Read about our approach to external linking. But with pop music now, a lot of ballady songs are, I love you, you dont love me, or I love you and you love me and its very nice. "A lot of the times I write a lot of songs on piano and convert to guitar. Wed love to stay in touch, sign up for The Pick team to contact you with great news, content and offers. I dont care about where people are from Ive met people from much posher backgrounds who are fantastic, but its just that when I walk into a situation where everybody is from a better standing than me, I get insecure, my imposter syndrome kicks in and I would find it easier to attach myself to the wrongun in the room. The line in Aye I dont have time for the very few thats the one thing that always going to be my main gripe on this planet, the sheer disparity between the 1% and the rest of the world. And he is all set to attend all live sessions throughout the world for his song Seventeen Going Under. As things have progressed with my career, we started hanging out a lot more. The Dying Light During her acceptance speech, Adele told the audience: 'I understand this award has changed but I love being a female artist! "My friends and colleagues have been worried about me for a while and it's not going to get better unless I take the time to do so," he wrote. "That back lane leads into this estate called Meadow Well, which was an estate that had 80 percent unemployment where we grew up. But the 25-year-old considers a lot of todays earnest singer-songwriter types to be privately educated nice boys who have only been able to invest the necessary time in pursuit of pop stardom thanks to their parents benevolence and bank balances. All rights reserved. Some of my favourite Springsteen lyrics are purely descriptions, he says. Throughout the course of 2013 Fender played a series of gigs across the country supporting a number of artists including Ben Howard and Willy Mason, until I got the record deal and got a bit of money, he says, so I was like, Right, Im gonna get myself a really nice guitar. I love Les Pauls, Strats and other Fenders, but this has got that brightness that Ive always wanted that heartland rock, Tom Petty twang. EXCLUSIVE: Head teacher of leading grammar school is sacked for sending parents a list of striking teachers. When his father saw he was both obsessed and talented, he got his some guitar lessons, and Fender took off: I was flying by the time I was 13, learning all the hard-rock stufflike Led Zeppelin and Guns N Roses. A few years ago, the singer was struck down by a severe illness that could have killed him. Bosses claimed the move was in a bid 'to be as inclusive and as relevant as possible' and allowed people to enter who do not identify as a man or woman. "It just built and built and built and became this huge orchestral track. Seventeen Going Under Or why not treat yourself? People are proud of me, so thats nice. "Me and my dad had a five-year period where we didn't get on very well," Fender shares. Life-changing things like becoming famous and having money happened all at once and I didnt feel like I deserved any of it. Acclaimed by Elton John and Paul Weller, Fender's new album Seventeen Going Under is a masterclass in songwriting he walks us through his process and looks back on his guitar journey so far. He wrote daft comedy songs at first (he was a Tenacious D fan), but these got him into the habit of sitting on the sofa with his guitar, putting chords together and singing. It's about political polarity and how I feel a lack of identity with any of the political parties currently in my country. It's an honour to do what you will do, never forget that. And I put it on and it's not as good as a Small Clone. I cant go anywhere round here, he says. YouTube Shorts also sponsored the 2022 Artist of the Year award, which went to Adele. Besides, he also suffered from various mental illnesses since his childhood. Small Clone just sounds like a chorus. It's got a gold scratch plate, and it came with a packet of strings from 1959 from New Brunswick. He laughs, and casually hits a D on his new, well-earned Jazzmaster. 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In it, he tells young Sam not to be so serious. Sam Fender is a happy man. When I was 17, my mother was being hounded by the DWP [Department for Work and Pensions]. YouTube Shorts was the Official Digital Music Partner, with the official livestream of the BRITs on YouTube. So, it appears time has done the songwriter well. Thats why I started doing therapy. ), "I like Springsteen for the lyrics, and I love War on Drugs for the sound," Fender shares. Sometimes with my Strat I feel like my chords are pissing in the wind, whereas this feels like its got more bite.. Sam has alluded in previous interviews to a health condition that hes not yet ready to fully disclose, and tells NME that he spent three months shielding at the And I got all of my friends from home, some of them who knew him as well, to sing that last line, No one should feel like this. Its a choir of people from Shields. As a teenager, he lived with his mother, a nurse who had to stop work because she suffered from fibromyalgia, a condition that causes pain and fatigue. I lost a good friend to suicide last year, and Im not going to lie to you over lockdown, and even before, I was in that sort of place myself. Im going to focus on not feeling like a bag of shit every day. He liked the place, but always craved more. All of the songs were written by Fender, who played guitar, bass, piano, Hammond organ, synthesizers, glockenspiel, mandolin, and harmonica inside the North Shields studio he built by necessity during that time. It's like a subconscious thing. He also got an old friend, Bramwell Bronte, to produce them, rather than hire, say, Mark Ronson, a handsome quiff with clout. Fender grew up in North Shields, the coastal town eight miles outside Newcastle, with his parents before they separated, and then with his mother alone. Because you have such fear of losing them. Bar her earrings, Raye has emulated the entire look! Unfortunately for us mere mortals this piece isn't yet available to buy, but you can click the catwalk image to shop Versace's current collection at Mytheresa. When you cant go out, you eventually look in, and Fenders songwriting began to dig through memories of his childhood, analyzing his internal wiring and reflecting on behaviors and insecurities that troubled him. "I got a guitar when I was 8 and started mucking around with it then. I think it's quite a unanimous feeling in a lot of places at the moment. I feel like it is a celebratory record, he says. Your new album draws from your own life more than ever. Though he went on to land a few parts on TV shows like Vera and CBBC series Wolfblood he grew exasperated by spending money he didnt have on London-bound train tickets in order to attend auditions for roles for which, as he was all too frequently told upon arrival, he was either too old, too tall, or somehow else not quite right. It's a banger that cuts right to the struggle of feeling helpless as a teenagerbeing old enough to know what's going on but being too young to fix anything. You might be wondering to know what happened to him. The Seventeen Going Under singer says he has "neglected" himself for more than a year, Fender will play at St James' Park in Newcastle in June, fulfilling a "childhood dream", Fender said he was grateful to have such an awesome fan base, 'Trump or bust' - grassroots Republicans are still loyal. ", About a mile from that stoop is the Low Lights Tavern, where Fender tended bar after high school, and it's also where he played his music in the early days. I felt like it could be powerful and delicate and all the things in between. But she got sent to court three times to prove that she wasnt fit to work. Theyd seen their family members on wards suffering. The British songwriter traversed the bleak thoroughfares of his past while writing his autobiographical sophomore album, Seventeen Going Undera tale of growing up down-and-out, set to an epic chorus of Jazzmasters and soaring sax. Theres a very moving lyric about him kissing his mothers forehead when she died, and you imagining doing the same to him one day. Statement-making: Olivia Rodrigo joined the Peckham celebrations in a statement-making, spiderweb-inspired black dress, Having blast: Ellie Rowsell beamed from ear to ear as she stepped into the venue wearing knee-high white socks, Wild night out: The Saturdays Mollie King could barely stop smiling as she enjoyed a night out in south London. Alternatively, follow in Raye's fashionable footsteps by bagging an embellished midi dress via the carousel. She had fibromyalgia and she was suffering from other ailments and mental health issues. A subscription makes a thoughtful gift for both family and friends. Taking a slow-burn route of building a following for six years before releasing a full-length likely contributed to that album instantly having wings, debuting at No. My father and I can drink beer and talk about music until the cows come home, but when it comes to expressing a grievance, it always ends up in a shouting match. More info Sam Fender has opened up on his mental health struggles after admitting the Covid-19 pandemic left him "pretty miserable". The chart-topper has been busy of late filming in both Druridge Bay and North Shields for his recent single Seventeen Going Under. Id find myself ripping cupboard doors off the wall because of things that had happened five years before. Back in 2014, he suffered from a life-threatening illness, a vocal cord illness. These culture wars are valid wars that need to be fought theres a lot of bigotry, a lot of racism and homophobia. Its just a few days after his triumphant sets at Reading and Leeds Festival and hes still a bit groggy, but when he brandishes his brand-new acquisition a beautiful 1959 Fender Jazzmaster he visibly perks up. They clearly know who they stand for and they dont represent people like us. "He lived in a different country. I had a sense of helplessness. Hypersonic Missiles, then, is the result of Fenders tunnel vision. "It seems completely hypocritical of me to advocate discussion on mental health and write songs about it, if I don't take the time to look after my own mental health," his statement read. She was a hard-working, fantastic, empathetic, incredible woman. Stick with us for more details. She suffered from fibromyalgia, which affected her mental health and her ability to work. SAM Fender is looking for love after enjoying a string of dates with singer Raye. Bruce Springsteens Born To Run was a life-changing album for him. Sam Fender Seventeen Going Under (Live from Brixton), Mainly Oasis (@mainlyoasis) November 15, 2021. Raye added height to her frame in bold, bejewelled orange heels and showed off her impressive tattoo collection. OUT NOW!! A Polydor Records Release; 2021 Sam Fender, under exclusive licence to Universal Music Operations Limited. Adele won the first ever genderless Artist Of The Year gong after the male and female categories were scrapped. They ripped apart every safety net for people in that position. Back in 2014, he Both his albums, 2019's Hypersonic Missiles and 2021's Seventeen Going Under topped the UK charts, with the latter shortlisted for the Mercury music prize. You cant do that. The song was written by Fender, who also produced the song along with Rich Costey and Bramwell Bronte. A decade later, hes one of the UKs best and most successful singer-songwriters: his 2019 debut album Hypersonic Missiles went to No 1, he won a Brit award, and his knack for writing songs about 21st-century disaffections marked him out from cheerier peers such as Ed Sheeran and George Ezra. Id self sabotage to almost gain control of the situation, because thats not the person hurting you, youre leaving them, and it makes you feel like youre in control of the situation. The worst thing about it was I could see the way I was acting, and I knew why, but I couldnt stop it. My grandmother was a really small woman, and when she was dying, she looked like a child. Its one of my mates sayings: Ive armed myself with a grin. Ive always played the happy-go-lucky joker. [The therapist] was like: all the things that you dislike yourself for, you should be proud of and that was quite intense. As a kid, he was obsessed with Slash, Page, and Hendrix. My dad put boxing gloves on me to teach me how to punch. A lot of these kids these days, they dont write their own songs. BA1 1UA. I like a bit of compression, just to kind of give you that bite, and I love an old Electro-Harmonix Small Clone, just the original cheap chorus pedal. [Later] I overcompensated by lifting weights and going to the boxing gym and all these things to try and become something closer to the resemblance of my father. My folks split up when I was young and I lived with my dad, but then he and I stopped getting on. You may feel alone currently but you will realise that your stories, when put to music, open up a side of you that actually helps people. My theory is shit, though, really. Murdaugh is heckled as he leaves court, Mom who lost both sons to fentanyl blasts laughing Biden, Moment teenager crashes into back of lorry after 100mph police race, Missing hiker buried under snow forces arm out to wave to helicopter, Family of a 10-month-old baby filmed vaping open up, Hershey's Canada releases HER for SHE bars featuring a trans activist, Ukrainian soldier takes out five tanks with Javelin missiles. "It's mainly about self-esteem, growing up, and the political landscape of England, and how that affects the Northeast and how the Tories basically alienate my hometown and the people that live there," he says. The title song documents a dark time when Fender's mother was battling health issues and couldn't make ends meet. Chronicle live featured him for his New Castle Arena tour. I didnt think I was ever going to be happy, and I drank myself to oblivion. I was chewing my face off in frustration, I was that desperate to make it like they had, to write pop songs because I thought people might like them. He started playing guitar at 10 and writing songs at 14. There were things that happened that I used to hold a grudge about, but a lot of it was my own fault because I never said what I needed to say. Here we are back in 1994 ? And then learnin' about the reason why I was the way I was; the reason why I was reacting to things in certain ways; the reason why my relationships weren't goin' well; the reason why I wasn't being the most savory character or not being my own ally. The Peavey spent a year untouched in the corner of the young lads room, but when he was 10 he finally got the bug. That's when I started singing properly, is after hearing Jeff Buckley. Someone at the end of the bar, complaining about their other half I would finish the story. No metaphor, no meaning, just, Barefoot girl sitting on the hood of a Dodge drinking warm beer in the soft summer rain [from Jungleland]. I didnt want that for myself, and listening to Springsteen helped me find my own voice., He started to write songs in thrall to his musical hero, but reimagined them to fit his frame of reference. Ive had arguments with people who say Jeremy Corbyns a twat, regurgitating Daily Mail headlines that hes a terrorist sympathiser. 2021 Associated Newspapers Limited. The parents who fear their 11-year-olds will be scarred for life by the graphic sex education lessons that Two Insulate Britain protesters are jailed for contempt of court after they defied a judge's orders not to 'Derek fights on, it makes me fall in love with him all over again:' Kate Garraway reveals there are days French authorities fear 'narco-tourists' could flock to Normandy beaches after 'more than two tonnes of Hopes for cervical cancer vaccine after trials in mice showed it reduced tumours 80 per cent of the time. This is all beyond dream territory for me, he admits. My mum was a nurse who birthed practically half the babies in North Shields. Writers like Kendrick Lamar the explanation of their surroundings is so real and visceral. "It's impossible to do this work on myself while on the road, and it's exhausting feigning happiness and wellness for the sake of business.". Published: 10:44 GMT, 9 February 2022 | Updated: 15:10 GMT, 9 February 2022. It was written around the time when all the Trump supporters were storming the capital building. Sam Fender tours the UK from 22 November. I wanted it to be the triumph over itin the moment when you decide, No, Im not going to do this, or I cant leave those behind., October 8, 2021 And you do absorb that when youre young, Fender says. Photo by Chux on Tour Photography@chuxontour, "But I've just bought a ridiculous Jazzmaster. These stories, theyre mine, but that frustration with the DWPhow youre trapped as a person whos fallen on a hard time by your governmentis a unanimous story for so many millions of people in this country. "I like a Jazzmaster through a Fender Twin," says Sam Fender. We recognised Raye's dress a mile off! Mantra was written when I was in a bit of a down time. I just cranked it, had everything blaring, and got my whammy bar going to get the feedback. Its a triumph over adversity. He revealed that music has been boon to his life. That was always my starting point. Grant Moon is the News Editor for Prog magazine and has been a contributor to the magazine since its launch in 2009. Spit Of Yous killer feedback solo is a Jazzmaster through a Red Llama pedal: Its this big, fuck-off overdrive Tom Petty said he liked, he says, so I got one. I do a lot of that. Its an invisible muscle you dont see thats getting trained, he reckons. Its just so stupid!". Pauls great to bounce things off because hes a lyric writer himself, he really engages with that. He was stuck in the horror mental health struggles during the Covid-19 pandemic. Fibromyalgia is a condition where one's pain is widespread. In a brutally honest interview ahead of his stunning second album, the Tyneside chart-topper discusses politics, family, fame and mental health. You start to understand yourself, and that can lead you to disliking yourself even more. The right are sitting back and laughing, sweeping up every election. Apple Inc. They do sometimes say, Sam stop being so fucking miserable, write us something a bit happier! But I do yearning and hopeful, not happy, because happy is boring. I just drank, over-ate, and played a lot of video games. "It's the second year of Jazzmasters, one of the very, very first ones. I was kinda making life hard for myself.". He soaked up chords, blues scales, major scales, arpeggios which all seemed pretty unglamorous and tedious to him as a kid, until he woke up one day and, as if overnight, he had become a pretty good guitarist. Sam Fender has opened up on his mental health struggles after admitting the Covid-19 pandemic left him "pretty miserable". If anything, it's a just declaration of love for my old man. He lived there with his mother on a council estate, a type of British public housing. The left wing have abandoned the working classes, and with a lot of the left I dont want to sound like Piers Morgan when I say this I feel like there is too much nitpicking and stupid fights, especially online. TIDBIT: Seventeen Going Under was recorded at Wor House (Sam Fender's studio) in North Shields, England, and Grouse Lodge in Ireland. That means I can do this as well [laughs]. The 27-years-old singer prefers to make his personal life stay out of the public eye. She becomes just some girl on Instagram. I feel like Ive started to close the chapter on that part of my life. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. Tonight, these streets are heaving with young hearts on the chase, he sings on Youre Not the Only One. You can write string parts on the guitar, too. The overall effect is as compelling as it is thrilling, and unusually widescreen for a debut. Well have these conversations about toxic masculinity and my dad goes: I didnt teach you anything like that, did I? He told the Daily Star: 'If you don't win, you have a party anyway and then if you do win, you have an even bigger party.'. Sam Fender: Hypersonic Missiles review | Alexis Petridis's album of the week, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Not for long he is off on tour imminently, in support of his recent number one album, Hypersonic Missiles. He admits it is affecting his Aye at Hole 44 in Berlin, Germany, on November 4, 2021. Speaking to red carpet co-hosts Munya Chawawa and Nella Rose in a clip shared on the official BRITs YouTube channel, Sam spilled: 'We've got a bus full of sausage rolls outside, actually. As cringe as this sounds, it became my earliest form of therapy. He requested his followers to buy and listen to his newest album Seventeen Going Under. Ill put a reverb pedal on and make the guitar sound like strings, then write the parts, then well put the real strings in after, and delete that guitar., As for Fenders songwriting process, sometimes hell begin with a melody or chord progression; other times hell have some lyrics. Sam teamed his tops with black trousers and edgy lace-up boots. and this striking dress is covered in them. Nobody sticks their neck out for the north-east. I got Slashs autobiography when I was 12, and learned all his solos I had this one blues lick that I used to just rip over the top of every song.. Thats the exact sort of songwriting I love. Oh dear:Sam Fender looked a little worse for wear when he made his way into his Brit Award afterparty at Four Quarters in Peckham on Tuesday night with singer Raye. Its completely autobiographical. Anybody can, so dont feel intimidated by the guitar world, Hammocks Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson: People think they can do ambient music if they just have the right pedalboard, and they cant. However, she hit back at the 'woke' ceremony as she insisted she 'loves being a female artist', after bosses bowed to calls to rid the awards of gendered categories. She suffered from fibromyalgia, which affected her mental health and her ability to work. Earlier this year, he won the Critics Choice Award at the Brits, and in September his debut album went straight in at number one. This track would later see him interviewed on Channel 4 News, Fender suddenly a spokesman on the topic. Musician Sam Fender has rescheduled two North East dates due to illness and a family bereavement. His brother gave him a copy of Buckleys classic 1994 album Grace, and Fender has clearly picked up some vocal tics from the late singer. / For Mam and Dad and all my pals / For all the ones who didnt make the night. Ive got to keep going because Ive been preaching it! So its a self-esteem rock song. And the fact that I never fought back against these kids that used to push us around, or constantly berate us for years on end, it wears you down. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. As a subscriber enjoy big savings off the shop price! (WoD frontman Adam Granduciel had signed on to mix that track, but ultimately couldn't do it because he missed the master deadline for his own album. 100 per cent'. Its a fitting token of the 27 year-olds current run of success. He noodles on his Jazzmaster, does some fingerpicking, or switches to another instrument. Fender's sound and identity as an artist coalesced, with his songwriting skills bucking pop formula. Fender has too much empathy for Seventeen Going Under to be entirely introspective, though. Nevertheless, he landed support slots on the tours of other hopeful newcomers: George Ezra, Catfish and the Bottlemen and Hozier. But its also about how much I love him, how I saw him as a son. He sounds rattled as he says this, but then its been some time since Sam Fender has had anything like equilibrium. Ahead of the ceremony, the North Shields star - whose latest gong will join his other BRITs statuette at his local boozer, The Low Lights Tavern in North Tyneside, where he was discovered - admitted he would be partying hard to celebrate if he won. You dont realise these things affect you until youre older and you dont know why youre walking around with a pit in your stomach or why you push partners away. Guitar World is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. His second album Seventeen Going Under, a superb record that channels the sound of Bruce Springsteen and the War on Drugs into an examination of his family, youth and frailty, is out in October. I lost another friend to suicide last year. 23rd Nov 2021, 2:11pm - 2 min read. From its yearning title track, to urgent cry from the heart Aye, to dark, seventh-chord heavy The Leveller, Seventeen Going Under is a remarkable record, delivered with Fenders earnest, keening vocal not unlike that of The Killers Brandon Flowers and packed with melodies, ear-catching guitar riffs, and the kind of sensitive, poetic lyrics rarely heard in the poppier sphere these days.