We had the good fortune of connecting with Sam Slick and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sam, what’s something about your industry that outsiders are probably unaware of?
It takes a long time to make any progress as a musician. There are countless hours of practice and writing and rehearsals that add up to being good enough to record or play shows, and any achievement is incremental. I feel like a perception if you play a bunch of shows and release some music, you’ve made it, but it is a lot of repetitive work just to start getting your name out there. I’m not sure what’s beyond the point I’m currently at but I bet it’s more slow and steady progress and a lot of work. I love it but it’s certainly not an overnight sensation type of path!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I make folk-rock, music inspired by and indebted to generations of musicians in a classic route of songwriting, combined with an energetic rock band. There’s nothing new about rock and roll, but I think we give a breath of fresh air to a long tradition of songwriting. I’m proud to say that I don’t think I’ve ever written any songs that are too close to one another; nobody who hears my music confuses one of my songs for another one. My band also helps me stand out by giving life to my songs and adding their own ideas and inspirations to make our music unique. I’m probably most proud of our latest singles, which we have recorded with our most stable and talented lineup of musicians yet. If somebody is listening to my music for the first time, I hope they hear my newest single Still You’re Here With Me – it captures the most essential aspects of my songwriting and my band at their most exciting and engaging.

It’s not easy to be heard as a musician these days when there are so many great musicians able to pursue their art and so many ways to access music. However, I hope we are starting to make progress into the greater world and build an audience through the quality and energy of our music. Neither I nor my band come from a rich background full of music industry connections; we have worked hard at what we do and earned respect through our efforts and talents alone. I hope our sincere efforts to connect to people the world over shine through our music.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If I had a friend visiting for a week we would have a great visit full of live music, of course! I generally go out wherever friends are playing live, but my usual haunts are The Silverlake Lounge (my favorite spot), The Redwood, Club Tee-Gee, The Escondite, basically any small club with great music and other friends in attendance. If this is a summer visit, I love going to the Big Top Bandstand on Sundays all summer at Tom Bergin’s, a historic Irish pub. My friend RJ Bloke runs shows in a big tent which features amazing artists, delicious barbecue, and of course great beer. We’ve been lucky enough to play there the past two summers and I love going there for a unique outdoor show experience.

It can’t all be local shows! For food, I’m always going to Mom’s Donuts and Chinese Food for breakfast, just the nicest people and breakfast that hits the spot. There’s no shortage of good food in LA but I’m no gourmet dining kinda guy – for anybody who doesn’t live here, they need to try some street food and get amazing tacos or pupusas from street vendors.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’ve got to give a shout-out to my fellow musicians around Los Angeles who are all working incredibly hard toward getting our music out there through so many shows and new releases; even though everybody is working for themselves, everybody supports everybody else and has contributed to a friendly community.

Website: https://linktr.ee/samslick

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrsamslick/

Twitter: Twitter.com/mrsamslick

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@mrsamslick

Other: https://samslick.bandcamp.com/

Image Credits
Seth Lukas, Chris Perez, Shawna Schiro, Nathaniel Cruz, Jose Gonzalez

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.