Sam Champion (listening party interview)

Band: Sam Champion
From: New York, NY
Sound: A perfect bullseye of classic rock songwriting, muscular riffs and unbridled energy.
Similar Artists: Tom Petty, The Replacements, Pavement, Built To Spill, The Kinks
Listen Now: “Be Mine Everyone”

In a city of transient tastes, fleeting fads, and shifting scenes, Sam Champion has been a remarkably consistent – and for this reason alone incredibly refreshing - presence. What’s their secret? Well, while you twiddle laptop knobs and yelp sweet neo-tribal nothings into your vocoders, they are making actual ROCK music, and it also happens to be some of the most satisfying, engaging, and direct sounds you’re likely to find here in New York.

Formed in 2002 by Noah Chernin (vocals, guitar) and Ryan Thornton (drums), the duo (who may or may not be named after the Chiclet-toothed, Day Glo-complexioned weatherman of the same name) soon expanded to include Jack Dolgen (bass, vocals) and Sean Sullivan (guitar, vocals), both Chernin’s classmates at NYU. They released their debut album, Slow Rewind (Razor & Tie), to glowing reviews in 2005 and then proceeded to tour relentlessly, all the while compiling and squirreling away a staggering collection of songs for an eventual follow-up. These facts are probably worth noting because now, finally, three years later, we have a new Sam Champion album that 1) pretty much explodes with the live intensity they’ve crafted and honed since Slow Rewind, and 2) suitably reflects the arsenal of amazing tunes stowed away in the Sam Champion song vault.

The album, Heavenly Bender, gets a physical release on September 2 (though is available now on Amie Street) and marks the band’s first release for North Street Records. A collection of barnburners, slow burners, face melters and all around hot and flammable tunes, Heavenly Bender succeeds in the highwire act of demanding closer listens on headphones while serving as the ultimate pick-me-up soundtrack for your next get together. Which is exactly why we did a little of both and recently met up with the band in Dolgen’s East Village apartment to listen to the album in its entirety.

It was actually the first time the band listened to the whole album together, and it proved to be an amazing experience. What was intended to be a quick listen soon turned into a marathon session of repeated listens, digging up old demos and b-sides, and relating the various stories, anecdotes, and explanations behind the twelve gems that make up Heavenly Bender (along with additional photos and captions from Sullivan). Our advice is to go grab a copy of the album, press play and keep reading. The listening party starts……now!

Track 1. LIKE A SECRET

Noah: (as to why they chose this song to start the album) It’s the most immediate. We all went to Sean’s old house and put the song names on pieces of paper and shifted them around and listened to the transitions and decided on it.

Jack:And we made an agreement that we weren’t going to leave until it was settled. You got a bunch of songs and the album could feel one way or the other way depending on the order you put them in. We had talked of opening with “We Will Awaken” which is a totally viable option but the album would have felt totally different. So I guess we wanted to put our poppy foot first and expand from there.

Ryan: But it’s also got this slow part coming up too; it shows two different sides already in the first song.

Ryan sews us a pocket. - SS

Noah: We had this song for a long time before it was anything. It was that emo-slow-jam that was like three parts but we didn’t have a chorus.

Sean: The original was really awesome…

(They go back and forth talking about the original melody)

Jack: I’ve got the demo on my computer.

Noah: (scrolling through laptop) January 9th demo.

Sean: January 9th from like four years ago. We’d be on our second album at this point if we went ahead with it.

(They debate about the song’s origins further, particularly where the chorus came from in the album version and how it evolved from the demo version)

Jack: This is not interesting to anyone outside of this room (laughs)

EF: But basically the original version of this song doesn’t even resemble what made it onto the album.

Sean: Yeah, it’s a pretty work-shopped song.

Noah: I had some pretty retarded lyrics too, like “Just like Japan, you’ve gotta take off your shoes!”

(group laughter)

EF: Do you use placeholder lyrics a lot?

Noah and Sean: Yeah, they’re on the album.

(more laughter)

Jack: I kind of want to hear the original now

(Jack grabs the laptop and burrows through his iTunes and finds the file – 1.9.06. We listen to the primordial “Like A Secret”, which is awesome in its own right but pretty unrecognizable from the current album version)

Track 2. BE MINE EVERYONE

Jack: We went back to demo songs for the album two summers ago and this was pretty new back then and we recorded it and fleshed it out but the song didn’t rock. It was because everything was overdubbed, so when we recorded the album we did it live.

Noah: This was the first take.

Jack: It was, the solo was on the first take too.

Ryan: It’s kind of built off of this great riff that Sean came up with…

Jack: I remember there was this whole argument about it being a “barnburner”.

Jack adjusting between insightful studio moves - SS

EF: This song is a barnburner. I think the first time I wrote about it when I saw you guys I wrote down “barnburner”.

Ryan: It is a barnburner.

Sean: I think under this song you should just write “barnburner”

Track 3. HEAVENLY BENDER

EF: Is that you on keys, Sean?

Sean: (nods) Which was done completely out of tune, which doesn’t matter because there are no other instruments there, it actually sounds better out of tune.

EF: So where does the name “Heavenly Bender” come from?

Noah: I had this song idea and was messing around with my friend Matt, who’s also in Ryan’s old band Rana, and we decided to do all the words then and there. It’s about his rehab experience, working at Meals on Wheels, the place was called Heavenly something, I don’t really remember, but it came from there.

Noah caught in my headlights w/ sweet Guild. - SS

Ryan: And then I showed up an hour and a half into the session and we took it to Sam Champion, and we asked Matt, “can we take that one?” (laughs)

Jack: And then I wrote this riff

Sean: We called it “the weave”, Jack and I would follow each other, he’d do it, then I’d do it; I’d be like, “alright, let’s do the weave!”

Ryan: (listening to high vocal bridge part) This is the producer’s daughter here, she’s like 8 or 9…

EF: Really? I thought it was a pitch-shift…

Jack: No, it’s all Sean and the little girl Stella

Sean: I was trying to do a taunting chorus. A little girl and me harmonizing in a creepy voice.

EF: Why did you choose that for the name of the album as well?

Noah: It kind of just rolls off the tongue.

Sean: Yeah, after the five hours we spent arguing song order, there was another two hour fisticuffs over what we were going to call it. It was split half and half between “Heavenly Bender” and just “Sam Champion” and finally we figured “Heavenly Bender” would give people something to chew on. People keep calling it “Heavenly Blender” though…

(group laughter)

Track 4. YOU CAN’T STOP

Jack: We wrote this in Sean’s parents’ basement.

Sean: Strictly a writing trip. A lot of these songs came together there.

Noah: I did a Garage Band demo of this song first and took it to them. And Jack had the idea to do the 60s style vocals.

Jack: Right, the three-part harmonies, which didn’t come up until after we recorded the music upstate and did vocals back here in my apartment.

EF: Was this the last song to come together for the album then?

Noah: One of the last ones, “Lorraine” was the last one I think.

Sean: (listening to heavy rocking part) Our producer Kevin McMahon kept pushing us to play this until it fell apart.

EF: Where did you guys record?

Jack: We recorded at Marcata studios in New Paltz. We really liked the drum sounds.

Drum set arrangement at Marcata for “Space Heater” and unreleasable “Always the Same” - SS

Noah: And it was a sweet barn, out of the way.

Sean: We wanted to make a spooky, little rock record.

Ryan: And it was kind of a spooky space, and I think this album is kind of spooky.

EF: When was it recorded?

Sean: It was really early in October, but the temperature was always 20 degrees colder than it was outside. Rustic. They brought us a box full of like Starter jackets and sweaters to keep us warm while we recorded.

Track 5. SPACE HEATER

Jack: So this song is basically what the whole recording situation felt like then…

Ryan: We lived by a space heater. And also, it’s kind of a break in the album too, there are no lyrics, it’s a different vibe, it’s a nice space.

Sean: This would be the end of side one if we did a double LP. We originally wanted to break the album into fourths but ended up doing three movements. I love this song. Jack and Ryan are both live in the big barn room.

Jack: I just stood next to Ryan with the acoustic and we played it in a few takes.

Sean: Play it again, I talked too much the first time.

Track 6. WE WILL AWAKEN

Sean: This song is the first thing I did with Noah after I joined the band.

Jack: This is the peak of our “Guitorchestration” on the record. Sean’s guitar melodies and arrangements at their finest.

Noah: The harmonica in the middle is the best.

Jack: It was one of the last things we recorded at the studio. We did it in the middle of the night and we were all sitting there listening and like “whaaaat was that?!” It was crazy, it just came out of Sean.

(all listening to harmonica)

Ryan: Listen, it’s still going!

Jack: That’s just got so much yearning and pain in it.

Sean: (listening to guitars) That’s my Mazzy Star moment there I suppose (laughs). A lot of guitar playing going on there….

EF: How many overdubs?

Sean: I have no idea.

Dressed for the rustic, indoor/outdoor living situation. - SS

Track 7. DEAD MOON

Ryan: Spooky. Spooky Latin?

EF: Definitely autumnal, spooky.

Jack: (listening to vocals) This is like four Seans

EF: What was the inspiration behind this?

Sean: I dunno. I guess I wanted everything to sound ghostly and psychedelic like that, to get elements of acoustic guitar and have the electrics come through as a jab with some flutes and harpsichord.

Ryan: Here’s Noah’s guitar solo.

Jack: This is another first take.

Ryan: Maybe this is a fall album after all…

Sean: I guess it’s not so bad that it’s coming out in the fall

Ryan: Just listening to it right now, it sounds more fall than ever

Sean: The product of being recorded upstate in October.

Track 8. DIRECT

EF: I wanted to ask you about the lyrics for this song

(Noah winces and laughs)

Noah: It was kind of like, I don’t know where it came from. “You don’t bring the butter” is kind of like “You don’t bring the milk home,” or “You don’t bring home the bacon.” I always thought there was some sort of saying involving milk but I guess I messed it up. I don’t know, but I remember wanting to structure it like that Raconteurs song “Steady As She Goes” how it goes right into the chorus, I really like that idea. It’s just fun. I wouldn’t know what else to sing otherwise.

Sean: I had a sweet feedback session there in the background. I got to play in this really really loud room and just wail and try to make as much noise as possible.

Jack: The whole process was a blend of the very organic and the more technological. We went in and these guys were very intent on pushing the whole live feeling; that was the most important thing. So in the end we have these real spirited live takes mixed with cool overdubs. And the whole thing was done on tape too, which adds to the feel.

Our man Kevin McMahon on the wheels of steel. - SS

Track 9. JEALOUS SHAKES

EF: Is this the oldest song on the album?

Noah: Yeah, this song has gone through a lot.

Sean: (listening to bass breakdown section) This is my favorite part I think on the whole album.

Jack: This came out of a jam at practice.

Noah: This is the third version of the chorus that we went through.

Ryan: Oh, here’s the Angel of Death coming up….

Sean: The Angel of Death is here in this last chorus. It’s is like the most fun thing I’ve ever done in my life and it keeps going on here too (referring to the wall of guitar feedback sound that swooshes forth, very much like an…angel of death)

Track 10. THERE WAS A DOUBT

Noah: This was the last song we tracked in the studio I think. It’s got a nice feel to it; we used it for the album promo videos.

Ryan: It’s a lighthearted one I feel, it’s a little bit more fun, tell me if I’m wrong Jack. A little bit more rocking good times.

Jack: This song is about self-doubt, so…

Ryan: (laughs) So it’s probably pretty heavy; musically it’s lighthearted though.

Jack: It’s about that voice in your head

Noah: (listening to lyrics) We couldn’t say Manichaean though, we kept saying “Mannaykeyin” so…

Sean: The ratio of people who knew what Manichaean meant was 1 to 3, Jack was the only one who knew what the word meant so we had to rename the song. (ed note: Manichaean - of or relating to the philosophical doctrine of dualism; “a Manichaean conflict between good and evil; dualism”)

Noah: “There Was A Doubt”, makes perfect sense.

Jack: I love that you didn’t know what it means, makes the whole song meaning more subtle.

Track 11. LORRAINE

Jack: This took a long time to get completed. We wrote it together…

Sean: During our writing trip.

Noah: And I had a melody and I just couldn’t get anywhere with it and then Jack took it over…

Jack: I rewrote the lyrics and melody for the verses and we kept the chorus. The rewrite of the verses didn’t happen until we were doing vocals, and I was like “fuck it, let’s save it” and I think Noah did a really nice vocal performance. And then we did the live strings.

Sean: This reminds me of INXS. What was that sweet ballad they had when he’s walking around in the jacket in that video?

EF: Never Tear Us Apart?

Jack: (laughs) Yeah!

Noah: I always thought it sounded like “Captain Jack”….

(group laughter)

Sean: At one point during the recording of this I got really scared and kept thinking to myself, “we’re Badfinger!”

(more laughs)

EF: Does Lorraine exist?

Noah: No, it’s just kind of an old name, sounded nice

Jack: It’s a pretty name

Track 12. COMMITMENTS

Noah: This came out of nowhere. I was just trying to write a song that really didn’t have any chords in it, because I’m always strumming. That’s a sitar there.

Sean: I thought this song should have sitar. We got our friend to play it.

Mysterious guest Sitar player, Walt Henry. - SS

Jack: That first sitar you hear is backwards, and this one is regular.

Noah: I love this song. This is definitely our most classic rock song on the album

EF: Certainly fits in with the whole spooky autumn theme.

Ryan: Yes spooky

Noah: This song is dangerous.

Sean: We did the weave in this song too, alternating my organ and your bass, Jack. The organ was making me feel like I was going to pass out when I was playing it because it had this slow modulation to it. I was nodding off.

Jack: We all came up with background vocal ideas and just ended up using all three

(listening to end of song, all clattered instruments)

Jack: An orchestrated falling down the stairs.

Ryan: I took issues with the whole album ending on that last sitar note. Big time. Kind of the most passionate I’ve felt about anything in a long time.

EF: Are you okay with it now?

Ryan: I’m uh…..no (laughs).

Jack: Cool, now here are some B-sides.

Sean: You’ll have to turn the recorder off sir…

(group laughter)

Listen:
“Be Mine Everyone”

See Sam Champion Live:
14 Sept – Washington, D.C. @ DC9
15 Sept – Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
16 Sept – Mt. Pleasant, SC @ Village Tavern
20 Sept – Austin, TX @ Emo’s (Indoors)
24 Sept – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
02 Oct – New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge

Visit Sam Champion on MySpace.
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See the list of bands recently featured as EAR FARM’s Band of the Week HERE.