INTERVIEW:
I had to ask Sam Segurado about its stories and creation. He talks about the themes on the record and working with Stephen Lovatt. Segurado tells me whether it has been a productive and revealing process; whether he was around music a lot as a child – and recording new material in the wilds and scenery of his surroundings
Sam Segurado has lived in Paris and Ireland – he now resides in St. Petersburg. I ask whether he feels secure in the Russian city; if there is a great music scene there; what his plans are regards touring and 2018 – and the artists/albums that mean the most to him.
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Hi, Sam. How are you? How has your week been?
Pretty restoring. I had some time for songwriting, for practising; for catching up with friends – all that good stuff.
For those new to your work; can you introduce yourself, please?
I’m a Portuguese-Irish songwriter and singer. The genre that best fits my music right now is Indie-Folk. I’d say my biggest influences are Jeff Buckley, Justin Vernon and Josh Ritter – I like to call them my ‘trinity of Js’.
So far; I’ve made one album (out of a planned nine).
Looking for the Fox is out. Can you tell me about its creation and how it came together?
I started writing the songs about four years ago and it took about a year-and-a-half between starting recording and releasing it – so, it’s pretty satisfying to know it’s finally out there in the world at long last.
Can you tell me the themes and topics you tackle on the record?
The songs on the record were written through some of the best and most difficult times in my life. Love is the overriding theme, without a doubt. What it means to love, to lose; to break, to cross; to win in love. But, it’s not so much a roadmap of love: more, its shredded remains.
I hope people find a lot of different ways of putting it back together...
What has it been like recording the album? Is there one song that stands out above the rest?
Making this record was pretty incredible.
To invest a part of yourself in the making of an album is unlike anything else, I think. There’s something very Potteresque about the whole process - which is why I want to do it eight more times. These records will be my Horcruxes after I’m gone...
I don’t think I can ever pick a favourite: every song has its place on the record. I would probably choose Live Wire as a stand-out track, though - because it’s the last song I wrote for the album. I was going through some emotional turbulence and that song guided me out of it - and straight to the realisation that it was time to lay these songs down.
Is there significance behind the title of the album? What does it symbolise to you?
It has significance for myself - but I think people can choose whatever meaning fits them. I liked Stephen’s interpretation a lot: “The Fox is an elusive and beautiful creature that is all around us but rarely seen. So looking for the fox is like looking for the beauty in a world where it’s rarely actually seen. And appreciated. Or maybe it’s just about girls and shit. Who knows.”
Stephen Lovatt is a producer you met in Ireland. What has it been like working with him?
Working with Stephen was the best experience...
We met at an open mic. he was doing sound for, got to chatting afterwards, and decided we both wanted to get far out of Dublin to start recording. We ended up driving out to a place called Bastardstown on the south-east coast of Ireland and spent a week in a cottage by the beach. That was a pretty exceptional experience - of getting to know someone through making music together. We became fast friends over the (following) months it took us to complete the album. Stephen and I just clicked, which was something I was always apprehensive when looking for a producer.
I think there’s plenty of people in the industry who treat it as a simple day-job: with Stephen, I felt like he was investing himself in the record as much as I was - the whole process felt no less creative than writing the songs themselves.
I believe you are based in St. Petersburg. Was it an easy decision locating there? Is there a viable music scene where you are?!
The decision to move to St. P. was important and necessary to every aspect of my life except music, I think. No regrets; but, for my kind of music, there’s not much of a scene here - even open mics are far-and-few-between…so, I don’t get a lot of opportunities to play live.
The dark winters have been pretty conducive to songwriting, though...
You have lived in Paris and Ireland. Did you learn a lot from each nation? It seems like Ireland holds a special place in your heart! What is it about the nation that resonates inside of you?
The main thing I’ve learned moving from place to place is that people everywhere are a lot more alike than they might realise - it’s put me in touch with everyone’s common humanity. I grew up in Portugal but Ireland’s where my mother’s from; it’s somewhere I’ve always come to visit but, at the same time, never really felt like I belonged - even having lived there for four years.
In a lot of ways, I feel like I’ve always lived in a foreign country...
Among the moving and dislocation; did you experience a lot of music growing up? Who were the artists that struck you from a young age?
I had a pretty quiet upbringing, musically. It was my older brother who started encouraging me to engage with artists I liked when I was around twelve/thirteen-years-old and introduced me to other similar bands he thought I might like.
The first album I heard where I had that feeling of ‘if I wrote a song, I’d want to capture something like this’ was Evan and Jaron. That feeling, of ‘maybe I could write a song like that’, is something I’ve been chasing with artists ever since.
IN THIS PHOTO: Scared to Be Seen
Who are the new artists you recommend we check out?
Some of my favourites from my time on the Dublin open mic. scene include Scared to Be Seen, Junior Brother; David McGeown - and his project BODIES - and Daniel Vezoja - who released his own (great) first album a year ago.
For my album launch, I had Emily Gahan supporting me - a really talented friend of mine. (Imagine Leonard Cohen with the most beautiful, ethereal voice).
IN THIS PHOTO: BODIES
Another of my friends who joined me on the night was Hugh Clarke whose project, 93 Acres, has produced some really beautiful songs (LoveYa is gorgeous).
IN THIS PHOTO: Emily Gahan
If you had to select the three albums that mean the most to you; which would they be and why?
Jeff Buckley’s Live at Sin-é blew me away when I first heard it - it shows what a voice and a Telecaster can accomplish when wielded by such an excellent musician. That album was an inspiration to how I wanted to approach playing live; while Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago blew my mind about the perceived limits I had when it came to recording music.
Astral Weeks by Van Morrison is still an inspiration to me for the kind of band I’d like to play with; the freedom I’d like to achieve in recording, the electricity I want to capture.
What advice would you give to artists coming through right now?
Read as much as you can about every aspect of the music industry.
Go through the realisation that none of it will be easy; that an artist these days starting out needs to do a lot more than just write, play and record. Believe in yourself, have a plan and don’t lose sight of why you’re doing this...
I think Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke should be mandatory reading for anyone trying to be an artist of some kind.
What do you have in store for the remainder of 2017? Will you be planning next year’s releases or concentrating on gigs?
The last month of the year will be spent planning our tour for next summer: Stephen and I want to take the album songs right across Europe. Right before I moved to Russia - a year ago - we played together live at an open mic. and we realised that our connection worked just as well outside the studio.
He joined me on stage for the album launch this October and, in rehearsals, we both realised there’s still a lot more we can do with these songs in a live setting; a lot more places we can take them (which is pretty exciting).
Christmas is not too far away. Do you have plans already - or will you be busy working?
Here in Russia, Christmas comes a little bit later, but in a bigger way - most businesses shut up shop for about ten days at the beginning of January. I hope to take advantage of that time in as creative a way as possible - be it storyboarding the next music video or starting to record rough demos to send to Stephen for Album II.
Finally, and for being a good sport; you can name a song and I’ll play it here (not one of yours as I’ll do that).
I’m going to choose She Looks Like a Rosieby Scared to Be Seen
The first time I heard this was one of those rare jaw-dropping open mic moments. I completely fell in love with the song. I went up to him, after he finished playing, because I needed to know more and he was kind enough to send me a copy before it even came out. This song is from his first E.P.
He’s released a second called Take Care, Be Well which is just as beautiful.
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