Meet Samfire

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Samfire. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Samfire, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?
I’m always striving to be better. But implicit in that, somewhere, is the belief that I can be. I think I’m an optimist quite simply because I know that there are things I can learn and change about myself. So even when I’m sad about something not being right either in or around me, I believe I can work to get closer to what I want.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am an alt-pop, synth-obsessed artist and producer based in London. My music is dreamily psychedelic and bleeds with vulnerable lyrics, simultaneously intimate and immense.

I came to songwriting through production, first teaching myself to use Ableton during the lockdowns of the pandemic. Here, my musical history in orchestra and choir has been a strong influence and can be recognised in the way I layer my songs with dreamy harmonies and textures. On the songwriting side, however, I keep things more intimate and personal, exploring every day experiences with a melodramatic flare.

I released my first EP ‘Time’ in 2021, a project full of longing and introspection which was made for daydreamers like myself. Now, I am releasing my second EP ‘Possible Strangers’ which I made with support from Help Musicians, The Fenton Arts Trust, and the Francis Chagrin Award. Its’ first single ‘Possible Stranger’, churned up attention with features in Wonderland Magazine and Ninu Nina. I also performed it live on the radio for BBC Introducing and was named as one of BBC Introducing Suffolk’s ‘Ones to Watch’ of 2023. The full EP will release in early March 2024.
Here is the presave link: https://samfire.ffm.to/possiblestrangers

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
1. Ableton. There is a great power in being able to create, alone, without the need to rely on other people. Collaboration is a key way of learning and elevating things to the next level. But at the very first step, teaching myself to produce was the most important skill I learnt. I can and have finished and released songs totally on my own. I don’t think that is the best way to work, but the ability to do so is liberating, empowering and creatively scrumptious.

2. The comfort zone. Stay out of it. Keep pushing yourself and soon the things you found hard will be 2nd nature. Social media was a massive hurdle for me. I never had it before pursuing music as a career – it simply terrified me. Now I don’t really care about what I post and I can feel myself get freer with it every week. Its natural, definitely for me, to resist change and retreat into what I am comfortable with. But I only really grow if I push myself outside.

3. Persistence. It’s taking longer than I expected. I’m eternally unsure about my future in music, but I am getting better and that’s the most important thing. I’ve learnt not to wait for the overnight success story, that’s not going to happen to me. I just want to push my music forward at every step and maybe at some point, people won’t be able to ignore it.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?
Yes! I am mostly looking to collaborate with different producers at the moment – a part of the whole pushing myself out of my comfort zone thing. There’s still a lot more for me to learn as a songwriter and producer, and I always find I realise new things about my music when I hear it through other people’s ears. Particularly, I want to work with people who are eager to elevate the music – I’m talking studio quality, exciting equipment and unique sounds and ideas.

Please reach out to me on instagram @soundofsamfire if you’d be keen to work on some synthy alt-pop!

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Maria Kalinowska, Leo Behrens, Lara Marks

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