April 2004 interview with Isabelle Pascale Granet (cont.)

-- You said you were a dancer?
Yes, as a child and young adult I trained in both music and dance. My studies as a girl were in classical music and ballet. Physical expression has always been very important to me, so beginning as a teenager, I embarked on a journey which would take me from jazz dance to tai chi to aerobics to yoga to flamenco. All along though, music was very dear to me. So the opportunity to birth a project such as Sanctity is a very key part of what I feel is my life's work.

-- What is your process of writing?
My poetry, which often later becomes the lyrics of songs, is quite random in its creation. It borders on involuntary. I often wake up from a dream and simply scribble a few phrases down on a notepad. These go into my basket of such snippets for later reference. Then at some point I get the urge to go to my basket and pull some of the snippets together into some sort of form. I take the little pieces, allowing the ones which belong together to magnetize, and then add to them, writing additional lines and changing things as needed. Of course there is no set way that I write, but that's the most common pattern. Music-wise, I'm very into melodies. I'll sit at my keyboard picking out simple melodies and chords, or I'll sing something that comes to me into a portable tape recorder.

-- Which writers, if any, have had an influence on your work?
Without a doubt the first and probably biggest influence on me was the work of Carlos Castaneda and his books about his teacher don Juan Matus. Those books had a cathartic effect on me as a teenager, shaping my life's course in a very profound way. I have a few other favorite poets/writers; Rumi, Tagore, and Erica Jong come to mind.

-- How would you characterize the typical Sanctity listener?
I don't know if there's a 'typical' Sanctity listener, but I would say it's someone who is not bound by typical ways of looking at music or art. Sanctity is very pure in nature. It's not music which is trying to be cool, or be the next hip sound. It tends to appeal to people who resonate with such ideals.

-- I understand, but if you had to compare yourself to other artists, who would come to mind?
In terms of music, we're probably similar to any number of downtempo, lounge, or ambient groups. Artists like Moby, Enigma, Deep Forest, Massive Attack, or Portishead. However, in terms of the vocals, and artists who I feel are kindred spirits - I've been compared to Madonna, Tori Amos, Sade, and Ani DiFranco. There's also a particular album by Vanessa Daou, based on the poetry of Erica Jong, which is quite similar to the work that we do.