Brief Work History:
- Went to college at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- Worked for the musician Prince for nine years as his Webmaster and then Art Director (Read my article in the Washington Post about it). Won a Webby Award!
- Worked for Pearl Jam and has designed projects for David Bowie, Steve Miller Band, Gorillaz, Swedish House Mafia and more
- Spent five years at Microsoft as a UX Designer
- Created microsites as well as countless presentations and event collateral for EBONY Magazine
- Art Directed the Up All Nite with Prince Box Set released by Sony and the Prince Estate in 2020
- As a Production Artist for The Designory, I did creative work for Amazon Music
- Creative Consultant for the amazingly talented Avril Lavigne
- Creating exciting assets for entertainment clients at Media Monks
Fun Facts About Me:
- Was born in San Francisco, grew up in Chicago, and am currently living in Los Angeles.
- Movie trivia EXPERT
- Has an amazing daughter
- Loved going to TV show tapings and movie screenings before the pandemy
- An oil and digital painter who loves to paint faces with bright colors
- Had blue, magenta, and blond dyed hair
- Enjoyed long road trips and has driven all over the country
- Been to Europe but has not been to Asia or Africa yet
- Could live on coffee, pizza and red wine.
- Used to spend too much time at Disneyland
- Currently spends too much time on Twitch.tv
- If I had to choose between Dark Side or Light Side, I’d choose the Dark Side because they have cooler outfits.
Press:
- Live Interview: Sam Jennings with the folks at Funkatopia.com, 03/14/23
- Purple Hours: Conversation about Prince, NPG Music Club, The Webbys and more with PatricksVinyl, 10/20/22
- Successful Artist and Creative Director whose credits include Prince, Pearl Jam, and Microsoft connects the dots of his creative career. with Lisa Nicole Bell, 03/11/22
- Up All Nite with Prince: The One Nite Alone Collection with Andrea Swenson, 05/29/2020
- “Purple Reign: What it Was Like to Work with Prince” Function Podcast with Anil Dash, 11/14/19
- “Sam Jennings recalls how Prince’s Hi-tech Vision Helped Remake the Industry and Better Connect Artists and Fans” PRN Alumni Foundation, 3/1/19
- “Sam Jennings on Prince and the Music Streaming Business,” Subscribed Podcast, 8/2/2016
- “Prince Didn’t Hate the Internet. And His 17 Different Websites Prove It,” Huffington Post, 7/13/2016
- “Prince Online Museum Launches: See the Singer’s Official Websites Spanning 20 Years,”Billboard, 7/4/2016
- “How Prince revolutionized the Internet — according to the webmaster who helped him do it,”Washington Post, 4/27/2016
10 Songs I'm Listening To:
It's 3/21 aka 3121 day! 17 years ago today Prince released his 31st album on NPG Records and distributed, under a "one-album deal", by Universal Music. As I have said many times, this album is near and dear to me as it was the best period of time I had while working for Prince. It was a special time for sure.
So here is a small but fun anecdote from the 3121 era: One day I was arriving from Chicago to the 3121 house in Los Angeles. I was told Prince was rehearsing, and to go on in to the performance space. It was just me and Prince and the band. No one else in the room. I sat down at a nearby table and Prince and the band proceeded to rehearse "Satisfied" off the 3121 album. Now, if you have heard the song, it's one of those "Sexy Prince" songs, as they say. And as the only person in the audience for this particular performance, I couldn't help but feel like the song was for me. Not because I thought Prince was trying to seduce me lol, far from it. But just that Prince had this way of performing that made you feel like you had a special connection with him. Whether it was an arena of 10,000 people or just you. He was always so in to his performances and being in that moment that you couldn't help but get carried away with it. I almost didn't want to make eye contact with him lol, it was that intimate. It was a brief moment but I still cherish it.
Photo is from the 3121 performance space with an orange Cloud Guitar that I don't think he wound up using at all. But it was there. Photo possibly taken by me or Afshin Shahidi, I really don't remember. I have SO many photos of the 3121 house that it all blurs together. 🙂 I hope that the estate will let me put together an extended version of 3121 with all the sketches, previous versions, outtakes, and iterations of the album art.
Happy 3/21 day!
2 weeks ago
TONIGHT - Tuesday - I will be on Funkatopia.com live chatting about all things Prince! 5pmPT/8pmET 💜
3 weeks ago
#throwbackthursday Myself and Chad up in the DJ booth at the Berlin Nightclub in Chicago, about 20 years ago when we used to DJ the Prince Night once a month 💜
3 weeks ago
Last night we went and saw the amazing Dita Von Teese show, and she did not disappoint! #burlesque ❤️❤️
1 month ago
#sendbacksunday This is me in 1989, I guess. I don’t remember ever looking like that. #lifehappens
1 month ago