Name: SABIWA
Nationality: Taiwanese
Occupation: Audio-visual artist
Current release: SABIWA teams up with Queimada and Nathan L for their album Sons of _, out via Phantom Limb.
Recommendations: Book: Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino; music: The Past is a black hole released by Danish label Gotta let it out

If you enjoyed this SABIWA interview and would like to know more about her music, visit her on Instagram, and bandcamp.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

It depends on the listening situation, but I think 80% of my listening experience I tend to listen with my eyes closed to be able to hear more without distraction. It also help to disconnect temporary from reality to give more room for what I’m receiving and feel where the piece is taking me.

I like music a lot which makes me feel that it creates space and shapes  the environment and also give the audience space to stay inside of it, wandering around and reflecting.

Entering/creating new worlds through music has always exerted a strong pull on me. What do you think you are drawn to most when it comes to listening to and creating music?

Sometimes, when I feel a certain connection with a piece of music or sound, the piece will directly get into my body and pull out lots of fragments of memory pieces, shows me clear images in my head.

This feeling makes me very happy. It’s like opening an another space outside of this material world.

Music is very abstract and unconstrained like 2D animation. It has way more possibilities than 3D movies or movies with real human.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

To be honest, I really don’t know ʅ (´･_･`) ʃ.

In Asia, it’s very common for parents to force kids to learn an instrument during the age of 7-16 because they believe some studies saying learning music can improve a kid’s development in terms of their behaviour and that it can make them smarter for their studies and being more competitive.

But personally I really can’t tell if it makes difference.

Tell me about one or two of your early pieces that you're still proud of (or satisfied with) – and why you're content with them.

I’d say my last album Island no.16 Memories of future landscapes. It’s a work I started many years ago and finally publish last year.



I felt satisfied with discovering a new approach and my audience also accepting it. It’s kinda like opening a new door for me to be pure and personal and to be whatever I am feeling rather than thinking. And I feel brave 200%, I feel pure love with all my heart when I was creating the draft of this album. So I still feel it and love it.

What is your current studio or workspace like? What instruments, tools, equipment, and space do you need to make music?

My workspace basically is just my room with speakers. It’s colourful and full with plants and super messy ฅ(๑*д*๑)ฅ///

I work with both audio and visual (film) at the same time so, there's lots of stuff. But for making music I just have a very simple set up. I mostly use only a laptop and 2 midi controllers. And I have a couple different type of mics and a lot of different type of wind instruments some of which I made myself.

Sometimes, I borrow instruments around from friends for recording. But recently I’ve been thinking that I really want to save money to buy a piano or cello.

From the earliest sketches to the finished piece, tell me about the creative process for your current release, please.

My current release Sons of_ is a collective work with new music composer / crazy musician Nathan L. and fantastic sound designer / producer: Queimada. We listened to all the current works by all of us and combined them to create a draft. And recently we also went together on a strange trip to a super foggy mountain and it was very memorable. So we decided to recreate the mood of that strange mountain trip by the draft we got.

We started to construct by developing some words into vague lyrics. And Nathan L. is currently working on a composition for ensemble so we combined a lot of recordings from the ensemble and recomposed it. I had many field recordings I recently did in Taiwan from the Taoism god ceremonies and also vocals. And Queimada is a super expert in heavy processing everything.

What role and importance do rituals have for you, both as an artist and a listener?

Rituals are super important for me before creating or listening. They help me to get read mentally and to make rooms for receiving and creating.

They also help me get in a good mood.

Are you acting out parts of your personality in your music which you couldn't or wouldn't in your daily life? If so, which are these?

Nope (･ω´･ )<3

Late producer SOPHIE said: “You have the possibility [...] to generate any texture, and any sound. So why would any musician want to limit themselves?” What's your take on that?

I think i don’t fully understand - is it actually asking why would any musician not use a computer ?

Do you feel that your music or your work as an artist needs to have a societal purpose or a responsibility to anyone but yourself?

Yes, especially when I work with film or audio-visual performance - kinda less abstract media - I would be even more concerned about their societal purpose.

Once a piece is done and released, do you find it important that listeners understand it in a specific way? How do you deal with “misunderstandings?”

I actually never thought about how the audience should understand what I released.

Maybe it’s a bit like answering questions where I often feel like I can’t really understand the question but I assume I understand and answer it. ( ͡° ͜ ʖ ͡°)

It's a feeling of space.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

Ooo This question somehow reminds me one of my favourite film directors Andrei Tarkovsky <3 <3 <3

In my the daily life I actually don’t listen to music at all unless I go to concerts or for certain social situations. I appreciate a lot compositions from randomness.

Also, in recent years, I started studying film, it makes me pay way much more attention to all the sound and nature composition around me. New composition is in every corner.

We can surround us with sound every second of the day. The great pianist Glenn Gould even considered this the ultimate delight. How do you see that yourself and what importance does silence hold?

For me silence is super powerful to give super power to sound. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

I think, for me, making or performing a piece of music is in some part very similar to making a great cup of coffee everyday.

Spending time in the shop selecting the coffee bean, the subtle differences in the composition of the flavours. And depending on the mood of the day choosing which flavour to make and what it goes with. Milk, sea salt heavy cream, caramel, or put a scoop of ice cream floating on top.

The difference is maybe with music, there's more like long term, repeated listening and adjustment to different moods - often oscillating between loving it and move it to the bin. There's not this immediate gratification like making the coffee “I know what I want” and I create it and I feel satisfied.

I think I lost the question (́◉◞౪◟◉‵)

What is a music related question that you would like to ask yourself – and what's your answer to it?

What is the intention of creating?
I don’t have an answer yet still trying to feel and understand it.