"I think I would struggle to put a passion just to one thing...honestly, I think it'd just be having fun."
Tuesday 4 June 2024, Canterbury High Street, United Kingdom
Who are we talking to? Sam
Who is the interviewer? Stephen
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STEPHEN: Good afternoon. I'm here with…
SAM: Sam.
STEPHEN: Alright, Sam. So question number one would be what are you passionate about and why?
SAM: I think I would struggle to put a passion just to one thing. I've always thought of myself as someone who has a lot of small passions. Very spread across. So I'm really into sports. I'm the second team volleyball captain. I really like kind of just exploring my friends, and then I also have a creative side as well. So I think it'd be really difficult to point to one passion. But I mean honestly, I think it'd just be having fun.
STEPHEN: Having fun?
SAM: Yeah, because, like all of those, all those, all those small passions I have, ultimately it's just to have fun. So I think it'd be really difficult to say just one.
STEPHEN: Understandable. So we're going to go through, then, some of the passions you've listed, since you've listed more than one. So the first one: volleyball. What sparked your interest in volleyball?
SAM: It's so cringe. Obviously it's “Haikyuu.” So I played a small bit in secondary school, and then I got to uni and I found out about the society and I started playing and just had so much fun. And then at the end of my first year, they invited me to start playing with the first team and then things got really competitive and I was finding it so much fun. Just like a team sport I've never been able to do before. So just to have that kind of connection with people all around me, it's really, really nice.
STEPHEN: Oh, fair enough. And on the creative side, what do you like to create?
SAM: So I started off with drawing from references that'd be anime figures, um. And then I started getting into making music, more beats. I'm not very good at singing, so I've made a lot of beats, and that'd always be dependent on, like, who I was listening to at the time. So if I was having a Frank Ocean phase, I'd make a few Frank Ocean beats and the Weeknd beats and then some trap beats as well, because they're really fun. And then recently I've been kind of like upcycling clothes, maybe not upcycling, but designing them for myself. So a new project I'm working on is I bought some material and then I'm gonna flare my own jeans kind of making my own thing.
"I think I'd really like to get more into singing and dancing. I think that's something I've really never kind of tapped into."
STEPHEN: Nice, and how does it feel to think about your future in any of these things? Do you think you have a future in volleyball, in music and any of these, like you know, creative things you're doing?
SAM: Honestly no (Laughs), if I'm gonna be brutally honest no, I think I'd rather keep it as more as a hobby, just something I like. I'll continue doing them, obviously, but as a career or a big thing, I don't think so. No, I just don't think I'm talented enough to. There's so many other talented people, I just don't think I can compete on the same level as them. So I think I'd just keep it as a hobby, just something fun to do on the side.
STEPHEN: Okay, is there anyone that has pushed you to like in these aspects like not just family members I'm talking about like friends, colleagues or like a mentor figure?
SAM: I could definitely say with the volleyball, with my year who started volleyball, there was like a group of people all really into it and I think all of us coming in and playing and booking those sessions to play, I think we all kind of lifted ourselves up together. So for volleyball definitely be and then they are my like friends, my close friend group now, so definitely for that. And I think for art, I have a really on and off relationship with art, so sometimes I'm really into it, sometimes I'm not. So I think it'd be, I don't think I'd have anyone to make me for that.
STEPHEN: And for the creative side, now I know you said you don't really have anyone like pushing you or whatnot, but like, what is your inspiration/thought process when you do create?
SAM: I think I guess for right now with the clothes, I want to kind of change. I'm really thinking about my own personal style, so I'm kind of I'm moving away from what's trendy. You know, because before I was definitely influenced by that, like what's the most trendy thing, I got to make that look good for me. But now it's more kind of what I want to wear and that kind of thing. So maybe changing the clothes to how it fits my style, I think that'll be my thought process.
STEPHEN: Okay, and in terms of these creative things, how did you find yourself in these spaces? Or like, how did you find yourself falling in love with these things?
SAM: I think it's just going out and trying it. So, as you know, I take photos of myself quite regularly, do little photo shoots by myself trying on different outfits when I was at home, just doing a bunch of random drawings. I think it's just a trial and error sort of thing, and then just the whole process. I really It's like the grind. I really love the grind. (Laughs)
STEPHEN: Yeah, that's good to hear. And also, here's a niche, a little niche one for you. Is there anything you like to eat or drink whilst you create, like you know, when, like you're in the zone and it's something like “this is something that really gets me fueled up.”
SAM: Yeah, it actually is. So growing up, my mother's Japanese and she always cuts me fruit, so she always cuts me sliced oranges and I think just growing up that was like a really nice thing for me. So a lot of the times when I'm making beats or if I'm designing clothes, I'll just have these sliced oranges. It feels like home.
STEPHEN: What would you say is your favorite design that you've kind of made? I know we can't really show it but like, is there any description you can give of your favorite thing you've designed so far?
SAM: I think it'd be more, I have this beat that I made, it's actually really special to me. Growing up wasn't the closest with my dad. And then for my 18th birthday, uh, he sent me a voicemail and it was just him wishing happy birthday. But to have that kind of in recording and I, I put that with a beat and it was, it was really nice. Yeah, it'll be that, it'll be that for sure. I've cried to it, so it means a lot to me.
STEPHEN: And in terms of like clothing, designing clothes, anything like, specifically, you're really proud of with your designing?
SAM: Recently, I painted on a t-shirt but I used watercolor so it all washed off (laughs), so it's only a faint thing. But it was off the album that I really like it's by an artist called Loathe. The album's called “I Let It In and It Took Everything.” I took inspiration from that and I basically elaborated all on a long sleeve t-shirt. So that's probably my most recent proud thing I've done.
"I want to kind of change. I'm really thinking about my own personal style, so I'm kind of I'm moving away from what's trendy."
STEPHEN: Is there anything different you would like to do, if you were to restart your passions again? Is there anything you'd like to do differently?
SAM: I think I'd really like to get more into singing and dancing. I think that's something I've really never kind of tapped into. I'd really love to sing. I don't have a great voice though, so definitely be that: singing and dancing. I think it'd be a lot of fun.
STEPHEN: And would you say like now, given that, would you say right now, it's never too late to learn. Would you say, right now, if you're given the option to really do those things properly, would you really like to see them.
SAM: I think that would mean I'd have to pursue other things less. So I think I'd have to be. I think someone has to be motivating me to do it. Because it'd be the option of continuing doing things that I really enjoy or starting something new, and for me that's a risk. So I think I'd want to do it with somebody and so they can motivate me to continue pursuing it.
STEPHEN: And with your music. Is there any point that you're thinking of releasing it, or is it just like purely a hobby?
SAM: I've released a couple like two or three beats on YouTube, just more as like a, not really to get attention, but more as a physical copy. So if I ever want to show somebody I can just look it up on YouTube rather than get the like mp4 files. So I don't think seriously I would ever.
STEPHEN: And is there any nickname that you have? That is like you know, with your music?
SAM: Not with my music, but, as a kid I did have a nickname. My name in Japanese is Samu, with an “u,” and my white friend, he really loved that, so he'd always call me Samu. So he volunteered in Kenya and he got my name on this bracelet. I thought that was really sweet, but he's the only one who calls me that.
STEPHEN: Would you ever like to get big in music? Is it just something you'd like to just chill with?
SAM: I think something just to have as a small thing. I think the choir life would be nice. I wouldn't want, I don't want to be a pop star. Yeah something small, just like a fun fact about you I think that'd be.
STEPHEN: That's what I want and then I think, for the final question it would be what would you say is your philosophy when it comes to your hobbies and your passions?
SAM: I think I have a really big thing about balance and stability. I think I would want to spread myself out quite evenly, so it'd be working on different things at the same time, not really focusing on one thing, I don't know why, but that always just feels like the right way to go about things. So I think my philosophy would be kind of just build everything up at the same time.
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Photographers: Dante Richardson & Paolo
Photo editor: Dante Richardson
Photoshoot Assistants: Hyla Etame, Vanessa Mbeko, & Jolanda Oruni
Interview editor: Hyla Etame
