We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sam Sweeny. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sam below.

Sam, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

Music grabbed my soul’s attention from the very beginning, and before any formal training, I loved spending hours as a little kid since I was like 3 just experimenting on any noise maker that was around; I loved my toy instruments, and little guitar and drum things, but the piano just drew me in from the start and I fell in love with improvising for hours. I struggled with math as a child, and one of my teachers mentioned that learning piano would help that part of my brain, so I got put in lessons like many kids at the age of 7. I was eager to progress, and I picked it up quickly, showing a lot of interest and determination, and reading about the history of composers and studying classical music was my introduction to the instrument. At 9, I was listening to a Coldplay song in the car with my mom and I asked how they got the recording to sound so refined and free of mistakes. She explained the basic concept of multi-track recording, the idea of layering instruments in the studio and I was immediately intrigued. I wanted to learn how to do that! So I got FL Studio and started making my first beats. Watching YouTube tutorials, spending every second I could figuring out how to get better and expand into the world of electronic music production. At 11, I wanted to start playing drums and took lessons for a bit, and kept producing, accumulating gear and synths and weird little instruments. My tastes went in a more future jazz electronic beat driven direction, fusing my love for EDM and Alternative Rock with Jazz, Soul, and Hip Hop. I transferred to the Orange County School of the Arts for my Freshman year of High School for Culinary Arts. There I met one of my best friends, Ejay, who really introduced me to rap and I started writing my first verses as jokes to have something funny to spit and go back and forth with my friends. I wanted to incorporate live bass and guitar, so I picked up those and practiced and just developed all these different skill sets gradually, teaching myself things and picking up concepts and techniques from teachers and studying jazz theory. I was heavy into classic hip hop, neo soul, conscious rap, and listening to all sorts of different genres all at once. My sophomore year, I transferred to Popular Music and got into playing Psychedelic Rock, Jazz Funk, and made huge leaps in my musicianship, through a trip to New Orleans, being blown away by the Cuban Jazz fusion scene and the gospel musicians at a Berklee summer camp. I practiced tirelessly, penning lyrics the whole way through, and making beat after beat and developing my artistic vision. I studied my favorite music, remaking and creating my own versions of songs, and collaborating with other musicians. I definitely think my proficiency using DAWs like Fruity Loops and Ableton Live at a young age helped me a lot, along with music theory being pounded into my brain, and a solid background in piano and harmony. One obstacle I’ll say is struggles with mental health and addiction, and working with certain people who just wanted to take advantage of my skill for their personal gain rather than genuinely trying to collaborate to make the best music.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started releasing music at a young age, in middle school around, 11-12, with my original songs. I’ve done freelance production and composition for producers and artists since I was 13. My main artist project is named after me, Sam Sweeny, and its missing the e before the y, because people always got it wrong, and it stuck.
I’m most proud of my explorative and colorful production, and lyricism full of depth and imagery.
I’ve struggled with BPD, ADHD, OCD, and depression, multiple addictions, toxic relationships, and family trauma since a young age. I want to make music that people can live their lives to and feel less a lone in a modern world that can be so cruel and overwhelming.
People have come to me for chord progressions, melodies, fleshing out production with live instrumentation, and my ability to jazz things up and add a more soulful and lush atmosphere to their music. What separates me from others is my relentless work ethic, raw vulnerability and unapologetic emotional expression.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I had been rehearsing and working for months with 2 musicians for a show that lets just say, we had put a lot on the line for. The week before the show, our band fell apart because the drummer was very egotistical and angry, blaming our lack of readiness on me, when I was the only one in the band writing and arranging the music, sabotaging months of practicing and writing after he stormed off. I immediately formed another band and we rehearsed 3 times, with razor focus and a determination to showcase something incredible, and prove him wrong. The day of the show, we went on stage and played my song, stunning the crowd. He came up to me after and congratulated me, saying that his petty behavior undermined the music, and finally respected it, only after our set.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield
All You Need to Know About the Music Business, by Donald S. Passman

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samsweenyca/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHz3Lwh6uaDGoosR81bJxBA
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/samsweeny
• Other: https://samsweeny.bandcamp.com/
  https://open.spotify.com/artist/6tQ550A9fteutRfgO7zjbo

Image Credits

Vin Le for photos 1-3 on last page