Press Kit

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Biography

The lush, emotional sound of Wasp Summer’s 2012 alt.country rock debut ‘Close as a Slow Dance’ was clearly the product of Samantha Wareing’s Melbourne era, but after five years in Berlin, Europe’s grimy, sleepless City of Fun, Wasp Summer has toughened up. Taking on Australian bassplayer Simon Morrison (Dead Sentries – BER, ex-Assassination Collective, MEL) and Alaskan drummer Ben Johnson (A Seated Craft, BER), Wasp Summer the band blasts out new rock that is both agitated and dreamlike.

Wareing developed her electric guitar playing in earnest, creating the chordal-lead style she now uses, favouring dissonance and odd harmony washed out with overdrive and delay. Her trademark expressive voice has deepened.Wasp Summer now offers grinding bass and taut drums alongside Wareing’s spare, spaced-out guitar and adventurous voice. The songs talk about resilience  and breaking with the past. The melancholy of the last album has dried up, but not the melody.

In Berlin’s fertile music scene, Wareing curates Sofa Salon, monthly livingroom concerts and showcase events, and books shows from Paris to Budapest through A Headful of Bees, an international artist collective exemplifying the DIT (Do-It-Together) approach. Wasp Summer are recording ‘Mitropa’, their first band album, due for release early in 2015.

Download the Wasp Summer Bio 2014
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Photos

These are high-res press images for media use.

2014 Wasp Summer full band B&W

'Close as a Slow Dance' album art

2012 Wasp Summer from ‘Close as a Slow Dance’

2014 Wasp Summer full band RGB

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Previous Reviews & Interviews

“…her songs have sadness in their bones so that they are both fragile and resilient. Best of all the songs have a rolling certainty to them: they feel good and they feel right..” Bernard Zuel – Sydney Morning Herald 29.08.12

”…rollicking, heartbroken… with more than just a bit of Wanda Jackson thrown in. Oh yeah!” Jason Kenny – http://www.jasonkenny.com

“Yeah, but what do you really do?” – Interview with Paul Donoughue, Under The Stilts

Musiker-Porträt – Die Australienreise Newsletter 21.11.12

“[her] tensile voice sits somewhere between Kristen Hersh and Chrissie Amphlett.” — Dom Alessio, whothehell.net

“…channels Patti and PJ in equal measure” — Daniel Zugna, Beat Magazine (Melbourne)

“…has the sound of an earlier PJ Harvey and Björk, and can go from belting it out to easily sliding into a high pure note with ease and perfection… weaving her raw emotions, and at times applying her unsettling pop melodies to the mixture… leave you touched with awe and definitely moved” – Sylvie Stern, BMA (Canberra)

“imagine Kristen Hersh and Kate Bush slugging it out” – Sam Shepard, Losing Today (UK)

“[Wareing’s] unwavering commitment make even the scrappiest tracks genuinely compelling…a combination of a taut, poetical elegance and a smart lyrical delivery” – Stephen Davenport, dB Magazine (Adelaide)

Public Reviews

As an independent musician, the feedback I get from friends, colleagues and fans is as, if not more, important to me as media reviews, so here’s a sample of the public reviews for my work.

“Like Aretha Franklin fronting Sonic Youth” – Mark Steiner

“Like Björk swallowed a sexy cat.” – Emilie Zoey Baker

“…superb new album: Close as a Slow Dance is gorgeous and I am embracing it near to my heart” – Sandra Serala 13.5.12

“your Wasp Summer album is quite incredible. Great writing, wonderful singing and stunning sounds, and I’m up for the harmony in On The Outside of you anytime we are in the same city…the record’s a pearler!” – Julitha Ryan 2.6.12

“Sammy, your arrangement of Late August Early September on your bandcamp site is astonishingly beautiful! Just listening to it now, and again, in the kitchen -having to sit down and properly listen instead of doing chores…” – Cheryl Spooner 15.6.12

“I would take a photo to show you how HUGE my smile is right now, but it wouldn’t fit in the frame. I would need to set up the tripod outside and stand at the window. The album is FANTASTIC! Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever grinned this much on hearing recorded music. You and the band have done an absolutely stunning job. Going all-out with it was so very much the right decision.” – Cameron Wilson 9.7.12

“It now stays in my car and will go everywhere with me. Beautiful music, but I didn’t expect anything less” – Sinna O’Hara 8.7.12

“Well done Sam, I wish you so much happiness. Your CD is so good, you are such a great songwriter.” – Jodie Lee 9.7.12

“got your amazing new CD (with lovely message). I love it. First listen – strong, catchy, mature and ‘finished’. Second listen – I’m hooked like an ice addict. You are good! Amazing production and song writing. Thank you.” – Chris Thomas 27.07.12

“Close As A Slow Dance is an apt title for the debut album from chanteuse Wasp Summer otherwise known as Sam Wareing. It is an album of close personal moments -heart moments- of depth and clarity, put to words and music. The predominate feeling while listening is of being in a darkened intimate venue –perhaps in a garden setting with leafy props and a band, and the night as a backdrop. Imagine: owl hoots, small mammals collectively hold their breath and the music starts – sounding like magic woven from heartache, starlight and jasmine scented air. The arrangements are lush, full of depth and are mostly in an ‘Alt-Country’ style with some Rockabilly and Old English folk and Lady Gothic sounds creeping in. Listen to it late at night with the lights out. Let the slow songs sink into your bones.” – Bernard Robertson 30.07.12

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Videos

Music Videos

Live Videos

Close as a Slow Dance album stream