Hot Gig Alert (10/12): Joe Samba makes his return to Boston tomorrow night!
(photo credit:Kyle Normandin)
No stranger to Boston, long-time New England artist Joe Samba will be returning to Boston as support for Little Stranger tomorrow night at one of my favorite venues, the Royale in Boston! And with Royale turning into a nightclub on Saturday nights, the show will be an early one with doors at six and the show kicking off at 7:00! Samba’s most recent Boston performance went down at the iconic Levitate Festival, but Samba decided to reserve tracks from his newest album, Lifeline (released September 27th), until the record had dropped. This means that for fans of Samba, it will be his first time playing any of these tracks in Boston. In my chat with Samba before the show, he spoke about the final preparations for the run, his time working with Eric Krasno of Soulive on this release, and the writing process for this record!
Samba will be serving as support at tomorrow’s show, so make sure to get there early, and we’ll see you there! Limited tickets can still be scooped here!
New England Sounds: To jump right into it, you’re about to start a tour tomorrow supporting Little Stranger. You’re playing Royale in Boston this Saturday; maybe final preparations for these dates?
Joe Samba: The final preparations, so I’m actually on baby watch. I’m having a baby, and it could be today or two weeks from now. I’ve just kind of been prepping, like getting things ready on my end, so I can kind of jump ship if I need to. But today, I bought a bunch of extra merch boxes and stuff like that, and I’m re-organizing my merch. I have my new records in, Lifeline, and I’m just excited to get things back into shape and organized. I’m a little in shambles since the last time I went out.
NES: That must be wild, that’s crazy.
Joe: It’s been an interesting couple of months, for sure.
NES: Then, jumping into that, from reading about it, the latest album just came out. Calling it Lifeline, I know from reading about it, that you call your wife and your first son your lifeline. Did the album come together around that title/track? When did you start working on these songs?
Joe: So the song, “Lifeline,” came together, initially the hook and the idea. My family had just moved to Charleston, South Carolina. We were there for about a year; my son was born there. And I had just finished setting up a little home studio space. I just started writing the song “Lifeline,” and I kept going back and forth about what I wanted to name it. After I just kind of wrote the rest of the songs and finished the album, it kind of just made sense to call it “Lifeline” after everything that had gone down between then and when I released it.
NES: I know your first baby was born, and you moved a lot while working on it. The album is still so new; I know this is the first time you worked with outside producers, with Eric Krasno of Soulive. How was that experience? How was that decision to decide to do that for the first time?
Joe: It was super cool. I guess it was a little nerve-wracking at first, just because I’m such a big fan of Eric Krasno. And Soulive, records that he’s worked on, and music he’s been a part of. So, admittedly, I was a little nervous but also excited to get a new take on approaching writing. Because I’ve always just been in my room and worked on it (songwriting) at my own pace and my own way. And kind of seeing who I consider as the pros do it, was just a breath of fresh air. Because there were a lot of similarities, he’s been doing it way longer, so he’s met roadblocks that I hadn’t experienced before. He has broader experience and has shortcuts to looking at things and ways of managing things that opened my eyes. It’s been more of a professional process, which is awesome.
NES: And was it something where you brought all the songs to him? Were there songs that came to life in the studio? When it came to the recording process, was it already all written?
Joe: So, one song in particular, I brought to him, this song, “Break Free.” And the other three were just musical breaks or beats he had been working on. And he just sent me tracks, just instrumental stuff. And I had kind of finished the lyrics and melodies on my end. So we would send demos and stuff back and forth through e-mail. And then last October, I went to Los Angeles and worked with him for four days. And just put all those rough ideas in ProTracks and got to meet face to face, and just focus solely on that.
NES: That must have been amazing.
Joe: It was…cool.
NES: I know he’s a big personal influence on you, but is there anyone you haven’t worked with yet who would be a dream come true?
Joe: Man, there’s a bunch. But you know, there’s still so much work to do. Rick Rubin would be another dream producer, to get to pick their brain. See how they interpret my music and see how they would do this versus another thing. That’s the first that comes to mind, but there are so many people. What other artists or producers can I collaborate with? I’m just open to anything.
NES: And then you played at the Levitate Festival not long ago, here in Massachusetts. But you are playing Royale. Considering the album is so new, and you are in the support slot, will that be the focus, or will you be playing one or two off the new record? What’s your game plan for these shows?
Joe: So yeah, this tour is like the first bit of trying out the new songs live. Like my song, “Communicate,” we haven’t played in front of people, so the first time will be tomorrow night in Buffalo. So there are those nerves of, okay, it’s still fresh in our brains, I hope we don’t eff it up, but at the same time, that’s the fun part. Where it’s like, okay, let’s give it a go, see what works. It’s like a stand-up comedian trying out a new joke. We don’t know how it will go, but we just got to do it. And it will show us what we need to work on, what could be better, and what people like. It’s cool. I like the process. And I haven’t done it in a while, so I’m excited for that.
NES: Like you haven’t played new songs in a while?
Joe: Yeah! We have just been playing songs off Far From Forever and my first record, The Wrong Impression. For the last two years, I haven’t put out music in about two years. So, it’s been cool to finally put some new music in the mix and finally change up the sets.
NES: You also want to keep it sacred I feel like, when you have a new album on the horizon. You want to keep those songs precious and not let them out early. And then, you have this tour coming up; you just played Levitate, and a lot is going on in your personal life. I’m sure there’s a lot on the books you can’t talk about. But maybe hopes or goals for you in the next few months if you can share?
Joe: I guess it’s a lot of hopes. Of getting on some playlists, placements on Spotify, and stuff like that. Hopefully, I will get some syncs and try to get my music on a TV show or things like that in the works. At least, those are some things that we’ve been trying to figure out on the back end. But, most importantly, I’d say just getting my next headlining tour booked. Which is in the process, hopefully for January. We’ll be starting to announce a bunch more in the new year. And I just plan on keeping the ball rolling, touring, and checking out some new markets I haven’t played in. Because there are a lot of places that people will comment, saying, “Come here! Come here!” And I’ve never been there, so we’ll give it a shot!
NES: Then, as the touring climate is coming back. Everybody is going back on the road; every venue is booked every night. Maybe something you’re glad has changed in the return to live music, or maybe something you think can still be worked on? Like something you would want to see?
Joe: What I’ve seen in the last few years of touring is that it’s been refreshing to see how well-attended shows have been. And how much support has been behind it. I don’t really have any things that I would want better or changed, but, as things progress and the venues get bigger, there are things that I know I can improve on. Just seeing some of the bands that I’ve toured with do it. Similarly to working with Krasno, there are these new things that I’ve just seen pros do that I would love to take and utilize when it comes to my headlining process. I want to make things a little more professional on my end and possibly improve the show experience for people. I’m just making mental notes and stuff like that, but other than that, it’s been incredibly fun, and it’s just cool to see how much support there is behind it.
