“The drive to make something is a bit like an indirect conversation; you see or hear something that grabs your attention and you want to respond to it. I think the difference is that with music I think the results are more meaningful to me somehow, or maybe more honest.”

Lunchmeat festival is a celebration of music for the Prague music scene. Every year it comes up with freshly discovered names out of the electronic scene, same as the underground icons. 2014 won’t be an exception. Among respected names like Tim Exile, Evian Christ or Dopplereffekt in the line up the festival also offers rising and gifted artists who are waiting to be discovered by a larger audience – like Samuel Evans aka Rain Dog. Sam is heading to the Czech capital to present his debut LP which he reveiled earlier this year. We immediately got caught by his beautifully deep and harmonic work and have been spinning this record in our player for weeks now. So, we decided to ask him to put a few nice tracks together as a warm up for Friday’s night and also had a little talk about his artistic journey and life… Enjoy!

Hi Sam, thanks for your time! How have you been doing? What are you up to right now?
Hi. Actually, the last three months I have been painting my house, painfully trying to hide the remnants of previous lives. Almost there now.

Oh, good to hear! OK, so let’s start from the complete beginning… Tell us about your childhood or adolescent years – how was the music (or art generally) introduced into your life?
I had a few guitar lessons as a kid but never had any formal training as a musician. Most of my musical interest was sparked by my dad – I was brought up listening to blues, soul and some folk music. I used to muck around in a few bands as a teenager too but it wasn’t until I was about 22 or 23 that I began making beats.

How has the place, where you grew up, influenced your artistic side of personality?
I come from Southport originally and while it isn’t the most exciting place in the country it wasn’t a bad place to grow up at all. I spent a lot of my childhood outside with my brother and cousin building things and injuring each other. We liked to spent time with our grandparents who were creatively very encouraging and fairly musical – church organs, trumpets and things like that. Though, we were quite happy with a cardboard box and some masking tape. My little brother was a bit of a joker and a show off but I was quite shy, I found a lot of comfort in drawing I think.

I see. Your music seems to me a bit intimate, emotional but at the same time very forward-thinking. I’m interested…what inspires you? In terms of other kinds of music or just your surroundings…
I take cues from all sorts of things, from Philip Glass to Dj Nut Nut, anything with a bit of warmth and colour. Intimate is a good word; artists like Joni Mitchel, Neil Young and Nick Drake were all early influences for me. Tom Waits is my all time hero, always reinventing himself and never afraid to take the piss. I love Kidkanevil’s productions, Jon Hopkins, Luke Vibert, Aphex Twin and Burial to name a few. I like crooked music, music that’s a little twisted and full of character. When I was younger I only listened to music that was going to hurt my ears, lots of grunge and metal. I’ve found myself recently going back to some of the things I listened to as a teenager, it’s interesting to draw the parallels between the things that interest me now and 12/13 years ago. I’m still a massive Deftones fan.

In January you have released your debut LP titled Two Words on Project Mooncircle. How did you enjoy the process of making a full-length record? Is there anything that this process has given or taken from you?
It was overall a pretty pleasant experience. I didn’t think I was ready to make an album but after a little encouragement the idea warmed to me. I had to think about the tracks in tandem so I could get an idea of the project as a whole as the tracks developed over time. One of the most important things to me was making sure the there was an overall sense of harmony between the tracks. It took longer than I anticipated but now I’m better prepared for the next project…

Well, I only can say that the result is brilliant… However, with the title “Two Words” and the beautiful cover (made by Felicia Simion), this record felt a bit mysterious to me when I saw it for the first time. Was this the intention or… what’s the story behind the title of record? How important is the visual identity in your work?
I think it was important to keep the cover inquisitive, if a little ambiguous. It being my first album and first solo release I definitely feel I’m still finding my feet as an artist so I didn’t want to attach myself to any distinct visual themes. The title works in the same way, it was taken from a painting by the street artist (and close friend) Mobstr. I wanted an open and suggestive title; on the face of it it’s a curious, bolshie play on words, but in conjunction with the artwork and the music it adopts a broader scope for interpretation. It means a number of things to me personally, but to someone else it could be different. That appeals to me.

Which track on the album is the most personal to you and why?
I think Whistle and I’ll Come To You is most important to me. I feel like it ties the album together for a couple of reasons, it was one of the last tracks I wrote and possibly the one I spent most time on. By working it to death I almost destroyed the song but eventually it came together, and personally I feel it reflects the intention and character of the album as a whole.

You also cooperated on the album with artists like Robot Koch, Bigson, Tomika and Sam Rogers. How did you enjoy this process of co-operating? And how did this work out – was it like you were spending time together in the studio and making the track or that one came up with the idea and the other one carried on with it?
I find working with vocalists really stimulating. With Felicity and Watch over I had the beginnings of a track that they took away and did their thing with, I then continued work on the track with their additions in mind. It was very much a collaboration in that sense because without their input the tracks would have been nowhere near as thoughtful or interesting. I find working with a singer/vocalist on a track brings it to this other level and it lets you look at it from a different perspective, so it’s very refreshing. Tomika was writing for a different track originally but I ended up writing a whole new piece just for his vocals, which I hadn’t anticipated. This whole track just poured out of nowhere.

What pieces of equipment do you use for making records? Could you talk us through your creative process?
I use a PC, pretty much all in the box. The creative process is pretty much just mucking around with samples and beats. I’m pretty sloppy to start with, there is no structure whatsoever until a track starts to develop. I spend a lot of time compiling samples from things that have stood out to me in some way and start writing from there. I like to spread everything out in one place and work on a few things at the same time. I use one synth for everything, one crappy Chinese tube mic for sampling/percussion and various midi controllers.

I’ve read in one article that on the album you also sampled snippets from movies (to be precise Wendy and Lucy or Dogtooth). Do you consider yourself as a movie enthusiast?
Very much. I watch a lot of films, I have a lot of close friends who make films or work in the industry and I love spending time with them. There is a great dynamic between film and music, sometimes I feel they are one and the same thing just tackled from different directions. I often find that a lot of my tracks are kickstarted by a well picked sample.

You finished studies of Fine Arts at Newcastle University, focusing on painting and mark making, correct? Does it mean that your main interest is more in art and painting than in music or is there a balance between those fields? Which one gives you most pleasure: music or creating paintings?
Originally, I was interested more in painting and drawing but over time I naturally drifted towards music. I think the creative process to making music an painting are pretty similar in my head. The drive to make something is a bit like an indirect conversation; you see or hear something that grabs your attention and you want to respond to it. I think the difference is that with music I think the results are more meaningful to me somehow, or maybe more honest.

What’s the best piece of advice anyone has ever given to you?
My Grandfather told me that one day when I grew a little older there would be a point in my life when I would be skint and unsure of what I was supposed to be doing or where I was supposed to be – he said not to worry, just focus and things will settle themselves into place.

Could you tell us your plans for near future? In terms of forthcoming releases, gigs or possible cooperations…
I will be playing a live show in London at gallery opening for street artist, Mobstr’s debut exhibition “Sex, Drugs and Painting On Walls” on the 15th of May, I’m really excited about that. Also I’m working on a new project as we speak which is going to be focused mainly on performing live..

Sounds great! Anyway, on 25th April you will perform together with Evian Christ, Throwing Snow and other artists on Lunchmeat festival in Prague. Will you be playing live or DJ set? Is there anything you could reveal to us about your gig on this festival?
It will be a live show of album material mostly. Massively looking forward to seeing Prague and the other artists!

So do we! Thank you again & see ya there!

Find out more about Rain Dog on Facebook or hear more of his music on Soundcloud.