The Vivid Yasmina Sadiki
If you’re from Sydney then you may have heard the name, Yasmina Sadiki.
Maybe you found yourself at one of the fifteen or so gigs she played last year. Maybe you heard her on FBI radio driving home from work, or maybe this is the first time you’re reading her name. However it is that you’ve arrived here, you’ll be really glad that you did. With incredibly illusive vocals and a true gift for story-telling, her work offers you a measured glimpse into her world and mind. But it’s the improvisation and freestyling happening at the forefront of most of her shows that has acquired her already, with a bit of a cult following here in Sydney. She’s venturing into an experimental space that feels like largely uncharted territory in the Australian music scene. And from what I learnt in this interview; she’s really only just getting started.
Yasmina is one of the artists included in the 2025 VIVID Live program that just kicked off in Sydney. And with her sold-out show being this Saturday (May 31st) it felt like the perfect time to get to know her a little better.
So Yasmina, you’re an independent artist from the inner west of Sydney.
I am!
Can you tell me what that’s like, particularly in terms of your exposure as an artist, is that solely reliant on you?
I mean, definitely. I feel like it’s very fulfilling because I’m able to kind of carve out these opportunities for myself. And you know, it’s such an honour to be celebrated and appreciated for what I do. I mean, even for VIVID, you know, it’s such an honour to be among the great performers and artists, international and local, playing in the program. But I also think I owe a lot of my, you know success, to the people around me. I technically am an independent artist but in terms of, like live performances, I have my band there with me most of the time. So, you know, I wouldn’t really be anywhere without them.
Giving credit where credit is due, that’s cool, I like that.
Definitely!
I’m really interested in chatting to you about the experimental nature of your shows, the improvisation, the freestyling. What does that look like on stage?
I don’t know what it looks like, but it feels chaotic and cathartic. I mean, when I first got into improvisation, because I was gigging so frequently I would swap out musicians a lot, I very much had a rotation of people who I’d perform with. But recently, it’s been my kind of set band who know my original pieces. And when I’m on stage with them, there’s a very strong, like undeniable connection that we have with each other, musically and personally. So, I think people really like seeing that kind of conglomerate of people in particular, because we do have such a pronounced connection. But sometimes I do really just get like random people, whether that’s like a harp, cellos, trumpets, everything. It makes it fun for me, especially because I am freestyling with thoughts and words. It’s nice to be refreshed with different sounds and colours to kind of influence what I’m saying and talking about.
That is such a wild concept to me, like I just wouldn’t trust my mind to produce such, I guess, art. That truly feels like the epitome of talent. Which makes me wonder if there is any sort of preparation that goes into it?
It’s like a flow state. The things that come out of you once, you know, you’re able to kind of get into that zone and have a moment with yourself or your bandmates, it just feels so natural, and I mean it’s something that I don’t even really understand. But I’m constantly writing things in just like a notebook, I carry one with me at all times. Or I’ll put something into my voice memo. I’m always collecting moments and things, and sometimes I’ll go back and put them together, and then sometimes I just come up with something entirely new on the spot. Like, Bleed Out was a song that didn’t take me very long to write at all, it was probably written in under fifteen minutes.
That feels almost, like, poetic.
Thank you, I appreciate that. I like to think of my stories as poetry. Because you know life is poetry. We have to make, you know, everything beautiful, even if it's painful and ugly.
Do you feel like there is a certain amount of vulnerability that is required to open yourself up like that?
I think, personally, it is a very vulnerable thing to write music. Everything comes from a very real place, and you know, art is expression, like we have to do something with all of these feelings, and for me, it’s through my words and my music. And I love it. There’s a strength in being able to open yourself up like that. Especially with freestyling, you can really tell what’s on your own mind. And a lot of people aren’t even necessarily listening to what I’m saying as well, which I like. I do try not to give too much away too. I think that’s why I like to play with words and metaphors, because it can be so deeply personal. That’s what makes people’s art so distinctive and interesting. And I’m not somebody who, like, talks a lot about what’s going on in my life, yet, I get up on stage and sing to people about the random shit going on in my life haha. It’s such a paradox that I live in.
Well, what a pleasure it is to be able to experience that from our end.
I hope it is.
Your discography is still quite small, compared to how sought after you are… Which is interesting because I feel like usually that would run parallel to having quite a bit, you know, to access online but you’ve only released what, five songs?
Haha, yeah it’s funny, I feel like everyone is like what’s your plan? Like do you intend to release more? And I’m just like, not telling! No, I’m just joking… I think I actually have at least 100 demos of songs, like properly produced. I have just been correlating them, really, since the beginning. But, you know, I’m still doing singing lessons, to this day. I’m very much a vocalist in terms of like, still trying to improve, just in the art of performance itself, like taking care of your vocal ability and so on. And I think because of that, every time I hear a demo I’ve made in the past, I’m like, oh my god, I hate it now. Or like I could do it like this instead. And with all of the live shows, I haven’t really had time to sit down and look at certain things and be like, okay, what is working and what is not. But I definitely do have something. I have about seven or eight songs that I’d like to put on a project and release. Some of these are songs that I’ve been performing for a while and some are completely new. A big obstacle has also been just funding.
Ah yes, that old thing.
Yeah, like, there is a certain way I want to record this project. Because I’ve done bedroom tracks. And I love that, like some of the best stuff comes from those spaces. But I also feel like I'm in a position now, where I can, you know, do a little better in terms of the quality. So it’s then applying for grants and waiting, and just a lot of intentionality, like we only have X amount of time and X amount of money, so how are we going to best utilize this.
I think that self-awareness of where you're at and what you're actually capable of creating at the moment, is really valuable in this space. And plus, people are always going to want more from you.
Yeah, definitely. There has been such a pressure, with people always asking when I’m going to drop something and then me feeling the pressure for my first project to be, like, so amazing, so great, and interesting. It’s hard, it’s hard! But money or no money, I am going to release a project soon. At the moment, it is about seven or eight songs. It could even be a little bit more.
Well, we’ll be receiving that project with open arms when it’s ready.
Thank you, I really appreciate that.