:: BIO ::
Since being bitten by the techno bug some twenty years ago, Sammy Goossens aka Sierra Sam has been following the steady pulse of the kickdrum. Starting as a par-ty promoter in his Belgian home town Liege, it didn’t take long untill he hit the studio and immersed himself in the fine art of using drum machines, synthesizers, outboard effects – and solving MIDI problems. As part of the 6th Sense Approach, a collective of befriended djs and producers with a shared love for technosoul made in the Motor City, he started releasing records on the belgian label Reload shortly after. Soon his solo tracks caught the attention of the legendary R&S Records, who signed him for their sub-label Generations in 1997.
The b-side featured a remix by Underground Resistance mainstay James Pennington aka Suburban Knight, who he had booked for one of his partys a year earlier and eventually started to work with him, co-producing Suburban Knight’s classic album “My Sol Dark Direction” for Peacefrog as well as various other singles and remixes. Apart from working with Suburban Knight he continued releasing records on labels like Pure Plastic, Tekno- tika, Rotation, Trapez Limited and Müller Records.
His frustration about not being credited for his work on “My Sol Dark Direction” resulted in starting his own label Toys For Boys with Marcus Vector. Under his new alter ego Sierra Sam (or D.I.Y. together with Vector) his sound embraced the emergent new wave of techno mini- malism of the early noughties. In 2006 he relocated to Berlin where he started work- ing as a label manager for Jay Haze’s labels Contexterrior and Tuning Spork, which brought him to relase on both of them. In 2009 he co- produced Bloody Mary’s debut album “Black Pearl” for Contexterrior .
More releases on renowned labels like Dirt Crew, Supplement Facts, Serialism, Upon You, or Souvenir followed and resulted in a busy schedule preforming analogue live sets at some of the world’s most revered clubs like Goa in Madrid, Fabric in London, Rex in Paris, Analog room in Dubai, Wood in Brussels or Watergate and Panorama Bar in Berlin. If he is not trav- elling the world he is managing Tiefschwarz’ label Souvenir, working on new music or hunting down his favourite drum and analogue synthesizers.
May 2014 , Sam teamed up with Bulgarian techno hero KiNK for a very special 3h20 improvised live jam at Watergate club Berlin . The two recorded the three days of rehearsing as well as the show and are in the middle of a huge editing process which will result of a “ Live at Watergate “ CD second quarter of 2015 . In the meanwhile , Sam has been busy producing new tunes for Upon.You , Sound of Vast ( together with Pascal Hetzel ) and just had a retrospective of 32 of his past tracks on Best ́s Friends rec. plus a 4 tracks ep on Tomoki Tamura ́s Holic Trax .
:: INTERVIEW ::
Diego Brancatelli for AltroVerso had the possibility to interview Sierra Sam, and that’s what Sierra Sam things about differences between when he started and nowadays and whats his music philosophy:
You have been in the undeground music scene for more than 15 years now, what changes have you seen and what do you expect from the future?
A lot of changes , back in the days there was no internet and the music was more important than the number of likes you have on FB, your press pictures or number of plays on Soundcloud. Nowadays if you are good at social media or if you have a good PR, it doesn’t really matter if your music is good or not, you can still “make it”. It’s not always like that, but i see a lot of people who are there for the wrong reasons. 20 years ago it was not “cool” to be in this techno scene, we were the outlaws, the outsiders , we were part of a subculture and people were looking at us like we were crazy to like those “boom booms” . Now it is accepted and commercialized, you hear techno beats on radio, in movies …
What introduced you to house music? How did your experience as a producer and DJ start?
I am not really a deejay i am a live act, i was exposed to house and techno thru friends around 1993 . I was already making music in bands and we had a home studio, so i started experimenting with the gear and had a release in 1995. I started as “it is easy , i can make it in a second” and it was not that easy to have something good. then , little by little i started playing live , we started to have a little community of friends, throwing parties in basements, making music, going to parties … Then Fuse Brussels opened, it was a revelation . We were there every saturday .
How would you describe your sound ?
I would describe it as a mix of my influences: techno, house, electro … a lot of Detroit, a little bit of Chicago. I love to sound analogue because of the gear i use and my influences. I am searching for the timeless song , i like a mix of emotions , power and groove. At the moment i try to sound a bit dirty , i dont like when the sounds are too polished .
In Welcome To The Black Out single the track states that “there is no funk in a digital world” could you explain us more whats you feeling about digital and analogue experience ?
I didn’t do this vocal , it was Paris from Detroit Grand Pubhas … it doesn’t mean anything more than sounding cool to me . Not everything needs to have a deep meaning (smiles) I am not an analogue nazi it is what you mean , I dont really care if you play vinyl or cds , if you make a song with a 909 and a 303 or with a software . It is all bullshit , if one has talent , it doesnt matter what he uses to express himself .
What are your expectations and wishes for the days to come?
I wish the new label we launch with Pascal Hetzel ( CYRK ) will be successful and that our four hands live set ( named CYRK as well ) will tour the world . We have DJ Rolando remixing our first release and it will be out in 6 weeks . I also hope to keep on playing live jams with guests at Watergate ( i have a residency ) , i had the chance to share the knobs and sliders with KiNK , Dave Aju , Yapacc and very soon Tolga Fidan . I also hope i will finish my album on time so my Broza Cesare vs Disorder won´t kick my ass to be late for the release on Serialism ( which is his label , not mine ).
Thank you Sierra Sam
Links
www.uponyou/…sierra-sam
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