Chords for Sam Westphalen - Interview - 2013

_ [C] My name is Sam and _ _ people might know me from the internets, the YouTubes, _ _ _ from covers of
metal songs and other things.
_ I started playing guitar when I was [F] 11 [Am] _ and I played
electric [G] mostly until [C] _ I was about _ [F] 20 maybe [Am] and I moved to the [G] acoustic thing. _ _
[F] _ Yeah, [Am] so I spent a [G] while _ _ [C] developing that _ [F]
and _ [Am] finally _ started playing in [G] front of people.
_ [F] _ It took me a while [Am] to actually get out and start busking.
It was [G] _ [C] really nerve-wracking at first.
_ [F] _ See, I didn't have [Am] any problems with the [G] actual playing part.
It was more [F] the _ [E] getting set up part
that I had a fight [G] when I was nervous about.
[C] It's very weird.
[Fm] But yeah, it was the, okay, now I'm
going to put [Am] down my guitar and take it [G] out and start playing. _
[C] I remember one of the first times I [F] _
[Am] went busking was in Newtown.
[G] I had a [C] _ little pocket amp thing strapped to [Am] my belt _ and [G] _ I was doing a whole [C] walk past the same spot five times
and then [F] eventually I got involved [Am] in the set up.
_ The second I set up, [G] some [C] drunk guy smashes a bottle
[F] like right next to me.
I'm like, this is going to be interesting.
[C] _ But yeah, it was nerve-wracking.
_ _ _ _ _ [F] _ _
[Am] I guess once I figured out [G] what I was, because [C] I kind of feel [F] around a bit with like [Am] different things.
Like I started off showing [C] _ more composition based stuff like [F] _ [Am] film music and that kind of stuff.
[G] Yeah, [C] eventually I kind of found my [F] own spot.
The [Am] way I learn _ _ [Ab] covers and stuff [C] is _ _ I'll find a song [F] that
_ [Am] _ hopefully has some element [G] of ironic novelty.
[C] And then [F] I'll _ [Am] start by just hearing it out,
[G] sitting with the [C] song playing and kind of [F] finding a tuning.
_ _ [Am] _ _
_ And [G] that's basically [C] me just sitting there playing
and [F] kind of tuning notes [Am] up and down, finding long melody [C] notes and stuff.
_ Finding something comfortable. _
Yeah, and I'll figure [F] out, I'll get a basic idea [Am] of where everything is.
_ [C] And then I'll stop listening to the recording for a bit [F] because if [Am] I keep listening to it,
I'll try and get it to sound [G] exactly like it and [C] I'll never finish.
_ _ It didn't take too long to get the basics down.
_ _ I started with _ _ very simple patterns.
Even when I played electric, I usually played only, _ _ I did a lot of legato and stuff.
So playing with one hand wasn't really [F] a problem.
[Am] _ So yeah, I started with a simple [G] pattern.
[C] _ _ _ [F] And eventually I started _
[C] hitting things on the way up by accident and feeling stuff in me.
It just evolved [Am] naturally.
I _ _ [G] try and _ [C] emulate drummers and [F] stuff.
_ _ _ People like Virgil [G] Di Nardi, he's one of my favorites.
[C] And I think that [F] style is [Am] perfect for _ the medium, [G] it's perfect for the style [C] because it's a visual thing as well.
[F] You get comments every once in a while saying, _ I wouldn't [C] buy a CD of this.
And I'm like, well that's why it's on the internet, that's why it's on [F] YouTube.
_ _ I kind [C] of see the comments and all that kind of stuff as another _
[Fm] part of the [C] fun.
_ So I might come off as a dick sometimes.
_ I only answer the [F] funny ones.
If [C] someone says something stupid, I'll [Em] give them a sarcastic [C] comment back or something.
[F] Yeah, I don't know, it's very strange.
You [C] have to be pretty thick skinned as well, obviously, [G] because people [Dm] are judging you [C] every day. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ Yeah, just making stuff is what I've always done, so I'd like to continue doing that without having to _ compromise creatively too much.
_ _ Any advice I'd give to students [Am] is, _ _ I guess, [G] _
[C] don't worry about what people think, [F] just do what you want.
[Am] And if [G] you're heading in the right direction, things should [C] work out.
_ _ _ _ _ _ [F] Yeah, [Am] don't try [C] to please people.
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