We are thrilled to announce that the Albumism family is expanding once again with the addition of Samantha Lopez. With a pure, contagious passion for music and writing, Samantha is a perfect fit—and kindred spirit—for our team. We’re excited to read much more from Samantha in the future, and encourage our readers to check out her debut article which pays homage to The Strokes’ sophomore studio album ‘Room on Fire’ (2003) in conjunction with its 15th anniversary.
“I discovered there was an entire field dedicated to writing about music when I first watched Almost Famous at fourteen—I knew then that’s what I wanted to do,” Samantha explains. “I published my first music article my freshman year of college and I’ve been published in a few journals, but I came across Albumism fell in love with its mission statement: ‘Dedicated to honoring the album as a vital art form, while connecting with the global community of passionate music fans to celebrate our love affairs with albums past, present and future.’ A lot of music journals are so focused on writing what’s new and trending, without the stipulation that we’re all a bunch of music nerds who just love music—listening to it, talking about it, and writing about it.”
More about Samantha:
Samantha is a lover of music and words. She was thrilled to discover at a young age, after watching Almost Famous, that she could combine her loves into one. Growing up with a less than a traditional upbringing in a small town in Oregon, music has always been Sam's safe-place. She spent her teen years making mixed CDs for friends and teachers, with "special listening instructions," and in college in the same small town, happened to wander into the university's radio station, which changed her life. She was a DJ for four years and it was there that she took her first delve into music journalism, writing for a local Portland music journal. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and Creative Writing and has gone on to write for Paste Magazine, Chicago Innerview, The Austin Chronicle and a few others.
She's currently trying to figure “it” out in Austin, Texas, where she's still actively involved in the music scene and is scaring boys at bars by asking them, "So, what albums make you cry?" Sam has been described as "feeling things a little too much since 1994."
Follow Samantha on Twitter via @thesamanthalope.
Samantha’s 5 Favorite Albums of All Time:
Arcade Fire | Funeral (2004)
Interpol | Turn on the Bright Lights (2002)
Modest Mouse | The Moon & Antarctica (2000)
Neutral Milk Hotel | In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998)
The Smiths | The Queen Is Dead (1986)