but everything that is me. You can expect a heavy focus on the visual representation of my music - and as always, many more shows!