Beyond These Shores

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Sunday 15 November 2009 (Michael Bugeja - The Sunday Times of Malta)

“Life in Brussels has its ups and downs, but there are definitely more ups” So says pianist Sam Hayman, one half of Belgium-based Maltese acoustic duo Sasha & Sam. He relocated to the European capital last April, largely to dedicate more time to his musical partnership with guitarist Sasha Vella, who has been in Brussels ‘off and on’ for about three years. Sasha’s reason for moving weren’t primarily musical though. “I came here to be with my partner, who is from Brussels. I met her in Malta about 6 years ago”. Compared to life in Malta, Brussels was obviously different, but as Sasha puts it, “Over time I’ve come to realize this is a great city full of different people. It’s great that you can get the city vibe but there’s peace and quiet too”.

Once they had settled in, it was inevitable that Sasha and Sam, both deeply enamored of music, would get involved in the city’s music scene. “It’s a really good scene here; you can see so many different artists, famous or not, performing and creating original stuff. It’s great to see this and sometimes be a part of it” Sasha says of Brussels’ musical aspect. Indeed, it is because of their music that I am interviewing the duo, particularly their upcoming engagement opening for international guitarist Jesse Cook when he plays in Malta on Tuesday, November 24 in Valletta. Sasha & Sam spoke to us ahead of their visit to Malta this month about their music and their plans for the future.

What was it that first drew you to music - your first musical memory, if you like – and made you want to become a musician? Sam: She probably doesn’t even know this, but my mother set me on the path to becoming a pianist. As she played a famous Neapolitan tarantella at home, I noticed her left hand doing something completely different from her right, which turned out to be an epiphany for me. From that one occasion, I got the feel for the bass-line, which I believe is where my musical ear comes from. I guess being so young, my brain just went haywire exploring all the possibilities on the keyboard. Once I had figured out the melody and the bass-line that goes with it, I had a whole song structure and its harmony. It was no prodigious feat but it certainly steepened my learning curve.

Sasha: As far back as I can remember my mum and dad always had music on at home; Helen Shapiro, Pink Floyd, Mantovani, Lucio Dalla…and I always loved singing too. I remember brainwashing myself with The Beatles’ greatest hits, I must have been about 9. The first album I bought was Abba’s Arrival which completely blew me away. I think my love for writing and being able to sing the words, as well as meeting certain people along the way who have been important to me and my music has made this one of the most beautiful experiences in my life; one that will hopefully be with me for as long as I live.

Each of you comes from a different music scenario. What are your strongest musical qualities and how do you manage to blend them into such engaging and emotional songs? Sam: Apart from jazz, which requires a particular set of skills, once I had acquired some solid grounding I’ve always been able to improvise on the piano. I’d sit down and play something completely new, regardless of how good or bad it was. The important thing was that I was jogging my creativity and exploring the keyboard. Over time, and especially when I met Sasha, this translated into a typical scenario where she’ll play something and fuel my inspiration. This ‘tool’ helps me contribute to the creative process that goes into writing our songs.

Sasha: I think my strong point is my ability to write lyrics and simple music and when it comes to Sam I think its the fact that he can play any genre of music and compose the most intricate and moving tunes which inspire me every time. When it comes to blending our qualities together, it happens because we tune in to some emotion common to both of us.

Sasha, you are very much a self-styled musician while Sam is more the academic musician. Has this presented any difficulties or has it worked to your advantage? Sasha: I think that it definitely works to our advantage. It’s like having two worlds that grow together yet individually at the same time. I feel that we both give each other something more, something new when a song is in the making or whenever we meet up.

Every artist has a muse or an inspiration; who’s yours? Sam: No one in particular; the best way I can explain it is that it’s more the emotions that a person conveys to me that I find inspiring. For example, I recently composed an orchestra piece called Réflexions Bleues which is dedicated to Sasha. I tried to capture what Sasha means to me through music - her sweetness, her occasional melancholic moods and the heightened emotional states her music elevates me to. This also applies during performances, so whatever emotion I am feeling at that moment will affect my interpretation, meaning this can differ slightly from one performance to the next and in turn it would also relay a different message or feel back to Sasha.

Sasha: One person who inspires me is Roger Waters. His ability to have his lyrics rhyme and make a lot of sense, the way he writes about politics and war and then write about something so delicate and difficult - the fears that we all have and feel. His writing is intelligent and emotional and I could listen to him forever.

Sasha, you are in charge of the lyrics. What topic do you find the most inspiring and does location play a big part in the mood of your writing? Sasha: The lyrics I write, more often than not are from personal experiences, so when it comes to writing about love or a love lost then I suppose it would be about the person I am or was involved with at that particular time. I’m also inspired by everyday occurrences, what I hear in the news, incidents involving social injustice, needless poverty, greed and other events that happen all the time in this crazy world. I am also staunchly against cruelty to animals. I suppose location does play a small part too, but I mostly write about situations I have experienced. One very special and inspiring memory I have is of sitting in the verandah at my parents’ house at sunset with a view of the beautiful garden below; the sun-kissed limestone; the smell of the sea and skies - I will never forget that.

Sam, you have practically played every genre under the sun. Do you have a preferred genre or can you adapt to any style? Sam: By listening to many styles of music, I managed to assimilate many piano styles but like most other musicians, I have my preferred styles, namely Jazz and folk. Folk is the term both Sasha and I agreed to ‘categorise’ our music under because we cannot really describe it so easily in one word nor match our style to one artist or band. Such inclinations towards one or more styles of playing, lead one to acquire what might be termed as a ‘philosophy of music’ or ‘musical approach’. Sasha’s and mine match quite perfectly, which is yet another factor that comes into play and make us fit together like a glove.

You are opening for Jesse Cook in November. How are you feeling about playing alongside an artist of such international repute? Sam: Given his international standing, you can imagine we’re very excited. The day we got to know about it Sasha and I were about to start a practice session. We weren’t in the best of moods either, so when the call came it was very uplifting to say the least. The good news boosted our mindset and we spent weeks thinking of ways to make our performance in Malta the best ever. We will in fact also be playing at The Black Pearl on the Friday after the Jesse Cook concert but that will be exclusively Sasha & Sam with a very interesting twist.

Sasha: Stunned, honoured and slightly nervous. I love Jess Cook’s music and I’ll definitely enjoy every minute of watching him perform. I’m also looking forward to seeing some people I haven't seen in a while at our Friday gig.

Has it been difficult managing a day job and your music commitments? Sam: By designing websites and the never-ending love, support and patience from my family in Malta, I make ends meet in Belgium. I work from home and I love computer stuff so it’s not tiring at all. Of course, I’d rather be making music full-time because that my biggest passion. The only thing that I happily sacrifice is sleep.

Sasha: I’m not complaining as I get a lot of support from my boss and colleagues, but sometimes it can get tiring. Having said that, I’ve read a few biographies of prominent musicians and compared to them, I have it pretty easy.

How hard is it to get a gig in Brussels? Sasha: Believe it or not, it’s not so difficult, although staging our own concert would probably be very expensive. There are so many bars, so many musicians that it can be difficult to get your music heard. Maybe I should find a bar here where Sam and I are resident musicians; kind of like it was at Juuls. We could play every day, either to people or by ourselves.

I know you have been recording songs for an upcoming release… Sam: Yes we’re currently finalizing our release which will be out by Christmas. The problem has always been the money factor. Publishing a music record is not cheap so we needed time. We’ll announce the release date on our website. We have enough material for around three albums so we need to weed out and choose the songs, and then we’ll know if it will be an EP or a full album. We’ve also recorded some video footage of two songs which may be on the record. We have no concrete deals yet, but we’re definitely working on it.

Sasha & Sam website