W L INTERVIEW
AN INTERVIEW WITH SAM FENDER
Samuel Thomas Fender ( born 25 April 1994 ) is an English singer , songwriter , musician , and actor . After commencing a career as an actor , he was signed as a singer and released several singles independently , being named one of the BBC ' s Sound of 2018 .
Fender signed to Polydor Records and released his debut EP , Dead Boys , in November 2018 . He won the Critics ' Choice Award at the 39th Brit Awards and released his debut album ' Hypersonic Missiles ', in September 2019 , which entered the UK Albums Chart at number one . In 2020 , Fender was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award . His second album ' Seventeen Going Under ' was released in October 2021 and also topped the UK Albums Chart , selling 44,000 copies in the first week , more than the rest of the top 10 combined . He received the 2022 Brit Award for Best British Alternative / Rock Act .
You ’ re highly acclaimed by seemingly everyone , but especially Elton John ? Elton has helped us navigate this madness . He asked me to play at his famous Oscars after-show party in 2020 . Then he got up and did one of my songs !! Since then I ’ ve been in a permanent state of shock , almost ‘ imposter syndrome ’. I ’ m not sometimes able to take in how amazing things are that are happening now , because something even more crazy turns up the next day . Unreal . 4 years ago I was living on benefits , a complete whirlwind !
You recently added to your Brit Awards having won ‘ Rising Star ’ in 2019 and 3 nominations at this months ceremony - ‘ Artist of the year ’, ‘ Album of the year ’ against Adele and Ed Sheeran , and beat Coldplay to win ‘ Best Alternative / Rock Act ’. Quite an achievement . Yeah that was a magic moment , especially when Ronnie Wood ( Rolling Stones ) opened the envelope on stage and said " My favourite - Sam Fender !!" Amazing !
Tell us about your chance encounter with brilliant actor Stephen Graham … We were at an event and I spotted him walk in , so as you do , I rushed over saying how brilliant I think he is . He turns to me and says “ Are you Sam Fender ?” So I flip out , " no waaaaaaay man , you can ’ t possibly know me !!!???" He said that he and his wife have been listening to my EP ’ s since before the first album .
Wow . Didn ’ t this eventually turn into a working friendship ? Yeah , I ’ d written about 60 songs during lockdown , so I contributed the track Poltergeists to his recent critically acclaimed movie ‘ Boiler Room ’ ( Directed by Liverpool born Philip Barantini ). That worked really well , so I asked would he direct a new promo for me and would Stephen play my dad in ‘ Spit of You ’ ( a heart-crushing song about a father and son ). They said yes . Belter .
How did you get started ? My dad played guitar , yet never taught us to play anything ( as he probably wanted us to get a real job ), but one day he showed me ‘ The 3-fingered power chord ’, that blew my mind and changed everything , suddenly I was strumming Nirvana and Green Day .
Earliest influences ? My mum and dad used to have The Beatles , Aretha Franklin , Steely Dan , Jimmy Page ( Led Zeppelin ), Jimi Hendrix on around the house . But then my brother got me into Tom Petty , Neil Young and Joni Mitchell , but the clearest influences in my music are Bruce Springsteen and Jeff Buckley - I love classic songwriters .
If you could have a pint with anyone alive or dead , who would it be ? It would have to be someone is ‘ good on the drink ’. A total hellraiser . It ’ d be a right laugh to go on a massive night out with James Brown , he was the king of hellraising surely ? You ’ d probably wind up , like , dead .
One thing you couldn ’ t live without ? My Les Paul Gibson guitar . When my Grandad died , he left me £ 700 . I bought that . It ’ s like he ’ s with me all the time .
Are you a multi-instrumentalist ? Yeah , I play guitar , bass , piano , synthesizer , Hammond organ , glockenspiel , harmonica , and mandolin , not forgetting the triangle .
Your first tour sold out before your first album ‘ Hypersonic Missiles ’ was even out in 2018 . That ’ s when things started to really kick in . I was placed on BBC ' s Sound of 2018 shortlist alongside Billie Eilish , Khalid , and Lewis Capaldi . My first single ‘ Play God ’ was featured in the video game FIFA 19 . My single " Dead Boys " was premièred as Annie Mac ' s Hottest Record in the World on BBC Radio 1 . This is considered to be my breakthrough song , the first to bring me to mainstream attention and got me nominated for an Ivor Novello Award . I even got to play it on ‘ Later with Jools Holland '.
Tell us about what you refer to as ‘ The best day of your life ’? Haha yeah . Well , I was surprised by my idol Alan Shearer awarding me my Gold number one album trophy during Match of the Day . Totally blew my mind ! ( A must watch clip on YouTube ).
Your newest album ' 17 Going Under ' has had universal acclaim . Some critics have called it " a masterclass in songwriting ”. How do you feel about that ? I ' m more proud of this than anything I ' ve ever done . It ' s probably the best thing I ' ve done in my life . A coming of age story . It ' s about growing up . It ' s a celebration of life after hardship , and it ' s a celebration of surviving . When I was 17 , I was diagnosed with a potentially lifethreatening illness .
You ' ve already got off to a great start in 2022 , what ’ s next ? I ’ m off on a ( pretty much sold out ) UK-headline arena tour , my biggest to date , to support Seventeen Going Under . I ’ m also supporting The Killers on four of their UK and Irish dates this year .
Sam will be playing the Liverpool M & S Bank Arena on March 21st and the Manchester Castlefield Bowl on July 6th . wirrallife . com 21