Drummer Sam Ospovat discusses his technical evolution and the historical weight of performing with masters like Cecil Taylor. He breaks down the differences between the New York and Nordic music communities, the creation of his project Blight Music in a Brooklyn warehouse, and the discipline required to maintain a creative voice across different continents.

Timestamps:

• 00:00 - Intro: The difficulty of moving to New York
• 01:13 - Formative years at UC Santa Cruz
• 04:16 - Mills College: An incubator for the avant-garde
• 05:32 - Two weeks with Cecil Taylor: Focus and improvisation
• 08:12 - Moving to NYC and the influence of mentors
• 11:46 - Relocating to Finland and the Nordic scene
• 19:07 - Classical music as a Finnish national identity
• 26:19 - Rhythmic ratios: Composing with prime numbers
• 29:39 - Virtuosity and the feeling of total abandon
• 32:11 - The "Blight Music" concept and the warehouse scene
• 39:51 - Writing for non-specialists in complex structures
• 44:19 - Timbre and the intellectual component of music
• 50:13 - The Brooklyn warehouse and the Blight Music festival
• 56:10 - Identifying the true originals in the current era
• 1:03:59 - How to find Sam Ospovat’s music

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