Sam Wills

Having written some impressive gems/jams over the years, it’s highly necessary to get a glimpse on what he’s really about, especially when the date to his new EP draws close. We’re lucky to catch UK based singer-songwriter Sam Wills just before the release date.

N-F: Tell us a bit about your song writing journey. How and when did it begin?

SW: My earliest memory of creating music was when I was 8 or 9, and my mum bought me ‘Top Of The Pops Mix Factory’ for the computer, which was basically a load of instrument and drum loops you could piece together and make tunes, and I was hooked on that! I started playing piano/singing around 10 and I wrote my first song a couple of years after that. It was called ‘Free’, and obviously it sucked… But I haven’t looked back since!

N-F: You seem to write songs about relationships, are most of them based on real life situations?

SW: Some of them are, and some are based on the experiences/stories of people around me that I get inspired by. With a few of my songs I feel the relevance of them on reflection after I’ve written them too, which I love.

N-F: You’ve worked with producers such as Alix Perez, Tom Misch and Moods. How different are their styles when it comes to working in the studio.

SW: Well with the 3 main songs I’ve released with them (Annie’s Song/In The Midst Of It All/How I Feel), it was actually a very similar process of them already having the beat roughly formed, I would write and record the vocals and then they polish and perfect the song.

However the other time I’ve spent with them in the studio building songs from scratch, with Tom and Nick (Moods), the way it happens is pretty similar, and obviously I bring my process to the studio too which influences how it goes down. It often starts with the chords, then we’ll quickly build a beat around it, drums and then bass. During that time, I’ll also start to play with melodies, recording any ideas on my phone. Once we have some melodies and rough lyrics I’ll work on it and record the vocals properly. Then we work on the track as a whole and make it sweet!

N-F:What prompted ‘Kool Aid’?

SW: Kool Aid came about during my first session with Phairo, a super talented producer from London. We put together the beat, and I jammed some rough melodies. A month or so later I came back to the song and started playing with lyrics and ‘Kool Aid in the water’ came to me. I was being booked to fly to LA/San Francisco at the time, I hadn’t been before and I was super excited, so the lyrics naturally came from there, imagining what LA life could be like! I still haven’t tried Kool Aid though haha! Should probably do that.

N-F: You should, and tell us if you like the taste! So, any plans on touring with a live band?

SW: Definitely. I have a headline show in London coming up on 26th March at The Lexington. I’m looking to do a UK tour later this year.

N-F: Care to share on what have you been listening to? Anybody you want to recommend?

SW: Shanti EP by Raveena is amazing! The new Zoology EP. New Shay Lia. My new EP when it drops on 16th March

N-F: Ha! Quick move on the release date. Thank you so much for sharing, and we’ll definitely cop your EP.

You may check his music here: https://soundcloud.com/samwillsmusic