I met Sam whilst he was sitting outside Bond St. Coffee working on his latest soundtrack. We spoke about his love for classic motorbikes, music producing and what it’s like living with ten people.
Hey, I’m Sam.
How would you describe yourself? An idiot abroad.
What music are you currently listening to? At the moment I’ve been listening to Electric Mantis, The War on Drugs, Tropics, Fractures, Thrupence and Bibio.
Tell me about your style of music Some days I work on acoustic singer-songwriter stuff, but at the moment I’m trying my best to create the music I mostly enjoy listening to, which is nicely produced, chilled electronic stuff. I’ve almost finished my first album, so hopefully by the time summer comes along you can hear the result of what has surely been too much time sitting at my computer tweaking dials.
How long have you been living in Brighton? I arrived last November to visit a friend for a few days but ended up sticking around. I wasn’t that taken by London, and although Edinburgh is stunning, it was too cold for me to function.
What do you do for work? I’ve been working as a bartender at Shuffle for a few months now. I work with a great team of people who I’ve become pretty good mates with.
What do you love about Brighton? Brighton has great architecture and a thriving café, bar and social scene. I’m not much of a party kid, but it’s nice to know that there’s always something happening every night of the week.
You mentioned you live with 10 other people. What’s that like? At first it was intense. Trying to learn 10 names at the housemate interview was intimidating, but now we’re just like a weird family. We’re usually never all home at the same time, so we organise regular house meetings to make sure things run smoothly.
The house is a huge old B&B with a lot of character, except it smells a bit and the carpet is far beyond its use by date. My room is stunning though. The first day I moved in I gave it a fresh coat of paint, ripped up the carpet, stained the floorboards and set my desk up right in front of the window where I can see the ocean.
What makes you happy in your spare time? I’m grateful I’ve got some good hobbies to keep me busy. My idle hands make me feel rubbish, so I’ve always got something on the go. When I’m not working on my music I’m usually fixing up my new motorbike.
Back in Melbourne I had a hobby business putting together nice café racers. I was missing my bikes, so I recently invested in a classy XS650 that I’ve been dressing up. I’ve almost finished putting it together, I’m just waiting for a few nuts and bolts to turn up then I’ll be riding into the sunset.
What has been your favourite moment during your travels so far? So far… I’d have to say being invited by a lovely girl I’d just met to see Craft Spells at Bleach. One of their albums has been on my phone for years, so being able to see them perform in a nice little venue was brilliant.
Besides that, I’d say meeting my girlfriend. We work well together and she’s really supportive of my projects. She’s also nice to wake up to…I’m not a morning person, so that’s saying something.
So what’s next? My girlfriend and I have plans to travel around Europe over the next few months. We’re off to Iceland next week!
