X Ambassadors' Sam Harris talks festivals, feelings, and food

The X Ambassadors are one of the most successful bands to come out of Ithaca, New York, with their songs “Unsteady” and “Renegades” getting daily airplay on pop stations. Their music is uplifting and powerful, and they will be bringing their music back to Ithaca in a big way. On September 23, they will host the Cayuga Sound festival, with co-headliners the Roots. Other performers include Jukebox the Ghost, Margaret Glaspy, Tei Shi, and K. Flay, as well as local favorites Izzy True and Sammus.

I had a chance to catch up with Sam Harris, the lead singer of X Ambassadors, shortly after they finished playing at the Leeds Festival in the United Kingdom. We chatted about Upstate New York, what their second album is going to sound like, what to do when facing intolerance, and what the best meal on the road is. Unfortunately, he never got back to me about my offer to sit in on saxophone:

TRIPLE CITIES CAROUSEL: Good afternoon!

SAM HARRIS: How are you doing? TCC: I’m doing great, how are you?

SH: I’m doing great, I’m doing great. We’re just pulling out - we played the Leeds festival earlier, and we’re looking forward to a nice afternoon off in Birmingham.

TCC: Awesome. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be talking to you before or after the festival.

SH: Yeah, you caught me in the nice afterglow, just a couple hours after we played. Usually immediately after a set, I’m either frantic and ready to, you know, run around and scream more, or rip someone’s head off. But you caught me at a perfect calm moment.

TCC: Excellent. How has the European tour been going? You’ve played a bunch of shows over there.

SH: It’s been great man. This tour for us has really just been about reconnecting with our fans over here, to show our faces before we get back into full-scale touring mode for album two. It’s to remind everyone that we exist. It’s been really great.

TCC: So album two is definitely on its way? I noticed that you have been releasing singles almost continuously for the last few months.

SH: Album two is definitely on its way. It’s done - all the songs are there, they’re just mixing them, mastering them, and doing some last-minute tweaks. We’re so proud of the thing, man; we’ve been working tirelessly on this record. I really feel like it’s some of our best work. We put everything we have into this. Whereas the last one really helped start telling the story of who we are and what our songwriting capabilities are, I think it really defines us. It’s more of an identity-defining record than the last one was, and I’m looking forward for everyone to hear it.

TCC: That’s awesome. So you were able to put more of your soul into this album.

SH: Exactly. It’s got more soul; the stories are way more personal, and everything comes from a place that’s rooted in who we are and what we’ve been through together over the last few years.

TCC: You guys have roots in Upstate New York and Ithaca. It’s really inspiring for me to see that you’ve not given up on the area, and are continuing to come back. The whole Cayuga Sound Festival, bringing in artists like The Roots and Jukebox the Ghost, and having them share the stage with local artists like Sammus and Izzy True. When did the idea for this festival come to you, and how did Cayuga Sound come about?

SH: First of all, it’s something that we take a lot of pride in, our hometown. Case and I, we love Ithaca so much, we really wanted to figure out as many ways as possible to give back to the community that raised us and made us the men we are today. Cayuga Sound came about - actually, our manager had the idea to do it. We didn’t think it was possible; we didn’t think we were anywhere near big enough to curate our own festival. He - along with local promoter Dan Smalls - got the ball rolling, and then once we had the Roots locked in to coheadline, everything just kind of fell into place.

TCC: Yeah, I mean once you have the Roots, you’re pretty much there.

SH: Yeah man, I grew up loving the Roots, and I can remember seeing them at Cornell University when I was kid. So to be able to bring them back to our hometown is really cool. And all the other acts that are playing - I know as a 15-year-old kid I would have loved to see them play in my hometown. Tei Shi, The Knocks, Margaret Glaspy, K, Flay and some local talent like Sammus. I went to high school with her - she’s my homie. We’re really excited, and it feels really good to be giving back to the community, and hopefully we’ll be able to do this for years to come.

TCC: I noticed in exploring your music that a lot of your newer music seems to be politically – well, I don’t want to say politically because you’re not ever explicitly political. It seems to be pushing towards this positive energy, to bring people together. The proceeds of [your new song] “Hoping” are going to the ACLU. I was wondering if today’s political climate influences your writing, and what you think fans can do to help make the world a better place.

SH: I think it’s important for us to use our voices, to use whatever platform we have for good, and to keep fighting for human rights across the board. That’s something that I’ll - even if I wasn’t in a band - that’s something I’ll speak for with whatever platform I have. To speak out against hatred and bigotry and racism and homophobia and sexism. For us, I can’t avoid it. I can’t separate politics from my art, our art. Our art is about being human, and what it means to be human.

A big part of that is loving each other and accepting each other, and embracing every single person and acknowledging them. Exclusivity is not something I have any interest in. If anything, I fight against it. The world does not belong to one group of people, it belongs to all of us. I certainly am not going to avoid speaking out politically on any of our social media platforms. The songs that I write are never going to be explicitly political. Or rather haven’t yet - never say never. It’s more of a stream of consciousness and a song forms out of it. I have no qualms speaking out politically, outside of my music or inside of it. We will continue to be allies for the LGBTQIA community, for people of color, for any people that feel marginalized. We just had fucking Nazis and white supremacists marching in the streets. If there was ever a time to speak out against hatred and anti-Semitism and sexism and homophobia and racism, the time is now. Actually, the time was yesterday, and the day before that, but really the time is now.

TCC: That’s insane to me that we just had Nazis in the street, and we can’t just have people say ‘No, Nazis are bad.’

SH: Yeah it’s crazy! [Members of our band are] Jewish, and I did not think there was going to be a time in my life time where the Nazi flag was going to be flown and waved in the streets, people shouting ‘Jew’s will not replace us’ - it’s pretty insane stuff. I do think that even though white nationalists and white supremacists feel empowered, maybe by Donald Trump, and are coming out of the woodwork and marching in the streets, the people that oppose them are coming out tenfold. We are the majority - those that believe in equality, that believe in equal rights, and in freedom and justice for all. Those that believe that this country has an ugly past that needs to be confronted and dealt with, and acknowledged. Just fucking acknowledged. It may seem like oh my god, what is happening? This country’s gone crazy - it’s always been there. There’s just some times when people feel free to say some ugly shit, because the leader of the free world is presenting it. But that doesn’t mean that everyone feels that, and that’s something I take comfort in.

TCC: Definitely. That’s one of the most positive viewpoints I’ve heard in a long time and something I can look forward to: we’re not all crazy; there’s still some sane rationality happening. To get back to something a little less political, what’s it like playing in a band with your brother?

SH: Oh, it’s great man. I love playing with my brother, he’s one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever known. He’s an incredible musician, and it’s rare that we fight about anything for very long. We’ve known Adam for a very long time too; he’s family as well. It’s great playing with both Adam and Casey.

TCC: I saw that the band was originally named the Ambassadors. Where did the X come from?

SH: It was really, we just needed to do something. There was a bunch of other bands named the Ambassadors, and we didn’t have the money to buy them out. It was just a random letter to pick, but I think as the years have gone by, we’ve always tried to represent, or be an ally, with anyone who feels marginalized, vocally and politically. To really talk about what that is... We’ve always kind of felt like outsiders a little bit, and the fact that we are the X Ambassadors, we’re representing the other.

TCC: You guys have become quite successful. What is it about the area that keeps you coming back? Other than family, I’m sure. What is it about the area that keeps you believing in it?

SH: I don’t know. There’s something kind of beautiful and sad about Upstate New York for me. I’m sure some of that’s just mixed in with my own nostalgia for my childhood there. But yeah, there’s something about, even in the winter, when no one wants to go upstate when it’s all dead and dry - there’s something beautiful about it to me, and something sad. I think it’s also important for me to root myself back home every once in a while, and to do something for that community. Upstate New York is a beautiful place, even though it’s been hurting a long time financially, and now there’s an opioid epidemic up there. It’s an area of the country that is hurting, but also flourishing. It’s an incredible place, and more and more young people are moving there because it’s too expensive to live in New York City anymore. We have nothing but love for our hometown, and will do anything we can to help show the rest of the world how great of a place it is. Hopefully we can help preserve it, and make it a better place for everybody.

TCC: That’s beautiful - you say “sad.” Is there any specific thing that makes you sad about Upstate New York?

SH: Just the weather, you know - just the weather. It’s home too; I say “sad,” but I mean it in the best possible way. Sort of melancholy, like walking around in the rain. There’s just something about Upstate that brings that feeling out in me.

TCC: It could just be the weather.

SH: It could just be the weather [laughs].

TCC: I have a personal question: I see that you play the saxophone. I play the saxophone; I love the saxophone. What kind of saxophone do you play, who’s your favorite saxophonist, do you really love the saxophone, can I play saxophone with you, do you love the saxophone?

SH: I love the saxophone. I play a Yamaha, but I was playing a Keilwerth for years and years and years that I bought when I was a teenager, from money I earned doing voiceover work. As a kid, I was looking forward to buying a nice, actual instrument, and so I bought a Keilwerth saxophone. I love the saxophone; it was the first instrument I learned how to play, outside of singing. I incorporated it kind of early on in our sound, and learned how to loop it with an RC-300 loop station. It’s become an integral part of our sound, and I love it. It’s also kind of Bruce Springsteen-y and I love Bruce Springsteen.

TCC: It does have a certain sound to it. It seems to be having almost a resurgence in popular music today.

SH: Yeah, everything comes full circle.

TCC: Do you think it’s going to keep going that way?

SH: Who knows man - I don’t even try to keep up with trends or anything. I know I’ll be playing it with bands for years to come.

TCC: What are you most looking forward to about the Cayuga Sound Festival?

SH: I’m looking forward to going to Ithaca Bakery and grabbing a bagel, Gimme Coffee and getting a coffee, seeing my friends and family, and most of all, I’m looking forward to playing to that one kid, or however many kids, who haven’t had much of a chance to see cool bands come through, and get to play through them, and get to live vicariously through them for a minute.

As a kid, I know I would have loved to have a festival like this come through town, and I’m just so excited to be able to do this for my community.

TCC: Speaking of bands you saw here as a kid, how did you book the Roots? Did you know them from before?

SH: Yeah, we had played with them at South by Southwest years ago, and they had invited us to play with them at their festival in New York. After that, we talked with their management, and we said, “Hey, we played your festival, do you want to play our festival?” And they said yeah, and that was really it. But it was incredible, so fun, playing with them at SXSW, and the festival in New York, and I hope to be able to collaborate with them in the future.

TCC: I’ve only got one question left, and it’s kind of a silly question, but that’s okay. What’s your favorite meal to cook for yourself on the road?

SH: Oh man, that’s an interesting question, because we never really have time to cook for ourselves on the road. If I ever have the opportunity to cook anything for myself on the road, it would be two poached eggs over arugula, and that’s all I need. Some avocado maybe, but that’s it.

The Cayuga Sound Festival will take place from September 22-23 in Ithaca, New York. The festival proper will be held on the 23rd in Stewart Park, and is open to all ages. There will be food for every diet as well. There will be pre-festival shows happening at The Haunt, The Dock, and more on September 22nd. For more information about the show, visit cayugasoundfestival.com. For more information about the X Ambassadors, visit xambassadors.com