Episode Details

SamIAM - The Riff S1 ep.1

What do classical guitar, extreme metal, six languages, and Toronto's underground DJ scene have in common? Meet Sam Green — known on stage as Samiam — and this episode will completely change how you think about what it means to be a musician.

On this episode of The Riff, hosts Gary O'Brien and Jeremy Green sit down with Sam, a multidisciplinary Toronto artist who started playing piano at four, picked up guitar at seven, spent nearly two decades performing classical, blues, rock, and extreme metal — and then pivoted into DJing in 2024. What makes Sam's story so compelling isn't just the range. It's the discipline, the curiosity, and the philosophy behind every choice she's made.

We dig into how growing up in a small town with nothing to do became her greatest creative advantage, why boredom before social media produced better musicians, the surprising connections between metal and techno, what happens when your DJ screen goes dark mid-set, and why teaching the next generation of DJs might be the most important thing she's doing right now.

Sam also shares her community initiative Track Factory — open-decks DJ events designed to bring Toronto's electronic music community together — and her residency at Boxcar Social on the Harbourfront.

Plus: Tracy drops in with a world-class cheese tasting from Alex Farm Products at the legendary St. Lawrence Market, and we celebrate mytoronto.ca hitting 100,000 YouTube subscribers.

If you love Toronto culture, music education, and conversations that go deeper than the surface — this one is for you.

👍 Like this video if you learned something new.
🔔 Subscribe so you never miss an episode of The Riff.
💬 Drop a comment: What's one skill you picked up out of sheer boredom?
📤 Share this with a musician or creative who needs to hear it.

mytoronto.ca — https://www.mytoronto.ca
Boxcar Social (Harbourfront) — https://www.boxcarsocial.ca
St. Lawrence Market — https://www.stlawrencemarket.com
Free Play Toronto — https://www.freeplaytoronto.com
Ableton — https://www.ableton.com

0:00 Welcome to The Riff — Intro
0:45 The Home Depot Toilet Story
6:30 mytoronto.ca Hits 100K Subscribers
9:20 Meet Sam Green (Samiam) — Full Bio
11:00 Growing Up in Port Perry — Small Town, Big Creativity
15:30 How Boredom Made Her a Better Musician
18:00 Randy Rhoads, Ozzy, and Falling in Love with Guitar
22:00 How Guitar Training Made Her a Better DJ
27:00 The Busking Story — Funding Concert Tickets with Classical Guitar
31:00 Six Languages — How She Learned Them and Why
37:30 From Metal to DJ — The Surprising Overlap
43:00 The EDM and House Music Community Explained
49:00 When the Screen Goes Dark — DJing by Ear Live
55:00 Why Online Learning Creates Knowledge Gaps in Music
1:01:00 Track Factory — Building Toronto's DJ Community
1:08:00 Boxcar Social Residency and Renegade Beach Parties
1:14:00 Low-Res Party at Free Play Toronto
1:19:00 Motorsports — Rally Racing and CSCS Events
1:24:00 How to Stay Creative and Grounded
1:29:00 Building a Homemade Speaker During Lockdown
1:33:00 What's Next — Music Production, Ableton, and Touring
1:37:00 Cheese Tasting — Alex Farm Products, St. Lawrence Market
1:52:00 Closing Thoughts and Goodbye

#TheRiff #TorontoMusic #DJLife #MusicEducation #TorontoPodcast #ElectronicMusic #ClassicalGuitar #StLawrenceMarket #TorontoEvents #Samiam

Send us Fan Mail

Brought to you by my-toronto.ca
my-toronto.ca: Explore Toronto Like a Local.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Listen Now