Sam Fischer: From running naked around a Sydney farm, to homeless in LA, to global superstardom
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15.10.2021

Sam Fischer: From running naked around a Sydney farm, to homeless in LA, to global superstardom

Sam Fischer

Sam Fischer spent his youth running naked around a Sydney farm. Then he was nearly homeless in Los Angeles. Now he's one of Australia's most successful musical exports.

Following the release of his duet with Demi Lovatoon ‘What Other People Say’, hit single ‘This City’ and recent fan track ‘Simple’, Sam Fischer has shared his new single ‘Hopeless Romantic’, available now through RCA Records.

In Sam style, Hopeless Romantic wears its heart on its sleeve and discusses the struggles Sam has faced as an artist while romanticising what every-day life should be. It’s a small hint at the Australian songwriter’s remarkable backstory.

Keep up with the latest music news, festivals, interviews and reviews here.

Sam spent the earliest part of his life in Australia, on a small farm in the picturesque town of Grose Vale, just outside Kurrajong, just outside Sydney. “I used to come home from school,” Sam reports, “get my kit off and run around the farm naked.”

On September 30 2014, Sam Fischer popped a message on Twitter. “Just booked a one-way ticket to LA,” he tweeted. “Phwoar.” LA, it turned out, was less aroused. Things got pretty bleak, pretty quick, and it wasn’t long before Sam had ended up sleeping in a mate’s car.

With the promise of a recording contract in the bag, Sam had set off to LA only for the deal to be pulled away. “It was a sink or swim time,” he recalls. “I’d lie to my mum back home and tell her I was killing it.”

At night he’d go to bars and clubs, attempting to meet anyone involved in the music industry. “The next morning I’d email and set up a lunch meeting,” Sam adds. “I’d eat one meal a day, in the lunch meeting. When I look back I go: how the hell did you do that?”

After months of couch-surfing or sleeping in a car, he finally received his break with ‘This City’ and project Homework, which has been just the amazing start of an exciting new chapter in Sam’s career.

Sam’s debut single ‘This City’ currently stands at over 500 million worldwide streams and stayed in the UK Top 20 for 11 weeks. “I’m forever grateful for This City,” Sam smiles. “When I wrote it, it was simply a light for me when I was in a dark place. Nowadays I see it as a sign that everything’s possible.”

He recently completed his first live tour in the UK, including a packed out London Garage performance and will be bringing the tour to the US in January 2022. Australian born Sam Fischer first introduced himself with his Not A Hobby EP and has achieved incredible attention through his soulful voice and heartfelt lyrics.

“There have been times over the past 2 years where I really felt like I’d never get to do the things I’d always dreamed about doing as an artist,” he says.

“With every virtual performance that ended with a deep silence from my furniture, it just started making me really sad, and at the same time guilty, because I wasn’t appreciating what I have at all.”

Touring North America with his friend Lewis Capaldi, he’s now based in LA, receiving acclaim for his own work, while continuing to solidify his spot as a writer by working with global pop superstars including Ciara, Lennon Stella, Louis Tomlinson, Elle King, Jessie J and Virginia To Vegas.

He says he’s now doing better than ever, after staying true to the writing style he developed back home.

“I was actively refusing to accept the reality and instead romanticising a version of life that just simply didn’t exist,” he continues. “That’s really what Hopeless Romantic is about.

“I try to write uncomplicated, honest truths about myself. Honesty and vulnerability should be celebrated, and if the last five years have taught me anything it’s that you should never be afraid to be your honest self.”

“Though I will say, having just come off of my first headline tour, where I got to meet my fans for the first time, who are the people who give me this life, I’m in a much better place.”

Head to Sam Fischer’s website for all the links.