If you ask her, Saint Amethyst, AKA Ciara Porter, is “a manifestation of my spirit. I strive to honor the place within me where the entire universe resides. Live happy and in peace.”
And when you listen to tracks like “I Been,” a remix of the Ari Lennox song, you can’t help but observe this is truly a woman doing precisely what she intends to do. And as of press time, a mere hours before the granddaughter of George Porter Jr. releases her remix of WAP (we don’t have to tell you what that means), we are dying to know what a spiritual warrior born and raised in the New Orleans music scene has envisioned as a remix of one of the year’s most entertaining and controversial songs.
Saint Amethyst’s moniker is steeped in spirituality. “When I was a child, I was part of a singing group named The Birth Stones,” she says. “I went by my birthstone Amethyst. I am a Trauma Counselor helping children to heal from traumatic experiences and I draw energy from Amethyst (the crystal) to manifest peace and tranquility in my practices and my life. I call myself a saint based on my faith. I was raised in the Roman Catholic traditions where saints and Christ are venerated. I also focus on my root working practices that allow me to commune and pay respects to my ancestors. Calling myself a ‘Saint’ is a reminder to lead my life in a way that serves people and reflects the values and virtues of a saint.”
On the eve of dropping her mixtape, Footwork Rituals Vol. 1, OffBeat had a few questions to ask Saint Amethyst about making music in strange times. She begins by telling us, “Growing up, I was heavily influenced by my grandfather’s music. I spent a lot of time backstage and on stage around many legendary New Orleans funk and jazz musicians, including Wanda Rouzan, Dr. John, and many others. I incorporate many syncopated rhythms and chants in my music that are heavily influenced by my time around the Mardi Gras Indians. I was a massive fan of anything that made me move or dance. I also love heavy metal acts like System of a Down or classic rock like Deep Purple. I’m very dramatic in my performances, so anything that evokes emotion—I’m also a fan.”
The familial and heavy metal worlds aren’t the only places where she finds inspiration. Porter states, “I’m a member of the African diaspora, and I tend to root my instrumentals in grooves and patterns found from Afro and Afro Latin places. I love voices like Celia Cruz & Totó la Momposina. I’m also a fan of electronic and dance acts like Kaytranada and Yaeji. As far as Local acts, I’m a fan of Erica Falls, PJ Morton & Tank, and the Bangas. I also incorporate many Bounce elements in my music, so Big Freedia and Ha Sizzle come to mind.
“My husband is a producer and has been pushing me to produce for several years however, I didn’t start working on this project until I spent a week at Panic en La Playa in January. I started getting serious about creating some dance music to accompany my vocal project Awakening that is coming in the Fall of 2021. I wanted to put together a capsule of the movement at the time. I was planning to play a set at Set De Flo, but Covid-19 Pandemic put a damper on any plans of playing to an audience. I started doing remixes for the Bag Season Records beat battles that are hosted on Instagram and Twitch. I was really energized by the remixes that I created for those battles and decided to do a Femme-centric project featuring some artists that I grew up listening to or contemporary artists that stay in my rotation,” she adds.
The psychedelically spiritual Saint Amethyst’s mixtape is in fact a homage to the art of the remix, where she dabbles in remixing various female artists in the same vein.
“The art of the remix varies on the song, to be completely honest. Sometimes you are able to find a studio acapella on a record, and other times you use software like Izotope RX7 to extract a vocal. I use Ableton 10 and my Ableton Push 1 to create different patterns, and I incorporate percussion loops and samples. Tracks like Moscow are built using portions of sampled records and overlayed with Latin American percussion. I spend a lot of time dancing around when I create and then working with Wino Willy on the final mixes of the tracks.” (Fans of the lo-fi hip hop scene of New Orleans will recognize Wino Willy as an MC-producer, originally from Edison, New Jersey, who founded Bag Season Records with several other Crescent City locals.
Porter is quick to acknowledge those who she collaborated with on her recent project. “I had the fortune of including a track that I did with BLK (@blackpeoplemusic) and I included remixes from artist like Tierra Whack, Leikeli47, Sade and some others. The art direction was handled by Brandon ‘deliciousbeets’ Herbert and myself.”
Just an hour and a half before her December 4 release, the musician told OffBeat, “It’s surreal and exhilarating to release my first dance project. I tend to live in my head and not allow for things to be released. I’m proud that this project can be placed into the world and hopefully will provide some much-needed fun and movement to help break up these difficult times’ stagnant energy.”
You can stream and purchase Saint Amethyst’s mixtape Footwork Rituals Vol. 1 via Bandcamp here. Follow her adventures on Instagram at @SaintAmethyst_music.
