On a scorching hot day, I went to The Railway in Winchester to interview up-and coming acoustic musician Sam Meaghan before his set at Close Up Festival. After meeting Sam, we went upstairs to a quiet room, which usually hosts open-mic shows. It provided an intimate atmosphere, helping for a detailed and insightful interview.
I wanted to know how Sam was feeling ahead of his set and whether he had previously visited Winchester. He stated that he had played at the Railway with the indie pop band Fickle Friends. They were a big inspiration to him because at that point, he had only been writing songs for around six months; this particular gig encouraged him to build on songwriting and playing live. When asked about how he was feeling ahead of the set, Sam responded that the gig at Close Up was one of the biggest he had done in a while, telling me of his excitement about playing alongside bands such as Lisbon and Youth Club. I asked Sam if amongst this excitement, he felt any pre-show nerves, however instead, he was comfortable with the quality of songs he was putting out. Furthermore, he expanded on this point by saying that his lyrical content has to be “constantly at a stage where you are testing yourself in terms of how colourful and emotive it is”, especially as a singer-songwriter. This showcased a professional and hardworking mindset and a desire to frequently challenge himself. A point that Sam mentioned was his positive relationship with Close Up Management, stating that there was not a specific deadline to come up with ideas and songs. This strong chemistry showed that they were able to bounce ideas off each other.
Sam released his recent track ‘Want’ earlier this month, so I asked him what the reaction has been like. Giving a background of the track and its recording, he stated that his acoustic EP, Handle With Care was “a break up album, shit to listen to”; and ‘Want’ in comparison was more colourful, containing different textures. He also said it was the most exciting track he had recorded to date and that it showed how much he has progressed as a musician.
After asking him how he would describe his sound to someone who had not heard him before, Sam responded by saying it is “melancholic and poetic”, furthermore honestly stating that his tracks contain mistakes. The reason for this was to show that they were raw bedroom recordings. He then reflected that mistakes happen in live performances; therefore by including them in the recordings this gave a more organic and fresh sound.
Another interesting topic was how Sam combines writing songs with studying Journalism. He explained that he balances both things equally, making time for writing songs and gaining inspiration for a melody or lyric through walking home from University. He expanded on his previous point about lyrics by saying that he fine-tunes his songs to bring them to a decent standard. He also stated the importance of “immersing yourself in words” through writing on his blog and reading books. This demonstrated that a strong lyric cannot be forced and comes naturally to him.
https://soundcloud.com/sammeaghan/want-2
When asking how Sam approaches writing songs, he said that recently he has incorporated the use of electric guitar in his recordings because he got bored of writing acoustic music, furthermore presenting a new challenge due to the different effects pedals being used. Sam also said that his current lyrics have been more conversational, a case in point being a new song, ‘Just Seventeen’, about a conversation he had with “someone who was very important to me at the time”. His lyrical inspirations include Andy Hull from Manchester Orchestra and Right Away, Great Captain, Jamie T (he’d cover ‘Back in the Game’ later) – praising his “who gives a fuck” approach – Ian Curtis, and George Ezra.
I then asked Sam about who would be on his dream festival lineup. He listed a diverse range of artists including Peace, Manchester Orchestra, Michael Jackson, and Foals. He further demonstrated his eclectic music taste by saying he had been listening to George Ezra, James Bay, and Leon Bridges lately. I asked him who he was excited about seeing at Close Up. He was looking forward to Youth Club, Vynce, (who were old friends of his from Liverpool), Cavaliers, and Sahara. Finally, I asked him what his favourite album of all time was. He enthusiastically stated that it was Is A Real Boy by Say Anything because “Max Beamis’ guitar playing is flawless, every track fucking blows me away every single time. Lyrically where he was at the time, he was suffering from bipolar, money problems, drug problems” before taking about his love for their track ‘Alive With the Glory of Love’. Sam said that this track got him into being a singer songwriter, wrapping up the interview by stating that if he was not writing songs, he is writing about music, which is inspiring.
After the interview, Sam plays a relaxing well received acoustic set in the summer sun, and with him gaining recognition outside Portsmouth, hopefully his dedication and hard work will land him some bigger gigs in the future…
Words by Ermis Madikopoulos