I first met Sami Chohfi in the Spring of 2018. I was on my Twitter Page @dragonsrosered trying to develop a music career, again. I have been working on an album for 10 years now. Not a lot of actual work, I was pretty much was still in the planning stages. All of the music that I had been posting on my YouTube page were covers. Darn good ones too if you ask me, but, I digress.
I received a DM from one of the band members of Blue Helix asking me to check out one of their newest videos from their album Anti-Social Butterfly. I was familiar with the band itself as they are local, but honestly up until that point I had not listened to them very much (sorry guys)
So I agreed to watch the video and had to hold on to my proverbial hat. HOLY CRAP!, I'm thinking "Who is this guy? Why's he so pissed? and Where the hell can I get vocals like that!" I was thoroughly impressed, needless to say, with what I saw and had no qualms about telling the person that sent me the link to the video. I believe one of my comments was "Wow! Wish I had that kind of power, if he ever decides to give voice lessons, let me know"
Have you ever said or done something in the moment and knew that you weren't really aware of what you were saying, but yet you said it because, well you wanted to compliment or edify the person you are speaking about. Kind of like "oh sure, let's do lunch sometime? I would love to catch up" That was me at that moment in time. Now that I think about it, I'm almost positive that I was having an out of body experience.
The person on the other of the DM (who I found later was Sami's beautiful wife Renata) said, "He does teach voice actually, if you are interested I will give you his number" I truthfully wanted to say no, straightaway. But, unfortunately I was at an impasse on the whole "make an album thing" I knew I needed something to jump start my interest again, but I had no idea what THAT was. I was going to find out very soon.
One of things that people that were in my support system were telling me was "you know, if you had just a bit more power in your vocals, your songs would come across with more vibrancy and emotion."As much as I wanted to argue the point, I had to agree. So I made the call, set up the time to attend my first lesson, and waited with much anticipation and over analyzing as I could possibly muster.
When I finally met Sami in person, it was almost surreal. His presence was very serene and I felt a sense of peace and tranquility as I entered the studio with him. It was the calm before the storm, and I didn't even see it coming.
In the hour that I was there, he called out every flaw, bad habit and complacent attitude that I had had towards, my singing, my voice and my attitude in general. I'm still baffled to this day how he was able to call me on my bullshit. Now mind you I didn't go there with the intent of really giving him any bullshit, it just kind of happened. I had to prove that I had talent and gifts and years of experience too. The only problem with that? He actually knew what he was talking about and worked extremely hard to get where he was. If you ever want to know his secret, that's it folks, hard work, determination and the love of what he does. I would find that out later.
Developing a relationship in any vein is no easy task. Months went by and I began to learn things about my self that I honestly didn't know. Don't get me wrong, Sami isn't all hard and unforgiving. He is very nurturing, encouraging and patient. (I truly wish there was a bigger word for patience) but he also likes to see results and progress, as any great teacher would.
While I was progressing and feeling more confidant about myself as singer/songwriter (yep, the songwriting came from the lessons also) Sami was molding and shaping his own future. He had decided to take a left turn at Rock Street and head towards Acoustic Ave and began writing songs for his solo album. Every so often I would listen to something he had just written and sat in amazement of his lyrical and musical dexterity. Knowing that he had poured his heart and life experiences into every song that he had written made each song more memorable.
Fast forward to this year in February 2019. I was making the long trek home from Seattle where I work and had to stop for a bit, because that was the week that it decided it was going to snow like nobody's business and well, there's only so much trudging through snow a person can do without having to take a break. As I sat down on the bus bench, I opened my phone to check my email and I had received one from Sami with an attachment. It was an MP3. The email read something like.."Check this out, I just wrote this, I want to know what you think" (paraphrasing)
The song was called It's Just Me. I had never heard Sami sing with such grace and emotion. It made me cry. I couldn't stop listening to it. That was the first recording of it as he was singing it. I wrote him back and told him how much it moved me. I stood up to continue on my journey when my phone rang. It was Sami. "Did you really like it? Truthfully, you can tell me if you didn't, did it sound too sappy?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He added "I'm thinking of leaving it as it is, flaws and all, and just recording it like that" I think I said something like "absolutely! leave it just the way it is, it's amazing."
He eventually ended up making a few minor aesthetic changes and sent the song off to his mixer and mastering studio. I think that once it was released, I must have bought like 3 copies, even though I still had the original, I wanted to support him in any way I could. The next big thing to happen after that, was the video for the song, filmed in Seattle. Up until that point, I had no idea what to expect. If you think the song is awesome, you will truly be amazed by the video. Very powerful and emotionally charging.
That's when I knew I had to do everything I could, to help and support Sami. I offered to create the fan pages and be there for him when he needed me. I'm still taking vocal coaching from him and he's graciously offered to help write the music for my album. Finally the direction I needed to make my dream come true. But that's the way Sami is. He has the heart of lion and the determination and motivation to keep going no matter what. He cares about people and is not afraid to show it.
I'm glad I stuck it out, it's been an amazing journey and it's only the beginning. If you haven't heard It's Just Me yet, you should. I will leave a link to the video and his Spotify page, and his website so that you can read more about him and become more familiar with him as a musician and a humanitarian. But be prepared, he's definitely that calm before the storm kinda guy.
Spotify, It's Just Me
https://spoti.fi/2JDQXmR
SamiChohfiMusic.com
It's Just Me Official Video
https://youtu.be/kixPuMdldCw
