Stephen Sanchez Covers FAULT Magazine, to talk the complexities of LOVE, LOVE, LOVE
Stephen Sanchez X FAULT Magazine
Photography: Massimiliano Giorgeschi
Creative Direction: Laurie TB
Styling: Alice Secchi
Grooming: Margherita Fabbro
Photography Assistant: Isabella Armora & Nicola Bernardi
Few artists capture the feeling of timeless romance quite like Stephen Sanchez. Blending timeless influences with a distinctly modern emotional honesty, the Nashville-based singer-songwriter has built a world that feels both nostalgic and deeply personal.
Following the success of Angel Face, Sanchez returns with a new body of work that leans further into vulnerability with its exploration of love, faith, and the complexities of human connection with a newfound openness.
Speaking to FAULT Magazine, he reflects on writing from a place of truth, the tension between artistry and expectation, and why, at the end of it all, he hopes to be remembered not for accolades, but for the heart he carried along the way and of course, his FAULTs.
Full look: KawaKey – kawakey_official
Rings: Melancholy Grillz – melancholygrillzldn
FAULT Magazine: As I was listening to the album, it felt like a body of work written by someone experiencing love, or at least very deep emotions. Was that a reflection of where you were at, or something you consciously shaped?
Stephen Sanchez: I think it’s just where I was. We’re very intentional about what we write, we don’t make loads of songs and then pick from them. What we write is what ends up on the record.
When I was working on Angel Face, I wasn’t really in a season of love. It was more confusion and anxiety, which is why that world felt messy and chaotic.
This record is much more a reflection of my personal life now, almost like a coming of age in terms of love. It’s about what that looks like, how beautiful it can be, but also how messy it still is. The goal this time was to take the veil off as much as possible.
T-shirt: Hollywood Ranch market – hollywood_ranch_market
Jeans: Blue Blue – blue_blue_official
Cardigan: KawaKey – kawakey_official
Rings: Melancholy Grillz – melancholygrillzldn
FAULT Magazine: Does the album follow a narrative, or is it more a collection of moments?
Stephen Sanchez: I think there’s a throughline, but it’s more instinctive. It’s like being on a journey, you’re moving in one direction, but picking things up along the way.
There were moments from my own life, but also things I observed. I remember being in Paris with my fiancée and seeing a man being treated really harshly in a store, and it made me think about how we love each other, or fail to.
That kind of moment fed directly into the record. It made me think, we need more grace, more understanding, more love in the way we treat people.
T-shirt: Hollywood Ranch market – hollywood_ranch_market
Jeans: Blue Blue – blue_blue_official
Cardigan: KawaKey – kawakey_official
Rings: Melancholy Grillz – melancholygrillzldn
FAULT Magazine: Your sound is quite hard to categorise. Do you ever feel pressure to fit into a specific genre?
Stephen Sanchez: I don’t think so. I’m quite stubborn creatively. I think I know what I want to do, and I chase that rather than chasing what might be commercially successful.
There’s always that tension between artists and labels, they want something big, and the artist wants to make something unique. But at the end of the day, I trust my instincts.
FAULT Magazine: “Chuck the Money” feels very cinematic, what inspired that track?
Stephen Sanchez: It’s really about valuing love over material things.
There’s this idea that happiness comes from what you can buy, but for me it’s the simple moments, sitting in a car during a storm, listening to music, laughing with someone you love. That’s what the song is trying to capture.
Bomber: Diesel – diesel
T-shirt: KawaKey – kawakey_official
Jeans: Blue Blue – blue_blue_official
Shoes: Roker – rokeratelier
Sunglasses: Gianfranco Ferrè – gianfrancoferreofficial_
Rings: Melancholy Grillz – melancholygrillzldn
FAULT Magazine: When you perform songs live before release, do they take on new meaning?
Stephen Sanchez: Absolutely. Once you play them live, they don’t really belong to you anymore.
People attach their own experiences to them. A song I might see as hopeful could be devastating for someone else. You see it in the room, people crying, holding each other, or even reacting in ways you didn’t expect.
It completely changes how you understand your own music.
Bomber: Diesel – diesel
T-shirt: KawaKey – kawakey_official
Jeans: Blue Blue – blue_blue_official
Shoes: Roker – rokeratelier
Sunglasses: Gianfranco Ferrè – gianfrancoferreofficial_
Rings: Melancholy Grillz – melancholygrillzldn
FAULT Magazine: Were there any songs that were particularly difficult to finish? Stephen Sanchez: “Love, Love, Love” was the hardest. I thought about it for months.
I was writing pieces of it in different places, in my mother-in-law’s bathroom at Christmas, walking around Paris, and when it came time to actually finish it, I got overwhelmed and avoided it for a few days.
Then I watched Selma and was really struck by the idea of agape love, unconditional love. That unlocked everything, and I went back and finished the song in one go.
FAULT Magazine: The album ends with “You Are So Beautiful”, why did that feel like the right closing moment?
Stephen Sanchez: That song came from a difficult time in my life.
It started as something very personal, thinking about what God might say about me when I was struggling, and then it evolved into something bigger.
I want people to come away from the record feeling like they’re beautiful, like others are beautiful, and like there’s more love to give. It felt like the right way to end things.
FAULT Magazine: Does it get easier putting such personal work out into the world? Stephen Sanchez: It’s still scary.
Before, I could hide behind a character, but now it’s just me. But I’ve reached a point where I’m okay with that. If people don’t understand it, that’s fine.
This record is about embracing that, loving people even when you don’t fully understand them.
Full look: YYatomic – yyatomic
Rings: Melancholy Grillz – melancholygrillzldn
FAULT Magazine: What’s something you wish people asked you more about?
Stephen Sanchez: I think a better question would be, do you care more about the success you leave behind, or the heart you leave behind?
For me, I’d rather be remembered as someone who cared about people, not just someone who had success.
FAULT Magazine: Do you ever feel pressure to match your previous success? Stephen Sanchez: Yeah, definitely. I care about things doing well because I’m proud of them.
But I’m learning that what matters more is walking away feeling satisfied with what I’ve made. If people connect with it, that’s the real success.
Full look: YYatomic – yyatomic
Rings: Melancholy Grillz – melancholygrillzldn
FAULT Magazine: What is your FAULT?
Stephen Sanchez: I’d like to think I’m good at loving people, but honestly, I’m not always. I can be judgmental, impatient, and I struggle to love people, and to accept love in return.
It’s something I’m working on. I think we all are.