With roots in Houston, Texas, Samuel Proffitt grew up entrenched in various genres from screamo and punk to indie, folk, and jazz; however, his musical origins lie in his own writing, poetry, and interest in philosophy, taking the time to learn chords on his guitar in order to express his thoughts in a more sonorous form, blossoming into a truly distinctive musical style. Samuel’s fascination with literary expression eventually led him to Boston College, where he received degrees in Russian Literature and Linguistics and Interdisciplinary Philosophy. Upon graduation, Samuel enrolled in and subsequently left an MA program in Russian and Eastern European Studies at the University of Texas in order to pursue music, a decision which would precipitate a critical turning point.

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Over the course of several months, culminating in the passing of his roommate on December 3rd, 2013, Samuel experienced a flood of events marked by loss that both ruptured and altered his life and its course. It was on this day that he wrote his first song for his new solo venture, entitled “Cranes,” eventually serving as the introduction to his debut EP Blue Notebook No. 10 released in 2015. 

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Speaking about this defining period, Samuel recalled, “my mind and self… split in two, in the most literal sense. It has left its impression upon every single relationship I’ve had, every song I’ve written, every book I’ve read, the research I’ve done. Everything from that moment until the present has been a reflection of that loss and the ensuing transformation.”

These events not only prompted him to pursue his solo project full-time, but also eventually influenced his decision to pursue his PhD at Brown University, a venture that would lead to a more mature, perceptive scope of artistic expression. For Samuel, “influence”—whether arising from a moment or rooted in an imprint of a particular image, film, or piece of literature—is the crux of his work’s development, a grand reflection of the emotional and musical manifestations of the human experience.

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He has been featured in prominent publications like The Fader, Vice, Rolling Stone, Noisey, Paste Magazine’s Daytrotter and tastemaker Los Angeles NPR affiliate KCRW. His single “Andre” off his sophomore EP, The Grey Notebook (2016), placed on Spotify’s Top 50 Viral Songs in the U.S. and Best of Fresh Finds. 

Samuel Proffitt signed to Nettwerk in early 2019 and continues to challenge genres and musical boundaries. His forthcoming EP, Good Death, to be released June 7th via Nettwerk, explores memory, death, trauma, and fragmentation of self, both through theoretical work Samuel has explored while working on his PhD at Brown University, as well as through more visceral, direct forms of art. 

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The first single off the EP, “Stringnoise,” was a collaboration with Yoke Lore who lent his songwriting talents and signature vocals to the create the poignant and cinematic track. Proffitt explains, “I composed ‘Stringsnoise’ while on a solo writing retreat in a snow-clad cabin in Maine. I found a demo Adrian (Yoke Lore) had shown me the first time we met with striking vocal layering and an equally powerful chorus, ‘before you get a heart, you gotta get taken apart.’ I wanted to capture the setting of where I was while straying from a normative song structure and made the decision to preserve the original demo vocals. ‘Stringsnoise’ was shaped into a phantasmagorical piece that is able to articulate exactly what I had set out to express.”

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When discussing why Samuel decided to reprise his track “In Flames” featuring the artist Crywolf off of his debut EP as “You” for Good Death he explained, “I wrote ‘You’ towards the end of last year, sampling a Russian orthodox choir as my main instrument. With the nights growing longer and the cold more bitter, I wanted to confront the listener with a depiction of my mental and emotional state—the overwhelming strain of inner turmoil coalescing with the literal and figurative darkness engendered by winter—through the song’s cold and despondent, yet immersive character. Each time I listen to ‘In Flames,’ it’s as if I’m hearing Justin’s (Crywolf) performance for the first time, and due to its staying power with me, I wanted to transpose the message into a new context. The intro of the song serves as the progression from ‘In Flames’ to ‘You,’ beginning with haunting reversed vocals and strings and ending with the key change. Much of the significance is drawn from the fact that whether it is heard in conjunction with ‘In Flames,’ in the context of the new EP or as a standalone piece, a multiplicity of meanings and connections can and will surface, some incongruous others complementary, with every new reading strengthening its intertextuality.”

Proffitt is currently compiling a book also entitled Good Death with various prominent and underground artists from Russia, Canada, Lebanon, and the U.S., featuring his own photography, short stories, poetry and fragments, alongside their work.

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Samuel Proffitt’s music finds its home in the veiled margins of the human experience, acting for him as a palpable embodiment of, and a ceaseless reflection on, what has come to define him. Through his artistic output, and in particular Good Death, Samuel confronts the audience with an acute, weighty deluge of tones and sonic layers allowing a momentary entry into his world, in which the listener is encouraged to question, like the artist himself, what it means to be human.