BIO

Samer was born to a Syrian-Lebanese family and took to music at a young age, singing spirituals daily in elementary school, then teaching himself drumset starting at age 14. He played drums throughout high school and then at Brown University began studying jazz music and taking jazz drumming lessons through the music department. Samer played in jazz combos took every world music performance class available, and met future collaborators Andrew Fox and Dave Harrington. During a voluntary gap year in 2003 he lived in New Zealand for 5 months where he befriended a travelling Ecuadorian merchant named Yuyai and later met Chief White Cloud from Vancouver Island at a Lakota Sundance ceremony on the south island. Samer cooked food for the dancers before they went into meditation and had the honor of playing the drum during the 4-day spiritual ceremony, which survived a massive storm with heavy rainfall. This was all setting the stage for things to come, little did he know.

After graduating in 2006 with a BA in Sociology, Samer moved to New York City to reunite with high school music bestie Juan Pieczanski, and would play in several bands including Dave Harrington Group, Deradoorian, and Matthew Dear Live, with whom he opened for Depeche Mode in Europe, 2013. He formed his own projects and produced four self released drone-based rock albums, ETDH (2016), and Rudolph (2018).

In January 2018 Samer began learning sound healing with various teachers and institutions in NYC and upstate New York, and has been actively working, learning, and practicing in the field ever since. He has repeated intensive training courses and served in assistant positions with Sage Academy of Sound (Woodstock NY) and 9 Ways Academia (Perkasie, PA), apprenticed with energetic healer Rebecca Singer, learned with and still assists for Dr. John Beauliue (Biosonics tuning forks), and has attended and assisted classes with legendary “gong guru” Don Conreaux. He has produced to more albums, Soft as Metal (2024), and Electric Gong (2025), and has several more in production. Samer has consulted several institutions, individuals, and businesses on the topic of sound healing, including the Rubin Museum’s Mandala Lab.

As a percussionist and improvising musician Samer leans into the musical sensibilities that transcend sound healing over millennia. He offers recurrent sound meditation experiences at studios, private events, and corporate wellness. In March 2022 Samer took up a monthlong music residency program at Pioneer Works where he engineered recording sessions of various large gongs and hosted collaborations with several friends in music. In the same year he kicked off Spontaneous Space, a collaborative concert series at the Greenpoint venue IRL, inviting friends Greg Fox, Yuka Honda, Billy Martin, Dave Harrington, Angel Deradoorian, Jeremiah Cymerman, David Lizmi, and Eliot Krimsky into live improvisatory explorations that featured the artists’ natural styles fused with Samer’s approaches to music more typically associated with “sound healing”. He appears in recorded works such as Alanis Morissette’s The Storm Before The Calm and the award winning film Everything Everywhere All At Once, playing gongs and bowls. He has an ongoing series “Dream Room” at Public Records where he has collaborated twice with renowned new age musician Laraaji.

Resume

2001/2006 - Music student (jazz drumming, jazz combo, West African drumming, Mid-East ensemble, Afro-Latin jazz ensemble) at Brown University
2008/2019 - Drummer/composer with Dave Harrington Group
2010/2015 - Singer, guitarist, percussionist with Matthew Dear Live
2018 January - Attendee: Intro to Sound Healing 40hr course with Katie Down and Jessica Caplan at Maha Rose, Brooklyn NY
2018 April/September - Attendee: Sage Academy Sound Healing 100hr Certification Course, Woodstock NY
2018 October - ToneCenter opens at 339 Bedford Ave in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
2018 October - Attendee: Don Conreaux 35hr Gong Camp at Ananda Ashram, NY
2018/2019 - Drummer: Deradoorian’s Find the Sun recording session, Marin Valley CA
2019 Apr/Sept - Assistant: Sage Academy 100hr Certification Course, Woodstock NY
2019 Apr/Mar 2020 - Energetic Healing Studies with Rebecca Singer, Lake Hill NY
2019 July - Attendee: 1st annual 6-day Gong Summit in-person with Sheila Whittaker, Jens Zygar, Michael Bettine, Mike Tamburo, hosted by Dr. Mitch Nur, Chester CT
2019 October - Assistant: Don Conreaux 35hr Gong Camp, Monroe NY
2019 November - Reiki Lvl 1 Certification at Maha Rose, Brooklyn NY
2020 January - ToneCenter closes at 339 Bedford Ave
2020 July/September - Attendee: 9Ways Academia Physics and Metaphysics courses online, and 5-day in-person studies with Dr. Mitch Nur, Perkasie PA
2020 August - Attendee: 3-day Gong Summit Online with 9Ways Academia
2021 June/Sept - Assistant teacher: Sage Academy 100hr training course, Woodstock NY
2021 August - Attendee: 3-day Gong Summit Online
2021 September - Assistant: Don Conreaux 35hr Gong Camp, Monroe NY
2021 October - Guest Performer and Attendee: 9Ways Academia 10-day Gong Camp in-person, Perkasie PA
2021 November - Online attendee: 9Ways A-Krid Dzogchen Ngondro with Khenpo Ratsa Geshe Tenzin Dargye Rinpoche
2022 February - 9Ways Academia Sonic Theology Metaphysics 5-day course online
2022 March - Music Resident: Pioneer Works, Brooklyn NY
2022 March - Musician (gongs, bowls) in Son Lux’ soundtrack for Everything Everywhere All At Once
2022 April - 3 live sound baths for the Rubin Museum’s re-opening after covid shutdowns
2022 June - Assistant teacher: Sage Academy 100hr certification course, Woodstock NY
2022 June - Musician (gongs and bowls) on Alanis Morissette’s album Storm Before the Calm
2022 October - Assistant and attendee: 9Ways Academia 11-day Gong Camp, Perkasie PA
2022 September - 3hr performance at Making Time♾️ at Fort Mifflin, PA
2022 November - Assistant: John Beaulieu’s Shift Network 6 week Advanced Course
2023 Feb - Performer: Metropolis Ensemble Soundgarden Biophony at Brooklyn Botanical Garden, NY
2023 March - Attendee and assistant: 9Ways Academia Metaphysics 9-day course online
2023 March/June - Teacher: Golden Calm sound meditation for seniors through Brooklyn Music School, NY
2023 July - Sound healing retreat facilitator: Climate Hang in Taos NM
2023 Sept 23-24 Two performances at Making Time♾️ music festival, Pennsylvania PA
2023 Oct - Sound Meditation Demo for Teachers, Rubin Museum of Art NY
2024 Jan/Feb - Assistant for John Beaulieu’s Shift Network Course Biosonic Tuning Fork Frequencies
2024 April - Greenwood Cemetery Eclipse performance with Pioneer Works
2024 May-Dec - 6 month Biosonics Immersion Course assistant to Dr John Beaulieu
2024 June - Begin monthly sound bath residency at Public Records in Gowanus BK
2024 August - Weekend sound healing training at Sage + Sound in Manhattan
2025 Jan - Begin working with Sage + Sound weekly Tuesday sound experiences
2025 Feb - Assistant on Biosonics Fuzzy Logic online course
2025 June - In-person Biosonics Fuzzy Logic training, Stone Ridge NY