Sam Harrison

"I can remember pretending I was Alan White bashing along to it. To be honest though I just made a lot of racket, but got a tremendous sense of enjoyment."

Twenty-two year old, Sam Harrison may be young in his career, but he isn’t young when it comes to his talent. Multi-instrumentalist, Sam Harrison has been playing music for a big chunk of his life. Born in Sheffield, UK, he spends most of his time writing and playing live gigs around the city. Not only does his gritty voice grab your attention, but his presence on stage can hold the attention of the entire room. Sam Harrison is a newcomer on the scene and may be based in the UK, but I can only hope that his music is heard all over the world.

Q. As a singer songwriter, what are some of your hopes in the next year for your music?

A. Well I’m about to go back into the studio to record another 4 or 5 songs, some new some old… then I’ll be going back to record another 4 in March with the producers who did the EP. So by spring/summer next year an albums worth of material will be done and my hope is to turn some heads. I should be playing some UK Festivals next summer, and thats always been something I wanted to achieve. So, fingers crossed. There’s also a tour lined up. So, yeah there are things I’m hoping for!

Q. When did you realize you wanted to be a musician?

A. At the tender age of 9 when I heard ‘Be Here Now’ by Oasis. I was given a snare drum by my uncle a few months previous to it being realised. I can remember pretending I was Alan White bashing along to it. To be honest though I just made a lot of racket, but got a tremendous sense of enjoyment.

Q. You’re a multi instrumentalist. What instruments do you play and at what age did you learn to play them?

A. Drums, Piano, Guitar, Bass, Mandolin, Harmonica, and bizarrely Ukele. I generally got decent on the drums around the age 10/11, then lots of American guitar based music started making a huge impact on the UK charts, so, I got my first guitar. I was 11, I believe it was an acoustic off my dad, then I got an electric a year later and it’s just gone on from there. When i was 15/16 i started listening to the Beatles. This firstly made me understand what a good bass line was and how it was essential to a decent beat, but more importantly that the Beatles made me realise that no matter what I had learn to play the piano, it was a massive ambition, and I didn’t know how I was going to get there. I had very little patience for lessons, so I kinda just picked it up as I went along, learning one chord here and another there, and it’s got to a point where I rarely ever write on anything but the piano harmonica. That was first picked up around 17/18, ukele and mandolin more recently 21. I got them both as Christmas presents and saw it as a challenge to learn them.

Q. What are some of the things in life that inspire you to pick up a pencil and write a song?

A. For a small town where I live, a hell of a lot goes off, as it does anywhere i suppose, I write a lot about every day life. I try not to write songs for or about specific people anymore. The batch of songs recorded last in the studio, the themes were quite diverse. The Great Escape is a comment on the frustration of being stuck in one routine, Sticks & Stones has an underlying theme about the perils gambling, although i think i can be understood in different ways. Then as usually there’s love songs, but even in then I like to make sure the things that are being said are realistic and applicable to every day life. There’s Walking on the River too which is more or less just a standard pop up-tempo ballad, but in that case it just seemed to work.

Q. You’ve been compared to the talented David Gray. How does it feel being compared to someone who has made such an impact in the folk genre?

A. Comparisons are always a good thing and to be compared to him is really good. When I wrote Walking on a River, the vibe I went for was one similar to the ‘One I Love.’ I think his songs are a great template to any aspiring singer songwriter, although I do believe that on later albums he’s pidgeon holed himself into writing one type of song, where as I like being able to diversify.

Q. If you could open up for any musician, who would it be and why?

A. I’d love to open with Coldplay. They get a lot of flack in the UK, for generally just being a top band. I think with the right band together backing up the songs it would be a good night.

Q. You play shows all around your home, but do you ever have any plans to come to the US and tour?

A. I definitely have plans to! If or when they come off or not is another matter. If I get to a position where I can tour the US, I’ll be one happy chappy.

Q. Do you plan to release an EP anytime soon?

A. I’ll be releasing a four track EP in the winter/spring of 2011… Its all recorded and ready to go, but just a few things to sort out behind the scene’s first, but it’s definitely on its way!

Q. What has been the most memorable experience in your musical career so far?

A. I was in State of The Ark studio’s in London and I wrote a track in the same studio that Terry Britten and Tina Turner wrote ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’, on the same day I pinched Richard Ashcroft’s (The Verve) guitar off the shelve and had a little play, I put it back though.

Q. If you were stranded on an island for the rest of your life and could only bring one of your songs to listen to, which one would it be and why?

A. I’ve just done a song called ‘Long Way Home’ it’s the longest song I’ve done, so it’d keep me occupied that little bit longer, and it’s also got tons of melodies in it.

Here is a great tune for you all to listen to by the talented Sam Harrison called, “Long Way Home.”