Samm Henshaw On Studying Music at University and His Upcoming Debut Album Untidy Soul
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“Chicken Wing” and “Grow” R&B singer Samm Henshaw talks gospel influences, the pandemic and his upcoming debut album, Untidy Soul.
What role did music play in your childhood?
A real big one! As a kid, music was always there in all shapes and forms and was very prevalent in my life. I had uncles who were DJs and sent us mixtapes, and our parents had parties with their friends, so we'd always be at some event or gathering. Going to church, I started playing drums at the age of four, I picked up keys (piano) when I was maybe thirteen or fourteen years old, guitar at sixteen, and I didn't start singing until I was eighteen or nineteen years old. For as long as I can remember, music has played a role in my life.
Did you go to university to study music?
I did, yeah! Sometimes I wonder if that was a good idea.
How much of your studies from university do you continue to apply to making music today?
There is a lot of stuff uni educated me on and prepared me for, but I think I was always going to find that information anyway through the experiences I've had as an artist. My career has been more educational than university. That's not to say I regret going to uni. University was definitive for me, and I loved every moment attending. I think studying music for me personally probably wasn't the best option. If given another opportunity to attend university, I would have learned something else to learn a completely different field. Studying something I was already super passionate about, I didn't feel like I was gaining stuff I wasn't trying to learn independently. I would have instead learned something I had little to no knowledge of and become excellent in that field.
Has your Christian background influenced your creative process when you're making music?
I based a lot of the music I make on feeling. I feel like people struggle to admit it or don't necessarily realize that gospel music influences most of our favorite genres today. Like you, most of the music I grew up listening to connects to memories and feelings, so when I create my music, I look to recreate those feelings for myself and someone else. When I think about someone like Lauryn Hill and The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, there are a lot of vibes that relate to soul and gospel and hip-hop, and It's all connected to memories. The same with Kirk Franklin, Helen Baylor, and Shirley Caesar.
Would you ever make a gospel album?
I would probably make a worship album, not a gospel one.
In interviews, I see the word, "happy” associated with your music. How would you describe your music to someone who hasn't listened to Samm Henshaw before?
It's human. I write songs based on what I think and feel. If other people can relate, that's proving that it's human because it's not me just going through these experiences. The best way I can describe my music is that it's human and comes from a place of reality.
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How did the pandemic impact your creativity?
I loved the pandemic! Sometimes I can be introverted. I think what I loved about the pandemic was it changed my perspective on life and how I view myself and people. Through that, I became more creative. It taught me to push past and challenge the ideas of fear. For me, that was a big deal.
It’s a 5-year gap between the EP, The Sound Experiment 2 released in 2016, and Untidy Soul, your first LP dropping in January 2022. What was your mindset creating your first studio album?
There's less pressure when you record an EP and more pressure when you record an album. I don't know where the pressure comes from --I guess it's mainly from me. I know when I was with the label it was tons of pressure. It felt like we weren't approaching an album because it didn't feel like we were ready --that goes back to the whole idea of fear. Doing an album now, there was more excitement around it because I had more to play with and more time. I can be more creative and silly and do whatever I want. It was fun to have a super long process to create this album and challenge myself to see what I could do.
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