Before real life decided to kick us both in the figurative balls, we did this little interview with Sam. We worked on it, got everything about 15 minutes away from posting… then never did. Maybe it was because we were embarrassed. My level of drunkenness and nervous giddy laughing during the interview hit a new high (thanks a LOT to happy hour) and LiLi’s unabashed flirting and falling in love (aka arguing over sports) with John Notto made us both kind of cringe later when we listened to the audio. All I can say is, there is a reason we don’t video interviews. Ever. Cause our editing skillz blow and it’s a lot easier to cut out those embarrassing parts when you are transcribing. Thanks goodness.

BUT, we got some real gems in the interview. Gems, I tell you. We may or may not be working on making some little audio clips of certain parts because they make us truly happy. And yes, some of these questions aren’t as, um, timely as they were then, but it’s still Sam and some of the answers are still fantastic so we are saying screw it and posting them anyway.

So, without further ado and excuse making, we present to you, our interview with Sam!

After the jump, cause this shiz is LONG! (TWSS)

Headlining, Riding in an RV and Cuddling in a Prius

LiLi: so my 1st question to you is, this is like 3 tours now…
Sam: Yep.
LiLi: That you’ve been on. Two supporting, one headlining.
Sam: Yep.
LiLi: How’s it different?
Sam: Uh, there’s less people.
Amber: laughing No…
Sam: No, what?
Amber: still laughing
Sam: No, no, no, this is not… I, it’s…
LiLi: No. Hey, go for it.
Sam: It’s the truth. There’s less people. We get a longer set. There’s a different sound. It’s more rocky. We worked on the songs a lot more, and um, there’s a full band. Last time it wasn’t a full band so I’m a lot happier there. Um, it’s also different in that there are different people around. Holly, for example. We’ve just had a lot of fun. We’re great friends, the band and I and Holly and the band and her band and all that band.
LiLi: Everyone’s band.
Amber: Everybody’s friends.
Sam: Yep, everyone’s friends. Um, we’re in an RV for uh…
LiLi: All of y’all? Or just you? Like, all of y’all?
Sam: No, just the band. Well, my, Dustin, and my band and I.
LiLi: Right. I thought you meant like you and Holly…
Sam: No, no.
LiLi: I thought, that’s a lot of people.
Sam: They are in a Prius.
Amber: A Prius??
Sam: Yeah.
Amber: Ooooo…
Sam: They’re like really going for it.
LiLi: Legit.
Amber: Oooooo…there’s lots of cuddling going on there. I don’t know, there isn’t much room.
LiLi: Do you feel like it’s a different set of responsibilities as a headliner as opposed to supporting?
Sam: They’re not in my hands, those responsibilities. Those are left to Dustin.
LiLi: Gotcha.
Sam: Um, but, um, essentially the same things happen. I don’t realy let it go too far out of my radar. I try and concetrate on just music and that never happens, so…
LiLi: Well, ya know.
Sam: It’s okay, I don’t want that to happen.
LiLi: Well…
Sam: One day.

Recording, Touring and Getting Drunk at Country Music Festivals (Complete with Mooing)

LiLi: What? You wanna ask?
Amber: No, I was just looking, like I can read right now…
LiLi: See if you can read right now. I’m very excited to see how this goes down.
Amber: Oh, so what are we doing after the tour ends?
Sam: We’re going to try and record.
Amber: Oo!
Sam: We’re going to try and get some of these new songs down. And then after that, um, I think what I am going to do is go out by myself and try and make it so I am, kind of, not taking three month gaps.
LiLi: Yeah.
Amber: Okay.
Sam: And just keep, we’ve got some ideas like, trying to do like a college radio circuit kind of thing.
Amber: Mm Hmm.
LiLi: Yeah.
Sam: Trying to just, uh, play as much.
Sam: laughs
Amber: laughs
Sam: Trying to um, yeah, just play as much as possible. That’s the plan. And then also I am going to go to a country music festival with my mom.
LiLi: Oh yeah?
Sam: And I am going to get drunk for seven days.
Amber: YES! clapping
LiLi: Wow.
Amber: Are you excited?
Sam: That’s why I moved to Canada, this music festival. There’s like 200,000 people.
Amber: They have a country music festival in Canada? Cause I had know…
Sam: It’s called Merit Mountain Music Festival. Kenny Chesney is playing this year, which I am not a huge fan of the mooer. Um, he’s a bit of a mooer. Mooing
Amber & LiLi: laughs
LiLi: Yeah…
Sam: You know what I mean. But there are other people playing so, I…
LiLi: Yeah, I know…
Sam: It’s not always about the music. It’s about the camping, and my camp is usually full of music anyway.
Amber: Yeah.
LiLi: Seven days? That’s pretty awesome.
Sam: Yeah. Seven days. I’m like, oh, my cousin is coming up from England and my aunt as well. And they are like serious rages.
LiLi: Nice!
Amber: laughs
Sam: So it’s going to be great.
Amber: That’s amazing.
LiLi: That’s pretty legit for right afterwards.

Loving Our Phones, Remembering EVERYBODY and It’s No Secret… Amber is Drunk

Amber: Okay, so now we are going to go really serious and by really serious I mean not serious at all.
Sam: That’s good.
Amber: Um, so okay… quick,  the RV is on fire. All the men are safe. What do you grab before you leave the RV?
LiLi: Not the music. You can’t say that cause, yes…
Sam: My phone.
LiLi: Well…
Amber: Good call.
Sam: Definitely my phone.
Amber: Why didn’t we think of that?
LiLi: That’s what I would grab. I mean, that’s like my life now.
Sam and Amber: laughing
Sam: mimicking a phone call The RV is on fire. Someone please come and help.
All: laughing
Amber: Someone please come stop the fire.
Sam: My band are okay.
All: laughing
LiLi: Yeah, but I’d probably grab it for other things too..
Sam: Yeah, games.
Amber: And pictures, and…
Sam: How can you ‘boo’ when you don’t have your phone?
LiLi: Thank you.
Amber: Yeah, for real.
Sam: laughing
LiLi: But I also have books, and other stuff…
Sam: Oh, you read on your phone and stuff?
LiLi: Yeah.
Sam: Hmmm.
LiLi: It’s better when you have a Droid. Oh, sorry you iPhone people.
Sam: Well… I’m really proud.
LiLi: laughs
Amber: I love my iPhone too.
Sam: I’m not backing down.
Amber: I love my iPhone too. I think it works really well. And I like my Nook to read on.
LiLi: Yeah you do.
Amber: laughs Okay, oooo… this is great. This is, I came up with this. So, everybody talks about that you have like this knack for like, remembering everybody that comes to your shows, which kind of…
Sam: Sucks for me because when I don’t it’s a really bad experience.
Amber: Do you not?
LiLi: Do you really?
Amber: Do you not though? I mean, really? Do you not remember somebody?
LiLi: I’ve never seen you not.
Sam: Yes.
Amber: No. Shut up.
Sam: It’s like, it happened, I only need a little nudge, and then I’ll be like, oh yeah, yeah. And then they don’t believe me. But…
LiLi: See that’s cause it’s amazing. How do you remember all of it?
Amber: But that’s the heart of our question. How do you remember? Is it photographic memory?
Sam: I have no idea.
Amber: Is it word association?
Sam: I have absolutely no idea.
Amber: Cause we were like, if it’s word association…
LiLi: Cause part of me…
Sam: In the rest of my life, I am so bad with names.
LiLi: Really?
Sam: So bad with names, faces, I just don’t know. But I guess it’s because it’s really important to me and that’s not a very fun answer but it’s true.
LiLi: Yeah, it’s…
Amber: I was hoping it would was word association so we could be like quizzing you on what words you use…
Sam: Yeah, sorry. I’m not fun.
Amber: …for different people. That’s no fun.
Sam: Not fun.
LiLi: Yeah, but it’s genuine.
Sam: Slamming these down with the truth.
Amber: So you could be like Amber… Drunk.
All: laughing
LiLi: Yeah, well you know…
Amber: Please read questions. I shouldn’t be allowed to read the questions.
Sam: Well, we’ve known each other awhile now.
Amber: awkward pause
LiLi: It’s not a secret anymore Amber that you like to drink.
Sam: Yeah…you spilled.
Amber: It’s not… yeah, I did just spill on myself.
LiLi: Legit! I can not wait until about a month from now..
Sam: laughing
LiLi: And I’ll be like ‘remember when you drooled?’ It’s gonna be awesome.
Amber: laughs I didn’t drool. It just like rolled out the side of my mouth.
LiLi: Yeah, you know…
Amber: That was really embarrassing.

Blogging is Hard Work, Sam’s Pews and SOME People Find Us Funny

LiLi: Um, so, my question is, obviously we are a big fan of blogs, cause we have one. But your blog, very interested in that. How’d that come about? And how did the name come about? Cause I’m gonna say, I love the name.
Sam & Amber: laughing
LiLi: When I first saw it I was like, yes…
Sam: I wanted to start one a couple years ago but I just didn’t think I’d be able to keep it up to date and as you can see…
LiLi: It’s hard.
Sam: I’m struggling right now.
Amber: We don’t know about that at all.
LiLi: Yeah, we struggle a lot.  So…
Sam: But it’s just like, yeah, it’s just like, when do you find the time? Like, especially in like, this situation. I think when I get back home it’ll be okay.
LiLi: Yeah.
Sam: Once I figure out a good system cause what I really want to do with it, what I wanted to do was start uploading pictures. We’ve got like, fucking, thousands of pictures now. Of like, good ones.
LiLi: Yeah.
Sam: Not ones that are just awful and you can see all my ear hair and it’s just awful.
Amber: laughing
LiLi: You’re like, ‘Here we are getting gas. Hi.’
Amber & Sam: laughing
Sam: Uh… yeah, and the name, yeah yeah, so I’m just struggling with keeping it up but I do have a lot I want to put on it. Like, Like I want, I want to have more of a conversation on it. Like, not necessarily…
LiLi: Like comments and responding to comments and stuff.
Sam: Yeah, responding to comments and stuff. I don’t, like, I want to approach things like, uh, the next one soon that I want to do is on the Catholic church.
Amber & LiLi: Oooo…
Sam: And there’s a speech by Stephen Fry?, I don’t know if you know who he is…
LiLi: Yes.
Sam: It’s a really good speech.
LiLi: And what is about in reference to the catholic church? I might be catholic, so let’s talk about it.
Sam: Well, he’s arguing on why the catholic church is not good in the world.
Amber: That’s interesting. I’m sitting here and am intrigued.
Sam: I’m not saying it’s true. It’s not my opinion necessarily but I’ve had conversations not… I just want to see who is reading.
LiLi: Yeah, I’d love to hear it cause then I’ll send it to my mom….
Sam: It’s so fucking good.
LiLi: …who is a little crazy.
Sam: So, uh… yeah. Um, and the name, the name Sam Spews or Sam’s Pews. Um…
LiLi: Did someone think it was Sam’s Pews?
Sam: Yeah.
LiLi: Like those are your church pews?
Sam: The Church… The Church of Sam.
Amber: The Church of Sam.
Sam: Which is not what I had intended.
LiLi: I thought it was Sam Spews.
Sam: Which I did see that before I… but I, it’s Sam Spews. And it’s Sam Spews because it’s all bullshit and um, it’s just gonna come out anyway. You can’t help it.
LiLi: I like it.
Amber: That’s how I feel about our blog most of the time.
LiLi: I know.
Amber: It’s all bullshit.
LiLi: We get so much hate for our blog too. We’re like…
Sam: Really?
LiLi: Yes.
Sam: I think it’s hilarious. I’ve heard so many people say how fun it is.
Amber: Are you serious? We have so many people that just don’t like us.
LiLi:  Are you serious? We get so many people that will email us and be like “y’all should really take this seriously!” I’m like but there are people out there that take it seriously and why can’t we just be.
Amber: We’re trying to have fun.
Sam: I think it’s hilarious.
Amber: Why can’t we have fun??
LiLi: Well thanks! See? I’m gonna tell them, ‘Sam says it’s hilarious, so gah, back off.’ I’m just kidding.
Amber: It should be scary when I don’t have fun anymore.
Sam: Yeah. Yeah.
Amber: It’s scary.

LiLi Spews, Sam’s Reggae Moment and John’s Rocky

LiLi: Um, okay, this is going to be like a big question, so brace yourself.
Sam: Okay.
Amber: Is this super serious, or no?
LiLi: It’s long. It’s long.
Amber: I don’t remember. I think we got out of order.
Sam: Okay.
LiLi: Well…
Sam: Is it in different parts or do I have to listen to you speak for awhile?
Amber: laughing
LiLi: I don’t know. Maybe it’s a monologue. Maybe I’m expressing some… I don’t know…
Sam: Yeah, that’s what I thought. LiLi spews.
LiLi: It might be in different parts.
Amber: laughing LiLi spews….
LiLi: There’s a lot of different questions in here. Okay. As for me, one of the things I feel, one of your biggest assets is that fact that you appeal to a wide variety of people because your songs are a lot of… there not just like one specific genre. You know, you play a little country, a little rock, a little, you know… I mean, so I’ve always wondered, I mean, is that intentional? Like you try and do that or is it just like lost in the moment when you are creating and this is what comes out?
Sam: 100% its just what comes out. Um, I also like lots of different types of music and I also do not enjoy, uh, a CD that sounds the same the whole way through.
LiLi: Like it’s just one sound?
Sam: So, so, like, and another thing, and there are lots of bands and lots of artists that I could speak about but I am not going to mention anyone.
Amber & LiLi: laughs
LiLi: NO!
Amber: You don’t have to talk in the microphone.
LiLi: No one was mentioned at all. It was just generalizations.
Sam: Yeah, exactly. Generalizations. growls Yeah, so basically, I, you know, I kinda want to try more as well. And I guess, my biggest criticism from like an industry point of view is that I don’t have a specific sound. So nobody knows what to do with me.
Amber: What section of the CD store do they put you in?
Sam: Well, it’s not that. It’s like, for example, a publicist or a record company or a manager are all, you know, where do we put you.
LiLi: Right.
Sam: And I’m really okay with that because that’s like me, so it’s fine. But like, there have been some criticisms about that. Uhhhhh, yeah.
LiLi: But, like as far as all those genres out there, do you identify more with or the other? Or are you just like hey, i  like them all. I want to do them all.
Sam: I like them all. I want to try some reggae eventually. I want to definitely do a solo album one day. Maybe not a whole album, but definitely an EP. I want to do a country EP. Just purely country EP. I want to do a, um…
LiLi: Alright, we’ll listen to ‘em if you make us.
Amber: Okay, gah…
Sam: Yeah, you don’t like country?
LiLi: Twist our arm, no, I am just saying…
Sam: No, okay.
LiLi: I’m from Texas. How can I now like country?
Amber: Why are you looking at me? You’re looking at me.
Sam: I know. You looked at her. So I figured… But right now we’re going a bit rocky. We’re going a bit rocky.
Amber: He knows its me that dislikes the country.
LiLi: I noticed that. It’s like, we’ve watched a couple videos of the tour, people send them out and stuff like that, and so we looked and them and said, man he’s going a little rockier.
Sam: Yeah.
Amber: Yeah.
Sam: Which is nice.
LiLi: Yeah.
Sam: That is all down to also the influence of the musicians, and stuff like that. John’s brought a bit of a rocky side and I fucking love that. And I, you know, it’s going to keep expanding.
Amber: John is awesome.
Sam: Yeah, John’s good.

Arm Wrestling, Guilty Pleasures and Words with Friends

Amber: Okay, wow, we’re already here? Okay…
LiLi: Well, we skipped a couple.
Amber: Did we?
Sam: Why?
Amber: Yeah, why?
LiLi: Well, we didn’t know how much time you’d have.
Sam: I got loads of time.
Amber: You got all nervous. I want to go back and read it.
LiLi: I will ask you this…. I mean this is serious, serious. If y’all are in the RV and there is the 4 of y’all. Cause there’s 4 of y’all in there right? In the RV?
Sam: Five.
LiLi: Five.
Sam: Dustin
Amber: Oh, Dustin. Don’t forget Dustin.
Sam: Drums, bass, guitar, me. So yeah, John, Mark, Jeff, myself and Dustin.
LiLi: Maybe you can help answer this too, I mean seriously, if y’all had to do a arm wreslting contest, who would win?
Dustin: I would lose.
Amber: You would lose?
Dustin: I would.
LiLi: These are the questions I think of.
Amber: These are the questions we think of late at night.
Sam: I think, uh, I would win.
Amber: Really?
Sam: But I’ve said this before once and, uh, I’ve never tried. Actually maybe John might win. John’s got man strength.
LiLi: Man strength…
Sam: No, John might win. I don’t think Jeff would win although Jeff’s quite toned. I just, I don’t know, maybe. Maybe it would be, but then again Mark’s really strong too.
LiLi: It’s not really muscle though. It’s determiniation.
Sam: Yeah, determination, well then…
Amber: I’ll go get John and then we’ll try it.
Sam: Shall we try it?
LiLi: Yeah later on, be like, come on! Show that muscle.
Sam: I think we’d all kind of even out. Actually maybe I’d lose. I have no idea.
LiLi: I’d probably lose.
Sam: But Dustin’s not winning.
Amber & LiLi: laughing
Sam: No, he already said. I’m allowed to say that.
Amber: Okay, I’m gonna read seven. I know why skipped it.
Sam: Actually I think John would win. That’s my final answer.
Amber: John would win.
LiLi: Oh, I did skip it cause I didn’t want to confess mine.
Amber: Hehe… your guilty pleasure…. Okay, so everybody kind of has that like guilty pleasure, that one thing that they kind of like, it’s kind of lame that they are in to, like….
Sam: Masturbation.
LiLi: No, no.
Amber: No. Not that.
Sam: Oh, sorry. Too guilty.
Amber: laughs Too guilty?
LiLi: You went there and I like it, but I was like wow.
Sam: laughing
Amber: We were thinking more like…
LiLi: You went straight there.
Amber: Like really bad tv shows that you watch, like I watch all the Ghost Hunters, like I have them DVR’d forever and then I watch them right before I go to bed…
Sam: Right. Yep.
Amber: And then like scare myself shitless. And then LiLi has her thing, which is, you know, go ahead.
LiLi: I might get in my jammies and get all the blankets in the house…
Sam: And just roll in them?
Amber: laughs No!
LiLi: I like, put them all on me, get on the couch and watch old school BBC costume dramas.
Sam: Okay.
Amber: So, we were wondering, like, if there was like one thing, that was like, your guilty pleasure thing. One thing, like, what is it?
LiLi: Don’t say masturbation again.
Amber: Don’t say masturbation.
Sam: Well, no, I’m not, I’m not.
Amber: Well, you already said that so we’re going to count that as one. What’s number 2?
Sam: laughing No, I didn’t say that for myself.
Amber & LiLi: laughing
Sam: I was using it for an example.
Amber: Sure, sure.
Sam: Um, my guilty pleasure is probably, oh gawd.
LiLi: We won’t tell anybody.
Sam: laughs I don’t….
Amber: We’re not recording this at all.
Sam: laughing I’m really… no, I don’t think I have…
LiLi: See, cause no one knows that I do that.
Sam: I, see I…
LiLi: Don’t tell anybody.
Sam: My answer is, um, I want a good one.
Amber: Maybe it’s hard. It doesn’t have access to TV like we do in in the RV.
LiLi: No, the answer doesn’t have to be TV based.
Sam: You know, I like to drink. That could be a guilty pleasure. Drink and uh, I don’t know. I don’t have too many guilty pleasures. Maybe I don’t, my….
LiLi: Cause I have a friend that likes….
Sam: My phone is my guilty pleasure. I’m on my phone all the time reading news and… but it’s so boring I don’t want to give that as the answer.
LiLi: It’s not boring.
Sam: It’s pretty boring.
Amber: But speaking of your phone, like the Words with Friends deal. You did this whole thing for awhile where you are like, ‘I’m gonna play somebody once a week on Words with Friends.” And then that kind of stopped so we were wondering, what was your record? Were you just losing and that’s why you kind of…
LiLi: Be honest. You got beat a lot didn’t you?
Sam: Was I losing? I’m going to show you something…
LiLi: Did you get beat a lot? And you were like, I’m over it.
Amber: You were like, I’m over it, I’m not gonna play anybody. And I was like smacktalking you big time, so maybe that was me.
Sam: I, I, I lost a few games, yeah. But there was this one person that I was playing off of Twitter that was just ridiculous. And they killed me.
LiLi: And you were like, I can’t do this anymore.
Sam: Yeah, no I, that didn’t stop me. I still went. Okay, but I want to show you my highest scoring word…
Amber & LiLi: laughing
Sam: Against someone called ‘Miss Deviant’.
LiLi: ooo
Amber: Miss Deviant.
LiLi: That’s my other name. Sorry, didn’t I tell you that? No?
Amber: That’s definitely not me.
Amber: ‘sleazier’ Ooooo, very nice!
Sam: That’s pretty good!
Amber: 154, shit. I was gonna say my high is like 101.
LiLi: Oh my gawd.
Sam: That’s pretty good. I was pretty happy with that. So, I won.
Amber: We weren’t sure. It just kind of went away, and we were like maybe he’s just… Or people were getting insane.
Sam: Yeah it went away because…. one of my friends, one of my friends was living with me for awhile in London. And then uh, and then got busy and stopped living with me and so I had to look after a house that I didn’t, uh, know what to do in. And so I started playing Words with Friends.
LiLi: You’re like, look at this! On my phone!
Sam: When I wasn’t writing I was, I thought it would be a great way to….
Amber: Damn these iPhones!
Sam: Yeah. I didn’t want to watch too much tv and so, and I didn’t want to spend too much money cause London’s disgustingly expensive.
LiLi: I know. I am going next week, and I’m like, I have no money to go. I’m gonna go to like Tesco everyday and be like, whatta got for the night?
Sam: Tesco is good, like…. yeah, Tesco’s good.
LiLi: That’s pretty much whatI am going to do next week. Every day. Just go in there.
Amber: That’s a good plan. I don’t know what Tesco is but I am very excited for your plan.
Sam: Tesco is a supermarket.
LiLi: There’s like right outside the place I’m staying.
Amber: Excuse me… I’m like, that’s a great plan.
Sam: Where are you staying?
LiLi: Bayswater. Like right there, there’s a little hostel right there…
Sam: I know it well. [SoS Edit: We realized later that the video for 'Woman You Crazy' was filmed in Bayswater before this interview. WIN!]
LiLi: I can just pop right and be like ‘hey, there’s the Tesco, there’s the Tube, I’m out.’
Sam: I spent many of my days in Bayswater.
LiLi: Just gonna see what happens in the next week. See what goes down.
Amber: Next week, I’ll be at home….
LiLi: Oh, yeah. Sorry.

Amber: Working, so… that’s all of our questions.
LiLi: Did we go through all of them?
Amber: Yeah, we did. Son of a bitch. And we were all like, ‘oh my gawd, we have 10 questions. What if we don’t get through them all?’ We went to a bar and like really figured these out earlier today. It was very, VERY serious.
LiLi: Yeah, we did.
Sam: When do you go home? It’s a holiday today, isn’t it?
Amber: I go home tomorrow morning.
Sam: You go home tomorrow morning?
Amber: I catch a flight at 7 o’clock to go home. So…and go to work.
LiLi: Yeah, tell me.
Sam: You gotta go to work?
Amber: Yes.
LiLi: I gotta go to work too.
Amber: Gotta go make some money to get this back.
LiLi: Yeah. Yeah, I get to take her to the airport.
Amber: Yeah, so that’s our fun tomorrow.
Sam: And, how’s the uh, volleyball team? Is it volleyball?
Amber: Oh, he remembered.
LiLi: Everyone did really well this year. It was kind of annoying because we kept having playoffs. Our soccer team won state.
Sam: Really? Wow.
LiLi: They are really good. It’s annoying how good they are because I kept having to go with them, and it’s a lot of late nights.
Sam: But, um, yeah, and then I’m the only one into football… soccer.
Amber: Well who’s your football team again?
Sam: Soccer team? My soccer team is….
Amber: Or soccer, whatever, I mean, I totally knew that you meant soccer instead of football.
LiLi: You like Man U, don’t you?
Sam: I also like Tottenham, and I also like…
LiLi: Now, how can you be a Spurs fan, and also root for…
Sam: I’ll tell you why, because Manchester United was the first team that I, uh, chose, when I was like 8 or 9.
LiLi: Yeah…
Sam: I then I supported Fulham, because I was involved with Fulham. Then, um, I supported Tottenham once I moved to Canada because it was the team my dad supported. And I figure I became more of an appreciator of the game.
LiLi: I got ya. So you played, what, for Fulham’s underage team?
Sam: Yep. For awhile.
Amber: What position?
Sam: Uh, I was right midfield and I also played striker eventually. So I quit. I quit. I wasn’t there for very long. I was.
LiLi: I’ve only seen one premiere game my entire life. It was Charlton when they were in the premiere league. They’ve since been relegated. You know, it was good.
Amber: I haven’t seen any…
Sam: But they’re amazing. Were the matches in England or were they…
LiLi: I couldn’t believe. I mean, it’s just I walked in and holy, cause I mean, we watch it on TV all the time and then I come in and I’m like holy crap this is it.
Sam: Yeah.
LiLi: And there is this guy next to me the whole time just shouting crazy obscenities, like you know…..And the next thing, in the next breath he was like ‘do you want some hot chocolate?’ Cause he had this little, like 8 year old girl with him and I’m like this is the best thing I’ve ever been too. He’s all trying to make sure his 8 year old daughter’s alright while shouting ‘you fucking…” I mean, he was just going nuts and I was like, ‘this is awesome.’
Amber: That is amazing.
LiLi: Yeah.
Amber: Gah, I’m so jealous of you for getting to experience that.
Sam: There’s time.
LiLi: Come with me.
Amber: I saw some of the highlights from the Barcelona- Man U game.
Sam: Ugh, they were playing during my ffffff… show in Arizona.
Amber: That’s another reason you played bad, right?
Sam: laughs
Amber: I’m just kidding.
Sam: I had driven through the game, so I was upset about that, but it’s fine. I can get over it. So we play the show. I’m exhausted. My voice is gone and I’m just like, I’m trying, I’m trying my best and I look up and the replay of the game. So I hadn’t gotten, seen anything yet . I knew the score, but I hadn’t seen anything. And it kept going on. Not once. Not twice. Like 20 times during the set and that was, that was pretty touch to ignore.
LiLi: Yeah.
Sam: It’s alright.
Sam: So, you gonna cheer extra loud tonight?
Amber: Yeah.
LiLi: Duh.
Amber: I cheer extra loud every time.
Sam: I think a lot of people bought tickets and can’t come.
LiLi: Are you serious?
Sam: So you need to cheer extra loud.
Amber: Well, we bought 4 tickets between the 2 of us, so…
Sam: Did you really?
Amber: We’ll cheer loud enough for 4 people.
Sam: Cool.
Amber: It was kind of not on purpose.
LiLI: I promised Amber I’d be drunk at this show and I’m going to fulfill that promise and I’ll cheer really loud.
Sam: Why?
LiLi: Cause I’m never, I never get drunk.
Amber: And I always am, so…
LiLi: So I was like we’ll switch spots and look, she’s drunk and I’m not. I’m like, ah well, you know.
Amber: I’m not that bad today. Okay, maybe I am.
Sam: Yet.
Amber: Pssh, yet?
Sam: There is still….
Amber: Is there a bar upstairs?
Sam: No.
Amber: Do we know?
Sam: I think you have to bring your drinks up.
Amber: See? I won’t, I will be okay because the laziness will override the need to be drunk.
LiLi: I’ll do it.
Sam: It’s a nice room up there though. Did you go in?
Amber: No, they wouldn’t let me. They were like uh-uh, it’s not open yet.
Sam: Have you been here before?
LiLi: I mean, I’ve been to pretty much every venue around here but I’ve never actually seen a show here, so I was kind of excited to actually…
Sam: Yeah, it’s nice. One of the oldest venues in Dallas?
LiLi. Yep.
Amber: They were saying they are celebrating like 100 years of being open.
Sam: 100 years… and then need a new roof too as well.
Amber: laughing
Sam: No, really…
Amber: They are raising money for a new roof.
LiLi: And they need a credit card machine.
Amber: Please be sure and tip. We need a new roof.
Sam: Yeah.
Amber: After all these storms lately, I bet so.
Sam: Yeah, has it been bad here?
Amber: Yeah.
LiLi: It was scary for awhile. We had to take cover.
Sam: It was?
LiLi: Yeah.
Amber: We had to take cover last week. Good thing you weren’t here last week. It was scary last week.
LiLi: The sirens went off in my neighborhood.
Amber: We had the sirens.
LiLi: And was I like, ‘gah, this is is. This is it. we’re going down.’ I was like, oh my gosh.
Amber: We got the closed toed shoes, the bike helmets…
Sam: Yeah.
Amber: This is like old news for me. I’m like, whatever tornado.
LiLi: See, I’m not used to that…..

LiLi: And after this you are going to San Antonio. Have you been to San Antonio yet?
Amber: Oh, please ask him about this.
Sam: No, never been.
LiLi: Gah. You know what, that’s where I was born. I’m from San Antonio.
Sam: Oh, okay.
LiLi: So, I’m like… it’s intense there, I’m just saying.
Sam: It’s intense?
LiLi: Yeah.
Sam: Like, how intense? Like, what am I dealing with?
LiLi: You know Spanish right? So you should be okay?
Sam: Yeah, I’m really, I’m fluent.
LiLi: I’m asking.
Sam: No, I don’t.
LiLi: Cause I mean, I am see.
Sam: Right, so…
LiLi: I might be writing a post where I send you some Spanish phrases to help you out.
Sam: Okay, okay.
LiLi: I’ll post it tomorrow.
Amber: Things like, you know, “help me, I’ve been stabbed.”
Sam: We are… oh man. You know when you drive from New Mexico into Texas and then there’s a…
LiLi: Juarez?
Sam: Yeah, there but um, it was just, yeah, it’s just after and the patrol.
LiLi: Oh yeah, where they stop you?
Sam: They got us out. They…
LiLi: Were you nervous?
Sam: Yeah we were all, like even though we had nothing on us…
LiLi: Are you serious? Come on.
Sam: It’s like the amount of times they ask you, like ‘do you have any narcotics on you sir?’ ‘No.’ ‘do you have any narcotics on you sir?’ No. ‘are you sure about that sir?’
Sam: So, John…a question was asked that who do you think would win in an arm wrestle out of everyone in the band.
LiLi: Cause you look pretty strong.
Sam: And Dustin said no, it wouldn’t be him.
Amber: We’re feeling like it might be you.
Sam: Yeah, so like my final answer after jumping around on everyone was you.
John: I don’t know.
Sam: I don’t know either.
John: I don’t.
Amber: We’re going to have to do something about this.
Sam: But my first answer was me.
John: My first answer was you too.
Sam: I know.
LiLi: But I hear you’re a basketball fan.
John: I am.

Holy blue Marcus picture Batman!

This has to be new, right? If not, well, I’m not sure I can be friends with you anymore since y’all didn’t send it to me. I feel like my life as a Marcus fangirl has been divided in 2… pre-blue picture and post-blue picture. Gah.

So, where did this come from? Well, the people over at For Folk’s Sake rolled 10 questions past Marcus and this pretty little thing was attached.

Let’s talk about the MOST important thing from the article, at least in all the U.S. fans opinions.

We’re doing a stack of dates in April around UK. We’re playing loads of festivals and then hopefully head back to U.S. later in the year.

U.S. tour? Yes please!! It’s been a long time baby. A very long time. I need uninitiated hugs and short pants back in my life STAT!

And if you are wondering, I am totally ignoring the question on that certain movie and U.S. fans, cause honestly, I think that’s one of those answers that just comes out all wrong. I get what he’s trying to say, but some will probs take offense when really, he’s right. There. I said it.

Go and read the whole interview over at For Folk’s Sake. I love all the good press coming out as of late about Marcus and it can only get BETTER as we get closer to the full album release date (rumored for June 13). I should add this, to Marcus or any of the Team Foster peeps, LiLi and I would be happy to review said album before it comes out. Just sayin’.

And don’t forget y’all…. Tumble Down EP is OUT! If you haven’t ordered your copy yet, well, we are going to shame you. SHAME!!!

Here are the links to get on it:

• Download on iTunes (UK)
• Purchase the CD on Amazon (UK), Amazon (US) or Roughtrade
• Purchase the vinyl on Roughtrade

And please join me in laughter as we see Marcus is wearing THE SAME shirt while riding in the tour van today!

Thanks to XMAAS for this gem! Srsly adorbs that boy is!

So much goodness in this interview, I can hardly stand it. Stop being so adorbs Marcus! You are KILLING me! Srsly, you all will love this one. Can anyone remember the last time we had a Marcus interview, cause I can’t.

Download (yes, I said DOWNLOAD, as in you can put it on your iPod and listen FOREVER!) at Fearless Radio!

Unfortunately, real life has been kicking both me and LiLi’s behind lately, and, um, we haven’t gotten to listen yet. We are SO going to, as soon as either of us can stick our heads up out of the water for more then 3.25 seconds and breathe. So, in the mean time we decided you all should listen to it, write a brief summary (500 words or less) on what Bobby said and be sure to include at least 3 quotes that equate awesomeness from the Bobster.

Please and thank you!

Oh, can’t forget this! Best summary gets a superly awesome prize… this VIDEO of Bobby on Fearless!

Wait, I guess I shouldn’t have given you the prize before you did the homework. DAMN!

L to R: "Amber, Mark, Jeff, LiLi, Dave and Sam

We’ve been talking about it for the past week, and we finally got it done!!

LiLi and I were reunited for the Sam Bradley and The Men show in Dallas on Nov. 21, and we got the chance to sit down with Sam and fellow Men, Jeff and Dave, to talk about music, life and Sabers. It was kind of awesome, even though I giggled like a little school girl and LiLi made inappropriate jokes.  [Li Li edit-- yeah, I word vomited.  Bad.] Jen, AKA Garnet Gurl, our official photog, took plenty of pictures so that we could remember these happy/embarrassing moments forever. Yeah, that’s how we roll…

So, we bring to you, our very exclusive, very hilarious, interview with Sam Bradley!

Places to Play

Amber: Well, we’re talking about places to play, what is your favorite place so far?

Sam: I don’t know. Mmm… what was a good show? Last night [Houston] was a pretty good show.

Dave: Chicago was an awesome city.

Sam: Minneapolis, Minneapolis that was Rams Head? No, that was Annapolis.

Dave: Varsity was Minneapolis.

Sam: Oh yeah, yeah. Minneapolis.

Amber: Minneapolis?

Sam: No, that was good.

LiLi: Is that just cause it was a cool set up, the fans or what?

Sam: No, no, for me…

Jeff: We played better.

Laughing

Amber: I like that reasoning.

Sam: And also, I don’t think there were many people who came out to see us. And so, and we won over a crowd that was completely unaware of us.

LiLi: That’s cool.

Amber: Oh, wow.

Sam: So that was really good. It’s a good feeling when that happens.

Amber: That’s pretty cool.

LiLi: Now where would you like to play that you haven’t? Like have y’all looked around to play?

Dave: He said oh.

Amber: Pssh. Oklahoma City.

Dave: I want to go down to Florida.

Sam: Yeah, we haven’t done Florida.

LiLi: At all?

Collective no

After the Tour/”Fake” Sam Bradley

Amber: So after the tour. What are you guys thinking after the tour?

Sam: We’re recording an album. We may be planning a Canadian tour, but we are not sure yet. And I know we are going to record an album starting hopefully in January.

LiLi: Where y’all going to do that at?

Sam: We don’t know.

Amber: So y’all are going to all record an album versus just, like you are going to record with The Men?

Sam: I am going to record with The Men.

Amber: Cool.

LiLi: Why “the Men”?

Jeff: I don’t know. Don’t ask.

LiLi: Everybody was like, “What are we going to call ourselves? The Men.”

Jeff: It was available.

Sam: It was available?

Laughs

LiLi: Did y’all go to BandNames.com and it was like “the men, the men.”

Laughs

Amber: Awesome. Since y’all are new on Twitter, how are y’all, how has that been?

Dave: You should talk to Mark.

Jeff: Yeah, he’s the one that updates.

Amber: Mark. Is Mark the one doing it?

Jeff: Yeah. He’s really strange.

Dave: He’s taken to it.

Amber: Do you guys get it? Cause a lot of people I talk to are like “I’m on Twitter, but I don’t get it.”

Laughs

Jeff: We’ve been told that it sounds like a retarded robot.

LiLi: Are you kidding me? I love it. I’m like, Yes! I pretty much look forward to your tweets. I’m like yes. Oh there’s another one. I’m like yes. Anybody see that? But now to you [Sam], cause you actually do more tweets or whatever. Have you noticed that there is a fake you?

Sam: Yeah, yeah. I heard about that.

LiLi: And what do you think about that?

Sam: Well, I read it.

LiLi: Well, what do you think about that, cause you know you haven’t made it until you have a faker. I’m waiting for me to get a fake.

Sam: I think that’s great. No, it’s good that there is a fake me, however it’s when people think its me doing the fake me, that’s a little annoying. Like I know lots of people that think its just me pretending cause they think I have a lot of time.

Jeff: Is it friendly?

Sam: No, no it’s not bad.

Amber: No, it’s not.

Sam: No, its not bad at all.

LiLi: No, its just whoever is doing it sometimes likes to get dirty.

Sam: It’s like when I was in the Philippines, it [tweeted] “Oh nothing quite like a Manila sunrise.”

Hand gestures, drinking contests and whole lotta pics after the jump…

The Creation of “The Men”/On the Bus

LiLi: So now how did you all hook up? How did you all get together?

Jeff: You go, you start it…

LiLi:   C’mon. Tell me the story. How y’all met? How y’all started dating? Oh wait…

Dave: Sam was just looking for a band through whatever. He knew Mark, our drummer, from high school, he found Mark, Mark knew Jeff from college…

Jeff: I went to school with Mark.

Dave: And I just through a friend met Sam, so it just worked out.

Sam: It was only supposed to be for one show.

Dave: Yeah.

Jeff: I didn’t know that.

Sam: I didn’t know that either but you said that…

Dave: Then after that show we were like, ‘We should keep doing this.”

Sam: It makes a better story that way.

Jeff: Yeah, put that in there.

Sam: laughs Put that in there!

LiLi: So, now how is it in the big bus?

Sam: It’s wonderful.

Jeff: Amazing.

LiLi: No fights?

Jeff: No fights yet.

Amber: Not yet.

Sam: Some people get a little grouchy, but, like no fights.

LiLi: How is it different then?

Sam: Then a van?

LiLi: Yes.

Sam: Well, you get to watch TV. So, its like a bigger TV then we have at home.

Jeff: And if you sleep, you can rollover, too. No fear of falling 6 feet.

Last Man Standing

Amber: And I have to ask this, cause the first time you tweeted that link about the Last Man Standing… you won the contest.

Sam: I know.

Amber:  Which I think a lot of the reason is because you tweeted the link, which helps a lot.

Sam: I know. Laughing

Amber: I want to know if that’s legit. Is that…

Sam: Would that be legit?

Amber: Would those contest results be correct?

Sam: I know, I know I’d definitely beat Marcus. Um, yeah, I’d beat Bobby, too. I would.

Amber: Are you just saying that?

Sam: I’m not proud of it. Laughing It’s not…

Amber: I just want to know. It’s a highly scientific poll.

Sam: No, we grew up drinking young. Like in England, no one drinks to get drunk.

Amber: Right…

Sam: So like “I’m going … WOO!”

Laughing

Jen: The rest of the stupid Americans do that. The rest of Europe might disagree with you. My mom lived in England for 8 years, so…

Sam: Right. Yeah. Um, so yeah I would.

Amber: You win. You won actually, I’m sure you saw it, it was pretty significant…

Sam: Well, I tried to vote as many times as I could, too.

Laughing

Jen: We can ask Bobby next month.

Amber: Yeah, we’ll ask him.

Sam: Well, Bobby is going to say himself. I think.

Jen: You think so?

Sam: Yeah. It doesn’t matter.

Jen: We tried to buy him a shot of whiskey in Atlanta and he turned us down. He said he was cutting back.

Sam: He doesn’t drink when he tours very much. And I’ve been doing the same, not been drinking. Well… (looks down at his beer)

Dave: Yeah.

LiLi: Seriously, yeah right.

Jen: Is there a disagreement?

Amber: Are we seeing the first disagreement that might happen on the bus?

Laughing

Sam: We’re breaking up.

Laughing

Fan Art

LiLi: I was with some friends the other day and um, she showed me this drawing… she showed me this “fan art that she did of you and I was pretty much like “I’m just gonna need to take that” so that way I can show it to him on Saturday….so I took a picture when she wasn’t looking and I brought it.

Amber: Shut up– you’re not going to show it.

LiLi: Yes, I am.

Amber: It’s not mine.

–someone asks in the background if it’s a nude-

LiLi: Wouldn’t that be awesome if it was a nude? I’d be like, yes. [handing him the phone] Look, she drew you. A little pencil drawing.

Certain parts may or may not have been removed cause we're slick like that-- Drawing by Noreen.

Sam: Oh nice. Oh, there’s Bobby.

[Li Li edit-- For your listening enjoyment-- the audio of the whole Saber conversation! Read along too!]

Saber

Sam: I love a good saber?

Jen: Wait, maybe you should take the phone back.

–lots of laughing from us–

Sam: Saber? Is that what…yeah but, no…

Jeff: It’s a sword.

Sam: no, but it’s a…..

Amber: It’s a term and I don’t want to tell it.

Sam: it’s a type of woman?

LiLi: Well, there’s cougars and then there’s one that are older than cougars and we call them sabers.

Sam: Lovely.

Jeff: It’s true though.

Amber: Yeah, there were quite a few in Dallas, I’m sure.

Jeff: Is that a Texas thing?

Amber: No. Well, I don’t live in Texas, I let you tell it.

LiLi: Our friend, who lives here in Texas, so yeah it’s a Texas thing, she came up with it. I can’t wait to tell her that you saw it.

[Li Li edit-- holla @Krazy_Kidd for sabers and Noreen for the drawing!]

If Not Music, Then What?

LiLi: If you couldn’t be doing music what would you do?

Dave: Not music at all?

Sam: Dave actually has a real job.

Dave: I work in a studio.

Amber: You don’t do this [tour] all the time?

Sam: Dave is an engineer.

Dave: Yeah, I work in a recording studio as an engineer.

LiLi: Where are you based out of? Where is your main office?

Dave: In Vancouver.

LiLi: So they just let you have time off to do this [tour for a couple of months]?

Dave: It’s a pretty loose job. It’s all like, well, I work for someone, but like on contract, so I just kind of do my own thing.

Sam: Jeff is a model.

Jeff: (incoherent) I am not a model. Um, I always wanted to [be] landscape architecture.

Sam: Really?

Jeff: Yeah.

LiLi: Did you go to school for that?

Jeff: No. I went to school for, uh, jazz.

LiLi: For jazz? Where did you go to school at?

Jeff: Capilano College.

LiLi: Do what?

Jeff: It’s called Capilano College.

LiLi: Where’s that?

Jeff: North Vancouver

LiLi: Dang. Canadians all around.

Sam: There was never another option for me.

LiLi: So if you couldn’t do music there is nothing?

Sam: Uh, I’d try to be an actor. And if it was out of the arts then I’d probably open my own business of some sort. I don’t know what, maybe a restaurant? But I mean, you can’t just open a restaurant. You need money to do that, but I’d find a way.

LiLi: I could see you doing comedies.

Sam: Comedies?

LiLi: Yeah. You’re funny.

Sam: I, no, I’m really not.

LiLi, Amber: no, you are.

Texas Accents/College Football

Jen: Are you going to whip out your Texas accent tonight for us? Please?

Sam: No.

Jen: That’s part of the comedy we were talking about. We love the Texas accent.

Sam: Did I do that last time? Yeah, I think I did.

Jen: Yeah, you did, but I think you did it on a video.

Sam: I did it….yeah.

Jen: But you did it on the interview, the radio interview.

Sam: Yeah…I did….sorry…it’s just rude….

Amber: It’s okay.

Sam: Yeah, because you’re from Oklahoma.

Amber: Yeah, we have issues with Texans but that’s okay.

Sam: Really?

LiLi: Texas and Oklahoma really don’t like each other.

Jen: Well, Texas has issues with you too.

Amber: I don’t know how much you watch college football, do you watch any at all?

Sam: yeah, yeah, I have been getting into it.

LiLi: It’s a huge rivalry.

Amber: So, she went to UT, down in Austin and I went to OU, so, uh, we have issues.

Jeff: What’s OU?

Amber: University of Oklahoma.

Jeff: Right, of course.

Amber: Of course our team isn’t very good this year, so it doesn’t matter.

LiLi: So we fight to the death.

Jeff: Where’s TCU?

LiLi and Jen: Fort Worth.

Jen: That’s where I went to undergrad.

Jeff: Oh, okay.

LiLi: The Horned Frogs.

Jeff: They’re doing well this year though aren’t they?

Jen: They are actually.

LiLi: They’re getting better. They’re trying to kinda compete with the big boys but…

Jen: It’s okay, you won’t offend me.

Sam: Guns up.

Amber: Texas Tech.

Sam: Yeah, Guns Up.

Amber: Did you watch that earlier?

LiLi: I’m gonna need you not to…do that.

Sam: Huh?

Amber: It’s okay.

Sam: Guns Up.

Amber: It’s okay…let him do that. Shhh….Shush.

LiLi: I’m not working the blog anymore. I’m kidding. I quit!

Amber: Do you have a…I mean, since we’re talking about college football, just wondering….is it really? Or are you just saying that? You’re just saying that…

Sam: No, I’m not. I think that’s my, um, my uh….so what’s the uh, what’s that one [does hand sign]

LiLi: Ooo, [censored word vomit part] oh no, don’t do that.

Sam: No, no, no, no, no.

LiLi: That’s for ASU and I’m like, oooo, that’s getting a little…

Amber: Well, you can always do the OU one. [Holds up a number one sign]

There you have it! I think what we enjoyed most from this interview was the fact that it really wan’t anything like an interview. It was just a bunch of people sitting down, having some beer and talking. That’s pretty much the biggest reason why this took so long to pull together. But we had so much fun with the guys, and seriously Jeff, we are so hitting the Waffle House after the show next time!

Now sit back and enjoy some gorge pics– all courtesy of the equally gorge Jen!

Thanks again to Sam, Jeff, Dave and Mark for taking the time to talk with us and take pictures.  We had a great time at the show and are so grateful! <3!!

And while you’re here surfing the interwebs, why not stop by Sam’s Official Website? You can pick up a copy of his EP and check out great features like “Ask Sam” and Fan Photos! He can also be found on MySpace and Twitter.  Don’t forget to follow The Men on Twitter too!

Bobby talks about being on tour and playing for as many people as possible, what he thinks of America and plays Who Have You Been Loving.

Bobby is most likely coming to a town near you! Be sure to check out tour date page to see where you can see him, cause you do not want to miss him!

Kudos to TACeline for recording this and putting it out there for us!

First up… Sam!

Sam tells ChartAttack that he felt a bit rushed in putting out his first EP, and only put out 6 of the 16 songs he recorded:

“Although I had an audience before, this was obviously a far greater one,” he says. “I was going to make an album probably two or three months later. I was ready to be heard but I maybe wasn’t ready to record.”

“I believed in the songs so much and I didn’t feel that all of them had reached their potential,” he says. “I definitely felt the need to release something. I feel like once you release something you can’t really release it again… I picked six songs that displayed some diversity and showed a little light and dark as far as the subject matter and vocal performance goes.”

You can read the entire article here.

And…

Two new videos of Marcus from Ronnie Scotts in London. Gah! Is it December yet?!?

Thanks to Katie via BritPack Dreams for the heads up on these!

So, are you going to see Sam, Marcus or Bobby while they are on tour?!? Of course you are! And we would love, love, LOVE it if you shared your pictures,videos and concert experiences with us. Just email us at shackofsoul@hotmail.com!

Photo: jameskachan.com

Stumbled across this little gem of an interview today and had to share.  Vehem Magazine selected one Mr. Bradley as their Breakthrough Artist and had a chance to sit down with him in Nashville.  I pretty much laughed through the whole thing and wish it could have gone on longer (that’s what she said). Here are my fave questions but please, please go read the whole thing for yourself. TRUST.

VM: What is your kryptonite?

S: Toilet Paper for without that…

VM: To unwind, what do you do?

S: There is a real answer… But what I’ll say is have a cup of tea.

VM: Tell me something most people don’t know about you.

S: I’m a Virgin.

Read all the rest of the hard-hitting questions and answers here. 

Now, don’t you know by now that Sam is hilar?? You should be following him AND The Men on Twitter….they provide gold my friends. Twitter gold.

Makes you all the more anxious to see where he is going to be playing this winter, huh?? Fingers crossed those dates get announced soon!

Don’t forget– those of you lucky enough to be in London have the opportunity to see Marcus this Sunday in Notting Hill.

Video Source