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Nov 05, 2021 Web Exclusive By Mark Redfern Photography by Josh Goleman

To end out the week, we ask Sam Evian some questions about endings and death.

Evian released a new album, Time to Melt, last week via Fat Possum. It is the follow-up to his 2018 album, You, Forever. Evian recorded Time to Melt in his own studio, Flying Cloud Recordings, in a Catskills town in Upstate New York, where he lives with his romantic partner, fellow musician Hannah Cohen after decamping from New York City. The album was recorded during the pandemic and it features Cohen, as well as remote contributions from Spencer Tweedy, Chris Bear, and Jon Natchez (The War on Drugs). Its second single and title track, “Time to Melt,” was accompanied by a trippy video in which Evian danced with alien in the woods.

Read on as Evian discusses how he’d like to die, what music he would like to have played on his deathbed, his favorite endings (to movies, books, and TV shows), and how all good dogs go to heaven.

How would you like to die and what age would you like to be?

Going fast, in my 80s/90s. Honestly no one really wants to die—I imagine most would prefer it to be painless while asleep? I would like to be going fast in some capacity—either in some sort of spectacular vehicle, or possibly just some altered state of consciousness. I’d like to be listening to John Coltrane’s Ballads record.

What song would you like to be playing at your deathbed?

Probably Duke Ellington, “Single Petal of a Rose.” But for fun? Tom Petty’s “Even the Losers.”

What’s your favorite ending to a movie?

The ending to [Henri-Georges] Clouzot’s Les Diaboliques—the DNA for so many great endings/twists/deceptions.

What’s your favorite last line in a book?

“Isn’t it pretty to think so?” – [Ernest] Hemingway’s bitter truth [from The Sun Also Rises]. Admittedly a moody selection on my part but I don’t think you can ever forget this closer after reading it. It’s been like 15 years since I’ve read Hemingway.

What’s your favorite series finale last ever episode of a TV show?

Sopranos season finale. Need I say more? It must be the ultimate series finale. I love how they summoned all of Tony’s fear and anxiety into that sequence with almost no dialogue. And then lights out—that’s it! Did he finally find his bullet? I think so.

What’s your favorite last album by a band that broke up?

Everyone probably says Abbey Road but that’s a pretty tough one to beat.

If you were on death row, what would you like your last meal to be?

My mom’s spaghetti with red sauce!

What’s your concept of the afterlife?

Decomposing into the forest network and becoming one with the universe in that capacity. Paul Stamets has some fantastic writing on the mycelium networks that nourish our forests.

What would be your own personal version of heaven if it exists?

Cuddling with my dog.

What would be the worst punishment the devil could devise for you in hell, if he exists?

Traveling indie rock salesman.

If reincarnation exists, who or what would you like to be reincarnated as?

Probably a dog. Give me that good life.

What role or achievement would you most like to be remembered for?

Honestly, I’d be happy if people just remembered me as a nice guy and a good friend. Bonus points if my music (or music that I’ve worked on) improves someone’s life in any sort of way.

What would you like your last words to be?

Round the world and home again
That’s the sailor’s way
Faster faster, faster faster

There’s no earthly way of knowing
Which direction we are going
There’s no knowing where we’re rowing
Or which way the river’s flowing

Is it raining, is it snowing
Is a hurricane a–blowing

Not a speck of light is showing
So the danger must be growing
Are the fires of Hell a–glowing
Is the grisly reaper mowing

Yes, the danger must be growing
For the rowers keep on rowing
And they’re certainly not showing
Any signs that they are slowing.

[The poem “The Rowing Song” by Roald Dahl.]

www.samevian.com

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