Creator to Creators S4 Ep 27 Sam Welch

Sam Welch, by design, does not do easy-listening music to create moods or feelings.The lyrics and music go need listening. He wants his audience to put some work into hissongs. Though the lyrics are about thoughts — metaphysics, if you will — and deal with thingslike relationships, life, death and the hereafter, his music gives a wry twist that makesthinking interesting, trending toward fun. And worth the work.As an example, “Kamikaze Co-Pilot,” the single he is featuring from his new album, LastNight on Earth. Right there, in the two titles, you can see the metaphysical and the twistat work. This is Sam talking about the message, or messages, of “Kamikaze”: “I’ve defined myown philosophical interpretation of this song, and I’m calling it ‘social existentialism.’Basically, it’s the idea that every relationship will come to an end, this idea thateverybody’s on the same journey to their destiny, but that the journey in and of itself willdivide us and separate us.” Sounds heavy, but the song begins with his voice, a high-register, floating, ethereal vocalization set to a ringing instrumental that rises for three notes, falls back, and drums enter with an upbeat tempo. Ten seconds later, a saxophone leads in the lyrics:Kamikaze co-pilot the future can’t come soon enoughKamikaze co-pilot well this world is getting tough Gonna fly away with you it’s the past that I rueGonna fly away it ain’t the future that is true“I think if I had done a really, really sort of hard techno, unrelentingly loud or aggressive,it wouldn’t support the themes that I’m exploring,” said Sam.“Kamikaze co-pilot,” he pointed out, is an oxymoron. Who in their right mind would co-pilot with someone on a suicide mission? And yet, he says, human relationships andlife, composed of individuals, are like that. But Last Night on Earth does not preach, it explores.His music, too, is an exploration. His previous output, which he called “transcendentaltechno vox,” is giving way to more melody and instrumentation and less harmonizationand vocal distortion. The transcendental remains, but the techno is much reduced.Sam has begun to play with his voice and his music. One song on the album, “Man inMy Mind,” could pass for a dance track.His vocals, almost entirely undoubled and undistorted, are much more prominent ineach of the 11 tracks. Fewer mixed harmonies and more of his own voice have beengoals“In each of these songs, I’ve provided a lead vocal melody line, a solo voice. I think I’mdoing a good job of controlling the urge to just create more harmonization.”“I think every album that I do is better than the album before,” he said. “I’m always tryingto improve the quality of my music, and I feel like I’ve definitely reached some newgoals in terms of this album. I have worked very hard on trying to create a very organicsound that supports the very, very rich themes that I’m exploring poetically. The twothings support each other.” Another goal, to produce an album each year, has been reached every year, beginning in 2017. He had several albums before that, including one called Unitarian Hymns, in 2005. He has studied piano since age 8 and received voice training at Columbia Universityand the Longy School of Music. He started a barbershop quartet in high school andparticipated in classical chorus performances and theater. At Columbia, he toured withthe male a cappella group The Kingsmen. He has written and recorded music since2001. This year, he has begun live performances.In his music, he explores “the convergence between themes of spiritual transcendenceand emotional disregulation.” He knows the first through his life as a practicing Unitarianand the second from his own bouts with depression and psychosis as a young man.“‘Kamikaze Co-Pilot,’ the headliner for the album, is sort of about humanity andrelationships and destiny and the misfortune of having to die, which we all do,” he said.“It’s more relationship oriented than I’ve been in the past, but still with the emphasis ontranscendence and moving along.”In Last Night on Earth, consideration of relationships, transcendence, “emotional disregulation,” life, eternity, all come together, poetically, musically, playfully. Connect with Sam Welch on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts. Website: https://www.samwelchmusic.com Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/albums/B0BB8RFD1V Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/final-orbit-wind-songs-of-transcendence/1598037122 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/67hWb0kt92swFcx61BdgXLYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_7eyo7OFK0dpoY0my0sArQ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sam.welch.1428Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/creator-to-creators-with-meosha-bean--4460322/support.