Interview — Sam Fender
Some Reason To Believe
With »Hypersonic Missiles,« British singer-songwriter Sam Fender has just introduced an energetic, soulful and wise debut album to the world. We talked with him about archaic patterns, real beauty, and the reason why many people are »so blissfully unaware of everything.«
13. September 2019 — MYP N° 26 »Style« — Interview: Jonas Meyer, Photography: Maximilian König
When Bruce Springsteen played a show in Pittsburgh on September 22, 1984, he dedicated his song “The River” to union steelworkers in Pennsylvania who, at that time, were fighting for better wages and working conditions.
Springsteen said: “There’s something really dangerous happening to us out there. We’re slowly getting split up into two different Americas. Things are getting taken away from people that need them and given to people that don’t need them, and there’s a promise getting broken. In the beginning, the idea was that we all live here a little bit like a family, where the strong can help the weak ones, the rich can help the poor ones. I don’t think the American dream was that everybody was going to make it or that everybody was going to make a billion dollars, but it was that everybody was going to have an opportunity and the chance to live a life with some decency and some dignity and a chance for some self-respect. So I know you gotta be feelin’ the pinch down here where the rivers meet.”
Reading his words today, we wonder if anything has really changed in the last 35 years. And to be honest, it seems even worse today. Climate change is real, the crisis of democracy is real, the repression of truth by “alternative facts” is real. And to top it all off, the world seems to have become a playground for a league of elder men who take pleasure in competing with their egos. At least one of them can be found on every continent, in every country—even in the United Kingdom, where something known as “British understatement” was once created.
But here comes the good news—virtues like decency, sincerity, and reflectiveness aren’t dead. They’re only drowned out by those who are permanently screaming and shouting in public, on TV or on Twitter. We have to listen more closely to those who really have something to say—like Sam Fender. The singer-songwriter from North East England became visible to much of the world two years ago when he published “Play God,” a true earworm of a song that branded him as energetic, soulful and wise.
One year later, Sam gave us “Dead Boys,” a powerful yet heartbreaking piece of music where he talks about the frighteningly high suicide rate of young men in the U.K. The issue is personal for Sam, as he has also lost some friends who decided to take their lives.
With Hypersonic Missiles, Sam Fender has now presented his very first album—including a song of the same name which deals with the threat of war. This record not only shows where the young man stands musically, but it’s also a status quo description of the world out there. We met him one day before his 25th birthday for an interview.
Oh, by the way: On April 25, 1996, when Sam Fender was born, Bruce Springsteen played a concert on British ground, at Brixton Academy in London. It is said that they heard the music as far as North East England.
»When I was a kid, I felt very claustrophobic in my hometown and I thought making music was kind of an unrealistic idea.«
Jonas:
A couple of weeks ago, you were a guest on the German TV show Aspekte. You told the host Jo Schück that you just try to write songs from the perspective of a 24-year-old that grew up in North East England. What kind of perspective is that exactly?
Sam:
I’m born and raised in North Shields which is a very blue-collar town. It’s a place for working-class people—a little crazy, but pretty normal in general. When I was a kid, I felt very claustrophobic there and I thought making music was kind of an unrealistic idea. I was very lucky to be discovered by my manager at a time when nobody was caring about me or my career. So, what’s my perspective? I mean, I’m from there, I come from a place that is not the cultural hub of the world and that is predominantly white. There aren’t many other ethnicities in my hometown which is crazy. When I was in London for the very first time as a kid, everything felt more than amazing. Compared to the rest of England, London is very different…
Jonas:
… like Berlin compared to the rest of Germany.
Sam:
Exactly, that’s the thing. The area I come from isn’t densely populated, there are just a few thousand people living in my hometown. My perspective on everything I’m singing about is defined by that—which means I can only say what I know. And that’s probably not very much because I’m only 24 and I’m just trying to absorb as much as I can. When you listen to the songs on my album, you’re going to see that most of them are coming from me as an actual person. But there are other songs as well that are not written from the perspective of a 24-year-old, I created them from the perspective of a character. “Hypersonic Missiles,” for example, is one of those songs.
»There’s a lot of ignorance in the world. And to be honest, I’m ignorant to myself.«
Jonas:
I learned that, at the time that you wrote “Play God” a few years ago, you were very anxious about the future and feeling paranoid. Are you still that anxious today?
Sam:
Yeah, definitely. We’re in a very dangerous place politically, we’re in a very dangerous place economically in the U.K., and we’re in a very dangerous place environmentally. There’s a lot of ignorance in the world. And to be honest, I’m ignorant to myself. Somehow, it switched off, but the reality is that there’s only like ten years left that we have to make change in the environment—or the damage is going to be irreversible. This planet will collapse, our species will die. The human race won’t be able to sustain itself if we don’t make some big changes in the next ten years.
»We’re in a place now where we urgently need change. Immediately.«
Jonas:
Do you think we will be able to avert the catastrophe?
Sam:
I don’t really know. I don’t trust that our government is going to change anything. I don’t trust that, when you’ve got someone like Trump at the head of the United States, anyone is going to change anything. I mean, this guy doesn’t even believe that climate change is real. He completely denies its existence. And there are thousands and thousands of people who follow him. He’s very open to all that fuckin’ coal shit and is interested in keeping all the fossil fuel factories running.
I come from a town which is built on fossil fuel, a town where the industry is thriving on coal mines and all the other stuff that’s not good for the environment. That’s the reason why I understand what it is when politicians or others say that they’re just trying to save jobs. These industries are giving people work, that’s understandable. And for sure, I personally would be very happy if the mines could be kept open just so people would not lose their work. When all the shipyards in my area were closed in the 1980s, thousands of men lost their jobs, some even committed suicide because they didn’t see a way out. My dad and all my uncles were working there, I totally understand the arguments because I grew up in a world that had seen the effects of industry closing down. But the big problem is: It’s not going to sustain. We’re in a place now where we urgently need change. Immediately. We need to do everything we can to stop what is happening right now before our eyes. Or the world is done.
»While we praise the technology for the fact that it gave us Netflix, it enables, on the other hand, the rise of right-wing movements in the U.S., the U.K. and everywhere else in the world.«
Jonas:
In “Hypersonic Missiles” you sing “I am so blissfully unaware of everything,” and in the accompanying music video you show how young people of your age literally don’t care. That’s a behavior pattern that doesn’t seem so unfamiliar to most of us, to be honest. Why are so many people “so blissfully unaware of everything?”
Sam:
Because of damn reasons—because of that little thing (points his finger at his smartphone). We’ve got every piece of media on the planet in it, and our entire life is in it too: our work, our family, our friends, our music, absolutely everything. We can do whatever we want with it. Online. We fuck this little device up that we can live our life through. Even the head of the United States, the biggest power on the planet, needs this little machine to spread his racist messages to the world. And while we praise the technology for the fact that it gave us Netflix, it enables, on the other hand, the rise of right-wing movements in the U.S., the U.K. and everywhere else in the world—thanks to people like Donald Trump or Nigel Farage.
But what do I do? But what do I really do, personally? Instead of protesting in front of 10 Downing Street, I’m signing some online petition on my phone which goes to the parliament and then directly to the bin—and nobody talks about it anymore. I’m also a hypocrite. I’m just as ignorant, lazy and politically inactive.
»What we need is a government that is engaged with the new generation.«
Jonas:
But you’re writing wise and encouraging songs…
Sam:
Yeah, but I’m not clever enough to lead any social charge, I’m not smart enough to challenge the political leaders of the world. I don’t know enough about economics or all the other topics to actually have an intellectual debate. I would get destroyed. Even Nigel Farage would publicly destroy me, would destroy us.
What we do need is a government that is engaged with the new generation. Brexit was voted for by the old, as well to continue with fossil fuels or to force fracking technologies. We need to engage the new generations to finally have an environmentally conscious government which we don’t have yet. This ten-year forecast is fact, that’s absolutely terrifying. But do you see anyone getting annoyed? Do you see anyone kicking up the vibe?
»Gym memberships are the new cocaine. But, in our world, it has always been about that.«
Jonas:
In the first seconds of the “Hypersonic Missiles” video, you can see a tiny sticker on the clapperboard with the words “You are beautiful” written on it. Is the problem of today’s Instagram society that being beautiful is the only thing that really counts?
Sam:
Potentially. There’s definitely a massive influx in physical health and things like that. Everyone is at the gym now, everybody is really good-looking. Gym memberships are the new cocaine. But, in our world, it has always been about that. The difference with today is: We’ve now got devices where we can talk to everybody and see everybody all the time. All of our friends can permanently post really good-looking photos of themselves, so everybody creates this facade. And to be honest: I’m addicted to it too.
»There are people who bring actual beauty to the world. My godfather is one of them.«
Jonas:
What’s your personal definition of the term beauty? Where do you find real beauty in your life?
Sam:
In goodness and kindness—these are the most beautiful things I’ve ever experienced. I’m not mentioning me, I’m a selfish prick. I’m talking about people who are genuinely selfless, who go out day by day just to do things for others. These people bring actual beauty to the world. My godfather is one of them. He would literally do anything for anybody. So many people go to him for advice or help. He’s just a normal guy who works in a normal job, but he’s the most straight-down-the-line guy. He’s very active in politics because he’s interested in creating a better future for his children. The only thing he cares about is his kids and helping others out. And he cares about me. He is the ideal of beautiful for me.
»If you ram enough hatred down the throats, people start to believe it.«
Jonas:
There are people that don’t see any beauty, and sometimes, when there’s only darkness left, they decide to take their lives. Last year you released a song called “Dead Boys” that is dealing with the sad phenomenon of so many young men committing suicide in the U.K. That’s a tragedy you also personally experienced in your hometown—you lost a couple of friends who grew up with you. Why is there such a big silence in our society about that topic? Do we need a different definition of “being a man” to reduce the suicide rate?
Sam:
There are a lot of things out there that still exist due to archetypes that have been held on for centuries. We still think it’s bullshit for boys to cry. We still try to emasculate them by saying “Don’t be a fag!” or “Don’t be a little girl!” And simultaneously we accuse others to be sexist. Isn’t that ridiculous?
I spent an entire life around that kind of bullshit bravado that people haven’t got rid of. If you’ve got people like Piers Morgan on daytime TV spitting hatred all day long, or people like Katie Hopkins, nothing changes. We’re not going to have any change until these old archaic cunts fuck off. These people talk to the general public every day—and the audience eats up everything they say.
That’s the whole point on media, with any piece of it we digest, even with music. Music isn’t played on the radio because it’s popular. It’s played there to make it popular. I’m not popular because lots of people like what I do, I’m popular because the radio stations rammed my songs down people’s throats until they are going to stop liking it. That’s how it is with every piece of media. If you ram enough hatred down the throats, people start to believe it. It’s very frustrating and I don’t have any idea how to change it.
»When Bruce Springsteen talks about his own town, it sounds like he would talk about mine.«
Jonas:
Let’s talk about Bruce Springsteen—an artist whose songs, on the radio, have been rammed down people’s throats for decades, as you would say. He seems to be a big inspiration to you. What does his music mean to you?
Sam:
Bruce Springsteen is from a very blue-collar town with a lot of industry, just like me. When he talks about his own town, it sounds like he would talk about mine. There’s a song called “Born To Run” with the lines “Beyond the palace, hemi-powered drones / Scream down the boulevard / The girls comb their hair in rearview mirrors / And the boys try to look so hard”—that is a hundred percent my hometown. And, besides that, he’s the fuckin’ god of music. I love his album The River, I love Darkness On The Edge Of Town, and I love Nebraska, especially the song “Reason To Believe.”
Jonas:
A pretty melancholic Springsteen album…
Sam (smiles and starts singing the song’s refrain):
“Still at the end of every hard day, people find some reason to believe.”
