Samuel Ervin Beam

“Music is one of those things that if you play it safe, it can be incredibly boring.”

“You can treat musicians like actors - you give them a roadmap but don't tell them what to do, and let their personal style or interpretation speak in the piece. And in both film and music, you create a space where people feel safe to do their best. You treat songs like scripts that can be interpreted a lot of different ways.”

“I'll always err on the side of art for art's sake.”

“I'm very flattered the press wants to write about me.”

“Music is definitely cheaper and more immediate. But part of the draw of film to me is the multidisciplinary aspect. I always enjoyed film writing.”

“As far as American directors, Terrence Malick is probably my very favorite.”

“I don't want to single anyone out. I'll just say that there are a lot of not good band names out there.”

“I don't really make particularly abrasive music, but at the same time I wouldn't change something to make people like it.”

“All my songs usually borrow from my own life but pull from fantasy or other people's stories that you hear, or something you read. It's fun as a writer to pull from all those different places, and to connect them. But also, I don't have an interesting enough life to strictly pull from that.”

“Well, for me, I grew up in the Carolinas, and it's our mythology. Those are the characters that we learn about how to live life and moral lessons. It wasn't Zeus and Athena. It was Job and Jesus.”

“I don't advertise what I do to my kids. I don't go around waving a flag. I'm sure they are proud, in a certain way. I'm not like 'hey kids - check this out.' No matter what they do, your dad is still your dad. Nothing is going to help you out in that regard. Dad is just not cool.”

“Back in '98 or so when I was in film school I was working on lighting for a movie in Georgia, out in the middle of nowhere at a gas station. Inside the gas station they had a bunch of old home remedies like castor oil, and one of them was a protein supplement called Beef, Iron & Wine. I just dropped the Beef part.”

“I like good melodies and a great song.”

“Me, I'm a lazy bum, so I don't shave.”

“I was drawn to painting and filmmaking because I was interested in communicating visually, which spills over into my tendencies as a writer.”

“I live in Texas, man. It's hard to be a vegetarian down here.”

“I liked 'The Omen.'”

“I've learned a lot from being on a major.”

“I try to write humanistic songs.”