Beware of Attack Turtle

Once upon a time, I saw this one sign at a door of a house in North Berkeley in California. It said:
“Beware of Attack Turtle”
Later on, I recorded an album and called it ‘Emo Attack Turtle’. This was back in 2010. This was technically my second album. My first one, Acoustic Gestures came out in 2004, just less than a month before I moved to Boston to study at Berklee College of Music. I had just turned 24 and was moving to a place that both excited me and just so darn cold.
I had my first album and I had big dreams. I was gonna make an impact and I was going to study with some of my favourite guitarists like Mick Goodrick, Jon Damian, Bret Willmott and also a lot of other teachers that I only found out about when I reached Berklee.

Lots of things happened but let’s go back to California. It was 2010 and after about 6 years after my first album, I had not released any full length EP or album. I think I was scared.
Maybe I wanted the perfect follow up. Maybe it was the pressure of having graduated from Berklee.
Anyhow, one day (a different day) — I went to Pegasus Books Downtown Berkeley — a cool bookstore, one of many in Berkeley, California (other side of the coast, not the same as Boston’s Berklee College of Music) and was going through a magazine called WIRE — Adventures in Sound and Music.
The magazine had reviews of SO MANY ALBUMS, mostly quite avant garde, noise, experimental, art, sound works that were pushing the boundaries of music and art.
Then, it dawned on me.
Why was I procrastinating? At that same time, creative people were making SO MANY ALBUMS!
I had no excuse. I walked home (didn’t buy the magazine) and recorded Emo Attack Turtle in one session in my living room.

Eventually, the music made its way into films and many places.
Moral of the story. Make art. Record stuff. Release stuff. Don’t wait for perfect. It doesn’t come.
Guitarist-Composer-Educator Az Samad has recorded with Grammy Winners Flaco Jiménez & Max Baca; graduated & taught at the prestigious Berklee College of Music; performed in the United States, Europe & Asia; and appeared on 22 CDs ranging in styles from Tex-Mex, Contemporary Jazz to solo acoustic guitar. His works have been described as “richly textured, poetic and atmospheric”. His first book, Jazz Improvisation Uncovered received critical acclaim from jazz guitarist Julian Lage and Berklee professor Abigail Zocher.
An experienced performer, Az has performed with virtuoso violinist Roby Lakatos, former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Bumblefoot, singer-songwriter Zee Avi, funky fingerstyle guitarist Adam Rafferty and percussive fingerstyle guitarist Mike Dawes. Az also frequently performs as part of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and was the classical guitar soloist for the Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy Kuala Lumpur concert conducted by Arnie Roth.
Az has been exploring Malay jazz including the music of P. Ramlee, Jimmy Boyle and most recently Singapore’s Zubir Said. As the musical director and guitarist for A Zubir Said Tribute, Az lead 5 shows at Esplanade Outdoor Theatre, Singapore with an 11-piece ensemble performing brand new arrangements he wrote.
Previously based in Berkeley, California; Az now lives in Kuala Lumpur.
