Rip It Up Interview – Adelaide 2011 by Robert Dunstan
31 Aug 2011
Sam Shinazzi was last in Adelaide way back in 2005 to play with US act Crooked Fingers, the collective which boasts Archers Of Loaf’s Eric Bachmann as its leader.
Shinazzi is now heading back (with The Devoted Few’s Barry Adamson on guitar) to promote the release of his latest album, When the Lights Come Up, and is set to play a couple of gigs including Saturday evening’s Spozfest.
“It’s all been organised by the guys from Quiet In the Lab (Adelaide band) and it’s just my second time in Adelaide” he says. “And I’m excited to be playing both shows with (Brisbane’s) We All Want To because I’ve always been a fan of whatever (Screamfeeder’s) Tim Steward does. I’ve loved his work for a long time”.
Since When the Lights Come Up’s April release, Shinazzi has been constantly gigging. “I do a lot of shows with Barry and it’s as rockin’ as two people can be” he announces. “It’s not overly mellow and we stil play the fast ones fast and the slow ones slow”.
Shinazzi has previously toured overseas – he penned eight songs while in New York in 2005 – and its now likely he’ll head back over to the US at some stage. “I got a really interesting email only this morning, from someone in New York asking if I was interested in coming over later in the year. I’ve just got to work out how to do that. I love going to America. And while I’ve had previous releases in Europe and the UK, for some reason I have never toured there”.
Shinazzi, who will take part in a Neil Young tribute night in Sydney the night prior to heading to Adelaide, says he hasn’t yet thought about his next album. “I guess you’re always thinking about it in some way but at this stage there’s nothing really concrete. I want to give this new album as much of a life as I can at the moment, make some more videos for it too if possible. So with the way I tend to work, I’ll probably start on a new album early next year. Who knows?”
Who: Sam Shinazzi
What: When the Lights Come Up (Laughing Outlaw)
Where & When: Hotel Metro Fri Aug 26 and Producer’s Bar Sat Aug 27
