Check out our photo gallery if you missed the show.
Street: This week, you released your debut album Disturbing Wildlife – how does it feel to have that under your belt?
Jared Samuel: It feels too soon to tell. If songs are really like children, then that means these particular kids have just left home. So right now I'm worried about 'em, out there all on their own, but I feel like I raised 'em right, so maybe they got a fighting chance of making good homes in the world, settling down, raising some songs of their own one day.
Street: You wrote most of the album alone in a houseboat on Jamaica Bay – what was that like?
JS: Probably the only time in recent memory wherein I spent more than two days in complete solitude. Once I grew to tolerate my own company, it turned into a very lovely time, but it took some getting used to me. I rediscovered that I loved to spend time in the kitchen, err ... Galley. It felt great to sing anytime, at any volume. I shut off the telephone and rid myself of all "regular sleep" schedules, and just worked when it suited me, and slept when tired. The funny thing is that though i don't think anything on Disturbing Wildlife can be described, even distantly, as "yacht rock" nevertheless my producer has done work with both Donald Fagen and Michael McDonald. But maybe that's just because he [Michael Leonhart] is a badass.
Street: What was the strangest thing that happened in the house boat?
JS: Certain times wherein I felt like I wasn't completely alone, even when so-called logic would dictate that I was. Also the boat itself was moored in Jamaica Bay, near JFK Airport, so sometimes near three A.M. when I had all the curtains drawn and the night was otherwise silent, it would suddenly feel like jets were passing low enough to give a slightly taller man one hell of a haircut. Other times I'd see helicopters patrolling the housing projects just a few yards away. Woe is thee, NYPD.
Street: Describe the sound of your album in a sentence.
JS: My friend Sara called it “the sound of being alive with the radio on,” and I love that and her, so there you go.
Street: What are you most excited about on this album?
JS: I'm excited to discover all the things that get other people excited about this current album and use those to distill the next album into nothing but moments of escalating excitement. we're cooking a reduction, here.
Street: You've worked with a lot of interesting people in the music world, like Sean Lennon. How does that shape your music?
JS: It's mostly difficult to put into words. I welcome whatever shape it wants to take and it's often many forms of matter at once. And after all: who wants to listen to something that's only triangular and gaseous, for instance? I’m open to the fact that it's always a learning experience. And Sean [Lennon] is a brilliant musician, but often so modest that he would likely be the first one to shirk the compliment and instead try turning you on to the musicians that he learned from. Like, "Yeah, but you know who's really good...?!?"
Street: You’re playing at the North Star Bar on Thursday. How did you get paired up with the Philly bands (The Retinas, Old Scratch, Eat Your Cigarettes) that you're playing with?
JS: They asked us to come, they rustled up a gorgeous poster... They met with all of our other strenuous demands. It doesn't take much. These days we just love to play, and besides, New York has always been a wonderful place to leave.
Street: Have you played in Philly before?
JS: We played our first ever live show in Philly for a very small, but very delightful live studio audience at Miner Street Recordings. My setup back then was far more involved (borderline masochistic, you might say) and included acoustic guitar plus guitar pedalboard, bass synth pedals, bass synth keyboard, an OP-1 mini keyboard, all hanging off of a single keyboard stand on a furniture dolly with a gooseneck mic clip screwed into the top. It took a while to set up, and just as long to take down. And now I get to just play the bass and sing. So I'm expecting to have even more fun than last time. And last time was fun, for sure.
Street: What's next for you after you promote Disturbing Wildlife?
JS: No idea yet, but I believe it's sure to happen. Slowly, slowly. it's too nice a job to rush.
If he's crazy enough to isolate himself in a houseboat for days, he's probably crazy enough to put on an unforgettable show. Come see Invisible Familiars (Jared Samuel) play at The North Star Bar on Thursday, Jan. 29 at 8 PM. If you're not sold just yet, we have exclusive video of Jared Samuel and Jordyn Blakely playing Invisible Familiars' "Elaine Serene" and The Cars' "Drive."
