Biography

Newton Faulkner is a man in motion. Across the songwriter’s freewheeling fifteen-year career, the sole constant has been his urge to tear down what came before, shed his creative skin and outrun industry dogma. Already, that rebel spirit has seen Faulkner’s music pinball from the outer-limits acoustic sorcery of 2007’s UK#1 debut, Hand Built By Robots, through an acclaimed catalogue that takes in rock, pop, folk, soul and beyond.

Now, it finds Faulkner accelerating past the stasis of the pandemic with his antennae up and a renewed thirst to play, produce, write, score, tour, teach, talk, and test his limits with the musicians who enter his orbit. “My plan for the year is almost a reaction to what’s been happening,” he considers. “During the pandemic, I kept busy with the Interference (Of Light) album, but it was all quite insular, working remotely, driving myself mad. I want to get out of all that. There’s so many collaborative projects I want to get involved in.”

After the mystery-cloaked ventures of recent times, Faulkner’s new ethos of ‘no secrets’ promises open lines of communications as his boldest plans to date unfold. Already confirmed is the 23-date Feels Like Home UK tour, which starts September 17th and sees him shapeshift once again. “After the last tour - which was an immensely complicated setup, like flying a musical helicopter - this one will be really stripped back and minimal, like how I started. There’s definitely a power to that.”

True to his promise of transparency, the Feels Like Home tour also lifts the curtain on his touring infrastructure, with VIP tickets letting the Faulkner hardcore observe the technical prep, and guitar workshops unpicking his playing methods before the gig. “There’s always so many questions,” he reasons, “and I started to think, ‘Well, why don’t we open up the process?’ So, people can come to the soundcheck and experience me prepare the show! Then there’ll be a workshop in the day, to suit all different levels of player.”

It’s a concept that flows into another of the songwriter’s biggest upcoming projects. As a noted alumnus of Guildford’s Academy of Contemporary Music - not to mention a seasoned tutor, workshop leader and bootcamp guest - the Newton Faulkner Guitar Academy set to launch later this year is a logical progression. “Playing has made me so happy for so long and I want to pass that on,” he says. “But music theory is a huge topic and if you’re just thrown in, it puts a lot of people off. So, my Guitar Academy is about streamlining everything you need to have the most fun, work stuff out by ear and get deep in - but to the fun stuff - as quickly as possible.”

No doubt, new music will land this year, but the most exciting thing, says Faulkner, is that “I have no idea what it’s going to be“. Having recently inked a new deal with Peer Publishing - the same firm that handled his early career - the songwriter anticipates scratching every last musical itch. “They’ve got great in-roads into film and TV,” he says. “I’ve done bits of soundtrack and scoring work in the past - like the 2018 Margot Robbie film, Terminal - but now I want to get deeper into that. So, there’s all this new stuff that I can do now.”

The crossover potential is mind-blowing, he continues. “Peer has great artists on their books, and we’ve been talking about totally bizarre projects that I’d never have thought of before. I was like, ‘Bring that shit on’. Musically, whenever I’m forced out of my comfort zone, I’m usually quite surprised. So, I’m going to be writing with lots of people. I find other songwriters fascinating. You learn so much. Collaboration is definitely what I’m going for this year.”

With a UK support tour for James Morrison through March/April and plans afoot for a podcast - “I’ll be chatting with musician friends and behind-the-scenes technical people” - the road ahead will be travelled at the kind of breakneck pace that only Faulkner can sustain. But wherever he ends up, he assures us, the song will always be the driving force. “I like adding strings to my bow,” he considers. “But I do think the song writing has to be the main focus. Because if you haven’t got the song, then what’s the point of the rest of it…?”

https://newtonfaulkner.com/