A fascinating chat with master fiddler Sam Sweeney had him telling us about the crafting of his second album Unearth Repeat, his loud violin and why withholding information can be beneficial.
Sam Sweeney’s debut The Unfinished Violin was a concept album focusing closely on music from around the First World War and linking it to the violin that the tunes were played on, one assembled by Roger Claridge from parts blocked out for an original commission by Richard Howard, a musician killed in the war. Jumping forward, we have Unearth Repeat, a very different follow-up, not least because of the violin Sam used. “Going to see Dave Swarbrick at folk gigs when I was a kid was a very big thing for me,” he begins. “I think if you look at my musical output now, you wouldn’t find any connection between Swarbrick and me, but when I was a kid doing grades on the fiddle and saw some bloke being a total wild wizard on the fiddle, he became a massive inspiration to me. And now I play his fiddle.” Sam laughs a moment and explains his owning Dave Swarbrick’s violin. “Bright Young Folk do this thing where these young whipper-snapper types get to meet their heroes, so I went to Swarb’s house, and he gave me his fiddle to borrow and said I could buy it off him. The one I was playing was the First World War one and although it’s a fantastic instrument that I fell in love with, it has quite a restrictive sound, it’s not for multi-dimensional fiddling, but the one that Dave played is amazing. It’s loud because Swarb was very deaf before he died, but it also has all the tonal qualities that other fiddles I’d owned in the past didn’t have. It’s pretty cool to be playing it now.”
Interestingly, Sam’s second album mirrors the violin he plays on it, in that the music on Unearth Repeat is far broader in scope and, to quote the notes, ‘has no agenda, mission or theme’. In a way, it is a kind of ‘un-concept’ album and also the perfect follow up to his debut. “I think the thing with my career so far is that I’ve been involved in a lot of research projects that have had gigs attached, or there has been a sort of reverence placed on the provenance of the material, often without a huge amount of regard for the quality of the content,” he explains. “The Full English was a great thing to do, it was a research project, and it was good fun. I’m also incredibly proud of The Unfinished Violin and I love it, but the goalposts were incredibly narrow. It was a record inspired by music and stories surrounding the First World War; with this album, I just wanted to create. I like that idea of the ‘un-concept’ album because there is nothing you need to know about this record to enjoy it. Even further than that, I’ve purposely kept back information on the music in the notes; I don’t say which are traditional, which are half trad or original and it’s very much on purpose because the folk scene is obsessed with provenance and research and not concerned enough with just loving music.”
Without being overly controversial, Sam certainly had firm ideas in mind when setting out Unearth Repeat in his mind, and aside from broadening the goalposts with regard to the source material, he wanted a specific band line up. “I really wanted to play with two guitarists,” he says. “If you look at the history of music like rock and roll and pop, all of the best bands have two guitarists and bass, and it’s not a thing that the folk world really does. Two guitars is a bit crazy and people have asked ‘why the hell have you done that?!’, but, I wanted to explore that line-up and take that into this music and see what happened. And also, with The Unfinished Violin, I don’t think my most recent influences were apparent, but I hope that what I’ve done with Unearth Repeat sounds like what my head sounds like at the moment. It’s an English record and a lot of the material is traditional English, some that I’ve written and some that are a weird halfway house, but I don’t think it sounds like any other English record that’s come out, at least to me. It doesn’t have that classic English music aesthetic that it’s become known for, so I think I’ve achieved that.”
Although in many ways this record is bold in its creative choices and it is certainly original, the music still sounds pure, the creative decisions have not disrupted what is beautiful music, and this is something Sam feels strongly about. “You’ll notice on this record and the last one that the tune is the most important thing,” he states. “I’m not one for doing introductions and then introducing riffs or whatever, that’s a whole different type of music, and some people do it phenomenally well, but for me, the tune is key, because if the tune is shit, nobody is going to like it, nobody is going to remember it, and it’s not going to live on. For me, it was a matter of finding, crafting and changing these tunes to make them really fantastic melodies and the arrangement had to be subservient to the tune.”
But going back to the arrangements, although serving the tune, it’s obvious Sam is proud of the musicians he chose to be on record with him. “It sounds kind of cliched,” he smiles, “but this is about good music and not much else, so I got Ben Nicholls because he’s the best bass player I’ve ever met, his groove is unbelievable; Jack Rutter is a phenomenal groovy player, and I love him, and then there’s Louis Campbell. For the last three years, I’ve been Artistic Director for the National Youth Folk Ensemble and Louis came as a sixteen-year-old and auditioned for that and was astonishing throughout the whole process. I just knew he was a supreme musician and I couldn’t wait to play with him. When he went off to college and my job came to an end, I thought ‘Right, I’m going to make an album with two guitarists, and one of them is going to be Louis’. He’s only nineteen, but he’s totally brilliant, and he absolutely got what I wanted, he did exactly the right thing, and I hope it’s the start of an amazing career for him.”
Sam sounds excited when he talks about Unearth Repeat and this year sounds wonderful for the band he has taken on, with Dave Mackay also involved on piano and keyboards. Bring on the festivals… “I don’t think this is what people will expect from me,” he laughs. “At least I hope it’s not. I wanted to make an album and a band that can do gigs and make a massive sound with bass and two guitars. I want to say that this is English music and we can do a fantastic festival set and make you very happy. I don’t think there’s been a band since Bellowhead like that and whilst I’m not comparing myself to Bellowhead [Sam also played in Bellowhead] because this is not a party album like theirs, I’d like to think the spirit of joy is there and people can get up and have a wicked time.”
‘Unearth Repeat’ will be released 27th March 2020 via Hudson Records
Pre-Order it here http://smarturl.it/unearthrepeat
Sam Sweeney – Unearth Repeat Tour
May 2020
1st – Whitby, The Coliseum Centre (Musicport)
2nd – Edinburgh (To Be Announced)
3rd – Gainsborough, Trinity Arts Centre
4th – Stroud, Lansdown Hall
5th – Frome, Cheese & Grain
6th – Teignmouth, Pavilions
7th – London, Kings Place
8th – Stamford, Arts Centre
9th – Hexham, Queens Hall
10th – Settle, Victoria Hall
11th – Cambridge, Junction 2
12th – Reading, South Street Arts Centre
13th – Shrewsbury, Theatre Severn
14th – Manchester, Stoller Hall
15th – Southampton, Turner Sims
16th – Sheffield, The Drama Studio
17th – Shepley Spring Festival
19th – Oxford, North Wall Arts Centre
June 2020
19th – Beverley Fringe Festival
July 2020
19th – Folk By The Oak
Tickets: https://www.samsweeneymusic.com/gigs
Pre-Order Unearth Repeat – http://smarturl.it/unearthrepeat