I was born in 1961, in Vancouver, to Judy Dorise Janzen and Mijo Ivan Samija. My mother's origins were in the prairies - Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan. Her parents were of Russian and German origin, being Mennonites who fled persecution from various lands. Her mother was a mandolinist, ukelele player, pianist, and singer. Mom grew up with the piano, played organ in church, and became a composer later in life. My father came from Split, Croatia, and had lived in several European cities on the way here. I have three brothers - Mijo, Adam, and David - and one sister - Siobhan. I'm stepfather to Cello (a coincidence... no, really), and father to Haru.
I began carving whatever came to hand when I got my first pocket knife, at age 7. My stepfather Roderick Wood taught me to use it. From bows and arrows to fine small boxes, construction work to dragons or the odd bit of furniture, I eventually learned to make a lot of things of wood. Making something when it was needed came often more readily than buying it. By high school it was apparent that working in wood was my main interest, though not in what direction to pursue this. Traditional furniture making was a possibility, but I enjoyed curved, more sculptural forms more, objects with symmetry but of an 'organic' feel.
Various pursuits caught my interest, and of course money is something we're all forced to participate in, so I had perhaps 30 different jobs before I was 25 years old. A labourer, odd-jobber, bicycle mechanic, I even tried a year at art school while thinking of a career in photography. I raced off-road bicycles, ran, made carved things for family and friends. Then one rainy winter afternoon in late 1985 it occurred to me what was the right thing to do. As I made tight the left-rear axle nut of a Raleigh 3-speed it came to me, and I spoke it aloud: "I'm going to make cellos." A few seconds later followed "I want to play the cello too." A moment I'd awaited for a very long time had come, and I knew it to be good. Left that job within the month and began to research the work I knew would be demanding and very satisfying.
The first year produced a workbench, a few dulcimers, most of a jazz guitar-bass, and my first violin was well near done. The library had proved a most rewarding resource. A sort of box-cello came next, and a bow to play it. No point detailing here how those looked nor sounded, but at least I was able to use them. I began to study Bach's 'Six Sonatas for Violoncello Solo' and it mattered not what sound I made. In my mind there was Bach, and I was playing at last.
In 1987 I joined the Violin Maker's Association of BC and learned some things from a few of the members there, but soon gave up my membership. A chance meeting - I was trying to sell my first violin, and only one person answered the advertisement - brought me the friendship of P.J.Tan, a luthier now based in Edmonton, Alberta. He offered me his overflow work; some bows to rehair, the odd restoration or repair. This kindness, a few pointers, and links to others in the violin world was the real beginning for my professional life. I worked for a time as a machinist and welder, making parts for mountain bikes. Spent a few months helping build a cycling velodrome. Here and there were some months landscaping, roofing, house painting... whatever paid the bills.
I have played 'cello in a few community orchestras, longest being the Vancouver Folk Orchestra for 4 years under conducter and composer Karl Kobylanski, now deceased. It was most rewarding experience, and I wish there were time for it still. I've also played in a number of chamber music settings. Duets with my mother at her piano were most cherished, despite our sometimes bickering over how things ought to sound.
I gave up my last 'job' in 1994, having become certain that an employee I am not. Word spread that I could do decent work on instruments and the lineup of bassists grew steadily longer. Fewer small fiddles, but I have clients from among all sizes of the violin family and also see ouds and other things on occasion. It seems I've become a bass luthier without meaning to be and I enjoy this accident very much. As of 2010 I am back into the violin game rather substantially, owing to the acquisition of a large estate collection through one of my bassist clients who is also an attorney.
I share my life with a fiddler named Shiho and her daughter Cello, and our son Haru, born just after sunrise on the fifth day of summer, 2006.
Nic, a cat who for years sought out bass bags left un-zipped in which she might nap, or at times basses left open while I worked on them. At the age of 18 Nicola became tired and stopped eating in November of 2008, and then one night failed to come home. I suppose she did what cats of all sorts prefer to do, finding a quiet and safe place to die when her time came. She is much missed.
p.s. My last name begins with an 'Š' and is pronounced 'Shah-me-ah' and hails from just about everywhere in the Middle East apparently, and means generically a head scarf which can be used for shelter against dust and sun. These lines used to say something about the story my father told us of the name's origins in war... amazing what a bit of web research can do to amend such nonsense once one takes the time to do it.
