At the helm of one of Rinse FM’s most listened to daytime shows, Sam Supplier has been cultivating a strong name for himself within the garage and tech bass scene. This summer though, he’s signed to the iconic Champion Records and is getting ready to drop what could be this summer’s catchiest track so far – we caught up with the man himself to find out more…
So, for those who don’t know – who is Sam Supplier?
I’m a London-based, house music-led producer and remixer, and one of the most energetic DJs in the UK.
Your show on Rinse FM has some quite high profile fans – was it a natural progression to present radio?
I’ve actually been doing radio on all the different pirate stations since I was 15 years old so it’s actually the other way round, I was on the radio before I actually started making music.
You’ve just signed a track to the mighty Champion Records, but before we get onto that particular record – what’s been the proudest moment in terms of releasing music so far?
I did a bootleg of Adele’s track ‘We Could Of Had It All’ and then it started getting played on BBC Radio 1, Capital, Kiss FM etc, so that was a pretty proud moment and made me realise that making music was defo the way forward for me. I also had a remix signed to Sony/Columbia in New York, so both were really key moments for me.
Night & Day is your forthcoming track on Champion – there’s a lot of buzz around this. What’s the story behind it?
If I’m honest, I deliberately went in my studio with the mindset to make a track for the summer, one with hot weather and holidays in mind. Just a really fun song really, one that whenever anyone heard it, it would just remind them of summertime – the times where you’re partying all night long and it turns into day.
Is it what you’d say a typical Sam Supplier track sounds like?
To be fair, it’s actually not – my stuff is normally a lot harder- hitting. Tech bass is the sound I normally front, but as I said – I’ve just really enjoyed going a bit more leftfield and summery with ‘Night & Day’, and everyone’s just gone totally nuts for it.
Has it been getting the kind of reaction at shows that you anticipated?
Actually ten times more than I ever anticipated. It’s now at the stage where every time I play it I can see loads of people singing along. I played to 8000 last week on main stage at One Dance festival and they all went nuts as soon as it came on, and all the hairs on my arms stood up, it was mad.
There’s a growing change in the industry with the way that new records are promoted and released, particularly in relation to accommodating streaming – what’s your take on this?
Streaming has definitely changed things – I think that it means there is not a great deal of money now to be made from selling your music anymore. But the flip side to that is that it’s now a lot easier than it used to be for new artists to break through and have some success.
Has it impacted the way you’ve approached the new release?
Massively, and is why I’m lucky enough to be with the guys at Champion Records pushing the track in all the correct directions and avenues that you now need to in this present music climate. Just one example of this… I thought when you release your single to buy you bring it out everywhere on a certain date at the same time, but I’ve learnt that’s not how it’s done now and it goes up on Spotify like a month before. That’s just one example but there’s so many things you now have to do differently.
Moving back to touring – your diary has been stacked over the last 12 months, what’s the best show you’ve ever done?
Yeah it’s been maaad, I’ve done nearly 200 shows in the last 12 months. Ushuaia in Ibiza was an amazing booking to get, but I think my best gig to date was Eastern Electrics Festival at the end of last summer. It wasn’t the biggest crowd I’ve played to but when I walked into the tent there wasn’t even 20 people and I was so gutted as it was a gig I’d been looking forward to for ages. Then when I started my set people started rushing in the tent from all angles and by the time I got to my third track the health & safety officers had run on stage and were telling me to calm down as the tent was now a fire hazard with way too many people trying to cram in. That was defo a big buzz and the first time I really realised I actually had a following and that people actually wanted to come and see me play.
And what is the dream gig?
On one of the main stages at Glastonbury I reckon.
If you could only play clubs or present a radio show for the rest of your career, which would it be?
Ohhh good question. I do love radio and it is embedded somewhere in my genes. But I’d have to say clubs, I just love the buzz of performing way too much. #adrenalinejunkie
And finally, apart from Night & Day – what else can we expect from you over the rest of 2017?
I’ve just mixed my first compilation album, ‘Tech Bass Volume 1’. I have some crazy gigs in the diary including France, Bali, Spain, Ibiza, Amsterdam and Australia. Not to mention currently finishing my next single which will be my second national release with Champion. I literally feel so lucky right now and that all my hard work, knock backs and dedication is finally starting to pay off. #livingthedream
You can stream Night & Day via Spotify now: http://bit.ly/NightDaySpotify
