Issac Burgess wants to pay tribute to two dearly missed friends.

The Detroit singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist is hosting Samstock, a memorial concert for Sam Carroll and Matt Szakal, on November 2 at Outer Limits Lounge.

Both Carroll and Szakal passed away unexpectedly this summer.

“A group of about eight to 10 of us have kept in close contact since the boys left us,” said Burgess, who’s also curating the event. “We all wanted to put a show together of some sort because we know that Sam and Matt would have honored us the same way.”

Samstock will feature a lineup of Hamtramck and Detroit-based acts, including Burgess and his band, Boy Blue, Mars and the Satellites, Electric Bug, Josh Lutey and Friends, Rose St. Germaine, Sancho, Fishfly’s Nick Vasseur, and Cinquex.

“We reached out to all of the bands the guys had liked, and those that were available are ecstatic to participate,” Burgess said. “We booked who we could, and then I spoke to John [Szymanski] at Outer Limits about the idea. He was very supportive.”

The show will include a mixture of live music and speeches to honor the lives and contributions of Carroll and Szakal.

“We are planning a straightforward show,” Burgess said. “We’ve all got a few tunes we’re going to play for everyone, and we will probably say a few words. Our friend Mir is making bracelets for everyone. We’re going to keep it simple.”

I recently spoke with Burgess about Carroll and Szakal, as well as his latest music releases, ahead of Samstock.

Q: How are you doing?

A: Work is keeping me busy. I’ve also spent a lot of time playing music with friends, organizing Samstock, mixing songs, and prepping the release of this record.

Q: Tell me about Sam Carroll and Matt Szakal. How did you meet them?

A: I met Sam in 2016 at The Holden House, a shared house/venue located across from the Motown Museum that my friends and I rented when I first moved to Detroit. We would throw house shows, and I remember seeing Sam at a Halloween party/show there. He had made animations and projected them onto the bands during the show.

He later came over to my house in 2017 during a power outage in the middle of February, and we got drunk on Moscato and made pancakes at 2 am. I did not see him for quite some time after that. We later reconnected when I saw he was making music and attending a lot of shows.

He would often post stories on social media using a Super 8 filter, capturing bands, artists, and his dog, Ickie. I wanted to collab on a music video with him, so we met at Outer Limits Lounge and had a few beers. He came back to my apartment in Midtown, and despite having no furniture other than an office chair and a desk, he stayed with me until 2 or 3 am, talking about all of his ideas for my music, his own projects, and life in general.

He later invited me to a rehearsal for Fishfly and his friend Matt [Szakal’s] band, TON. Little did I know that I would soon be joining the TON lineup. I played with Matt, Sam, and Nick Vasseur, and from the moment we had the initial rehearsal, it felt like a family had formed.

We went on to write, play, and record music at least five to seven days a week. Sam, Matt, and Nick also opened me to their world of film. Every day was an ever-churning wheel of ideas between music, film, and design. It was a blessing to experience, and it will be a period of my life that I won’t forget.

Q: You recently released a new single, “Ulterior,” from Sam Carroll’s band, The Exit. How do you think “Ulterior” became Sam’s anthem for transparency and authenticity?

A: This one is difficult to answer. What I can say on this is that Sam wanted to form his own band, write his own songs, and play them live. Some [friends] all helped make that happen, and once we started rehearsing on a regular basis, it really pushed him to a more creative space. He took all the influences from his friends and his idols and drove it home. The result of that was really good songwriting.

I can’t answer much beyond that. Sam was an authentic dude, and he meant what he said. He wanted everyone to get along. If anything, Sam was a catalyst who brought people together because of how outspoken he was. I personally feel “Ulterior” captures that.

If I could try to speak for Sam, I’d say, with that song, he was trying to tell people: “Not everyone has a motive. Some people are genuinely nice and want to have a conversation with you. Give everyone a chance before you make your judgment.”

Q: What will each act help bring to Samstock?

A: We have plenty of bands that frequent the Hamtramck and Detroit scene. I think we will touch on a few genres. There will be some cover songs, I am sure. I think we, if anything, will be there to honor our friends and to show support for one another. It is rare to meet so many good people, and Sam and Matt were again catalysts for so many. We will be crying, drinking PBR tall boys, and playing some rock ‘n’ roll music.

Q: You’re working on a new EP called Beat. How is that coming along?

A: I started working on this record in March, and everything’s been written at my kitchen table in my apartment in Midtown. The songs I’ve been writing for this record have been happening in a one-day period. I’ve been sitting down with my guitar until I get something rhythmically, and then the lyrics have just been coming.

There’s been no planning beforehand on any of these tunes; they just happen sporadically. I’m not usually writing with any purpose, but every time I’ve gone back to listen to these tunes, it’s been therapeutic. I’d say, “Wow! That’s how I’m feeling,” and it’s so beautiful to feel it come out this way.

When it comes to writing tunes like these, I’m trying to write something that I want to listen to, and that includes references to specific songs and memories from my life. I don’t want to compromise on things like that for this record, and I’ve been insistent on doing the whole thing.

I have also played every instrument on every song, and I recorded everything. Sam had helped me with an arrangement of a song called “Leave Me Not.”

Q: “Let Her Go” acknowledges feeling heartbroken and lonely after a relationship has ended. How did writing this track help give you some closure?

A: That tune is the latest one I’ve written for the record. I wrote it about my first real relationship and my first girlfriend. I really love that tune—it’s really honest and open. I’m not trying to write any fancy lyrics to hide the way I’m feeling. It’s exactly how I feel.

With that tune and “Caroline,” I think the theme of those songs is that I’ve had a lot of experiences with relationships where there’s been no closure. The communication was awful, or it was a fight, and that’s how things ended. Both of those tunes talk about how you can’t change it; you just gotta let it go. With the loss of any relationship, it never goes away. It gets better most of the time, and you learn healthy ways to cope with things. Both of those songs are me exploring the feeling of loneliness.

The past few years, I’ve been holding that in, and I’ve been self-conscious about exploring that side and moving on. It’s not always that easy. Sometimes, you gotta sit down and cry and write how you feel and write about things that aren’t glamorous. I made it like a pop tune. The lyrics are really honest and heartfelt, but the song is like a juxtaposition in a way where it [sounds] really happy versus the [serious] message it’s trying to share.

Q: “Caroline” explores letting several relationships go and examining the complex emotions that accompany them. What inspired the track’s theme and alt-country sound?

A: That is a Beatles-influenced tune on a few different levels. When I stopped doing stuff with Dance Pack, “Caroline” was the first tune I started writing in this kind of style. It was 11:30 pm, and I thought, “I should probably go to bed. I gotta work tomorrow. I’m just gonna pick up the acoustic guitar.” And then I wrote “Caroline” in like five minutes.

That’s another tune that’s super vulnerable, and when I wrote that song, the first lyric that came to mind was, “I’m quitting the band.” Also, the lap steel on that song is my Fender Stratocaster. When I was a kid, that was one of the first things I learned how to do on guitar was to imitate a lap or pedal steel.

Q: “Stop the Killing (Freda People)” is a timeless rendition of John Lennon’s 1973 song, “Bring on the Lucie (Freda People),” from Mind Games. Why did you cover this song?

A: I got into that record, [Lennon’s Mind Games], maybe a year ago, and I had heard it before, but it had never resonated with me [until now]. It’s about the Vietnam War, and everything that was happening in the ‘70s; it was a cultural change. With what’s happening now, it’s gonna be more intense than that was. My favorite tune off that record is called “You Are Here,” and it’s a really soft country song.

Q: “Temperature” is about connecting with someone and letting loose. How did it become a carefree song about dancing your troubles away?

A: It’s a pop tune, and it’s really simple with just a synthesizer—there’s no guitar. It definitely captured the end of the [Dance Pack] era for me. That song was inspired by “Daffodils” by Mark Ronson and [Tame Impala’s] Kevin Parker.

That’s one of my all-time favorite records, [Ronson’s Uptown Special.] I’m not the biggest fan of “Uptown Funk” [with Bruno Mars], but all the other tunes on that record are crazy. “Daffodils” feels like you’re at a party with Donna Summer in 1983. That’s the energy it encapsulates to me. I looked at the lyrics for “Daffodils,” and I went verse by verse to understand the pattern. I just wrote that tune about partying, and the feeling I get when going to Outer Limits Lounge.

Sam used to throw house parties, and he said in the 1960s they used to throw [parties] called “happenings.” He called them “shindigs,” and we’d packed the basement with four bands. It was like a six-hour ordeal, and that’s the vibe. You go to a Detroit house show, you see everybody, you smoke a little reefer, and you might do some stuff here and there. It’s been fun hanging around the scene, hearing all of these bands I normally wouldn’t listen to, and seeing a new scene of younger bands come through.

Q: What plans do you have for later this year?

A: I am currently working with my friends in Ambrosia Blue as their new bass player! I recently filled in on guitar for my friend Ish [Chowdhury’s] band, Splitcoin. They are a really great up-and-coming band—that, if you have the opportunity to see, you should absolutely take.

Otherwise, I am finishing this EP release whilst scouting for a few folks to help bring these tunes to life. As I’ve become older, my music circle has dwindled. It’s been quite the task finding the right people for the job, but nothing good ever came quickly or easily.

My friend Nick [Vasseur] and I are also working on a new project. We are still discovering our sound, so there isn’t any definitive idea there yet. But rumor has it that synthesizers may be involved.

Samstock, a memorial shindig for Sam Carroll and Matt Szakal, is November 2 at Outer Limits Lounge, 5507 Caniff Street, Detroit. Featured acts include Issac Burgess and his band, Boy Blue, Mars and the Satellites, Electric Bug, Josh Lutey and Friends, Rose St. Germaine, Sancho, Fishfly’s Nick Vasseur, and Cinquex. Doors are at 7 pm, and tickets are $15. All proceeds will benefit the Carroll and Szakal families.