Samiam (pronounced "sam-I-am") is an American

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band from

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

, active since 1988.

History

Samiam was formed in late 1988 after the breakup of the Gilman club mainstay

Isocracy An isocracy is a form of government where all citizens have equal political power. The term derives from Greek ἴσος meaning "equal" and κρατεῖν meaning "to have power", or "to rule". The first recorded use of the term was by the Re ...

. Their first show was in January 1989 with

Christ on Parade Christ on Parade was an American, mid-late-1980s San Francisco East Bay political hardcore punk band, formed in 1985 by ex-members of Teenage Warning and peace punks Treason. Their debut, "Sounds of Nature" was issued on Pusmort Records. The ...

. They released records through

New Red Archives New Red Archives is an American independent record label based in California's San Francisco Bay Area, mainly home to punk rock bands. Started in 1987, the label began by releasing punk and hardcore punk records on coloured vinyl. Starting in sum ...

and

Hopeless Records Hopeless Records is an American independent record label in Van Nuys, California. History Hopeless Records was founded in 1993 by Louis Posen. The label's artists are generally considered to fall under the genres of punk rock, pop punk, post-ha ...

in the US and

Burning Heart Records Burning Heart Records is an independent record label formed in 1993 in Fagersta, Sweden, and currently based in Örebro. It has a close affiliation with Californian label Epitaph Records, who own the rights to distribute Burning Heart's output ...

in Europe. In the mid-'90s, the band was signed to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

, releasing their major label debut ''Clumsy'' in 1994. Their video for single "Capsized" gained considerable airplay on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

. Samiam performed on ''

The Jon Stewart Show ''The Jon Stewart Show'' is a late night talk show that was hosted by comedian Jon Stewart. The program premiered on MTV in 1993 as a 30-minute daily offering and became one of the network's more popular shows. Through a series of events that ...

'' in 1994. Samiam recorded one more album during their time with Atlantic, though the label opted not to release it. The album, ''

You Are Freaking Me Out ''You Are Freaking Me Out'' is the fifth album from the American band Samiam. It was released in 1997 on Burning Heart Records and (the now defunct) Ignition Records. Track listing Personnel *Aaron Rubin - bass *James Brogan - guitar *Micha ...

'', was eventually released in 1997 by

. Its single "She Found You" garnered considerable radio play in 1998. Over the years, Samiam has toured extensively throughout Europe, North America and Japan, and performed with bands like

Bad Religion Bad Religion is an American punk rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1980. The band's lyrics cover topics related to religion, politics, society, the media and science. Musically, they are noted for their melodic sensibilities and ...

Green Day Green Day is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Rodeo, California, in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, with drummer Tré Cool joining in 1990. In 1994, their majo ...

The Offspring The Offspring is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Garden Grove, California, in 1984. Originally formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band currently consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Dexter Holland, Bryan "Dexter" Holland, ...

NOFX NOFX () was an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983. Bassist/lead vocalist Fat Mike, rhythm guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin were original founding and longest-serving members of the band, who have appeared on every ...

No Doubt No Doubt is an American rock band formed in Anaheim, California in 1986. For most of its career, the band has consisted of vocalist and founding member Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal and drummer Adrian Young. Keyboar ...

Toadies Toadies are an American rock band formed in 1989 in Fort Worth, Texas, best known for the song " Possum Kingdom". The band's classic lineup consisted of Vaden Todd Lewis (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Lisa Umbarger (bass guitar), Darrel Herbert ...

Sense Field Sense Field was an American post-hardcore band from Southern California, formed in 1990. Originally consisting of vocalist Jon Bunch, guitarist Chris Evenson, guitarist Rodney Sellars, bassist John Stockberger, and drummer Scott McPherson, the ...

Blink-182 Blink-182 is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Poway, California, in 1992. Its current and best-known line-up consists of bassist and vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist and vocalist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. Though its so ...

Deftones Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by frontman Chino Moreno, lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter and drummer Abe Cunningham, with bassist Chi Cheng and keyboardist and tu ...

, 311,

Millencolin Millencolin is a Swedish punk rock band that was formed on 12 October 1992 by Nikola Šarčević, Mathias Färm, and Erik Ohlsson in Örebro, Sweden. In early 1993, drummer Fredrik Larzon joined the band. The name Millencolin is derived from ...

, and

Fishbone Fishbone is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1979, the band plays a fusion of ska, punk, funk, metal, reggae, and soul. AllMusic has described the group as "one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative ...

. In early 2001, the band went on hiatus after supporting the '' Astray'' album. Despite what was initially to be a breakup, they continued to tour abroad yearly (Europe and South America) with occasional shows in New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles. This led to the recording of the band's seventh album '' Whatever's Got You Down'', which was released in 2006. Samiam toured Europe three more times in 2006 and 2007 and played various US dates in 2008. Samiam toured Australia in September 2009, together with the ban
A Death in the Family
This was followed by an appearance at The Fest in

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a population of 145,212 in 2022. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gainesv ...

in November 2009 and shows in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

, Chile;

San Miguel San Miguel, Spanish for Saint Michael, may refer to: Places Argentina *San Miguel Partido *San Miguel, Buenos Aires * San Miguel, Catamarca * San Miguel, Corrientes * San Miguel, La Rioja *San Miguel Arcángel, a Volga German colony in Adolfo Al ...

, Argentina; and

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, Brazil in December 2009. October 2010 brought them together again with A Death in the Family for a European and East Coast tour. Samiam released ''

Trips Trip may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books Fictional characters * Trip (''Pokémon''), a ''Pokémon'' character * Trip (Power Rangers), in the American television series ''Time Force Power Rangers'' * Trip, in the 2013 film '' Metallica T ...

'', their first album in five years, on September 6, 2011. Semi annual tours have followed ever since in Europe, Australia and South America. In 2015, while in Chicago for an appearance at Riot Fest, a four-song demo was recorded but never finished. In December 2019, Samiam announced on their

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

page that they are working on their first studio album in years.

Musical style

The band's musical style has been described as

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

pop-punk Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...

melodic hardcore Melodic hardcore is a broadly defined subgenre of hardcore punk with a strong emphasis on melody in its guitar work. The style often includes guitar harmonies, riffs using octave chords, as well as broken chords. Additionally, lyrics tend towar ...

, and

emo Emo () is a genre of rock music characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of hardcore punk and from the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore. The bands ...

. Samiam's influences during their initial 1990s run included the Replacements,

Hüsker Dü Hüsker Dü () was an American punk rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1979. The band's continuous members were guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton, and drummer/vocalist Grant Hart. They first gained notability as a hardc ...

Swervedriver Swervedriver are an English alternative rock band formed in Oxford in 1989 around core members Adam Franklin and Jimmy Hartridge. Between 1989 and 1998, the band released four studio albums and numerous EPs and singles despite a considerable ...

, and Short Dogs Grow.

Members

Current members * Jason Beebout – vocals * Sergie Loobkoff – guitar * Colin Brooks – drums * Sean Kennerly – guitar, bass * Chad Darby – bass Past members * Ryan Sullivan – guitar (1988–1989) * Johnny Cruz – drums (1998) * James Brogan – guitar (1988–2000) * Martin Brohm – bass (1988–1993) * Aaron Rubin – bass (1993–1997) * Jeremy Bergo – bass (2006) * Mark Mortinsen – drums (1988–1990, 1993) * Dave Ayer – drums (1990–1993) *

Tré Cool Frank Edwin Wright III (born December 9, 1972), better known by his stage name Tré Cool, is an American musician, best known as the long-time drummer for the rock band Green Day. He replaced the band's former drummer, John Kiffmeyer, in 1990. ...

– drums (1999) * Scott McPherson – drums (1999) *

Victor Indrizzo Victor Indrizzo (born September 23, 1967) is an American session musician, primarily known for playing the drums, as well as a songwriter and producer. Indrizzo was born in Freeport, Long Island, New York. He has toured, recorded and worked wit ...

– drums (1993–1995) * Davey Latter – drums (1999) * Michael Petrak – drums (1995–1999) * Charlie Walker – drums * Billy Bouchard – bass

Discography

Studio Albums

EPs and compilations

References

External links

Official Facebook pageVideos
on YouTube.com

{{Authority control Punk rock groups from California Pop punk groups from California Emo musical groups from California Burning Heart Records artists Musical groups from Berkeley, California Musical groups established in 1988 Hopeless Records artists Pure Noise Records artists Golf Records artists Hardcore punk groups from California Bands associated with 924 Gilman Melodic hardcore musical groups from California