Sam Hariss, an old school punk, in a young kid's body. Keeping it real, keeping it cool on his own terms. Living his dream in the town that never sleeps, and making things happen! As the bass player to The Sweet Things, Sam is also known as the co-conspirator to Raff, in their weekly Wham Bam Raff and Sam Friday evening shenanigans at the Bowery Electric. She pours while he spins. Together they represent the lower east side of NY for all the forever obnoxious tourist, no one could do it better! Sam Hariss is an inspiration to us old folks, reminding us that we did make a mark on the young ones! I enjoyed picking his brain, in an attempt to see who left the biggest scar. Enjoy!


It's good to see that someone is keeping good punk tunes coming out of New York. Tell us a bit about yourself, and who were your major influences?

I”m from New York City and I play bass, that's the gist of it. Of course I'm into the bigg'uns. The Stones, primarily Keef, is pretty much where I start and end. The Dolls and Heartbreakers, The Dead Boys and The Lords, Stooges, Faces, Jayne County, Ramones, Hanoi Rocks, Alice Cooper, Supersuckers, Cramps, Joneses, Dogs D'Amour, any band with Steve Marriott, and The Black Crowes (specifically Shake Your Money Maker and By Your Side).

Some friends of mine's bands like Motochrist, which is Danny Nordahl (Stiv Bators, The Throbs, and NY Loose), Marc Diamond (The Dwarves), Ricky Vodka (Humble Gods), and Chad Stewart (every other band you can possibly think of based in Los Angeles), Countdown Love, and Nikki Hill are huge influences on me too. I listen to a lot of country too, Gram Parsons, Jerry Jeff Walker, Hank Williams, and Townes Van Zandt... ya know, shit that's good. Also I love 60s girl groups and bubble gum, The Crystals, Ronettes, Shangri-Las, are pretty flawless. And Claudine Clarke's fucking aces.

Bass wise, it's James Jamerson. I take a lot from Dennis Dunaway, Ronnie Lane, Sami Yaffa, Dee Dee, Johnny Colt, and Jimbo Wallace. Also i've learned alotta shit from that dick Danny Nordahl. But honestly it all goes back to Jamerson and Carol Kaye.

You are currently playing with the Sweet Things. Who all is in the band, and tell us a bit about them, and how you came to play together?

Basically Lorne Behrman (whose our lead guitarist, and played in the L.E.S Stitches and The Dimestore Halos) introduced me to Dave Tierny (our lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist) while he was fronting The Sharp Lads and playing lead guitar in Done With You. We were at Manitoba's and I vaguely remember talking about Turbonegro with Dave, but that's about all I can retain. To be honest, that might be fabricated, I'm not sure. Lorne and I had been talking about playing together for a while, but Lorne somehow got the idea that I was a "flakey asshole..." so we put a pin in that plan. A few months later Lorne called me and told me Dave needed a bass player for his east coast tour. Throughout the two weeks on the road we kinda clicked on common influence and agreed that we should start a band. Dave and Lorne had also made plans to do the same. Dave wrote the first two tracks and Lorne brought in our drummer, who just so happens to be THE best drummer this and that side of the Mississippi, Darren Fried (who played in Mazard and Vernal Static). The second we all played to together it just kinda felt perfect. Like Little Richard said, "It made my big toe shoot up into my boot." Since then it's just been buttah. I really do love the guys and am a fan of all of em.


Do you think The Sweet Things will do a tour soon, aka can I expect to see you in Atlanta ever?

A tour is defiantly in the works. One hundred percent. There are several bands we've been talking to about hitting the road with in 2016. As to when, where or who its with exactly, it's still kind of up in the air. But yeah, Atlanta is defiantly a target.

How are you all approaching the studio thing, are you recording on your on? And how difficult is it to get time in the studio for bands these days in New York?

Well we recorded some tracks at Mam-Ax Studios out in New Jersey. We haven't officially released any of em but put up Love To Leave, Through The Cracks Of The City, and Cocaine Asslicker Blues on ze youtube. My mom likes Cocaine Asslicker Blues. We also recorded I Want Cocaine and Coke'n (An Izzy Stradlin cover) but initially we weren't happy with how those came out. Actually, we're taking another stab at those two tonight, in about two hours. I think bands in New York kind of have a take it when you can get it mentality about recording. It's expensive and needs to be done right. However, On the other hand, in the history of bands, there has never been a time in which it has been easier to both record and distribute all by yourself. It kind of comes down to can you do it by yourself? No? Then you gotta find a spot that satisfies your ears and wallet mutually. There's a lot of "can you recommend a studio thats...yadda yadda yadda" that goes on.


We all have to do what we gotta do to pay the bills, how long have you been doing your DJ gig?

I started DJing primarily for free beer. I enjoy the hell out of it but I know as far as "good" DJs go, I don't really pay enough attention to be in the club. Watching some people like Howie Pyro or Jonathan Toubin do their thing puts me in my place. I pay what bills i have (bar tabs) mostly through Craigslist graphic design ads. I design alotta logos and shit like that.

When you spin, do you stick to what you think is worthy of playing, or do you feel the urge to comply with what tops the charts?

No, never. I mean, I'm not doing it anywhere where anyone would want that kinda stuff. It's common sense really, If there's a bunch of skinheads Cock Sparrer just might be a safe bet ya know? But at the end of the day I'm probably not gonna play something I don't like.

How many times to you get told you look like Johnny Thunders, and do you ever get sick of it?

Haha, I don't get that too much, though I've got no qualms. I get more Sami Yaffa or Slash ... but I think that that's just because I likes me hats. My grandmother says I look like Cher with a penis ... so I'd rather stop hearing that before anything else. In Vegas I signed some Chris Angel autographs... that was kinda weird.

The Sweet Things have a pretty sweet show coming up in February with the Toilet Boys. Details, details...give us the details. How did it come together?

I met Miss Guy when he was DJing at Clockwork, and we kind of hit it off. We'd end up seeing each other around at concerts and stuff and shoot the shit. It was backstage at The Bowery Electric when I met the rest of the guys in the band when Toilet Boys did some songs at the Max's Kansas City reunion. Down the road, Guy mentioned he'd like to take some shots of me and that they were gonna be doing their first show in NYC in like ten years. I guess Sean (Pierce, Lead Guitarist) threw our name out there, and that was that. It's quite an honor, I love that band, and I'm really stoked to see them play. One less ticket I have to buy.


Speaking of the new year, what are some of your goals?

I hate New Years Eve, and I hate New Years Day. I don't know why, it just depresses me; it always has. Having said that, The Sweet Things are playing the Beast Of Bourbon in Brooklyn with the fab Liza Colby on New Years Eve and after that I'm gonna meet up with my buddy Jyrki whose gonna be in town and we're go see the Dictators. So I guess that's my goal, to be on time to both of those things. As for the next year I wanna play with my band as much as possible in as many places as possible and write as many songs as I can. Keep truckin, ya know?

Do you have any advice for the kiddies that wish to go into the music business?

I really don't, I have no real experience haha. Honestly if you give a shit you'll be able to turn any short comings into lessons. Never play with Faster Pussycat, it'll only turn you on to a life of decadence and mistakes, Taimbo... I love you, you fucked me up!

Photos courtesy of: Lucky Lawler, Johan Vipper, Sarj Hason, and John E. Espinosa
https://www.facebook.com/thesweetthingsnyc/?fref=ts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUvMKAaIKvY