Samantha Preis is a hugely talented independent singer-songwriter who draws from a myriad of influences to create a instantly captivating sound. Jason Barnard speaks to Samantha to discover what shapes her music.
Where are you from and where do you live now? Does that impact your music?
I was born in Connecticut in the USA. I now live mostly in the UK. Chances are, having grown up in the states there were many factors that influenced my style of playing including what I listened to as a kid. My music continues to evolve based on new experiences as a nomadic musician.
When did you pick up your first instrument and when/why did you start songwriting?
I started playing the piano at age 8 and immediately started writing songs. But I’ve been singing since I could talk!
What artists, past and present do you admire – as a songwriter and performer?
My favorite songwriter is Joni Mitchell. She’s as good as it gets. I also really love many songwriters from the 60’s and 70’s. Some other favorites include Neil Young, The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Burt Bacharach, Jethro Tull and Steely Dan… I also love classical music such as Debussy as well as jazz. Django Reinhardt puts me in my happy place!
What generally inspires you to write, do you start with a musical phrase or lyric?
I often start with a chord progression and the melody automatically follows (as if it were pre-written) – I hear it immediately. Then I start making sounds that phonetically fit with the melody and words are born. From just a few words, a story unfolds.
“On Boylston” from your Good News album was the first track of yours that caught my attention. Is that a song written about your time at the Berklee College of Music in Boston?
I actually wrote the song a year before I studied at Berklee. I had spent a week there at a songwriting workshop in 2005 and really loved the experience. I wrote the song before I knew I would be studying at Berklee, or that I would live in 3 different apartments on Boylston, graduate on Boylston…. So many things happened on Boylston Street!
How has your sound evolved since you started?
A few years ago I was forced to start playing the guitar more when I became nomadic. (You can’t travel around the world with a keyboard so easily!) Since I started playing more guitar I have a lot more guitar tracks and I think my style has evolved. I think I sound very different when I am playing the guitar versus the piano stylistically. I love and miss the piano when I travel – I still play and write on it, but sometimes not for months at a time.
“The Gun and the Gold” and “Lost for Me” are some of my favourite tracks of yours albeit they’re melancholic. Is it a cathartic process for you to write from a darker place?
I don’t ever intend to sit and write dark music. I suppose I just go with what comes naturally to me at the moment. Music has always been a release for me and I feel completely free when writing so I express myself in whichever way feels right at the time.
What songs that you’ve been involved with, prior to your current releases, are you most proud and why?
It’s really hard to say because I love them all but some of my favorite releases have been “The Gun and the Gold”, “Good Sheep”, “Lost for Me”, and “Crayola Marker”. Sometimes, when you record a song, you just nail it and the recordings are everything that you’d hoped for. Other times you’re “fine” with the recordings but they may not have turned out exactly how you had planned. However, I think it’s better to release music than to sit on it forever because you’re not completely happy with it. It’s ok for things not to be perfect sometimes. Some of the songs listed I just really loved the way the recorded versions came out and was really proud to release them.
How did you get to record with Brian Larney on your song “Good Sheep”?
Brian and I met at a friends’ record shop, Vinyl Street Cafe in Fairfield, Connecticut while I was visiting family near my hometown. Brian lives very close to my hometown and I really admired the color and emotion in his songwriting as well as his general laid back, warm personality. I thought it’d be really neat to do a collaboration together because I thought that emotionally we were in a similar place and had the potential to put together something really creative. We had great musical chemistry and were really happy with the end result.
You’ve recently recorded a well received acoustic version of “Danny Boy” – what led you to doing this?
I’ve always loved the song. I have some Irish heritage which is maybe why it always resonated with me… though so many people, Irish or not, have loved Danny Boy. (In fact, the Danny Boy lyrics that we know today were actually written in Somerset, England!) Last year, I performed for several months throughout Scotland and my version of Danny Boy was really well received so I thought I’d better record it 😉
What are your plans for the next year – what would you like to achieve?
This year I am continuing to collaborate with some of my favorite artists, am writing, recording, and performing throughout the UK and the USA. I would just like to continue to work on projects that matter to me and put everything I have into creating meaningful art. I recently joined Patreon – a site where fans can join my exclusive music label to help fund ongoing music projects. As an indie artist, it is a constant hustle to make music a career, but it is worth it if you love it. With the help of my listeners, I can continue to pursue this passion and release new material.
More information can be found at samanthapreismusic.com
