DEFINING AUDIO/VISUAL PERFORMANCE WITH SAMPOLOGY
Sam-pol-o-gy - Noun
An audio/visual artist from Australia, combining turtablism, music produc- tion and video content for a one of a kind multi-sensory experience.
Although Sampolgy can be summarized fairly easily, he is made up of numer- ous variants. Starting off as a DJ in Australia with an eye for hip-hop methods, Sampology began touring his multi-genred sets around Australia in 2003. In the early days, Sam was a fan of Australian group the Avalanches, specifically of group DJ, DJ Dexter. Cutting it up left, right and centre, DJ Dexter inspired Sam to start scratching and using hip-hop techniques on the decks to enhance his mixing. “DJ Dexter of the Avalanches was very much a turntablist and is also one of the most eclectic selectors, a huge influence to start,” said Sam- pology. “I was into turntablism but I wasn’t a scratch nerd. I never competed in DMC or anything like that.”
Always looking for the next thing to add to his sets, Sampology was intrigued by the world of video DJing. Unfortunately in those days you needed DVDJs, which ran about $6000 a piece - not exactly in the budget of your average bedroom producer. Luckily, keepin’ up with the Jones’ affects music technol- ogy just as much as anything, and within a couple years Serato’s technical improvements allowed Samplology to experiment with making and editing video to go along with his music productions. “I get bored pretty fast with things,” said Sam. “To me it seemed an obvious thing when this new palette became available for me to work with. Telling a story with a DJ set seemed like an obvious thing.”
With his gear secured Sampology began his foray into the video world. With only a few audio/visual artists to look up to, Sam was able to write his own blueprint. “Everyone kind of knows what DJing is, and you can do your own style, but there are still different rules. With the visual DJing there are kind of no rules and there’s less expectations of what you should do, so everyone kind of does it in their own way,” said Sam. Excited to be somewhat of a pioneer in this newer form of performance, Sam began cracking away on YouTube, logging hours everyday watching videos and learning how to edit video content with his music.
His productions began to go hand in hand with video samples, and soon caught the attention of several Australian comedic types. Most notably and
important to Sam was Chris Lilley of Angry Boys fame, his favourite comedic creator. Working with Chris Lilley not only opened the door to working with a hero of sorts, but also doing remixes for The Wiggles - yes, the kid’s show. Before agreeing to the project Sampology had some reservations. “I just kept thinking, is this going to be completely whack, or is this going to be cool? I think it turned out ok. It was weird going through like six of their old DVDs to find content though.” Regardless of the strangeness of it all, Sampology makes a point. “Doing the Wiggles project is just one way of investing in the future longevity of Sampology!”
With several Australian actors, including his favourite Chris Lilley, crossed off the list of dream performers to collaborate with, Sampology has set his sights on a North American - one most Canadians are familiar with. Sampology is hoping to make something happen with Nardwuar, “the Human Serviette,” Canada’s interviewer extraordinaire. “I’m a fan of a lot of the artists he’s interviewed. It didn’t take me long to get addicted and spend all day just watching Nardwuar. I would be star struck if I met him,” said Sam. “It would be super dope if I could get something recorded from him to use.”
Aside from securing some new talent to work with, Sampology is busy working on a new EP, and video content to match. Following up his full-length Dooms- day Delux -- a story about Bruce Willis saving planet Earth from imminent kitty destruction, Sam is focusing on music first. “Last year the theme was the end of the world visual apocalypse, with Bruce Willis as a heavy feature saving the world. I was watching a lot of YouTube leading up to that show, and it was kind of a natural progression that the video and audio morphed into the same kind of project. As of right now I’m writing a lot of music but not sure if it will be a full-length album. Some tracks like Attack of the Cats have a visual in my mind, but that’s not something I have for every track I make. The visual and audio is a slight different process,” said Sampology.
With music being Sam’s first love, it’s still slightly more important than the video aspect. Above all, Sampology is still about making people dance. This is how Sampology is pioneering his method of audio/visual performance, a sec- tor we will surely see growth in as more and more producers progress. It’s the few currently practicing this technique who are writing the rules, just as the few practicing DJing in the early 80s laid down the roots of electronic music. Regardless of what happens with technology and the evolution of our scene, right now to Sampology’s music is all about travelling, meeting new people and having fun. A definition I think we can all agree on.
For more information on Sampology (like his kick ass blog) go to
www.sam-
polgy.com
Catch Sampology headlining Fractal Forest at this year’s Shambhala Music Festival, August 7-12.
WORDS BY K LEA
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