Samiam was formed in late 1988 after the breakup of the Gilman club mainstay Isocracy. Their first show was in January 1989 with Christ on Parade. They released records through New Red Archives and Hopeless Records in the US and Burning Heart Records in Europe. In the mid-'90s, the band had two releases on major labels, Atlantic Records in 1994 and Ignition/Tommy Boy in 1997. This path achieved modest mainstream success; a video for "Capsized" gained considerable airplay on MTV, they performed on The Jon Stewart Show in 1994 and the single "She Found You" garnered considerable radio play in 1998. Over the years, Samiam has toured extensively throughout Europe, North America and Japan, and performed with bands like Bad Religion, Green Day, The Offspring, NOFX, No Doubt, The Toadies, Sense Field, blink-182, 311, Deftones, Millencolin and Fishbone. In early 2001, the band went on hiatus after supporting the Astray album. Despite what was initially to be a breakup, they continued to tour abroad yearly with occasional shows in NYC, San Francisco and Los Angeles. This led to the recording of the band's seventh album Whatever's Got You Down, which was released in 2006. Samiam toured Europe 3 more times in 2006 and 2007 and played various US dates in 2008. Samiam toured Australia in September 2009, together with the band A Death in the Family. This was followed by an appearance at The Fest in Gainesville, Florida in November 2009 and shows in Santiago, Chile; San Miguel and Buenos Aires, Argentina; and São Paulo, Brazil in December 2009. October 2010 brought them together again with A Death in the Family for a European and East Coast tour. Samiam released Trips, their first album in 5 years, on September 6, 2011. Semi annual tours have followed ever since in Europe, Australia and South America. In 2015, while in Chicago for an appearance at Riot Fest, a 4-song demo was recorded but never finished. In December 2019, Samiam announced on their Facebook page that they are working on their first studio album in years.
Discography
Albums
EPs and compilations
Related bands
Past members of Samiam have been associated with the following bands:
