Sam is a composer and multi-instrumentalist whose work spans many genres and musical platforms. He sat his Bachelor of Music Composition (specialising in Instrumental Composition and Sonic Arts) and Master of Fine Arts (Creative Practice) at Victoria University, and has since composed contemporary works for a variety of instrumental ensembles, notably the New Zealand String Quartet and Zephyr Wind Quintet. During his tenure at university, he participated as a composer twice at the CANZ Composer Workshop in Nelson and was a finalist in the NZSM Composer Competition in both 2016 & 2017.
Sam has been a member of numerous bands over the last 15 years, including the avant-garde pop duo Spork, and atmospheric rock heavyweights Opium Eater. He has also conceived a number of acousmatic and electroacoustic works as a solo artist, some of which were developed for multichannel systems.
In recent years Sam has worked as a film composer, writing scores for a number of short films as well as co-composing the music for Hang Time, a feature length film that has been well received in local and international film festivals. As a performer he specialises in textural guitar playing, aided by the use of effects pedals.