NEWS
Sam Fender: 'I just want to get back in the studio, if I'm honest. I've got a load of new songs already'
20 February 2025
Sam Fender sat down with Apple Music's Zane Lowe for an interview about his forthcoming album ‘People Watching’. In the interview, Sam discusses what it was like to make the new album in his hometown, the photo used for the artwork and what it was like to work with Adam Granduciel from War On Drugs.
Sam Fender on making the new record in his hometown…
Yeah, because I feel like there's a lot of bands and artists that have made that mistake in the past. People Watching, the title track was about Annie Owen. She was like a surrogate mother, and I was looking after her when she passed away. So the last five days of her life, I was with her in palliative care and I was staying back in my hometown. And every day when I was walking back from the palliative care place, I was people watching and just trying to think about what was going on. I wonder what's going on in that person's life, because I think it was quite an intense time, do you know what I mean?
Sam Fender on the album artwork…
So the photos were done by Tish Murtha, and Tish Murtha is not with us anymore. She is an incredible photographer who really sort of documented the North East and Newcastle where I'm from sort of in the '80s and the '90s. Well, all of our life from the '70s all the way through our life. She just takes these incredible photos and I feel like, I mean, she was like the original people watcher.
Sam Fender on working with Adam Granduciel from War On Drugs…
Oh man. I mean, it was an honour. I mean, he was one of my biggest heroes. The first time I heard Lost in The Dream, that record, I was really ill at the time and I was in hospital for a while, and that whole year that I spent kind of recovering, that record, it was the only thing I really listened to. So his music means a lot to me anyway. So the first time, it was one of those, it was such a weird thing. I was like, "I would love to work with him, but I know that he's never produced outside of The War on Drugs."
We have a saying in the North East and it's 'shy bairns get nowt', which means shy kids getting nothing. And I was like, "I'm just going to have to get a hold of him and see if he'd be up for it." So I asked the label and I got a hold of him and I was on the phone and I was just like, "Look, I would love you to do this." And then we got talking and we realised that we're both listening to all the same stuff or just all the references, all the music that we love. It was like Tom Petty and The Replacements and Springsteen and Dylan and The Waterboys.
And then it was like it just made so much sense, so then when we went out there, it all happened really quickly and that's always a great sign for me. I feel like if things are moving fast, then you know it's happening. As soon as it's done, it's like wiping the hard drive in your head and now I'm ready to do another one. I just want to get back in the studio, if I'm honest. I've got a load of new songs already.
Sam Fender on trying a stripped back sound…
There's two avenues I've got right now on the go. I've got a real stripped back bunch of tunes, which really I couldn't build on them. They need to just be on their own. And then the other side's a bit more thrashy. So I'm thinking about two records at once at the moment. I don't know. We'll see, we'll see. But I would love to do a real stripped back, because I mean, that's how I started. The band kind only came together once I've actually recorded my first sort of single. It was a couple of my mates from home. It was Dean, my best friend who's my guitarist, and I was like, "I need to get a band together because if I don't, well, I can't play these songs live," do you know what I mean?
But before then, I toured for a while. When I was 18, 19, 20, those sort of three years, I was just on my own with an acoustic. That's kind how I started everything. So yeah, I would love to go back to that. There's a part of us that really yearns for, maybe it's a little solo tour just on my own with an acoustic maybe to see what that's like.
Sam Fender on making the new record in his hometown…
Sam Fender on the album artwork…
So the photos were done by Tish Murtha, and Tish Murtha is not with us anymore. She is an incredible photographer who really sort of documented the North East and Newcastle where I'm from sort of in the '80s and the '90s. Well, all of our life from the '70s all the way through our life. She just takes these incredible photos and I feel like, I mean, she was like the original people watcher.
Sam Fender on working with Adam Granduciel from War On Drugs…
Oh man. I mean, it was an honour. I mean, he was one of my biggest heroes. The first time I heard Lost in The Dream, that record, I was really ill at the time and I was in hospital for a while, and that whole year that I spent kind of recovering, that record, it was the only thing I really listened to. So his music means a lot to me anyway. So the first time, it was one of those, it was such a weird thing. I was like, "I would love to work with him, but I know that he's never produced outside of The War on Drugs."
We have a saying in the North East and it's 'shy bairns get nowt', which means shy kids getting nothing. And I was like, "I'm just going to have to get a hold of him and see if he'd be up for it." So I asked the label and I got a hold of him and I was on the phone and I was just like, "Look, I would love you to do this." And then we got talking and we realised that we're both listening to all the same stuff or just all the references, all the music that we love. It was like Tom Petty and The Replacements and Springsteen and Dylan and The Waterboys.
And then it was like it just made so much sense, so then when we went out there, it all happened really quickly and that's always a great sign for me. I feel like if things are moving fast, then you know it's happening. As soon as it's done, it's like wiping the hard drive in your head and now I'm ready to do another one. I just want to get back in the studio, if I'm honest. I've got a load of new songs already.
Sam Fender on trying a stripped back sound…
There's two avenues I've got right now on the go. I've got a real stripped back bunch of tunes, which really I couldn't build on them. They need to just be on their own. And then the other side's a bit more thrashy. So I'm thinking about two records at once at the moment. I don't know. We'll see, we'll see. But I would love to do a real stripped back, because I mean, that's how I started. The band kind only came together once I've actually recorded my first sort of single. It was a couple of my mates from home. It was Dean, my best friend who's my guitarist, and I was like, "I need to get a band together because if I don't, well, I can't play these songs live," do you know what I mean?
But before then, I toured for a while. When I was 18, 19, 20, those sort of three years, I was just on my own with an acoustic. That's kind how I started everything. So yeah, I would love to go back to that. There's a part of us that really yearns for, maybe it's a little solo tour just on my own with an acoustic maybe to see what that's like.
