'burden to bear' is about sam marke's personal experience of being Autistic and the struggle of being misunderstood. He is hoping this song will help those who aren’t Autistic become more patient and understanding towards those who are, and he is hoping it will help Autistic people feel more heard, represented, and less alone.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Kamil) Hey sam marke, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. Who are you and what do you do?
My name is sam marke and I'm a singer/songwriter based in Long Beach, California. I like to write songs about the things that I've gone through in my life, but I am also interested in telling other people's stories. I am just very interested in telling stories in general.
What role does the artist have in society?
oooo that's a very interesting question. If you're asking what role SHOULD the artist have, than I would say that an artist should try to help people deal with the thoughts and feelings that they otherwise wouldn’t be able through the telling of stories. If you’re asking me what role does the artist currently have in reality, I think the role of the artist can sometimes just be determined by whatever the artists fans’ want the artist to be/do.
Your latest song is 'burden to bear'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?
I started writing this song sometime around July of 2021 I think. Like a lot of songs, it started out a lot differently than the final product that you can hear today. It really started out as a song that I wanted to very obviously be about being Autistic and having ADHD and social difficulties. Over time, I realized it could still be about all of those things while also being applicable to a wider range of people, which is what I think it ended up being. With this song, I actually ended up wasting a lot of time and money recording it originally, because I later decided to really restructure and re-record the song again later. It was definitely a learning experience, and I definitely wouldn’t want to start recording something in the future, unless I’m certain that I’m confident with the lyrics and structure of the song.
What’s your strongest memory of your childhood?
Probably not the answer you were looking for here, but some of my strongest memories as a kid come from being bullied in middle school because of the identities that I have (Autistic, Gay, Jewish).
What’s your most embarrassing moment?
I think that most days, I have a lot of moments where nobody is watching or paying attention to me and I do something really embarrassing that I probably wouldn’t do if I was neurotypical. Probably the best example I can think of is when I was younger I would often ask adults how old they were over and over again because I didn’t know that was considered rude. People would tell me I shouldn’t do it, but I only stopped once someone explained why it was considered rude.
Is the artistic life lonely? What do you do to counteract it?
I think there is a big community of artists in the artist community, so if it ever got lonely, I feel like there is always someone to reach out to.
Do you have any hobbies or interests outside of music?
I’ve had a lot interests over the years other than music. Right now, I’m interested in psychology, politics, social justice, superheroes, food, movies, helping kids, and animals.
What is your dream project?
Maybe this isn’t the answer you’re looking for here, but my “dream project” is making a really good song that touches a lot of people and helps establish me as an artist. I don’t really care if it’s a song made by myself or with ten people or whatever, as long as it talks about something important and touches people that’s all that really matters to me.
What is your favourite or most inspirational place (in United States, Long Beach)?
My most inspirational place where I live is probably my piano. I know that response is so overdone, but it’s true.
What are your plans for the future?
My plan for the future is to keep releasing music and start performing at multiple shows around LA. I love collaborating with other writers in musicians in many ways, so I’ll definitely be doing that as well. I also wanna work on social media, which I really suck and I have no idea what I’m doing with that or how to do it, but I’ll keep trying.