Biography
Based in Iowa, the multifaceted Samuel Locke Ward writes songs, performs, and illustrates comic zines while exploring genres that span folk-punk, garage rock, and grindcore. Since the mid-'90s he has participated in multiple ensembles, among them the Eggnogs and Miracles of God, while also serving in backing bands for Joe Jack Talcum of the Dead Milkmen, Harvey Sid Fisher, and Simon Joyner. Additional collaborations include work with R. Stevie Moore, guest appearances alongside Violent Femmes and the Frogs, and joint recordings with Minutemen's Mike Watt on the 2022 album Real Manic Time and with Half Japanese's Jad Fair on 2023's Happy Hearts.
As a teenager he first played in Yellow 5, later joining brothers Jason and Josh Bollinger in the garage-rock outfit the Eggnogs. After relocating from his native Ottumwa to Iowa City, he began issuing home-recorded solo material under the Samb Eggnog moniker while forming additional groups such as Miracles of God and Kickass Tarantulas. A 2004 tour van accident with Miracles of God left him requiring reconstructive leg surgery; during his hospital stay he captured the extremely lo-fi Boombox by Bedside, which Unread issued on cassette in 2005. He continued self-releasing material on homemade CD-Rs, among them Today Is the Tomorrow You Were Worried About Yesterday in 2008 and Barely Regal Beagles in 2010.
That same year he teamed with Darren Brown of Boy Dirt Car and Violent Femmes' horn section for the LP From the Privilege of the Grave. He also performed in Joe Jack Talcum & the Powders, releasing the 2011 split Just Add Tears with his own band the Boo Hoos. In 2011 he founded the grindcore project Cop Bar. The following year he embarked on The Lame Years, issuing one album monthly; Volume 11, Namedropper, featured guitar contributions from R. Stevie Moore, Little Fyodor, Weird Paul Petroskey, and Toby Goodshank. In 2014 he issued a complete cover of Nirvana's In Utero and, under the alias Admiral Cadaver & the New Pricks, the album of fabricated Misfits songs Too Dead to Die. From November 2014 through March 2015 he put out a two-song single each week, later compiling them as The Complete Monday Singles Club.
With frequent partner BBJR (Bob Bucko, Jr.) he released the jazzy Discount Sacrifice at the Altar of Bargains on Already Dead Tapes in 2021 and the 40-track Bubblegum Necropolis in 2022. He also paired again with Mike Watt for the cassette Let's Build a Logjam and the LP Real Manic Time, both emphasizing brief compositions paired with comic zines. Concurrently he began tracking one song weekly with Jad Fair, resulting in the 2023 Kill Rock Stars album Happy Hearts.
As a teenager he first played in Yellow 5, later joining brothers Jason and Josh Bollinger in the garage-rock outfit the Eggnogs. After relocating from his native Ottumwa to Iowa City, he began issuing home-recorded solo material under the Samb Eggnog moniker while forming additional groups such as Miracles of God and Kickass Tarantulas. A 2004 tour van accident with Miracles of God left him requiring reconstructive leg surgery; during his hospital stay he captured the extremely lo-fi Boombox by Bedside, which Unread issued on cassette in 2005. He continued self-releasing material on homemade CD-Rs, among them Today Is the Tomorrow You Were Worried About Yesterday in 2008 and Barely Regal Beagles in 2010.
That same year he teamed with Darren Brown of Boy Dirt Car and Violent Femmes' horn section for the LP From the Privilege of the Grave. He also performed in Joe Jack Talcum & the Powders, releasing the 2011 split Just Add Tears with his own band the Boo Hoos. In 2011 he founded the grindcore project Cop Bar. The following year he embarked on The Lame Years, issuing one album monthly; Volume 11, Namedropper, featured guitar contributions from R. Stevie Moore, Little Fyodor, Weird Paul Petroskey, and Toby Goodshank. In 2014 he issued a complete cover of Nirvana's In Utero and, under the alias Admiral Cadaver & the New Pricks, the album of fabricated Misfits songs Too Dead to Die. From November 2014 through March 2015 he put out a two-song single each week, later compiling them as The Complete Monday Singles Club.
With frequent partner BBJR (Bob Bucko, Jr.) he released the jazzy Discount Sacrifice at the Altar of Bargains on Already Dead Tapes in 2021 and the 40-track Bubblegum Necropolis in 2022. He also paired again with Mike Watt for the cassette Let's Build a Logjam and the LP Real Manic Time, both emphasizing brief compositions paired with comic zines. Concurrently he began tracking one song weekly with Jad Fair, resulting in the 2023 Kill Rock Stars album Happy Hearts.
Albums