The Bird Calls

Photo by, Ada Chen

Meet Sam

Whoa babayyyy, apparently there are about 10,000 species of birds in the world. That’s a hell of a lot of feathers to get ruffled, and a whole heck of a lot of tweets. 

While we haven’t quite hit 10k, we have featured quite a few songbirds on this little bloggy. Sam Sodomsky, who goes by the fitting moniker The Bird Calls, flew on through for a little chat fresh off his latest release.

This acoustic singer/songwriter gives us a peek into his bird brain: we discuss a true NY love story, his early morning recordings, and the best headbanging hair there is. 

Tweet all about it, below! 

LETTER TO A LOVELORN COLUMNIST A Mad-Lib by, Sam

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts:
I've been engaged to the same man for 27.years. He keeps telling me he EMBRACES me, but we need to wait to get SKUNKED until he makes more CARDIGANS. If we marry now, we will have to BUNGLE with my mother and eat CARDAMOMS every day. But isn't DIGNIFIED love worth that? Should I put my TOOTH down and set a date, or just continue to be SWARTHY?

Signed,

NAOMI

Dear Young Lady:
Don't do anything AVUNCULAR. Something worth FUMBLING is worth TACKLING for. I don't think eating CATAMARANS with the man you ACCESSORIZE is bad, but eating CATAMARANS and living 27 miles away from your mother is better.

Signed,

Miss Lonelyhearts

Would You Rather

get in contact with ghosts or aliens? What would you say?

100% aliens. I would tell them to listen to (if they haven’t already heard) the new Blood Incantation album, which specifically concerns their existence. I’d ask if it was all true.

Some Questions with Sam

Digital, Records, CD, or Cassette. Which is your favorite format of music? Why?

I’m pretty deep in the record collecting game so my heart lies with good old fashioned vinyl. But I was born in the ’90s so CDs had a much bigger role in my formative years and nowadays are a lot cheaper to buy anyway. I recently put together a CD-R run of my latest album (Moments in Doubt) and quickly remembered how much I love the format, the jewel cases, the little spine exposed next to the cover art... I remember seeing new album covers in magazines and trying to guess what the rest of the packaging would look like. I loved how the case for U2’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind was all white instead of black like the usual ones. It looked very futuristic on the shelf.

What is the food you get delivered most often? Do you have a favorite place to get it from?

A lot of places where I like to eat are in a tight radius around my apartment so I pick up food more than I get delivery. A lot of bodega hoagies. A funny story about my bodega: I used to go to this one by my old apartment in Alphabet City all the time. When I moved to Park Slope I had to say goodbye to the guys who worked there and it was pretty emotional for all of us. I was there almost every day. Then a few months after I moved, they opened a new one that just so happened to be a few blocks from my current apartment. When I walked in and saw everyone again, we all had to laugh. A total coincidence. Weird New York love story.

Being about a year out from your latest release BCI how does it feel looking back on the work you put out?

Actually it’s only been about a month since Moments in Doubt so I’m still kinda livin’ in the glow. It’s my favorite album of mine by a mile. All the songs are still very close. But I’m proud of almost everything I’ve done, to some extent. I spent this decade recording constantly while doing a bunch of other stuff (college, moving to New York, grad school, having a job, etc) and it’s been a good way to document how I feel/what I’ve been thinking about in the periphery. It’s important to keep a record of that sort of thing. I feel like I’m just finding my feet.

When do you typically practice? Morning? Night?

Always the morning if I can. The best days are when I’ve written something I like before everyone else wakes up and my actual day begins. Some of my favorite albums I’ve made are recorded entirely before 8am. (By My Side is a recent example.)

Who are your favorite musicians active in NYC right now?

In alphabetical order: Abandon, Burial Rites, Cafuné, Caitlin Pasko, Edna, Garcia Peoples, Office Culture, SPIT-TING, Topical Solution

Where did you grow up? Did it shape the music you are making today?

I grew up in Reading, Pennsylvania. Being somewhat removed from the world definitely influenced the mood of my songwriting and how immersed I got in it. I spent a lot of time online too, which was also crucial. I’d meet people who liked the same bands as me but didn’t know anything about my life and send them my music over AIM. It was insanely freeing. I think I was trying to create an identity separate from my physical self and my hometown and just regular childhood stuff. The internet was very useful for that.

Do you see a relationship between the production scale and intimacy?

A lot of my favorite artists work on a massive scale so as a listener I can’t trace a direct correlation between a song’s scope and how it feels to me. I’ve heard huge pop songs that instantly become part of my DNA and lo-fi singer-songwriter stuff that just doesn’t ring true. As an artist I try to work quickly, integrating my writing and recording process so that the question of “production” hardly comes into it (at least in the sense I think you’re talking about). So far that’s meant making quieter music but I’m not opposed to blowing that up someday. It’s just whatever suits the song.

Where do you go to escape the city?

I love reading, listening to records, seeing shows.

What is your take on the current state of the NYC DIY scene?

As a semi-recluse I tend to feel skeptical of anything resembling a “scene.” But I’ve also had a good time pretty much every show I’ve played here and I’ve met a lot of people who have been helpful and kind. So in the end I have nothing but love for the scene. Although I keep my distance.

What hairstyle would you like to see become popular in 2020?

Personally 2k19 has been all about growing my hair long. I can only speak for myself but it’s totally changed my headbanging game. I feel like I’m in the major leagues now. Maybe other people will step to my level in 2k20 but for now I have no competition as I see it.

Do you have any routines/rituals during a practice?

The closest thing I have to a ritual are certain songs I sing to pump myself up all the time... Gary Stewart “Single Again,” Bruce Springsteen “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” Willie Nelson “Me and Paul.” Songs that feel good to hear, make me smile when I’m not feeling the spirit. I have an album I’m working on that’s like 60% covers and a few of them are in that style. Hopefully it has the same effect on people listening.

If you were running for mayor of New York, what would be your slogan be?

More public restrooms. Free public transportation. I guess those are more platforms than slogans. Maybe I wouldn’t have a slogan. “Sodomsky 2020 — All Platform, No Slogan.”

Any final comments? (This is your electronic soapbox for one last answer.)

Thanks for listening to the music and for all the questions, they were fun to think about.