LITTLE MOMENTS

Drum Media, Sydney October 2008

He’s co-written with Jenny Queen, supported The Mountain Goats and Lemonheads, had his last album distributed in Europe and the US, but it’s still early days for Sam Shinazzi, as Michael Smith learns.
“I had a bit of a lull from promoting the last album (Stories You Wouldn’t Believe).” Shinazzi says, explaining the genesis of his latest album Then I Held My Breath. “It was probably a bit too soon to stop doing that, but I was wondering what would happen and gave myself a few weeks to do it. It could have been a horrible mess but a few songs came out and I just kept trying it and it seemed to work. I have no idea whether it would work again, but I was quite surprised by what came out.

“During those few weeks there were times where I’d go out and come home with a song and nothing that major had happened. That’s not to say they’re any less special than the ones that are like that, but I was surprised by how kind of everyday/suburban/normal the stories were. They weren’t necessarily about me feeling sad about a girl or me going through something or my friends or whatever. They were just about these little moments. Of course there are some exceptions – in fact there are some big exceptions.”

Having a solid band line-up in keyboards player Tessa Benjamin, lead guitarist Adam Taylor, bass player Bruno Brayovic (Peabody) and drummer Anthony The (Skull Squadron) was another important aspect in the making of this album. Obviously, like the majority of solo artists, Shinazzi had gone through the band thing when he was younger and had released his first album as The C-Minus Project before stepping out for Stories…as Sam Shinazzi.

Shinazzi’s had the same line-up for about two years now and some of those people have been with him for longer, being friends as well as band mates. “So I trust them pretty much with everything and when I was writing these songs, I was kind of sending them mp3s of demos and ringing them up and playing songs over the phone” he begins.

“They’d tell me straightaway whether it was good or bad or in between. I don’t know if they’ll hear a difference, but I think people who have heard my stuff before will be able to hear the fact there were a lot more people involved, rather than just me making all the calls or whatever. I always joke about it with them, but in a lot of ways I feel like I am the weak link in the band because they can all play great! I’m a competent singer and guitarist, but I’m still learning every day, so I can’t really just rest of my laurels and I really like that.

Then I Held My Breath (Black Lodge Audio)
Friday 17th October 2008
Sandringham Hotel, Newtown