“I’ve always been cool with Prep. It’s one of the only schools I never had beef with.” -Sam Lachow

Seattle rap artist Sam Lachow sat down with the Panther in a moderately crowded Starbucks on a slightly rainy Tuesday afternoon to talk about his new album “Huckleberry,” his upcoming show at the Neptune Theater, and where he gets his inspiration. Lachow is a 24 year old rapper who also creates music videos and produces music. His new album “Huckleberry” came out in early August, and his previous work includes the “Avenue Music EP” and “5 Good Reasons EP” (Collaboration with Raz Simone) and his album “Brand New Bike.” Lachow began making music and videos at a young age, and started a group called Shankbone in middle school. His upcoming show at the Neptune Theater is on November 29th, and is the biggest show that he has headlined so far.

Kate Delaney: How is Huckleberry different from your other albums?

Sam Lachow: “All my music is different in my opinion, but in other ways it’s not because I try and make my albums have a similar theme and it’s all made by the same people, we are just better at what we’re doing.”

KD: Did you expect the Kickstarter to be as successful as it was?

SL:“No, I definitely was hopeful, the fans always surprise me. I wanted to ask for $5,000, but my manager said no, we can get $10,000.”

KD: What’s your favorite song on the album?

SL:“I love Dreams of Gold; it’s one of the only ones that I can still listen to”

KD:What’s your upcoming show going to look like?

SL: “We have some cool guests and our band is so much tighter than it used to be, we are much more prepared than usual. I mean, we are never that prepared. I’m kind of into not being totally prepared because I like to be surprised by what happens on stage and spontaneous ideas, I don’t like it to just be written down by the book. It’s the biggest headlining show that I’ve done. Usually I’m an opening act, it’s so much different to have everyone waiting for someone else”

KD:You just did a song with Shelton Harris, what’s it like to be helping out people who are less known?

SL:“I don’t really feel like I’m helping people out, like for that one he is my homie and I will gladly do it. And I like the song. I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t like the song. So when I work with artists who aren’t as big as me I don’t think of it as helping someone out I think of it as I’m a fan of music and let’s make some music together.”

KD:What artists would you want to work with?

SL: “I’ve worked with a lot of people I want to work with, like with my Young Seattle series there are a lot of people on there that I would want to maybe do separate stuff with.”

KD: Thoughts on Macklemore? Would you ever want to be as successful as he is now?

SL: “I don’t think I ever will be that big at all, because it’s not the kind of music I make. I would be terrified to be that big, like not being able to be at Starbucks without people coming up to me. My music is so about my life and living the life of a normal dude in Seattle and I don’t know what I would rap about if I wasn’t that anymore. And also I’m sort of more into a cult following, having a following of fans that won’t necessarily be a huge following but my fans know my music and are loyal and steady. He’s a great dude and I’m excited to see what he does next.”

KD:What is it like having people recognize you on the street?

SL:“I couldn’t walk around Bumbershoot without taking pictures, which was kind of cool but kind of weird because I just wanted to enjoy myself at Bumbershoot, but it was also humbling.

KD:How have New York and Seattle influenced your music style?

SL:”NY didn’t influence my style, but it did influence my grind and how hard I work. I sort of developed a better work ethic when I was living there. My style still stems from my Seattle life.”

KD:Why did you start making music?

SL:“It was sort of just natural, it wasn’t just music it was art in general, music, film and theater. My parents are both artists, so I was around it all the time.”

KD:What was your parents reaction when you told them you wanted to make a career out of music?

SL:“I never really told them that, I kind of had to tell myself. I always did music and video and I knew I wanted to do something with it because it was the only thing I loved. I went it college and quickly realized that I was tricking myself into thinking that I needed a real paycheck then I went to school for film for a bit and that helped me. And music, I didn’t decide that it would become my living it sort of just became that. I don’t have to do stuff that I don’t like doing. My parents have been 100% down with it. We help each other, we’ve always helped each other. We are a strong little tight knit family. I’m lucky.”

KD:How has your brother inspired your music and how has your career affected him?

SL:“I kind of got lucky with him he’s like the coolest little dude ever. He inspires me all the time he’s what makes my music have such nostalgia themes I talk about growing up what it’s like to be a little kid and losing your innocence when you get older you know middle school and high school years I rap a lot about that because I’m watching him go through it. Luckily he looks up to me but he’s also his own person.”

KD:Why rap? Are there any other genres that you feel drawn to?

SL:“Well I can’t sing or dance so I rap. Raps what I listen to a lot, but I would like to produce other music for sure. Producing is one of my main passions and I never want it to be only for myself. I definetly hope to dabble with other genres.”

KD:How has the collaborative music vibe of Seattle been influential to you?

SL:”It’s been kind of recently in the past couple years that I’ve felt part of the scene, it’s pretty amazing how welcoming everyone is to new artists. And we really do hang out with each other every night, we are all friends. I’ve got to give a big shout of to Sol who I have always looked up to. He gives me advice on business and other stuff in general, like the does and don’ts. And then everyone, I don’t think my music would be what it is if it wasn’t featuring all the artists around me. I’m huge into collaboration; it’s not just me at all.”

KD:Would you ever consider a stage name?

SL:“Yeah totally. I used to be in a group called Shankbone, and when I became a solo act I sort of had to become convinced that I could use my real name because I thought it was kind of the worst rapper name ever. But I’ve learned that at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter what rap name you use, people get used to it and it just becomes good and normal. You don’t really think about the name, when you hear it you just think of who the person is.”

KD:Why is your album called Huckleberry? “

SL:It’s my middle name, my real middle name. It’s on my birth certificate and everything. I’ve always wanted to use it for an album”

KD:What advice would you give to aspiring music artists?

SL:“It depends on the kind of music. Like jazz band I would say just practice every day. But if you’re still in school try and find a way to incorporate that into class because I didn’t and I just did my music and didn’t do class, and thinking back teachers probably thought I was just lazy but I was going home and making like 5 songs a night instead of doing what they wanted me to do. Make music that is true to you and don’t try and sound like someone else and let it go naturally.”

KD: What’s your favorite Seattle venue?

SL:“Neptune Theater, but I dream of playing the Paramount someday. Setting goals for myself is really important, that’s something I could tell the aspiring artists. I’ve always set goals for myself. Little ones, like one of my first goals was to headline any show, then I did that, and then it was to headline Neumos, and I did that, and after headlining Neptune maybe Showbox, which is a little bit bigger. Set a goal that’s not to far in the future focus on little steps.”

KD:What are your upcoming plans for new music?

SL:”My 80 bars EP is coming out in a couple of days actually. They’re all about me just having fun, they’re the most fun and easiest music to make.”