Meet Sam Burt | Musical Artists

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sam Burt and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sam, what is the most important factor behind your success?
In my artistic career, I think the most important factor behind my success has been authenticity. I’ve made an effort to create a brand that is very vulnerable. The line between my artistic representation and my actual self presentation is blurry; I am my art and my art is me.
Breaking the fourth wall down has made a lot about my personal life available to my followers and listeners, which can be uncomfortable at times, but I consider that a sacrifice worth making. Raw art with as few filters as possible is powerful and Important, and it’s what comes naturally to me. I wear my heart on my sleeves and tell lots of the story out loud, I think it’s what many people are interested in my art for. It’s what I want to do 🤷‍♀️

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My main art form is music. I currently produce and perform music under two aliases. One is pop adjacent, and the other is electronic focused. Both projects share a lot of elements that all have one commonality, authenticity and vulnerability. My sets are almost always fully original, and usually involve a combination of electronic music, singing, and a few musical instruments. I design my own outfits for each show, and write a new set every time reflective of where I’m at and who the other artists on the bill are. I think part of what sets me apart is my unapologetic trust in my own taste. My music is often very experimental, my outfits are often wild and provocative, I try new things every time, I have fun and shamelessly experiment. There really isn’t anything that I’ve seen before that I’m trying to model it after, I’m not trying to be like anyone else. I found that people think who I actually am is pretty interesting, so I’ve created a performance of stripping my layers and inhibitions away and bearing my heart and soul on a stage for the sake of my art. It’s working.

One of the biggest challenges I’ve had to overcome to get to where I am professionally in my career as performer and creator, is something I imagine I’ll battle with forever. It’s my own doubt. Lots of the challenges we face as creatives have actionable responses immediately available to us. I’m usually a problem solver, if I can see how to do something better I usually will. But doubt is so sneaky, and it can affect every decision you make. It’s easy to let an infection grow when you can’t see your wound.
No it wasn’t easy to get here, but the chapters that were the easiest were the times I believed in myself the most. I overcome challenges every day to keep these projects going, and external challenges often feel very doable for me. It’s the challenges from within that pose real threats, and they’re much easier to ignore.

I want the world to know this about my brand and story: people are interested in new things, we shouldn’t be afraid to be new. I think a lot of us pick a role model, or genre, or a scene, and try our very hardest to emulate it until we’ve mastered it and only then we believe can improve upon it, but that’s not the only way. I’m of the belief that it’s also valid to create something brand new, it might even be more valuable to the world and last longer. I don’t really want to make art like anything I’ve ever seen before, I want to make art that shows what it sounds like in my head. People seem to like it, so I’m going to keep going.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
This would highly depend on which friend was visiting. I have a few good abandoned buildings I like to visit and do photoshoots in, but that’s probably not what you’re looking for. The underground rave scene in Denver is really cool, my friends and I throw one party and several of our friends have their own, so if one of those was happening I’d probably show my visiting friend a sweaty warehouse rave if they like that kind of thing. I like to hang out at Cheesman Park, I have a couple favorite cap Hill spots to get coffee or food, City o City is pretty much my main source of food and I’m not even vegan, it’s just so yummy. I like accessing rooftops, I like putting stickers on high places, exploring both the city and the mountains, I like hot tubs, and occasionally I even like to enjoy live music just for fun 😝

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
One person comes to mind immediately who I have to acknowledge first, and that’s a friend of mine named Dalton who goes by the moniker Lucid Vision.
When I first moved to Denver with the goal of pursuing music, a mutual family friend introduced me to Dalton. Dalton was a graduate of UCD for a Music Business degree, and a performing musician. He generously shared knowledge, connections, strategies, and respect with me and over the next couple of years we became good friends. I followed in his footsteps and went to music business school myself, and I asked him for advice throughout my education and to this day on my recording and performance career. He was the first person who made me believe that pursuing music as a full-time career in Denver was not just possible, but something I might be able to thrive at.

The other person I want to acknowledge is a friend of mine named Ryan. Ryan makes incredible music under the alias Eastghost, and has shown me what the kind of artist I want to be looks like. I first discovered his music in college, and rinsed it and attended his shows for several years before we became friends. I think he’s the most authentic artist I’ve met. I’m struggling to find the words for the emotional depth of the art he creates, it’s one of the most inspiring things I’ve ever experienced. Ryan also taught me that sometimes it is a good idea to meet your heroes, sometimes they’re absolutely lovely and become even bigger heroes to you once you know them. I think it’s worth taking the chance.
Thank you Dalton, thank you Ryan.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samwburt?igsh=ZGc1eWhmdnE5ZTk5

Other: https://linktr.ee/Samwburt?fbclid=IwAR2aZakl59QGLlZzIBcCQcQZ7Xmg8a8gd9V3UF4XJohTWC83a8fg_s1Cx5c

Image Credits
Mariya Ilyina