Mike Sabath

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Mike Sabath

about the artist

Life is full of distractions that keep people from engaging with one another. Mike Sabath believes if we looked up at the faces around us once in a while, we'd recall the importance of human connection — the crux of his artistry. Since childhood, the New York native has used music to communicate such thoughts. With his forthcoming Album II: ATTENTION MAXIMUM, he hopes to remind listeners they can come together and exchange energy. "Music is such a large part of the kid in me," he says. "My art is to bring people back to that place of play and…

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Life is full of distractions that keep people from engaging with one another. Mike Sabath believes if we looked up at the faces around us once in a while, we'd recall the importance of human connection — the crux of his artistry. Since childhood, the New York native has used music to communicate such thoughts. With his forthcoming Album II: ATTENTION MAXIMUM, he hopes to remind listeners they can come together and exchange energy. "Music is such a large part of the kid in me," he says. "My art is to bring people back to that place of play and pure love."

Growing up in a house filled with minimal music — a bit of James Taylor, Nora Jones and Earth, Wind & Fire was "basically the extent" — he learned to "fill the space" by using his voice and banging on pots, pans and a toy lollipop drum. Around age 5, he was given a mini drum set that helped define his role alongside his father and brother in a family band, Lyons Rock, which performed cover songs by contemporary and classic acts from Green Day to Journey at local establishments near their Katonah hometown. Next, he won an electric guitar in a school raffle and officially became a multi-instrumentalist. (Today, he also plays piano, bass and more.)

Sabath took music seriously quite early, aware of the self-confidence and trust required for the road ahead. The first song he ever wrote was to communicate feelings for his elementary school crush, and his initial foot in the door of the music industry as a teenager was through finding his way into recording studios and chatting with people until they'd listen to his songs. Following high school, he was accepted to Harvard but opted to defer his attendance and pursue music. Three hours after making the decision, he was offered his first publishing deal. "The gods really supported me," he says.

While becoming an artist was always his dream, helping other artists "find their core" led to his global success as a songwriter and producer with stars like RAYE, Shawn Mendes, Lizzo, JADE and Camila Cabello, among others. "I feel I've succeeded as a producer based on how the artist feels once we've finished. It's not about the world's response. It's about seeing the artist the most them I've ever seen," says Sabath. "Now, I want to offer that to myself."

ATTENTION MAXIMUM was born in 2019, when Sabath rented an RV and hit the road with his closest friends to create art within nature, using the vehicle as a mobile studio as they drove around the West Coast. Within the album, listeners will find themselves transported to the open-air locations where its songs were made, like Utah's Zion National Park and California's Yosemite National Park. "It's powerful because those places are pure," he says. "That's a healthy energy to share."

The project, pop at its core with dreamy live instrumentation that feels both meditative and playful, was sparked with the creation of its closing track, "Happy Tonight," as a way for Sabath to process life's inevitable moments of pain. "Not only is pain a part of existence, it is crucial because experiencing pain is what enables us to know what it's like to be happy," he says, describing the song as his first to make him "truly believe in myself as an artist."

In such low moments, the musician looks beyond the world he can see for comfort. "My mom introduced spirituality to me without realizing," he recalls, noting that she'd often spot numbers connected to her late parents and know they were watching over her and her family. She also gave Sabath one of her father's necklaces, which he still wears daily as a reminder of the bond he and his grandfather formed growing up. While he was never able to physically meet his grandmother, the unique connection he's long felt with both family members inspired "Watching Over Me," an emotional song about how they're always "protecting me and making me feel at home along my journey."

Many types of connection come easily to Sabath. But as an adult, romantic love hasn't always been one of them. "I've had so much fear in the past about being in a relationship, scared of the possibility of getting hurt, scared of hurting the other person," he explains. The track "Fear" was written after he found himself in love with a friend, and neither of them wanted to risk falling out. Making the song helped him realize pain is inevitable in such situations, and love is too important to ignore.

The creative process behind ATTENTION MAXIMUM helped Sabath get closer to himself and the world around him. He was nearly ready to unveil the project when COVID hit in 2020, but he realized it'd have to wait until others could have the same experience. "The energy of the album is very large and very expressive," he says. "I wanted to be able to travel and create spaces, play the album live and really bring people together and into the world of the album" which Mike refers to as The Land Of The Twisted Tree, a "higher field where we coexist."

Coincidentally, Sabath already decided ATTENTION MAXIMUM would be known as Album II long before he even planned the project that'd precede it. So, when the opportunity presented itself, he shifted focus for a few years to make Album I: Being Human, released in 2023 with his band as Mike Sabath & The Moongirls. One day before the album came out, however, he realized the body of work would simultaneously introduce listeners to both himself and the band, a performance art piece complete with over-the-top fashion and high-energy stage presence — "two different parts of my expression," he says. "But Being Human was a really important step."

The new album will fully immerse fans into his own world, while The Moongirls will return when it's time. "You're going to come to The Moongirls' show, dance your ass off, wear insane clothes and be a freak," he explains. "At a Mike Sabath show, you're going to just really come as you are, and that's okay. It's a space that's safe, colorful, free, welcoming and compassionate."

During his pandemic-induced pause on ATTENTION MAXIMUM, Sabath's career as a collaborator elevated to another level. He worked with RAYE, executive producing her groundbreaking 2023 album My 21st Century Blues, which earned a record-breaking number of BRIT Awards in one night and spawned a worldwide smash with "Escapism." He also helped compose JADE's bombastic hit single "Angel of My Dreams" and Shawn Mendes' vulnerable new album, Shawn, among other works — many of which helped listeners connect more deeply with each artist, as Sabath does.

"I needed these five years to evolve, learn the ropes more, learn myself significantly more and let myself grow as a record producer and songwriter," he explains. "Going through that whole process was so powerful in learning how to make my own art."

Now, Sabath is ready to introduce fans to the world of ATTENTION MAXIMUM. The album title comes from the heat warning label of a lightbulb he found intriguing amid a mushroom trip in 2019, but after coming down from the psychedelics he realized it meant so much more. "It's really about paying maximum attention to yourself and the world around you because we need to," he says, reflecting on the sheer amount of distractions people face on a daily basis. "You've got to pay attention to what you're feeling, what you're thinking and where you are, and then from that place, look around and see what the fuck is going on and then figure out how to engage with it."

In order to drive the album's meaning home, literally, Sabath bought an RV, painted it canvas white and added a stage. He's planning a tour where he'll drive around the United States and park in public places to perform. "And people are going to paint the RV as I go," he says. With each unique concert, he'll look to foster community without judgement — through simple human connection. "I'm just going to do my best to go out there, offer some beautiful energy, some sounds, some heart, some paint and a space for people to be free," he says. "That's the point for me."

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