As I mentioned in my previous post, I’m recording an EP with my cousin, Sam, an artist who approaches everything he does through a contemplative lens. Even recording is an art for him: he toys with microphone placement, generally recording a single instrument through three mics at a time to achieve nuance and color.
Working with him and learning from him has been a privilege, and I wanted to bring this talented artist and musician into the Room.
Meet Sam!
When did you first start recording?
I first started recording when I was young…the first thing I ever recorded was an episode of the Ghost busters. I recorded the audio of it because I wanted to relive the experience and offer myself a new experience of that thing. We’re capable of so many reactions simultaneously, but to really live those reactions, it’s beneficial to be able to go back to the source of those reactions, the thing that inspired you, and experience it again. It felt like it increased my life and helped me understand who I was, by watching myself experience. And it was compulsion…compulsion has been the thing that guides the energy of it. Things that I’m so in to, I keep on seeking more of. I guess that’s what we all do, but try to keep the healthy ones in place.
Would you this defines your approach to recording?
No, I would say it speaks more to my personality, but my philosophy of recording comes more from the style of music that I’ve gravitated to in my upbringing: very much folk-base,d natural sounds. I have a deep love of the natural art and world that derives from that. I do appreciate techno and more synthesized forms, but I believe that art requires a level of authenticity, and through that authenticity we’re kept responsible to God, really. He gives us these gifts and if we cheat and borrow someone else’s source…if we have the chance to start from scratch, then we should. So I really strive to create my own sounds and incorporate those into my songs. Plus it works better for mixing: when you work with things that are more organic, they blend well naturally.
You write music, too, right? Are you still writing?
I am still writing – I’ve had many years where I’ve worked alone, formally studying my writing style, breaking it down into pieces and learning various approaches to instrumental music that way, and I’ve had many opportunities to work in ensembles, and I’m enjoying the period of my career where I write spontaneously in the moment and I do a lot more of that: I do less writing for myself and more writing for others. It’s a love affair. It’s probably brought me the greatest joy so far.
What is one of the greatest influences as far as your art?
Wow, there are a couple of them. Well there are a few ways to kind of answer that: Strauss, early on, his piece of work entitled “Also sprach Zarathustra”…that caught my imagination, my whole being, very deeply. I would play it back over and over again on my parents’ record player as a child, like free play with Legos, and explore these deeper inner worlds. Science fiction is a huge source of artistic inspiration for me: Stanley Kubrick has influenced and helped form me…his work resonates strongly with my own artistic, inherent styling. He lines up a shot so nicely and incorporates a clear geometry and order to his work while expressing deep things that can only be suggested at. So that identifiable geometric form almost takes on a clear sacredness as it represents the natural world and the natural order. It’s a framework upon which we can thrust our emotional selves, to give an order to our expression. And then as a general collective inspiration, and approach and accomplishment, would be the Grateful Dead: the inner play that they had in live performances just hits the root of what I think that Bach and Mozart did, that kind of duo counterpoint that is present in so many great relationships and dynamic systems. It’s like listening to a representation of quantum fluid dynamics. To me it’s just beautiful, even with its mistakes and errors and flaws.
What’s your favorite food?
Spinach, fish and peppers. And almonds.
And if your uncle died and left you a hot air balloon business, would you accept?
Yeah. Absolutely.
What’s the song of the day?
I guess the one that inspires us to wake up: the one that remains silent that we keep searching for: a half-heard piece letter in the corner, waiting to dawn on us. It’s that fresh air to our lungs that we’ve been holding in our lungs while waiting for pop to the surface: whatever song that is, that’s the one.
You can check out some of Sam’s work and style here.
The Floating Room 