INTERVIEW: Sam Hansell x [REDACTED]: The Indie-Rock Innovation of INOPIA, His Stunning Debut

Sam Hansell is one of the coolest new voices we’ve come across in a while. At only nineteen, this Ontario-based musician became Mistape Records’ first featured artist, releasing the album Inopia—an innovative, atmospheric record that combines elements of rock, pop, punk, funk, and jazz for a whirlwind debut. With a tone reminiscent of Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, and other powerhouse vocalists, Sam Hansell is one to watch, and we’re beyond thrilled that we got to hang with him ahead of his inevitable blowup.

Today, Sam chats with us about assembling his impressive debut, his initial dread for songwriting, his favorite raccoon mannerisms, the necessity of collaboration, what’s going on in Canada, and how 7-Eleven hot dogs helped sustain him through many sleepless nights in the studio. Currently performing with his band, Superstar Crush (recently celebrated by Hanif Abdurraqib in The New Yorker), we can’t wait to see what’s ahead for Sam in both his solo and collaborative careers. Despite his humble attitude, we hope he knows: he’s majorly fucking talented, and we’ll be bragging about this interview for a while.

And for [REDACTED]’s favorite tune on Inopia, go listen to “Clerambault.” Seriously. It rocks.

Episode 2:

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:

INTRO:

Shelby:

Hello, and welcome to [REDACTED].

Piper:

[REDACTED] is a blog dedicated to highlighting music and art that we think is exceptional in the form of reviews, recommendations, and potentially incoherent musings.

Shelby:

We will also be doing interviews where we’ll be talking to musicians, oddballs, weirdos, eccentrics, and basically anyone else that will agree to hang out with us.

Piper:

This is Piper, and I am here with…

Shelby:

Wouldn’t you like to know?

Piper:

That is my co-host, Shelby.

Shelby:

Invitations to hang out are completely legitimate, and if you’re interested, you can text me at [redacted]. My home address, if you prefer snail mail, or if you just want to come visit, is [redacted]. So I hope to see you soon.

Piper:

Thank you to my anonymous co-host, Shelby.

INTERVIEW

Piper:

Hey Shelby, who are we talking to today?

Shelby:

Today, we’re talking with Ontario-based musician Sam Hansell, who is one of the coolest new voices that we’ve come across in a while. At only 21, he’s already released a full-length album, Inopia, that mixes rock, jazz, punk, and funk for a listening experience that’s as personal as it is atmospheric.

Piper:

In both his solo and his collaborative work, Sam seems to love nothing more than learning and growing through the music he makes, which we think is pretty awesome.

Shelby:

We loved talking with him about what drives his songwriting, his appreciation for his fellow musicians, and why out of all the animals in the whole wide world, he would definitely want to be a raccoon.

Piper:

Sam is at the start of his career, but if this interview is any indication, he’s clearly got a long and incredible road ahead.

Shelby:

We’re so glad to be here right at the start, and we cannot wait to brag about it later. Do you want to introduce yourself a little bit?

Sam Hansell (and the crowd goes wild):

My name is Sam Hansell. I am a musician and a songwriter and I am currently in my last year of university for music.

Shelby:

So your album, which popped up for me as like a recommended album on the Spotify homepage. It was like “albums you might like” and it just suggested it to me, which was really cool. It was like the second thing that I saw when I opened Spotify in the morning.

Sam:

Okay, that’s really interesting.

Shelby:

Something in the algorithm was like, you’re gonna love this. And I was like, my God, I do. We like it so much. And so we wanted to talk to you a little bit about, like, your process. So let’s talk about the name of the album. What’s that all about?

Sam:

So, it’s interesting. The word comes from—where I found it was, there’s this book called, I think it’s the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. I was having a hard time, honestly, a hard time picking a name for the album. I can tend to be very indecisive, especially with a title. My girlfriend is familiar with this book and I think either has it or has, like, an online copy. And so she was like, why don’t we search through here and see if there’s anything good. And “inopia” popped up and it was, you know, it’s thought-compelling and, like, relatively short and, if I recall correctly, meant kind of this, like, faraway dream place or, like, longing to be somewhere that doesn’t really exist. And I thought that that could kind of fit this darker toned album. And I was also looking for a name for the final song on the album, because up until that point, it was called “Jazz Song” because it was kind of jazzy. So I was like, two birds with one stone. We’ll name the last song “Inopia.” We’ll name the album Inopia. And that’ll be that. So I wish it was deeper, but that’s where the title came from.

Piper:

No, that’s great.

Shelby:

I don’t know that there is anything deeper than the vibe of the songs and the music that you’re writing and trying to distill that into one word. I think that there’s a lot of depth in that, especially when there’s so much darkness attached to it. So on that note, we wanted to ask you a little bit about the general tone of the album and the general story in terms of a cohesive theme.

Sam:

Absolutely. So the album was all recorded here at my university in London, Ontario. It’s a contemporary music program. So, rather than, like, the classical side where I would specialize in a certain instrument and then take a lot of lessons on that instrument, it’s more like recording and songwriting and production and stuff like that. My first year was in 2022. They were starting up a student-run record label and they wanted, like, a first artist for it. And I think at the time I was kind of under the impression that it would be more of like a compilation album and, you know, there’d be maybe like eight or nine students on one thing, and the label did end up doing something like that later, but they were holding a meeting to choose an artist and I showed up kind of a bit late for it, but basically as soon as I popped in there, they were like, we’re thinking that you should be the artist. Do you want to do this? I think at that point I’d only played, like, maybe a couple of open mics on campus. I was really shocked. It felt like a big windfall, but like, of course I jumped at the opportunity. I really knew next to nothing about recording at that point, you know, or where to place a mic or anything like that. I think at that point I had seven or eight of the songs for Inopia and I wrote the last two as we were starting to record, but that’s how it started. It was all done at the university with the facilities there with other musicians that are in the program. It was great that I had access to these classical musicians who play sax, who play violin or cello and viola. And I could write for all these different instruments, which was something that I’d never done. And I was writing, like, string quartet parts based on, like, the theory classes and the knowledge from those that I was getting. And so to me, that was almost the most exciting part. It was really a lot of new stuff.

Piper:

That’s so cool. I really love your spirit about it, about being a part of the process of learning as you’re making. I think that’s really exciting and I think art can only become more textured and more interesting to engage with when it comes from a place of genuine curiosity. So I really like that you were so excited to be working with a whole panel. And it shows. I think the album is so textured. It feels like it just crashes over you. And it’s so varied and diverse through the whole thing. Listening through it was really exciting because it doesn’t just sound like this long list of same songs and same styles and same tones. It’s like a living breathing thing. I love that about it.

Sam:

Thank you.

Piper:

Yeah, absolutely.

Shelby:

Of course. When did you start writing songs? I’m curious.

Sam:

Yeah, I probably wrote my first song when I was about 14 or 15, so like six, seven years ago now. My first band was in, like, grade eight and started out playing, you know, the usual cover songs, as any band does. And maybe after honestly less than a year of that, the band wanted to start doing original stuff. I was the singer for this band and it was really quite scary, actually. I don’t think I was quite ready to be that vulnerable and write. Other people in that band, one of them, the drummer, is—I have another project called Superstar Crush, and so he’s the drummer in that and a writer in that, and he’s great. So we’ve been in every band together. But, you know, someone like him or other people in the band kind of, I think, grew up maybe enjoying creative writing more just for fun, and that was never really my thing at all. It was weird. I kind of had to get into a writer’s mindset that I didn’t want to be in, but I did because I just—I was really getting into music and I wanted to write songs but I didn’t really like writing, and I guess I’m still kind of that way a little bit. But yeah, first song at like 14/15, I think, and then the first songs for Inopia were written when I was about 16 or 17 and then the last ones were written when I was like 18.

Shelby:

That’s impressive. That’s very young, my friend.

Piper:

And can I say, it does not show that you don’t like writing, because, I mean, your lyrics are really awesome.

Sam:

I’m warming up to writing now. Especially lyric writing. Lyrics were the hardest.

Piper:

You’ve got it down, I think. Yeah, just keep going.

Shelby:

That’s so funny to say you’re warming up to writing. Yeah, yeah. I have a question. You say you were playing the standard cover songs. What are those?

Sam:

I guess the standards can be different for everyone, but like, we learned like 10 or 12 songs for a concert that we had in our school gymnasium, which is very classic and it was very fun. And so if I remember, we had like, you know, you have a Led Zeppelin song, you have a Who song. I think the Led Zeppelin song, we did “Good Times, Bad Times.” We did “My Generation.” We did a Nirvana song. We did “Heart-Shaped Box.” We did “Gimme Shelter,” The Stones. Like, you know, like, just all the classic rock.

Piper:

In terms of when you started putting this album together, were there certain musical influences you turned to when writing this, or things you listened to a lot? Because I think when I was listening through—I actually told Shelby this yesterday—I said, weirdly, I feel like listening to this, I kept being reminded of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors. I was like, just the way it moves and the storytelling of it, the variety of songs. And I was curious. I saw in another little write-up interview you did that you mentioned influences of the ’70s and things like that. And I was wondering if there was anything that you pulled in during this that you were listening to.

Sam:

Yeah, I definitely hear Nick Cave on songs. I’m a big Nick Cave fan. I hear Pixies on some of the maybe more punky energetic cuts. I think “Quicksand” is a bit Sonic Youth. And then I was listening to Townes Van Zandt when I wrote “Trailing Arbutus.” It’s certainly the most country-folky on there. And then for the title song, I was getting really into one of my favorite albums, Berlin by Lou Reed. Certainly the title track on Berlin and also the vocal melody for “The Bed,” which is the second to last song. It’s just, like, the most depressing thing ever. I think I was inspired by that vocal melody for the “Inopia” one, especially when Lou goes into his high register.

Piper:

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And I hear a lot of Nick Cave influencing your vocal. You have such a rich, full voice. It’s really exciting to listen to, and I was wondering when you realized you could sing like that or how your voice has evolved over time, because like, wow.

Sam:

Thank you. So with this first band in grade eight, that is when I started to sing. I didn’t really sing before then. I hadn’t really gotten big into music before I was 13, 14. My parents had me taking piano lessons since I was five, but it was kind of, it felt like homework. It felt obligatory. But then, you know, I started getting into, like, the classic rock stuff. I feel like everybody who—a lot of people share the same kind of gateway band. Like, there’s the Led Zeppelin, there’s the Green Day, and like, they are still great bands, but at some point I feel like most people kind of leave those bands in the past. They are such gateway bands, but, you know, they’re also fantastic. In terms of singing, yeah, singing around when I was 13, 14, but I think it took a while to find what was actually my register. Like I mentioned, I was singing “Good Times, Bad Times” as the opening song for this first concert. My register isn’t Robert Plant’s register, and that’s okay. I just had to figure that out.

Once I started figuring out what my range was, I started gravitating towards singers like that, like Nick Cave, like Leonard Cohen, like Lou Reed, like Tom Waits. That was kind of a trial and error type thing. And maybe in discovering these artists, I realized, like, oh, it can actually be quite cool to sing in a lower register like this. ’Cause I mean, if you’re starting out with the classic rock stuff, all of those guys are just, like, screeching at the highest note possible. I think maybe if you don’t know anything else, you can be tricked into thinking that that’s what you have to do. But yeah, that’s how it went.

Shelby:

Yeah, and I mean, it sounds to me like singing in that lower register seemed to open up more creativity with how you’re using your voice as an instrument, doing more interesting things instead of just hitting the highest note, because you do some interesting flips around and things, which sound really awesome, I love it. We heard you talking a lot about the ’70s. I can definitely hear the Pixies in that “Splatter” song. I feel like I can hear it the most on that one. I just wanted to say that, which is really, really cool. I also read that you like to classify projects based on moods, seasons, time of day. Do you want to talk a little bit about that?

Sam:

Yeah, this is a very fall album for me. I released it, it’s coming up to two years now from when I released it, and you know, seeing the autumn leaves, seeing the leaves on the ground, smelling the leaves—honestly, that’s the biggest, like, that evokes the most feeling. I feel like that’s the tone for the album. I feel like it’s also very much a nighttime album largely for most of them. They feel very nighttime to me and hence why I went in a certain direction with the album cover. I definitely want to have that night sky picturescape on there. Yeah, nighttime, autumn, I feel like those are the two that I would list for this album. And I feel like every album can be sorted into those categories of morning or night or sunset or dusk or any of the four seasons.

Piper:

I love that. And can I ask also about your album cover? Because it is so cool. I saw that you made it, but what was the process of it?

Sam:

Thank you. It was a collage. It was obviously a very thought-out one. Like, pre-planned. I think I liked, like, with the eyes and the teeth. It was kind of grotesque and a little creepy in some ways. And I felt like some of the songs were like that. Like it’s a little bit Halloween, the autumn. So I started with that. Then I realized that the teeth could be an interesting border and that I could stick the lettering and the artist name and the title onto that. Whenever I thought about the album, like I did kind of get this like nighttime vibe from it. And so it all kind of came together like that. I was trying to figure out what medium would be the best. I soon realized I wanted to do it myself. And if I was going to make it look good, it wasn’t going to be a painting and it wasn’t going to be a drawing. I feel like with the amount of skills I have in this area, I was like, this is where I can do the best job. So that’s how, that’s how it turned out.

Shelby:

The album art was one of the first things that caught my attention. I loved the teeth detail so much because I was like, that is gross. That’s so cool. And it does stand in such contrast to the sort of calm evening city vibe that’s created with the rest of the art. And I also got—I was wondering if the eyes were almost, like, a Gatsby reference.

Sam:

I realized that kind of after I had come up with the idea and I was like, kind of looks like that one cover of The Great Gatsby. It’s close, but it’s also different. I just ended up going through with it.

Shelby:

I mean, it’s not off. The ominousness of being watched. I wanted to go back to what you were talking about earlier a little bit, talking about how you attach times of day or feelings or other senses to songs. Do you do that to other songs when you’re listening to them as well?

Sam:

Yeah, absolutely.

Shelby:

So do you think that you move more in, like, large images than specific details? Maybe that’s why lyrics are slightly more difficult for you to get your head around?

Sam:

It could be, more than anything, just the music and the chord progression or melodies will come a little bit more naturally to me. And so they’ll also come first. So since this album and with other stuff I’ve written and released or other feature albums I’m working on, I think I’m kind of exploring more in terms of maybe writing the lyrics first and having the music fit that just to get a different vibe. For everything on Inopia, the lyrics were matching, I guess, whatever tone the music and the chords and the melody set. So maybe because of that, I kind of view it in these larger feelings rather than specific ones.

Shelby:

I move like that too, is why I ask. That leads me to one of our sillier questions. And please forgive me for this, but I have to ask, because this is one of our favorite games to play. We’re going to do a quick round of Fuck, Marry, Kill. And we’re going to do it with meal times of day. So this is breakfast time, lunch time, and dinner time.

Sam:

And dinner time. Marrying dinner, fucking lunch, and I’m killing breakfast.

Piper & Shelby: So solid. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Sam:

I had a similar conversation today, actually, because we were at breakfast and I feel, like, kind of crazy because everyone around me seems to love breakfast so much. And I do like breakfast, but especially with, like, a Western breakfast. I had one, like, a couple days ago that sat like a pile of bricks in me for the whole day and kind of ruined the day. Because I feel like Western breakfasts are just so, so starchy, and you’ve got the fried potatoes and you’ve got the pancakes and then they bring the toast on top of that. It’s a bit too much for me, and I feel like there isn’t the same diversity in breakfast in Canada and the US, at least. If you’re going for a typical Western breakfast, it’s all bread, whereas lunch and dinner I feel like can be everything. And then the other thing is that oftentimes I’m waking up too late to actually really appreciate breakfast. So it’s just kind of a lunch and dinner day for me. And that’s, that’s a lot of days. So I think for that reason also I’m putting breakfast at the bottom, but dinner, everything’s always leading up to dinner. That’s the big one.

Shelby:

I love that and we both agree with you on breakfast. Just to say, you are not alone in this. Every time I meet a marry or a fuck breakfast person I feel like an absolute alien. I don’t even know how to respond.

Piper:

I’m glad we’re all on the same page about this.

Shelby:

Just to share, because we’re being vulnerable here, we are both marry lunch, fuck dinner.

Piper:

Sorry. We’ll kill breakfast. We’re all killing breakfast together.

Sam:

Why lunch a little bit above dinner?

Shelby:

You’re going to get me in raptures about lunch. I love lunch so much.

Piper:

I do too. I want a big lunch. It’s just, it’s so exciting. I feel like it could be anything at all. You’re right about dinner possibility being anything, but I think my attention span is so short sometimes that I’m like, dinner becomes an “oh no, where to go” kind of thing.

Shelby:

Let me tell you what it is about lunch. ’Cause I’m not eating breakfast for all the reasons you stated. Yeah. I’m starving at lunchtime. Nothing’s ever tasted better than lunch. I haven’t eaten all day. This is the best.

Sam:

Yeah, that’s fair. I can understand that for sure.

Shelby:

Thank you so much for participating in that.

Piper:

Yeah, we just had to check in. I think our favorite song on the album, which is the first song Shelby sent to me—Shelby sends me a lot of music, great recommendations from Shelby—and she was like, you got to listen to this soon and fast. This is really cool. There’s just this one album right now, but it is so good and it’s so exciting and I see so much ahead for this Sam. And so I got really excited, but I think the first song you sent me, and I think it’s still both of our favorites because it’s such a rich song, is “Clerambault,” if we’re saying that right.

Sam:

Yeah, that would be my favorite as well.

Piper:

So good.

Sam:

Thank you.

Piper:

Yeah, it’s so good. I’d love to know why it’s your favorite and also what your process was like with the production of it because we also kind of looked into the credits of things and saw how much collaboration went into that too and it was really really cool so I’d love to know all of the things that you have to say about it.

Sam:

Yeah, that one and “All Is Quiet Now” were the two that I wrote last and were written as things were already underway and the drums were recorded later for those. With “Clerambault,” the title is referring to—it’s called de Clérambault syndrome, is one term for it. It’s also known as erotomania. And I don’t know when, but I came across this word, which is a condition where someone believes that someone in kind of a higher social standing is in love with them and is, you know, sending, like, secret messages or something like that. It happens with celebrities from time to time, I think. I know there’s a Beatles song, “She Came In Through the Bathroom Window.” I feel like John Hinckley Jr. had a similar thing, right? He shot Reagan to impress Jodie Foster, I think. Something like that. I thought, wow, that is a very specific thing that I think would make for a really compelling song. And, you know, it kind of just turned into like verse after verse. That’s the self-indulgent nine minute—is it eight or nine? I think it’s nine. And, you know, it just had to be huge and have all the stops pulled out, had to have the string quartet and piano here and backup vocals and just get huge, kind of this whole wall of sound thing for the choruses. And I think as a recording, I like that one most. We’ve played it live a few times and not with the full string quartet, unfortunately. Sometimes I feel like live, it can be hard to recreate the grandeur in a simple way, but I think as a recording, it’s my favorite on there. And also I really love bells. I put a few bells in there. So yeah, that’s the kind of process with that one.

Piper:

That’s awesome, and honestly, we both love really really long songs. I know when I initially reached out to you, you said that you were a fan of Jason Molina and so obviously “Farewell Transmission,” that’s a great long song with a huge atmosphere. And that’s what I was thinking of when I was listening to “Clerambault,” was how atmospheric it is. So I didn’t want it to end. I was like, keep going if you want.

Shelby:

Yeah, it’s one of those songs where I didn’t realize how long it was for quite some time. I thought it was, like, a three or four minute song. I’m vibing out, love this song, it’s on. And then I think maybe when I sent it to you, I was like, shit, sorry. Can you take nine whole minutes out of your day really fast?

Piper:

Yeah, it was awesome. You said, gosh, I didn’t realize it was long. I’ve been listening to it like three times in a row.

Shelby:

And I think it’s because it does build so much atmosphere that you don’t really have time to pull yourself away from it to realize that time is passing because it is so encompassing of a song. I love it so much. And “All Is Quiet Now.” We were ranking all the songs on your album for fun this week, and we did unanimously agree. We said, this one’s our favorite, and then “All Is Quiet Now” is our second favorite.

Piper:

Yeah, they’re so great.

Sam:

I feel like it’s a good sign that the two last ones were the… which means probably a move in the right direction whereas if it was like the first two I had ever written were the best and it was just a decline from there I feel like that would be a lot worse.

Piper:

No, those are two I think of on the album, some of the fullest, richest, like, most atmospheric, kind of surround you and fill you kind of songs. So I was so jazzed by those.

Sam:

I think the other thing with those is because they were also recorded last, I think. I was recording with the guy who produced—his name is Aidan and he was a fourth year at the program when we were doing this. He was fantastic and I think we will work on further stuff together, but it was just such a learning experience for both of us and we were, you know, it was a lot of throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what stuck. And so I think because we had recorded quite a bit before these two, I think we had a better idea of what to do when it got to these. So I think they benefited from having the other songs as testers in a way.

Piper:

I have another question about the process. Again, I saw so much collaboration through all the credits and stuff. And as you’re talking, so much collaboration seemed to go into it. It seems like you’ve been collaborating forever. So I wonder what your experience has been like finding your footing in collaboration. If you always saw yourself collaborating instead of kind of doing solely solo stuff. It seems like you really enjoy the collaboration part of it.

Sam:

I love it and, I mean, it’s a necessity, I also love it as well. And the reason I say it’s necessity is, like, I play guitar and I have some piano background so I can play, like, serviceable piano. And then I can, because I play guitar, I can, like, fake it on the bass. I can’t like play like a good bassist would play. And then I sing. But aside from that, I can’t play a trumpet. I can’t play a violin, I can’t play drums, and I want to use all these fantastic instruments. And so, you know, I have to reach out to people. I’m so glad I do because they’re so wonderful and they’re so willing and they’re just so happy and eager to jump on the project and they want to continue to do stuff. I am hopefully going to make my second solo album this year before I leave the school and leave London, Ontario. That’s my goal. Most of the songs are written. I need to do a few more. I’m getting distracted by other things in my life that don’t matter much. Like video games like Silksong. I don’t know if you’re familiar, but Hollow Knight Silksong just came out and that has been getting in the way of me finishing this.

Piper:

Yeah, we’ve been doing video games lately and we know how they can kill the time.

Shelby:

Yes, we were up later than we wanted to be last night playing L.A. Noire.

Piper:

So we get it. We’re with you. We understand. This is a struggle. I also—I was curious too. The writing seems to start with you. So what does it feel like when you get the collaborators in and when do you realize you’ve hit the sound you want and found the balance with the instruments and things like that?

Sam:

I feel like I don’t have a tried and true method because I have, frankly, not been at this very long, but for this album I think I had an idea of what sounds I wanted on each song. I don’t think too much felt taken out, there isn’t outtakes of violins or saxes on a song that ended up not needing them. I think those instruments were on the album kind of the perfect amount, where they’re on maybe three or four songs and so it’s like it establishes them as this character in the album, but, like, they feel kind of special when they’re in those songs because they’re not in other songs. So I think it was quite planned out in that way. I kind of had an idea of it in my head that, you know, this would be great with this. I want to try all sorts of things in future songs. Honestly, my dream would be to just throw out so much stuff. I want to write 70 songs for an album and whittle it down to 12 or record like a hundred tracks and whittle it down to like 20, you know?

Shelby:

I love what you just said about the instruments being characters in the album, like recurring characters. That’s awesome. And I was going to ask you, because obviously several of these songs are like stories about different characters, à la Nick Cave. I was wondering if you ever write songs in the first person as you, and how that feels different maybe than writing, like, a story-based song.

Sam:

Yeah, I have written some songs about me and that’s another thing that I think, when I did this album, I was very opposed to it, just because it felt kind of unnatural. I felt like it was easier to approach it in terms of third person perspectives or other characters. But I think there’s something quite cathartic about writing a very honest song and a lot of the albums that I love the most or a lot of the best art feels very honest. And it’s not that these character songs aren’t honest, but there’s something very special when the lyrical content feels so specific to the artist. That’s definitely something that I’m exploring more, although I’m still kind of hiding behind the character song a little bit. It can feel like a big accomplishment, writing an earnest autobiographical song and finishing it and being like, yeah, I think I laid that out well and I think I’d be all right to show this to someone. Maybe it feels like you can package it in that, better than you could even explain these thoughts to a person just in conversation.

Shelby:

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I think that’s a really difficult thing, especially because it’s going to be sitting out there for a while, to kind of come to terms with putting that out there. How do you pick your characters for your character song?

Sam:

You know, like with “Clerambault,” for example, by picking the concept, it felt like it would be creepy and compelling to write it from the perspective of this person with the syndrome. You know, with, like, “Josie Jones sits out on her own.” That one, I think might’ve just been, like, a first lyric of the song, just riffing around and singing that and then the rest of the song. What ideas do I get from this first lyric? And then it just kind of branches off and explodes from there. Sometimes it can be pre-planned out, but sometimes I feel like everything just explodes from, like, the one lyric and just kind of comes together because those words and those syllables just sound right. And then you take the meaning from that and, you know, blow it up.

Piper:

That’s so cool. It seems also like you’ve been talking about engagement with, like, collaging and other sort of art forms, pulling them in. Are there other art forms that really have influenced your music in general, like film or books or just visual art or anything like that?

Sam:

Music is by far the medium that I consume the most. I’m trying to tap myself into reading more. I feel like a lot of people my age have this issue where, like, 10 years ago they were so on it and then 13, 14, you get that phone and then you’re just, like, you’re fucked. You’ve spent about that much time with your phone and then you’re like, this sucks and I want to get myself back into reading. But it’s so much harder now. But yeah, certainly films and TV.

This past week, I watched a couple of David Lynch movies for the first time. I feel like I’m getting to them a little bit late, but I watched Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive. I watched Mulholland Drive two nights in a row, just because, like, after that first watch, it was like, wow, I feel like I just have to watch that again immediately. And certainly stuff like that, because film has everything. It’s got music, it’s got moving visuals. It’s like visual art, but it also moves. And then you’ve got the music and the sound and everything. It’s kind of for all the senses. And I feel like it can go so deep because of that. So I don’t know if I’ve written anything that I can specifically link to, like, this movie or this book, although that is something that I would like to do. But your favorite movies and your favorite books and your favorite shows and your favorite music makes up who you are and what you’re going to be writing about. So I know it’s all mixing around in there.

Shelby:

Yeah. Those are great movies. Also famously both nighttime movies.

Sam:

Yeah, very much so.

Piper:

Also I was curious about, it seems like there’s a lot of opportunities for you to be engaging in music events at your school. Are you really active in kind of the local scene around there or are you excited by the local scene that exists around you of music?

Sam:

Yeah, there’s a cool local scene in London, but more than just London, I’ve toured a little bit around the whole Ontario scene, moreso with my band Superstar Crush. It’s really fun to make connections with other bands that way and to befriend them and then get to do—the best thing is to get to do non-music stuff with them. With Superstar Crush, we did, in July and August, maybe like 20-something shows, and it can get a little bit fatiguing and certainly I feel like at some point it can feel like you’ve heard too much music. But the scene is really, really quite awesome and so much fun to get to meet all the new people.

Piper:

What is, like, the last live show you saw?

Sam:

Last live show I saw, I played a live show a couple hours away from here. And so I saw the other band at that, but I feel like that doesn’t really count. So before that was here in London. I have friends in a band. One of them actually lives in the upstairs apartment at this complex and the band is called Wine Problem. They’re a really awesome punk band here in London and very talented musicians and writers. And there’s a little, like, London, Ontario festival going on. I saw them at that because I definitely see a lot more, like, indie local shows than bigger shows. But the last big show I saw might’ve been one of the best ones. I saw Pulp in Toronto, and Pulp is maybe my favorite band, like band band. I love them so much. They put on such a great show. Jarvis Cocker sounds as great as ever. It was incredible. And it was—the venue is called History, which I think Drake had some hand in getting it up and running because he loves Toronto so much. But it’s, like, 2,000, 2,500 cap venue. It’s not like seeing a band in a giant hockey arena, as we would say in Canada. I was right up there at the front. So that was maybe the most recent large concert and one of my favorite concerts I’ve ever seen.

Shelby:

That’s so cool. I’m so jealous. I really wanted to see them when they were coming through here, but tickets in LA were outrageous.

Sam:

Oh, I can imagine.

Shelby:

So that’s so cool.

Sam:

So how is it? How is it living in LA? I’ve only been to the West Coast once, and that was this year, it was Vancouver. I had never been to the West Coast before. I’d like to visit California at some point, but I can only imagine what it’s like. How is it really?

Piper:

It’s really so cool. If you come out here, let us know. We’ll hang out.

Sam:

Awesome, yeah.

Piper:

I love LA because it’s so full of—there’s everything around every corner. There’s film and there’s art and there’s music and the weather is fabulous. And you can find kind of every food, every kind of person. It’s a really exciting place.

Shelby:

The weather is like the biggest bragging point. Nobody’s exaggerating the weather. It’s perfect. It’s perfect.

Sam:

And do you have, like, mountain views?

Shelby:

Yeah, mountain views every day when I drive to work.

Piper:

Every day. It’s, like, the best.

Shelby:

We’re so staunchly pro-LA, though. It’s expensive, blah blah blah, but it’s great, it’s awesome. I love it here so much.

Piper:

What’s the deal with Canada? Just generally, how are the vibes?

Shelby:

We’ve never been.

Piper:

We’ve never been. So we’re just curious about things like cool trees or Tim Hortons or things like that that sound fun.

Shelby:

And for context, we’re both from the southern United States, so it’s about as far away as possible.

Piper:

Yeah, way south.

Sam:

The deal—Canada is nice. I’ve lived here my whole life. I’ve traveled outside of Canada a little bit. Tim Hortons is okay. It’s affordable. It’s probably one of the more affordable fast food options in Canada, but the food is not good. Like really, I feel like you don’t go for the food and then people do go for the coffee, which I can understand. And then there’s like all the donuts and the Timbits, are like, would those be donut holes in the States? What would be the—

Shelby:

What word did you just say?

Sam:

They’re called Timbits at Tim Hortons, but I think they’re equivalent of donut holes or something like that.

Piper:

Yeah, donut holes. I feel like I’ve heard of the Timbits.

Shelby:

So this just sounds like Dunkin’ to me.

Sam:

It’s like Dunkin’. The deal with Canada. Canada, I think Canada likes to think it’s better than it is. It is a great country, don’t get me wrong, but I definitely think it can pretend like it does no wrong when that’s definitely not true. Also, I’m sure you know, has the issue of comparing itself to the States and being like, look what they’re doing. We’re fine. And that’s not true. And that’s not good for Canada. We should be a lot less nationalist.

Piper:

Yeah, that’s fair. I mean, being in California too, I think we experienced just the state as a whole as, like, at least we’re not doing what the guys down south are doing. So, yeah, I’m with you there.

Shelby:

Thank you so much for the education in Canada.

Piper:

Yeah, I really wanted to know.

Sam:

Of course, of course. Anytime. You’re welcome to send me all of your Canada questions.

Shelby:

My leading Canada expert, Sam Hansell. Okay. My next question, incredibly invasive, upsetting maybe. What color is your couch?

Sam:

Couch is gray at this apartment. Yeah, it is.

Shelby:

Do you like it?

Sam:

I do. It’s comfy. It was free. I think my roommate’s parents got it. So there isn’t really anything better than a free couch. It does the trick. My friend James is sleeping on it for these three days because it’s HoCo. It’s homecoming at Western, which is a very party school for sure. One of the residences on campus called Saugeen developed quite a reputation, rather, at a time I think was quite famous for being very crazy. But it is homecoming weekend. It’s hilarious, there’s this house like two minutes away that we walked past a couple times this weekend. It looks like a movie set college party. Like, it has like 20 red solo cups just thrown on the lawn. It’s got guys and shirtless guys in backwards hats just, like, yelling on the porch. And it’s just the most quintessentially, like, movie college thing ever. I’m very, very tickled by it because I think it’s just set up perfectly. You know exactly what’s up.

Shelby:

That’s awesome. That’s beautiful. You so rarely get to see a movie party in real life. Exactly. A magical thing.

Piper:

It’s magical.

Shelby:

Okay, ideal gas station snack and beverage. For example, you’re on a road trip. You’ve got to stop for a snack, a beverage, just to keep you going for another hour or two. What are you getting?

Sam:

I’ll say that that ideal gas station is an American gas station. Superstar Crush did, as part of our tour, we went to Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids, Michigan. We did two shows in the States this summer. We did not get visas. It was like two shows and we just—we snuck in, basically, because we were going to make negligible money. I think it ended up being like 150 Canadian, which is, like, so much less US or whatever. What is the ideal gas station snack and beverage? You know what? Right by my place there is a convenience store that is selling just canned watermelon juice. It’s just straight up watermelon juice. And it’s been my favorite drink lately. It’s so good because it’s, like, not too sweet. It’s just so refreshing. It’s exactly what you want to feel, like, everyone wants to just drink straight up watermelon juice. And then my go-to snack. Man. I really like sour cream and onion rings. Not Funyuns, but there’s another one that’s, like, puffier. I think it’s like Humpty Dumpty.

Shelby:

I’ve never heard of this. This is exciting.

Sam:

They’re really, really good. I think that is what I would pick right now. Or, like, a hot dog or something, if that counts as a snack. We got the 7-Eleven hot dogs, so you can’t complain with those. Those actually, if you want to know about the recording process for the album, I did a lot of it in the middle of the night. Probably when I wasn’t supposed to be in the studio as well, I was able to obtain a key. And so I just kind of used it all hours of the day. And I definitely wasn’t supposed to be in there at like three or four in the morning. And I was on a very bad sleep schedule in first year and, you know, I’d be recording in there and then it would be honestly like 5:30 or 6 a.m. and I’d be starving and I’d just walk over to the 24-hour 7-Eleven, grab a hot dog and then have to get back and actually wrap up my recording and hope that no one came in at like eight or nine. I don’t really know what would happen if I got caught.

Shelby:

Powered by 7-Eleven products. That’s sensational. Now, when you said that the ideal gas station is an American gas station, did you mean generally or like a specific one?

Sam:

Generally because I think the snack selection is just so much wider. I feel like there’s—and more insane in some ways. Everything was bigger and saltier, sweeter, more flavor in it. When we did these two American shows we stayed with family friends of the singer in Warsaw, Indiana. Which, I think that’s why the border patrol didn’t further question us because he asked where we’re going and we said Warsaw, Indiana. Like, who would go to Warsaw, who would go there for no other reason—

Piper:

For nefarious purposes.

Shelby:

We’re gross, it’s true. It’s so true. My god.

Piper:

I have a question too. If you’re familiar with the Muppets, which Muppet would you most like to meet? Or beat up if there’s one you’re, like, really upset with. Though I do love the Muppets. I just throw in the option in case.

Sam:

I feel like meeting and beating up, like meeting because I want to meet him and I like him, but I’d also want to beat him up would be, like, the Swedish Chef.

Piper:

That’s a great answer.

Sam:

I feel like he’d be able to bounce back from it pretty well. I feel like if you beat up Kermit, like, you might actually permanently injure him, but, like, the Swedish Chef has more meat on his bones. And I feel like he could take it or could, like, even dish some back to you.

Shelby:

He’d come at you with a ladle.

Sam:

Yeah, exactly. Is there a Muppet that, like, can kind of be a dick? Can Gonzo be a dick? No, he’s all right. Are there any dickish Muppets?

Shelby:

In some of the earlier iterations of the Muppets, he kind of steps out on Camilla Chicken sometimes, but the real dickhead Muppet… Well, then we have Statler and Waldorf who are heckling everybody.

Sam:

Oh, I have so much respect for them. No, they should keep doing that they’re doing.

Shelby:

Exactly. Exactly. I left out the worst Muppet. They are the best. I love them so much. They’re the best. Yeah. Whenever we play, like, Which Muppet Are You, I always get Statler and Waldorf. I’m assigned them from my friends.

Sam:

And they’re a package deal? You get both of them?

Shelby:

The worst Muppet, of course, is Sam the Eagle, the conservative bird.

Sam:

Is he canonically conservative?

Shelby:

Mm-hmm.

Piper:

He is and he scares me. He’s very tall.

Sam:

He’s huge. I definitely would not move on him. You would kick my ass.

Piper:

I’m terrified of him.

Shelby:

You’d have to recruit Big Bird to help you.

Piper:

Oh my god, yeah, I’d need Big Bird to beat him up. But yeah, I think Kermit, I think the worst part about beating up Kermit would be like the emotional impact on Kermit. Like, his heart would be broken. He would never approach people the same way again. I’m with you.

Sam:

He’s the face of the operation. You can’t do that.

Shelby:

Exactly, that’s the moneymaker. If there was no obstacle to this, would you go into space or down into the ocean on, like, an exploratory mission?

Sam:

Okay, no obstacle.

Shelby:

Like, financial.

Sam:

Financial obstacle. Am I wasting those resources or, like, is there not a resource obstacle either?

Shelby:

Let’s remove all morality from this conversation.

Shelby:

I like that. When I was like five, it would definitely be space. And it might still be space, but we know, like, so little about certain parts of the ocean as well. And that would be incredible. I feel like there’d be more to look at in the ocean, but what you’d be looking at going to space would just be, like, so mind-bending.

Shelby:

So you can say yes to both or no to both if you want.

Sam:

Yeah, if there’s no repercussions in any sort of way and no financial obstacle or moral obstacle or resource obstacle or anything like, yeah, both. Let’s do both.

Piper:

You’re so brave.

Shelby:

You are really brave.

Piper:

I’m like, the idea of either scares me so badly, I would be screaming all the way.

Sam:

I am terrified of the ocean a little bit, but, like, if I was in the right apparatus, you know, not the Titanic 2 submarine or whatever.

Shelby:

You’re being cooler than us and that’s okay.

Piper:

Yeah, we’ll sit this one out.

Sam:

It’s fair. Honestly, maybe it’s better to, like, just have the idea in your mind and never actually see it. Maybe it’s underwhelming. Maybe people don’t talk about that.

Shelby:

That’s what I’ve heard about space, that there’s, like, nothing to look at.

Piper:

Yeah, like, there’s Earth, you know?

Sam:

If you’re not looking at Earth, not a lot to look at.

Piper:

Yeah, like, oh, it’s dark there too. Cool.

Sam:

Yeah.

Shelby:

Do you have a favorite vegetable?

Sam:

Yeah. I like a lot of Chinese vegetables. I like Napa cabbage. I like the Chinese eggplant, which is different than, like, the Italian eggplant, for example. Like, there’s the thick black one and then the Chinese one is the thin purple one. And I like that one because I make my specialty dish here with my roommates is, like, an eggplant and pork dish, a Chinese eggplant and pork dish. And you have to have the thin purple eggplant. So those have been two of my favorites for the past few years.

Shelby:

Can I ask how the flavor is different than the regular eggplant? I’m just curious now.

Sam:

I feel like it’s less about the flavor and more about the texture. I want to say the purple one has more of, like, a meaty texture, whereas, like, the black one feels like a sponge, kind of. Yeah, and it feels like chewing on, like, wet Styrofoam or something or a sponge. The purple one is nicer and the skin on the purple one is, I find, to be thinner and chars nicely. It’s just way better, superior to the other eggplant.

Shelby:

Perfect answer, thank you so much.

Piper:

Yeah. I do not like the texture of eggplant, usually.

Shelby:

Fucking soggy.

Piper:

It’s so soggy. It is like—yeah, it’s like cardboard.

Shelby:

If you could be any animal, which one and why?

Sam:

Well, I feel like I would pick some of my favorite animals. Cat, raccoon, octopus, to name a few. If I had to narrow it down from there, maybe a raccoon. I love the way that they go about everything. They still have very human hands. I think they have a love for food. Obviously, all animals have a love for food, but I think raccoons have a very diversified palette and they’re so cute and they’re good at climbing. You can hang out in a tree, you can hang out on the ground, you can move in a pack, you can go out on your own. And you look awesome and you’re just a perfect design. I’m going with a raccoon.

Shelby:

That’s a truly perfect answer. And with their little hands, you could still play the guitar.

Sam:

Yeah, I would teach myself. Exactly.

Piper:

That’s so awesome. That’s so cool. I have, actually, one more question. Just, like, an earnest question. What things in general right now in your life make you feel happy within and aside from music? Like, what excites you the most to do and be around right now?

Sam:

I mean, as I mentioned, Hollow Knight Silksong came out two weeks ago. That’s been a big one. I have a friend here in London who is really into climbing and talked me into getting a four-month climbing membership. So I’ve been hitting a lot of that, a lot of bouldering. Love a good walk as well, nighttime, daytime, anytime. And hoping to get into more media than just music, obviously, like I watch shows and movies like anyone else, but I feel like there’s a lot of time spent on YouTube or Instagram or kind of shorter form content sites where if you think about it for a second, like, wow, if you add all that time up, I could, I’ve actually just like watched a new movie today and I think I would get so much more out of that. So I’m trying to rewire myself into doing that. This is the forever the Gen Z—

Piper:

Yeah, it’s a process. It’s a process for sure. Thank you so much for talking to us today. It was such a pleasure.

Sam:

Thank you so much for having me.

Shelby:

It was such a pleasure. And then just by way of wrapping up, we’re going to ask, what’s next for Sam Hansell? I know you mentioned your new solo album that you’re working on, but is there anything else new that’s coming up for you we should keep our eyes out for?

Sam:

Yeah, new solo album, which is not even in the works because I’ve gotta finish writing it. But I’ve got a couple of solo shows in London. I’ve got my band Superstar Crush. We just put out our debut album. It came out everywhere in August. That’s been kind of the big focus for me, honestly, since Inopia came out. Superstar Crush has been the big focus for me the past couple of years. You know, if you’re interested about that album, let me know what you think.

We did a run on vinyl, which has been a lot of fun. I have to send one to a guy in Kalamazoo who saw us and another guy in London, but the real London, London, England. So we’re going to be doing more recording with that band. In a couple of weeks, we’ll record a few songs for album two. We only have like four songs written for that. So not sure when that album two is coming out, but I have two album twos to make, two sophomore slumps. Yeah, more shows, largely with Superstar Crash. That’s the big touring one for me and the solo stuff feels like very much recording first and foremost and then, like, if shows come up, then shows come up. But those are the big things. And hopefully someday LA. We’ve done three American shows, Superstar Crush, so far, the two in Michigan and one in Boston, because our singer used to go to school in Boston. So someday California, LA, we’ll make it out there.

Piper:

I hope so, yeah. You’re already so accomplished at such a young age, so it’s exciting to know that there’s lots more ahead, I’m sure.

Sam:

Thank you. Thanks so much for having me. It was such a wonderful surprise to see this message pop up in my email. It was a nice surprise to get to dive back into this. So thank you.

Shelby:

Sam, you were both a dream and a delight to talk to. Thank you so much for hanging out with us today. It was awesome. And if you’re ever in LA, let’s please hang out.

Piper:

Please.

OUTRO:

Shelby:

Hey everybody, thanks for hanging out.

Piper:

For a full transcript of today’s episode, head on over to redactedblog.com where you’ll also find reviews, music recommendations, and general ramblings that we probably could have kept to ourselves.

Shelby:

You can also find us on Instagram at @redactedblog and reach us via email at askredactedblog@gmail.com.

Piper:

And you know where Shelby lives, so.

*laughter*

RELEVANT LINKS:

Sam Hansell Website: https://samhansell.bandcamp.com/album/inopia

Superstar Crush Website: https://www.superstarcrush.com/

Mistapes Records Website: https://mistape.us/

Superstar Crush Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/superstarcrushband?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Mixtapes Records Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mistapesrecords?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

[REDACTED] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/redactedblog/