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Just the Facts

Having studied music and keyboards briefly as a child, Oliver Sampson started playing around with music again while in high school with some buddies who also went on to make their own presence felt in the international music scene. Merlo Podlewski went on to play guitar in Josh Hayden's (son of Charlie Hayden) band Spain and bass for international singer/songwriter/surf star Jack Johnson. Mike Bishop went on to play bass under the moniker Beefcake the Mighty for Shock Rock phenoms GWAR. "Who would have thought that we three guys who had lunch together every day when I was in the tenth grade, would all go on to be professional bass players?" muses Oliver.

It was, however, while at college that Oliver began to take music seriously and apply himself to his chosen instrument, bass guitar. After playing bass for only three months during the summer break after his Freshman year, Oliver founded his first band, a cover band that would cycle through names faster than guitar strings. Eventually, they settled on the name Black Ice and had considerable success in the college town of Blacksburg, Virginia--even branching out into the mid-Atlantic region, opening for mid-Atlantic heavyweights, Kage, and MCA Records recording artists, August. Black Ice peaked with a concert for 5000 graduating students held at Virginia Tech's Lane Stadium in 1991. "The path had already been put in place for a career outside of music," Oliver reflects on his education as a Computer Engineer, "but I knew that I would have to use my job to enable my desire to become a professional musician."

College was the perfect time to absorb musical influences. With an active music scene, and plenty of places to develop live experience and music biz savvy, Oliver began running sound for other bands as way to help defray the costs of owning a PA for his own band, and in the course of doing so, ended up working with and absorbing the music of friends who would go on to their own musical success: Steven Terry from Whiskeytown and The Damnwells, Yogi, Jim Hodson from Jennifer on Sunday, and Scott "Therm" Brotemarkle from Smartbomb, Quitter UK, and Emmet Swimming.

Moving to Raleigh, North Carolina in 1992 as part of the day job, Oliver joined Hard Rock outfit, Bladewalker, an experimental rock band that played regularly throughout North Carolina, but dissolved when Oliver and the singer from Black Ice, Jason Burke, decided to get back together to work on original material. That project went on, without Jason, to become Goujroy, a progressive metal group that tried hard to elevate the level of musicianship and songwriting in the time of Lo-Fi. Goujroy had just started to develop a name and reputation in Raleigh when they broke up in 1995, despite being a part of a music scene that produced Columbia recording artists Dag and Cry of Love, and underground superstars Archers of Loaf, Squirrel Nut Zippers, and Ben Folds Five. Goujroy recorded but never released their debut CD.

Still following his day job career, Oliver moved to Germany at the end of 1998, and joined rockers Dragonfly (now performing as The Bite) who played with measured success in southern Germany. After leaving Dragonfly, Oliver went on to play in the summer of 2001 with pop-rockers P.O.C., which included a television appearance on Club Max with Max von Thun. In the Fall of 2001, after leaving his day job to persue music full time, Oliver joined Goth/Industrial Rock/Metal outfit wooDLawn, and in the summer of 2002, he also played as a sideman with pop-rockers Cute, which included performances on large stages sponsored by SWR3.

Moving to Germany gave Oliver plenty of time to reflect on his current musical situation and to try a new tack. Being entirely self-taught, he decided that exploring formal music study would be the right thing, and he attended the Intensive Bass Week at Bass Collective in New York City in the Summer of 2000. He followed that up with regular study with local bass hero Ralf Franz and on upright bass with Florian King. Following the upright bass study through with live orchestral performances was naturally a must, so Oliver jumped at the oportunity to play traditional, modern orchestral, and big band pieces with the local brass orchestra from 2002 to 2004.

wooDLawn had already had a name in the business and had a record contract with a small label in northern Germany. After several tours throughout Germany, headlining in the biggest underground clubs in Berlin, Leipzig, and Frankfurt, opening for Crux Shadows, Megaherz, Scream Silence, and The Cascades, and releasing a critically acclaimed EP, Sunlight, wooDLawn put itself on hiatus in 2004 after a new record deal fell through at the last minute. At the beginning of 2006, wooDLawn independantly released the long awaited follow-up to Sunlight, Sliver on their own label, Turm 18 Records, and are shopping for a distribution deal.

2004 saw an opportunity for Oliver to expand on his production skills. Asked to record an anthem for local volleyball heroes, VfB Friedrichshafen, Oliver created Matchpoint to record the song "Our Finest Hour" and the German version "Heut' ist unser Tag." A CD-Single for the songs was released and used throughout the 2004 season as the team went on to be the German national champions. (Pokalgewinner.) "That was a really exciting opportunity and a completely new experience. It was the first time that I had written a song and sought someone else's approval. Usually, I just write songs and hope people like it; this was really different. I hope to have the opportunity again to write songs for others in the same manner."

Oliver also remixed a song from Londoner guitarist Terry Munday's album The Human Zone. "Welcome to the Last Hotel (Hanging Lower Remix)" is an exciting example of Guitar-Hero-meets-Electronica. "Terry had looked me up on the Internet, and after some time of trading emails and a visit to London, we came up with this idea to try to meld our talents. We're still working on the planning for some live material, but until that comes together, we'll continue working like this. Terry is a monster guitarist and a great guy; I'm glad to have him as a musical partner."

During the downtime while wooDLawn were rethinking their strategy, Oliver and wooDLawn's drummer, Yann Zimmermann, formed Rack, a hard rock band, hoping to get back to a their roots in a straight-forward, hard rockin' band. The band took off like a rocket in 2005, but suffered a setback a few months later through some personnel changes. Regrouping, the band is planning on a new start in the middle of 2006.

Working in the background, with Internet connections and shipping CDs back and forth between North Carolina and Germany, Oliver recorded the bass tracks for Jason Burke's debut CD Swimming, released in 2005. The CD showcases Jason's pop, rock, and progressive influences and allowed Oliver to demonstrate why he and Jason had been working together for so long despite the great distance between North Carolina and southern Germany.

2005 brought a new avenue for Oliver as he explores his love for Jazz, Latin and World music while playing with Ralle Fricker in Sambinha, a band playing Samba, Bossa Nova, and Brazilian Pop songs, and in Ravi-Indra, an Indian/World Music band.

Currently, Oliver is concentrating on different avenues with his working bands, and has made himself available as a sideman for live or studio work.