100 songs in 1 year with Samuel Carter Brazier
- Grace Angelique
- Apr 1, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 5, 2024
Believe it or not, I met Samuel through an online local musician's FaceBook group. I always feel a bit hesitant to work with someone new, especially when meeting them online. However, Sam calmed my nerves quickly with his warm and friendly presence and blew me away on a song I was working on called Bird of Prey. We have since gone on to write many more tracks together and it is my pleasure to introduce my readers to this talented gem! Sam is a composer, sound designer, and multimedia creator based in Portsmouth, UK. Recently, I sat down with Sam to talk about his music and his ambitious goal o write 100 songs in 1 year.
1. Can you share a bit about your songwriting process and tell us a bit more about your project Noodle Beard?
"As a producer, I will always listen to the artists, I'll ask them for a bunch of references and check out any demos they have for their new song or project. I love to experiment with any genre; this really helps to keep my own listening fresh and helps me to learn new things. At the moment, I'm really into lo-fi and lo-fi pop. Noodle Beard is my lo-fi artist name, created as a way of experimenting with old B-movie samples, various instruments, and collaborations. Noodle Beard was inspired by my love of bands such as Boards of Canada, Portishead, Massive Attack, and Aphex Twin."
2. Which artists or genres have had the biggest impact on your music? How do you incorporate these influences into your own unique style?
"I was raised on a huge range of music from Megadeth to Enya. I love listening to all genres of music and thinking about their writing, production, and how they can be fused together. Some of the most influential artists for me are Jeff Buckley, Coldplay, Opeth, Steven Wilson, and Father John Misty. I love to revisit these artists and think about how they wrote their albums, what may have inspired them, and what types of production techniques are used. I feel that music is ingrained into you like a blueprint, and the songs you have experienced throughout your life stick with you and help to guide you on the path of songwriting."
3. When working with bands as a videographer, how do you determine the creative direction for the project?
"Video is like composition; I like to close my eyes, immerse myself in the song, and imagine how the characters play out throughout the piece of music."
4. You mentioned wanting to write 100 songs by the end of this year. How is that going so far, and how are you staying on track?
"I'd love to release 100 tracks this year, so far I think I'm up to around 15, which doesn't sound like much, but I have had the great pleasure of working and collaborating with amazing artists such as yourself, Jodie Vinall, and Jacob Grae. I have released a 10-track instrumental meditation album under the project name Meditation in Music - Enlightenment, which has been released exclusively alongside Dr. Tina Heath's album/book Magical Meditations. There isn't so much of a plan at the moment, more of an organic process of finding people to work with and creating the best music for the world to hear."
5. What can fans expect from you in the near future, including any upcoming projects you're excited about sharing?
"I plan on collaborating a lot more this year both as a writer and a producer. I'm fortunate to have worked on Frank Turner's new album UNDEFEATED, which will be released on the 3rd of May. There are several Noodle Beard tracks in the works as well as some awesome songs I've been working on with Grace Angelique, such as See You In Your Dreams will be out on April 5th."