Sana Talks New Music, Upcoming 2024 Releases, Growing up in Kazakhstan, and More

L.A.-based, Kazakhstan-born artist Sana recently entered our orbit here at WMF, and we’ve since become quick and keen followers of her work. Sana piqued our curiosity thanks to her fascinating personal backstory, significant work within the fields of both music and photography, and her unabashed and irreverent exploration and combination of seemingly disparate genres. While the following documented conversation is merely the tip of the iceberg delving into Sana’s compelling creative, personal, and professional journey, we felt the timing of our first interview with the multi-faceted artist was apropos, given that she is in the midst of an ambitious, rapid-fire release schedule in 2024 that includes a series of singles, an EP, two full-length albums, and a third album-in-progress. 

Bobby Weirdo: Let’s start from the beginning: you were born in Kazakhstan.

Sana: Yeah, I was born in Kazakhstan.

BW: In the city –and I’m going to say it wrong–of Karaganda.

S: That’s perfectly right.

BW: And you lived there until you were seventeen?

S: I lived there until I was sixteen and half. Then I started traveling, and then I moved to a bigger city –Almaty.

Collage by Tanya Hohlova with Sana photos by WMF

BW: The city you grew up in is something like the sixth biggest [in Kazakhstan]?

S: Yeah.

BW: During this time, you spoke primarily Russian, and also Kazakh?

S: Kazakh just to pass the tests in school –I never really spoke Kazakh. I had several tries of learning English when I was there, but it was absolutely useless. The teacher tried to teach you English [in] Russian, which doesn’t make any sense. I never got to speak English there –it was Russian only. I started learning English when I moved here.

BW: There are different meanings to the word Kazakh, right? You can be born and raised in Kazakhstan, but you’re not necessarily described as Kazakh. Is that correct?

S: Yeah, you’re Kazakh only if you have Kazakh blood in you, which is totally Asian. I was born there, but I don’t have Kazakh blood in me.

BW: So, you’re Kazakhstani. 

S: Yeah.

BW: Did you play or perform music, or sing when you were in Kazakhstan?

S: Yeah, I started with small shows and concerts on my block when I was six. I performed at my school every single holiday. I never took any classes and I never had a [music] teacher. I didn’t even know I can sing good; I didn’t try to pursue it. When I was a fifteen, I was working in nightclubs as a photographer and a dancer. They didn’t know I was fifteen; I was wild like that.

One of the guys [I met] at the club told me that if I sang, he could make me a pop star. I said “no” to that opportunity, but a couple of months later I received a phone call from a known person. He was a member of a band named Metis’s. I knew that band because I listened to them when I was at school, and it was a pretty popular band back then. They’re doing pretty good right now too, but [now] it’s kind of a little bit of a different story.

So, he told me he was from that band Metis’s and they received my e-mail for the audition, but I didn’t send an e-mail. I was sure of that. I didn’t even know how he got my information, and then a month later I found out that my friend really wanted me to become a singer [even] more than I did, and she sent out my pictures, phone number, and nothing else. She told me later that she did that.

I took the chance and sang one song for them. They offered for me to be in the band. I called my mom and told her everything, and she told me not to do it because it was dangerous, and the music industry is not good. I told them “no” and rejected the offer.

Two months later, I kept thinking about it, and called them back to see if the position was still available. They said no – [they] had found someone else. I was like, “Well, that was a missed opportunity,” and then a month later they called me again and said “if you still want it, you’re on board.” I said OK. We were touring for almost two years, and then we broke up.

Collage by Tanya Hohlova with Sana photos by WMF

BW: Where were you touring?

S: We were touring in Russia – Moscow most of the time. Also, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan… all these [former] U.S.S.R. countries. But most of the time we were touring within Kazakhstan—like every single week. I was thinking it was going to last forever; it was pretty good.

BW: And you sang in Russian?

S: Yeah – Russian, and we had a couple songs that were half-Russian-half-English. But most of the songs were in Russian. I never wrote any of the songs.

BW: And in that era, you were Sana Feera?

S: Yeah! You know this? That’s funny! It was my first nickname. I did not come up with this; it was that my friend’s idea. The same friend who sent out my pictures to this band came up with this [name] and said “you better use it.” She was kind of like my low-key manager – she’s funny. I still talk to that girl; she’s amazing.

BW: Your latest song “Heaven on Earth” is way different than [your previous single] “Baby Angel”.

S: Yeah.

BW: “Baby Angel” is leaning toward metal or hard rock, and the new single is more like jazzy r ‘n’ b…

S: Jazztronica, yep.

BW: But it’s all the same project?

S: All the same project; it’s different albums. “Heaven on Earth” is coming from the first album, which is more digestible, and “Baby Angel” is coming from the second album, which is harder, punk rock-ish kind of music.

BW: So, you said “second album,” meaning that “Baby Angel” is newer…but you just put out “Heaven on Earth”, so are you going back to older [unreleased] material?

S: I’m going to be going back and forth, back and forth between two albums, and the EP is [a seven song compilation from both albums]. [The] two albums are going to be released separately.

Collage by Tanya Hohlova with Sana photos by WMF

BW: Besides going by Sana Feera, you used to go by Sana S.F.H., [which stands for] “Sana From Heaven”. “Sana From Heaven”, “Baby Angel”, “Heaven on Earth”…given that it’s a motif you go back to a lot, does heaven have a significance to you?

S: The fact that I attended more funerals than birthday parties when I was a kid had a significant impact on me. Everyone was just passing away.  Almost my entire my family died out, so I was wondering what is behind that curtain. When I was a kid I always wanted to go to heaven or hell. It didn’t matter where – I just wanted to see how it is. I kept remembering that.  It’s really hard to explain. I’m not religious and I don’t believe in heaven or hell. Even if I would [believe], it’s all….here on earth. But I will never stop writing about a heavenly theme. It’s just in my DNA, I guess.

BW: Besides music, you’re a professional photographer.

S: Yeah.

BW: Going back to when you were about fifteen, working as a photographer and dancer, were you working with that digital camera from your childhood that you’ve mentioned to me before? Is that what you started with?

S: I started using that camera. It was very cheap, and the quality was cheap, too. When I started noticing that people were interested in these photoshoots, I asked my mom to get a credit. I promised her I would pay off everything in the first six months, and I did – I paid off everything in four months. It was a thousand dollars I believe, back in the days, to get a new professional camera. I started doing photo shoots and everything I was earning I just paid back to my mom. After four months, when I was done with all they payments, I started actually making money. She was impressed.

Collage by Tanya Hohlova with Sana photo by WMF

BW: Do you remember the names of either of those first two cameras?

S: It was a Nikon D3000. My very first camera.

BW: Very first one after that initial one you had from your childhood?

S: Yeah – my first professional camera. I had an 18-200 mm lens, and then I got the 24-70mm which is a wide lens [and] really improved my photography skills.

BW: Were you taking photos at the club, or where were these photo shoots?

S: Anywhere – at the clubs, different events, on the streets. We could shoot anywhere we wanted; it’s not like here in L.A.

BW: And these were people who said they asked you to take photos of them, or were you doing things like environmental portraits of dancers?

S: Everything. I was taking portraits every single night. If they liked the free portraits, they would reach out and ask me if I could take actual portraits of them in the studio. I had these flyers, and there was VK.com back in the days, and I had my photos uploaded there. It was kind of like Facebook. It was pretty big; it looked just like Facebook. I had my portfolio and page there, and it was popping.

BW: And you continue to do both photography and music here.

S: Yeah.

BW: You have a lot of music releases coming up, right? Will the two albums and the EP all be released by the end of next year?

S: Even earlier than that. I’m working on my third album right now, so I’m pretty excited about what’s coming in 2024. It’s a lot of new music.

BW: Album number three?

S: Yeah.

BW: [Just to confirm]: Given that one of the albums leans more in a more rock direction and one in a jazzier direction – are you going to be going back and forth between the two albums when you release them?

S: I’m going to go back and forth, yeah. Next is more rock-ish and rap….and then more pop-ish again…electronica mixed with rap, and then EP and two albums.

BW: So, the EP will be the release that has both of those sides [to your work] simultaneously.

S: Yeah.

BW: That’s unusual these days.

S: I know.

BW: You’re not calling them different projects – it’s all Sana, [but with] two distinct sounds.

S: Yeah, I was kind of hesitating to put all the tracks out like that, during my research, I came across a few artists whom I greatly admire and who engage in blending various eras and genres, which left a lasting impression on me. Like Princess Nokia – I love her music and everything she does. She started as an underground artist, and then switched to being a pop artist. She released two albums on the same day in 2020: One’s called Everything is Beautiful, and then [the other one] Everything is Ugly. She had a similar concept, but one album is pop-ish, and the second album considerably more intense.

Everything is just a reflection of what I consume and what I listen to. I can’t disregard some of the genres I really admire, and I want to blend them in my record.

My path takes a little more work to market it, but it’s possible. I’m sure there are lot of people like me, listening to all kinds of music. I can listen to experimental classics, and the next track is going to be EDM.

BW: Are you going to be doing any live shows in 2024?

S: Hopefully I will.  I was just talking with Peter and Brooks. We might do a show with four or five artists at Future Factory.

BW: I’m familiar with Brooks [Ginnan], but who is Peter?

S: Peter is a really good friend of mine – he’s amazing. He plays with Romy. And he has his own project. He plays guitar, sings, produces, mixes, and masters everything.

Collage by Tanya Hohlova with Sana photos by WMF

BW: So, you just released a single at the end of 2023, and you have two albums and an EP coming up in 2024. Are there going to be any music videos for the upcoming singles?

S: “Baby Angel” music video is in works at the moment. I’m probably going to release it the same day when [the] EP comes out, because it’s going to have “Baby Angel” on it.

BW: So, you’ve already shot the “Baby Angel” video, you’ll be sending it off for post-production, and it’ll come out next year.

S: Yeah, I’ll send it off for post-production pretty soon…color grading, titles, sound effects…like the sounds that are not on the actual track. We’re going to have to remaster the track for this video, so it’s a lot of work.

BW: Do you have a genre or concept for album number three?

S: I don’t know the full concept yet, but it’s electronica, and more energetic tracks which are also going to include jungle. Like liquid drum ‘n’ bass mixed with pop. [I’m] going to have a couple trip hop tracks because this is what I started with and it’s in my essence. I’ve met a producer from Colorado; he’s amazing. We stayed at the studio most of the days and he just left a couple days ago and he is working on mixes at the moment. I’m super excited for new tracks.

BW: Last question for this conversation, and I’m sure we’ll have many ahead: Where you do see Sana five years from now, and ten years from now?

S: Five years from now would be perfect to play Coachella. Ten years? Oh my God – I’ll probably already [be] retired, and preferably producing and helping other artists. I’ll perform on top for the next five or six years, and then just help in the studio and put more effort into my record label signing new artists. That is very inspiring for me. Even now, I just want to produce other artists, but right now I can’t contribute my time and myself to that just yet. I have to build a name first.

BW: Cool – I’m excited!

S: Yeah, thank you!

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Follow Sana:

Instagram

Bandcamp [Colitaderana Records]

Spotify

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Collages by Tanya Hohlova with Sana photos by WMF. Polaroids by WMF