I discovered Samiam at the same time I discovered Green Day and Screeching Weasel, after I went to Florida with my family in 5th grade. I played in the arcade at the hotel and these 2 vision street wear shorts wearin’ dudes told me about all those bands I should check out. I got home and bought Clumsy by Samiam, Wiggle by Screeching Weasel, and Kerplunk by Green Day. I of course got into all those bands, bought all their records. I even played “2,000 Light Years Away” by Green Day at the 5th grade talent show.
“Part of the Bay Area punk revival of the late ’80s and early ’90s, Samiam specialized in the catchy, anthemic punk-pop typical of the Warped Tour crowd, but separated themselves with a greater debt to hardcore and a more introspective lyrical bent that won over emo audiences. Formed in 1988, most of the band’s founding members had played in other Berkeley-area punk groups: vocalist Jason Beebout had been in Isocracy with bassist Martin Brohm; guitarist Sergie Loobkoff had been a drummer for Sweet Baby Jesus; and second guitarist James Brogan had been in Social Unrest. Drummer Mark Mortinsen — the first of many — completed the charter Samiam lineup, which caused an immediate stir on the Gilman Street punk scene with its local-supergroup pedigree.”
Samiam are still playing music.
Favorite records are Soar and Clumsy. Clumsy is their most fun poppy record.
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(MP3) from Soar
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(MP3) from Clumsy
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(MP3) from Billy
Check out Samiam records on Amazon.
View their Myspace page.
From an old issue of Dig:
Samiam broke up six years ago. Kinda. When most bands break up, there’s usually a formal announcement, some final shows and maybe even one last album. But for the members of Samiam, the term ‘break up’ had a vastly different. “Basically we broke up in 2000, and since then we actually toured Europe three times and we toured South America in 2002… So we broke up but didn’t take it seriously enough to actually break up. We didn’t announce we had broken up and we didn’t stop practicing or booking shows,” says guitarist Sergie Loobkoff. So yeah, kinda. I’ll leave it at that.
Samiam’s roots as a band stretch back to 1989. Rising from the Berkeley, CA punk scene, the founding members of the band aimed to combine their punk roots with a more melodic, emotionally charged sound. The early recordings of Samiam, including the first self-titled album, clung to the rougher edges of the band’s upbringing, but a seed had been planted. Samiam wasn’t akin with the politically charged scene that had birthed them. There were a few reasons for this. One, the band wasn’t afraid to look inside of themselves for musical and lyrical inspiration. They were “emo” before that was even a word, and they didn’t feel the need to sweeten up the darker sides of life. Two, their melodic brand of aggression was innovative, driving and catchy in a way that had never been done before. And three, they weren’t afraid to get drunk and have fun.
Before long, Samiam had returned with another album, entitled ‘Soar.’ The album explored the band’s emerging pop sensibilities and allowed them some notoriety throughout the US and Europe. By 1992, the band had released a third album which reached further into the collective’s expansive songwriting techniques. ‘Billy,’ as the third album was titled, captured the band leaning towards longer songs, darker relationship-inspired themes and a tendency to drive the song’s melody to the point of no return. It was hailed by many in the underground as a classic pop/punk record, and Samiam enjoyed lengthy tours throughout Europe and the US as a result of ‘Billy.’
By 1993, the major label bidding war following the rise of Nirvana had focused itself on Samiam. And a year later, the band released ‘Clumsy’ on Atlantic Records. The sound was crisp, the songs were more succinct and the band even made a video for the first single ‘Capsized.’
To no avail, the label struggled to find an efficient way to market Samiam. Touring changed into supporting a product, the band was forced to do radio appearances and played alongside bands that they had no common bond with. It was, as they say, major label limbo. And it lasted for close to four years.
Following the band’s release from Atlantic, they recorded ‘You Are Freaking Me Out’ for Burning Heart Records, a European subsidiary of Epitaph Records. The album was lauded as a critical success and captured the rage of emotions that had charged Samiam fans from the start. Unfortunately, along with ‘Clumsy,’ the album quickly went out of print and has yet to be re-released.
In 2000, it seemed as if the end of Samiam was near. In the words of Loobkoff, “In 2000, in America, Samiam really became a ‘never-was’ band.” The band still enjoyed healthy reception in Europe, but fans were either moving on or forgetting about the band. And then Hopeless Records released what many believed was their swan song, ‘Astray.’ The album captured Samiam at a turning point in their lives. The band members were moving into different roles in life, the industry had spit them out and fans had given up on them. It was no longer a career pursuit for the band. But the melody, the aggression and the emotional displacement remained. Those key ingredients allowed ‘Astray’ the emotional breadth to reinvigorate old fans while creating new ones. Then came the “break up,” some more touring and a break on the writing.
But the break up was not everything it had promised. According to Loobkoff, “Samiam did a tour in Europe that was amazing and that really energized everyone. I mean after our last show, which had 1,000 excited Samiam fans in Cologne, we asked ourselves, “This is fun. Why wouldn’t we make another record?” Then the fact that we are now on a label in America that is so supportive, nonjudgmental and easy going, we felt that we could do this without having to do all the things that made the late ’90s less than fun for Samiam. The band returned to the recording studio to record ‘Whatever’s Got You Down’ for Hopeless Records. The album is a bit of a departure from the classic ‘Samiam sound’ that has characterized the band’s career. It’s more aggressive, more raw and less easily digestible upon first listen than past Samiam albums. But it’s all there just the same; almost twenty years later, it’s all there just the same. Even if the band is technically broken up…
Not sure if you are aware, but in 2006 after a 6-year hiatus, Samiam put out what I believe is their best record, Whatever’s Got You Down. The production is pretty stripped down, and Jason’s voice sounds really rough (I assume from 6 more years of not taking care of himself), but the songs are amazing. Some great new guitar sounds, too.
http://www.last.fm/music/Samiam/Whatever%27s+Got+You+Down
After falling in love with this record I decided to give Astray another listen, and am glad I did. There’s some good stuff.
I stumbled upon your site while looking to see if Samiam was working on another new record. My first thought was, “Rick Rubin likes Samiam? Weird!”