If you are a Chuck-o-phile (lover of all things related to the hit TV show "Chuck") then you may recognize the music of young indie pop artist, Sam Isaac. Heavily inspired by the Canadian indie music scene and a punk romantic himself, Mr. Isaac's high-flying yet melancholy-infused melodies can turn an otherwise sour apple into the sweetest of pears. ISR had the pleasure of interviewing this young talent who is currently promoting his debut album Bears.

Check out Sam Isaac on our latest podcast episode "Birthday Cake Mix."

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ISR: Thanks for talking to us and sharing your thoughts with ISR subscribers. Most poets and songwriters have a source of inspiration, a muse. Who is your muse?
 
Sam: To be honest I don’t really have a specific muse, I just react to the things that are going on around me in my life, be that family, friends, the world in general. I still try to make all of my lyrics very personal and “real” though, and I hope that comes through. There are loads of references to real people, events and places in my writing.
 
ISR: Do you have a songwriter that you can most identify with?
 
Sam: Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes is one of my all time heroes. His writing with I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning… and Digital Ash… was just incredible, and something that inspired me to become a singer-songwriter myself. The imagery of his writing takes me to a different world in my mind, and I try to do the same with my writing, though it’s not quite as successful!
 
ISR: Canada has had such a vibrant indie scene over the past 2 decades. From the time you spent there, who (or what) had the biggest influence on your music?
 
Sam: I love Canadian indie. I cannot tell you how much of an important influence the band Stars have had on my music. The romanticism and energy of their songs is something I adore. I’ve been to see them a few times when they’ve played over here in the UK. Their song “Your Ex-Lover is Dead” is in my top five of all time. I discovered them whilst I was living in Ottawa and used to play that song round and round on my iPod for hours and hours and hours whilst I was walking around the city.
 
Canada, as a country, really helped to shape my music also. The people there were so friendly and welcoming. It was so inspiring to live in an amazing country like Canada.
 
ISR:You have done some volunteer work with the White Ribbon Alliance.  Tell us about your experience there.
 
Sam: My work with White Ribbon Alliance involved travelling to South Africa with other musicians to go on the Convoy to Cape Town. Basically, it was a road-trip across South Africa where we stopped at venues, projects and even car parks, playing shows, doing art workshops with local children and generally making connections with people. It was all about spreading the word of safer motherhood. Death during childbirth of mothers in the 3rd world is a massive problem and the White Ribbon Alliance is working hard to stop this.
 
ISR: The cover of your debut album Bears has a mountain on it.   What was the inspiration behind this and the album's namesake?
 
Sam: As a person, I’m physically quite imposing yet have a strong, but reserved character. Bears is the song on my album that most represented the rest of the songs as a whole, and the mountain scene was created by my artwork genius Cameron Steward at Two Ducks Disco. I guess the whole thing with my music is about being epic, strong and forthright without being flamboyant or boastful. Both the bear and mountain thing kind of represented that. This is a hard question to answer!
 
ISR: I read that you were quite ill while working on Bears. Tell us a little about that experience. What enabled you to complete the project?
 
Sam: In the middle of the album recording we took two weeks off so that my producer could have a baby with his partner. I took it as a chance to get away from a hot studio in London and went on holiday down to the south coast of the UK with my girlfriend. We took a trip on a fishing boat, caught some fish and cooked them on a barbeque on a beach later that evening. I ended up catching a disease from the specific fish I ate (my girlfriend was fine) that had to be reported to the government and set the whole recording back by about 3 months. I was pretty ill. Essentially, the doctors couldn’t cure the disease with medication, they said it was transient and would leave my body in a few months – I’d just have to sit it out. Eventually I was well enough to sing again and managed to complete the album!
 
ISR: Any plans to perform at SXSW in the near future?
 
Sam: I would love to go back to Austin. I went last year and it was an awesome week of fun and bands. Kind of weird in that essentially it felt to me like the entire UK music industry had just decamped to Austin for a week, so it was like being at home. But very cool too. That was my first time ever in America. Next year, maybe?
 

ISR: You've been characterized as a 'punk romantic'. So I ask you these multiple choice questions:

ISR: Doc Maartens or Cole Haan? 
Sam: Doc Martens only because I have no idea what Cole Haan is!

ISR: Kerouac or Frost?
Sam: Kerouac

ISR: Stussy or Polo?
Sam: I think these are clothes things? But I don’t know what they mean!

ISR: Adam Lambert or Kris Allen?
Sam: I had to Google these people to find this out. Are they "American Idol" people? I hope they both enjoy it while it lasts. It’s not real.
 
ISR: Your songs have a tremendous amount of commercial appeal.  Pleasant and catchy melodies with a dash of melancholy thrown in for good measure. Are there any plans to market your songs to advertisers?
 
Sam: I know that we’ve been pitching songs to TV shows and my song Bears was recently used on the American TV show “Chuck” on NBC. I would love to get some more of these syncs because they’re such good exposure for my music. The reaction we’ve had after the Chuck play was just incredible.
 
As for adverts, I would have to be careful about the product it was advertising. But at the end of the day, everyone makes music for people to listen to and advertising and TV shows are a great way of getting your music out there.
 
ISR: Do you have any hobbies outside of singing and songwriting?
 
Sam: I’m really into radio (I studied this at university) so I volunteer at a couple of different community radio stations in the town where I live. I also like cycling. I have a dead fast road bike and can sporadically be found cycling up massive hills in the Peak District. Neither of these things are very rock and roll are they?
 
ISR: What is the first album listed in your iPod?
 
Sam: Ace of Base. I stole my girlfriend’s iTunes library and for some reason this is on there. I’m just being honest.
 
ISR: Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer our questions. Good luck with your debut album!
 
Sam: No worries, thank you so much!

Workout Legend
LT = Low tempo workout
MT = Mid tempo workout
HT = Up tempo workout
S = Skip for your workouts
* = ISR faves

"Cousins" - HT* (Check out ISR's FunkaDellaDango mix for this mix opener!)
"Run" - MT
"Diplomat's Son" - MT
"Holiday" - HT*
"Giving Up The Gun" - MT
"White Sky" -  MT