Sam Quartin Chats with Rival about the film, 'Body Brokers'

Actress and singer + songwriter Sam Quartin has had quite the productive quarantine season. She was preparing for the release of not one, but two movies that aired this past February the first being "Body Brokers."

"As soon as I read the script and found out it was based on John's real life experience in the rehab system, I knew I wanted to be a part of it," says Quartin, "I'm sober as well so I wanted to help tell that story. I really want to help with anything that explores the truth about profit being more important than people's health and well-being in our society."

"Body Brokers" is an American crime thriller about a Los Angeles' rehabilitation center whose primary goal is to recruit other fellow addicts starring Jessica Rothe directed by John Swab. But that isn't the only movie she has starred in this year. "Tyger Tyger" is another. Quartin worked alongside Dylan Spouse who plays a drug addict and Sam plays Blake, a self-confessed love addict.

"When Kerry (the director) and I first spoke we talked about my character and this concept of love and drug addiction. He asked me if I'd ever met someone and instantly fell for them and wanted to run away with them, and I said "yes, all the time!," Quartin exclaimes, "So yeah, I related to that aspect, and the concept of wanting to go off the grid and live in a place like Slab City completely removed from our current culture. It was pretty amazing to meet the people there and get a taste of the freedom they experience and how they do art for artsake without any consideration of profit. It was definitely the coolest film experience I've had so far."

Long before Quartin emerged into the spotlight, there was a young, shy girl who was petrified of performing her talents in front of other people. She eventually made her way to Woodstock. Woodstock, New York is not just the home of one of the most famous festivals to be held. There's an exceptional underground persona that was birthed there, and still prospers today. Grunge-infused rock band The Bobby Lees, composed of bass player Kendall Wood, lead guitarist Nick Casa, and drummer Macky Bowman, and frontwoman Sam Quartin, crafted their sound there.

"I love Woodstock," singer Sam Quartin explains, "There's an incredible community of musicians, actors, and artists and everyone's really supportive of each other. I don't think I would have been able to start or grow my band without the support of the community here." The band formulated in Woodstock and has since released their sophomore record Skin Suit. Laced with authenticity, sex and experimental energy, Skin Suit supports everything that could be asked for. Punk legend and producer Jon Spencer amplified the ideology behind the record.

"Jon's great and works really fast. We didn't have much money for that album so we had to record it all in a few days. We took an hour and played him everything and then just got in a live room and recorded with all of us playing at once. He came up with ideas I never would have thought of. I still feel like I have no idea what I'm doing when I go into a studio, there's so much gear and shit that I don't know how to work, so having him there to guide us was a gift for sure. We recorded it all on a 16 track tape so that was cool. We wrote those songs mostly in between tours and opened up for Jon Spencer's band Boss Hog and he offered to produce the record."

When asked about the creative process behind the record, the singer + songwriter admitted that they just simply write themselves. "The songs I actually like - I feel like I didn't write them, they just came out," Quartin confesses, "I guess I know what not to do if I want to be creative or write - I can't watch TV or go online. This past year I've really weeded out what I'm taking in, and I think it's helped my writing."

Quartin didn't hold back in exclaiming her musical influences ranging from Patsy Cline to Ozzy Osbourne to James Brown adding that her dad took her to see Little Richard when she was a child which left an irreversible impression.

When she is not acting or songwriting, you can find her with a book in her hand. Carl Jung, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, and Haruki Murakami are amongst her favorite reads. Quartin also adores her dogs Dottie and Rusty James and volunteers for FAMILY.

Sam Quartin has conquered so many things in her short few years but the best is yet to come.

Meet the Author

Brianna Vacca is a Philadelphia-based writer. She has an unhealthy addiction to true crime documentaries, celebrity gossip, and writes overly dramatic sad songs.