My mum was a nurse who birthed practically half the babies in North Shields. On the first album, I talked about politics as if I knew what I was talking about, but I realized I dont. Writers like Kendrick Lamar the explanation of their surroundings is so real and visceral. "Me and my dad had a five-year period where we didn't get on very well," Fender shares. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Photo by Chux on Tour Photography@chuxontour, "But I've just bought a ridiculous Jazzmaster. Sams dad was a huge Steely Dan fan, and that bands harmonically complex blend of jazz and rock was often on in the car and the kitchen. Fortunately, the moment changes him back to his past life, way to music. Their impact on how he approaches crafting song parts can be heard in "Last To Make It Home," particularly the expansive guitar solo on the outro. It's beautiful and I think there's more to be looked down that avenue. But its hard to raise a kid, especially when theres divorce and money issues. And it's one knob. He lived there with his mother on a council estate, a type of British public housing. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Well have these conversations about toxic masculinity and my dad goes: I didnt teach you anything like that, did I? No, there are no records mentioning Sam Fender has an illness called cancer. 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. He sounds rattled as he says this, but then its been some time since Sam Fender has had anything like equilibrium. Wed love to stay in touch, sign up for The Pick team to contact you with great news, content and offers. You might be wondering to know about his illness and current health situation. Its one of my mates sayings: Ive armed myself with a grin. Ive always played the happy-go-lucky joker. Then I realised that if Im going to fail, then I may as well fail on my own terms, with songs I really believed in.. This is a sequel to Dead Boys [2018 track examining male suicide]. It's about a father and son's relationship and the inability to talk about anything other than DIY, music, or alcohol. SAM Fender is looking for love after enjoying a string of dates with singer Raye. On Mantra, you write about another kind of malaise: fame. He is young, white, wields a guitar, and possesses a pair of cheekbones the actor Eddie Redmayne could open letters with. "I refuse to go out there and not give it my all every time, as you all deserve nothing else," he added. Pauls great to bounce things off because hes a lyric writer himself, he really engages with that. 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. Its not as if Im an expert, hes quick to point out. I dont know about you, he says, but a lot of the time I dont want to be me, so I always liked the escapism that acting offered.. I had my outside life as a kid, and then Id go back home and see my mother in turmoil. "It's the second year of Jazzmasters, one of the very, very first ones. Sam Fender Seventeen Going Under (Live from Brixton), Mainly Oasis (@mainlyoasis) November 15, 2021. Mantra was written when I was in a bit of a down time. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? Witness one of his signature chorus-and-whammy solos at 12:50 on "The Borders" from 2019's Hypersonic Missiles. Its a fighting song. I feel like the War on Drugs have refined it. Radio X revealed Sam Fenders health is improving than before and he is overcoming his illness. The Dying Light How remorseless Stephen Bear continued his arrogant antics up until Do not sell or share my personal information. When he tells stories about human beings rather than philosophizing about the human condition, he sounds like hes on his way to greatness. No metaphor, no meaning, just, Barefoot girl sitting on the hood of a Dodge drinking warm beer in the soft summer rain [from Jungleland]. And so, this reckoning unfolds throughout 11 tracks. Mantra Then when you come to play anything youve learned, or any song you want to learn, you realise how much all of these things are just incorporated into it naturally. This songs about figuring out that you cant pay so much attention to these people who genuinely dont care about you and theyre only there to bolster themselves. ", Sonically, the War on Drugs is one of Fender's favorite bands. My dad taught me that trick.. ", He explains his sweet spot for tone matter-of-factly. Not all the songs chew over familial dynamics. BA1 1UA. Back in 2014, he suffered from a life-threatening illness, a vocal cord illness. 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. Organisers divided opinion and some were left outraged by the decision to switch to gender-neutral gongs for the first time in its history, in calls led by non-binary singer Sam Smith. Spit of You is a love letter to my dad. All rights reserved. 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. His rescheduled appearances at UK record stores are also affected. Fender's sound has a tinge of throwback and noticeable nods to his influences (cough, cough, sexy saxophone solos), but the magic lies in how he connects on so many levels with cinematic arrangements, bull's-eye lyrics, and sincere delivery. Theres a sect of snooty liberalism in the media world that completely alienates working-class people. 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. Nobody sticks their neck out for the north-east. Present-day Sam's social media is light and carefree, with videos of him explaining how to make the best cuppa, eating jellied eels, and mini movies of strangers on the street with improvised voiceovers. Author: Scott Colothan and Georgie Holland Published 7th Dec 2022. I have to cut things out so I can keep my head straight, because there have already been so many highs and lows, and I dont need chemicals to make things any worse. At every point in the room I had tape markers down for the points where I had really good feedback one where Id get a screech, one for the high note, another for the low. Alec Baldwin mistaken for 'hobo' by bemused residents of BRIT Awards 2022: 'The great BRIT-ish bar crawl!' Im just trying to take it all in. When I had a girlfriend, I realised I couldnt surrender myself to people. She was a hard-working, fantastic, empathetic, incredible woman. Theres plenty of loudmouthed Geordie drug dealers, the most unsubtle drug dealers on the planet, and Id get plenty of bits from that. It was his father, a guitar player himself , who bought Sam his very first guitar, back when he was eight. 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. So Im constantly having to work out ways of successfully playing my shows without killing my voice. "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. He was stuck in the horror mental health struggles during the Covid-19 pandemic. so me and the boys are thinking about doing a stint out there for six months, and try and write a third record. Its toxic masculinity at its finest. And Ive not taken anything in yet., Hypersonic Missiles is out now. It was written around the time when all the Trump supporters were storming the capital building. Fender has won two Brit awards, both of which have been turned into beer hand pulls at the Low Lights Tavern in North Shields, where he worked and was discovered at the age of 18. Sam Fender will be taking a break from his career after becoming concerned about his mental health. 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. In it, he tells young Sam not to be so serious. He likes to experiment with tunings as well. I was bullied in school because I had long hair and I was sensitive. Its an E minor shape with open strings [E-x/A-7/D-5/G-0/B-8/E-0], followed by a tasty Dadd9/11 [E-x/A-5/ D-7/G-0/B-7/E-0]. Thematically, Fender, who is 27, gazed outward on Hypersonic Missiles, but he goes deeply inward on Seventeen Going Under. Im sat there crying cos Ive hurt my finger, and Im crying even more because Im watching my dad kicking the house down. A lot of those more emotionally challenging parts of my childhood drove me to learn something, so I could have an outlet.. Thankfully, the health condition Sam Fender is better now and his illness is improving, says Radio X. Alternatively, follow in Raye's fashionable footsteps by bagging an embellished midi dress via the carousel. Bath Get You Down And I put it on and it's not as good as a Small Clone. Its really an anthem for losersbecause weve all been a loser once. When the first lockdown descended, an existing health condition required him to isolate and shield inside his home for three months. He has had a thrilling year, clearly, but it has also unsettled him. 11 Songs, 45 minutes What's the least exercise we can get away with? Sam Fender: Leftie is now a slur in working-class towns. Your new album draws from your own life more than ever. I just know that Im lucky that Im still here, that Im still alive, and that Ive got good prospects. "It just built and built and built and became this huge orchestral track. I do a lot of that. It's literally the soundtrack of his adolescence. In spring 2020, Sam Fender had nowhere to go. That means I can do this as well [laughs]. But she got sent to court three times to prove that she wasnt fit to work. Not for long he is off on tour imminently, in support of his recent number one album, Hypersonic Missiles. Its insane: the whole town recognises me, everyone wants selfies. 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. In 2011, Sam Fender was, by his own admission, a little stoner who had flunked out of his A-Levels in his hometown of North Shields, living with his mother in a flat with black mould on the walls. But more deeply, its in Fenders novelistic eye for local colour, those vivid, real-life details, as on the melancholy Dying Light: This town is a world of waifs and strays, comedy giants, penniless heroes/Dead men at the bar, I drank with them all. There is no hint to indicate Sam being in a romantic relationship. On April 25, 1994, Sam Fender was born to his mother, Shirley Fender, and father, Alan Fender. His mother's profession was a nurse. Sam has spent his childhood with his brother Liam Fender in the North Shields. I think its a really powerful moment. 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. His immune system issues affected his touring. 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. Im an ear player and cant read music at all. Though his new album is bursting with layers upon layers of instruments, he undoubtedly has an ingrained sense of how to be impactful with just a guitar and his voice, which came from years of performing solo without a backing band. As of 2021, he released his songs such as Spit of You, Seventeen Going Under, and Get You Down. Sometimes with my Strat I feel like my chords are pissing in the wind, whereas this feels like its got more bite.. Jangly Jazzmasters and epic, chorus-drenched solos play a lead character through it all. Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk. It's all in the new album, but 27-year-old Sam had this to say to 17-year-old Sam: "Art is the purest remedy for all internal conflict and you're taking a career in it. It leveled everything. They ended up disappearing and getting charged for things, but I wasnt involved in anything illicit, I was on the sidelines. But fans at the time blasted the change as 'woke drivel' at the time, with many calling for a boycott. EXCLUSIVE: Head teacher of leading grammar school is sacked for sending parents a list of striking teachers. Copyright 2023 The song peaked at Ive never given myself the time of day before, and now I am its been nice. Sam Fender has announced he is to take a short break from touring to look after his mental health. And they thought, Im going to vote for that. I handled it as well as anyone else did: absolutely horrendously. Its just so stupid!". We're a long way off from sorting out the mess the world is in.". I had to shield, so for the first three months I was on my own. It was a big night for Sam, who won the Rock/Alternative act award. My grandmother was a really small woman, and when she was dying, she looked like a child. A music journalist for over 20 years, Grant writes regularly for titles including Classic Rock and Total Guitar, and his CV also includes stints as a radio producer/presenter and podcast host. A subscription makes a thoughtful gift for both family and friends. "I feel like it's my first proper album," says Fender. BBC Music Correspondent After a year of cancelled gigs, Sam Fender has discovered that going back on tour is a lot like going back to school: you're going to get By Naman Ramachandran. He had the looks, and the Top Man pout proved malleable. Got to stick to your guns, man., Listening to Springsteen helped me find my own voice. He admits it is affecting his 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. Writing was therapy before I got therapy, he tells Apple Music. I feel like Ive started to close the chapter on that part of my life. You cant do that. I was old enough to understand what was going on, but I wasnt old enough to be able to do anything about it. This track would later see him interviewed on Channel 4 News, Fender suddenly a spokesman on the topic. Raye added height to her frame in bold, bejewelled orange heels and showed off her impressive tattoo collection. So, I find the chords on piano sometimes and then I'll find interesting variants of the chords on the guitar to make it sound pretty." I wanted it to sound like [the Dans] The Caves Of Altamira meets indie [rock]! At the beginning, Im talking to the Virgin Mary, a Mary pendant. "He lived in a different country. Sam Fender has canceled a selection of upcoming tour dates, citing the need to look after his mental health. But right now, here he is, in a caf in his home town of North Shields, taking refuge at a corner table, and speaking with all the coiled intensity of one whose life has undergone a radical transformation and is still trying to make sense of it. 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. 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. And Bramwell, he was technically a nobody, because nobody had heard of him, but now hes produced my album, and its sold well, so He laughs. Recently, he opened up about his mental illness and mental struggle after the coronavirus pandemic left him pretty wretched. New award:Adele won the first ever genderless Artist Of The Year gong after the male and female categories were scrapped. 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 There was a lot of riots there back in the '90s. Not just that, all of it other musicians Theres just loads of pricks in this industry, a lot of divas, and also others who want to grab on to your coat-tails. The rest of 2022 he'll be headlining arena tours, as well as supporting the Killers on four dates in London and Dublin. Fender began writing songs at 14 and playing guitar at 10. Earlier this year, he won the Critics Choice Award at the Brits, and in September his debut album went straight in at number one. 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. I felt like now Im famous and in a rock band Ive got to play the part but I just realised that I was paying attention to arseholes. When youre famous, you get into these places where youre surrounded by back-sniffing sociopaths. rather than hire, say, Mark Ronson, a handsome quiff with clout. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. Sam Fender shares a moment with his saxophonist and childhood friend, Johnny "Blue Hat" Davis, at London's O2 Brixton Academy in September 2021. He started playing guitar at 10 and writing songs at 14. Fender grew up in this small village, which he calls "a drinking town with a fishing problem." 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. These songs of tribulation are resonating strongly with Britons, and landed Fender another No. Heres how it works. He remains silent when it comes to sharing his personal life. Tonight, these streets are heaving with young hearts on the chase, he sings on Youre Not the Only One. The singer revealed that there was a moment when he felt very low and thought that he would never get happy in his life again. The melody-first ones tend to be singles. WebHealth. It's a 1959," he continues. But when it comes to buying stuff, there's still a part of us that thinks I'm still living in the flat with my mum on a council estate, and I still feel like I can't. Therapy gave me the tools to articulate what was going on in my life as a kid and to understand how that has affected me and why I am the way I am in certain situations. Ive bought my first ever daft guitar, he says with a cheeky grin. They frequently drip with Springsteen-isms, and not just in the occasional parping saxophone. When conversation turns to a special guitar he just bought, Fender lights up. Throughout much of Hypersonic Missiles, you get the sense of a young man with a tight v stamped permanently on his brow. The tour for that album was cut short by the pandemic, and over the enforced lockdown hiatus Fender hunkered down at his home in North Shields, and wrote the material for his second album. I didnt look after myself Sam Fender. The only time you get it in popular British music is in the grime and hip-hop side. Davies immediately took Fender on as an artist, telling U.K. music industry trade paper Music Week: "He's just an undeniable talent, he's hard to ignore.". Here we are back in 1994 ? Sam teamed his tops with black trousers and edgy lace-up boots. 23rd Nov 2021, 2:11pm - 2 min read. A lot of working-class people in England feel displaced by it all, and in my hometown as well. Send a photo of you and your loved one(s) to [emailprotected] by midnight tomorrow and selected photos will be featured in my live shows over the next couple of weeks. 'The family is growing! Music is the passion and pain killer of his all sorrows and frustrations. Witch, Harridan, Harpy, and new insults like Karen and Terf.