What is your name and role within the band?
My name is Sam Hoskins. I am the singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist and composer.
How did you start?
I started The Slowdown by building a studio to with hopes to turn it into a business, and just began writing and recording myself.
Where are you based?
We are a Kansas City, Missouri based band.
Please give an example of your music writing process?
It often takes weeks to complete a song. I feel that they are like puzzles and the pieces are already there, but you just have to figure out what they are. Sometimes it comes quicker than others, but each different instrument sometimes can take a few days to figure out what the song needs.
What are you working on right now?
A few new songs simultaneously, but the most completed is called “It’s 44”.
What is your gear setup?
On this album I used various vintage Ludwig drums, a 70s Su,n Sentura amp, some cool old G&L guitars, a Roland Juno D, a vintage Musitronic (Wurlitzer piano). I start the signal path with a lunchbox containing some Neves, and a Lindell compressor. I use a 70s sound craft desk to send it to the Macbook running Cubase where I have mainly Waves and Soundtoys plug-ins.
What do you like to do outside of music and does it affect your music?
Well I like to skateboard, and being a musician definitely doesn’t go hand and hand with that at times, it’s kind of dangerous actually. But music is really my whole life at this point.
How would you describe your music genre?
This new album is what we call, Neo-Western.
Do you know any music theory?
I do not know theory, but I see the chord shapes change up the neck or on a piano. So I can see different structures though. If that makes sense …
What are your plans for the future?
To not stop. I can’t really say honestly what I want for our future, in how it’s shown time and again that there’s no controlling it. But I want to be able to continue and grow as a musician and a unit.
How did you get into music?
By playing drums for years in a few bands. I was a hired gun for a while and did some touring before I started writing.
What are you listening to at the moment?
Elvis Costello “My Aim is True”.
Who are your top 5 influences and icons?
People who have shown me that music is essential now haunt me because I’ll never reach their intellectual level. But these names include, David Bowie, Jazz Coleman(killing joke), Paul McCartney, Chris Cornell(God rest him), Brian Wilson to name a few.
When are you playing next?
We are currently booking release shows for our new albums release once our vinyl is in! Be on the lookout for an early August release.