INTERVIEW: S.A.M.
Ahead of his performance at Let Them Eat Cake, we chat to the Danish producer behind one of 2019’s biggest dance tracks…
Cosmic, trippy, spiritual, psychedelic, peaceful, and groovy: those are adjectives used in S.A.M.’s bio to describe his infectious sound. And nowhere do they coalesce in a better fashion than his recent Beatport charting hit ‘Fury’s Laughter’. It has a feel-good, loose quality and high energy vibe that is undeniable. The real bread-and-butter moment comes courtesy of a melodic earworm which played its part in Fisher actually losing it - and by losing it we mean the Beatport number one spot. Even Resident Advisor couldn’t resist its charms, calling it ‘lean, tasteful house that will rock dance floors’. And in this dog-eat-dog world where musical tribes run rampant -tech-house vs techno, house vs lo-fi, EDM vs everything else- it’s a shock to find disparate musical barometers like Beatport and Resident Advisor agreeing on anything.
Don’t Give In To The Hype
But you won’t find S.A.M. placing too much value on online hype. Instead, he approaches his own resident advisors for feedback: ’Well… I’m happy that it had success in both places. But I don’t put too much value in reviews unless its from of my friends who’s taste I trust.’ Of course, all these accomplishments haven’t gone unnoticed, and he quickly acknowledges: ’But I was really grateful and speechless to see the Beatport charting of a track I made for fun in my bedroom’. Damn, for an afternoon having fun in the bedroom that’s a very productive day. When I have fun in the bedroom it’s usually met with personal shame the next day - and definitely no glowing reviews from Resident Advisor.
I AM S.A.M.
S.A.M. is an abbreviation for his birth name, Samuel Andre Madsen, and he was raised by a religious family in the countryside of Denmark. The God-fearing upbringing, however, didn’t lead to a contained musical diet of Christian music. ’My father listened to the Blues’, Madsen remembers fondly. But it was his brother who expanded his musical horizons. ‘In the ’90s my brother introduced me to St. Germain, Underworld, and Aphex Twin, basically launching my life path.’ And for Madsen, those influences shine through the brightest on his 2018 single ‘Money Blues’ (‘The ethereal synth strings, the syncopes and swing, and the blues vocal’) released on his own Delaphine imprint. And we agree, it really is a sweet slice of dance music harking back to the halcyon days of house when it truly was, and we are back to those adjectives again: cosmic, trippy, spiritual, psychedelic, peaceful, and groovy.
From Macedonia to AREA 51
Madsen exudes a very random sense of humour, a point very obvious in the music video for ‘Fury’s Laughter’. It’s an eerie two and a half minutes of recorded night footage in direct contrast to the summery beach vibes of the music. It creates an unsettling mood very reminiscent of Aphex Twin. This is all by design of course. ‘I love that it is so “WTF?” and that it demands an opinion from the viewer’, Madsen enthuses. ’You can’t be indifferent to it.’
But the idea wasn’t all Madsen, the main thrust of the video coming from Macedonian photographer/director Viktor Naumovski whose past commissions include works for Gucci and Louis Vuitton.
Their relationship started professionally. ‘I modelled for Viktor Naumovski’s editorial shoot for King Kong Magazine in August, and while driving around the North Macedonian mountains with him and the team during the shoot, we talked about the possibility of shooting a music video’ Madsen recalls. And from the start, they were on mutually creative wavelength. ‘When he listened to the track, he understood instantly that it had a computer game’y vibe to it, and he wanted to explore that.’ So, as you do, they somehow got access to shoot the video in, wait for it, Area 51, possibly the most secretive piece of property on the planet. ‘To be given access to AREA 51 to film was unexpected.’ And just like that, we’ve found the biggest understatement of 2019.
The music video's ending is the real piece de resistance, a visual non sequitur so delicious you can’t help but marvel at the genius. After ominously tracking the Area 51 space through night vision, almost Silent Hill like, the camera turns a corner to find Madsen randomly sitting with some dogs: ’I told him I would love some slow motion and something with dogs - because I love dogs.’ It's an idea so uncomplicated it's borderline genius.
But that minimal and left-field approach to art is something that S.A.M. naturally gravitate towards. In a recent studio session alongside Butch, a fellow producer also known for his jocular approach to life, he saw another opportunity to keep things simple: ‘Less is more if the sounds sit right’, Madsen states matter-of-factly. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait till 2020 to hear the fruits of that collaboration.
Time tO eat Cake
When we spoke to Madsen, he was still high on the vibes from a killer show at Amsterdam’s Tuishaven. Afterwards, he attended what sounds conspicuously like a kick-on: ‘A couple of friends from Denmark joined and the night evolved to us joining Dose Sampu and the Creme Collective at my friend Ciro Duclos’ studio. After that, a spontaneous three-hour set happened at Veronicaschip! (another Amsterdam club)’. Actually, there is no ambiguity there, that literally sounds like a kick-on.
No doubt he will bring that can-do attitude to Australia when he gets on stage at Let Them Eat Cake. With multiple Australian club shows under his belt, this will be his first time playing a local festival. The Cake lineup boast acts like HAAi, Denis Sulta, Jon Hopkins, Honey Dijon, Cinthie, Shigeto and Tom Trago to name a few, so who is he the most excited to see and why? 'Shigeto. I love jazz.’ Pushed on anything else about the trip he is looking forward to, he drops a breathless non sequitur: ‘I’m least looking forward to the drop bears.’
Don’t worry Sam, at Werribee Mansion there aren't any drop bears. However, you better prepare yourself for the massive beats dropping from every stage. Boom Tish.
