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Newton Faulkner

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Newton Faulkner

Sam Newton Battenberg Faulkner (born January 11, 1985 in Surrey, England) is a British musician. He is well known for his distinctive ginger dreadlocks.

Early life

Faulkner, cunt, began playing guitar at the age of 13 with session guitarist Bob "crazy guy" Cranham and also attended the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, where he spent 2 years gaining both diploma and the higher diploma award under the tutelage of Eric Roche.


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, 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 the 11th June 2005.

Music career

Recent appearances 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." [1] Faulkner performed at the 2006 South by Southwest music festival and at Guilfest 2007.

In 2006 he had a support slot for Steve Forbert at The Spitz in London, England.

Newton subsequently signed with Sony BMG records and on the 30th of July 2007 he released his debut 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 also John Mayer on his September dates in the UK. He also 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 email.

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 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 also appeared at the Connect Music Festival at the end of August 2007 on the Guitars and Other Machines stage

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 rose was still at number 8 on 12 August, 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 the 10 December 2007.

Influences

Newton states on his MySpace that his influences are Eric Roche, Tom Waits, Jurassic 5, Massive Attack, 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, Seu Jorge, DJ Shadow, The Beatles, The Neptunes, Jamiroquai, The Presidents, Slick Rick, Nick Harper, Cornelius, Neil Young, Pearl Jam

Source: Official MySpace of Newton Faulkner

Eric Roche

Eric Roche is undoubtedly one of Newton's biggest influences, both from a stylistic point of view (vis a vis the percussive use of the guitar's body) and through the use of tapping, uncommon tunings and inventive chord changes, such as in I Need Something and Aging Superhero, from his debut album. This method of playing also shows heavily in the work of Jon Gomm and Pete Wailes, although with a slightly different feel in both.

Discography

Studio albums and EPs

Year Title Notes
2000? Half a Guy Live! [EP] 3 tracks recorded live.
2001? Half a Guy 12 tracks recorded live in Newton's barn.
2004 Newton Battenberg Faulkner [EP] First solo release featuring 4 tracks. Re-released in 2005 with bonus videos from the M-Channel.
200-? Peer Music Sampler Four track promo-only EP featuring Santa Claus, The Future, I Need Something and Last Train Home. Sometimes referred to as the Santa Claus EP on auction sites.
2006 Full Fat [EP] Four track EP featuring Full Fat, I Need Something (acoustic), To The Light (acoustic) and Where Is This Gonna End? (acoustic). Release date 26.03.06 on Pressure. ASIN: B000EMSUKG. Catalogue Number: PRE001
2006 UFO [EP] Five Track EP released 04.12.06 as a follow up to "Full Fat".
2007 I Need Something [Single] Released on 16.04.07 to download and available to buy on 07.05.07. The b-side is live version of Newton's infamous Spongebob Squarepants theme, also including a special rendition of Junglebob. Charted at number 107 in the UK singles chart.
2007 Dream Catch Me [Single] Released on 22.07.07 to download and available to buy on 23.07.07. Entered the UK Top 40 at number 16, and climbed to number 7 the following week.
2007 Hand Built By Robots Released on 30.07.07. Debut album on Sony/BMG Ugly Truth Records. Initially charted at number 3, but peaked at number 1.
2007 Teardrop [Download] Charted at number 60 on 26.08.07.
2007 All I Got Charted at number 59 on 28.10.07.

Notes and references

  1. ^ [Independent on Sunday (London) January 8, 2006 Features; Pg. 19 "Watch this face: Newton Faulkner"]. Retrieved 2006-01-08. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
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