Kickstarter

Thanks for taking the time to learn about Chap One. 

This project is hoping to give a gigantic KICK START to the release of  "Strange Frequencies", some of the last recorded music by Samuel McNulty aka Chap One. The video above gives you a sample of the beauty and power in it. 

There are some great rewards for the assistance you provide. No amount is too small. It will directly help fund the album release:

- album artwork

- album mastering

- album pressing (including Vinyl)

Samuel McNulty aka Chap One -  Was born in Sydney, Australia in 1981.  In 1988, at age 7, he traveled with his mother to NYC and was raised in NYC through 1999.  He returned to Australia at age 19, traveling back and forth between Melbourne and NYC throughout his life. 

Although, Chap One's music clearly has its roots firmly planted in the hip hop genre, he was introduced to many different styles of music as a child growing up between cultures and across borders.  His musical lineage was stronger than most, having a mother, father and step father as accomplished, internationally recognized, jazz musicians.  As a consequence, Chap One had musical finesse running through his veins. Growing up surrounded by jazz legends, in the birth place of Hip Hop culture, he re-defined the boundaries of Hip Hop, Jazz, and RnB to masterfully craft a hybrid style reflective of his roots, and uniquely his own. 

Fifteen track ‘Strange Frequencies’ is the result of this finely tuned cross-genre of bang’n conscious Hip Hop, with ingenious musical composition. "Strange Frequencies" was originally produced and recorded by Chap One in Australia. In collaboration with his mother, jazz vocalist, Chris McNulty and step father, guitar legend, Paul Bollenback, they produced the live recording session, opening up 8 of the 15 tracks for improvisation by some of jazz music’s finest including; Gary Thomas, Paul Bollenback, Barney McAll,  Ugonna Okegwo, Adam Christgue, Jeremy Clemons, Chris McNulty, Chanda Rule and Jesse Boykins III.  Mike Justice (ThreeSixtyMusic Fam) joins Chap One on NuSoul and Durban Poison collaborates on beats on several tracks. 

In short, Chap One created an enormous body of composed and recorded work. He also left an indelible mark on many he came in contact with, not just as an artist-musician but as a human being.  He never demanded attention in an aggressive manner and he lived his life in the way in which he spoke - thoughtfully, deeply and without judgement.

In Australia, Chap One performed alongside Elf, Tranzporter, Culture Connect, The Black Jesus Experience and Elelemente while working on many projects alone and in collaboration with artists such as James Hebblethwaite (aka) Durbin Poison, Nathanial Smith (aka) Tony Wolf, Liam Monkhouse (aka) the Monk, Nui Moon and the ThreeSixtyMusic Fam (Mike Justice, Pablo, Rhys (aka) Ardent One, Terry (aka) Trumpnotics, MC Trooth and Gemstone). 

Chap One also performed a memorable weekend engagement at The Ellington, in Perth in October 2010.  It was especially memorable because both my husband and myself were on the bandstand with Chap One for 2 sets each night.  Chap One came out with all 4 engines on fire and the intensity never stopped until the very last note.  He tore the house down and we were just as stunned as the audience. It was a privilege and an honor to share the band stand with his musical genius.  I was lucky enough to hear Chap One perform several more times after that tour.  In April and May of this year at the Horn on Johnson Street, in Melbourne. It became the thing to do on Sunday night.

Sam had a vision for the world.  It speaks powerfully through his music, his lyric, his melody, his rap, his poetry. It was louder than the voice he spoke with off the band stand because although his spirit was powerful and magnetic, he was also the softest, gentlest, most compassionate spirit I ever met in my entire life.  From spending time with all his friends I came to realize that Sam was capable of giving generously of himself at the expense of sustaining his own self.  We don't understand why this was such a strong thread between all his friends, but it's clear from the words they have shared with me personally and also at sites such as Facebook, that Sam left an indelible mark on everyone he met. So many comments like "Sam taught me so much"  or "Sam showed me a whole other way of looking at things.."  These are words I heard and read over and over again during these last few months. I'm able to reinforce that by what I knew of Sam while raising him from childhood through to adulthood. Sam touched and affected so many of the people we met on our journey, growing up together (and we did grow up together). He had that magnetic quality from day one.  He was lively, joyful and full of life and had music jumping out of him from day one. He was a very positive energy on this planet.  

We would just ask that you all take a moment to listen to the video, hear some of the music and perhaps reflect for a moment on who this amazing young man was, Sam McNulty - Chap One.  What he meant to me, to his family, his many many friends and the thousands of people whose lives he touched.  Chap One, was a diamond, a diamond for life.  He sent a powerful message of hope and redemption, love and peace AND it's all here in this music which is why we are asking that you consider contributing to this project.   

There's a lot more to come and a lot more to say, from artists, jazz musicians, friends and colleagues, who worked, knew and loved Sam - The Chappy - Chap One. (3/19/81 -7/16/11)

In closing, we are heart broken that we will not only, never get to see Sam (Chap One) realize his dreams, his vision nor reach the amazing potential that was his to attain.  We are just as heart broken that his amazing gift to us all, his humanity, compassion and sensitivity will not be known to the rest of the world. What we do have is the music he left behind, his compositions, his rap-poetry, recorded works, his great melodies and his beautiful voice.  Chap's musical legacy is what we want to share with you and the world.  I'm comforted by the fact that my faith and my continued yearning to sustain it, brings me to the knowledge that Sam is walking among us every day and helping us connect to that place in our hearts, where we can find that love, the true nature of the human spirit which will ultimately and eventually join us all together as one for all eternity.  One love.  That was Sam's message to us all.  "Listen.. listen.. listen.. there will come a time in your life...."  Chap One.

From Paul Bollenback (guitarist-composer-educator) - an extract from the eulogy Paul read at Sam's service:  

"Sam's life was not about silence, and even though he was a master rapper and writer, it was not about words either.  It was about spirit and creativity, and love.  Everybody who ever met Sam loved him on sight.  There were many, many sides of a truly deep human being.   I knew the Sam who was his mother's child, loving, and bathed in love. I knew Sam the musician, Sam the artist and creator, and Sam the young man, a sensitive soul trying to understand the world we live in.

Knowing some of these many sides of Sam, it's hard to comprehend the effect of his passing on this world. He was so beloved by friends and family in Australia, by friends and family in New York, and, since he was a little boy, by many of the greatest jazz musicians in the world. His passing has left a global hole stretching east-west/north-south that couldn't be filled if you brought the moon down from the sky to try.

It was Sam the artist who thrilled me with his endless, prolific, and maybe even relentless creativity. He had so much music and life in his soul…..he needed a whole lifetime to get it all out, but what he did in the short time that we were graced with his presence is profound in and of itself. 

I'm sure tracks of his music will be turning up for decades to come. As organized as he was it may take that long to find everything…..(lost my keys, lost my phone, oh shoot where is that file…:)…!!…well…..Sam really was that beautiful exotic bird, one of a kind in this world. As we say, they broke the mold when they made him.

I have played music on many stages around the world in my life. People always say, "what was your most memorable gig?", and I always say, "the last one I just played!". But I can tell you for sure that playing for the first time, not in the studio, but live, with Sam - Chap One, in Perth last year is one weekend that I will never ever forget. He absolutely knocked everybody out, me included, from note one, with his brilliance, his groove, and most of all his vibe: that beautiful energy that shone so bright, way above the music, all the way through the crowded club, and out into the night.  I couldn't wait to do it again the next night. And we did. I just wish we could have bottled the energy that came off that stage from Sam, and given it to the world, a healing balm for all souls.   But then, many of you here know all this, because you heard it yourself.

But we can't bottle it and take it away, except in memory, and so now we must go on, and go on having learned something not from his passing, but from his living, from his generosity of spirit, his love, and that cheeky little smile of his. So the silence and the words lead me to this:

Our bird has flown  

Our beautiful, rare, exotic bird

Colorful plummage

Ageless wisdom

Soul afire, deep as an ocean

Our bird has flown away 

to a warm green land

where his beautiful soul

may finally find peace"

Addendum:

Outside of being a creative musician Sam was also pursuing a career in mentoring/teaching/presenting workshops and clinics.

Sam had a desire and yearning to help people in need. He saw the inequalities, unfairness and suffering of others has a huge flaw in the world.  He was not able to rise above the negative shadow that haunted him even though his exterior self always seemed full of hope.  He wanted to teach, he wanted to go into Aboriginal communities and youth centers and show young people that the way out was right there, in their own hearts. He believed that music and discovering and developing one's own creative voice was the way out of self destructive behavior, self hate and the way toward self love.  He knew this 100% and wanted to share that knowledge. 

In September, 2010 Sam (Chap One) worked with  INCITE YOUTH ARTS.   Since 1998, under the name Alice Springs Youth Arts Group (ASYAG), InCite has been committed to providing quality Youth Arts for Alice Springs Youth & Children.  InCite Youth Arts continues the journey to provide "Desert Perspectives and Limitless Horizons" for young people's creative expression in the Central Australian community. The ground breaking '05 & '06 Annual Programs saw InCite connect to Indigenous Town Camp & bush communities; continue to dialogue with a range of individuals & groups for future collaborations; & sustain commitment to community consultation processes with partner Indigenous & non-Indigenous, disability & non-disability organizations, to facilitate the involvement of all young people in our programs.