Sam Burchfield

See what Sam Burchfield had to say about being on the road and why he's got a favorite song to play for those live performances.

You just released Where To Run?

Sam Burchfield: Right so this was my first release, this EP; we put it out in February and just started to promote the first single, "Here Tonight" and we're just trying to get things rolling so this is an exciting time. 

How did you get into music?

Well, I first started playing I think when I was eleven. I bought a guitar - it was actually competitively because my sister got a bass guitar and I thought I could be better than my sister; she didn't keep up with the bass - but I ended up playing guitar and fell in love with it and just couldn't really stop. I started singing and I just kind of knew that was what I wanted to do. 

How would you describe your genre of music?

I think kind of what it is now is kind of soulful folk. Sort of a cross between folk and funk. 

Any artists who have inspired that sound?

Yeah, I mean, we really love, I guess on both ends of the spectrum, we really love like Stevie Wonder, that classic kind of soul/funk and Van Morrison and guys like that. Also, you know, some of the newer [artists] like Ray LaMontagne; as far as the folk side of things, I really admire his songwriting and just his voice and his lyrics and Jack Johnson.. But yeah, and then some of the new guys too like new soul like Allen Stone kind of stuff I've really been digging lately. 

You keep saying 'we'; are you going out there as a band or as a solo act?

Right, so, right now I'm going out as a duo. My friend Zach, Zach Wells, he just moved to Atlanta - kind of just dropped everything and said "hey, you know, let's do this; let's do this music" - and so, yeah, we're doing a lot of duo stuff right now with him backing up on either banjo or electric guitar or singing so it depends on what the vibe of the song is. We do also play with a full band for the bigger stuff; still kind of developing that full band sound, I think, 'cause it's, I have this vision in my head of what this should kind of capture and we're still trying to figure that out but, yeah, this is a lot of duo stuff right now.

You were invited to go to Hollywood on American Idol..?

I was, yeah, that was kind of the beginning of this story; I was finishing up school at University of Georgia in Athens and had just kind of, on a whim, tried out for the show. You know, got to the point where they had invited me to Hollywood and, at that point, I was also kind of finishing up this EP - it was back in the Fall - and kind of looking at the contract and what all it had to entail. I actually decided not to move forward in Hollywood just because I think it was a process of really learning what I was about, kind of what my identity was as an artist, and it was a really cool experience, but I think it kind of helped with, like, 'okay, I don't think this is kind of my path, I think my path is, you know, really pursuing this, doing exactly what I want to do with this original music'. It was a fun experience and they ended up putting the episode up which really was cool and helped kind of boost this album at the beginning. 

So did that help to define your style?

No, I don't think it defined it at all, I think, just, I think when you're put in a situation that you don't expect to be in that was 'oh, hey, you can come and try this thing out for Hollywood' and, you know, they kind of put in front of you what the possibility is, even though you know it's still a gamble either way, but if you were to go forward this is what your life would look like. They put that in front of you and it really makes you take a step back and look at what's important. I think, for me, a big aspect of what was important for me and my music was relationships. These people have invested in me, you know, in where I am; people like Zach who are willing to up and move to pursue this music. So, yeah, I just think it's important to invest in those [relationships] and music is all about relationships, honestly, it's about making a connection to people and it's a personal thing and I think the whole Idol stage just really made me take a step back and really examine that and say 'okay, is this a personal thing; what's important to me about this?' and really dig into that and embrace the fact that I like playing music with friends and having that be my career.

Is there a track from your album that you're most satisfied with?

I think, production wise, we really are probably happiest with "Here Tonight" which is the single we're promoting now. With where it ended up, it just was kind of our first chance at really releasing something professional and we're really happy with, I guess, how "Here Tonight" was captured: it really felt right. But, I love all the songs on there; it's definitely a snapshot of where I was about a year ago when I started putting these together. So, obviously, I'm super - I think most artists are like this - I'm super into the new stuff I've been writing but, you've kind of got to hold that back while you're promoting what you've already been able to record but, yeah, I love the EP.

You're out on tour now; are there any stories or fan interactions you want to share?

Hmm, well, we basically just got in - we were gone for a week and we're back in Atlanta for a little bit here - we were in Nashville for awhile which, Nashville's a really interesting city when you're coming from out of town and there are a lot of artists that come out of Nashville but, really, it was fun. We had a fun night when we ran into the Sam Adams rep at a place called The Row in Nashville and they promoted us and gave us some Sam Adams which was pretty cool and that's a fun group of people to run into; they were having like a giant convention of Sam Adams marketers that happened to be in town. But, yeah, the road's fun, the road is a very.. It get real, really quick; it's great at times but it also is, you know, 'hey, let's not sleep in a comfortable place for awhile' but it's cool getting to go out with Zach because he's one of my good friends and it's good to have someone you can really trust on the road with you who has your back.. I don't know that I have any crazy tales from the road. 

Have you got a favorite track to perform live?

Well, I really do like performing "Here Tonight" live because I think it's just been - we just finished that music for it too - like, really digging into it. But, I also really love playing "Doctor" live; that's a song I wrote about my girlfriend who's studying to be a doctor so it's kind of just a personal song but, you know, she's in Augusta, Georgia so we're apart right now so, when I can play that live, when I'm out on the road and stuff, it's like, I don't know.. It's a cool experience to kind of just close my eyes and go into the song and kind of just, you know, escape a little bit. Those really personal songs are fun to sing in that setting. 

What do you do when you're not working on your music?

Oh man, we were talking about this the other day. My manager, Andy, who's been really great helping out, we've obviously been really busy, kind of excited to get stuff off the ground, he said someone asked him that same question and he said 'you know what, I don't think I have hobbies anymore'. I think when you really love your work it's not work, it's just what you do so, honestly, I haven't had a chance to do anything but music lately. What I would do in my free time is I'm a big Smash Brothers N64 fan and a big basketball fan so, if I get a chance to go outside and play some basketball it's all good and once I get back to a Nintendo64 I'll play some Super Smash Brothers and, I will say, that I stand by that I don't think anybody can beat me in that. I gotta keep telling people that because I've had some challengers and, so far, I'm undefeated, so gotta hold true to it. 

Is there a song currently on the radio that you can't stop listening to?

Aw man, my girlfriend loves "All About That Bass". Yeah, that's kind of a catchy song; I like it because it's got some soul to it. I saw a cover of it the other day, of this girl singing it and actually playing a stand up bass, I don't remember who it was, but that made me be like 'okay, that's really cool, i can dig that song now'. I'm not listening to most of the radio nowadays though.

What do you want people to take away from your music?

I think I want people to really be able to relate and to be encouraged. I mean, some of my songs aren't necessarily encouraging because I have songs about everything, just my life, but, at the end of the day, I want people to be able to be encouraged and to hear something and be uplifted; sometimes, that's not from hearing a happy song, it's from hearing a song that really resonates with you, like something that's powerful, like an experience you've had that you can relate to and it's this feeling of 'ahh, that person went through that too,' like, 'I get that'. But, yeah, just making that connection, making that personal connection with people and, hopefully, they listen because it's positive and uplifting, and not just because it has a danceable beat or something or because it has a cool horn sound. Ultimately, draw them in with all that and then, once they kind of dig into the lyrics a bit, having them be more meaningful and to really have an impact on people. 

Anything you want to say to your fans?

Thank you so much. You've got to thank the fans, all the time. Without fans, I am just a lonely guy in an apartment playing songs to myself so, yeah, everyone's been really awesome and supportive on this journey so it's great. 

Sam Burchfield             Facebook             Twitter             YouTube             SoundCloud

The Honeyrunners - Dan Dwoskin

See what Dan Dwoskin of The Honeyrunners had to say about the band's music and get your copy of their Ep 2 from iTunes now.

What first got you interested in music?

Dan Dwoskin: Music mainly came from my parents, I'm sure it's probably the exact thing you've heard from all the other guys but every time I would drive to school in the morning, my dad would play classical music or, like, Neil Young and - I hated Neil Young when I was younger; I came around on it, because I guess I just never really understood it - and the big influence was them. I mean, I would listen to the radio in the '90's and you would hear some stuff that was good but you'd also hear stuff that was just terrible and you'd sit there and you'd think, like, I could definitely write better music than this and then you say that and then you gotta follow it up. So, for the last ten years I've been following it up; trying to get on the radio.

Which musicians are you most inspired by when working on new songs?

Mostly, we take a big page out of the soul book. We're actually really big fans of - and it's funny because you don't really hear of good soul work - but we take a big page out of James Brown and, like, a lot of The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Black Crowes: just guys who are kind of real heavy players who've been doing this for a long time and we look up to them. I mean, I'm a huge fan of Ray Charles, with how he played keys and put everything together.

What type of tracks have you got playing on your iPod now?

You wanna know right now? I'll try to be as honest as I can be.. Bob Marley with Mc Lyte "Jammin'" Remix - that's pretty good. And then there's, I guess, Raphael Saadiq "Radio" and Ed Sheeran "Sing", so not a bad mix.

What would you say the theme of the album is?

Escape. Escape, loneliness, death... The front of the album is a maze and it's a maze because a lot of the songs on the album have to do with either being in a big city or escaping a big city. So, we thought the maze is a good representation of looking at a big city like Toronto from above with its mazes and its back allies and all its little stories. A lot of the songs on it kind of are like.. for example, "Bones" is kind of your ideal 'get out of the bar and walk home super drunk and then having all these stories happen to you' and we don't really lay it out there one hundred percent, we want to leave a little bit to the imagination, but for the most part, that's kind of the [album's] story.

Is there a track that you're most satisfied with on this album?

I gotta say "Muse", the last track on the album, came out far better than I had expected it to. Like, I loved it, but I wasn't finding it to be the strongest track and in the studio we totally flipped it on its head and it's such a hard packed rock song right now so, I'm super happy with the album.

What makes for a great live show?

You've gotta have a whole lotta energy and you have to connect with your band, no matter what city you're in or how many people are actually in the room, you've gotta give her the same way every night.

Have you had any memorable fan interactions?

We had two girls come down from North Bay.. We went up to North Bay to play a university up there and at our CD release party two girls came, like, four/five hour drive to just come see our show and I was like 'well, we've never had that before' where someone has travelled that far to come see [us]. You know, it's happening more and more often now so it actually feels really good because it feels like you're actually building a fan base.

You've already released two EPs; have you got any plans for a full length album?

Yeah. The other guys would probably say no but I've been, you know, for the next thing we do, I would love to do a full ten/eleven song album.

Why would they say no?

We like the EP idea. You know, we came up with it because we realize that, right now, it's very much a singles market for music; people tend to buy one song off iTunes or Bandcamp or whatever instead of a full length album and we're very much, like, we're album guys, so we figure an EP is a good way to go. People get five, basically, singles for four or five dollars and I find that the songs on an EP, they all tend to go together, because you're not trying to cram it. You're not trying to fill the base, you're actually putting on songs that you feel are good and are very complimentary for each other.

How would you describe your music to someone who had never heard it?

We like to call it soul drenched rock and roll. It's very much inspired by bands like Alabama Shakes or Vintage Trouble and it just tends to be like the stage show is very wild and sweaty and people tend to lose their shit and dance and have fun and kind of just escape their everyday lives and the band actually has a lot of fun up stage too so I would say it's pretty good branding for us.

What do you most want people to take away from your music or the band's performances?

I want them to relate to it. I want them to be able to listen to the story telling we're doing and then, beyond that, to just feel the soul of the music, like the underlying rhythm section and the every part of it. You know, I remember when I first heard songs like "Rolling In The Deep" or, ah god, there's so many songs.. You hear that song on the radio and you just go crazy and you play it and play it and play it. I remember there was one by Jet called "Cold Hard Bitch" and I listened to that for, like, probably a year until I had to take it off because I was so sick of it, but that's what I really want. I want people to become obsessed with it because it just feels good, you know?

Is there anything you want to add or say to your fans?

The first single from the album is "Under Control" and we're going to put out a music video end of September and, right now, we're working on an American tour so that should be happening the first two and a half weeks of November and, beyond that, just enjoy the new album and thanks for everything.  

The Honeyrunners             Facebook             Twitter             SoundCloud             YouTube

Young Braves

Shropshire indie band Young Braves took the time to answer some questions; see what they had to say about their music below.

How did you meet?

Ollie: Well, me and Elliot are brothers and we used to play at open mic night where Jakob used to play as well. We used to be kind of almost rivals and one time me, Elliot, and our dad played this version of "Get Back" and Jakob just wanted us after that. He wanted us to meet and he called us up and asked us to come play with him. And then we called up our drum teacher and got Dan and that's it really.

You had already started to build a name for yourselves as Arcade Parade; why change the name to Young Braves?

Dan: Well, I don't know.. I joined the band afterwards and they were already, there were three people and they came up with Arcade Parade on their own. I mean, we carried on as Arcade Parade for a while and then I was learning about the American West in history and my history teacher said about how young braves were a tribe of Indians and I just thought that was a really good name. I put it to the other guys and they liked it.

Are you planning on using any of Arcade Parade's tracks on forthcoming albums?

Ollie: We're writing lots of new songs as Young Braves; we only recorded four songs as Arcade Parade so I don't know.. Possibly, but we've got more songs in the moment as Young Braves so it's probably likely that we won't use those songs again. We're looking to get some more, we've already recorded two songs as Young Braves, four songs even, and we're looking to do some more songs too, to put for an EP.

Jakob: We're not really looking for an EP before Christmas and then I think we're going back in to the studio to do a couple more singles. We're looking to release one track mid September.

If not music, what would you be doing?

Ollie: Um, I don't know. I mean, me and Elliot are still in school. I don't know about you guys.. Jakob goes to Uni.. What would you do Dan?

Dan: I would sleep in a ditch. [Laughter]

Do you have any stories from live performances you want to share?

Elliot: We played with Little Comets; they were nice. They took us to their dressing room and showed us around. There haven't been any really crazy stories but, yeah.. We talked to members of The Wombats at this festival that we played at.

Jakob: Elliot fell off a treadmill.

Dan: Yes! Elliot fell off a treadmill!

Ollie: We put it on the highest speed and then we told him to jump on it; we thought he'd jump and carry on running but he just jumped and went flying.

Dan: He went back against the wall.. Poor guy.

Is there a venue or festival that you aspire to perform at?

Ollie: Glastonbury would be a good festival.

Dan: I'd like to play at Rotherham festival.

Have you got any plans for a US tour?

Jakob: We'd love to but we need to get the money together.

Elliot: We have school still at the moment so maybe when we're older.

Have you got any favorite tracks you can't stop listening to?

Elliot: Oh, goodness gracious.. I like Additive.

Ollie: I'm liking "Where's My Mind" by The Pixies.

Dan: I listen to a bit of Fleetwood Mac and a bit of everything.

Jakob: I'd probably have to say something by The Talking Heads maybe "Psycho Killer" or "The Great Curve"; that's the stuff.

Is there anything you want to add or say to your fans?

Ollie: I didn't know we had any [laughter].. Just thank you. Thank you for taking an interest in our music.

Facebook             Twitter             SoundCloud

Butcher Knives - Ethan Cohen

Find out what banjo player Ethan Cohen has to say about Butcher Knives' multi-cultural sound 

What first got you interested in making music?

Ethan Cohen: I saw a huge cardboard cutout of Elvis in front of a guitar store when I was walking down Bleecker Street in Manhattan with my mom and I thought it was cool and started asking my parents for a guitar. I was eight so that was what started me playing music.

You've got a pretty large group of artists; how did you all meet and decide to make music?

I actually found them on the internet. They were looking for a banjo player who also plays guitar, lives in New York, and was interested in playing punk and world music; I don't think there's another instrument player who meets those criteria.

What words would you use to describe Butcher Knives' sound?

Eclectic, International, Raucous.

Have you got a favorite track to perform live?

Probably "Drunken Down"; I think it's a great song and we do an extended version of it when we play it live. It has, like, a kind of a fiddle break type melody, I guess I would call it a break down, that is a lot of fun to play. There's an audience participation part of it that everyone seems to always get into so it's one of the high energy ones; we go out into the crowd and stuff and I always enjoy doing it.

The music video for "Tell Me Why" is great; how did you come up with the idea for a short suspense film versus a regular music video?

Well, our singer/percussionist, Nacho, is a film maker - that's how he pays his rent - so he's always been very interested in film noir and he wanted to make a music video that was a film noir type; sort of somewhere in between film noir and Reservoir Dogs and that's how he wanted to do the video and we all thought it was a cool idea so  that's how he did it. That was shot and edited by him; the parts that have him in it were shot by his brother, but for the most part he did all the shooting: he certainly did all the editing and post production.

How does the album writing process work with so many different artists?

There's kind of a distinction in the creative process between the recorded product and the live show. The way that we play the song live is actually quite different from the way they are on the album. It's still in the same style, but they're tweaked differently. The songs are written, primarily, by Nacho and Nikko, who's the guitarist, and Nikko has a recording studio and they bring a relatively finished product to the band and then we, you know, obviously they don't play banjo, they don't play keyboard, they don't play drums, so they do everything on the computer and then bring it to the band and we finish it off like that. But the core of the songwriting is done by Nacho and Nikko.

So how are the tracks different live?

They are more punky and louder. For example, "Butcher Knives Unite" has kind of a pop vibe in the recording and it's actually programmed drums on that but, when we do that live, it's very much a ska song with rapping in various languages over it; there's also a bunch of singing in French and Arabic. Our drummer, Amine, his singing isn't on the album, but he does all of that live: in "Butcher Knives Unite" there's a long section with Amine doing Middle Eastern singing that did not make it onto the album or the extended part in "Drunken Down".

You know, we build in a bunch of stages for audience participation and, in general, we're not playing acoustic instruments, except for the accordion and the upright bass when we're on stage, just because it's not practical in those night clubs that we're playing. So, I would be playing an electric banjo instead of an acoustic banjo and using a distortion pedal so the net result is that everything is louder and more aggressive.

What would you be doing if you weren't in music?

Sleeping in a gutter [Laughs]. I play in a few bands and, if I wasn't doing that, I would be insane.

Have you got any new tracks in the works?

We do. We have a bunch of new material and we are going to be putting out a music video in the near future for "American Dream"; we just finished the third of three shoots and we've got some new songs that we're going to record pretty soon and we'll be looking at, probably, an EP or an album sometime next year.

What barriers have you run into as a musician; has anything held you back?

I wouldn't say anything necessarily holds me back; I would say there are some missed opportunities, but we just do what we're doing and do our best at it. I mean, I'm not measuring the success of my life by how much money I'm making playing music so, I wouldn't say there have been any major barriers.

As a band, I think one barrier is that we're not always singing in English. It's tough to bring that kind of music to the masses because it's not pop and it's not necessarily in English so I don't know how radio friendly it is but, yeah, we're a live band so that's all good.

What do you want people to take away from Butcher Knives music?

There are a lot of great musical traditions around the world and, though they might be extremely different from one another, they are always compatible and you can always take influence from a plethora of styles and traditions and genres. You can mix blue grass banjo with a French accordion and cumbia and punk rock and come up with something that's cohesive and the musical and cultural clash that happens in that can be a rewarding and beautiful result. 

Butcher Knives             Facebook             Twitter             SoundCloud             YouTube