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Skylyne Spotlight: SAINT KID

Inside SAINT KID’s nostalgic world of growing pains, self-production, and honoring every version of yourself.

Skylyne Spotlight: SAINT KID

SAINT KID standing outdoors in a wooded setting, wearing a dark blazer and white shirt in a soft, cinematic portrait.

When trying to describe SAINT KID’s vision, I can only think of one word. Warm. His music is reminiscent and love struck, focusing on themes of nostalgia and evolving as a person. Listening to SAINT KID for the first time, I was enamored by this longing quality that shadows every lyric and sonic quality but does not necessarily make the songs sad. To me, every song sounds like a growing pain that comes with evolving out of a certain stage of your life. In “No Good Goodbyes”, from his latest EP, the lyrics read, “Some days, some nights, new friends, new life, new lows, new highs, no good goodbyes”. Although the song is just over a minute long, it encapsulates how starting a new life will cause tension with your old one. It’s not inherently melancholic, the tone is conflicted and that nuance is intentional.

 

As a completely self-produced artist who started releasing his music at 14 years old, SAINT KID’s production, songwriting and creative direction finds the middle ground between music that might seem uncorrelated at first, citing influences from Yung Lean, to the growing up with the pop music of the 2010s to Prince. I had the opportunity to speak to SAINT KID where we were able to delve more into his creative vision and artistic journey. Rooted in Ithaca soil, SAINT KID’s artistry starts from his childhood wandering in forests, birdwatching, and his hometown community.


SAINT KID: I always had something I was really passionate about learning. First it was birds, I loved great blue herons, then it was flags, then pirates (loved Blackbeard!)  and squids. I loved storytelling. I grew up watching 80’s dark fantasy movies. I wanted to be a screenwriter. Underdogs and coming of age stories were always interesting to me. When I was little, I would take the pictures out of Scooby Doo DVDs and make new posters for them and slip them in. I was the kid that would go around the neighborhood and rally kids on the block and act like we were making a movie - even if there wasn’t a camera around. It was always about creating something new.


After moving to Los Angeles SAINT KID’s sound began to reflect this bicoastal narrative of sunny California meeting quaint northeastern charm. In his song “Gave Me a Gun”, he pulls from acoustic guitars and twangy sonic elements giving that upstate New York feel while his relaxed vocals are quintessentially Californian. I found much of his artistry stems from two juxtaposing ideations. His name, SAINT KID, in itself is an example of this internal conflict:


SAINT KID: SAINT KID has two parts: SAINT and KID. The KID part is about my younger self. My earliest memory I have of me creating is me taking a crayon and drawing on the walls. My dad would be like, “No!” But my mom would go, “let him, he’s an artist.” I want to honor my younger self and the carefree creativity I was able to explore. SAINT is kind of everything I want to be. My music isn’t for me. It was to help people. The name SAINT KID holds a lot of responsibility for me. It almost feels like a representation of every version of me and everything I want to become. For me it feels like a North Star of what I should be doing. 


This nuance of childlike creativity and serving a bigger purpose is seen in his writing process. 


SAINT KID: When I write I black out. I feel like I have to shut off different parts of my brain. Like right now, I’m letting my 6 year old self take the wheel and let the 22 year old me take the back seat. It’s like I have every single version of myself in me and I need to balance how to honor each one. After the song is finished, I come back to it and sometimes it’s great (and sometimes it’s not). I believe the more present you can be, the more ideas you will get.

 

SAINT KID wearing a chainmail-style hood against a dark background with red light, creating a dramatic, medieval-inspired portrait.

Visually, SAINT KID pulls from his younger hyper fixations in order to world-build. Through different projects, he pulls from medieval, modern coming of age, and boxer wardrobe. However, one symbol has come to represent all his projects: a heart with wings.


SAINT KID: A lot of people mistake it for a bat (which is fine, bats are cool). But actually when I was growing up, my mom would leave notes in my lunch box and she would sign it with this symbol. When I moved to Los Angeles when I was eighteen, we got matching tattoos. I just think it’s a beautiful symbol, like love is free. 


With all these different eras, SAINT KID also took the time to comment on what he hopes fans do when coming to his shows.


SAINT KID: I’ve thought a lot about this. I want everyone to show up with something that they made. Whether it's bleached painted shorts or cool embroidery or drawing on your shoes. I want to see something you made. I want to see each person as an individual. With AI on the rise it's scary to think that people don’t trust their own hands to make stuff. I think it's better to paint something on your own and have it come out a bit “less perfect” than not show up as yourself.



Navigating being an artist at 22, one of the biggest themes in his music is youth. In SAINT KID’s song “Kids Again”, one lyric goes, “if I let you go then it’s not only you I lose, cause we won’t be kids again with someone new”. Although focusing on a breakup, the underlying message is the persistence of time. SAINT KID not only reflects on grieving the relationship, but also mourning his childhood. However, much of our conversation focused on how growing as an adult is almost like a second childhood. As someone in his early twenties, he discussed his biggest challenges in the industry.


SAINT KID: The biggest struggle is definitely comparing myself to other people and I know that it’s completely normal. It's hard not to look at someone who’s the same age as me and see how much farther they are in their career. Producing and writing has paid my rent and I’m so grateful to make rent by writing and producing for other people, but it’s a balance of time management and trusting my intuition on what to focus on.


Through our conversation, SAINT KID also mentioned a breakthrough he had the other day about comparison and the inner dialogue he has with himself. 


SAINT KID: But I try to think about it this way: If you had a child and they made a mistake, and you say you always make the same mistake and you're never gonna get it right, they would be shattered. I realized that’s exactly how I’m talking to myself. I think it’s also difficult to really put myself first as an artist.


SAINT KID wearing a chainmail-style hood in front of a castle at dusk, creating a medieval-inspired portrait with a moody, cinematic feel.

Currently working on his new project, SAINT KID emphasizes how this era will be an evolution of everything he’s done before.


SAINT KID: I want to really find a middle ground between my inner child and this “saint” or representation of who I want to be. My vision is to bring listeners into my world, bringing the nature and community of Ithaca to LA. I think there are a lot of similarities between nature, growing up, and stepping into yourself that I’d like to explore. Sonically, I want to really draw from pop choruses, but visually it will be more alternative leaning. I want it to feel like you’re looking back at your first great summer. It's August, and hot, and you’re jumping into the lake.


Check out SAINT KID’s newest release “Playing Dead” coming out on July 31st!


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