英国流行、民谣男歌手
Little boys in Hull don’t play violin. Little boys in Hull have fights on the hill with the rival school and support City. But one such boy was defying the norm, and at the age of seven, was given the instrument that once belonged to his great granddad. This event was to be the beginning of the young Sam Gray’s musical journey.
Sam was brought up in a house full of music; exposed to his mother and father’s Motown collection plus Mr Gray Snr’s musical endeavours, “I used to fall asleep to him playing the tin whistle or harmonica”. Undeterred by his peers, and with no pressure from his parents, Sam sailed through his grades on the violin. “My parents just left me to my own devices really; they didn’t force me to practise. They simply said ‘If you want to do it, then do it, if you don’t then you can stop at any time. But don’t let anyone else stop you’.” But the flame was lit and Sam soon achieved his Grade 8 before also taking up the instrument we’re most likely to see him wielding now. “When I was 15 I got given a guitar by the local church. I didn’t have any lessons; I learnt a few chords from the Internet then practised them playing along to the Stereophonics and jamming with my dad.”
The album we hold in our hands today, the optimistically-titled Brighter Day, may have only taken a fortnight to record, but really it’s been a whole 26 years in the making; through growing up and moving on, heartbreak and playing the violin to Kandinsky paintings... “I had a really cool music teacher called Mr Benson, he really opened my mind. He used to get me to play violin to all these abstract paintings – asked me to play what they made me feel – which was strange because I was more used to having some Bach or Mozart put in front of me, not some incredible image. I think that gave me the confidence to do whatever I wanted to do and to start writing my own songs.”
And write songs he did; from around the age of 15, Sam was making notes of melodies, singing new lyrics in his front room and forming the basis of ideas and tracks that would re-emerge a decade later on his debut album. “I learnt around three chords on the guitar and then started singing melodies over the top. From that point on I just wrote and wrote, and actually started to get some decent songs together.”
Other than the eclectic mix of Stevie Wonder, Irish folk and Motown records that he grew up around; teenage Sam drew inspiration from a diverse range of musical heroes. Besides quite unashamedly listening to “shameful pop” he was also jamming along to Ocean Colour Scene, Paul Weller and Oasis. University brought new friends and new musical offerings and discoveries in the form of Ryan Adams, John Mayer and Dave Matthews, “I love these guys. They covers all bases really; rock, blues, folk… they capture people’s emotions and write what’s real to them. What I’ve taken from these artists is that they’ve always been themselves and that’s what I want to do.”
Now based in Manchester, Sam decided to follow his musical ambitions by playing in clubs and bars, joining a covers band and learning his trade in the age-old manner. This period saw extreme highs and lows – from love lost: “Arwen is about splitting up with someone. She wanted to become an actress in London but I was staying in Manchester to play music. It’s about the upset of leaving, but the excitement of chasing our dreams”, to love gained: “The covers band played in Nice and a couple of the album tracks are written about that time. City Lights is about the romance of the place; walking in the warm air under the city lights. I’d met a girl out there called Gabrielle she was the inspiration for Cartwheel Queen,” – yet, it was in the south of France that Sam was having a ‘What’s It All About Moment’ that so many musicians will recognise; he was penniless, working in a bar back in Manchester, and even his ever-supportive parents were finally urging him to get that fabled ‘proper job’… when fate intervened.
Sam’s early appreciation of Paul Weller was about to come full circle as he met the icon’s legendary drummer Steve White. “Steve’s base when teaching up north at the time was in Stalybridge, or ‘Stalyvegas’ as some deluded little councillor decided to name it, and Steve came along to see me play in the rehearsal rooms there. At the time I wasn’t a well-polished act, but I believed in the tunes and other people seemed to love them, so I played them to Steve. Thankfully he really loved them, and he gave me the chance to have a day in the studio with him. He really latched onto my tunes and even got up at one of my earlier gigs and jammed with us. I had to pinch myself! He really plays for the song, which isn’t something I’d experienced with my friends before. Steve made the groove come alive for me and I was buzzing after that. It was then I decided to get this bunch of songs together and make them sound as good as they could.”
Much more than just a drummer, it was Steve that really mentored the youngster and kick-started his professional career. “He’s the one that has always been knocking down doors, shielding away the people we don’t need and bringing on board the people that we do.” With this renewed vigour, the pair, joined by bassist Rye Hayes (“the Keith Moon of bass guitar”) and keyboard ace Justin Shearn, went into the studio to record the tracks that Sam had carried with him for so long.
The album is an infectious, upbeat document of Sam’s life and his take on the past. Sure, there’s heartbreak and laments about lonelier times, but there are many more tunes of hope, the future and aspirations. One such track, Aeroplanes & Possibilities, was written after Sam first met Steve. “I went back to Hull. It was one of those days where there were a few dark clouds around but the sun had just come out after it’d been raining and I took a walk down the old street I used to play on as a kid. I was feeling good about my music, I was happy and as I was walking along I started to hum this melody. It’s a tune about hopefulness and optimism and thinking outside of the little box that you’re in.”
An effective antidote to this world of bad news and financial doom and gloom, Brighter Day really does deliver what it says on the album sleeve. It’s a celebration of many musical styles; from the bluegrass romp of debut single Cartwheel Queen through to the classic soulful ballad that is Two Hearts, skipping to the Motown-inspired title track Brighter Day. “I’m into so many different styles of music, I’d hear a song by Cee Lo Green, or a Neil Young record, and be inspired. I tried to mix the styles up so that I could keep my sound fresh. I want to surprise people and take them on a journey. Expect the unexpected.”
Recorded in less than two weeks, the album has a classic live feel, with each tune laid down with no click tracks, few overdubs; just live takes with great musicians. Sam was conscious of not putting out something over-produced; “Each song has a really good foundation so we didn’t need to muck about with them too much. Once the basic tracks were recorded, Steve played them to another legend, Brendan Lynch, and Bren agreed to mix and add some proper production to the whole album. He has so many great albums under his belt; I knew he would be the right choice to bring out the best in the songs. Working with Bren and engineer Max Heyes was the total icing on the cake for me, plus the fact that we got to play with bassist Damon Minchella [Ocean Colour Scene] on three tracks… how good is that!?”
So that’s, in essence, what you have here. Brighter Day sums up the sentiment of great songs played by a great band; it really doesn’t need to get any more complicated than that. And what does the finished record mean to Sam? “It means everything. It’s my life’s diary; everything that’s happened, the frustrations I’ve had, the emotions… this has been my let out. Every song, every lyric even, gives me a flashback. I’m so proud of the songs that have come out of it. It means the absolute world to me.”
Who cares what little boys in Hull are supposed to do? This one has taught us that sticking with your hopes and dreams will pay off.