Sam Gray © Nicholas Pomeroy.
Sam Gray has already had a great year with singles All of My Life and This Girl as well as touring with Rick Astley.
But he will be hitting the road once again as he is set to support Peter Andre on his new tour of the UK.
We caught up with the singer/songwriter to chat about hitting the road with Peter Andre as well as the new album that is on the horizon.
- You played at Live Fridays at Kensington Roof Gardens on Friday so how was that show?
It was brilliant. So many people showed up from members of the public to the label so it was brilliant. I had a lot more fans turn up than I thought would to be honest so it was fantastic.
Yeah it was really good. It was the first time that I had played with a full band and I really enjoyed it.
- So how did you find the experience of playing with a full band for the first time?
It was really cool. We had rehearsed a lot and so we did take to it quite quickly to be honest with you. I was worried that all of the rehearsals and different touring would interfere with the practice time with the band but we got on stage and it was like a natural process.
The songs just came out really naturally. I am quite use to playing them acoustically but with a band it feels just the same now. It was really cool.
- And you have been on the road a lot lately as you have just finishing touring with Rick Astley so how did that string of shows go?
It was fantastic. Rick is such nice guy and he really welcomed me onto the tour with open times - sometimes you get quite stressed backstage and a few of the crew members aren’t as nice as you thought they would be but they were all lovely.
He works with such great people and his personality really does radiate through the whole crew.
It was brilliant and the crowd were brilliant as well as they were really welcoming and warm. They were there to see good music really and they were not just shouting ‘Rick, Rick’. I really enjoyed it and I just wish that I could do it again (laughs).
- The touring continues are you are not set to support Peter Andre on his upcoming UK tour so what can people who have a ticket and perhaps haven’t seen you live before expect from the set?
Just good songs really and a lively show as there is plenty of banter going on. There really is some heartfelt music and some up tempo dancey music as well.
The music has got a very big Motown influence and soul influence this time around - people who love old school Motown and love a good melody will really enjoy the show. I am just there to entertain and have fun.
- How did the support slot come about?
It came around really because John Thomason on my label knows this guy… it’s always a guy who knows a guy… he know this guy called Gary Howard who is part of the agency. He came across the video for single This Girl and he said ’I would love to put this forward to Peter Andre for the tour’.
And Peter really loved the video and it came about through that really - here we are now a week before the tour. I am really excited and I am raring to go.
- And obviously with tours like this you play in front of fans of other artists so how much do you enjoy the challenge of winning over a new audience?
I love it. Some people can crumble under that and I use to crumble under the pressure but it is just experience; I started off around the clubs of Hull and that is one of the hardest audiences that you will ever play to in your life (laughs).
I cut my teeth around there and it can only get better from there because I have had my fair share of audiences that boo and nights that go badly. Now I just relish the opportunity to win over an audience really.
I believe in my music as well and I believe that the melodies are catchy enough to engage an audience and my lyrics are deep enough. It is what I love doing.
- You have a great 2012 with singles such as All of My Life and This Girl so how would you sum up the year you have had so far?
I think it has been brilliant. Of course it has been filled with massively positive things but I feel that it has been small stepping stones and now it is time to make that big step forward with these tours.
For a musician it has always been about getting an agent and getting out there and playing to mass exposure but that always takes money and time and I have learnt to just be patient.
I have also learnt not to take the weeks where I am not touring as a negative but just keep writing, building up great songs and using that time the best that I can.
It has been a great year but it has also been a difficult one where I have just had to be patient - I wouldn’t change a thing to be honest.
- You also have a new album on the horizon in 2013 so what can we expect from you new record?
Just great songs - hopefully people think that the first album is full of great songs as well and the next album is just the same.
I think it does have more of a pop edge to it and it is slightly more soulful but it still has the depth of lyrics and substance to it.
The albums that I like to listen to and buy have to have a bit of substance for me to really connect to them and that makes you want to listen to them time and time again. So I think that that is my album in a nutshell.
- You have slightly touched on my next question really you released your debut Brighter Day back in 2011 so how do you feel the new collection of tracks with differ from the debut? And how did you find yourself perhaps going down a slightly different path?
First and foremost the experiences that you have reflect the music that you write and so the first album has a lot of music that reflected my break-up with my ex girlfriend.
I wrote that bunch of songs not to create an album but just for me really - I wrote those songs before I ever wanted to get any management or release anything.
This next album is just about different things - there are still songs about love and life in there - but it is less singer- songwriter and is a bit more soulful, edgy and poppy.
- And how do you feel that you have developed as an artist between the two albums?
I have definitely developed in realising what is a good melody, what is a good subject to write about and having to think about subjects to write about rather than just doing it naturally.
The first bunch of songs that you wrote are always about your lifetime and the second set of songs are accumulated in two years and so you have to build up subjects to write about. I think that I have also really developed live with the addition of five member of my band.
My craft and my skills have become a lot more honed - I like to think so anyway. I think I am just a better rounded musician and a more rounded songwriter.
- Where did you love of music start? And when did you make the conscious decision to pursue this as a career?
I went to do a music degree in Salford and Manchester opened a whole new world of music for me with lots of jam nights in the Northern Quarter in Manchester - there were jazz nights and blues nights.
The people that I met really inspired me to song write more rather than just playing. I started off by playing the violin, I am classically trained on the violin, but I just fell into writing songs by getting a free guitar off one of my dad’s friends.
Then I was surrounded by people who wrote songs and then found out that I could do a degree in it - so it was a chain of different things that happened to me.
After university I worked in a bar and that also gave me the fire and inspired me to keep writing music because I thought ’I don’t want to be doing this my whole life’.
So I found some management and ended up with a guy called Steve White, who drummed for Paul Weller for many a year, and here I am today.
- You have an ever growing fan base so for any of them reading this interview do you have a message for them?
Thank you very much for supporting me and I just hope that I can always make music that you love, that speaks to you and I hope I can always make you want to come to shows and keep supporting me.
Thank you so much as it is you guys who have created my job. I hope I can just keep entertaining you and keep you happy with my music. Thank you for your support.
- Finally what is 2013 going to hold for you?
Massive things hopefully. There is a new album coming up and hopefully there will be a headline tour at some point.
It’s a musicians dream to always have enough fans to come and create your own shows and have someone support you rather than you supporting them - that is my aim really.
Too Much of a Good Thing will be Sam Gray's new album and for more in for on him visit his website www.samgray.co.uk
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Picture by © Nicholas Pomeroy.