Hiya! My name’s Sam (she/her), owner of Not a Broken Record, from South Florida. I first and foremost consider myself a fan of music. I was a (marching) band geek in my school years, playing the clarinet and saxophone. I attended my first concert in 2007 (Reel Big Fish and The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus) and I haven't stopped since. Music is what gave me my life: my friends, my passions, a purpose, and a reason to keep going. I believe music is the most universal language in the world. It connects people from different countries, different cultures, beliefs, ways of living, and unites them to sing the same song because they all resonate with it differently. I think that’s absolutely beautiful and powerful. 

I love bright colors and their contrast with black. I think that’s powerful, too. I like my art to contrast as much as possible, and even have hints of irony. I like making art pieces for heavy metal bands with bright colors. I like finding the humor in the little things. I like finding out through my art which bands are popular currently. My collection constantly grows, and every year different records sell, and others don’t. I like seeing how times change, culture changes, and how the different cities I’m selling in react to what I’m making. I love introducing people to bands they’ve never heard of. My current hobby is finding small bands on social media or music streaming and watching how they grow over time. I also enjoy reintroducing people to bands they may have forgotten about. It happens, we get older, we outgrow some things, but then we find a band we grew up with and get nostalgic. We reminisce, and the memories a band brought us help us feel closer to each other. We connect, we learn, and we grow, and I love watching that happen and experiencing that with others.

Not a Broken Record was created as my way to stand out as an artist in the music industry. I want to merge fine art and music and bring it on the road for bands, and bring it to fans of the bands. I use 100% recycled vinyl records donated from record stores, friends, customers, and sometimes thrift stores. Some of these records are damaged, and most are just unloved. I want to recycle these as much as possible, and use them to keep the connection of music alive through the art. Personally, I also just enjoy art in odd shapes, and you don’t find many circular canvases anymore. I like creating little musical planets that can bring someone to a place to escape and feel comfort from their favorite band. All of these records are 100% hand-painted in a ‘pour art/fluid art’ style. The name ‘Not a Broken Record’ is intended to be ironic in and of itself. Based on the idiom ‘broken record’, or being repetitive, all of my art is repetitive in a sense, but no two records could ever look exactly the same (trust me, I’ve tried). Not a Broken Record is for the bands that make the music, but more importantly, the fans that keep the music alive.