Singer songwriter Sam Uctas used vintage tape machines to get a distinctive retro sound on his new album Redacted Lines. Influenced by the Beat Poets and sixties rock and funk Uctas practiced guitar for six hours a day as a kid and often adapts poems into songs.
He tells Entertainment Now about his musical journey.
How did your musical project first start? Is there a story to tell about it?
There was never really a distinct start to my music. It’s been as important a part of my life as breathing. Music is the anchor holding me from the void, an escape from reality.
What was your first gig?
The first time I played live was at a jam night in a pub in Kingston. I was around 16. It was an old school blues jam hosted by Robin Bibi, a kinda local guitar hero. Waiting for my turn to play I was a nervous wreck. At this point, my guitar playing had been confined to my bedroom, stepping on any stage felt so alien to me. Anyway, my name was called and I went up on stage, a scrawny 16 year old with a bunch of 50 year old blokes. We started playing a Chuck Berry 12 bar blues song. The instant the music started and my fingers hit the strings, all nerves dissipated. I was back in my bedroom, just me and my guitar, everything felt natural. The song finished with my guitar solo, then we broke in to another blues classic. I got down from the stage, my dad was sitting there beaming, and random blokes patted me on the back saying ‘you’re good son’. I thought to myself, I will NEVER get nervous playing guitar again. And to this day, I haven’t.
How have your music/live performances been received by fans?
Overall, I think people have taken to it. There is an honesty and openness to my music, that I think you can’t fake. Also, I think there is an appreciation that I am trying to do something different from the norm.
What three words best describe your musical style and why?
Funky – I grew up on 70s funk, Parliament/Funkadelic, Sly and the Family Stone, The Meters. So most of my tracks are based on a deep groove, even slow songs need a sense of rhythm.
Strange – I like music that is out of step with the rest. Outsiders like Moondog, Wild Man Fischer, Captain Beefheart have always felt more relatable to me that any popstar. So I try an embrace and continue their love of the avant garde. The one thing it would pain me to be is boring.
Provoking – I make music that doesn’t always follow traditional song structures. Songs flow and transform as you listen, one can start and finish a song in two completely different moods. Also lyrically, I try to write on subject matters that don’t see much light of day in popular music.
Who are your biggest musical influences?
On the guitar side, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Jeff Beck, John Frusciante, Niel Young, Eddie Hazel, Albert King, T-Bone Walker, Buddy Guy, Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson
Lyrically, my music leans more on the styles of Tom Waits, Lou Reed, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Jackson C. Frank, Leonard Cohen, Charles Bukowski
Tell us about your new release.
It’s a culmination of a style of music I have been working on since I was 18. An extrapolation of art-rock, that is unique to me. I wanted to record an album that is more of a piece of art than a collection of isolated tracks, although it is not a concept album, it can be thought of as one extended track.
What inspires your lyrics?
My lyrics are mostly drawn from my subconscious, there is no particular inspiration. I guess it is a soup of memories, trauma, joy, books I’ve read, films I’ve watched and music I’ve listened to. Something will bubble to the surface, and from there a song is born. I really have no control over it.
How do you hope listeners will feel after hearing your music?
I’d like to convey a raw feeling of hope. There are some things that transcend words, that only music has the power to explain. A language of colours and emotions and vibrations which hit you right in the centre of your soul. It can fill you with euphoria and reduce you to tears.
Do you have any upcoming tour dates?
Not in the foreseeable future. I’m more of a studio rat.
What are you working on next?
I’m currently writing for my next album, which I plan to record throughout the first half of 2025. I think it will be my best work yet.
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