Happy Place, the new EP from Scottish alt-pop duo, SAINT PHNX finds brothers Stevie and Alan Jukes turning an incredibly difficult situation into a beautiful collection of songs that is sure to speak to fans. Written during the last six months of their father’s life, Happy Place not only provides the duo with some comfort of their own, but also serves as a tribute to their dad, and a beacon of hope for anyone else who might be going through a difficult time.
Since 2016, SAINT PHNX have hustled hard and performed countless gigs alongside the likes of Yungblud, Lewis Capaldi and Imagine Dragons. As an independent act, they garnered millions of Spotify streams and even dropped their debut full-length, DDMN in 2020. Now, Stevie and Alan are making their major label debut on Atlantic Records with Happy Place, and it feels like the perfect timing. With the world ahead of them, there’s nothing that SAINT PHNX can’t do.
With Happy Place out now, we caught up with Stevie and Alan to discuss the EP’s backstory, their message for fans, and plans for the rest of 2022. Read the full interview below, and stream Happy Place HERE.
Prelude Press: You guys are getting ready to release your new Happy Place EP this month. What are you most excited for fans to hear on the EP?
SAINT PHNX: We can’t wait to share this collection of songs with our fans. We released Happy Place last year and can’t wait to share some new music!
Happy Place is your first release since DDMN and your debut release on Atlantic Records – did you have any goals in mind when you first started working on these songs?
During the pandemic we were writing an album with a completely different sonic. Late in 2020 our dad’s condition got worse and was taken to hospital on Christmas night. We then wrote Happy Place which came very quickly and we poured every emotion into it. The full E.P is a collection of songs on how he was feeling and how we were feeling during the last 6 months of his life. It’s a body of work we are immensely proud of.
Was there anything you wanted to do with Happy Place that you haven’t had the chance to try in the past?
We never wrote this song or EP with any other intention than helping us through a difficult time. It has led us to signing with the biggest record label in the world, playing on radio worldwide, crazy streaming numbers and also appearing on major TV ads. I think people are connecting with the song as it’s something real and honest.
The EP features your uplifting and emotional single of the same name. For those who may not already be familiar, can you tell us a little bit about the song’s background?
As mentioned our Dad was very sick and in hospital and it was too hard to say everything we wanted to say to him. We wrote the song and were lucky enough to play it to him the night he passed away.
“Happy Place” is something that many listeners will definitely be able to identify with. What would you like them to take away from the song?
We have had so many messages from people all over the world who have gone or are going through something similar. It’s very overwhelming but also makes us very proud to know that the song is helping people the way it helped us. Our main aim is to make people feel good after listening to our music.
You also worked with Jasmine Thompson for an alternate version of the song. How did that collaboration come about?
We are on the same label and she has an amazing voice. We were able to call her and tell her the story. It was important to us to have a female voice on the track to make it feel like it was our mum singing to our Dad. Jasmine heard the story and was really excited to collaborate. She is absolutely amazing and we have become good friends in the process.
Looking toward the rest of 2022, do you have any goals? Anything that you’d like to do or try in the new year?
We want to do our Dad proud and try and chart this EP in the UK. We also want to play as many shows across the world as we can!
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