MELBOURNE based musician Sam Pollard started playing the piano at the age of five and never looked back. As well as writing all of his own music, Sam plays piano and keyboards, electric and acoustic guitars, cornet, trumpet and trombone, and sings in various styles.
Raised in the UK but relocated to Australia, Sam's musical influences include the best of British rock as well as classical and jazz styles. Classically trained, with live experience ranging from rock to big band jazz and improv, Sam's excitement for music shines through in his performances. “Sam Pollard blew us away when he did a couple of live acoustic tracks in the studio” said Mark Missen, President of Southern FM Radio in Melbourne. “It was a sensational off the cuff effort and shows just how talented this performer is”. Sam’s songs have received extensive radio play in Australia and internationally.
Sam has recently completed a professional studio recording of his album "World of Difference" with his band and producer Jimi Maroudas at "Sing Sing" studios in Melbourne. The album received a GrIndie award from RadioIndy who said “Pollard’s vocals are rhythmical and have a fashionable flair of alternative pop/rock. His lyrics are narrative and bouncy and he delivers a message within each song as a chronicle of events.”
Recent achievements include the inclusion of the song "What to do What to say" on two compilation albums in Australia and the UK, and success in the 2008 UK Songwriting Contest with "Blah Blah" reaching the finals in the Rock/Indie category (top 30 out of 6200+ entries) and "What to do What to say" reaching the semi-finals in the Pop category.
With 100s of CDs making their way out of the door, Sam and his band have had a busy year developing their fan base through playing festivals and gigs and are looking forward to touring Australia early next year.
Sam’s music crosses a number of genres from acoustic singer-songwriter to alternative rock and has been compared (amongst others) to Robbie Williams, Queen, Ben Folds Five, David Blunt, Muse, Crowded House and Lior.
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The World of Difference album was recorded at Sing Sing Studios in Melbourne during a busy few months in my life between April and July 2008.
The concept was for the album to tell a story, the story is all about making a difference, and it goes something like this...
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There was this guy, let's call him Bruce. He was a normal kind of bloke, just going about his normal average working life, when he had a really bad day. Bruce being an optimistic kind of guy, was making the best of his day, hoping that a Better Day was just around the corner. The bad day shook him up a bit though, so when he met this girl, let's call her Pricilla, he didn't know What to Do What to Say, I mean, when you're lacking in confidence, how do you find the right words on the spur of the moment so that other people will respect you and want to be around you.
Bruce was getting pestered on all sides, sales calls, people at work, out on the street, just going Blah Blah, I mean, we all know how he feels, we've all had people call us, trying to get us to buy things we don't want who just won't go away. He thinks that there must be a Better Way but isn't sure which approach would be best. Unfortunately we can't always agree on which way to go and things just fall apart.
Back to Pricilla, She has a Dream of her own. Like lots of people she has great ideas about how to make things more efficient, which in turn will help the environment and boost morale. Sadly big businesses just think about money and don't worry about the small things like turning your computers off at night and thinking before printing documents which would save companies $$$ and reduce energy and wastage. Pricilla's colleagues just laugh in her face.
Bruce decides it's time to do something different, to head to The Other Side where the grass is greener. If you are stuck in a rut, you should just make a break and try something new. You might find something great, or you like Bruce you might learn to appreciate what you already have. Bruce and Pricilla go Out looking for another place to go together. Bruce realises that if you're not sure which way to go, someone else can often help to find you direction. It's so noisy, that they need to wear Earplugs, Bruce and Pricilla would like to do something about all that noise.
Bruce and Pricilla join up with what they think is an 'environmental' group, but Whoops, it isn't what it seems, the group is run by some bad people, so they head off to try and find out the truth for themselves. They find themselves trapped in the organisation. Bruce just thinks Save Me as he gets more and more frustrated with all the rules and wants to get out. It turns out that Bruce is The Only One who Knows how to do the job that the group have recruited him for. No change from his previous life in the corporate jungle. He's under a lot of pressure to stay, but he doesn't agree with what he has been asked to do and decides to make a break for it. Sometimes you just have to make the break if you want to get on in work and life. You Know when sometimes something eats away at you? Well, Bruce felt like that and ended up going back to face those demons. He felt that he needed to clean the slate before he could get on with his new life (with Pricilla obviously).
World of difference is the 'theme song' to the album. Like Bruce everyone can find small ways to make a difference in the world. Whether that's in their own household, their own life, their family, their community, the environment, global poverty. The scale doesn't matter. Do it now and don't just think about it while watching TV. Actually turn off your TV and go outside. No, not in the car. As Mahatma Gandhi said, you must be the change you want to see in the world.
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Engineering, mixing and production was carried out by Jimi Maroudas, who has previously worked with many well know Australian musicians. Jimi's experience brought an extra level to the recording.
Luke Sabbadini watched, helped, contributed ideas, lent guitars and made endless cups of tea.
Annette Fechner played her heart out and was in the studio from early morning to late at night.
Esther Pollard was in and out with cameras, pizzas, support and encouragement and even some singing.
The album was mastered at Jack the Bear's Deluxe Mastering by Tony 'Jack the Bear' Mantz.
The CD and artwork was designed by Sam Pollard and printed by Replicat.
Samples
This album uses the following sound files from Freesound:
ak47 chamber round from NoiseCollector
44 black powder from Jon285
Heavy burst from alienbomb
Nascar TMS 1998 2 from FreqMan
Car start from Erdie
Car from hanstimm
airplane landing overhead from Bram
big truck brake from simple machines
threejackhammers from bondegi
F1 BR 07 Passing MainStraight from rfhache
Air Compressor master file from dwhite4dcc
Earth van skid from homejrande
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