In a recent Zoom interview, Samia says she feels grateful for the leg-up in understanding the industry. It has made her cautious about who to trust, but it never deterred her from the career.
“I had a lot of distain for the entertainment industry, ’cause I saw how it made people’s lives really miserable and [made them] prioritize things that didn’t make sense to me. But I always loved music so much, and I always loved writing, so I knew that I just wanted to be around that,” says Samia. “Even now, if I didn’t get to keep doing this forever, I would want to be around that as much as possible. Curating other artists and working with other artists — that would be just as fulfilling.”
The 26-year-old Samia brings her headlining tour to the Beachland Ballroom on Monday, April 24, in promotion of her sophomore album, Honey.
Moving to New York City marked the inception of Samia’s professional music career. She got her start playing her angsty bedroom pop in the city’s ever-evolving club scene. There, she found the community of young creatives that she was craving.
“That’s where I feel like I discovered myself as a musician and my identity as an artist,” says Samia. “When I was in my late teens and early twenties, there was just so much live music, and I was playing open mic nights like three or four times a week and going and just seeing people and begging to let me sing in their bands.”
Samia did whatever it took to book her own New York club gigs, even creating a fake manager and lying about her draw.
“I literally had a guy named Dave Shanks, who doesn’t exist, and I would email [the venues] and be like, ‘Yeah, we can bring out like 100 to 150 people, which was just like totally a lie,” laughs Samia. “One time, ten people showed up and I got the angriest email from the guys at the venue the next day.”
Currently based in Nashville, Samia still holds this DIY era close to her heart. She even references the 280-cap Brooklyn venue, Baby’s All Right, in the title track on her sophomore full-length.
“It really is a great venue, but I’ve just always had a miserable time there,” laughs Samia. “We would just go and see all of our friends’ bands and get super drunk and make bad decisions. That place is like a funny staple of my youth. But it’s also something special, you know. So many formative memories of being in a community of people who are all wanting to play there. And getting to play there felt so victorious. It was a special time.”
“Honey” has been interpreted in a completely different way than Samia envisioned upon first writing it, but she doesn’t mind that it’s taken on a life of its own.
“That one I wrote in 10 minutes, and I sent it to my friend [songwriter/producer Caleb Wright] and was like, ‘This is the worst song I’ve ever written.’ The chorus was actually very bad, and then he fixed it,” says Samia. “That song is supposed to be pretty facetious. It’s about being drunk and being in denial. Honestly, it meant something totally different to him, and that is the most beautiful thing about it to me, is that it’s getting interpreted as this sort of carefree, joyful song. Which is really beautiful, because I wrote it about a really dark time in my life.”
The catchy track quickly became a favorite for Samia and her fans on the first leg of the Honey Tour.
“It has this sort of transitory thing now, where it started in one place, and it became something else. Even getting to play it live now, it’s cathartic for me and it feels like a huge release. It is a joyful experience to play it live, even though it’s not supposed to be,” Samia laughs.
The singer-songwriter’s sophomore album is full of sarcasm, trauma recounts, off-handed religious references and melancholy vocals with just the right amount of desperation.
Samia is a detail-oriented writer, always having to whittle her songs down in the edit process. It’s clear how much thought went into tweaking each lyric on the album. Samia shares that two tracks, “Breathing Song” and “Pink Balloon,” took months, countless iterations, and advice from collaborators and “songwriting heroes” to complete.
“With [2020’s debut album] The Baby, I had ten years to write, and Honey, I had a lot less time. So, I had to figure out how to source inspiration more quickly and on-demand,” says Samia. “It was more collaborative, and I also was trying to write more directly and honestly as an exercise.”
Honesty is what inspired the lead single and the first song on the record, “Kill Her Freak Out.”
“That song, I wrote just about withholding in a relationship for so long, just ’cause I was scared that my big feelings would scare them away. And so, at the end of the relationship, I was like, ‘Okay, I’m just gonna say everything, ’cause why not?’ And that came out,” says Samia. “It’s more of a declaration of feeling. The killing thing is not even out of jealousy or spite, it’s just like, ‘Oh my god, look at how much I was feeling that you weren’t privy to.’”
Even though she doesn’t actually want to kill anyone, and the song is heavily coated in satire, it serves as a time capsule to remind her of how strong her feelings can be when she bottles them up for too long.
“Charm You” was written about the start of a relationship, rather than the end.
“That one is just about going from the best date ever and then fast-forwarding to the relationships I’ve been in where I couldn’t sustain the charming version of myself that I tried to present at first. Just being like, ‘Oh no, it’s gonna wear off, and he’s gonna see the truth,’” laughs Samia. “’Cause you can only be the best version of yourself for so long, before you have a bad day. That was also a pretty healing process to write that song and be like, ‘Okay, I guess I’ll just be myself.’”
Touring as often as possible since concert venues re-opened in the second half of 2021 has provided Samia with a good opportunity to be herself and to test out which songs feel the most natural when played with a full-band and which ones connect the most with fans.
“Getting to play songs live for audiences, and look people in the eye, and sort of test out the songs that way is like my favorite thing to do. I think that’s so special,” says Samia. “It feels mutualistic.”
Most of the shows Samia played before the pandemic were opening slots, so playing to a room full of her fans is a new and touching experience. They have been going out of their way to make sure she feels their appreciation.
“It’s really sweet when people make little cutouts and hand them around to everyone in the crowd. It makes me cry, no matter what,” says Samia. “It just feels like we’re all celebrating something together.”
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This article appears in Apr 5-19, 2023.