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Written By: Maisie |
Sam Sparro has exploded into popular consciousness this summer via gossip websites and gold trousers and there’s no sign of him disappearing any time soon. Though he was born in Australia and moved to LA when he was 10, he always knew that he would find fame and fortune in London. He writes, performs and produces his own material which is as distinctive as it is pop.
His vocal style is influenced by his father, Chris Falson, who is a gospel singer in LA and Sam performed from an early age. He had an early endorsement from Chaka Khan when she announced: “Damn, that white boy can sing,” when she popped over to the Falson house for a cup of tea.
Fast forward fifteen or so years and after being forced to return to LA from London, Sam started putting speakeasy nights on at the loft of David Jay from Bauhaus. It was there he met Jesse Rogg from record label Modus. They put out an EP a year ago and the full album was released in April.
So far this summer Sam has been everywhere; and there’s much more to come. If you’re attending a festival then he’s probably going to be performing at it. And if not, they probably tried to book him. Data Transmission caught up with Sam to have a chat about festivals past and present.
So, how was Glastonbury? Have you ever been before?
Glastonbury was really amazing actually. I was just blown away by the scale of it, you know. I’ve never been before; it’s just such a huge operation. I’m just really impressed with how they pull it off and how they get everybody there. It was a really nice vibe. Everyone seemed to be really enjoying themselves and the weather was good. And the crowd for my show was absolutely smashing. I had a great Glastonbury experience. I will definitely go back.
Were you there for the weekend or did you have to shoot in and out?
I got there really, really late on Friday. Like four in the morning so I was there for Saturday and Sunday. But I missed the Gossip; I had really wanted to watch them play on the pyramid stage. I saw Amy Winehouse, CSS and a couple of other bits and pieces. I spent most of the time kind of hanging out, walking around, and eating. We went up to the Greenfields. We kind of sat on the hill and overlooked the festival. Just took in the sights really.
How do you feel about day festivals such as Wireless? It must be quite different to be in a park, in the middle of London; do you like them as well?
Yeah, definitely. It’s good to do stuff in London because some of my best friends live here and then they get to come. Wireless is round the corner so it’s easy. I’m back and forth between LA and London at the moment but I’m spending most of the time in London. It’s a great city: I used to live here and I’ve always loved it. I’ve always had a big thing for London. I don’t really get to see a lot of London, or anywhere, at the moment because I’m working all the time but it’s good to have my friends close.
How do you find festivals like Global Gathering that are much more dance orientated?
I think my show fits into loads of different places and I think it will go down really well at a dance festival. It is essentially a dance show. We get the crowd involved and kind of turn it into a party.
What would be your ideal festival moment? Have you got an all time best festival experience?
I would say 2006, Coachella [Indio, California], Daft Punk. It was pretty much like the most mind-blowing time I ever had at a festival. It was the first time they’d ever used the pyramid show and they premiered it at Coachella and it just blew everybody’s heads off because nobody was expecting it. It just completely took everybody by surprise and everybody was talking about it the next day and for and weeks afterwards everyone was like, “Did you see Daft Punk? Did you see Daft Punk?” I’ve just got tingles thinking about it because it was that amazing. Yeah; brilliant.
We’ll second that! Do you have any worst festival experiences to share with us?
My worst festival experience? Oh no, I’d rather not discus those actually. I’m sure you can imagine... [laughs] No there was some bad, some bad times at festivals. The most important thing is sort of like to stay hydrated I think. Not go overboard. You know, take it easy and not get too trashed. Because then you don’t really remember anything. And that’s kind of pointless.
But I’ve had friends kind of like you know, hospitalised at a festival. But they’re okay they just kind of went a bit overboard. But it can be quite risky; people really go nuts at festivals.
You’ve lived in the UK, US and Australia. What are biggest differences between festivals in the different countries (aside from the weather obviously!)?
Well there’s just the magnitude of festivals in the UK is what’s amazing. There’s just so many festivals over here. There’s like one every weekend somewhere in the country. Also, I’ve only been to a few festivals in the UK, but in California the desert heat is so severe. It can be like 45 degrees and it’s just more than the body can handle.
I think festivals in the UK and Australia are similar. The scale is a lot smaller in Australia but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The thing that’s overwhelming about festivals is that there’s so much on at the same time and it’s hard to see everything. You’ve always got to pick and choose what you’re going to miss out on. When there are only a couple of stages or a main stage and one other it’s easier.
There are some really good festivals in Sydney, there’s one called Good Vibrations and another one called Big Day Out and I’ll be doing those next year. Good Vibrations is really cool actually. This year Kanye West, Calvin Harris and The Rapture all headlined it and the last time I went they had Soul II Soul.
Do you prefer to be at a festival then than just doing your own show?
The environment at a festival is great because you get to do your thing and then you get to go and see some other people play and there’s always interesting people to meet – people that you’re a fan of or just people back stage.
Okay, last question. Which are better: wellies or flip flops?
I think flip flops definitely but wellies are quite comfortable. I was wearing my wellies at Glastonbury even though it wasn’t that muddy.
Are they patterned wellies?
They’re just like Marc Jacobs rubber ones. They’re really comfortable. Yeah; they’re really good.
The new single by Sam Sparro “21st Century Life” and his album Sam Sparro are both out now.
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