Sam Day‘s rise has been an interesting one to follow. Behind his glossy melodic sound and the boy-next-door look , over the years I have glimpsed more and more of a craftiness that always intrigued me. One doesn’t simply release multiple times on labels like NCS, Seeking Blue, and Lowly by chance. Similarly, the numbers it grinds on streaming platforms, while not a valid indicator, are not something that is happening accidentally. Sam knows his stuff, both as a creative artist and as an entrepreneurial artist, which is not a given even though it’s 2024. Having had the good fortune to meet him live several times over the past few months, we’ve connected for a guest mix and interview in which I investigate the background of his latest EP, his experiences working with TV series and movies, his first event as a promoter, his relationship with the music industry and more.
Let’s start by breaking down your mix for our readers, without too many spoilers. What can they expect from your selection?
My guest mix is mostly a collection of my favorite house and UKG tracks at the moment! There’s a few little hidden gems in there, and a couple of my newest tunes also.
We’re three months into 2024 but I’d like to kick off with a callback to the past year. First and foremost, I just recently found out you had the chance to work on some TV series and movies! How did this happen?
I’ve been working in film and TV for almost five years now! I began by running (serving coffee, moving equipment, etc) in the industry right out of university as it was a great way to make some money and get involved with some exciting projects. Five years later, I’m now an assistant sound editor which means I’m editing and designing sound effects for various projects! It’s great fun and really fulfilling, but takes a lot of time and can be very hard work.
Second throwback. You’ve been quite active in terms of live shows in 2023. For example, I remember your superstar DJ-like schedule during ADE, but more importantly, earlier in the year, you launched your own event series, In Your Arms. How did this first experience as a performer/promoter go?
Yeah, 2023 was really exciting for me in terms of live shows, especially during the ADE week where I was booked at four events! In Your Arms was a huge learning experience for me as it was the first event I’ve ever thrown. It was really eye-opening, seeing how expensive and stressful throwing an event is, but it was so worth it in the end to have about 150 people turn up and dance!
Absolutely! It still blows my mind that anyone even listens to my music anyway, so seeing all the love that the EP has been getting is crazy.
Moving from 2023 to 2024, how is your latest EP BLINDSIDE (released on the 19th of December) doing? Are you satisfied with the response of your listeners and fans?
Absolutely! It still blows my mind that anyone even listens to my music anyway, so seeing all the love that the EP has been getting is crazy. It’s so exciting to have people message me about BLINDSIDE from all across the globe!
I noticed that, not only is this not your first release with NCS, but in the last couple of years you’ve only published official releases via labels. Are there specific artistic or business motivations behind this choice? More generally, what is your view on the “record label vs independent artist” debate?
That’s a tough one, and I’m not sure that there’s one answer to the question. I really love working with the NCS team and they’ve supported me a lot over the past couple of years and I’m forever grateful for them. Working with a label has lots of positives, especially as a newer artist because they allow you to tap into their audience and build a community around your music quicker than if you were starting on your own. Labels can support you with distribution, legal and creative support, and connecting you with other artists. That being said, as time passes, it becomes more and more viable for artists to stay independent, with the increasing popularity of distribution deals and ‘label services.’
Now, let’s dive deeper into the current year. Are there any big plans coming up in the first two quarters?
Yes! Hopefully, soon we’ll be dropping a remix pack for the EP, with some super exciting artists and amazing remixes on there. Then going into the rest of the year, I think I’ll mostly be focusing on singles again, and just trying out new sounds and styles.
Most of the time, when I’m writing music it’s a pretty unconscious experience for me – I’m not really thinking too much about genres or styles.
In BLINDSIDE there are a couple of songs, ‘BE THE ONE’ and ‘EVERYTIME I SEE YOUR FACE,’ that caught me off-guard for their heavy flirt with (EDM) progressive house and trancey vibes. Is this a creative vein you’ll explore more in the next releases?
Genuinely I’m not sure! Most of the time, when I’m writing music it’s a pretty unconscious experience for me – I’m not really thinking too much about genres or styles. That being said, I do feel like I’ve played around with those styles now and I want to try out some others!
In conjunction with the release of the EP, you also did a drop on sound.xyz. Which of the biggest technological innovations in recent years, namely blockchain, NFTs, AI interests you most?
Ah, I’m not really sure! Both sound.xyz and Audius have been really cool platforms to get involved with, and it’s been great seeing how quickly I’ve been able to make money from them. I don’t 100% understand how Blockchain works just yet, but its involvement in the future of music ownership and artist royalties is quite interesting and exciting.
I reframed the process from “I have to promote my music” to “I get to promote my music”, then it’ll be more enjoyable and hopefully receive better results!
One thing that never changes in the music industry is its conflicting relationship with social media. Linked to this tweet of yours, I’m keen to know what relationship you have with the promotional side of being an artist.
Promoting your music always feels like a weird uphill battle as half the time you’re just trying to convince random people to listen to your music. I find it hard to be motivated to promote my tracks after I’ve spent so long making them, so I thought if I reframed the process from “I have to promote my music” to “I get to promote my music”, then it’ll be more enjoyable and hopefully receive better results!
Talking about tweets, you seemed pretty excited about Ableton Live 12. What do you think of this new version? Any highlights so far?
Yes! Live 12 has been really good so far. There are no major highlights for me other than the aesthetic update – it looks much cleaner and smoother in my opinion. The beta versions are still a bit buggy so I’m excited to get my hands on the full release.
Sam Day FUXWITHIT Guest Mix Tracklist
jigitz – first time
Harry Hayes – Sunflower
Sam Day – BABY
ATRIP – Fussy
J Wax – Nasty
salute – system
Sam Gellaitry – ALONE (camoufly Edit)
Daniel Allan – Butterflies (with Georgie O’Brien)
33 Below – LOYAL
Rozie Ramati – Drown in the Clouds of Dew
Duskus – Hope
Sam Day – EVERYTIME I SEE YOUR FACE
Skygirl, Boys Noize – Tell Me
Duskus – Black Blue Red Green
Daniel Allan, han.irl <3, Rome in Silver – Elysian Park
Fred Again.., Lil Yachty, Overmono – stayinit
