SONG-I SABA

 

SONG-I SABA is wearing the Gio No.006. She is a writer and co-founder of the tinned fish company PYSCIS, living in London.

What is the first thing you do in the morning?
Pee.

What is the last thing you do at night?
Choose a podcast to fall asleep to.

Who are your ideal guests?
Gracious, witty conversationalists. Gossips.

What are you bored by?
“the intersection of art and technology”

What should we be reading?
‘Holzfällen’(1984) by Thomas Bernhard, for its skewering of bourgeois pretension and Viennese society. ‘The Culture of Narcissism’ (1979) by Christopher Lasch, because it predicted everything.

What do you collect?
Lighters, but not on purpose.

What stands the test of time?
My ex-boyfriend’s Netflix password.

What is your perfect meal?
A silver tankard of black velvet from Sweetings in London, a taouk sandwich from Em Sherif in Beirut, spaghetti bottarga cooked at home by my mom, finished with some seasonal ice cream from Zenzero in Seoul.

Who are your inspirations?
Jamieson Webster, for her electric intellect and psychoanalytic rigor.

What takes you to cloud 9?
Watching a good set at The Comedy Cellar in the West Village.

Where would you find your doppelgänger?
According to a few cab drivers, Kazakhstan.

Where do you find good design?
My mother’s store, SONG, in Vienna.

What does your house sound like?
At the moment, Real Housewives or Below Deck.

What is dear to your heart?
Liberty and justice for the Palestinian people and oppressed peoples everywhere.

Where do you want to go?
Currently I’m dreaming of Hong Kong, Hawaii, Kyrgyzstan, Ethiopia, Cuba, The Philippines.

What is a rule that should never be broken?
As a guest, any rule your host observes.

What is a rule that should always be broken?
“Don’t mix business with pleasure.” A lot of meaningful work is born from pleasure.

What is your favorite word in any language?
I’m fond of “scheußlich” (“hideous”) in German. I also like that the word for “slug” is Nacktschnecke (“naked snail”), and that “curiosity” translates to Neugier (“new greed”).

What was the first piece of cultural work that really mattered to you?
The Mickey Mouse magazine I would buy for ten Shilling (I’m old!) at the newsagent every weekend as a kid.

What do you still wish to learn?
Moderation, and Arabic.

What is still a mystery?
Rita Ora.

Where is happiness found?
Unfortunately, within.

Can you recall a dream?
I was a Neanderthal in a cave and I was in love.

What is your first memory?
Watching my parents waltz around the living room at midnight on New Year’s Eve, when all the radio stations play The Blue Danube simultaneously, fireworks exploding outside.

What does progression mean to you?
Anti-aging eye cream.

What is your motto?
Life is long.

What is the best cult classic?
That’s tough, it might just be ‘They Live’ (1988).

What is your favorite mistake?
The third martini.