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Sam I Am
By Brian Brooks
How old were you when you knew you wanted to be a musician?
There wasn’t really that point for me. I sometimes wish that I had that story, you know, where I saw someone doing something [and] was like, “Oh my God, I want to be a musician.” But I never really had that moment. As time went on, I just got more involved.
Most kids of our generation tend to attempt instruments like guitar, piano or drums. What made you chose the violin?
Well, I was really young when I chose the violin. I was not even three when I first heard the violin and decided I wanted to play. I guess at that age I had no inclination to be the next big rock star.
Do you play anything besides the violin?
I do. I play the viola, and then I kind of fool around…on the bass, and on the mandolin. But certainly the violin is really the only instrument that I would call myself really excellent at.
So, no regrets for choosing the violin?
(Laughs) No, not at all.
How often do you practice, and do you have any kind of routine?
Well, my goal is always to practice every day, and sometimes with school it gets to be a little bit much, and I don’t actually get to do it. But I try to, and I usually end up practicing around five to six days a week. I try to make [it] routine because I’m not good at spending loads of time on stuff like scales and études. So, routine really helps me.
Is it difficult to have a normal social life with all the performances and practices that come with being a prodigy?
It’s not actually. I go to public school, and I certainly hang out with friends from school. So, I think that going to public school really helps me not become kind of like this socially awkward kid.
What are your favorite things to do when you’re not practicing?
Well I’m a pretty big sports fan. I follow the Mets and the Giants. I also play fantasy football all the time.
Who was on your team?
I had Carson Palmer, Matt Ryan, Cedric Benson and Steven Jackson. I did well this year—I came in third.
I was reading your biography and it said that you are the first pre-college student to gain entrance to the Manhattan School of Music.
On violin, yeah.
That’s some accomplishment.
Yeah. There is nobody else that did the classical program and the jazz program at Manhattan School of Music. And, I guess it’s just because no one has really asked, but it’s still really an honor.
The Manhattan School is in New York City, but you live in Connecticut, right?
I do live in Connecticut. The Manhattan School is a Saturday program, and I go into the city every Saturday. I live about an hour outside New York City, so I get to go [there] all the time, and it’s great. I’m able to see all these amazing concerts and performances.
That’s really cool. What was your favorite part about recording your upcoming album, Sam I Am?
Well, I guess it was being able to hang out with all these people who were on the album, because a lot of the people who came in are people that I didn’t really get to see too much of throughout the year. I mean, there’s Mark O’Connor’s String Camps in the summer, but that’s only a week or two a year. [Mark O’Connor is widely considered the world’s top country fiddler.] So, it was really nice to be able to invite all these people like Mark [to participate], and for them to come down and spend time hanging out and making music for a week. It was really great.
There are a lot of different sounds in your music. I couldn’t exactly put your music into one specific genre. What style of music would you say you predominantly play?
Well, I guess right now I’m starting to play more jazz. But I think that one thing that I really love, and one thing that I loved about making the album, is being able to stretch out into different styles. It makes the whole musical experience more fun—to be able to connect with all these different types of music.
What would be your dream collaboration?
Hmmm…I don’t know. I feel like it’s a little bit too cheesy to say that Sam I Am was my dream collaboration. But playing with Mark O’Connor has been great. I’ve gotten the opportunity to do a couple of gigs with him, and that was really spectacular.
If I were to take a look at your iPod, what artists would I find?
Way too many! I have a lot of music on my iPod. I guess one of the reasons that I play so many different types of music is because I listen to so many types of music. I have every genre imaginable. I have a lot of jazz, a lot of rock, a lot of alternative stuff.
This article originally appeared on JVibe.com. To read the rest, please visit http://jvibe.com/real_life/sam_I_am.php.
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