Newton Faulkner

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Newton Faulkner
Newton performing at The Journal Tyne Theatre.
Newton performing at The Journal Tyne Theatre.
Background information
Born January 11, 1985 (1985-01-11) (age 23)
Reigate, Surrey, England
Genre(s) Pop/Rock, Folk, Acoustic, Alternative
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s) Singing, Guitar, Percussion, Sitar
Years active 2006–present
Label(s) Sony BMG
Website NewtonFaulkner.com

Sam Newton Battenberg Faulkner (born January 11, 1985 in Reigate, Surrey) is an English musician. He is well known for his distinctive guitar playing style, which involves percussive use of the guitar's body, and unusual picking techniques.

Contents

[edit] 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. He grew his trademark ginger dreadlocks aged 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 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.

[edit] 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 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 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 e-mail.

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 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 the 10 December 2007. His rendition earned him the nickname 'Newton Fakener' due to the stylistic similarities of his vesion to an earlier conception of the song by José González. A new video for "I Need Something" was released in March along with a United States version of the video for "Dream Catch Me".

Faulkner has been confirmed to play at the Isle Of Wight Festival 2008 on June 14, appearing on the day The Police are the headline act. He is also confirmed to play at the Bonnaroo and Sasquatch! festivals in 2008[2]. He is also confirmed to play at Edinburgh's The Edge Festival alongside Kate Nash, Dizzee Rascal and Maximo Park amongst others[3].

[edit] Radio 1's Big Weekend 2008: Mote Park, Maidstone, Kent

Newton played the Main Stage on Sunday 11th May, for Radio 1's Big Weekend. He played a 27minute set, which can be viewed at the previously mentioned website.

Songs included: Dream Catch Me, Teardrop, and a cover of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.

[edit] Influences

Newton's main influences include musicians such as 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, Alice In Chains [4]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Date of release Title UK Ireland Australia Top Heatseekers[5]
July 30 2007 Hand Built by Robots 1(2) 10 5 42

[edit] EPs

Date of release Title
2000 Half a Guy Live!
2004 Newton Battenberg Faulkner
2006 Full Fat
2006 UFO

[edit] Singles

Date of Release Title IRL Chart Position GER Chart Position UK Chart Position AUS Chart Position GIB Chart Position Album
April 16, 2007 "I Need Something" - - 107 - - Hand Built by Robots
July 22, 2007 "Dream Catch Me" 46 39 7 5 1 Hand Built by Robots
October, 2007 "All I Got" - - 59 - - Hand Built by Robots
December 10, 2007 "Teardrop" - - 57 - - Hand Built by Robots
March 31, 2008 "I Need Something" (re-release) - - 70 - - Hand Built by Robots

[edit] Other

  • Half a Guy

9 tracks recorded live in Newton's barn.

  • Newton Battenberg Faulkner (aka "Son Of Keith")

Unreleased 13-track album.

  • 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.

[edit] External links

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ [Independent on Sunday (London) January 8, 2006 Features; Pg. 19 Watch this face: Newton Faulkner]. Retrieved on 2006-01-08.
  2. ^ Newton Faulkner at Bonnaroo 2008 news.jamradio.org, March 24, 2008, Retrieved March 24, 2008
  3. ^ Faulkner at Edge Festival
  4. ^ Official MySpace of Newton Faulkner
  5. ^ Billboard.coms Artist Chart History