Sam Willoughby is an accomplished singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. His talents are enshrined in the four albums and two EPs of his own compositions. Sam has toured Canada with the No Strings Attached theatre company, East Timor with John Schumann and the Vagabond Crew and throughout Europe as a solo act. He was also the bassist of the award-winning alt/country band, Huckleberry Swedes, regular bassist and singer with John Schumann and The Vagabond Crew, and played with legendary country artist, Bill Chambers, father of Kasey Chambers. Now Living in London, Sam has established his own links with west London, performing at a number of venues, and as part of the Ealing Club Electic line up. Continuing our series of Ealing Club Electic Interviews and streamed performances, we had the pleasure to quiz Sam on his interesting life.
Thank you for agreeing to catch up with Occhi Magazine. Firstly, for readers who are unfamiliar with you and your work, how did you get into music?
As a child I was always overcome by the sound of music. My parents told me as a baby I would stop and groove to songs in the supermarket I also have a strong memory from about the age of 4 years old of standing in a doorway at home and hearing the beating of drums. So I guess it was inevitable that I would choose to do something with music.
You ran away from home to join a circus and lived in a double-decker bus while performing four nights a week around Australia. Please share with us how this experience came about?
I was living in Sydney at the time and a friend of mine called me to ask if I wanted to join a circus, not your everyday request. I grabbed a guitar, a snare drum and some other bits and pieces and caught a train to some small town and performed a show the next day. The company was called Circus Monoxide, a highly political and irreverent circus comprised of graduate theatre students from Bathurst University. Some of its members went on to join Australia’s equivalent to Cirque Du Soleil, Circus Oz. We travelled the East coast of Australia in a convoy of hazard striped vehicles including a double decker bus and I had some of the best times of my life!
You performed with some of the biggest names in Australian popular music including Jim Moginie (Midnight Oil), Shane Nicholson, John Schumann (ex Redgum), Bill Chambers, and many others. To date, what has been your most memorable experience, and why?
That was so long ago now all those memories from back home in Australia. Most of those opportunities came from being in a band called Huckleberry Swedes. I had known the members for a long time and I had done many gigs playing drums for them over the years. Eventually they fell upon the ears of a well known country musician named Bill Chambers and at this time I was their bass player. One thing led to another and I got known in that scene as a decent bassist and so some doors opened for me for a while. I think the important aspect of it is friendship. I joined that band because we were friends and had a good time together. It wasn’t my vision or my music but I became a part of it and contributed to it because I liked the company.
You’ve toured Canada with the No Strings Attached theatre company, East Timor with John Schumann and the Vagabond Crew and throughout Europe as a solo act. How has touring with these artists shaped your approach to music and performing live?
Having been fortunate enough to work with some artists who found success and had a following meant the gigs were generally well attended and often but not always in decent venues. In this environment you can concerntrate on performing the music as opposed to playing for yourself like you often do when you play to a distracted crowd. Having an audience who is there for the music makes the difference and that can happen in any venue. I have had similar experiences performing at Ealing Eclectic gigs which are very intimate but you have to be on because people are listening. Musicians with a following and industry backing generally present their shows with a performance aspect in mind unlike most of us who turn up to the venue and just play.
You recorded your fourth solo album, “The Record” with by former Abbey Road Engineer/Producer, Tony Clark. The album is available through cd baby and most internet download sites including itunes? Please tell us more about the album, its production and what we can expect.
I met Tony Clark at the Half Moon in Putney after playing a solo set and he gave me his number. Sometimes you need people who believe in you so I called him and went to his house with the intention of recording a few demos. He had rushed out earlier that day to buy a couple of cheap microphones from Maplins (which can tell you how long ago we made that album) and had them set up before I arrived. He spoke for a while about all the great musicians he had worked with and he told me that he didn’t like to make “recordings” instead he liked to capture a performance so in this way it didn’t matter what sort of equipment you used so long as the performance is captivating. So with The Beatles in mind I played and sang with as much intention and focus as I could muster and we didn’t need to add anything because I had already done it and it remained as a record of that particular session on that particular day hence the name “The Record” it is a little old now and I have made another album since but the record is better.
This year has been a difficult one for everyone. How has the pandemic impacted on you and your projects?
I haven’t really pursued a project for some years now instead I have been playing a lot more guitar. No song writing, except an occasional guitar piece, but plenty of time practicing and getting better at playing the guitar. Maybe I’m a player at heart and I don’t need to sing and write songs. Sometimes we do things because we consider it necessary but necessity changes and we adapt. My happiest times playing music have been on the drums so maybe that sound I heard in my head when I was a kid was connecting me to drumming.
Where can readers find out more about you?
samwilloughbymusic.com, youtube/samwilloughbymusic, facebook/samwilloughbymusic. Spotify
Main Photo :Giuliana Lo Presti
Image: Sam performing at the Ealing Blues Festival.
About Author
