Inside The Mind Of Sagan Petr Smith
I first met Sagan Smith by accident in the summer of 2018 when I first moved to Fort Collins and a lot has changed in those 2 years.
It’s snowing today and I didn’t plan for it to snow, but it’s Colorado and the snow we got was inevitable. The drive to Sagan’s house is a 30 minute trek to the outskirts of Laporte, Colorado where his 65 acres of land reside just a quarter of a mile off of Overland Trail Road. The 8 inches of snow covering the long driveway was intimidating, but I made it.
As I walk up to the house across a bridge that goes over an irrigation ditch, he smiles and waves at me, motioning me in. He greets me and introduces himself to me again as I take off my cold and wet shoes and venture inside. Sagan takes me around the house and introduces me to his mom, dad, and 2 dogs as we take the ascent up to his room. They’re nice people, all smiling and welcoming me in. I’m also greeted by the smell of cookies coming from the antiqued kitchen. It feels nice, especially on a 14 degree day like today was.
I follow Sagan up to his room and a sister says hi to me from a couch in the living room close to the stairs. The house is nice. It’s very old school and barn-like architecture. His room is the same way. Worn wooden floors. Single pane windows with heaters spread across the room. His desk is in the far corner with a Tame Impala poster to its left, followed by a retro 60’s record, Tyler the Creator poster, Earl Sweatshirt record, and a poem to its right. He has a large National Geographic map above his bed, a Lisa Simpson painting done by his sister, a HUF Worldwide poster, a Cookies poster, and another piece of art done by his sister. He starts showing me around the home studio.
He points to his studio monitors and looks at me. “You know about these bad boys? These things are amazing. A gift from my grandma.” Two keyboards, a mic, a BOSS sequencer and his laptop are on the desk. He starts playing me a beat from an unreleased song. “I’m really excited about this one, this one’s gonna go somewhere. It’s gonna be great,” he says, as I sit down at the foot of his bed. We spark up a conversation and I start asking him about music and how he got started.
Sagan’s studio, featuring a Tame Impala poster.
Sagan got into music from a young age. His father, a guitarist and sound engineer, exposed him to a lot of music then. As he grew, he wanted to make music of his own. “I originally wanted to be an EDM producer,” he says, chuckling under his breath. “Let’s just say I’m glad I didn’t go that route.” He released his first album The Surface of the Moon in 2019, finishing it in its entirety in just a month. 2020’s Transportation was “all about moving forward despite all the pain and suffering one has been through, symbolizing true bravery.” That album was made during his mother’s two battles with cancer and was used as a way to cope with his depression, sadness, and grief, but also give him hope to push through. Shortly after Transportation came The Introspection Dialogue, a story of “looking inwards and finding one’s self while lost in a world full of heartbreak, loss, and chaos.” He made this at a time where “this album was necessary.” That time being high school drama, manipulative people and lovers, and fake people that did him dirty. He grew a lot in working with others as it helped in establishing his work in making art that someone can meld with, and he details that in the following questions.
What’s your favorite part about working with people?
Connection, by far. You know when you’re working on a group project and you feel satisfied by it? It’s like that magnified by a hundred because you’re making music, being around people you wanna be around, going to studios, and having a good time. I email and hit up people asking them if they wanna work. It’s pretty simple. I hit them up and say “I really like your work, we should work together” and then they go and check out [my work] and say “Hey I like yours too.” So I follow up and say “I got beats on deck right now I can send you, what’s your email?” I send them the beat and they either say “this is fire” or “this is fire, but it’s not my style.” Those are the basic 2 responses I’ve gotten from collaborating with people. Which I can’t believe because everyone I’ve ever shown beats to has said “you’re the best producer I’ve ever heard.” That means so much to me and that puts me in shock, like “Me? Why Me? Out of all the producers out there you choose me?” It’s so hard to believe sometimes, but I love it. The thing about collaborating is that I love making an awesome product. Artists I work with help me with other stuff too. 3017 Flaco and Smiley help with album covers and mastering, but also feature on my tracks and give me advice. When I know I have those people and I can hit them up, it’s not about the music at that point, it’s the friendship. I just love making music with other people. It’s so fun. I love it.
What about rap music caught your interest in making it?
The sound, man. I always give all my credit, when it comes to influence and sound, to Kendrick [Lamar]. There was a very dark point in my life where I was contemplating my meaning here and that was back in my freshman and sophomore year. Where I was dealing with kids and problems at school and questioning if I wanted to be a musician and if that’s where I wanted to be. I decided that I loved DAMN. I need to grab that disc actually.
He gets up and goes to the nightstand where a deluxe edition CD copy of Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. sits on the table.
My mom gave that to me in 2017. I love him. Where’s good kid, maad city?
He then goes to his media center, where a vinyl pressing of Kendrick Lamar’s 2012 album resides on top of his record player, underneath The Beatles’ Abbey Road.
Underneath Abbey Road?
No, I gotta move that up above Abbey Road, this album is a lot better than that.
He then does so and goes back to his office chair and continues his story.
Those records just have good sounds, and with To Pimp a Butterfly, it saved me from that dark place I mentioned. It was fulfilling, beautiful, and so well produced and I was wondering “how can a thing like rap be this good when I’m so used to Eminem rapping fast over a verse and stuff? How did I miss out on that in 2015?” I was 2 years late to the party so I started researching album lists and what I should listen to. You know, rankings of best albums to start listening to albums and getting to know the genre. Then after Kendrick, it was A Tribe Called Quest. I’d say Q-Tip is up there on that mountain of holy producers for sure. They’re my favorite rap group ever, man. That was amazing, they’re so funky and nice with it. Alongside Q-Tip’s delivery it was just amazing. Then you have Wu-Tang Clan that came later, NWA, Earl Sweatshirt came along when Some Rap Songs dropped. When he was popular with Odd Future and stuff, I was listening to Drake. So I wasn’t concerned with Odd Future because I was blinded by the mainstream of Drake. Then Kendrick came along and thank Christ he did. Kendrick was like opening the door for me into rap and hip-hop and I found all these other artists because of him. Other people I like? I gotta go with Mos Def, OutKast, Andre 3000, Big Boi, Freddie Gibbs, of course Kanye. Ab-Soul, J. Cole, Travis Scott, Young Thug. Then eventually MIKE, Slauson Malone, Maxo, Standing on the Corner, Dalek, Beastie Boys. That’s what started to happen after To Pimp a Butterfly. I just went down a hip-hop rabbit hole.
Sagan’s record player, with good kid, maad city by Kendrick Lamar on top of it.
In all honesty, To Pimp a Butterfly is such an all over the place album that gets you to appreciate other types of rap more because you have everything from jazz rap to trap to boom bap.
Exactly, man. Exactly. Everything just sounds better after you listen to To Pimp a Butterfly because then you start to realize where jazz is at in rap more often. That album changed me in a big way. I love the narrative on it, the positivity, and the storytelling that’s heartbreaking and he executed it in a way that brought out a big part of me. So with that being said, all credit goes to him.
What are some dream collaborators of yours?
I’d love to work with Earl [Sweatshirt] someday. You know, Kendrick, of course. I wanna meet Kanye someday and sit down and talk with him. Flying Lotus and Madlib too. The dream one is Kendrick for sure.
What are your favorite parts about producing?
Everything. Every part of it. I love the creative process and I love music. I love the color it brings into my life. I love how it’s such a great workspace and a great place to be is in the studio because you’re around sounds you wanna be around. You wanna create your sound. When you make beats and you think they sound amazing, it feels like your heart is warm. It’s a heartwarming feeling being able to create, mix, master. It’s satisfying hearing that final mix and knowing that’s something you created. It’s a fulfilling thing to know you pulled off a collaboration you wanted to do. You don’t have to say anything or rap or sing, you can make beats and make that message you wanna convey to come out. Give the sound soul. The genre, the heart, everything. Music has a soul. That’s why I love being part of it.
Sagan, on his bed.
“I love the creative process and I love music. I love the color it brings into my life. I love how it’s such a great workspace and a great place to be is in the studio because you’re around sounds you wanna be around.”
When can we expect new music?
Right now I’m working on an instrumental album and I’ll only tell you one thing, it’s called The Wildfire Ether. It’s the final album of the trilogy of albums I’m dropping this year and I’ll say probably around November or December. That’s all I can tell you.
He takes a deep breath and starts playing unreleased beats off of his computer. The first one is soulful with a choir sample and piano keys with the drums carrying rhythm enough to get your head nodding to the tempo. It’s an amazing sound. “I also have a project with a rapper called OnePeace dropping soon so stay tuned for that. A single in 3 weeks. Expect an SPS and OnePeace project before year’s end,” he says as he pulls up the next beat. He then points out his window to buildings strewn across his property. An abandoned warehouse, slaughterhouse, trailer home, and other places around his land.
“We should go for a walk and swim being so nice out,” he sarcastically says while finally getting that beat playing. It starts and a guitar melody plays, with synths flowing underneath. It’s calming, but uplifting. His signature bass sound comes in and the beat stops and goes, most likely for breaks in lyrics that the beat is for. “My mom is annoyed with [the bass] but I have an excuse, I make money off of it.” He laughs as he slips on his Nike high tops for a venture into the deep snow.
We go around and explore a lot of the buildings on his property. A creepy garage with an old fridge that for some reason had frozen food in it with lots of tarps. He points to the top left corner of the garage and explains to me that there’s been raccoons in here before. He must’ve seen that I made a face, as he looks at me and says “You would’ve heard them if they were in here. They’re gone now don’t worry.”
He starts playing music off of his phone as we walk back up toward the house and we go back inside. The foyer is wet from all the snow and I spend a few minutes taking off my layers while he waits for me to come in. We go back upstairs and he boots up Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and we play a few rounds while talking about Earl Sweatshirt and listening to Notorious B.I.G. It was a nice conversation and it definitely helped in me getting to know him more than I did before.
I leave shortly after, back to my house on the other side of town. Leaving the land and going back into suburbia. I left feeling great and just warm after getting to know him well. That freshly baked cookie scent followed me too, as I left with a couple in my pocket.
You can find Sagan’s music under the name SPS everywhere you stream music and look for The Wildfire Ether, coming soon.
-MH
