23 f 12 shots from the fRoots
Rocket Launcher a dozen leading questions to fire at Sam Lee
If you were given the funds to organise a concert bill, who would the artists be?
Do you mean I don’t have to take huge financial risk on this?! How unusual. In which case, I’d like to have Joni Mitchell, Jeannie Robertson, Ole Bull, Michael Jack- son, The Georgia Sea Islanders, Bessie Jones and Ibrahim Maalouf please.
Which totally obscure record do you most treasure and would like more people to know about?
I’m going to cheat a bit here and say an entire record company rather than just one. I don’t think of them as being obscure but the Smithsonian Folkways label has proved to been such a goldmine of music from around the world – I now have records of Inuit cere- monial songs, Iranian devotional music and calls to prayer from Afghanistan that have all inspired me. They are not only beautiful but such vital documents of disappearing cultures.
What was the best live gig you ever saw?
Tough choice but if forced to choose, either Huun Huur Tu playing the Prince Albert pub in Stroud 2013 or Prince at Cam- den Town’s Roundhouse last year.
And what was the worst?
There was a folk awards ceremony a few years ago where a certain famous American songwriter played with his E string completely flat. That was three and half minutes of agony (on his behalf, main- ly) that I will never forget.
What was your own best ever gig?
It would have to be the Queen Eliza- beth Hall show that me and the band played in May 2014. We had the Roundhouse Choir singing with us and a brass section. It was full, including our families and friends. A very uplifting moment.
And what was your worst?
When I was just getting started as a musician I got offered with my then band a gig to play for an event at Shoreditch Town Hall in London. They had wanted something ‘folky’ but when we got there we realised it was an award ceremony for construction firms working on the Olympic site. We went on two hours after our expected time to a room of drunk surveyors and foremen who did not want folk ballads… and they were not shy of showing it. One woman got on stage to ask us to play Abba and had to be removed.
What’s the professional achievement you’re most proud of?
The Mercury nomination will probably stand as the most life-changing moment and it was thrilling, but in a funny sort of way it
was also a bit of an odd experience that was going on around me – in the hands of some anonymous judges. A bit like a lottery win. So, I think the song collecting work I’ve done amongst the Gypsy Traveller community is actually what has interested me most, and helping to throw a bit of light on their musi- cal world has made me more proud.
What’s the most embarrassing thing you ever did in public?
Once one has spent four months wear- ing rubber hot pants every night in the West End, very little embarrasses you. I am more liable to be the one embarrassing those around me (usually by association).
Which song or piece of music would you most like to have written yourself?
The piano concertos by Sergei Rach-
maninov. I am always completely blown away by his music.
Who was the first musician or singer you were inspired to emulate?
In my world, Michael Jackson was there first and taught me so much. His music and style still influences me a bit even now.
Who was the last-but-one musician or singer you lusted after?
Cheeky!
If you had a rocket launcher, who or what would be the target, and why?
I’d like to vote for Shopping Centres (with no people in them, obviously), notably all Westfield chains and all branches of Tesco. I haven’t spent money in a Tesco for over ten years and think they are the scourge of our country. And here ends any possible chance of a nice sponsorship deal!
Sam Lee’s new album The Fade In Time is reviewed this issue.
root salad
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