Interview: Sam Jones

Fleetwood Mac, Pharrell Williams, The Prodigy, Billy Idol and The Black Keys, just some of the names that will be heading over to the Isle of Wight Festival this summer, and one other name you can add to that list is SAM JONES. Unsurprisingly the Mansfield singer is pretty excited to be playing the prestigious festival.

“Yeah it hasn’t really settled in yet. I dunno what to expect from the show itself, but it’s surreal to be on a festival of that magnitude.”

So, we just had to wonder, how exactly was it that Sam came to be added to the line up for the festival, which takes place from the 11-14 June.

“The band and I played a gig at the Half Moon in Putney, and my management team and I had managed to rope in a few people from the industry. One of them was the owner of IOW; I was chatting to him in the bar but it didn’t really click who he was till afterwards. After we walked off stage he walked into the dressing room and offered the gig on the spot.”

With a stellar line up across the weekend the Isle of Wight Festival is one of the biggest festivals in the UK, so therefore it’s no surprise that Sam’s looking forward more than just playing the festival, though not everything about the experience appeals to him.

“I hate camping with a passion. But it’ll be worth it to see Fleetwood Mac, they’re one of my favourite bands.”

It’s not just about the Isle of Wight Festival for Sam though, just this past week he announced his involvement in the Whitwell Festival, which takes place in Derbyshire this September, and as well as playing it seems he will also be comparing one of the stages. As we were not familiar with the Whitwell Festival we asked Sam what he could tells us about it.

“It’s a great little festival in North East Derbyshire. I opened the acoustic stage last year, and the room was packed at like 11am. It’s mainly Folk and a bit of Rock and there’s tons of quality local acts playing this year-  Star Botherers, Brad Dear, Paige Seabridge, Ellie Keegan- with Eddie & The Hot Rods headlining, so it’s got a good mix of local and established acts.”

From Splendour, in 2013, to Isle of Wight in 2015, that’s not bad going and while Sam says that playing the Nottingham Festival, where he opened the Courtyard Stage, didn’t have a massive impact on gig bookings, “you’ve still got to try and push to get slots-on-bills and a bit of luck here and there” he does admit that the whole period was a bit of a turning point for him.

“That 2/3 week period of Splendour, FSN & also playing at The Ashes is when things started getting a bit more serious.”

So, would he like to return to Wollaton Park for the festival this summer?

“I think every local artist wants to play the biggest festival in town.”

Since Splendour one of the biggest changes for Sam is that he now has a full band, The Local Folk, playing with him, something which he says has given his music a huge boost.

“It’s basically given the sound a good kick. I can experiment more with Acoustic, Electric, a bit of slide guitar, and the two lads are brilliant to play with. I definitely enjoy band gigs more than solo, even if there’s more to think about.”

So, does that mean an end to the solo shows?

“Like I say I prefer band gigs but there’s something intimate about a one-man-and-his-guitar thing. I do a lot more solo shows because they’re just easier to come by and practical, but I can play the songs that I perhaps couldn’t if I had the band round me, the quieter or slower ones. A gig’s a gig at the end of the day and I still love doing them solo.”

As well as playing gigs Sam is also running them, with a regular night, Acoustic Sundays, taking place at The Brown Cow in Mansfield, nights which so far seem to be going pretty well.

“I started that in July last year. When I was 14 I played at their folk club before it closed (and reopened), and it was the first time I’d performed in front of anyone, so it’s a nostalgic place. It started off as putting on mainly acts who hadn’t played many gigs before so as to build a platform for them. But it’s grown a lot in popularity and we’ve had acoustic sets from Ferocious Dog, The Most Ugly Child, Star Botherers, basically all my favourite acts in a 20 mile radius.”

Playing outside of Nottingham City Centre can be a risky process when putting in local acts, however Mansfield it seems has quite the burgeoning live music scene.

“North Notts has got a massive folk scene and culture, so luckily I tend to play in front of very like-minded audiences and regular gig-goers.”

Do they manage to get many fans of the bands travelling out of the Nottingham area to see the shows?

“Occasionally you get people coming in to watch you from the City but admittedly it’s not, erm, everyone’s type of place. I like it at least. “

As well as preparing for Isle of Wight and running his own shows, not to mention general gig performances, Sam is also in the studio working on new material.

“I’ve just spent a day doing some solo stuff which I haven’t done in a while. They’re mainly demo’s but there’s one or two I’ll be releasing as I haven’t released anything for a while.”

As it happens Sam has just gone and released a brand new track “Don’t Let it Bring you down” this week, which you can check out on his Facebook page.

With new recording going on and new tracks being released does that mean we can expect an EP or album anytime soon?

“A new EP’s written we just need to find the time to record it.”

Does this mean new material for Isle of Wight?

“I haven’t thought about it. I suppose fairly new stuff will be in the set, but I’ll probably be too busy trying to get to the end of the set without an amp blowing up or summat.”

So it seems that Sam is keeping himself pretty busy, with gigs and recording going on, but we wonder what else is on the horizon?

“We’re working on some stuff behind doors so we’ll see what materialises with that.”

All in all it seems like a pretty exciting time for the singer and his band, and we’re sure he’s going to go down a storm with the Isle of Wight crowd while we can’t wait to catch him performing in Notts again in the not too distant future.

For more on Sam Jones, including new releases and gig dates, check out his Facebook page here.

Interview by Darren Patterson