Portland based Singer/Songwriter Sam Milton has been crafting his sound over the last few years and will release his debut album “Nausea” on October 10th.
I caught up with Sam to talk about his early musical experiences, how he started writing songs and the writing and recording process of the album.
CMM-What was the first music that really made an impact on you as a kid and what artist or band did you enjoy the most?
Sam-Most of the music I was exposed to growing up was largely classical. A lot of Vivaldi and Bach. Anything that was in those Suzuki books. I started playing violin at age 3 or 4, so that was pretty much all I knew for a while. As I got a bit older and branched out a bit I remember really enjoying more pop, rock, and rap–Surfin’ USA by the Beach Boys I remember listening to on my iPod Nano a lot. I’d walk to the top of a hill on a skateboard, turn it on, and ride down. In the fifth grade I really liked 50 cent. I had the clean version of Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ that I listened to probably twice a day. Not sure if that was super inspirational for my own music though… Maybe. I feel like I didn’t really appreciate music in a non surface-level way until I was like 16 or 17 and I heard OK Computer for the first time. It feels a bit trite to say, but that record absolutely changed my life.
CMM-How did you start writing songs and developing your own sound?
Sam-Pretty much from the second I picked up a guitar I started writing my own songs. It was a very natural process I didn’t really think much about. I still have a few voice memos on my phone of me tinkering around with the intro chords from Blackbird to try and create something of my own on like…day 2 of owning a guitar. I always wanted to write songs on the violin growing up & even tried to on sheet music a few times, but it never really materialized. Kinda tough to sing while playing an instrument that sits under your jaw.
As far as developing my own sound… I don’t know. I think it’s flattering you think I have my own sound at all, because when I listen back to my own music I really just hear pale imitations of the other musicians I’m deeply inspired by. But maybe that’s just it. I think personal style in any medium just takes time to come by, but it usually involves a lot of repeated attempts at smushing all the things you like together into one thing. Much like developing a personal identity, it derives from strongly labeling each thing you like and each thing you dislike (and why).
CMM-You have a new record coming out called “Nausea”. What was the writing and recording process like and were there any particular pieces of gear you used to get the sound you all were looking for?
Sam-The writing and recording process was pretty drawn out. I think I probably recorded a song once every two weeks–always on saturdays. I write pretty consistently, but it’s rare that I like a song enough to record it. I have to want to naturally listen to the bare demo over and over again before I consider spending the time tracking the thing with all the bells and whistles. Usually a song that makes the cut takes about 10ish hours to record, which I tend to do all in one burst. And then what makes the cut on the record is even more scrupulous… I think I recorded maybe 30 or so songs total for Nausea. Most of those recordings were total garbage though.
As far as gear goes, I’m not too picky. I use a Behringer audio interface and some LDC microphones I found used at local shops. For about half the record, I recorded with Garageband and this one super hissy, P.O.S. cheap Samson mic for vocals. I later replaced that with Logic and a TB1 Studio Projects mic I found for an absolute steal.
The main microphone you hear is an sE 2300: I used that on all the acoustic guitar, drums, strings, and backing vocals. I like that mic a lot. When Gus Elg (of Sky Onion) did the mastering for the record, he sent the whole thing through this gorgeous studer A80 tape deck, which gave it a lot of extra character.
CMM-If you could do a score for any film director, who would it be and what would the film be about?
Sam-I’m not really sure, that’s a good question. Maybe something by Wim Wembers. That movie Perfect Days that came out a couple years ago is one of my all time favorites. To be honest, I’d be really excited if pretty much any filmmaker wanted my songs in something of theirs.
CMM-Anything coming up?
Sam-At the moment, I can’t say I have anything definitively lined up. Pretty much all of my time recently has been spent on the roll-out of this record, but I’d like to get out soon and play as many shows as I can, and maybe put together a band at some point just for the live performances. I’ll make sure I announce anything important I’m doing.
