After decades of dedication to the guitar, Sam Uctas is unveiling their latest creative venture, Redacted Lines, a masterful fusion of traditional songwriting and experimental soundscapes. The album, now available on all streaming platforms, showcases a raw, textured sound, achieved through the use of vintage analogue equipment and a deeply hands-on approach to production.
Sam Uctas’s lifelong journey with guitar began at the age of seven, when they started with classical guitar before transitioning to electric at 13. Influenced by musical icons like Jimi Hendrix, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Parliament/Funkadelic, Jeff Beck, and Frank Zappa, Uctas spent countless hours honing their craft. “I became obsessed with the electric guitar,” Uctas shares. “I practiced up to six hours a day, mimicking the styles of my early influences and learning everything I could from their music.”
This guitar-first approach remains central to their songwriting process. “All of my songs are written on guitar first. The lyrics usually come second, or I adapt previously written poems into songs,” Uctas explains.
Redacted Lines, is as much a technical achievement as it is an artistic one. Recorded on vintage tape machines—a 1985 TASCAM 34b and a 1982 TASCAM 244—the album carries the warm imperfections and characterful texture of analogue sound. “Where digital can sometimes sound lifeless, tape brings warmth and texture,” Uctas says. Rejecting the often overwhelming options of digital plugins, Uctas shapes their sound with outboard compressors and equalizers, resulting in an organic, deeply personal sonic landscape.
The album strikes a balance between conventional and experimental tracks. Songs like “Redacted Lines,” “Falling Out,” and “In Your Eyes” display a more traditional structure, while boundary-pushing pieces like “Everything Is Becoming,” “Everyday Is an Eternity,” and “VRBA” delve into the abstract. These experimental tracks, described by Uctas as “noise paintings,” offer atmospheric, layered compositions that blend melody, rhythm, and soundscapes into immersive works of art.
“I imagine time as a canvas, sounds as colours, shaped by melody and rhythm, all viewed as one complete piece,” Uctas elaborates on their experimental approach.
Lyrically, Redacted Lines, is heavily influenced by literary figures such as Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and Charles Bukowski, as well as the poetic traditions of Linton Kwesi Johnson. Uctas approaches lyrics with a poetic sensibility, aiming for standalone literary value. “I try to write my song lyrics so they could also be read as a poem,” Uctas explains.
With, Redacted Lines, Sam Uctas delivers an album that defies convention, blending decades of guitar mastery with a fearless embrace of experimental soundscapes and poetic lyricism. The result is a deeply personal, boundary-breaking collection of music that invites listeners to explore a rich, textured sonic world.
Stream, Redacted Lines, now and experience the artistry of Sam Uctas.
