Welcome to a feature where we sit down and talk to bands and artists about their latest albums to find out all about it. Today we speak to musician Gavi about the album The (SAD) Experience.

Hello nice to meet you, tell us about yourself! 

Hey, great to meet you! I’m Gavi, an artist and storyteller focused on Experience Albums—projects that blend music, poetry, and immersive storytelling into one seamless narrative. My goal is to take listeners on an emotional journey where they don’t just hear music—they live through it. I explore themes of perspective, balance, and understanding through deeply personal yet universally relatable stories. 

Tell us about the new album. 

The (SAD) Experience is an album that captures the emotional aftermath of loss—being frozen in memories, trying to burn them away, and ultimately coming to terms with the reality of moving forward. It’s a mix of raw, vulnerable song writing and intense, cinematic production. The story unfolds in phases, mirroring the cycle of emotional highs and lows after a breakup. The experience tracks—spoken-word interludes named after different therapies and disorders—highlight the irony of misdiagnosing emotional pain as clinical symptoms, much like the way a doctor dismissed my heartbreak as just “Seasonal Affective Disorder.” 

Favourite track in the new album and why? 

It’s hard to choose, but “Watch It Bleed” feels timeless to me. The way it effortlessly shifts between styles, the lyrical depth, and the raw emotion behind it—it just hits every time. It’s about the contradictions of love—being both a culprit and a victim, knowing something is toxic but still going back to it. The theme, the storytelling, and the production all come together in a way that just feels iconic. 

Tell us a bit about the recording process, was it fun to do? 

“Fun” is one way to describe it—intense and cathartic are probably better words. Some songs were recorded in a single take because the emotions were so raw that I didn’t want to lose that energy. Others, like “Love Dies,” took a lot of time because they demanded so much from me vocally and emotionally. I think there were 14 different versions of Love Dies before we landed on the production we have now. 

The recording process wasn’t just about getting the right sound—it was about reliving the story and making sure every track felt honest. My collaborator, Micah, and I locked ourselves in the studio for an entire summer trying to encapsulate every feeling we were trying to convey. I’d sit there writing while he produced, then we’d switch—it was this constant creative back-and-forth. It was really a beautiful thing to be a part of, and I know that energy translated into the music. 

What inspired the album name? 

The title came from a trip to the psychiatrist. I was in the middle of the worst emotional spiral of my life, and I went to get help. I told the doctor about everything—the breakup, the weight of it all, and how I felt like I was drowning. Instead of addressing the experience, he just said, “Oh yeah, you’re depressed because of your Seasonal Affective Disorder and it’s about to be winter.” Obviously, I do have SAD, but the heartbreak wasn’t caused by it—the experience itself was what hurt me. It was funny in a dark way, so I took that misdiagnosis and applied it to the entire album. That’s why the experience tracks are named after different disorders—not because they caused the heartbreak, but because they mirror the symptoms of heartbreak. It’s ironic, just like the doctor’s response. 

Tell us the idea behind the album cover. 

Each square in the cover represents a different song on the album, almost like a visual storyboard. One side is blue—frozen in time, holding onto memories, stuck in the past. The other side is red—burning everything down, trying to erase and forget. The entire  album oscillates between these two extremes—until, by the end, there’s a middle ground. It visually represents the emotional push and pull of the story. 

What one of your songs on the new album do you think will be the most difficult to rehearse for a live audience? 

“Love Dies.” Hands down. It’s emotionally draining and vocally demanding—it requires every part of my voice and my soul to get through it. Even in the studio, it broke me down a few times. Performing it live is going to take everything out of me, but I think that’s what will make it one of the most powerful moments in a show. 

Why should people listen to the album? 

Because it’s real. It’s not just about sadness—it’s about what sadness does to us, how we react to it, and how we find a way forward. It’s not about giving you answers—it’s about making you feel seen. If you’ve ever felt stuck in the past, numb, or desperate for clarity, this album is for you. 

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