Getting To Know: The Samphires

The Samphires, a dynamic three-piece alternative band from Newcastle upon Tyne, have been making waves in the North-East and Edinburgh music scenes with their eclectic blend of folk, rock, and grunge. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Big Thief, Wolf Alice, and Pixies, they’ve created a distinctive sound that merges tender vocal harmonies with heavier, grunge-infused instrumentals. Their music delves into the intimate and often vulnerable aspects of life, inviting listeners to explore a world where raw emotion becomes a powerful force of expression.

Having already garnered attention by supporting acts like Sprints, Dilettante, and The Shivas, The Samphires were handpicked by Sunderland legends The Futureheads to perform at their curated show for Generator Live Fringe. Fresh out of their studies in Scotland, the band is now fully immersed in the local music scene, eager to continue their journey.

Their debut EP, ephemera, offers a nostalgic exploration of growing up, focusing on the fears and anxieties that come with evolving identity and new relationships. Tracks like "papercuts" and "pretty for you" provide a deep, personal insight into these themes, complemented by visuals that allow listeners to experience the EP through the metaphor of a dollhouse—each room reflecting a different song. As they move past these early themes, The Samphires are ready to take on new musical horizons, continuing to captivate audiences with their addictively ethereal sound and hard-hitting lyrics.

1. Your music blends a range of influences from Big Thief to the Pixies, and merges genres like folk, rock, and grunge. Can you share more about how these diverse influences shape your sound and the creative process behind merging these genres?

All the music we take influence from seems to be emotionally charged in differing ways, genres like rock and grunge seem to bring this out in their instrumentation and folk in its storytelling. From the instrumentation side of things, we wanted to play with the gritty and almost messy aspects of grunge music while pulling it back to something grounding with the long history the folk genre has. But really the songwriting process is where we figure out which sound to lean into, as the songs seem to change organically with what we feel works in rehearsal. If the song wants more energy and attitude, we give it a more distorted sound but if the lyrics need space to breathe then we mirror that in the music. We really just enjoy pushing our own boundaries and want to keep doing this moving forward from our first EP into upcoming projects.

2. Your debut EP ‘ephemera’ delves into themes of growing up, identity, and relationship anxieties. How did your personal experiences influence the writing and creation of this EP, and what message do you hope listeners take away from it?

Really, the lyrics of ‘ephemera’ are all personal experiences, due to our love of other artists who write personal lyrics. The lyric writing process often starts on the notes app, like many other writers probably start, and initially is more like journaling, not really with the intent to share. They become more of a journey to understand the emotions or a cathartic release of them evolving into a narrative. We wrote so many of these songs when we were quite a but younger than we are now, so the formative experiences we’ve written about in this EP have evolved into a kind of retrospective appreciation of all of those insecurities and fears being ephemeral by nature - its not going to last even if it feels so all consuming at the time. We have a real appreciation for personal and human connection, it’s the purpose of any art, and by connecting to others through our own personal experiences we hope to create something to find solace in, to comfort issues that may feel so isolating and show it isn’t something felt alone.

3. The concept of the dollhouse in your EP visuals is quite intriguing, with each room representing a different song. Can you explain the inspiration behind this idea and how it enhances the listener's experience of the music?

We really wanted there to be a thoughtful visual journey to go alongside the music and the dollhouse was the best way, we thought, to encompass all of the things we talk about in the songs. In an obvious way, a dollhouse is reflective of youth, but more than that it is reflective of ‘ephemera’. We have all at some point put away childish things, so by their nature toys are ephemeral, we grow out of them as we do relationships, insecurities and fears. In a way, because a lot of the EP is based on these turning points in youth, the dollhouse was representative of another kind of turbulent stage, leaving the comfort of the family home into adulthood. In moving on from the dollhouse towards future projects we have, it’s like the songs are being contained in it within their different rooms - still there but separated from where we are now. As well, we wrote many of the songs so long ago and have played them so many times that we were at the stage where we really did want to get them out there and by giving each of them a space, decorating them with secretly representative props and hidden stories it felt like a catharsis of some sort, like leaving those small memories behind somewhere. Our next EP will be centred around the external, breaking away from this era of our lives making space for the next.

4. You’ve built a strong presence in the North-East music scene and have supported some well-known acts. How has the local music community in Newcastle and Edinburgh influenced your growth as a band, and what are your plans for the future now that you're settled back in one place?

We absolutely love the Newcastle music scene, it’s been so good to us really! We have played in some amazing venues across the North East and have been able to gig with some of the best promoters. At its core it is just so community driven here, we have and will continue to learn so much from the other people working in the band scene. We are also super excited to all be in one place moving forward, to keep gigging and writing and releasing more music.

5. Vulnerability seems to be a central theme in your music, where it's portrayed as a strength rather than a weakness. How do you approach writing such intimate lyrics, and how do you balance this vulnerability with the heavier, grunge-infused sound of the band?

There is a lot of power to be found in the vulnerable, of course sadness but often rage and intensity can come with it. It isn’t often that you can openly share your feelings like that, but within art is one of those instances you can freely express those internal feelings or through writing figure them out along the way. It’s cathartic to play the vulnerable songs, as especially in women fronted bands you are often expected to be mellow or quiet, so being able to show that harsher side of emotion through the grungy sound helps to show that power and strength. We’ve heard a few times that we should really write more happy songs, to that we went with angry songs instead!