Hi. My name’s Jesús and I’m writing this letter because, one, I’m still sorry and saddened for the loss of your son, Sam, since he was such a talented human being and was (still is) a big, and I mean BIG, inspiration to me. I didn’t have idea there was a website dedicated to him, which is cool, because I his legacy shouldn’t be forgotten. You could say I’m just an ordinary fan, but I guess his music has touched me in the most deepest and visceral way possible, I really don’t know how to describe it. So I guess this letter is a good idea to let go all these feelings.
I never in my life met Sam, because I live in México (Puebla City) and being far away from the USA, where all the cool music scenes are, really sucks. I’ve been following his work since his old band Test Icicles, but I wasn’t much of a fan even though I liked their music, but I absolutely love his solo projects such as Outer Limits Recordings. There is this particular project called “Blues Runner” where there’s no rock and roll or pop music, but this kind of ambient/psychedelic/new age music that’s based on analogue synthesizers (which I guess Sam loved). Here’s a link of said work:
I don’t know if you were aware of these musical pieces, but this is one of Sam’s works that had a huge impact on me since at least 2009 and 2010, mostly because it sounds… “sacred”(?), I don’t know how to describe it really, but it sounds out of this world. Speaking of that, most of his solo music had themes of “aliens” and some other paranormal stuff, which I guess that’s one of the main things that me and Sam have in common and that’s I why relate to his music a lot, that one and cassette tapes, Sam loved to record on analogue format (me too).
I guess is suffice to say that Sam soundtracked most of my young days at university almost 10 years ago (I’m 30 now), there’s lots of his works that I listened to that helped me to go through hard times. There’s also some kind of child-like/nostalgic/innocence feel to it. I absolutely love this project called Wingdings, since it’s a mixture of the abstract/new age stuff but with a more rock/pop attitude.
Or this masterpiece which consisted of synthesizers, drum machines and lots, lots of lo-fi tape hiss.
Or this pop gem.
Such a talented individual. There were times I wanted to contact him just to say thanks for the music he’s shared with us, but I didn’t want to disturb or annoy him, being such a shy person as myself is kinda hard you know.
2018 marked the year I returned the most to his music since 2012, because I was thinking about the old days and stuff, then I was wondering whatever happened to Sam? How is he now? Seeing him with new friends making and producing music was such a relief because I was thinking, “did he seriously got abducted by aliens again?” (He used to joke about that in interviews… or maybe did he really have an encounter with them many years ago? I’ll never know!).
I follow one of his best buddies on instagram called Zak Mering and when he posted a note about Sam’s passing, something inside me really broke, my heart broke and felt cold and I couldn’t help but cry, which is weird because, as I said earlier, I never met Sam, but I was very connected to his music, he shaped a world in me. It’s like the mentor and friend I never had. Part of me says I needed to talk to him or something like that.
Now, seeing this website, dedicated to him, seeing all the photos/videos of him, with his family and friends, it’s pretty sad, but also a relief that Sam’s legacy will never be forgotten thanks to you, and of course all his friends. I won’t lie, I have a lump in my throat now. I’m still heartbroken.
Sorry for the big wall of text, but I guess you’re the right person to read all of this, Sam’s father, Abbas. Just like everyone that was around and close to him, I’ll miss Sam a lot, his presence, everything. I have nothing more to add here other than thank you again for this website, I’ll probably know about Sam’s life a little bit better in the future once this about me sections gets completed. It’d be great to see a reply from you someday. I hope this message/e-mail arrives wll.
My blessings to you and all of your family, I send you a big, big hug from México, Puebla. I hope everything is okay over there.
– Jesús Alberto