Hey Flatfoot Sam, great to hear from you. First off, how are you doing?
Really good thanks, have been away in Cornwall for a week or so when the weather was really hot and been busy writing music and chilling at home. We’re off to Birmingham for a gig this weekend, first one since 2019 so looking forward to that big time.
Have you picked up any new hobbies?
I’ve just bought a set of Pioneer RX2’s so my new hobby is learning to use all that clobber. I am a bit of a dinosaur and so only got as far as Pioneer CDJ 1000, having played most of my career on vinyl so I need to modernize, especially when taking TripField out on the road.
What have you been doing to keep yourself busy?
Mostly working on the TripField project, getting the last few tracks together for the album which is due out late Autumn in time for Xmas. Throwing balls for our dogs seems to take up a fair amount of time. Honestly, this guy is relentless. I think he would chase balls morning to night without a break.
Tell us a bit about your musical background?
I got into music when I was at junior school but I got into dance music when some kids at senior school started going to raves like Fantazia and Mythology. Someone gave me a Prodigy “Experience” tape and someone else a Robbie Long mixtape and it blew my mind. I loved it. Soon after, I went to my first rave up at The Rhythm Station in Aldershot and it wasn’t long before I was there for the Hardcore on a Friday and Deep House on the Saturday nights. I started DJing because I loved what the guys were doing up there. I used to watch people like Slipmatt and Seduction and John oo Flemming up there and think: I’m going to do this one day. I bought some shitty Soundlab DLP1 belt-drive decks and learned to mix on them and then when I could afford it, in 1996, I bought my beloved 1210s. I still have them 25 years later. I serviced them once and they are as good as the day I bought them. They’ve had a life too. I should imagine they have had every alcoholic liquid known to humankind spilt down them at one event or another. It’s possibly the origin of Corovirus, not China. I started playing out in 1997, by this time hard house/techno & nu-nrg. I played out a fair bit, most weekends, and then in the early 2000’s I started playing hardcore as it had got good again. We ran a boat party in Southampton called ‘Depth Charge’ playing hardcore downstairs and anything else upstairs and it was a sell-out success for a number of years. I wrote two tracks with Jon Doe in 1998/99 which got released on vinyl. They were techno / nrg pumping bangers but I wasn’t able to really engineer back then. Jon did the clever stuff. I dabbled a bit with Cubase and wrote some very basic tracks that sounded a bit shit but I guess the ideas were there back then, just not the skills to deliver them.
What achievements are you proud of so far this year?
Getting the second and third singles out there “Ven a Bailar” and “R3lease” has been cool and starting to see some of the press and publicity concerning TripField. The release of the album later this year, nearer Xmas is going to be the pinnacle of twelve months’ work and the first album I have ever released, so I am pretty pumped for that.
What are you looking to have achieved this year personally?
Well, it’s been a funny old year, hasn’t it? A lot of stuff not running usually. Music has been the greatest success, without a doubt but other than just getting back out there and seeing people and enjoying friends’ company at a BBQ or event seems like a triumph this year. Maybe I’ll aim higher next year…
Who are your favorite artists at the moment?
I think Swedish House Mafia and Deadmau5 take some beating to be fair.
What do you have planned for the Autumn?
Musically, well it’s all about finishing off the album and getting that out into the shops for Xmas. Personally, I’m looking forward to getting into the XC season for racing and getting some fitness back after a few months with an injured Achilles.
What do you do to help you gain inspiration?
This depends. Sometimes I hear a tune or a riff and it makes me want to write something like it or I start messing around with the keyboard and work out a riff that sounds cool. Sometimes it’s a sample that I hear that makes me want to write something around it or a vocal.
What do you have in store for us that we can look forward to in the upcoming months?
I’m looking forward to being able to get out into the clubs and take TripField on the road and show people what it’s all about. Hopefully some festivals next year too. See you soon!
Flatfoot Sam Online:
https://soundcloud.com/flatfootsam
https://www.facebook.com/flatfoot.sam.3/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4fYoyKdvgqQEwaaY2Jir7G?si=fd7751c596d04083
