Blackened Horde: How did the band get started? How did you meet and how long have you been together?
Warren: The core of the band has always been myself and Nick Bell, a guitarist. We have been working with Samain since the summer of 1993. We have had three drummers since we first met, and our fourth and latest drummers is Mark Boeijen. I met Nick when I answered an advert earlier in 1993 to form a black metal band, which ended up being called Nazgul and was not particularly inspiring. Once the drummers quit we reformed as Samain and things improved remarkably from there.
Blackened Horde: How would you describe your music?
Warren: Samain basically plays progressive metal, very black metal inspired because this is the music we listen to mostly, when we listen to music. But it is not of the evil and Satan variety, but more an emphasis on the potential of black metal as a progressive, epic music form. Samain’s music is geared towards being epic, with a lot of influences from Scots-Irish folk music and folk lore involved.
Blackened Horde: What are your biggest musical influences?
Warren: What I have cited in our sound.
Blackened Horde: Who if, if any do you consider the bands idols?
Warren: No one that I can think of. Obviously I could name a lot of very talented musicians but that would serve little purpose, as anyone with a brain will already know what I am saying.
Blackened Horde: What made you want to be in the band? And if you weren’t in the band what would you want to be doing now?
Warren: I wanted to make music. I would be doing pretty much what I am doing now if I was running Samain, except I wouldn’t be in a band.
Blackened Horde: What are some of your favorite bands that are really popular today?
Warren: There’s only a few bands at the moment that I can really stomach listening to, and what bands these are generally are to me very good and I can listen to them endlessly. Arcturus, Ved Buens Ende, Isengard, Dodheimsgard, old Darkthrone (they are getting lazy now, me thinks) and few others…
Blackened Horde: How many demos/albums do you have? Tell me about them.
Warren: We have two official releases: a demo “An Leanabh Noamh (briste)” and a full length CD entitled “Indomitus”. Inly the disc is still available, and can be obtained from me for $20.00 US from the band address.
Blackened Horde: If you could play with any band who would it be and why?
Warren: Probably someone really gay and popular. Maybe a techno band or a male solo vocalist-dancer. I would play with them very toughly and they wouldn’t be able to walk afterwards.
Blackened Horde: Who writes the majority of the music?
Warren: Nick and myself.
Blackened Horde: Who has been the favorite band you’ve played with? Why?
Warren: No one that anyone would know of outside of your city.
Blackened Horde: Where did you get the band name from?
Warren: Samain is old Irish for a pagan festival blah blah blah blah that everyone in the English speaking world knows as Samhain. It is a celebration/atonement for the coming of Winter.
Blackened Horde: Describe what the band is like live?
Warren: We try not to stand about looking at our guitars like most bands do. We are only a three piece, but between Nick and myself we manage to fill the stage pretty well. As a vocalist, it is a little annoying to be tied to the mic, but otherwise it is loud music, headbanging, creaming, children playing with sharp things etc…
Blackened Horde: If you are gonna do any kind of video what would be in it?
Warren: Well I don’t think we’ll ever be able to do a video, purely for the reason of budget. We would want to capture some of the epic nature of our music, which would entail millions of people getting killed with swords and axes etc…
Blackened Horde: Are there any tour plans made, if so tell me about them?
Warren: No. See previous question and answer.
Blackened Horde: Where do you think the band will be in 20 years from now?
Warren: Struggling between the immensity’s…
Contact them at:
Samain
P.O. Box 237
Leederville WA 6007
Australia