DJ Sampology

“All the street press and mags are great I think there is a lot more potential for outside the box thinking in this city in terms of getting your name out there.”

 

Sam Poggiolo AKA Sampology has been hanging around the Brisbane music scene for the last seven years, which kinda makes him a veteran in DJ years.  He spread’s his love for music around the world, but still calls Brisbane home. Describing his sound is difficult because the list could go on forever. Right now he is listening to World Music, but if you love Hip Hop, Electronic, Funk and visual spectaculars then check out the dates for his tour.

I got to catch up with him and pick his brain about Brisbane’s music scene.

“I would encourage people in Brisbane if there is something musically they identify with that they feel like isn’t being represented properly to go out and do something about it. Start a local blog, or a night or whatever else you feel like would be appealing to you. Chances are if you are into something, no matter how weird you might think it is, someone else in this city is into it as well… I would also say, if the only reason you want to do something musical or DJ in Brisbane is to boost your social status, please don’t.”

How do you think the Brisbane music scene is currently?

“There are a few new music scenes doing their own thing which is great, but I still think there is a lot more room for variety in our beautiful little city. Overall Brisbane has a lot of great things going for it musically and creatively other cities don’t.”

What opportunities would you like to see happen for Brissy musicians?

“A way for more musicians and electronic music artists to gain success is to encourage the  council to investigate  how they can make it more beneficial for people running venues to book more live music and  a variety of different acts. I strongly believe there should be smaller venues opening in Brisbane as it will mean a lot more different vibes musically. Arts Queensland already has a lot of cool grants for people doing creative stuff, which are worth checking out.”

You travel and tour around, how does the Brisbane public compare to other places?

“It’s no surprise, but Brisbane is pretty well known for its laid back kind of way. It’s refreshing being back in Brisbane amongst my crew of friends after being away playing shows.”

And venue wise, how do the venues compare to other areas?

” Brisbane is definitely unique in the fact that most of the clubs are located in one location (the Valley). I would love to see a lot more smaller bars and live venues go up in the next few years rather than a couple of mega clubs, it would help more variety of sounds flourish.”

The music you create and the genre you work within, how are you received by the local public?

“Well… I hope! Brisbane is definitely the type of place where all of the people in the music scene know each other regardless if they work in different “genres “, so they are definitely less genre specific and are more likely to be into a bunch of different sounds.

“Sometimes I even get surprised with how many different kinds of people I see out in the crowds at my gigs, it’s a great thing.

” I play a variety of different shows with my Audio Visual sets, live sets with Tom Thum plus a number of DJ sets at different venues, so of course it changes slightly with each type of performance. It’s kind of easy for me at the moment because I am playing more in other cities than Brisbane, so it’s more of a special occasion for me when I play than it used to be.”

Advice for musicians trying to break into the industry?

“You can’t do everything the same way even if it was successful a couple of years ago, the music industry seems like it changes every month. All I can say is what has worked for me is being different- doing something differently or doing something people know or can identify with, but flipping it in a certain way they might find interesting.”

• You can catch him touring “Super Visual Smackdown!” audio visual set around Australia and New Zealand on a 15 date run, the Gold Coast + Byron Bay + Brisbane shows are the 20, 21 & 22 of May.