FEATURE: Spotlight: Samia — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

Spotlight

Samia

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AN amazing artist…

who has been making progress over the past couple of years, there is a lot of attention the way of Samia right now. The Los Angeles-born Samia Najimy Finnerty moved to New York but is now in Nashville. She has soaked up the various atmospheres, cultures, colour palettes and vibes of those amazing cities. I am going to end with a report that she has announced her second studio album, Honey. That comes out in January. Her staggering debut, The Baby, came out in 2020. A year that was tough in terms of promotion (what with the pandemic starting), her music has evolved since then. A sensational artist that everyone should know about, her music is simply amazing! I am going to bring a few interviews in from the past two years. I want to start with The Line of Best Fit’s, who spoke with Samia around the release of The Baby:

“Just look at the reception of Greta Gerwig’s award-winning portrait of adolescence, Ladybird, which turned her personal story of a small-town girl into a full-blown triumph. As you learn more about New York songwriter Samia Finnerty’s teen years growing up in LA, it seems obvious to draw a cinematic comparison. Daughter to American actor Dan Finnerty, and actress and activist Kathy Ann Najimy (best known for her roles in timeless teenage classics, Sister Act and Hocus Pocus) Finnerty is no stranger to the bright lights and big city. Not least thanks to her swift ascent through the digital rankings early on her career.

The very same year that Gerwig was releasing her semi-autobiographical script, Finnerty was experiencing her own personal revelations. Fresh into her early twenties, the songwriter found herself regularly throwing roughly recorded tracks onto the internet just so that her friends would stop telling her to do it. ‘Someone Tell The Boys’ was one such track, written as a “joke to make fun of these boys who would sit in dorm rooms and wouldn’t let us talk”, she tells me from her home in New York. So it must’ve been surprising then, as she roamed around her parents’ place one afternoon, to find that she’d jumped from 3,000 to 13,000 streams in one day.

“I didn't fully understand the power of Spotify until that moment and definitely didn't understand how they could have found my song. I was in my parents’ bedroom, like, touching their stuff while they weren't there,” she recalls, drolly. “I was looking at my stats which didn't seem like it was gonna yield any results because it had been the same the entire time that I've had music online and I was shocked.” ‘Someone Tell The Boys’ first appeared on the platform’s Discover Weekly playlist and has since racked up over two million streams.

Earlier this year, the musician shared a taste of her forthcoming debut. Gone are the mighty riffs from the guitar and instead we enter into more mesmerising melancholia. But the unifying presence between both phases is her staggering vocal range, gracefully flitting between octaves with the same bone-shaking power as equally soulful songwriter Lucy Dacus. By turning inwards and stripping things back, Finnerty has found a more authentic way to explore her vulnerabilities. On the process of making the debut, she reflects: “I started to be more intentional; who I was listening to, the people who inspired me and that definitely was a shift”.

Rather than after school auditions and agents then, Finnerty became enamoured with the idea of songwriting and performing. From the age of fifteen, she would return home from school and immerse herself in the back catalogues of indie giants The National and Nirvana who gave her love for poetry a newfound focus. “It was kind of perfect timing for me because it was just when I became brave enough to take my guitar to an open mic night and fail..a lot”, she says, emphatically. “And yeah, I mean, the environment [in New York] is so conducive to that kind of thing and I don't think it is as much in LA where I was before so I'm really grateful that I came when I did”.

Finnerty quickly became curious to meet other like-minded music types, hanging out at dive bars and grassroots venues in Brooklyn where artists and creatives were supporting one another and expressing themselves freely and without criticism. A community and ethos that provided a welcome balm to previous flirtations with the arts on the West Coast, as she recalls fondly. “I found this sort of authentic bubble that would support me and not scare me as much as the other stuff”. She soon found her footing in New York as an artist, touring the open mic nights of the Lower East Side and Manhattan.

Documenting your growth as an artist and as an adolescent is no small feat; for a self-professed introvert the process of inviting others to collaborate with your innermost thoughts must have been quite an intimidating. How did Finnerty cope with that intimate dissection? Again, it’s back to #squadgoals as she explains. “[Caleb] Hinz is a producer and has a band called The Happy Children. He made one of my favorite records of all time that I would listen to on repeat the summer before we made the record. There was something so magical about being able to genuinely be a fan of someone and then be able to pry open their brain to make something for me. It felt almost disgustingly cool and it should not have been able to happen. It was staring at my heroes in a museum”.

In the years between her early demos and releasing this full-length body of work, Finnerty has not only moved passed the legal age of drinking in the US (much to her Mum’s relief, no doubt, who pops up on occasional old Instagram posts quizzing her on “what she’s holding” about a darkly coloured liquid in a glass) but also into a new age of relatability.

The growth of Instagram Live during the pandemic proved that we’re all looking for less polished, more candid connections. The Baby showcases the realities of growing up, of feeling the fear and doing it anyway. And not just for the ‘gram. And it’s this idea of shared experiences and personal interpretations that Finnerty is most excited about when it comes to the release, she reveals. “I'm excited to talk about [The Baby] with people who are affected by it in some way. That's my favorite thing... to hear how people have interpreted the songs and how it's resonated with them and experiences in their own life”.

But, as Finnerty knows only too well, sometimes the conversation shifts in unparalleled ways so while she’s keen to start reading the reviews, she’s also mindful of our ever-changing news cycle at the moment. “I want to see what needs to be happening during that time and what we need to be talking about and try to focus on that first”. You’re left with the feeling that while Finnerty’s youth might’ve swung between both sides of the States, community and compassion are deep in her roots. And sometimes that’s as much about listening as it is about having the loudest voice”.

I will skip ahead to August 2021. Samia looked back on the success and sound of The Baby. Based in New York still there, DORK caught up with the amazing artist who delivered an E.P., Scout. Samia claimed that she needed another ten years before releasing a twelve-track album:

“With her debut album ‘The Baby’, New York singer-songwriter Samia stepped onto the scene in summer 2020, introducing the world to her world of confessional storytelling. A good year and a move to Nashville later, she returns with a handwoven basket of brand-new material: the ‘Scout’ EP – a stunning four-track record that builds a smooth transition out of the baby clothes and into a new era.

“Looking back, it’s sort of just me reflecting on the experiences that I wrote ‘The Baby’ about,” Samia explains. “I wrote the whole thing in lockdown. It’s weird to put that out for me because ‘The Baby’ was such an intentional thing. I took so long working on it and deciding exactly what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it, and this EP is just sort of like, ‘Here are the songs I wrote’.”

Whether intentional or not, what drives Samia’s art is a passion for poetry that seeps into her intimate lyricism. Growing up a musical theatre kid and self-confessed “poetry nerd”, music was the only logical way forward. Talking about her first steps into songwriting, she laughs: “When I found out you could sing your own poetry, that was the best day ever.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Sophia Matinazad

Born out of a need to process and deal with, well, life, all of Samia’s songs are fuelled by personal experience. “I write cathartically,” she says, “it’s something I need to do for my own mental health. It’s a personally rewarding experience to be able to write autobiographically, but I’m trying to get better at putting myself in somebody else’s shoes and writing from their perspective. It’s a good exercise.”

Growing up with two limelight natives for parents (actor Kathy Najimy (Sister Act, Hocus Pocus) and musician-comedian Dan Finnerty, because we know you were wondering) in a household that gave her a front row seat to the rapid rise and fall of other people’s careers, Samia quickly learnt to be wary of success. “I feel lucky to have seen people achieve a version of success and then lose it and then get it again and then lose it again – put so much stake in it and tie it to their worth. It just really destroys people, and they feel so completely worthless without it. I grew up watching that from afar and promising myself I would never let that control my happiness.”

Though ever the realist, Samia doesn’t pretend to be immune to the lure of a certain lifestyle; she reminds herself every day to find joy in the little things. “I try to remember that the things that make me happy are going on walks with the people that I love, listening to music and going to Trader Joe’s and getting a coffee. That’s really the peak of my happiness.”

And making music, of course. There is no doubt that Samia has found her calling, but there is no telling where her musical journey might be taking her next. Not even Samia herself seems set on a sonic destination. “I have no idea what I want my sound to be,” she admits. “I change my mind every day. That’s maybe why I write from experience because it feels like the through-line in my music is my perspective.”

Without a trademark sound, Samia is free to roam and explore as she pleases. The very quality that gave ‘The Baby’ its unique flair and eclectic charm. Seamlessly moving from bright and breezy to irresistibly defiant to utterly heartbreaking, it’s a debut record that is anything but one dimensional. Instead, it highlights all the different ways Samia excels at telling her story. “It’s always just been about the lyrics for me,” she says about her approach to songwriting. “And I’m so attracted to so many different genres and so many different sounds that I think it will always change.”

Talking about the different directions she could potentially maybe take her sound, Samia gives us a little glimpse into the not-so-distant future. “I have a little band with three of my friends. I don’t know when that stuff is coming out, but that was a really fun quarantine project.” And there’s more! “I made a whole [poetry] book last year, and I chickened out. I’m really scared to release it, but someday. I’m gonna give it another six months to a year and see if I can muster up the courage”.

With a growing following and her new material making an impact, The Forty-Five interviewed Samia in February. We know now that an album is on its way (eleven track in total), but at the time of the interview, Samia was about half-way in:

“THOSE SESSIONS WERE FOR YOUR SECOND ALBUM – HOW FAR INTO THAT PROCESS ARE YOU?

“I guess I’m five songs in. It’s just the start, but it’s the beginning of something. I’m suddenly really excited [about these songs]. The past two years has not been conducive to a lot of creativity. There have been moments of it that felt potent, but this last week I wrote the most songs that I felt confident about than I have in a long time.”

WAS THAT JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE IN A DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENT AND YOU’RE WITH SOMEONE YOU TRUST AND WHO YOU’VE WORKED WITH A LOT?

“Yeah, I think it’s just about dedicating time and space to it. I think I’m a lot more sensitive to environment than I knew – it’s really helpful to have a designated space to do that stuff. And I think also, with the pandemic, it just felt for so long like dramatising my own pain was weird in this super tumultuous, chaotic, terrible situation that was happening to everyone. It felt like looking inwards was maybe weird [laughs] but it feels now like things are starting to be in a place where we can do that again.”

WHEREABOUTS ON THE SPECTRUM OF ‘THE BABY’ AND THE ‘SCOUT’ EP ARE THESE NEW SONGS SITTING RIGHT NOW?

“I think it’s a new thing now. Part of my epiphany that I had last week was that I was searching for some angst that I had on the first record that I don’t have anymore. It’s hard to let go of, especially when you’re just accustomed to writing a certain way or have received any level of praise or criticism that is describing the way that you are. It’s hard not to identify with it. But I realised that I just don’t have a lot of angst. I’m sure that’s a natural part of growing up.”

ONCE THIS TOUR’S OVER, ANY CHANCE WE’LL GET TO SEE YOU IN THE UK SOON?

“We’re really trying to, once everything cools down with COVID and it gets less expensive. We’ve had so many little opportunities to do one-offs and stuff, but we’re trying to save it so that we can really make the most of getting over there”.

She is coming to the U.K. soon, so make sure that you go and see Samia live if you can. A hotly-anticipated second album is on its way next year. Before coming to that, WRVU Nashville spoke with her about Portland Brew, TikTok, and her new record:

“Samia moved to Nashville a little over a year ago, though you wouldn’t know it by her assuredness in the city. “After being here for a year, it feels like home now. It feels like somewhere I can come and not have to do anything or worry about anything. I don’t deal with a lot of stress here, which is great. […] I feel so inspired by my friends here who play music and the music that’s coming out of Nashville. I feel so lucky to be a part of it.”

Samia performing at the Basement East, photos by Taylor Lomax.

Since the 2020 release of her debut The Baby, life has been hectic for Samia. Between two separate headline tours, the release of her Scout EP, filming a Netflix Original, and writing her upcoming sophomore album, you couldn’t accuse her of being unambitious.

There is, though, a refreshing humility with which Samia approaches life, both on and off-stage. Talking to her or watching her perform, you wouldn’t immediately peg her for someone with the trajectory and productivity she has. She’s bubbly, kind, and endlessly earnest—notably, the traits that propelled her to where she is now.

PHOTO CREDIT: Taylor Lomax

“What are you guys doin’ here?” she asked at the beginning of her headline set at the Basement East in February. “I didn’t know you were comin’!” It was a disarming remark, at odds with much of the larger-than-life crowd work you grow accustomed to when attending shows regularly.

“I search to a fault in just being myself,” she said of her stage banter. “I don’t really know how to do the thing where you pick a personality—not to bash that, I think that’s really cool too! I’m just incapable of saying things that haven’t naturally popped into my brain, for better or for worse. So whatever I’m doing on stage is just out of pure panic.”

Elsewhere in the set, her humor was perfectly deadpan: “this next song’s about when you go to Minnesota,” she said as she introduced The Baby cut “Minnesota.” And because all good things come in threes, this became a recurring bit, with her dubbing “Limbo Bitch” as “about how you can limbo, bitch” and “Show Up” as a song “about how nothing could ever stop [her] ass from showing up.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Taylor Lomax

Unsurprisingly, this humor translates remarkably to TikTok, an app she’s recently embraced. “I was really scared of it for a long time,” she told me, “and then I saw a lot of my friends do it in a way that felt natural to them and authentic. It didn’t seem like a hassle, it just seemed like another fun way to express myself. And I also follow a lot of really fun TikTok accounts that make, like, breakfast and stuff. So I was like, I might as well just try and make this fun and do stuff I like to do on here and try not to worry about what other people are gonna think about it. Which is hard, and almost impossible. But I’m doing my best!”

Still, there’s a considerable amount of emotional release in Samia’s live show—unsurprising, considering how confessional The Baby is. “Most of the songs on The Baby I wrote in the middle of pain, and like as a therapeutic, cathartic tool to deal with the pain I was directly experiencing in the moment,” she told me. “Like, that was my way of processing what I was going through”.

I am going to end with that album news. I can imagine, after such a busy last couple of years, it might have been hard to nail down enough time to focus on an album and get some writing done! The new single from that album, Kill Her Freak Out, is among Samia’s best work. Honey is shaping up to be an album you do not want to pass by. DIY reported the good news concerning Samia’s forthcoming album:

“Set for release on 27th January via Grand Jury Music, Samia has announced her second album ‘Honey’.

“This record is about learning to see the love around you,” she explains. “Sometimes the only thing I can be certain of is the way it feels. Even when I zoom all the way out, the little things matter the most. I was trying to imagine looking back at the end of life and what I’d have to say about it right now. This is a little bit of it. Telling stories, making amends, trying to show people I love them. It’s a community record - I made it with Caleb Wright and our friends in the woods in North Carolina.”

Sharing lead single ‘Kill Her Freak Out’ alongside the news, she adds, “I wrote ‘Kill Her Freak Out’ at my loneliest and most delusional. I’d been quieting my true feelings for fear that someone would leave. The chorus is a reaction to constantly downplaying the emotions that felt wrong; it was cathartic to say the opposite of what I’d been saying for so long to this person I was trying to impress. I didn’t want to kill anyone, obviously, I just wanted to yell. It sort of marks the end of The Baby’s story”.

If you have not been made aware of or connected with this incredible artist, then please do so! Samia is someone I will try and catch in November here, but her live sets are music is phenomenal. She has this loyal and loving fanbase that is growing by the day. Someone that is going to be a legend of the future, Honey is an album you need on your radar. Judging by the new single from it, we are going to get yet another wonderful album from…