Swiss born Brooklynite Sam Himself released his emotional new single ‘Cry’ on 16th October!
We had a chat with him about the new release, and how being in Switzerland has impacted his music during the pandemic…
Your latest EP ‘Slow Drugs’ was released in May, what have the responses been like so far?
“The responses have been incredible! They exceeded my wildest expectations and I couldn’t be happier about the release.
“I work with a badass team, both here in Europe and in the U.S., and I have them to thank for all the positive reactions we continue to get.
“It’s been really validating to receive all these kind messages from people all over the world, including many places I’ve never been to, and from folks I went to Kindergarten with.”
What is your favourite track from the EP? Why?
“They’re all my babies and I love them equally for different reasons. ‘Someday You’ll Be the Fool and You’ll Know What It’s Like’ might be a particular favorite right now.
“I wrote it in New York, but the people and stories I was thinking about for the song are situated here in Switzerland, where I grew up and where I’ve temporarily relocated since the outbreak of the pandemic. Close to home, you could say. Also, it has this obnoxiously long name, which I like.”
The lead single, ‘Slow Drugs’ has surpassed 188K on Vevo, how does this feel?!
“Oh wow! That feels fantastic! I owe a huge deal to Stefan Tschumi, the director of the video. ‘Slow Drugs’ was our first collaboration in the fall of 2019; I’d never met him in person before our first day of filming.
“We’ve since shot three more music videos and countless live sessions, photos and other visuals together. He has an amazing eye, great taste and intuition, and a huge heart. One of the most beautiful weirdos I know, and he really gets me.”
Your new single ‘Cry’ is out on 16th October, what was the inspiration behind this track/what’s it about?
“‘Cry’ was inspired by one long night right when the pandemic hit in early March. I was driving across Switzerland at some ungodly hour to shoot the last take of the ‘Like a Friend’ video at dawn.
“I was in Europe for a tour I’d just found out – earlier that same night! – had been cancelled due to the virus. In the car, my phone rang, and by the end of that call, my relationship was over, too.
“Meanwhile, according to the news, it became less and less clear if and when I’d be able to return to New York. So my life as I knew it more or less ended right there on the Swiss Autobahn, but so did the world at large, it seemed!
“That’s the dissonant state I tried to capture with ‘Cry’: on the one hand, I’m lamenting the loss of my old life in New York, the heartbreak and chaos that began that night, but in the same breath, I’m scorning myself for licking my wounds in the face of this rapidly spreading global nightmare.”
How long were you working on ‘Cry’?
“I wrote it in the spring of this year, sent it to my producer Daniel Schlett in Brooklyn shortly after and then recorded it in Switzerland in August, so I’d say, roughly, seven years in 2020 terms?”
How did you feel about releasing music during the pandemic? Were you worried that not being able to tour would have an impact on its success?
Do you have plans to tour in 2021?
“I was on the fence for a while until I realized that, if I were to postpone the release, I had no clue until what time, so I might as well go ahead with it as planned. In hindsight, I’m really glad I did. Staying busy during those past few months has kept me somewhat sane.
“As for performing live, we’ve been really fortunate here in Switzerland because we were able to gradually resume playing shows in the early summer already. I’m currently on tour and preparing two more headline tours in the spring and fall of 2021. So I want to focus on that positive side of things, but of course many places, including big parts of the U.S., are in a much less secure situation. I think about that and I feel for my friends and fellow musicians out there.”
Do you think that releasing new music at times like this provides a morale boost for fans?
“Yes, I really hope so! That’s one reason why I wanted such a quick turnaround time for my new single, ‘Cry’, the first song off my debut LP due out next year.
“Would the recording sound different if I’d waited to get back to Brooklyn and work at the studio there? Maybe. But I didn’t want to wait that long, even if that meant cutting some overdubs in the attic where I was crashing at the time.
“Striving for the cleanest, most flawless version wasn’t the point of this song. I needed to have it out as soon as possible after the strange period during which I wrote it! This version is the best my producer and I could do under the circumstances, working together remotely and making the compromises we needed to make.
“It feels and sounds real to me this way. I hope listeners will recognize their own experience of the past few months in the tune, and maybe they’ll feel less alone with it.”
What have you been doing to keep busy during lockdown?
“Releasing my EP ‘Slow Drugs’ in the spring has kept me consistently busy since the beginning of the lockdown, and between shooting the most recent video (‘Maybe Allison’, October 2nd) and playing the current fall tour, there are no signs of a slowdown!
“Whenever I had spare time, I wrote as much as I could. That’s how ‘Cry’ and a bunch of other songs that will be on next year’s debut LP came together, holed up at my drafty quarantine Airbnb with an acoustic guitar and medically inadvisable amounts of canned Lager.”
How have you found working in music, in particularly creating music during the pandemic? Has it been significantly more difficult? Have there been aspects that you’ve enjoyed?
How does it differ from how you would typically make music (writing process/recording/production)?
“Like almost any musician during this time, I’ve had to confront some real challenges to making music and sustaining my career in the face of the pandemic. But unlike so many of us, I’ve had the huge privilege of being able to weather the storm in Switzerland, so I can’t really imagine just how existential those challenges must feel to musicians in other parts of the world.
“We can play shows again here and are returning to some version of normalcy, while the majority of musicians are still coping with the worst consequences of the crisis every single day. I deeply admire that resilience and I feel for everyone who has to muster it so relentlessly.
“The exceptionally safe and guarded national situation I’m in has allowed me to find inspiration in some of the pandemic’s restrictions. Limited resources force you to become more inventive, so I’ve had to get better at recording and filming myself. I even learned how to use a green screen, sort of…
“I now try to be less perfectionist and obsessive about what I release; just accept the sound of your voice or the look of your hair in a given take and move on! And while I’m glad I was able to livestream some performances during lockdown, these months without a physical audience instilled me with a new appreciation for playing live with other people in the same room.
“ You simply can’t replicate that, in my opinion, and I’m keeping that in mind each time I get to play for an audience onstage.”