Press & Media
Press & Media
Photos by Clay McBride - January 29th 2022 @ Photo City - Rochester NY w. The Low Spirits & Trevor Lake
Zoo
Zoo is not a sad song. The lyrics to Zoo lean into the darkness in an effort to balance quite a bit of lightheartedness. Zoo is about longing to be more, and to be simple. The ask: I’d do anything just to live in the zoo, had come from a brief introspection into my childhood, and my longing to be a zookeeper. The Zookeeper transforming into the animals themselves, as their job is a simple and beautiful one - one of not wearing shoes, and simply being allowed to “be” and that “being” functioning as the happiness for the audience. A simple ask.
The song ends with the triumphant & simple chords, with each lyric functioning as a reminder of the need for childlike dreams in adulthood.
“There’s nothing I’d rather do, I’d do anything just to live in the zoo.
Tigers Zebras Rangutans that don’t have to choose between their next meal and the dreams they could lose.
All the people happy cause I just don’t wear shoes, and my stripes are bright, and they’re safe on their side.
But my fangs have all dulled,
my feathers are tied
my claws have been cut
my hopes have all nulled
my spots have all smeared
my roars just a cough
my dreams are all strange
and my outlook is grim
But I can walk, wherever I want.
and I can dream and be whatever I want to be
I wouldn’t have to talk
No excuses just a sqwuak
and everyone would always be so happy to see me be.
“From the sweeping pop-psychedelia of Maybird to the jagged garage pop of Anamon, Sam Snyder, aka Overhand Sam, never tries to set boundaries with his music. The well-rounded Rochester-based musician is always doing something new with one of his musical projects, mostly now with his power trio Bad Weapon, which also comprises of drummer Dennis Mariano and bassist Benton Sillick. The trio's soundscapes are best described as fuzzy psych-pop with a painterly lo-fi touch that's layered with dreamy hooks and punchy, freeform rhythms.”
Pleased to have Tom Gallo of Look at My Records blog premiere "Pebbles” - April 2nd 2021
““Early on, the interaction between the guitars and bass is quite unique, as the riffs sound straight up Byrdsian, while the muscular bass exudes more of a soulful bravado.””
https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2020/04/overhand-sam-bad-weapon-interview.html
““It’s retro-pop, with synths and guitar solos, and lots of drum fills, for all intents and purposes. I like twists and turns, and weird sounds too, but I am a sucker for harpsichord and blown out drums. It’s generally guitar-centric, because I am a byproduct of Hendrix and Jeff Beck.”
-Sam / It’s Psychedelic Baby Magazine, April 23 2020”
Photo by Grace Walker
Photo by Mike Turzanski
Photo by Mike Turzanski
PHOTO JOE MARCHETTI
Photo by Joe Marchetti
Rochester City Newspaper Interview Oct 2018
Sam Snyder -- commonly known as "Overhand Sam," for his unorthodox guitar-playing style -- never tries to set expectations. He just imagines that each show, in its own way, will be a great time. The multifaceted, Rochester-based musician is on a roll right now: fronting his own band Overhand Sam (OHS) and working on the forthcoming record "Bad Weapons"; being an active member of the New York City-based band Maybird, which is now signed to Columbia Records;playing guitar in Rochester's Anamon; and serving as sound engineer and producer of a few albums put out by local bands…
Buffablog Album of the week July 2017
Rochester’s Sam Snyder is forever a busy musician. Splitting time between playing guitar in Brooklyn’s Maybird (currently gearing up for October tour dates with Portugal the Man and The Babe Rainbow) and his self-written, self-recorded, self-produced solo project Overhand Sam (or OHS) could be a full-time job considering the amount of material both acts pump out. Maybird is riding high on the recent release of their Unraveling EP, produced by Patrick Carney of The Black Keys, and somehow Snyder found time in between to put out a full-length’s worth of the haziest psychedelia bangers I’ve heard in a while. Overhand Sam’s Longer Legs is our album of the week.
Spotify
Known for his guitar playing in Maybird (30th Century Records), Overhand Sam has been releasing music the lo-fidelity fanatics across the internet since 2015. Following 2017's "Longer Legs" record, Sam is releasing "Bad Weapon", a concept record to help immortalize the three eyed creature he created in the records prior. Kink's retro-pop meets Gainsbourg jazz-ish meets Vonnegut inspired Fuzzy-Space-Krautrock.
