Samuel, the man behind This New Light, caught up with us to discuss his latest EP and the process behind it.
If you haven’t treated yourself to a listen of you, all along, the stunning EP from This New Light, then jump on that immediately.
In between playing bass for two bands, creating for This New Light, and scoring for a Brisbane creative, we had the opportunity to chat with the blooming artist about his project. Take a look.
HAPPY: Hey Sam! Whereabouts do you find yourself today?
THIS NEW LIGHT: Ahh, well today/tonight, I find myself sitting in front of the TV in my sister’s apartment (where I live) watching the Olympics with my bro-in-law. Haha
HAPPY: This New Light.. where did this name come from?
THIS NEW LIGHT: Yeah, great question! When I first began work on this project, I was collabing with my good friend Tom Logan. We had done some originals together and the sound was very folky (picture like Mumford & Sons kinda vibes). The name we had at the time was ‘Lance & the Lion’. Still cool, but very folky and Americana.
To be honest, though, I had begun planning our debut EP, and I knew the sound would be more ambient and cinematic. So the name ’This New Light’ doesn’t have some huge significance to me, but I drafted it thinking of the feeling I wanted people to get listening to my music. To me, it communicates hope and warmth – I want my music to embody these same characteristics.
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HAPPY: Massive congrats on the release of your sophomore EP! Tell us a bit about the collection of songs.
THIS NEW LIGHT: Hey cheers! It’s actually been a really long journey! I first wrote Awakening in July of 2019.. so it’s taken quite some time to finally get to this point! So yeah, huge relief and excitement having the whole EP out now!
The songs on this EP are really interesting, I feel. Whilst there isn’t a continual theme or concept running through the tracks, the record, overall, symbolises my development as an artist (and a human) since my self-titled EP. My main goal in compiling a list of songs for an EP is telling a story in music from start to finish. Awakening is this really epic and grandiose track that just constantly builds to create anticipation.
103 is that catchy, groove-heavy song giving the record momentum. Surround Me is this experimental track that hits a real spacey instrumental section at the end. You, All Along is a sweet, stripped-back ballad that plays into the folk genre well. And End of the Line is a predominantly instrumental track that fully releases in the final chorus. I know literally none of these songs feels the same (ahahh) but to me, they function really well as a unit. It’s like I can picture these songs as the soundtrack to a film and each one plays a significant part in the plot.
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HAPPY: What did the music-making process look like for you? Did you make these tracks together or at different times?
THIS NEW LIGHT: So I wrote a lot of these songs at different points over the last two years. I never tried to force inspiration, I just waited till I’d written enough good song ideas and then drafted the tracklist from there. The hardest part of the music-making process this time around was just being patient. From the get-go, I wanted to work with Hayden Smith (a Brisbane-based producer who’s worked with Hollow Coves in the past) and this meant adopting a slower pace of recording, mixing and mastering. Both of us are studying a master’s degree full-time, so we don’t always get enough time to be as creative as we’d like.
Awakening was recorded with Hayden over 6 months, but then all the other tracks I recorded myself and Hayden just mixed. Because I’m no expert when it comes to demoing and recording, most of the tracks sounded very different when I sent them off to be mixed, but Hayden is such a good producer, he can make my bad demos sound sweet!
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HAPPY: What is your mantra for when you’re creating music?
THIS NEW LIGHT:**google searches mantra** Umm, I’ve never really thought about it too much. Perhaps I’d say that being creative relies heavily on being aware of both your body and mind. There are times where I really don’t feel like making music, and there are other times where I can pump out a solid song idea in about 30mins. When I’m conscious of how I’m feeling though, and don’t try to push myself too hard, I find myself thriving more.
HAPPY: You have a pretty full plate with studying full time, scoring for a Brisbane creative and playing bass for 2 sunshine coast bands! How do you make time for a solo career?
THIS NEW LIGHT: Yeah, honestly it’s really hard sometimes. I’m the kind of person who really enjoys cutting back on life commitments, but I guess I’ve found myself in a busier season of life currently. I wish I had more time to spend on music at the moment, but I know that once I finish my studies, I’ll have more time to focus on music (my plan is to graduate with this teaching degree and then just work two days a week as a relief teacher). Thankfully my uni studies are all online, so I still find time to surf, hang with friends and do fun music projects, but once I graduate, I’ll have way more time to focus on TNL.
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HAPPY: What has been your song of the week!
THIS NEW LIGHT: Seventeen Again by Charli Adams and Novo Amor. Such a smooth, slow-burn
HAPPY: What can we expect in the future for This New Light (gigs, new music? etc.)?
THIS NEW LIGHT: Well, I’m super excited to be going on tour this September! I’ve never done something like this before, and it kinda freaks me out thinking about all the tickets we have to sell, but I know the experience is gonna be epic! I’m bringing a crew of mates along and have Anna & Jordan, and Phin supporting at each show. I really wanted to push myself to do this in 2021 as I’ve seen some of my songs get traction on Spotify, but I don’t feel I’ve quite connected well enough with audiences live. So playing three headline shows across Brisbane, Gold Coast, and Sunshine Coast should hopefully help out in that department!
HAPPY: Thanks so much for your time Samuel!
THIS NEW LIGHT: Oh cheers! Thanks for hanging out with me!
Interview by Jasmine Kassis
Listen to you, all along below:
