SAMSARA

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS FALVO
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/samsaramtl
COUNTRY: Canada STYLE: Experimental / Ambient / Rock

THE BAND TOOK THE INSTRUMENTAL PATH AFTER YOU GOT TIRED OF PLAYING METAL. WAS IT JUST A CASE OF NOT WANTING TO BE PART OF A GENRE THAT HAS BECOME A BIT OVERPOPULATED?

The basic answer is that we got bored of it. We do find that metal is overpopulated and diluted quite heavily, and that did play into it our choice a bit, but the basic reason we didnt want to play metal anymore was because we found that it wasn't pleasing us on a musical level. We felt that there was something else that we should be playing, that would suit us better than technical metal. Haha

WHO WAS THE FIRST INSTRUMENTAL BAND YOU EVER HEARD AND HOW WERE YOU “CONVINCED” THAT THIS IS THE DIRECTION THAT YOU WANTED TO TAKE WITH YOUR MUSIC?

That answer would probably be different for every member, but the bands that really helped make the decision to start playing the music we play today were bands like Isis, Explosions in the Sky, Red Sparowes and Eluvium. Since then, along with member changes, our influences have grown to include bands like Sigur Ros, Coldplay, EF, This Will Destroy You and Mono. Of course, every member brings in their own personal influences like with any band, but these bands are definitely huge influences on our overall sound.

DO YOU FIND THAT INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC HAS A CERTAIN WAY OF CREATING THAT “DREAM WORLD” ATMOSPHERE IN LISTENERS BETTER THAN ANY OTHER KIND OF MUSIC?

Definitely. We have always loved the long, spacy, jammier songs that bands usually include on their albums (but rarely play live!). Then we all got introduced to bands (instrumental or not) that play it all the time! There are many bands who have managed to capture a certain dreamy atmosphere in their music, but the bands in "post rock" or whatever genre you'd like to categorize them in, concentrate on capturing an emotion or a feeling and trying to recreate it using only/mostly music. It's a great challenge as a musician, with all the popular/traditional ways relying on doing it with vocals, or some sort of spoken word to tell the story. Whereas, bands in "post rock" try to do it using little to no vocals at all.

DO YOU THINK INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC IS AN ACQUIRED TASTE AMONG MUSIC FANS OR HAVE YOU SEEN THE GENRE GETTING MORE SUPPORT EVEN THOUGH ONE CAN’T ALWAYS FIND INSTRUMENTAL ARTIST’S MUSIC AS EASILY AS YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO WITH A MUSIC GENRE LIKE POP?

Yes and no. From what we can see, the people that listen to instrumental/experimental/post rock or whatever tend to know the genre and a lot of the bands and what's going on with the music.

At the same time however, we've encountered people who would otherwise never listen to that music, save the couple of bands/songs they know of the style.

It's hard to give a definite answer to that question, but we feel that this kind of music is very accessible and can and should be widely accepted. Anyone with an open mind can listen to just about any of the bands in the genre and admire the beauty in the sound they create. We definitely feel that this kind of music has the potential to be widely accepted.

In fact, without even knowing it, a lot of people already do. Many of the bands of the genre have been featured in or have provided the soundtracks for movies, TV and video games. Bands of the genre can be seen in popular movies and TV shows like the trailer for Disney's "Planet Earth" (Hoppipolla, by Sigur Ros) or Explosions in the Sky providing the soundtrack for "Friday Night Lights" just to name two.

EVER WONDERED HOW YOUR SONGS WOULD SOUND WITH VOCALS?

We do occasionally for sure. We've listened to some of our songs and thought that hey, maybe a singing part could be nice there. As of right now, we aren't planning on including vocals, though that may change in the future, who knows.

If vocals ever do make it into our music, they will not be in the forefront, and will take a supporting role.

Our goal is to create music that speaks for itself, to convey a message, a feeling or an image using our instruments. We’ll let people tell us what they think/see or feel when they hear it.

THE BAND RELEASED A FOUR TRACK SELF TITLED EP EARLIER IN THE YEAR. WAS IT IMPORTANT FOR THE BAND TO GET “THAT FIRST RELEASE” OVER AND DONE WITH?

Yeah, every band who wants to be successful needs to take that first plunge and record the first batch of songs. It's a great learning experience all around, about how things work in the studio, what can/cant/needs to be done and connecting on a much more personal level not only with the other members in the band, but the music itself.

You get the chance to sit there (if you wish to do so) and pour over every detail of every song, making sure everything is perfect and the way you want it to sound.

It definitely helps the band grow and learn a lot in a relatively short period of time. Recording can definitely make or break a band; it's a challenge and requires a lot of time, work and patience.

But, what really matters, and sets apart the real bands from the wannabes, has always and will always be their live performance. If you can't perform live, then you'll only get so far.

For us, recording gave us an EP which we felt comfortable enough to share with people, to show them what we were all about. Now that that is out of the way, we can concentrate on writing and recording a full length which will hopefully showcase what we've learned and how much we've grown since then.

APPARENTLY YOU ARE ALREADY WORKING ON NEW MATERIAL. DO YOU SET SMALL DEADLINES FOR YOURSELVES WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING OR DO YOU TAKE AS MUCH TIME THAT IS NEEDED TO MAKE A SONG SOUND AS GOOD AS POSSIBLE?

We try to, without a certain time frame in mind; it's very easy to get caught up in what you're doing, on tiny, sometimes insignificant details, and loosing focus on the bigger picture. That being said, we don’t rush songs or force them out. We try and give ourselves an ample amount of time to do what we feel needs to get done. Without deadlines or goals, like with anyone or anything else, we would end up stuck drifting aimlessly.

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC MUST BE TO KEEP THE LISTENERS ATTENTION. THAT IS WHERE YOUR USE OF GUITARS COMES IN HANDY I GUESS?

We feel we have the chance to keep people interested more in the way we present our music on a whole and less in any specific instrument or part. We concentrate on writing/playing complete songs, if one person is taking care of the rhythm or the root of the song, someone else may be accenting or playing up… In the end though, what really counts is how it sounds on a whole.

ANY SONG THAT YOU HEARD LATELY THAT YOU CAN’T GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD?

JOEL: "Something about the way you look tonight" by Elton John

ADAM: "Maria I Like it Loud" by Scooter

PETER: "Is There a Ghost" by Horse the Band

LUCA: "Romantic Rights" by Death From Above

I SEE ONE OF YOUR SONGS IS CALLED “F SHARP” AND THE WORDS “DELAY + REVERB” ARE MENTIONED AS WELL. WHAT GUITAR TUNINGS AND GEAR DOES THE BAND USE AND DO YOU PLAN TO ADD ANY OTHER INSTRUMENTS TO YOUR LINE UP AT A LATER STAGE?

As of yet, all of our songs are in Drop A on seven string guitars. Basically, it’s standard tuning, with the low B string dropped to A, which gives us the option of low, heavier barred chords.

And as our tagline on Myspace states, Dealay+Reverb is an effect combination we (as many) do use quite often. We find it's creates beautiful soundscapes and textures that can chill a person right to the bone.

Basically, we are a rock band; bass, drums and guitar, though we add piano, keyboard pads and occasionally some orchestral parts to fill in the gaps or spice up a song. We like to experiment not only with adding instruments to the mix, but also with how they are played. We've experimented with bowed guitar, as well as E-Bow on both guitar and bass.

We like to have a lot of ideas to pull from, even if it doesn't happen until sometime in the future, the option is always there.

Something we would LOVE to do in the future is to record and play with a live orchestra. That would be a dream come true for us.

BEING AN INDEPENDENT BAND, HOW DO YOU BALANCE THE TASK OF WRITING WITH THE EFFORT THAT GOES INTO ORGANISING SHOWS AND BUILDING A FAN BASE FOR YOURSELVES?

We do everything ourselves, so we take things day by day. We try and keep conversations going with friends (new and old) on Myspace on a regular basis as well as adding friends from all around the world.

We contact any newspapers, magazines or review sites that we come across to try and get featured in any way and we book all our shows ourselves as well, occasionally actually putting some on ourselves in our area (like our show September 24th).

Basically, all the "management" of the band gets taken care of in our free time. Writing is done individually or when we get together to jam.

WHERE WILL PEOPLE BE ABLE TO SEE YOU GUYS PERFORM IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS?

Were concentrating on writing as much as we can this fall, but were going to try and play a couple of shows at home in Montreal and hopefully a couple of towns. Quebec City, Ottawa, Toronto, and possible a couple of other places in between, which we hope will get us out there a little. When we finish our full length (which we hope to have out before the spring) we’re hoping to play a few more shows, short tours around Quebec and Ontario, and hopefully beyond.

ANY COMMENTS; THINGS FANS SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

Keep an eye out on our Myspace for news about shows, new music being posted, new media (pictures or videos) and other updates!