The Bellowhead and Leveret fiddle maestro Sam Sweeney talks about the creative process of his new solo album Escape That, a deeply personal set that sees him at his most dynamic and liberated.
For 2020’s Unearth Repeat, Sam Sweeney’s last solo effort and the one he once dubbed his ‘un-concept album’, he wanted to shake off some of the strict parameters of The Unfinished Violin and ‘just create’. If his use of two guitars in more of a rock and roll structure was a shift in creativity for Unearth Repeat, then the use of synthesisers and electric guitars to compose the all-original Escape That is a far more dynamic move and sees the violinist firmly ploughing his own furrow, at first all by himself. “Well lockdown happened and, like many other musicians, I didn’t have any reason to play music, because if you can’t play music with or for anyone, it can feel kind of pointless,” Sam begins. “Apart from one streamed Leveret gig, I didn’t make any music for about seven months, and then I thought ‘come on, this lockdown thing is going to take a long time, so just do something.’ So I started going on a massive trip down memory lane, maybe to comfort myself or just feel better about the world. I was listening to Hot Fuss by The Killers, which came out when I was a teenager, and Scandinavian pop music, which I’ve always loved.”
A cathartic endeavour, this turned out to be for Sam, as it began to let loose some of the creative energy that had been lacking for a time. “I’ve always known that music was an escapism for me,” he smiles. “It’s what I go to to feel better about anything or to heighten any particular emotion, so whilst that was happening, I started trying to write music that was very honest and was me. The Unfinished Violin was a commission, in a sense, so it wasn’t for me. Unearth Repeat was, in a way, because it was me making music slightly more on my own terms, dipping the toe in, maybe. It’s interesting listening to that one now, because I think it sounds quite tame… .” He stops and gives a small laugh. “I love it,” he quickly adds, “I think it’s great, but what I did for this one was think ‘right, you’ve got an indefinite amount of time before this lockdown is all finished, so just make music that you want to make.’”
One of the most interesting factors in the making of Escape That was that Sam eschewed the fiddle for most of its initial creation and focused on instruments he was less comfortable with. “I didn’t touch the fiddle on purpose, at the start,” he explains. “I just never play the fiddle at home. So I started writing on the guitar, which is an instrument I can’t play.” He stops and laughs. “I just began to fanny about on this electric guitar, finding chord sequences I liked and recording them, either into my phone or Logic. Then I’d take another instrument, or a guitar, and record myself noodling over the top of each chord sequence. Ruby was the first tune I did. I got this opening riff and thought it was cool, I don’t know why, just liked it, and then started noodling. I kept anything I thought was a hook and deleted everything else in the session. What I ended up with was a chord sequence and a bunch of hooks, which I would try to link up to make them become folk tune length. The fiddle was an afterthought and I had to translate this music onto it.”
Although instrumental music is particularly subjective, for an album created in such tricky circumstances, Escape That contains a sense of optimism and positivity in its sound. “It’s an interesting one,” Sam ponders, after a moment. “It’s up to people to decide what they think it is and one of my favourite things in music is a song that is extremely sad, but sounds happy. For me, the line between ecstatically happy and making me cry is very fine. Spiro do that to me; it can be dance music and it makes me feel amazing, but their music makes me cry all the time. Want to Fly Want to Flee sounds happy, but I remember the C part coming first and me becoming obsessed with those eight bars of music! Wherever I drove, I had that C part on loop and I got hugely emotional, but it just sounds happy go lucky. For me it was a heartbreaking bit of music. So, yes, it is optimistic and happy, but it can really tread the line between that and [dramatic gasp] making you want to cry. I cry at music all the time!”
Although the tunes on Escape That are very personal to Sam, when it came to recording the final cuts and now rehearsing and playing it live, he drafted in his band and shared the songs with them. “I felt really very protective over them, yeah,” Sam nods. “Without trying to sound arrogant, this is the first time I’ve made a thing where I feel that every bit of it is great and honest and how I wanted it to be. It’s a huge step forward for me.” Of course, with players like Jack Rutter, Louis Campbell, Ben Nicholls and Dave Mackay on board, the songs were in safe hands. “They are the only people I would consider playing these tunes with,” Sam says. “They are my A-list; Louis is just a genius, he’s amazing, Ben is the grooviest bass player I’ve ever met and I just knew that Jack was the only person that could do what I was envisaging. So, I did write it with them in mind, and the tunes are definitely better now. Musically they are very similar [to the demos], but they are album versions and properly produced. I tend to throw everything at a demo and Andy [Bell, producer] is brilliant at saying ‘That’s shit, you don’t need it, so let’s take it out.’” A labour of love indeed, with the finished article being a thoroughly good job from all involved.
Sam is on touring his album now with Bellowhead (dates Below).
Escape That is out now – Order here (Digital/CD/Vinyl)
LIVE DATES
November 2022 – Supporting Bellowhead (Tickets Here)
10 Portsmouth, Guildhall
11 Oxford, New Theatre
12 Leicester, De Montfort Hall
13 Cambridge, Corn Exchange
14 London, Royal Albert Hall
15 Brighton, Dome
16 Southend, Cliffs Pavilion
17 Ipswich, Regent Theatre
18 Bath, The Forum
19 Plymouth, Pavilions
20 Cardiff, St David’s Hall
21 Birmingham, Symphony Hall
22 Newcastle, O2 City Hall
23 Nottingham, Royal Concert Hall
25 Harrogate, Convention Centre
26 Liverpool, Philharmonic
27 Sheffield, City Hall
28 Manchester, Bridgewater Hall
https://www.samsweeneymusic.com/