Local musician Sam Gaskin—who creates music and visual art under the name Sam Gas Can—draws inspiration from all sorts of sources: a borrowed instrument, a phrase from a passerby that catches his ear, or the desire to create his own impressionistic version of a song he fancies. Once inspired, the Northamptonite-by-way-of-Holden assembles the pieces onto cassette and then “figures out what works.”
He says he always ends up playing everything himself, even though he has a cadre of talented friends he could draw upon. Hacking away at things despite a lack of “traditional expertise”—he gave up proper training after a few middle school drum lessons—has its benefits: Gaskin says a great many happy accidents occur during the process.
“I’ve always adhered to the David Fair [of Half Japanese] school of thought,” says Gaskin. “Put any instrument in my hands and, on the first day, I will be able to play it and play it well. It might not be what everyone wants to hear, but I’ve dedicated myself to being wholly non-commercially viable a long time ago.
“I think that’s why I take a percussive approach to most instruments. I generally concentrate more on rhythms than on melody. I started playing in bands shortly after high school and began learning new tricks of how to make different sounds work together.”
More recent Sam Gas Can performances have been largely electronic, as the medium allows him to control a full and layered sound even while playing solo, but Gaskin has also done shows where he’s played guitar, keyboard, or improvised vocals.
“I get bored with certain ideas pretty quick, so it changes on a semi-regular basis,” he says. “I also try to play a specific set dictated by the venue, like if it’s in a small, carpeted room, I’ll try not to use any electricity at all, or at least use only things that are battery-powered.”
Sam Gas Can has released a number of limited-run cassettes and CD-Rs, as well as two seven-inch records on his own label, Faux-Pas Recordings. Many of these have been archived online, courtesy of radio station WFMU’s Free Music Archive. (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Sam_Gas_Can/)
Gaskin is currently putting the finishing touches on a record called “Sloppy Riddim/Teenage Caveman,” which he hopes will result in a proper 12-inch vinyl album. He’s also set to release a cassette of “songs mostly about girls” on Minnesota’s Lighten Up Sounds called Life on Earth is Pure and Golden, Life on Earth is Hell on Earth.
On the visual art side, he’s working on a series of portraits of late-’80s/early-’90s professional wrestlers, featuring the likes of “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan and Macho Man Randy Savage.
Sam Gas Can plays Amherst’s Mystery Train Records on Nov. 5. For more information, visit http://samgascan.blogspot.com/.
