April 2004 interview with Isabelle Pascale Granet

-- How did Sanctity come about?
Sanctity's deepest origins come from a basic emotional need to cope. I started writing when I was living in NYC and under a great deal of emotional strain due to a failed relationship. I discovered that putting my emotions into words and then going and performing them in front of total strangers was very therapeutic for me (and actually, for the audience as well). As a dancer, music had always been such an inspiration to me, and for many years I longed to write music for myself. In the early '90's I met Ben Arrindell, a budding mix engineer and producer. I shared my poetry with Ben after I saw how much he loved a particular Sting album which we both found very poetic. He was mesmerized by my work and offered to help me record ideas that I had of blending spoken word, early music samples, and beats. It's interesting that around that time, Enigma released their first album. I believe that creative ideas appear from the Unknown, waiting to be plucked, often by several disparate individuals.

-- So you're saying you and Enigma had the same or similar idea at the same time?
Yes, haven't you ever noticed how a thought will pop into your head, and then before you know it you realize that someone else has also come up with a similar idea? Around this same time there were various incarnations of the 'Enigma' concept, such as the group Deep Forest. In the dance/electronic music and film score world, sampling of early music and "ethnic" vocals was also catching on. It's as though little seeds are planted in the minds of different people, then others hear these seeds, ideas cross-polinate, and soon you have a new genre or movement.

-- Who is Sanctity?
My ethereal child...oh, you mean who are the members of Sanctity? Sanctity is not a group per se. I prefer to think of it as a project. We look at it as a broad creative endeavor, a mission. At the moment the primary focus is the album which we've just finished, but other possible aspects include video, stage performance, etc. I'm the vocalist - I write all the lyrics as well as some of the music. Paul Hsu produces and is responsible for most of the sounds you hear on the record (programmed as well as played). Ben Arrindell functions as confidant, executive producer, and occasional contributor (having been the producer of the first album). We've been very fortunate to work with several guest musicians as well.

-- You mentioned a first album?
Yes, I put out an album entitled Sanctity, confusingly enough, in 1999 through our record label, Liquid Light. Coming from the live poetry circuit, I was used to using my name - so the album is 'by' Isabelle Pascale Granet, although it's essentially the same group of people who've made this new album. After the first album I realized that I preferred not to have my name in the forefront of the project.