Sam Setzer rubs some serious shoulders on his video for “Swim Team”. From hot tubbing with Paris Hilton, drinking wine with Marlon Brando, to sharing the field with legendary San Francisco quarterback Joe Montana, the Californian songwriter gets around.
Setzer recorded his debut album Hunter/Jumper in his home in San Pedro, a blue-collar city south of Los Angeles and birthplace of punk legends the Minutemen.
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Sam’s music is a bit more of the lo fi power pop variety that covers hanging out with lesbians, self-pleasure and paranoia.
We had a chat about the video and his high school swim team.
Noisey Who did you enjoy hanging out most with in your video?
Sam Setzer: That’s like picking a favorite child! But if I had to make a “Sophie’s Choice” I’d probably go with the troublemaking fraternity dudes from the Fox News stills. I love their mugshots. angin’ with Kim K and Ray J was a treat too.
7:30 on a Friday evening or a Tuesday evening? Or both?
Both. But I recorded those lyrics in like one or two takes semi-improvised so it was unintentional. Whenever I sing it live I tend to switch the days around so it’s never really been set in stone.
Were you on the swim team?
Yes! My folks made me do it between the ages of 6 and 11. I was on a team called The Tsunamis over at the swim and tennis club down the street from the house I grew up in in Sacramento. Then, when I was a freshman, I joined my high school’s swim team. They were called The Marauders. I only lasted a handful of practices and maybe two swim meets before I was kicked off. They let me keep my speedos though which was nice.
‘Hunter/Jumper’ is available now on Gulcher Records.
