In
Conversation with ‘Samarah’
A
little background:
I discovered ‘Samarah’ quite by chance which as far as
I am concerned is often the best way to discover
New music.
Some of you may know I run my own web label ‘Hicc
Records’ (http://www.archive.org/details/hicc-records)
And try to update and add new items as often as
Is possible.
By chance when I uploaded a piece the other month
Or so, by chance I discovered ‘Samarah’ on
http://www.archive.org/details/nsh112 with a EP called
‘self-contained bursts of glitch-pop and minimal techno with
slinky bass lines and catchy melodies while maintaining
her trademark sultry vocals, textural cuts and displaced
beat sensibility.’
Interested after reading such a description I downloaded
The EP and was really, really impressed.. Here was a EP
That was that rarity with electronical / experimental music
it was something truly original and almost impossible to
describe in just a few words, somebody ‘Setting Sun’
would certainly be interested in interviewing and so
I contacted ‘Samarah’ through her account
On myspace.com and the interview
Duely followed.
A little background about ‘Samarah’ is as follows
(borrowed from her page on myspace.com) which
follows as ‘ Samarah began playing piano at the tender
age of seven and experimented with various orchestral
instruments and choir during her childhood. By thirteen
she was composing her own songs and played
her first gig at fifteen in a local bar. In the late 90's
she discovered electronic music through the rave
scene and was infatuated with the new sounds.
Inspired, she bought her first computer and got
her hands on production software, synthesizers, samplers and
drum machines. The end result was elegant compositions of
minimal trip hop and experimental idm with vocals.
After moving to Madison, WI in 2000, she became
involved in the local scene by promoting ambient
events and in 2003 released her first ep So Lovely –
the title track was picked up by Minneapolis Limited
Records for a compilation. In 2004 she followed up
with a down tempo ep, what is Beautiful and in 2005
released her most experimental ep, These Things.
These Things showcased refined production skills and
ability to manipulate and create sounds and was picked
up by multiple net labels.
In 2006, Samarah released her first full-length album
Falling Away as a co-release with Zod Records and
helped launch Belladonna Records. Throughout the years
she has played throughout the Midwest in cafes, clubs and
raves alongside artists Andreas Tilliander, Cepia, Landau,
Pressboard, Tiki Obmar, The Flashbulb, and others.
Special thanks to Samarah for her time with this interview,
And I am certainly looking forward to hearing future
Releases.
For more information – please visit her at her page
On myspace.com on http://www.myspace.com/samarah
Or on her website which is samarahspace.com
Many thanks
Andy N xx
Setting Sun:
How are things and whets happening at the moment?
Samarah:
The weather is fair with sunny skies ahead. I got a talking
Mr. T key chain last week so I guess things are looking up!
Setting Sun:
Can you next tell us a little bit about the history of your music or
as I like to say sometimes who fired the starting pistol?
Samarah:
I suppose you could say I grew up in somewhat of a musical
family. My mom sang around the house a lot and in church
a few times.
I have memories of Edith Piaff, Joe Cocker and Billie Halliday
blasting in the kitchen all the time and my dad was in some local
musicals. My brother, who played guitar and sang in a band and
turned me on to a lot of the early grunge bands like Nirvana,
Beck, Soundgarden, Tori Amos et al. I had been taking
piano lessons since I was seven, did choir in junior high and
eventually fronted a few bands in high school. It's amazing
what a novelty you can be by being the only girl in town
in a rock band. I played my first bar gig at 15, started going
to raves and eventually went my own way and started writing
ambient music, messing around with combining keyboards,
my vocals and digital sequencers.
Setting Sun:
Music wise, what are your influences and who are you
listening
to at the moment?
Samarah:
To be honest, I'm a bit tired of electronic music right now and
have been listening to a lot of 80s music, old jazz and
indie bands.
Setting Sun:
Have being really enjoying a lot of your tracks that I
have off yours so far on both of your online EP's and
also your selected tracks featured on your website, I
think my
favourite so far is 'Strip Mall Romance' - can you tell
us a little bit
about this song?
Samarah:
I wrote Strip Mall Romance in a couple hours one night. I think I
just felt like doing a poppier, bubblegum song and breaking out of
my comfort zone. I think every artist just gets sick of their material
after awhile...
Setting Sun:
I also notice that you do remixes of other people's material –
how does this approach compare to your own material?
Samarah:
For me it's the same thing as an art teacher dumping a bucket
of popsicle sticks in front of you and saying "make something!"
I'm actually not that great at it because it can be pretty limiting
creatively but it's fun to mish and mash sometimes.
Setting Sun:
Do you play concerts? If not, do you have any idea
how you would approach it?
Samarah:
I've been performing since I was 15 and have been ever since at
raves, clubs, bars, outdoor festivals, house parties, you name it.
The last show I played was NYE '07 which was actually this
insane tag team drum n' bass set with a bunch of Crunk and
Journey samples. I don't plan on performing again for a while
because I really was getting way too burned out. That part of
my life is such a blur because on top of performing, I was
also busy with my daughter, going to college and working
two jobs! I think when you're younger you feel like you've
got something to prove which gives you that extra drive.
I'll always have a place in my heart for playing live but
nowadays I've taken a step back and want to approach
writing music in a fresh light. To every thing there
is a season...
Setting Sun:
What's next for yourself? D you have any more
releases planned / concerts etc?
Samarah:
I've had some requests for bookings but I'm holding
off for now so I can concentrate on other things like
my nine-year-old daughter, my design business
and art. Performing and writing pretty much consumed
the last ten years of my life so I have some catching
up to do ;) I've been working on new material here a
nd there and may leak a song out eventually, but I
don't plan on making another album for at least
another year or so.
Setting Sun:
Anyway, a lighter hearted questions to finish off
with, firstly - where are you all from? What's the
music scene like where you are? Have you seen any
good concerts recently?
Samarah:
I grew up in Fond du Lac, a town of about 30,000
surrounded by a bunch of lakes in Wisconsin. There
was really not much to do other than drink, smoke pot,
go to raves in barns and break stuff. After graduating in '98
I moved to Madison to go to school and got involved in the
electronic music scene, which has since declined with the
Rave laws and everybody growing up. I don't really go out
anymore but you can always find a DJ here spinning some
good techno or house. Coincidentally, I'm off to
Minneapolis next week to see AIR and Ben Gibbard.