Story & Lesson Highlights with Sam Louis of Toronto

We recently had the chance to connect with Sam Louis and have shared our conversation below.

Sam, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
There’s only a few things that can pull me away from my music, whether it be teaching, gaming or working out but cooking really has become meditative for me at this point haha. Playing around with different spices and cultures it’s very similar to making music. Meal prep is like the bane of my existence so any chance to create something new and experiment with food really lights me up.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Originally hailing from the northwestern Ontario city of Thunder Bay, I fell in love with music playing shows around town in my pop/punk band before making the jump to Toronto to pursue a full-time career. I attended Humber College for their Contemporary Music Degree Program and worked with some outstanding international artists. Greg Wells (Adele), Rik Emmett (Triumph), Ian Terry (Celine Dion) and Denzel Sinclaire (Diana Krall) we’re some of the most impactful professors and mentors. I’ve also had the opportunity to work and songwrite with London based producer/songwriter/programmer James Sanger (Madonna, U2, Phil Collins) and have rehearsed and worked with Toronto based musician/producer/songwriter Alan Shiner (Pizza Pizza, Coca Cola, Mariah Carey and Drake). In 2017 I was recognized by the Toronto Independent Music Awards, being nominated in the Best Pop Artist category. Later that year I also won an Indigenous Music award for Best Pop Album through 3 collaborations with my good friend Joshua De Perry (Classic Roots). I recently had a chance to work with Classic again this year for our new track NEXUS which is out now and features possibly some of my favourite lyrics to date. In 2018 I recorded and released my 7 song ep Hallelujah Nights under engineer Kevin O’Leary (Tragically Hip, Shawn Mendes, Billy Talent, The Glorious Sons, Walk Off The Earth). A year later I released my first streaming single, This Love produced by Los Angeles’ Shayan Amiri (A-Major, Andy Boy). This Love has been streamed over 170k times and the acoustic version has 70k views on Youtube.
During the pandemic I wrote a song that would change everything, called Driftin’. Released on April 2nd this new record was one of my most personal and successful songs. Driftin’ got featured in multiple editorial playlists such as Spotify’s New Music Friday and It’s a Bop, YouTube’s “Pop Before it Breaks” & Amazon’s “Brand New Music. Surpassing 10k streams in its first week on Spotify alone, it later went on to become my first song with over 1.5 million streams.
Following up on Driftin’ success I made the jump to LA where I worked with Andre Mohring (Big Sean, Baby Keem) on my next records. My song “No More Running” won and received honourable mention in the UNSIGNED ONLY competition for the ROCK and AAA categories, also leading me to sign my first publishing deal with New York’s TRO Essex (The Who, Black Sabbath). This helped catalyze my songwriting and pushed me to stay in LA and write and record my first full length album 8 Ball. This album was a defining moment in my artistry showcasing a darker and more emotional tone while still keeping the energy of my music. 8 Ball which was featured in BILLBOARD, SPIN Magazine, Music Connection and Rotate This as an emotional odyssey for the generations. After the release we got to tour the album at festivals all over the world, Indie Week in New York, SXSW in London, England and CMW in Toronto. Getting to share this music with so many more people was a feeling that I have been waiting for my whole life and I can’t wait to continue with my next record coming out in 2026.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who taught you the most about work?
My nonno Luigi. He was the hardest working man I know, he came to Canada from Italy to start his family. He was an incredible mandolin player and decided to create a family band to make money. The family band was so successful back home in my city Thunder Bay that my nonno was able to have constant work. Their popularity was overwhelming, getting booked 4 nights a week playing late hours with my mom on bass. My nonno would always talk about how his brothers we’re lawyers, engineers and doctors but he would always say “no matter what career you choose do it with all your heart and do it the best”.

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
A few years ago I got accepted into Canada’s Got Talent. After many rigorous auditions and interviews I made it into the top 100. I flew back to Toronto for the big televised performance in front of the judges, I had my song and piano playing down but the long wait of the recorded auditions took a toll. We had to go perform without a soundcheck and my song required a starting note. I was called up second last to audition, after a day that started at 7am filled with waiting and interviews, I was finally going up at 9pm at night. I was exhausted and drained and without a soundcheck. I went up to the piano that I never even got to try and played a chord with my starting note. Unfortunately this completely threw off my performance, as I had never practiced it before and forced me to undershoot the key that I was supposed to be playing in.
I never made it through passed the top 80 that year and this moment almost broke me mentally. The next day I went to a rehearsal factory, rented a keyboard and locked myself in there for hours. I began writing and recording a new album, songs were just pouring out as I was emotionally writing. This personal writing session helped me come to terms with what just happened and allowed me to write a song called No More Running. This song went on to win the International Songwriting Competition, where over 20k applicants worldwide applied. The winners then had a chance to submit their tracks to different publishing companies, after reaching out to TRO Essex I was offered a sync and publishing deal with New York company. They later signed myself and my catalogue of music, flying me to New York and London to perform my original music for Indie Week and SXSW. It all started because of a song I wrote when I almost gave it all up. Never stop creating and never stop being who you need to be whether its for yourself or the ones who matter most.

Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
For me it’s mental health awareness. In my music I try and touch on these themes especially bringing OCD to the forefront. A lot of the time OCD awareness gets sidelined for more common mental diagnoses and it truly can debilitate someone. I’ve spent time meeting and discussing with lots of people about their own OCD struggles and it’s been a constant journey bringing the awareness needed to make OCD less taboo then ever before.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Are you tap dancing to work? Have you been that level of excited at any point in your career? If so, please tell us about those days. 
I’m so grateful for the career paths that have led me to where I am currently. Being a musician/recording artist has it’s many ups and downs, mainly downs…but when the stars align and I get to truly do what I love, it’s a feeling that is indescribable. The past year I was flown to London England where I got to perform for SXSW’s inaugural year across the pond. Here I got to share stories with so many other incredible musicians from all over the world and we got to perform our songs for so many new ears. Just last week I had my newest single played in a stadium of over 30k people, seeing that many people in one area moving and connecting to your own music is an unmatched feeling. Just last week as well my song was played on iHeartRadio in Australia and now this week in Spain. Hearing that my music is being used all over the world is something new to me, and something that I don’t take lightly. I write these songs to help people lose themselves in their everyday lives, everyone needs an escape and as songwriters it’s our job to help them find that safe space.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Spaced Visuals
Bradlee Dela Cruz
Dontplaylefou – Raf

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