by Kiva Johns-Adkins
I had the opportunity to sit down with musician Sam Bradley before his November 14th concert at the Belcourt Theater in Nashville. I was in town to attend his show (which is one of his sold out appearances on this tour) and he was kind enough to grant me an interview with Dreaming of Edward’s blog. Bradley pulls you in, whether he is singing to a sold-out theater or doing a one-on-one interview. Part of his charisma includes his great sense of humor and down to earth personality.
When I asked Bradley what his favorite food was, he misunderstood my southern accent and thought I asked what his favorite American male was instead of meal. His favorite American male is Brad Pitt, by the way. As for food, he says, “Chicken fried Chicken,” in a fake but extremely convincing Southern accent before he goes on to describe, in great detail what his favorite dish is:
“I like a good burger; a medium rare burger with bacon on it and cheese. I don’t mind whether it is American or Cheddar. I will probably ask for it to come with onions, tomatoes, pickles and lettuce. Although I might take some of it off. I don’t know – depending. I would like mustard…no...no...no mustard. What am I doing? I’m not ordering a hot dog. I would like mayonnaise, ketchup. I don’t even want mayonnaise. I want ketchup and I am not opposed to a little bit of avocado.”
I know it is so cliché, but Sam is just a regular guy who has a quick sense of humor and a knack for writing songs that touch your soul. Bradley’s distinct knack for writing an unforgettable song can be found throughout his new EP ZUNI, which features five new songs and re-mastered versions of tracks “Passport,” “It Begins” and “Sea Blue,” which were originally found of Bradley’s 2009 self-titled debut EP.
Sam is on a month long tour where he is opening for Australian musician Brooke Fraser. The tour began in Houston on November 4th and coincides with the release of ZUNI. As it turns out, ZUNI is a town in New Mexico (I bet you all didn’t see that one coming).
Just before Bradley was set to tour The Philippines last year, Typhoon Ondoy hit the country and devastated many areas, just a week before he was set to begin performing.
“I didn’t. It wasn’t me. It was the company that brought me out there – 1979 Entertainment. How they expressed it to me was the situation in the areas I would be playing hadn’t been hit too hard and it would be safe for me and my concern wasn’t my safety – my concern was that it would be inappropriate to play and they said, in fact, it wouldn’t be inappropriate and that it might, depending on who came, that it might bring some joy. I ended up going and I think on some small scale, that it did. I felt very lucky to travel to a country I had never been to. It was a very, very good experience.”
Bradley met a documentary film maker while they were there and together, they made the film, “ Manilla Diaries” and part of the money from sales of it went to UNICEF. Bradley felt they were a charity that had an immediate impact on those affected by the typhoon.
Bradley is a man of the world. He was born in London and raised in Hong Kong, Vancouver and even Nashville. While living all over the world Sam has made friends everywhere and values several of those friendships greatly, saying he only has “eight close friends”. Fellow musicians Marcus Foster and Bobby Long are part of the close-knit group, along with actors Robert Pattinson (also a musician) and Tom Sturridge.
Bradley’s music is a mix of folk music, soul and rock and influenced by his life and those in it. His mother, Lee Lindsey is a Canadian Folk singer as well as songwriter.
“I think music is universal and should be sexless and ageless. That is why it is okay that Bobby (Long) goes on tour with Michael Franti and I go on tour with Dr. Dre,” Bradley jokes about how different artists end up paired together on tour.
Pattinson, Sturridge and Bradley took a road trip from Los Angeles to New Orleans late this summer where Sturridge was filming On the Road along with Pattinson’s Twilight co-star, Kristen Stewart.
ZUNI was produced by Gavin Brown--the Juno Award-winning “Producer of the Year”, recognized for his work with Billy Talent and Three Days Grace as long as co-producing Metric’s (Eclipse soundtrack) most recent album. ZUNI features five new songs, which were recorded at the Armory in Vancouver and Dream Catcher Studio in Toronto with Gavin. Sam says: “With these songs, Gavin really helped me find a balance between what was in my head and what came out of the speakers… I am extremely proud.” Regarding the live show vs. recording, he teases, “It's very important that the live show be raw and honest. Capturing the honesty in the studio was done by getting drunk and not eating.”
'ZUNI' Track Listing
1. Lights
2. Scared
3. Details
4. Wide Open
5. No One and Me
6. Passport (remastered)
7. It Begins (remastered)
8. Sea Blue (remastered)
Please support Sam and his music by purchasing his NEW EP here on iTunes
Before Pattinson went off to Portland, Oregon to film the first film in The Twilight Saga, he and Sam sat down as friends and began writing a song together. Before the song was completed, Pattinson headed to the US and Sam went off to do his thing. Each of them continued to write the song. Now there are two versions – Pattinson’s ‘Never Think’ which plays in the background when his character, Edward is at a restaurant with Stewart’s Bella. Bradley’s version is ‘Too Far Gone’ is one of his biggest hits and a song every crowd he plays for wants to hear.
When Twilight took off, so did the careers of every musician on the soundtrack and Bradley was no exception. For the past two years he has been riding the wave associated with the franchise.
What is something his fans don’t know about him?
“This is the first cap I have ever worn. I don’t wear caps. I got given this last night and I am trying it out. It feels a little weird. I feel like I look like a little boy,” he says, pulling the cap on and off throughout the interview before busting out into an impromptu rap.
I finally asked Sam if he had tattoos, to which he responded; “I have moles. I don’t need tattoos.” He then asked if I had any and I pulled off my boot to show him my charm bracelet of tattoos, which includes an apple tattoo to represent my love of Twilight.
Video and Pics Of Sam's performance and interview below:
I had the opportunity to sit down with musician Sam Bradley before his November 14th concert at the Belcourt Theater in Nashville. I was in town to attend his show (which is one of his sold out appearances on this tour) and he was kind enough to grant me an interview with Dreaming of Edward’s blog. Bradley pulls you in, whether he is singing to a sold-out theater or doing a one-on-one interview. Part of his charisma includes his great sense of humor and down to earth personality.
When I asked Bradley what his favorite food was, he misunderstood my southern accent and thought I asked what his favorite American male was instead of meal. His favorite American male is Brad Pitt, by the way. As for food, he says, “Chicken fried Chicken,” in a fake but extremely convincing Southern accent before he goes on to describe, in great detail what his favorite dish is:
“I like a good burger; a medium rare burger with bacon on it and cheese. I don’t mind whether it is American or Cheddar. I will probably ask for it to come with onions, tomatoes, pickles and lettuce. Although I might take some of it off. I don’t know – depending. I would like mustard…no...no...no mustard. What am I doing? I’m not ordering a hot dog. I would like mayonnaise, ketchup. I don’t even want mayonnaise. I want ketchup and I am not opposed to a little bit of avocado.”
I know it is so cliché, but Sam is just a regular guy who has a quick sense of humor and a knack for writing songs that touch your soul. Bradley’s distinct knack for writing an unforgettable song can be found throughout his new EP ZUNI, which features five new songs and re-mastered versions of tracks “Passport,” “It Begins” and “Sea Blue,” which were originally found of Bradley’s 2009 self-titled debut EP.
Sam is on a month long tour where he is opening for Australian musician Brooke Fraser. The tour began in Houston on November 4th and coincides with the release of ZUNI. As it turns out, ZUNI is a town in New Mexico (I bet you all didn’t see that one coming).
Just before Bradley was set to tour The Philippines last year, Typhoon Ondoy hit the country and devastated many areas, just a week before he was set to begin performing.
“I didn’t. It wasn’t me. It was the company that brought me out there – 1979 Entertainment. How they expressed it to me was the situation in the areas I would be playing hadn’t been hit too hard and it would be safe for me and my concern wasn’t my safety – my concern was that it would be inappropriate to play and they said, in fact, it wouldn’t be inappropriate and that it might, depending on who came, that it might bring some joy. I ended up going and I think on some small scale, that it did. I felt very lucky to travel to a country I had never been to. It was a very, very good experience.”
Bradley met a documentary film maker while they were there and together, they made the film, “ Manilla Diaries” and part of the money from sales of it went to UNICEF. Bradley felt they were a charity that had an immediate impact on those affected by the typhoon.
Bradley is a man of the world. He was born in London and raised in Hong Kong, Vancouver and even Nashville. While living all over the world Sam has made friends everywhere and values several of those friendships greatly, saying he only has “eight close friends”. Fellow musicians Marcus Foster and Bobby Long are part of the close-knit group, along with actors Robert Pattinson (also a musician) and Tom Sturridge.
Bradley’s music is a mix of folk music, soul and rock and influenced by his life and those in it. His mother, Lee Lindsey is a Canadian Folk singer as well as songwriter.
“I think music is universal and should be sexless and ageless. That is why it is okay that Bobby (Long) goes on tour with Michael Franti and I go on tour with Dr. Dre,” Bradley jokes about how different artists end up paired together on tour.
Pattinson, Sturridge and Bradley took a road trip from Los Angeles to New Orleans late this summer where Sturridge was filming On the Road along with Pattinson’s Twilight co-star, Kristen Stewart.
ZUNI was produced by Gavin Brown--the Juno Award-winning “Producer of the Year”, recognized for his work with Billy Talent and Three Days Grace as long as co-producing Metric’s (Eclipse soundtrack) most recent album. ZUNI features five new songs, which were recorded at the Armory in Vancouver and Dream Catcher Studio in Toronto with Gavin. Sam says: “With these songs, Gavin really helped me find a balance between what was in my head and what came out of the speakers… I am extremely proud.” Regarding the live show vs. recording, he teases, “It's very important that the live show be raw and honest. Capturing the honesty in the studio was done by getting drunk and not eating.”
'ZUNI' Track Listing
1. Lights
2. Scared
3. Details
4. Wide Open
5. No One and Me
6. Passport (remastered)
7. It Begins (remastered)
8. Sea Blue (remastered)
Please support Sam and his music by purchasing his NEW EP here on iTunes
Before Pattinson went off to Portland, Oregon to film the first film in The Twilight Saga, he and Sam sat down as friends and began writing a song together. Before the song was completed, Pattinson headed to the US and Sam went off to do his thing. Each of them continued to write the song. Now there are two versions – Pattinson’s ‘Never Think’ which plays in the background when his character, Edward is at a restaurant with Stewart’s Bella. Bradley’s version is ‘Too Far Gone’ is one of his biggest hits and a song every crowd he plays for wants to hear.
When Twilight took off, so did the careers of every musician on the soundtrack and Bradley was no exception. For the past two years he has been riding the wave associated with the franchise.
What is something his fans don’t know about him?
“This is the first cap I have ever worn. I don’t wear caps. I got given this last night and I am trying it out. It feels a little weird. I feel like I look like a little boy,” he says, pulling the cap on and off throughout the interview before busting out into an impromptu rap.
I finally asked Sam if he had tattoos, to which he responded; “I have moles. I don’t need tattoos.” He then asked if I had any and I pulled off my boot to show him my charm bracelet of tattoos, which includes an apple tattoo to represent my love of Twilight.
Video and Pics Of Sam's performance and interview below:
Photos by Kiva Johns-Adkins and Tina Holmes
It was an epic weekend in Nashville and I promised to thank the girls who made it possible, because I am a lot of work; thanks to Tina Holmes and Sherri Dean for bringing out the pretty in me.
Visit Sam's MySpace Bradley on MySpace or Twitter @samueltwitt1
His webpage at http://www.sambradley.com/website/news.php
Or visit his official fan site on http://wwwthelandofdreamers.com/
His webpage at http://www.sambradley.com/website/news.php
Or visit his official fan site on http://wwwthelandofdreamers.com/
Thanks to @Twittamom and @DreamingofEdward for the Exclusive;) I wanted to go to his concert on Nov 9th here in Houston but i had to work:( Good thing you guys got to meet him and have this great interview with him:) ~alma
