SamiYam

*flicks were taken from Sam’s instore over at Poo-Bah Records in Pasadena. he’s making his Rap Beats Vol.1 beattape personally. i suggest you go over to his page and consider investing in this dope ass mix.

Wassup, my name is Samiyam, from Michigan, just moved out here to sunny LA. Enjoying the weather out here as my homies back home freeze their ass off.

When did you first develop a vested interest in music?

I dunno, I’ve been listening to music forever. I used to play instruments, like the piano and the clarinet for a while. I really started thinking of making my own music in high school, listening to hip hop and wondering how the fuck people make this shit.

What music most intrigued you back then?

Michael Jackson.

Oh whaat? So this is way back then?

That’s probably the shit that really got me into making beats, secretly. Michael Jackson shit, like dancing in the mirror as a little kid. I used to trip on DJ Premiere, like wow that’s crazy. That’s the shit that got me into sampling, shit where people took old records and chopped it up and re-arranged it into some crazy shit.

When did you first actually start making beats?

Uh…in like 2002.

How would you describe your first beats?

Wack. Not very good. I guess some of that shit is all right but the mixes would be super fucked up. I started off with the MP first off. I don’t think I was that great on it at first.

When did you first notice a sound developing in your shit?

I guess at one point when I was using the MP I was doing some shit that had a little sound to it, sampling records and I had bought a little synth and I was playing bass lines. Shit was coming out with a little sound to it. I made some shit maybe a year or so after I started making shit and thought, ah, that sounds allright. Even after listening to it after a couple of months, I was just kind of making shit and having fun before that, making stupid shit.

Well you’ve come some ways from that. you have a few things out and you got your own record coming out right?

Yeah, yeah. I’m finishing up the record right now.

Is it gonna be a 12” or is it gonna be a full LP?

10 inch man.

Oh yeah?

Who’s putting that out?

Pooh Bah is.

Is it part of the Poo Bah ten inch series?

Yeah it’s supposed to be part of it. It’s in the early stages now, I mean I guess that shit can be in the interview but it’s not exactly done. I still haven’t gone in for mastering and putting it together.

When did you get more involved in beat scene here in LA?

I came out here to do this shit, I had done … I think we did a show out here before I moved out here. The Low End Theory, opening up for Sage Francis. Laughs.

Sage Francis?

That mothafucka Sage Francis who brought out all the people with lumberjack shirts and all that shit, it was a different crowd. It was cool.

I agree, Sage Francis brings a certain crowd.

He brought a lot of people though.

How was the response that show?

It was dope man. You know how it is, they have it super loud there. People were trippin.

Yeah the Low End Theory has a really good soundsystem. Since that, you plan on doing more showcases

Yeah, I mean I’ve done a couple of those. I’ll probably do more now that the records gonna be coming out and all that. But yeah I’ve done some beat showcases. It’s been cool, there’s always people that come out and appreciate and give me their good words and shit.

How do you see your shit, or do you not even see it in a certain way and it’s just something you do?

I don’t really see it in in a certain way, it’s just some shit I do. I got the machine I like to make music on, just turn it on and do some shit. I mean I guess the shit sounds a certain way sometimes when it’s done but I don’t think of shit in any special way, that question’s kinda weird.

yeah, it is.

Careful with the tea on the floor, might wanna put it on the fridge.

Ah. I didn’t even notice it down there, thanks. So what are the things you have had out so far?

Well there’s the shit on the Fat City Producer One compilation. Me and Lotus had Green tea Power, FlyamSam shit, on Rush Hour on Beat Dimensions, the homie Hudson Mohawke was on there, there was a lot of dope shit on there.

What is up with that FlyamSam thing with you and Lotus?

It’s just a bunch of tracks. I’m not sure in what forms you’re gonna see them in, but you’re gonna see them.

So is that something you guys have done, are doing or will do?

We have a lot of tracks that were done before I moved out there, since then we’ve collaborated on a lot of blunts, just getting drunk and shit. Playing videogames and shit. We’ve been talking about getting the band back together though. But a lot of the shit has been from before I even moved out here.

How’d you two meet?

On some myspace shit like, oh man I like your beats, check out my shit, oh yeah that’s pretty cool. Then we started sending each other sounds, like synth-sounds and shit.

Now who else would you say is around you beatwise?

Shit, there’s a lot of people out here. Obviously Lotus, Ras G out here, the crazy space ship shit, Diabolic, Knowledge from Philly, Hudson Mohawke from Scotland, he’s about to come out on Warp in a minute. I dunno, it’s a lot of people, I’m forgetting everybody. It’s a good time. Musinah, definitely be sure check out for her. She came through and did Low End Theory at a beat invitational. She didn’t play last but she was later in the line up and it was kind of a little competition thing, and it seemed like she pretty much won. I mean she got the crowd response, she’s dope.

It seems like there’s a sense of community in LA, would you agree?

Yeah, yeah. It’s a lot of people out here all out the shows and all cool. It’s dope, everybody’s kind of on the same side, there might be a little competition but people are supportive of someone like me who doesn’t have shit out.

What influences you?

Like musically? Like what music influences me or just what influences me to make music?

Uh, we’ll do both.

Just everything, Life. I’m heavily influenced by…I watch a lot of old Italian movies with dope soundtracks and that definitely plays a big part. When I was a little kid I used to play Nintendo all the time, I’m definitely influenced by those little beats, they had some dope loops on there.

Yeah, speaking of which, Dibiase’s EP was crazy.

Yeah yeah. I have a couple of those type beats coming out, it’s gonna be on the EP. Just a couple of Nintendo tracks. That is all cool but I don’t really want anyone to know me as Nintendo face or anything, it’s just kind of fun to chop up those sounds.

What would you say influences sound musically?

As far as music I listen to?

Yeah.

I dunno, I listen to anything really. All kinds of shit.

Yo …*pausing to listen* this remix you’re playing is mean…my bad.

Yeah you can get this on the stones throw website I think.

I have this mix but I never noticed that track.

Yeah, that shits crazy man.

What sounds stick out to you, what catches your ear?

Depends on how I feel, any sound can catch my ear when I’m listening to records. Right now, I don’t’ really have a record player now, I was using one of my neighbors so I’m on the keyboard now. But when I’m listening to records anything can stick out to me. I usually just put on something I want to listen to, just look at the cover art and pick it up.

Do you make beats, something you work on, just do, chip away?

It depends. Sometimes I take time on it. Sometimes it’s some shit that I start one day and come back to it later. Maybe I just do something in a half hour and record it and do some other shit. Really depends how I feel or what it is I’m working on.

Is there anything else you wanna talk about? I don’t really have anything else.

I dunno. Maybe talk about rolling another blunt?

Samiyam – quesadilla