The lovely echo of an indie guitar riff to open a track up, followed by a really up close and personal vocal, quite intimate, lyrically as well – there’s a lot of emotion and closeness in this song. There’s a hint of early 2000’s inspiration, those tracks by Brand New that you sit listening to on repeat with your friends until the early hours of the morning. It’s a strong song, great guitars, a pleasant and gentle but croaky, honest vocal. I think the vocal was possibly a little too up front in the mix, but it was only noticeable in the chorus – perhaps a few more vocals or harmonies would connect the music together a little more.
I think it would be a great song to see performed live, the kind of track where you need to witness that raw emotion taking place. It’s nice to hear this kind of song writing that actually means something, that came from a real place of feeling. The world doesn’t always feel big and beautiful, sometimes things are shitty. It’s important that song writers still touch on these ideas. It’s good to talk, plus it makes songs much easier to connect with – it will make a lot of sense to a lot of people.
The vulnerability is really nicely contrasted with the loudness of the music at those climactic chorus sections. It’s not often heard in much of modern music, so it’s definitely a pleasure to come across. I always think a big guitar solo section or an instrumental break away from the norm would make any track that little bit more epic, but in this case the song works well and I’d be keen to hear more from Sam Ghodsi to see where the music and the lyrics take him. There’s something to be said in the song that isn’t being said by any one else right now, or atleast not in such a way as this – a great quality to achieve. Learn more at samghodsi.com
By Rebecca Cullen
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW:
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
I grew up between Bath, England and Los Angeles, California. I knew music was a passion at 12 years old when me and my family were watching a movie when a piano piece started playing, I then jump up and ran to the dining room and started playing the same piece on our piano and in that moment I felt like I was in a different world and that was it.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
Sam Ghodsi is my birth name, I was thinking about changing it when I was recording my second record so I spoke with my producer and I remember his word were (are you psyched man, you have a perfect name for a singer/songwriter) so I thought, alright let’s just go with it.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
I love online music sharing! Do I give songs away for free? Yeah depending on what I’m doing like if I’m about to just put out a new record then I’ll put some old songs out for free. I have five songs from my last record out for free on my site right now.
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
I don’t think there’s one way to make a successful career, I have a few friends that are extremely successful and they all gained there success in different ways. If I had to say something it would be to constantly write and play shows. As an artist our product is our music so the more we produce the more chance we have at writing a song that truly resonates with people and hopefully gains exposure.
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
I would say life is my inspiration, the things I see that touch me and my life as well. As far as do I have a certain place I like to write or ritual, no. I can write anywhere as long as I’m inspired.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
Yeah my website is samghodsi.com as far as online platforms, I use Sound Cloud, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
I don’t think I would want a year off, I just got through my hiatus and to be honest if it wasn’t for me working on my startup I would have probably lost my mind. I’m just a productive guy I guess.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
I guess the Internet would be the main way I promote my self
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
I’ll be releasing my new EP sometime over the next couple months and after that will be looking into a tour to promote it.
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
I’d probably be a business man, my Dads a business man and I remember as a kid I would always look up to him and wanted to do what he did. I am also currently working on a startup set to launch next year.
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
Short and sweet, multitasking I guess.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
2016 is really exciting for me and hopefully will be for my fans as well. I have been on a bit of a hiatus so it feels good. I have an EP coming out over the next couple months and from there will be looking in to a tour most likely through Europe and a small America tour as well is possible.
