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World building is such an ambitious but profound talent of an artist; it is both a statement of knowing our world is lacking in some many creatively succulent ways, and that there is so much to heal from crafting a proxy space tailored just to you. Atlanta-based Saint Avangeline is an artist who is uniquely suited to world building, having done so as childhood extension of imagination and self-exploration. Aided by the internet in her teenage years, the world building continued online, and all that expressive daydreaming later extended into her musical projects. Since a series of viral clips and covers propelled her into streaming success, we’ve been fascinated by her ethereal witchy vibes, so much so that when we were in her hometown lately, we dug in, in person, to get all the tea:

OnesToWatch: First of all, who are you? 

Saint Avangeline: That's a loaded question. I'm here for loaded questions. Well, I'm Saint Avangeline, also known as Lily Adeline, and I'm here. 


You're here. I love that. How present do you feel?
Do you feel really here? 

Today, no. I forgot to take my Adderall. 


For sure. I love your artist proxy self... what little I know of you in person is very nice as well, but it feels like you've really created this alter ego, world building persona with Saint Avangeline. What drove that?
Where did that come from? 

Thank you. I've always been this escapist, since I was a little kid. I used to draw all of these little fantasy worlds and put myself in them. I wouldn't draw anything else. I would just be there. I was one of those kids that had an imaginary friend. As I got older, that fantasy-imagination stuff that I would draw or think about in my head as I went to sleep culminated into online role playing. Most of my middle and teen years were spent role-playing online and just world building. I had a long term roleplay partner for four years. If you could transcribe everything that we wrote, it would probably be an entire book series. 

Oh, wow. 

I probably would cringe looking back on it. But to answer your earlier question, about how present I feel, I don’t think I’ve ever been fully here. 

I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. 

No. I think that's what fuels my art, especially the aesthetics in the world building. 

I love this because it's rare that an artist has experience in creating alternate selves and public versions of themselves. You clearly have had a lot of experience in this.
So now transitioning from your roleplaying persona to your artist self, what was the origin the story of it? 


So, I think it still kind of goes back to role playing. Are you familiar with the term OC, original character? 

I know Orange County… 

A little bit different. Original character. So I had a lot of different characters that were basically just extensions of myself that I would use to explore different interests and curiosities. Honestly, that's how I realized I was a lesbian.
At the time, I was very insecure in myself – as I feel like most of us are as teenagers – and it was a way for me to be able to openly explore and express things that I didn't feel confident enough to try in real life. And so now, through my music, it just feels like another level unlocked of continuing to explore these worlds, but in this way where my fantasy is bridged with reality, which I think is really cool. I'm even starting to express myself more, like in my most recent music video, I dress kind of like one of my OCs, whose name was Avangeline. So I feel like I'm kind of unlocking and tapping more into those characters I created that are all extensions of myself. 

How fleshed out are these characters? Could you theoretically create an anime version of your whole life and have these characters come to life immediately? 

Some of them more than others. A lot of the time, I would role play with lots of different people, and my character would remain consistent. But it would be cool because even though my character was the same, the story would play out differently every time. The feelings and emotions and how my character would react would still remain true to that part of themselves. 

How does music intertwine with all of that? 

I would say that out of anything that I've done, the music part of it is actually the most grounded in reality. I just think through and through, I am a creative. I'm a visual creative as much as I am a musical one. I love to paint with words. That was what writing was for me. And it still is. I love poetry. I love flowery language. Combining writing with music, it just feels like I'm taking all these elements to create a painting in a way. So although my descriptors use strong symbolism and metaphors and the fantastical writing style, my music is not suspended in fantasy. These are real things that have happened to me that I write about.

This is a fascinating artist story. You have such a deliberate aesthetic, and I love the way you put that. One of the words that struck me while listening to your most recent project is ornate.
It feels so detailed, and the construct, both musically and visually, is so cohesive. When you're writing, what is your process like? Do you write thematically, or is it more musical ideas that live separately from your world building? 

I think it really depends on what I'm writing about. Most of the time, most of my music is written about trauma or a very intense emotion that I'm feeling at the time that I just can't get out in any other way. Usually, I'll be writing things in real time about what I'm experiencing. I'll write it as poetry first. I will say, however, that this song that I just released, “Rain Dance,” I heard the track first, and I challenged myself to come up with lyrics on the spot. I didn't write any of it down, I just listened and sang, which was interesting. 


You punched in like a rapper. 

Right… but, yeah, it's a bit of a difficult question to answer, because I feel like I'm in a new phase of my creative development where I'm trying to challenge myself more to think outside of the box of what I've typically been doing. 

I love that. With your upcoming project, what were you trying to encapsulate? I’m curious because you clearly have such intention. 

Well, thank you for saying that, because that’s the goal, but as the artist, I feel like I’m all over the place. 

I look at it as like, when I meet artists, I get to sit at the table and have a meal. But if I go in the kitchen, it's chaos. 

That's so true. It's part of the process. That's how it is in my brain for sure. I have a million different threads that I'm pulling from all these different places. And most of the time, I feel like they never are completed. Again, I'm in the middle of figuring out my next direction that I'm going to be taking. I was starting a different project and I still had this anger left over in me from my second album about leaving my abuser. I still had unresolved emotions about that whole situation that I really wanted to tap into. And I lost it, because fortunately, I’m really happy in my new relationship. It’s awesome, but it’s the artist’s dilemma. So that's been a fun, creative challenge for me, trying to write from a completely different place that I'm not used to because all of my stuff has been about pain and trauma and insecurity and anger. There’s emotions now that I'm trying to fuel from, and I haven't quite figured out how to do that yet. “Rain Dance” was my first attempt at that. 

Well, I think it went very well. It's good to see you happy. 

Thank you. It's pretty great. On an emotional level, yes. I'll eventually come back to the project that I had previously started. I think it's good to revisit emotions with a fresh perspective and layer them with a new emotion that, you know, I had an experienced at the time. So I will definitely be doing that and expect more metal from me for sure. But, I really want to tap into more of this place of true love and happiness. 
And music is unfortunately, often unexplored in a genuine way. Usually, when you hear a song about love, it's about heartbreak because it's such a universally understood and easy place to draw inspiration from. I think it's a little bit harder to express happiness and love in a way that isn't gloating or corny.
I can't remember the quote, but there was something to the effect of – happiness is always individual, and pain is always shared. There's so much commonality in pain.

It makes sense. Do you have any goals or ambitions for this album? Is there something you hope it achieves? 

Honestly, yeah, I hope that it can achieve that kind of universal understanding. Everyone loves something. Everyone has something that makes them happy. It doesn't have to necessarily be a relationship. I want this next album for me to also not necessarily just be about celebrating my happiness, but more so showing that despite there being pain and suffering, we can also come together and create beauty from what we've experienced. That's also something that everyone can relate to on a certain level. I'd want it to be bittersweet, but sweeter. 

I like the flavor profile there. So this is your redemption album, almost? 

I think so. I like that. 


Pivoting to what I hope are some fun questions for you. If you could imagine a perfect setting to build your own festival concert, who would be on the lineup? 

I thought you were going to ask me the location and I was going to say a bridge. But for the lineup, Cocteau Twins, The Cranberries, Loathe, Deftones, Autumn’s Grey Solace, Lush. Alice’s Glass, Purity Ring. 

Okay well location, where would it be. 

The Blue Ridge Mountains, maybe. The mountains are just so ethereal. 

Amazing. If a bunch of your friends came over and said, "We're hungry." What would you make them? 

I would ask my girlfriend to make something. 

Okay, then what would she make? 

My girlfriend would make French onion gnocchi. Which was something I request that they make. It’s their love language meal to me.

Beautiful. So what is the recipe? 


So you caramelize the onions and whatever else goes in that. Basically make that French onion soup sort of situation. Then you cook the gnocchi, and pour it in with the soup, then bake it in the oven with Swiss cheese. It all marinates, it’s so good. 

I'm gonna crash that party. What is your worst idea you've ever had and your best idea and are they the same thing? 

Hmm. Yes. Actually, yes. This might be really controversial… my Lana Del Rey covers. They reached the community that I was trying to reach, which was lesbians. I made a bunch of gay covers. But then unfortunately everyone else came in and it pigeonholed me. It really pigeonholed me. So that's something I have to deal with now where I'm forever trying to break out of that and stand alone as my own unique individual person. I typecast myself unintentionally. 

Success has a weird way of creating its own barriers, right? 

Yes. But, you know, there are worse things. Also best and worst idea, dating the people I've dated. Worst idea, however, great music came out of it. 

If you could travel to any place to do anything... what’s your dream? 

I would love to visit Japan. I wanted to study, actually, in Soto, Japan, originally. 

What would you study there? 

I wanted to be a doctor for a long time. Neurosurgeon. I was obsessed with it. There was a website that I would go on as a kid, probably like fourth or fifth grade, that was literally simulating brain surgery and I would play it all the time. I love to dissect.
I got invited to dissect a sheep brain and it was awesome. I was obsessed with the brain and how it worked. I still am. 
Anyway, the other place I would love to visit is Croatia and visit the sea organs. That's been a dream of mine for years. I would love to get married there. 

Beautiful place, Croatia. Since you sort of brought it up, if your artistic, creative, musical talents were removed from you suddenly, do you have a pivot? What would you do for work? 

I would continue what my job had been for the past six years at this point. I was a nanny and a house manager. I love children. 

You raised the kids? 

Yeah. Loved it. I would go back to being a nanny. 

Super cool. Last couple of questions. First, I’d love a non-music recommendation. It can be whatever you want – a book, movie, place to visit, activity to do, etc. 

Walking in nature, there's nothing like it. 

Lastly, I need a music recommendation. Who are your OnesToWatch? 

I’ve got some genres to recommend. One is vocaloid. If you’re into breakcore. Incredible stuff… I’d also recommend
goth. I also love Fleet Foxes. 

Anything else to sign off? 

Take care of your little self.