The Sam Gas Can Interview
Are you originally from Holyoke, Mass? What was your childhood like growing up? When did you first begin to fall in love with music? Were these things that were relevant growing up in your household?
I grew up in central MA, Worcester county, outside of the city, very rural. We had all of the Beatles records in the house, and we were always signed up for music & art lessons. My folks were always very conservative but they never discouraged art of any kind, they knew the value it has on a person. I remember the Worcester Art Museum having a massive Keith Haring exhibition as a kid, and I watched Harry Nilsson’s “The Point” every day (the version with Alan Thicke narrating). I think it made me unafraid of art, it never seemed out of reach. So many people never even get started out of shame, it makes me sick to think anyone would ever be made to feel that way.
What would you and your friends do for fun growing up? Who were some of your earliest influences in your more formative years? When and where did you see your very first concert? When did you realize you wanted to spend your time pursuing music and art?
We weren’t bad kids, but we sure broke a lot of stuff! I was actually straightedge through all of high school, so instead of doing drugs we made movies and stuffed day-old bread into people’s mailboxes. I learned the drums from an enthusiastic older kid through an afterschool program. We were supposed to be practicing a tympani part for the school concert, but he pushed me to get behind a drum set instead. All the paradiddles on a rubber pad in the world can never match up to that kind of experience. My first real concert was GWAR at the Worcester Palladium in 2002. It was incredible, but I think it set the bar in my brain for performance too high and made me obsessed with pageantry. I talked way more about costumes than I ever did about guitars. I don’t think music and art were ever a question though, I’ve always found great inspiration in David Fair’s essay, “How to Play Guitar”, a reminder that the power is within the individual, not the instrument.
When and where did you play your very first gig and what was that experience like for you? Did you participate in any groups, or projects prior to SGC? How did you initially set out to form this alter-ego/stage presence known as SGC? When and where did you play your very first gig as SGC and what was that experience like?
My first gig was as Tito & Shark in Joe Bastardo’s (Bastian Void) parent’s basement. It was my first solo act, I wore a children’s Superman costume and played Casio drumbeats at the fastest tempo and cursed a lot. That’s it, just drums and swearing, like Atari Teenage Riot for cavemen. I’ve always been impressionable, and in college I rode the freak-folk fad and called myself Uncle Grandpa, after a character from the Dan Clowes strip in “Cracked” Magazine (the Cartoon Network show didn’t happen until years later). Adhering to one genre/identity became too stifling though, it wasn’t until I just decided to be me that it all came together, no more rules. I’m sure it’s very confusing for everyone though, and all I can say is “I’m sorry”. I honestly can’t remember what the first SGC show was like, they were all so varied at that time, and I’ve always had trouble tracking the chronology of my life. The oldest live set documented is in the woods of Leverett, MA in 2008, but I know I was me before then too.
You're a very talented and prolific artist having released over a dozen albums from 2011 to your most recent work “Sammy Can’t Rock n’ Roll”. Tell me about some of these releases such as “Gone Doing”, “Send Help!”, “Death By Cheerios” and so many other awesome works. What have been some of your most favorite albums to work on and why?
The most recently released is actually my album, “II”, on the Crash Symbols label! Although you’re correct in that it was recorded several years ago. The B-side is an 8-piece jazz band with two drummers and three saxophones. I wrote directions to everyone in words instead of notes, some people pieced it together in small groups, others just threw them away and listened intently. I couldn’t be more happy with the way it came out. I always like to say that my most recent album is my favorite, but I’ve enjoyed working on instrumental works the most lately, both solo and with the band, NxCx, which I do with my brilliant friend, Abdul H Sherzai. Working on “WORM FOOD” was exciting because I had never traveled to work on an album like that before. I tried to make a very “European”-sounding record, you’ll have to decide if I succeeded!
2022 saw most recent work “Sammy Can’t Rock n’ Roll” on Fruit of the Spirit. How did you go about creating this record and especially during the pandemic? How did the deal with those guys come about? What have you been up to more recently? Anything in the works for this summer?
I’m actually planning a “Sammy Can’t Rock n’ Roll”, Vol. 2 with four new collaborators! This project came after participating in Mary Staubitz & Russ Waterhouse’s “Distant Duos” pandemic project. I’m thankful that it sparked my interest in finding a way to further practice and extend my vocal reach in the sound poetry format, as well as being a fun, low pressure way to collaborate with friends, more out of necessity before, but now especially to work with those who live far away. In the can (lol) is a split with Jeff Unfortunately where I play a lot of Yamaha Electone organ, at least one new NxCx cassette, and a cover of a popular TV theme song with collaborators Ratigan & Wet Paint. I’m also working on an EP of outdoor-focused recordings, live sets and found sounds, also somewhat initiated by the pandemic, I suppose! My favorite part was recorded in Scott Tower, a 200 ft. abandoned stone spiral staircase in the middle of the woods here in Holyoke. It’s covered in spray paint and sounds amazing.
Is there anything else you would like to further share with the readers?
Huge thanks to everyone who has ever tuned in, recently got a message from a kind soul who says they’ve been listening for the last ten years, since they were 14 years old! It means a great deal to me. Also, for anyone who’s seen my most recent music video, “Gleep Glorp”, it was directed by animator Peter Mack, and I really recommend seeking out his other work as well, truly psychedelic and tirelessly hand-drawn, and then erased… and then drawn again… and then…
