Discovered in 1997 by Paul Major and Allen Rohde (Parallel World Records) at an ironically named NYC club called "Downtime" Saphin signed on with Major and Rohde soon after. He's been a staple Multimedia Dandy on the 3D and Virtual (internet) Music scenes ever since.
In 1998 his critically acclaimed debut, “this” was released. Soon after he signed with Warner Bros. Records (thru Parallel World). The Warner deal finished up when his loyal A&R man was suddenly and unceremoniously fired. "They were pretty fuckin' cold to him, he must've been there for 20+ years and without warning, they just sacked him. Their name is a lie, they don't warn anyone (laughs). Anyway, if I stayed, I would've been in Major label limbo: all signed up with nothing to do. When it's come to my career, I've never been very good at bending over backwards to accommodate such things as stalling. I saw that bar as something to jump over, not bend under. So I jumped, I just took off".
"I guess you could say, I first signed with Major and Rohde, then signed with a major and hit the road. (No apologies for that one).
Saphin has always attempted and (usually) succeeded at stage innovation, a deceptively tougher task when playing the smaller venues of early 90's NYC, “The attitudes in town at the time weren't particularly theatrics friendly”, Says Saphin, “I remember one of my first solo gigs was at The Sidewalk Café, I arrived with TV screens, sets, props and backdrops in tow, and this was just for piano and guitar mind you.... The audience (and even the sound man) Loved it , the house on the other hand wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic. The next day I was banned from that club for being too theatrical, no regrets there. Oh well, that's what'cha get for not staring at your shoes."
A slew of solo and full blown band multimedia shows ensued at all of the usual (and some unusual) stops along the way. Some of those stops also stopped booking Saphin for the same lame (aforementioned) reasons, too theatrical, others, like Arlene's Grocery, have become Saphin's second home. "Owen (the then owner and booker of Arlene's) even built a backstage there, partially to accommodate my show..." We tweaked the shit out of that show, wardrobe by Trisha Fay, random video feeds, general outrageousness... the audiences Loved it.
All of that earned Saphin the nod fromThe Village Voice, who crowned him New York’s new Jet boy....” and of his Songs they said, “Whispy, Floating in a tin can music that really, really rocks!”
“I grew up on theatrical performance, theatre in Rock, on being lifted away from the heaviness of your life by the Semi-Gurus that Performers are meant to be. Art and entertainment are emotional space warps across which time compresses and problems are lessened. So performers are here to help you get there and back, vividly scenically and memorably, then return you, intact and rejuvenated, not drained and filled with self loathing.
I like my performers to be pretentious, character-esque and caricature-esque, the whole “keepin' it real” thing is fraduliant, it’s just another pose, it's complete bullshit, because if you’re a performer you automatically utilize pretension in one way or another, whether you choose to or not, it’s an integral factor in performance. To say you’re not being pretentious is even more pretentious than consciously being pretentious. So when you really look at it, I guess I'm just keepin' it real."
Saphin is currently collaborating with Legendary Guitarist Earl Slick, a band they call "The Eons" or "Eons". They've already slipped out an infectious track called "Secrets", it can be heard on Slick's, Saphin's and the brand new Eons pages .
Saphin's most recent release "Saphin is Tim Essquare Starring in Time of the Signs"" is the first installment in an ongoing concept which follows the times and life of Tim Essquare (Times Square), an inter-dimensional traveller sent to Earth in the year 2012 to find God. Saphin describes "Tim E." as "Mr. Spock meets Iggy Pop meetS Elf".
Saphin is simultaneously recording his next releases "A Star Called Earth", another concept album he says is loosely connected to Tim E., but, as Saphin says, "This is the other story".
Look for upcoming Saphin collaborations from his "alter id", the highly experimental "Shocking Black" with Jean-Luc Cohen.
Listen to the Saphin Remix of "Boy in Black" by Jessica Vale and former Saphin Guitarist Ivan Evangelista.
The rest of the ongoing Saphin saga can be followed in real time on his award winning website:
SaphinScape at www.saphin.com |
