Sam Newton Battenberg Faulkner
(born 11 January 1985 in Reigate, Surrey) is an English musician. He is known for his guitar playing style, which involves him rhythmically tapping and hitting the guitar's body, [1] and finger-picking.
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NEWTON FAULKNER TICKETS
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Early life
Faulkner attended The Hawthorns Preparatory school in
Bletchingley, Surrey. He began playing guitar at the age of 13 (after a few attempts at the
drums and
piano) and attended the
Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. He grew his trademark red
dreadlocks at age 14. He then moved on to the
Academy of Contemporary Music in
Guildford in 2001, where he spent 2 years gaining both diploma and the higher diploma award under the tutelage of
Eric Roche, amongst others.
His first band was a
Green Day cover band, in which he played bass guitar. His experience on the stage grew as he formed Half A Guy, a funk rock group with a quirky edge, with fellow band mates Matt Buchanan (who has a credit in Newton's
Hand Built by Robots
tab book), Dave Elvy and Nicola Crawshaw. Half A Guy recorded two demo CDs and managed 2 years before splitting.
He then spent time recording and playing gigs under the name Newton Battenberg Faulkner, including the
Lapagestock festival on 11 June 2005.
Music career
Appearances in 2006 on BBC Radio 2 as well as a publishing deal with Peermusic UK compelled the
Independent on Sunday
to tell its readers to "watch this face".
[2] Faulkner performed at the 2006
South by Southwest music festival and at Guilfest 2007.
Newton subsequently signed with
Sony BMG records and on the 30 July 2007 he released his début album
Hand Built By Robots
. He supported
James Morrison on his February UK tour as well as
Paolo Nutini on his UK tour in April, and
John Mayer on his September dates in the UK. He supported
The John Butler Trio on a number of European dates.
In June 2007 Newton's second single "Dream Catch Me" was selected
Jo Whiley's
Pet Sound
on her daily
Radio 1 show. This gave the track much exposure and was highly commented on by listeners to Jo's show by SMS and e-mail.
On July 29, "Dream Catch Me" entered the
UK Singles Chart at number 16. The following week it had risen to number 7 with
Hand Built By Robots
entering the album charts at number 3. The song was still at number 8 on 12 August and the album reached number 1 on 26 August.
Faulkner's fourth single from
Hand Built By Robots
, "Teardrop" (a cover of the
Massive Attack track), was released on 10 December 2007. A new video for "
I Need Something" was released in March along with a
United States version of the video for "
Dream Catch Me".
On a video blog streamed live from Newton Faulkner's website on June 22, Newton stated that the new album may be called
Rebuilt By Humans
. The reason for this being that in December 2008, Newton slipped on some ice and badly injured his wrist in which doctors had to fit a metal plate. Newton said that effectively he had 'been put back together again' by humans. The album is almost finished and is set for release on September 21. The first single from the album will be "If this Is It", with the video exclusively shown on Channel 4 on 1 August, set for release 14 September.
Live performances
Newton appeared twice at the
Glastonbury Festival in June 2007 – once on the Friday on the Acoustic Stage and once on the Sunday on the Leftfield Stage. He appeared twice in 2008 Glastonbury - once in the Guardian Lounge and once on the Other Stage. He appeared at
V Festival 2007 in August where he played in the Virgin Mobile Sessions Tent – a venue much too small as many people had to listen outside. He appeared at the
Connect Music Festival at the end of August 2007 on the Guitars and Other Machines stage.
Faulkner played at the
Isle of Wight Festival 2008 on June 15, where he performed his cover of
2 Unlimited track "No Limit" and
Dead Or Alive hit "
You Spin Me Round". He also played at the
Bonnaroo and
Sasquatch! festivals in 2008
[3].
He played at
Oxegen in July 2008 in Ireland where he finished with "
Bohemian Rhapsody" by
Queen.
Newton played the Main Stage on Sunday 11 May, 2009, for Radio 1's Big Weekend. Songs included "Dream Catch Me", a cover of Massive Attack's "Teardrop", and a cover of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody".
Influences
Newton's main influences include musicians such as
Del Amitri,
Eric Roche,
Tom Waits,
Jurassic 5,
Stevie Wonder,
The Rolling Stones,
James Brown,
Prince,
Mr Hudson,
Green Day,
George Clinton,
Bootsy Collins,
Primus,
Led Zeppelin,
Joni Mitchell,
Nirvana,
Cee-lo Green,
Gordon Giltrap,
DJ Shadow,
The Beatles,
The Neptunes,
Jamiroquai,
The Presidents,
Slick Rick,
Nick Harper,
Cornelius,
Neil Young and
Pearl Jam.
[4]
Discography
Albums
| Year
| Album
| Chart positions
| Sales and certifications
|
| UK
| IRL
| AUS
| DEU
|
| 2007
| Hand Built by Robots
- First studio album
- Release date: July 27, 2007
- Label: Ugly Truth
| 1
| 10
| 5
| 50
|
- BPI: 2x Platinum
- ARIA: Gold
|
| 2009
| Rebuilt by Humans
- Second studio album
- Release date: September 21, 2009
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
|
Singles
| Year
| Single
| Chart positions
| Album
|
| UK
| IRL
| DEU
| AUS
| GIB
|
| 2007
| "I Need Something"
| 107
| -
| -
| -
| -
| Hand Built by Robots
|
| "Dream Catch Me"
| 7
| 46
| 39
| 5
| 1
|
| 2008
| "All I Got"
| 59
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
| "Teardrop"
| 57
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
| "I Need Something" (re-release)
| 70
| -
| -
| -
| –
|
| "Gone in the Morning"
| –
| –
| -
| -
| –
|
| "To the Light" (video only)
| –
| –
| -
| -
| –
|
| "U.F.O." (video only)
| –
| –
| -
| -
| –
|
| 2009
| "If This is It"
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| "Rebuilt by Humans"
|
Notes and references
- Newton Faulkner:UK Folkie Brings his Unique Guitar Chops to Canada
- Watch this face: Newton Faulkner
- Newton Faulkner at Bonnaroo 2008 ''news.jamradio.org'', March 24 2008, Retrieved March 24 2008
- Official MySpace of Newton Faulkner