Sam Roberts

Short Biography

Singer/songwriter Sam Roberts first came to the attention of music fans with the release of the EP The Inhuman Condition in 2002. The six-song album was a huge success in Roberts' native Canada, containing the hit tracks "Brother Down" and "Don't Walk Away Eileen." In 2003, Roberts released his full-length debut, We Were Born in a Flame, an extremely catchy rock album that brought the singer even wider recognition and praise, including a 2004 Juno Award for Album of the Year.

Ticketmaster spoke with Roberts amid tour dates in support of his recently released third album, the classic rock-flavored Chemical City. 

Ticketmaster: You're based in Montreal. Can you describe the music scene there?
Sam Roberts: Well, it's a recent phenomenon, but it's thriving at the moment. I'm not sure what has brought it on. I suppose it is the success of a few bands...who have really sort of brought it to people's attention. But there's always been a great music scene there. Just nobody's ever noticed it before, as happens in most cities that aren't L.A. or New York. Eventually people just start realizing that there are bands producing good music out of a certain place.  And Montreal's a very culturally oriented city, so it hasn't been a surprise to anybody. Just why now I'm not really sure.

TM: Have you noticed any major differences between Canadian audiences and American audiences?
SR:  Not really. I mean familiarity is the only variable at this point that factors into it in terms of differences. The nature of the music appeals to people on both sides of the border, and overseas as well. And rock and roll music to me is a real unifier. And certainly in the States, which is the birthplace of it, in a lot of ways it's like going home with it. With audiences, it's just a case of getting the people out and playing a show for them and convincing them you're a band worth getting behind and that you can make music that can mean something to them. And if you can manage to do that, they can be some of the most loyal fans you have.

TM: How does the new album, Chemical City, differ from your earlier work?
SR: I think it's a rawer approach to making records in the first place. We had been on tour for three years since the release of our first EP and our first album. We had played hundreds of shows and realized that we didn't want to go into the studio and make a studio record that was constructed piece by piece. We wanted to go in there and try to capture the energy of the live show and let that define the sound of the record. And that's exactly what we did. We went in there and just tried to play as the band that we are. And I think that's a fundamental shift for the record. For the first record, it was me in the studio by myself, 16 hours a day, on a bit of a lone wolf trip. This is more how I like to make records I think. And as a result of that, to me, it has a more organic sound. It sounds more like an album. And the fact that we went to Australia to record it and went on this adventure around the world—I was writing the music as this was happening too. So the whole experience was very organic and a complete thing. You sort of take from your travels and take from the things you've seen and tie it into the songs you write. Then you go and sit down as a band and try to work them out.

TM: What's your songwriting process? Do you start with the melody, with words?
SR: Yeah, it can be any of those things. Sometimes it's just a melody that you keep humming to yourself. Sometimes it's a riff on the guitar or on the piano. Sometimes it's a drum beat.  It can be anything and that's the beauty of it. You're not tied down to one method. You can just let yourself be inspired. Let the ideas come. And then from there, it's a different story. Then you have to take that and mold it into something. That's when I like to be alone. I like to have some peace and quiet and work through it and arrange the song. And then when that's done and you can play a song from start to finish, then I take it to the band and let them add their own thing...each one of them brings something different to it as well. So if I write a bass line one way, then James will come in and he'll play it and add his own personality to it. And that's when the song really gets closer to its finished form.

TM: Are there any particular shows you're looking forward to playing on the new tour?
SR: We just played New York, Chicago and Detroit, and we had a really great run through there and started to see the fruits of our labor down in the States. People are coming out and shows are really well attended. And even more than that, fans are coming out and know the words of the songs. They obviously have been getting into the band more and more. The Sasquatch Festival in Washington state, coming up in May, is a real highlight of the year for anybody. Just an incredible lineup of bands and possibly the most beautiful venue I've ever seen anywhere. So that's one. And San Francisco and L.A. are coming up as well. And then we're hitting a bunch of places where we really haven't really spent a lot of time in. We're going to Kansas. We're going to Phoenix. We're going to Virginia. A lot of Canadian bands tend to gravitate towards the major cities, like New York, LA and Chicago. So it's going to be interesting to get out there to some of these more out of the way spots and see how we go over there.

TM: Do you have a favorite venue where you like to perform?
SR: There's a couple. There's a venue in Montreal called the Spectrum. And growing up as a kid, fantasizing about playing in a rock and roll band, I used to walk by there all the time and always dream about playing there ourselves. And when we did actually get a chance to play there it was all that we hoped it would be and more. It was really something. It's really a special room. It's got great sound and the energy coming off of the crowd is unlike anywhere else I've ever seen. And that's a function obviously of Montreal itself as a city, but it's also the way the place is just layed out. To me, that's the perfect venue for a rock and roll show.

TM: Do you prefer performing live or recording new material in the studio?
SR: That's a tough one. I think they're both necessary and they both feed off each other. You can't continue to play live unless you feed the band new material, new things to play, and keep things moving forward musically. And there's also the relief to being in the studio. I mean being in the studio can be one of two things. There's the relief that comes with finally being able to work your ideas out and put them down on tape and capture them in a recording.  And then there's the repetitiveness of it and the fact that it's very static. You're in one place all the time. You're indoors. There's none of the immediate response that you get from the crowd. Touring as well is a very grueling lifestyle and yet you have this instant gratification. You play and you're rewarded with the fans' love coming back at you. But again there's a grind associated with touring as well. They're both very necessary.

TM: In your youth, you were trained on the violin and then switched to the guitar. What was it like making that transition from classical music to rock?
SR: It was very easy. I think it was largely due to the fact that I was a teenager at the time. Like twelve, I guess. And when you're twelve you learn a whole bunch of things about yourself and the world that can only be translated or only dealt with by rock and roll music and not classical music. You know, there's girls. You want to stay out late at night. You want to cause trouble. You want to disobey anybody who tells you what to do. And that's when I started playing guitar and wanted to get into rock and roll music. I mean I was always into it, but that was when I wanted to make it myself. So the transition was actually a really easy one. And I think from the musicianship standpoint...there's a discipline that goes along with playing an instrument like the violin or the piano that helps you when you're learning how to play something new. I mean I didn't see it as making a change. I still kept playing the violin. I still kept in touch with a lot of my classical roots. I still do. But it was just a case of adding to this spectrum of music that you play.

TM: Who are some of your musical influences? SR: Like most people, you start picking through your dad's record collection one day and throwing vinyls on the turntable. That's how you discover the first bands that you really love. For me, those were Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, The Kinks, Chuck Berry. And then you get into your teenage years and you start...well, in grade six you're really into Run DMC and Raising Hell.  That was a huge record in grade six. Basically all we ever listened to was Raising Hell and Licensed to Ill. I was really into that too. So I listened to a little bit of everything. And then in high school you get really into music. You start sharing your taste and learning about new things with your classmates. Music ends up defining your circle of friends in a way as well. So that's when I started getting into bands like the Jam and the Who, and then the Smiths. Later on it was Spiritualized and the Verve, especially the Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays. And so in the end I ended up with this huge hodgepodge of influences. You end up straining them through your own personal filter, your own life and experiences, and it becomes your own thing.

TM: How did you get together with the other guys in the band?
SR: James (Hall) our bass player, we grew up one street over from each other. We used to race our BMX bikes against each other and be on the swim team together. So it just seemed like a natural progression that eventually we'd play in a rock band. And Eric (Fares) went to high school with the two of us. And Dave Nugent we met about six or seven years ago and we just started playing together instantly. Far before we started releasing material out into the wilds of the music landscape, we were just playing for ourselves. And I think that's why we still have chemistry on stage and why it's important to include them in everything that goes on, and to really make people understand that this is a band and not just one guy under the spotlight with a bunch of backing musicians.  

TM: Who do you feel puts on an incredible live show?null
SR: A great live show can be a guy just sitting down with an acoustic guitar, if he's passionate about what he's doing. I went to see this Australian singer/songwriter, Paul Kelly, not so long ago. And it was just him and a guitar player and it was an incredible, incredible live experience. And yet I like to see a band with the full light show and a huge wall of sound. I actually went to see the Strokes the other day in Montreal, and they put on an incredible show. It was great. I've seen Wilco, and Wilco's live show is amazing too. There's no real bells and whistles. It's just straight playing. And it's just amazing sound, great energy, and the songs are amazing. Their show at this venue called Metropolis in Montreal was one of the best shows I've seen lately.

In-depth Biography
Canadian singer/songwriter Sam Roberts released his first true debut in 2002, following a popular demo he had made in Montreal. Before that point, he had been a violin player that eventually moved on to guitar and started a rock band with his friends. After getting a little feature on Much Music, they decided to try their luck in Los Angeles, where they disbanded in 1998. The band didn't get any positive reactions from record labels, but that didn't stop Roberts from going back to Canada and writing again. He put together the afore-mentioned demo before sitting down to record his debut, The Inhuman Condition, which was released in 2002. ~ Bradley Torreano, All Music Guide