Look for New Jersey based blues rock band Ian Bamberger Trio's first full length album, Satisfied, coming April 2016.
What got you interested in music?
I'm 24 now so it's already been a long time; I've played guitar for twelve years, my dad was a musician in my area where I've grown up, the Asbury scene, basically. I played guitar all through high school; I used to have a 4-track in my basement and do all these loops on this 4-track and then I bought a loop pedal and I became pretty proficient at recording all these melodies and everything and I played a bunch of coffee houses, then I got picked up as a guitar player by Tor - another musician who is signed now, this guy's playing Governors Ball - and we were in a band for a few years. The whole time I was writing music, doing that whole thing, went to college, broke up with Tor, played through college, graduated, and then I decided I needed to actually record, so I hit the studio - Lakehouse Studio in Asbury Park - and recorded my first EP. Then I got a band together, the Ian Bamberger Trio, played a bunch of shows in New York and a lot of basement shows in New Brunswick - which is a whole scene there - and then I recorded another five song EP and kept playing music, and now I'm here.
Do you remember the first song you wrote?
Oh my gosh [laughs]. Yeah, it's called "Forgotten" and it's the first full song I ever wrote, the first where I had the balls to sing, 'cause when I first started singing, I couldn't sing at all; everyone was like, 'oh my god, what are you doing,' especially in high school. I took the video down but I used to have it on YouTube. I just posted a video and people liked it, it was good, but it was "Forgotten". I must have written that first full song sophomore year in high school.
Which musicians have you been influenced by?
It's been a lot. I guess, everyone goes through phases, if you're a musician or not. When I grew up I lived by Green Day and Jimi Hendrix, kind of opposite but both three piece bands; Hendrix had the experience and everything and that was just very cool to me, that raw sound. I'm into some hip hop; I love A Tribe Called Quest, lyrically and it's another way to look at beats and that's great. Bob Dylan, Sam Morrison, Red Hot Chili Peppers, old Jack White - like White Stripes - and then, today, I love Ed Sheeran, John Mayer; so it's a lot, it's all over the place. I also love the old jazz players like Django Reinhardt or Wes Montgomery.
What's in your playlist now?
It's been a lot of Sam Cooke and old soul singer-songwriters from a while back, like Otis Redding and, obviously, I've been listening to more Bowie lately, since he passed.
Could you describe your sound?
I try to take it in two parts. When I write songs I try to lyrically and vocally make it my own and then try to emulate another really popular band from the past. So, if you check out "LA 2 DC" - it's a song I have from my last EP but then I remastered it and I'm going to put it on the next album - the verse is Red Hot Chili Peppers, straight out of the book; it has a hard hitting slap bass and it's really fast and upbeat, and then the bridge breaks down almost in a Led Zeppelin manner and it's pretty bass heavy, and then there's a smooth solo and then it breaks into another Red Hot Chili Peppers sound. Then, lyrically, when I try to write it's usually about traveling or past experiences, like love and lust; it can be cliché but if you deliver it the right way I think it can be very cool.
What was the inspiration behind your single, "Satisfied"?
It was a bunch of things. The original inspiration was someone I met a while back as a rowing coach and this woman inspired me from her past, quite a bit. And, just listening to a lot of blues players and rock songs. It was something fun to write and I thought it would be fun to play.
And that's the title track off your forthcoming album, how does this album compare to your previous releases?
Production wise, it's more in-depth. I hope, I think, my songwriting's gotten better, my singing got better, there's obviously more content on it - it's ten songs instead of the usual five I do - and what I have done, I started experimenting with layering my vocals and doing some harmonies with falsetto work and that's been really, really exciting, because the product came out well. And, it's the first recorded song I have with piano; there's one of the songs on the album - my drummer's also a multi-instrumentalist - and it was pretty cool to have the idea for the verse of one of our songs to have this 1978 Wurlitzer piano in the background and it adds a new dynamic.
Do you have a favorite track from that album to perform live?
I would say "My Champagne". "My Champagne" is crazy and, hopefully, I can get musicians to sit in, once this drops, for shows coming after 'cause it's fun. It's pretty catchy with the guitar riff but, also, you can extend it if you have an organ player or horn players or whatever, it's something you can just jam on for awhile.
Could you sum up Satisfied in one sentence?
It's my musical progression to take what I want in life to the next level.
What do you hope listeners take from your music?
I hope they would tell their friends to come to a show. One of the things I try to get across in the studio recording is, if you hear us live, it'll have even more energy than the tracks, and that's the biggest thing, bringing it back to the stage and having a really powerful live performance, so that's what I would want. And, obviously, just, come out to shows.
Is there anything you'd like to add?
I will go on tour in June - I'll be hitting up the Northeast - and then the album will release in early April.