1.Name:

Sam Chaplin

a.Website: honeysuck.bandcamp.com

https://www.etsy.com/shop/flashesofher

2. Age: 26

3. Art Medium: I primarily make music, drawings, and poems. Sometimes I make embroidery pieces, collage, jewelry, and photographs. I recently was cast in a role in a Smith student's thesis film and I'm really excited to get to do some acting. I sing in a punk band called Honeysuck that just re-formed after a multi year hiatus, and this is my current creative focus. In terms of producing art I mostly like making stuff that's pretty intimate and usually takes the form of drawings or writings or gifts given to friends and family and lovers. It can be hard for me to self promote because everything I make feels really private, i.e. this year I put out a zine of poems/drawings titled “Anne” that was four years in the making, and I still haven’t really publicized it at all.  It’s like—wait, why would anyone want to engage with this super personal thing I made? But people do, and that can be hard to remember.

As a participant in the art world I tend to more publicly appear in a support role for friends that are musicians whether it's tour managing, doing merch, booking shows, etc. I find these roles to be really importantly fulfilling and I'll probably keep doing that stuff forever. That being said, I'd like to be more visible and active with my life as a performer and that's what I'm focusing on right now.

4. Hails from:

I was born in Colorado but I grew up in a town called Woodmere which is on the south shore of Long Island, New York right on the border of Queens.

5.Currently Living in:

Northampton, MA

6. What drew you to move or stay in the Pioneer Valley?

I came to Northampton in 2006 as a Smith College student. I've mostly lived here since then with brief stints in Boston, Brooklyn, and Pittsfield. I think I keep coming back to the valley because it feels like home to me. The people that I love the most live here and I’m typically able to do what I want to do on a daily basis-- whether that's creatively, socially, intellectually, whatever. Also there's something magnetic about this place that I can't really explain, maybe it’s the fresh air. Growing up right outside of New York City I always assumed I'd live in a big city as an adult, but somehow that's never felt quite right for me. I love the mountains, the lush green trees and flowers, and the view while driving over the Calvin Coolidge bridge.

I met Ally Einbinder (bassist of Potty Mouth, Honeysuck, Urochromes) in 2005 when we were both accepted to Smith, and decided to request each other as roommates. She's been by my side since then as a housemate for a number of those years, radio show co-host, bandmate, and best friend. It would be ridiculous not to acknowledge that this person is a primary reason for me staying in the valley. As my partner in all forms of inquiry, self-reflection / self-awareness, and generally super fun times-- I pretty much don't want to live in a place where she isn't around!

My boyfriend / longtime BFF Dan Cashman makes life in the valley pretty appealing because he makes it possible for me to always dance to soul 45s on Saturday nights, has the largest and weirdest VHS collection I could ever hope to access, and usually on our days off he’ll take me on a date to Donut Dip and the thrift stores. I could say a million things about this person’s role in my artistic process, but I’ll try to keep it brief and say that it’s important to be in relationship with people who both challenge you and support you.

7. Where do you find support for your creative endeavors in the community?

I find that the most supportive people I know are my women artist and musician friends here that engage critically with their own artistic work and the work of others, and constantly question oppressive dynamics at play in the music and arts scenes. These are the people who have committed themselves to the hard work of actually naming when something isn’t okay—whether it’s racist microaggressions, fucked up show fliers, or show line-ups entirely populated by white cis male performers. I guess what I'm saying is that I know that I need people around me speaking to these problems in order to feel that I can engage in making creative work in any sort of public way. Sure, I can sit alone in my bedroom and work on some ink drawings or build a necklace but if I'm ever going to engage in any type of creative "scene" I need the people beside me to be ready to both address fucked up behaviors / actions of others AND to be accountable when we're called out for perpetrating those things ourselves. My friends Victoria Mandanas (drummer in Potty Mouth, Chemical Peel) and Kiana Saroce (guitarist/vocalist Blessed State, Remote Desire, Dead Shadow, Fake, Potty Mouth) - who are two of the most skilled musicians I've ever known - have been particularly brilliant and brave about naming this shit on a regular basis despite harsh feedback for doing so.

In terms of practical support, I'm really grateful for Flywheel Arts existing as a space in this area that is fully committed to DIY and is doing it really well. I just recently moved back here and some friends from out of town got in touch with me about wanting to play in Western Mass. I struggled for a little bit to come up with a venue that would work, and then I just decided to check out what was going on with Flywheel and see how possible it would be for me to make some shows happen there pretty soon. Unsurprisingly, Meghan Minior (artist, musician in a million bands, Flywheel booker) was an invaluable resource to me in getting this show booked. Meghan is a person that has provided tons of practical support to me in this scene over the years. If I come to her with an idea, she almost always comes through with helping me to actualize it—and with speed, kindness, and enthusiasm that is unparalleled. Meghan is actually the backbone of western mass DIY punk and I think she deserves some kind of amazing salary for this, along with unlimited tater tots with various dipping sauces, and a PARADE.

8. Have you ever considered leaving the area to better benefit your work?

I think about this all the time, but I don’t really know how my own creative work would benefit from living in a different place. Mostly when I think about leaving the area it’s due to high rent costs in this town, and a really strong and overwhelming desire to live my life on tour all the time. I worked as tour manager for Potty Mouth for three weeks of their first full U.S. tour and it was most exciting and fulfilling time in my whole life. My wider circle of friends and acquaintances is made up of musicians that tour on a frequent basis, and I definitely feel some heart pangs when I talk with them about being on the road. I really love the routine of tour, driving a million hours and then showing up in a different city every night where maybe you’ll get to take in some of the landscape/climate and eat some food quickly but you’re just primarily seeing the inside of venues and stumbling out to the van early in the morning holding your sleeping bag, searching for coffee before getting on the road again. I’m a born nurturer and I also like to get shit done, traits that are very conducive to being a pretty amazing tour manager (haha, no modesty there).

9. What would you like to see more of in the Valley to better support artists?

It seems that in other cities there are DIY scenes that uphold established practices to promote accountability regarding violent and oppressive behavior, that have systems in place to navigate how to proceed after harm is perpetrated, and that practice support/inclusion/boosting of artists who are people of color, who are women, who are queer, who are trans, who are disabled, who are low-income. While it could greatly benefit my own work and my friends’ work to step into a place where these things exist already as common practice, I’m not under any illusion that these practices naturally exist anywhere. The process of dismantling and rebuilding takes sustained energy, effort, commitment, intention, and patience. I like to think more about what I plan to do to create the scene that I want to be a part of, rather than what I want to see more of in general—because thinking that way is sort of inherently disappointing to me. I’m going to start out by being way less apologetic about my work, my way of being in the world, and my commitments to others. I refuse to allow the inconvenience of being disliked to prevent me from showing up for my friends / co-conspirators who are voicing anger and criticism of oppressive shit that’s perpetrated here. As an artist, I plan to be less timid about sharing my work publicly and to pursue projects that allow me to access the role of performer rather than supporter.

10. Do you have additional comments on the arts and music scene in the Valley?

My only comment is that I invite dialogue and new friendships / collaborations to come out of this interview. Also- there are many important and influential artists and collaborators that I didn’t mention here but you know who you are and how important you are to me <3