Arcade Fire’s Tim Kingsbury débuts ‘Sam Patch’ project – watch

New alter-ego gets live unveiling in Montreal

Arcade Fire bassist Tim Kingsbury has launched his new project ‘Sam Patch’ live, performing in the company of Arcade Fire drummer Jeremy Gara and singer/ pianist Basia Bulat at Montreal’s Passovah Summer Festival.

He has also announced that he’s working on an album, having written most of the songs in hotel rooms during Arcade Fire tours.

The name Sam Patch is taken from a 19th-century American daredevil also known as the ‘Yankee Leaper’, who jumped into the Niagara River below the falls from 125ft, and later died leaping into the Genesee River.

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Speaking of his new material to Cult Montreal, Kingsbury said:

“It’s evolved a bit, but the feel of it is definitely rock music — I guess weird rock music. This doesn’t sound very rock ‘n’ roll but I started using a nylon-string guitar and this old Vox keyboard and a Moog synthesizer and I was using an arpeggiator with it, and a little drum machine as well.”

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“I was playing around between those things and composing ideas, often based on an arpeggio. I’m used to playing with a big band and having lots of people around and everyone feeding off of everyone’s ideas, but this way I was setting up parts myself and expanding on that.”

Clips from the show have emerged online, giving a first taste of what ‘Sam Patch’ will sound like:

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Sam Patch in #Montreal #barleritzpdb

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Speaking to Cult Montreal in advance of the show first full-band show, Kingsbury said the show is a progression towards an album:

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“I’ve been playing with Jeremy a little, trying to take the songs a bit further, and Basia. I put this band together for this show, which is sort of an experiment, just to put it out there a bit and see how it feels. It’s part of the process of writing the record.”

Arcade Fire last performed live this time last year, with Will Butler launching his solo project back in March. Diplo and Skrillex have also been working with members of the band, while there are no full-band live shows planned at this time.

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