Today we’d like to introduce you to Samer Bakri.
Samer, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I didn’t really get into making music until I was 16 years old when I took a guitar class in high school. After the class ended I kind of lost touch with the guitar until I was about 18 years old when I was a senior in high school. This is when I first started writing songs. I wrote a lot of bad songs in this time, honestly, but it takes a while to get a hang of songwriting. Soon after my senior year I moved to San Diego and started open micing regularly. I would do the mics at Lestat’s, Java Joes (when it used to be on Adams Avenue), and Rebecca’s. I would mainly hang around Lestat’s and this is where I met Robby, the open mic host, and Lou, the sound engineer, and manager of the venue. Lou taught me how to do live sound and I took that knowledge and started recording in a home studio I put together. Since then I met some good friends — Max Oestreicher and Joel Sullivan of Splendid Noises, Kahlil Nash, and Spencer Dugan — that I write songs and play live shows with.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I am a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and audio engineer. I like to write and produce my own records that have a singer-songwriter vibe. I currently have one full-length record, “Memories of Her”, that tells a story of my experiences of learning how to love someone. I do have messages that I was trying to convey throughout this record, but I like to leave it up to the listener to find what they think the meaning is.
I also play bass for a funk band led by the amazing Kahlil Nash. I also engineered an Ep, “Goop”, by Splendid Noises and am currently working on songs with Spencer Dugan. All their music can be found on all streaming platforms.
Do current events, local or global, affect your work and what you are focused on?
I think that the role of artists has been pretty consistent throughout modern history: to express oneself through the creation of art. Artists of all times have created art that is related to what is going on in their societies. My art reflects on the societies and communities that I have lived in and experienced. I believe that is the case with all artists; I think that all art that is created directly correlates to what an artist has experienced.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
All my music can be found on any of the streaming sites such as Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and more. I post the dates of all my upcoming shows on my Instagram, @SamerBakri, and my FaceBook page, @SamerBakriMusic. The main way people can support my work is by coming to live shows. I am always selling copies of my latest record at my shows.
Contact Info:
- Email: SamerBakriMusic@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samerbakri/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamerBakrimusic
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/samerbakrimusic
- Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/48vcclNZCmtknBIAXb4Nls?si=InoX735HQvK11vfPjrYqJQ
Image Credit:
Vinny Dee, Adam P. Johnson, Amanda Adams
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