Feature

Sam Teskey: My Own Way

After achieving worldwide success with their authentic '70s soul-infused sound and boasting the gritty/belting Redding-esque talents of frontman, Josh Teskey, Australia's Teskey Brothers have undeniably gone from strength to strength in recent years. But it's younger sibling Sam Teskey, the band's lead guitarist/songwriter and award-winning sound engineer, who ups his solo game this month with the release of his very decent debut, "Cycles". An album where Teskey delivers a first-class multi-instrumental performance, matched with patient production prowess as he flexes his analogue expertise to deliver a heady mix of comic/psychedelic styled musicianship, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young type tight vocal harmonies and Pink Floyd like acoustic prowess. There's rock, soul, folk, blues with an alt edge and everything in between, this album is what the phrase "going on a journey" is all about and more.

I Zoom called the talented Mr Teskey at home in Australia, to ask about his brand new set of tunes, his vocal input on this release, his production methods for making his desired sound and making videos in reverse.

The first topic up for discussion has to be the album's name, Teskey enlightens, "Cycles", I've been sitting on it for a long time now - I wasn't going to title it but the more conversations I had about it, what it meant to me and what was coming to me conceptually about the album, I kept mentioning the same word, "Cycles”. I guess after that I was like, "I may as well just call it Cycles" because it seems to be a recurring theme". He adds, "I detected so many elements with the whole album and that's kind of expanded into yeah, a lot of life cycles...day cycles… I’m just kind of looking at every little cycle in the world and how it all sort of fits together. Something like cosmic and psychedelic reflect the music, I guess".

"Cycles" has a very distinct cover, to say the least. Teskey fills me in on the artwork created especially for this project. "Maria Torres did the oil painting cover. I left her to it. She did this painting and it's really cool. She did a mock-up to start with and that was cool. Then, she went off the radar while she was painting it. [Initially,] I told her what were the concepts and ideas I was getting for the album but [I told her], "You do you!" I wanted her to explore all the ideas she could, not so much talking about my creative thoughts on how the album is - there's a lot of open lyrics that I guess you can take in many different ways - I wanted for her to have her own experience, as well. She has tried to send the painting to me many times but the borders as so strict with customs, it just keeps getting sent back to Spain - it's been 3 times now!

You can read more from B&S Editor Lee Tyler's exclusive cover interview with Sam Teskey including the themes and styles on new album "Cycles". Also, the single "Love" and it's very watchable (how did they do that video), Sam Teskey's sound Vs the Teskey Brothers, his production input and his grounded expectation for his new album, all in the latest issue of Blues & Soul magazine - click the 'BUY NOW' link below to order straight from the B&S shop or read on for high street retailer details...

You can purchase Blues & Soul magazine at all decent magazine retailers, inc; WH Smiths, John Menzies + selected Euro Foods, Cost Cutters and independents everywhere! If by chance your preferred retailer does not stock Blues & Soul, just ask for a "B&S shop save" and they will order it in for you.

ESSENTIAL LINKS:

TWITTER: JSamTeskeyMusic

INSTAGRAM samuelteskey

FACEBOOK SamTeskeyMusic

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Words LEE TYLER