Getting To Know: Saint Senara

Saint Senara, named Gloucestershire’s best band of 2023, is a dynamic singer-songwriter duo consisting of Andrew Bate and Chloe Gorman. Renowned for their unique blend of spellbinding lyrics, gritty guitar, bluesy vocals, and ethereal harmonies, they create a captivating sound that’s all their own. Specializing in folk-inspired murder ballads, Saint Senara has mastered the art of crafting a big sound with just two people, a guitar, and a tambourine. Their memorable performances have earned them acclaim, including impressing the Queen of UK Blues while supporting her on tour. Their debut release’s title track even secured a spot in the top 10 of the Blues & Roots International Song Contest, marking them as a force to be reckoned with in the music world.

1. Congratulations on being named Gloucestershire's best band and your recent success with BBC Introducing! How has this recognition impacted the band's journey, and what does it mean to you as artists?

A: It's a funny thing when it comes to competition. On the one hand it was great to have people show us how much they enjoy what we're doing by putting us through to the next round each time, and eventually to win it, but there's just far too many fantastic bands working the scene, all great at what they do, that there could never really be just one best band in Gloucestershire. But the doors the win has opened have been incredible, it's given us the opportunity to meet and work with so many great people. That to me is the real prize. 

C: It's been a wild ride since winning Battle of the Bands. We were making slow but steady progress before that point, doing as many gigs as we could and really honing our songwriting and stagecraft, but winning the title got us the attention of incredible local promoter, Andi Foster of Audio Junk Food, and since then everything has really started to take off.

Andi is so supportive of the Gloucestershire music scene and he's put a lot of faith in us, taking us from opener to headliner in just six months earlier this year, so we have a lot to be grateful to him for. Having a song played on BBC Introducing is incredible, too — for me it was one of those moments that made me feel like I'm a 'real' musician, if that makes sense.

A: Having been the one to record and mix the song that was featured on BBC Introducing, I was just nervously listening to make sure it sounded OK. It wasn't until after it aired that I could breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy what it meant.

2. Your latest EP, Under My Skin, has been praised for taking your sound to a new level. Can you tell us more about the creative process behind this EP and how you developed the signature elements like the Gretsch guitar and tight vocal harmonies?

C: We'd been playing the songs featured on the EP live for a while, but recording them just took them to places we never expected.Under My Skin is the first EP we've recorded in a professional studio — our debut was recorded, produced and mixed at home — so that was a particularly exciting experience for me.

Our producer and guest drummer on the record, Sam Bharucha from Audio Farm Studios, had some really interesting ideas for how to really ramp up the sound. I can't lie, I wasn't sure about some of them when we were actually in the studio — the really high oohs at the end of Backyard Queen, for one — but they made such an impact on the finished songs and they're some of my favourite elements now. But as much as we wanted to have fun and do something new with these songs, we also didn't want to lose the essence of what Saint Senara is, so really making the most of those close vocal harmonies was important to us.

A: I look after the technical and music gear side of Saint Senara and over the last couple of years, getting the right equipment to fit our sound has been very important. The Gretsch has been the biggest key to establishing what we are and how we're meant to sound. I'd always played acoustic concert guitars before this band, but always sort of resented it. When we started this band I made the decision that I was only going to make the music that I wanted to make and play the guitars that I wanted to play. The Gretsch has been the best connection I've ever had with a musical instrument.

Every time we go into the studio, I go in knowing that it's going to be long days playing and a lot of work perfecting the sound. I usually go in with a lot of preconceived notions of what I'm going to do, so I love working with producers to get their ideas that push me outside of my comfort zone. Like Chloe said, that's where a lot of the really unique sounds come from. Anytime a take is rolling and I don't know what I'm going to do, instinct kicks in and it usually gives the most interesting results sonically. Then it becomes a matter of not throwing the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to keeping the sound that has defined us live.

3. 'The Devil & The Preacher' has received rave reviews from multiple publications. What inspired this track, and how does it reflect the themes or direction of your music as a whole?

C: The Devil & The Preacher is probably the most rock of all our tracks and it was so much fun to record. Andrew came up with the riff for it first and admittedly I wasn't sure if it would work, but when I started putting the lyrics together I think we both realised we had something special.

Growing up my family were very into the church, which is something I struggled with, especially as I moved through my teenage years and into adulthood. There were a lot of supposedly 'good' people who did bad things and got away with it, so this song really delves into that idea of good and evil and who gets to decide which is which.

A: For me it was simple. I wanted to let the Gretsch growl. The fact you can dance to it and that Chloe managed to create such a great lyric for it was a fantastic development that I wasn't expecting. It's now one of my favourites to play live and a real highlight of the record.

4. You've gone from opening acts to headliners in just six months. How have your live performances evolved during this time, and what can fans expect from your upcoming shows at events like Y Fest and Worcester Music Festival?

C: It's supercharged our confidence, for sure! When you've got a promoter, a venue, your fellow bands on the bill and your audience all behind you, there's no feeling like it. We take it really seriously in terms of delivering a great performance every time we get up on stage, but we're at a point now where we can really have fun up there — and I think that's had a huge impact on our performances. 

We're always working on new material, too, which means that we've got a really strong list of songs now and can choose which ones we really want to play. We'll be performing songs from the EP, of course, but we've also got a couple of new ones that we'll be bringing out for Yfest and Worcester Music Festival.

A: It's a real trip to see that we're now at the stage where audiences are singing along with our songs. It's really rewarding when you're putting in as much passion and effort as we try to at every show, to have that reflected back by people who are genuinely invested in what we're doing. 

For it to have evolved so quickly is really unexpected. Being invited to headline shows is a really great way to know that our efforts are appreciated. I've been doing this a long time and I know things like this don't happen often, so I don't take it for granted. As long as we can continue to deliver great quality work to an audience that wants to hear it, I am grateful.

5. With your first gig in Bath at the legendary Komedia coming up, how are you preparing for this milestone, and what are your goals for reaching new audiences in different cities?

C: Personally I'm really excited for this one. I love Bath as a city — Mary Shelley's House of Frankenstein is one of our favourite places to go! And Komedia is such a well-loved venue, it's really exciting to be playing there. We've been able to branch out to places like Hereford, Hay-on-Wye, Malvern and Worcester this year, so being able to stretch that even further afield to Bath is very exciting. We've got our eyes on Bristol and Birmingham next — and we're in talks with some promoters in London, too.

A: To come to a venue of such standing in Bath is a great privilege. It's a scary prospect to come to such a place, in front of a new audience and prove ourselves in the same way that we have in our local area. But I think our goal is to try and deliver the same passion that we give each time we step onto a stage and have a great time with all who attend. And to do an hour and a half of all original material is always such a fun challenge. Like running a marathon but you made the racetrack yourself.