What gear do you use?
I play a 1954 Selmer Mk IV alto. I've had it since age 13 and have been loyal to it ever since.
My mouthpiece is a Beechler BELLITE metal 7* and my reeds are Vandoren V16 3 ½ 's. Microphone wise, I
generally use an AKG C-409 Clip-on. I do have other horns but when I left Australia, I decided to leave
them behind and concentrate on the Alto.
Why did you move from Melbourne to London?
Initially, my reasons for coming to the UK were that I had been advised by a family friend in music
publishing that I should try and get a publishing deal in London for the Creative Saxophone series,
rather than Australia. He was right!! The Books are now selling all over the world which would have
been close to impossible if we hadn't have signed with a UK based publisher.
However, it didn't take me long to fall in love with London and I've been living here ever since. The move happened in 1999 and my only regret is that I do miss my family & friends.
There are some incredible musicians in Melbourne. The standard is extremely high but the problem is the lack of gigs (in comparison to London). It's just a population thing really. Not enough audience to go around!
Who are some of your favourite sax players?
There are so many but I'll list them in order of whom I discovered first. Charlie parker, Art Pepper,
Cannonball Adderley, Paul Desmond, David Sanborn, Maceo Parker, Bob Berg, Brandon Fields, Kenny Garrett,
Bob Malach...
Who are your influences?
All of the above plus my teachers - Don Santin (father), Noel Mathews, Peter Martin and Graeme Lyall.
Then there is Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Tower of Power,
Take six, Earth Wind & Fire, Dave Weckl, Virgil Donati, Eva Cassidy. I'm influenced by singers mostly,
especially gospel, because it's the emotional and spiritual side of music that interests me most.
How much practice do you do?
Not a great deal, but enough to keep the embouchure in shape. If I'm working on a new idea I tend to cram.
I find that listening and gigging are the most important things for me at this point in my career.
In my teenage years and early twenty's though, I was totally addicted to practice. I would divide the day into 7 blocks of 45 minutes with 15 minute breaks in between. I treated it like a full-time job.
What is your approach to sound?
Sound, for me, is THE most important thing! The way I came to getting my sound together is a little odd
though. When I was about sixteen, I was listening to heaps of David Sanborn and would spend hours and hours
playing along to his records, copying him note for note, where possible. What I didn't realise, was that during that
period (80's) he used a lot of electronic effects. So I've ended up with a naturally bright and
reverberant sound.
My approach when teaching, is to make sure the student opens up her/his throat and avoids biting down as much as possible. Also, taking in too little or too much mouthpiece can make such a difference to sound and tuning. Too much and it sounds dead and flat, too little and it sounds squeezed and thin.
How do you compose your music?
I am fortunate in that I have very accurate relative pitch so I can usually sit down with a pencil and
manuscript paper and write straight out of my head. This is very useful when travelling by public transport!
I then transfer the idea on to my computer where I finetune it using the Sibelius software program.
Do you come from a musical family?
Yes, my father, Don Santin is a highly-accomplished trombone player and music teacher. My first gigs were
with my father. Some of my first sessions were in my father's studio to.
Do you play any other instruments?
Yes, sure do. I started on trombone at age 6ish, then swapped over to sax at age 12. Then came the drums at
roughly the same age - which I still play. I also play clarinet and flute.