Sam Wilde has released his new EP ‘About Right’.
Recorded at Greenmount Studios, the six-track EP features 3 brand new tracks, alongside Sam’s recent releases ‘On the Run’, ‘If You Stay’ and ‘In Your Head’.
To celebrate his EP release, we caught up with Sam to uncover 5 tracks that influenced ‘About Right’.
Led Zeppelin – Whole Lotta Love | Listen via Spotify
I write a lot of my music with rhythm in mind, sometimes even writing/visualising a drumbeat in my head before adding any melody. You can completely change the feel of a song by altering the rhythm and John Bonham is the absolute king of this. Zeppelin were so experimental with changing rhythms/time signatures and this has definitely had a direct impact on areas of my sound and writing. I think their influence is most apparent in the end of ‘City of Bones‘.
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Don’t Forget Me | Listen via Spotify
Up there in my top albums! I grew up with this album on repeat and this song is probably my one of favourites. I love the space that Chili’s leave throughout this record. My bass player, James, and I wrote the riff to ‘In Your Head’ after binging this album, so I’d say it had a pretty big influence on that record. Frusciante’s backing vocals also inspired a lot the backing vocals throughout the EP!
Kings Of Leon – Crawl | Listen via Spotify
This was one of the reference tracks for the production of the EP. I love the fuzzy over distorted bass tone and how dry the drums are. That bass tone is all over the EP, as well as the double-tracked vocals. Kings of Leon are a big influence of mine. I love their earlier albums, especially ‘Youth’ and ‘Young Manhood’. That super raw, bluesy garage rock really resonances with me and I think that comes across throughout my writing and the EP.
Radiohead – Airbag | Listen via Spotify
Again up there in my favourite albums of all time, this record is emotionally and musically inspiring. Radiohead manage to find this balance between joy and uncertainty. This record is calming yet unsettling at the same time. ‘Airbag’ was another that I put forward for the production reference for the EP. I love the guitar tones and space the bass creates. I think musically we’re pretty different – but Radiohead inspire me to keep making things that are different and not be afraid of that.
Jeff Buckley – Lover, You Should’ve Come Over | Listen via Spotify
Jeff Buckley could quite possibly be my favourite songwriter and singer. Vocally, he is by far the best vocalist I’ve ever heard. His voice is so haunting yet soothing. I remember listening to this album for the first time and thinking ‘holy shit, why have I not listened to this earlier?!’ ‘Lover, You Should’ve Come Over’ directly inspired the lyrics of ‘If You Stay’. I remember writing the first line after listening to this record “you call me lover…” and then it just flowed from there. This album taught me the importance of emotion in your writing and how it can bring a song to life!
You can stream Sam Wilde’s EP ‘About Right’ via Spotify below: