Sampology
Gig Seeker Pro

Sampology

Yeerongpilly, Queensland, Australia | Established. Jan 01, 2002 | INDIE

Yeerongpilly, Queensland, Australia | INDIE
Established on Jan, 2002
Band Electronic Soul

Calendar

Music

Press


"Sampology Live Show Debut Review"

If there is someone in this world that knows how to combine audio with visuals Sampology is definitely the guy. Playing alongside an all star cast including the names Tom Thumb, Jordan Rakei and Daniel Merriweather these guys know how to put on a show. Jordan’s amazing vocal over Sampology’s completely new set it is one of the best sets I have ever seen live. There are absolutely no words that can describe Tom Thumb’s ability to make beats from his mouth, his beat boxing abilities are absolutely second to none. The completely new set and showcase of what is yet to come from Sampology was super catchy and even though the songs weren’t known by anyone, it didn’t stop the bouncing and jumping and boogie fun times - Adam No Eve


""The album is a step up from what Sampology is perhaps known for musically, but he's always been set for bigger things than a novelty act.""

BRUCE Willis saving the world from cats. Tom Hanks dancing to gangsta rap. Nicki Minaj voicing a killer plant.

They are not the nightclub scenes you'd expect on the average evening, but ones that flood from the mixed-up mind of DJ Sampology.

No ordinary turntable technician, Sampology - aka Sam Poggioli - is Australia's leading audio-visual DJ, splicing film clips with song samples to make music that moves and entertains on the big screen.

His Super Visual AVDJ series has travelled the world several times, playing innovative festivals like South By Southwest, Big Chill, Berlin Music Festival and Edinburgh Fringe.

The latest instalment will debut during a tour of Australia and New Zealand this winter, before Sampology returns to Europe and the US. But only if the world hasn't ended by then, based as the show is around the 2012 apocalypse.

It's the reason Bruce Willis is saving the world from an invasion of cats. Obviously.

"Bruce seemed the obvious character for the show because so many of his films are about him saving the day,'' says Poggioli.

"I like taking something everyone recognises and flipping it into another world using different elements.

"The crowd can relate to what they're seeing and hearing but its a totally different experience to what they're used to.''

Poggioli has sprinkled a number of famous faces into his audio-visual shows since rising through the ranks of Brisbane's club scene.

Hulk Hogan and Tom Hanks are the biggest crowd-pleasers when projected over hip hop or big beat, a visual stimulant the DJ puts down to nostalgia.

"People have an attachment to certain stars they've grown up with and when they see them doing bizarre things to music they can't help but cheer,'' he says.

The apocalypse theme also defines the forthcoming debut album by Sampology, Doomsday Deluxe, which features an eclectic mix of instrumentals and tracks with guest vocalists.

The songs have been designed to compliment his audio-visual show with samples cut throughout, although Poggioli refuses to get overly self-indulgent.

"The songs will soundtrack the AV show but in subtle ways,'' he says.

"I'm inspired by DJ Shadow who picks out certain parts, like a bass line or drums instead of whole tracks.''

The album is a step up from what Sampology is perhaps known for musically, but he's always been set for bigger things than a novelty act.

As well as jokey juxtapositioning of film favourites, he also mixes images of current events, like the recent Occupy protests.

"`I'm not just about making people laugh, more providing a unique experience,'' he says.

"`I'll throw news clips and serious images in there sometimes to stimulate different emotions.''

Sampology tours nationally in May and June with dates at Oxford Art Factory on June 8, Wollongong University on June 21, King Street Hotel, Newcastle, on June 22, Trinity, Canberra, June 23 and Southern Cross University, Lismore, on June 28.

Doomsday Deluxe is out on June 4. - The Telegraph, Sydney


""So you’ve all heard of this Sampology dude, right? He’s kinda blowing up at the moment due to his pop-culture-mashing Ritalin-sniffing shows. Well the boy who swallowed the internet is about to get a whole heap bigger cause his debut album comes out tomo"

So you’ve all heard of this Sampology dude, right? He’s kinda blowing up at the moment due to his pop-culture-mashing Ritalin-sniffing shows. Well the boy who swallowed the internet is about to get a whole heap bigger cause his debut album comes out tomorrow and it's a rippa.

While his live performances showcase his insane creativity and a profound understanding of pop culture, they don’t necessarily show just how good a producer he is. Doomsday Deluxe puts this right. To be honest, I expected a mixtape-style album full of cheesy pop culture references and hyped up breakdowns. Please don’t get me wrong; I was looking forward to it. However, what Sampology has delivered in his debut long player is a collection real songs.

It’s hard to describe the sound of Doomsday Deluxe without mentioning a certain collaboration between Diplo and Switch, but I’m going to do my best. There's a modern Jamaican dancehall theme running consistently through the album but the way the tracks are built around the sweaty 'I wanna booty shake all night' vibe that sets it apart.

There are synth lines that would make Giorgio Moroder's 'stache tingle. DD’s rhythm section borrows from a diverse pick and mix of genres, covering everything from post-dubstep right through to afrobeat. The album has a strong presence of pad-triggered samples that defined his early sound, though they are used sparingly, making room for a richer and more varied sound.

And of course, there's Sampology’s warped sense of humour spread throughout the album, no more so than in 'Attack of the Cats', a song about attacking cats. Duh.

'Stars' featuring Hannah Macklin, is the first single from this album and naturally the song with the most commercial appeal. I can’t stop listening to it. It takes the best elements of modern R'n'B while neglecting the elements that generally lead to bleeding of the ears, something I didn't think was possible. While the few songs which feature vocal artist are certainly the ones that stand out, the "album fillers" are great too and leaves the album sitting somewhere between a listener and a party album.


Doomsday Deluxe feels like the result of Sam having some serious down time, being able to sit in a studio and flesh out ideas. It's like telling Michelangelo he could stop doodling on cocktail napkins and giving him the ceiling of a chapel to paint on instead. Okay lets not get to carried away, this album definitely isn't no Sistine Chapel but you get my point. This album that has complexity, depth and soul the likes of which he had yet to reveal. A pleasant surprise and one that's going to get a bit of a flogging around the office. - Lifelounge


""The feel of the album is upbeat, catchy as hell and geared towards igniting dancefloors; This is a wonderful debut from a young upstart. Play this one loud.""

Brisbane born Sam Poggliolo or Sampology has been doing the rounds over the last few years, wowing audiences with his turntable wizardry and gaining the admiration of scratch fanatics the world over such as DJ Yoda and the ridiculously virtuosic turntablist DJ Craze. Renowned for the insane live visual component which accompanies the scratch happy Sampology during his shows, Doomsday Deluxe showcases his songwriting and audio production strengths; and much in the same vein as Sydney beat maestros Hermitude and international producer Hudson Mohawke, Sampology’s beats straddle hip-hop, breaks and dubstep with much enthusiasm. The feel of the album is upbeat, catchy as hell and geared towards igniting dancefloors; tracks such as Eagle Theme, Stars (featuring the soulful vocals of Hannah Macklin) and Final Song - with their brewing synths, slow bouncing grooves and swirling filter effects – are uplifting and moving, while Killer TV and Around The Globe (featuring vocal contributions from MCs Sunny Dread and Serocee respectively) are straight out tearers. This is a wonderful debut from a young upstart. Play this one loud. - Alternative Media Group


""Since Sam Poggioli (aka Sampology) began performing audiovisual DJ shows four years ago, he has become arguably Australia's best-known exponent of the art form.""

"SINCE Sam Poggioli (aka Sampology) began performing audiovisual DJ shows four years ago, he has become arguably Australia's best-known exponent of the art form."

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/music/methodology-in-madness-20121025-2872r.html#ixzz2BtxozDwB
- The Age, Australia


""Sampology, a well-equipped D.J...""

If you know your Shakespeare, it’s easy to feel leery of a show created by an outfit called Strut & Fret Production House. The name of course evokes Macbeth’s bitter soliloquy in which he compares life to “a poor player,/That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,/And then is heard no more.”

While the Tom Tom Crew indeed performs for an hour, it offers more somersaulting than strutting, unless you count the manic movement of Karl Stock, who at one point appears on “kangaroo stilts,” which are like pogo sticks attached to each foot. The only fretting is likely to come from theatergoers wondering why the troupe members executing aerial feats don’t use nets. These young Australian men, above, include no poor players, I’m happy to say, though their talents aren’t the kinds usually seen on an Off Broadway stage. And heard no more? These guys have been heard all over the world, not to mention that your ears may ring when you leave.

The crew, now at the New Victory Theater in a performance the house recommends for children 8 and older (but don’t mention that to the three 70-ish women having a wonderful time last Saturday), offers an unusual blend of high-energy acrobatics and high-energy hip-hop. At first the intermissionless show seems like what might happen if you let seven fraternity brothers loose in a music studio that also happened to have cool circus equipment. But the production, directed by Scott Maidment, is much more than testosterone-fueled frolicking, as cartwheeling and breaking give way to astonishing moves. (The finale involves a giant seesaw.)

The sonic performers are Ben Walsh, musical director, who offers a singalong ode to an electronic Japanese harp and plays eight drums simultaneously; Sampology, a well-equipped D.J.; and Tom Thum, a beat boxer whose microphone and voice alone make him a one-man band. The other players — Ben Lewis, Daniel Catlow, Shane Witt and Mr. Stock — happily wage war with the laws of physics. At certain moments — as when Mr. Lewis gyrates his entire body while holding onto an aerial strap with only one arm — you’ll swear they’re winning. - NY Times


""DJ Sampology, who spins and mixes throughout the evening. His sounds compliment the moves, while projected moves from old school flicks provide a visual backdrop...""

See link - Time Out, New York


""Pulling it altogether was the deftly named Sampology. DJ and scratcher extraordinaire, Sampology skilfully uses a giant screen showing himself, other musicians and the rest of the crew to full effect.""

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the Tom Tom Crew. Hailing from Australia and here in London as part of the E4 Udderbelly festival at the Southbank Centre, much has been written about them. Superlatives bandied about like confetti. So what would a London crowd think of these young antipodeans?

Made up of acrobats, beatboxers, MCs, DJs and percussionists, the Tom Tom Crew had all the usual suspects on the night: a simple urban set (graffiti-sprayed flats, large screen, safety mats, mics and a more than adequate mixing desk) and the ubiquitous MC in the shape of Ben Walsh who also multi-tasked as drummer/ percussionist.

Related Articles

*
Sir Charles Mackerras
*
Rodrigo's Aranjuez: Beauty and the beats
*
Tom Kitchin recipe: spiced aubergine with Scottish smoked salmon
*
Championship Round-up: Middlesbrough turn on style and Coventry continue perfect start
*
Video: Cybraphon ? the musical instrument with emotions
*
Black scholar accuses police of racism after being arrested trying to break into home

Opening the show by instructing us to stay in our seats, as not to distract the acrobats when they ‘do their thing’, Walsh gave a good turn at whipping up the crowd, so I just sat back in my seat, daring him and the rest of his crew to impress me and impress me they did with 60 minutes of mad, chaotic, sound-busting mayhem.

Through a mêlée of back-flips, bouncing stilts, see-sawing, swinging from the rafters and multi-media fragments we are introduced to Tom Thum. There are not enough superlatives to describe the wonder of this beatboxing virtuoso - I am still trying to figure out how he got those sounds out of his mouth. A one-man orchestra, his jazz club set was the highlight for me in addition to his ability to create a wall of sound without a hint of an instrument.

Pulling it altogether was the deftly named Sampology. DJ and scratcher extraordinaire, Sampology skilfully uses a giant screen showing himself, other musicians and the rest of the crew to full effect. Also worth a mention are Walsh’s musical interludes, including his hip-hop use of a 1981 Suzuki Omnichord.

I shouldn't forget to sing the praises of the seriously toned acrobatic tumblers who pepper the entire production and who effortlessly entertained the now mesmerised crowd into submission and in the process made me feel like an old woman who only ever mastered cartwheels.

If I were being picky, a little bit of structure wouldn’t have gone amiss but this is a must-see. - The Telegraph, UK


""The dexterity of DJ Sampology at his turntables impresses more than any amount of aerial business, enhanced by screens which offer a bird's eye view of his flying hands, alternating with amusing sampled visuals.""

Time was, circus acts only ever performed under canvas. How things have changed. Australia's Tom Tom Crew are currently to be found on the south bank of the Thames, performing inside an upside-down inflatable purple cow.

Once inside the belly of the beast, however, you won't find anything very extraordinary in their acrobatics, given that the bar has been set so stratospherically high by Cirque du Soleil. They backflip, they tumble (in the controlled sense, mostly), they ricochet off teeterboards, and they do some risky-looking pogo-ing on sprung calipers, but they wouldn't win any medals for it. It's all been done bigger and better.
Related articles

* The 7 Fingers: Loft, Roundhouse, London
* Cirque du Soleil, Royal Albert Hall, London
* First Night: Circque du Soleil, Royal Albert Hall, London
* Tabù, Roundhouse, London
* Dance: The Circus plc is back in town
* First Night: Po-faced circus fails to amaze
* Search the news archive for more stories

What Tom Tom Crew lack in fine polish is partly compensated by chummy sex appeal. Every man Jack of them (or should that be Bruce?) could be the love interest in Neighbours. All have great pecs, good teeth, neat tattoos and wear their jeans so that you can read the logos on their underpants.

The intimacy of the venue means that not only does every seat command a premium view, but the kinetic energy of the act communicates through vibration: you literally feel the landings and take-offs, and smell the sweat, if not the fear.

What's more galvanising is the framework: Ben Walsh is an exciting Kodo-style drummer, but he's an even more talented MC, ramping up the tempo with repeated appeals to the crowd that, in that singularly Australian way, turn imperatives into questions, as in: "We need some energy, people(?)." Without his high-octane charm, this might well have the opposite effect.

The live music is the real star of this show. The dexterity of DJ Sampology at his turntables impresses more than any amount of aerial business, enhanced by screens which offer a bird's eye view of his flying hands, alternating with amusing sampled visuals.

There is more unexpected comedy when Walsh drops his macho drummer stance and sings a disarmingly sweet song self-accompanied on electric omnichord – "a piece of Japanese plug-in plastic crap circa 1981" he found in an Adelaide junk shop. In Walsh's hands, the instrument takes on an affecting beauty, its sound something between Appalachian harp and celeste.

But if the omnichord is the evening's solo musical discovery, beatboxer Tom Thum is its full orchestra. Ah, beatboxing, that's where people mimic drum-kits, isn't it? That's what I thought before I heard Thum: a mere boy with scruffy hair and wearing an old T-shirt who, microphone pressed close to mouth, disappears into an alternate universe of Tibetan monks, Dizzy Gillespie's trumpet, didgeridoo, a scratched vinyl record of Fauré's "Pavane" on the cello, and a full set of DJ turntables, outdoing the "real" DJ at a stroke.

He also does a mean few bars of Michael Jackson's "Thriller", simultaneously laying down the vocal over an impression of several instrumental tracks, all generated on the spot. What's the betting he'll be expanding that segment of his act for the next few weeks. Thum is truly phenomenal: just view the other guys as the frills.

Jubilee Gardens, London SE1 (0871 663 2585) to 19 Jul; Edinburgh Fringe 6-31 Aug - The Independent, UK


Discography

ALBUMS
Sampology Doomsday Deluxe 2012

EPs
Sampology Super Sounds Top Billin 2011

ORIGINAL SINGLES

Sampology - Shine a Light ft. Daniel Merriweather - October 2014 

Sampology - Show Me - January 2014

Sampology & DJ Butcher featuring Beenie Man - Dancehall Queen - 2013
Sampology - Eagle Theme - 2012
Sampology Around The Globe featuring Serocee - 2012
Sampology Stars featuring Hannah Macklin 2012
Sampology Hell On Wheels featuring Kween G 2012
Sampology Piggy Bank featuring Spoek Mathambo & Gnucci Banana Top Billin 2011
Sampology You featuring Lady Chann Top Billin 2011

REMIXES

Crooked Colours 'In Your Bones' (Sampology remix) May 2014
Twinsy 'Water Bombs' (Sampology remix) 2013
Mat Cant 'Make Believe' (Sampology remix) Scattermusic 2012
Hermitude 'All Of You' (Sampology remix) Elefant Trax 2012
S. Mouse 'Slap My Elbow' (Sampology remix) ABC Music 2011
The Wiggles 'Wobbly Camel' (Sampology remix) ABC Music 2011
Million Dan 'Mic Check' (Sampology remix) Hydrofunk 2010
Surecut Kids 'Drunk In This' (Sampology remix) Klub Kids 2010
Two Fresh - 'Transatlantic Skank' (Sampology remix) Klub Kids 2010
Resin Dogs 'Peace & Love' (Sampology remix) Hydrofunk 2010
PNAU  'Baby (Sampology remix) EtcEtc 2008

Photos

Bio

Creating multi sensory, high octane, audio visual landscapes from sound, Australian prodigal producer Sam Poggioli is Sampology. 

Working previously with a wide ranging roster of talent from South African artist Spoek Mathambo, to Summer Heights High comedy genius Chris Liley, and with fans such as Peaches and DJ Yoda, Sampology's wild talents ignite audience's imaginations. His next collaboration sees him partner with twice award-winning neo-soul R&B singer/songwriter, Daniel Merriweather for the epic single release, 'Shine A Light'. 

A sure fire hit for Sampology, 'Shine A Light' is a big, bright sparkly sun drenched anthem and marks brave new territory for the magician-like AV mixer.  Fusing international sounds with his homegrown frequencies to forge a richer, more elaborate flare, Sampology's sound continues to be adored by niche and mainstream crowds alike. Bringing the high hats, hand claps, chanting vocals, Merriweather's soaring lead and big club sound to life, this smile spreading tune comes to life deliciously on record. Just a taster of what's to come from Sampology's hotly anticipated album in June 2015. 

Maturing the music, Sampology not only brings his all new one man AV show to the stage, but his very first live show in 2015, which promises to be his most ambitious and mesmeric achievement yet. There are no limitations.

Taking stage activity to the next level, Sampology's pioneering  live extravaganza is something to get very excited about. A 3-piece live act consisting of Sampology who will take control of the visual elements via hardware and software and a bunch of other technical magic we couldn't even begin to understand, along with the drums, beats and percussion; Hannah Macklin on keys and vocals; Tom Thum on vocals and crazy looping. Expect the unbelievable from their impossible, dancefloor designed, beat tapestries, marking the ascent from AVDJ to fully fledged live act. A 'must' do experience. 

Framed by a halo of ginger kiss-curls, animated and fast moving, mensa-like in his mixing capabilities, the energy behind Sampology's audio visual shows are internationally acclaimed. Love for the Brisbane natives pioneering production is spreading fast. His collaborations and aspirations have become greater. If you haven't yet come across his innumerable talents then you soon will. Look into the future of sound and tune-in to Sampology.

Band Members