Awards, gigs and Greggs! We talk to Sam Fender

We had a chat to Sam Fender about his Brit Award success, as well as his upcoming tour dates and festival appearances:

Hello Sam. Congratulations on your Brit Award. The Critics’ Choice Award has been won in the past by the likes of Adele and Rag n Bone Man. How does it feel to follow in these artists’ footsteps by receiving this award?

I feel genuinely overwhelmed. It’s incredible I didn’t think I was going to win it, I thought Lewis Capaldi would win as he’s much bigger than me. I just thought there was no chance so I didn’t really gear myself up to win, so when I did it was wonderful.

Are awards something that you pay much attention to?

Yes and no, its all just subjective isn’t it really. I’d probably be really chuffed if I won an Ivor Novello because that’s for songwriting.

One of our team was at the Brits and they had quite a sore head the next day. Too many afterparties, too many tequilas. Did you have a similarly big night? Was it fun?

Not too much of a big night. I went to bed at half-three in the morning which I think is pretty tame for the Brits. But yeah I did have a pretty wild one, had a party bus with loads of sausage rolls from Greggs and everyone wore Alan Shearer, Cheryl Cole and Sting masks (all Geordie heroes!) So it was pretty funny. Jax Jones was DJing and we all just got smashed.

Did you receive any interesting words of advice/support from other musicians at the event? Was there anyone you were especially excited to meet?

James Bay told me to get drunk, he said ‘it’s your first Brits so just get drunk’. That’s strange coming from him because the man has about two beers a year I think, but he told me to get drunk so I did!

Tell us about your recent single, Hypersonic Missiles…

Hypersonic Missiles is essentially a love song about a character who’s terrified of the world and think’s it’s going to end. He’s a product of the Western world, copiously addicted to fast food junk and all the fruits of the West. He is utterly terrified, and he’s also in love and that’s pretty much it. It has an air of hope about it that runs though the song, although it’s pessimistic there is some sort of thread of optimism throughout the tune. Towards the end it kinda has this notion that no matter how bad things are, things are gonna get better and everyone’s gonna have a good time.

You’ve also dropped a politically charged video for your song, Play God. Can you tell us about how the video came together and what the thinking was behind it?

Vince Haycock came up with the whole thing, so I can’t take any credit for it, but I will just say that he’s a very talented director who seems to always have a nack for aligning the visuals with my vision. He did a great job at ‘Dead Boys’, he’s managed to be very sensitive and cutting at the same time. He did something similar for ‘Play God’. He made this dystopian sort of world, sort of 1984 inspired. That’s about it really.

We saw you play at The Great Escape in Brighton last year. It was a great show. Have you got any festivals lined up this summer?

I have a million festivals lined up this summer, I’m playing pretty much all of them!

You’re also playing your own headline shows in the UK, US and Australia. Which do you prefer, being out on the road or in the studio making new music?

They both have their pros and cons, I adore playing to the fans because they’re lovely and I love travelling and seeing places. But I think making records probably just tops it a little bit because I really enjoy the process of writing and recording. Then again, I probably couldn’t live one without the other really. You need them both because I love the satisfaction that you get from playing a show, and I also just enjoy writing loads of tunes.

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Sam releases his debut album, also called Hypersonic Missiles on the 9th of August via Dew Process. He is heading to Australia for the following tour dates:

Fri 19 Jul – Splendour In The Grass – North Byron Parklands

Tue 23 July – Corner Hotel – Melbourne

Wed 24 July – Oxford Art Factory – Sydney

Interview and photo by Bobby Townsend.