Newton Faulkner, Studio Zoo and Losing Ground!

So, here's the official video from the very talented Newton Faulkner with his latest single 'Losing Ground' from his fourth album Studio Zoo which will be released on 26th August followed by the single on 8th September.

There's probably not many people who I could live with for 6 weeks straight but it was an absolute pleasure to work, live, laugh, cry, eat, sleep, dance and SING with this guy along with brother Toby and sister Lottie. I became part of the family and it felt strange to leave them after living together so intensely for the duration of the album recording/mixing/producing.

I think it's safe to say that the whole experience was a lot more intense and mentally draining than any of us originally imagined it would be, we had our ups and our downs but overall it was such an enjoyable and unique experience. We had definitely lost our minds by the end of the process when sleep deprivation kicked in, mostly talking in riddles to each other and yet it still seemed to make sense.

The only 'thing' that it can be compared to is Big Brother, or maybe The Truman Show! Newton's house was fitted with four cameras, two in the living area and two in the studio - You could find me on cameras 1 and 2, mostly being very boring doing important stuff on my phone or computer which looked like I was just sat there on my computer most of the time when people tuned in. On some occasions you would find me and Newton bouncing around the living area, jumping off sofas and singing with stuffed cuddly toys and generally being quite strange - Just to let off some steam! The rest of the time you would find Newton and brother Toby in the studio on cameras 3 and 4 making sweet music! Along with lots of special guests and competition winners who dared to enter the madness of the Zoo.

The fact that the whole album was recorded produced etc within a matter of weeks is unbelievable, I'm not quite sure how it happened - and yet I was there, living and breathing every minute of it.

I can't wait for the world to hear the album, it's so special (I'm biased but honestly it really is!).

It was hard to imagine what I was actually agreeing to when I said yes to this job, because nobody knew - We still didn't know during the process because we had to take everything as it came to us. We were being streamed live on the internet 24/7, sometimes in front of thousands of people so there was little room for error - But we managed it! Even if Camera 1 did get renamed 'bum cam' due to the unfortunate positioning of where I was stood/sat to where the camera was set up (the cameras were so tiny I forgot that they were there most of the time, until somebody sent me a screenshot...). That was the difference to Big Brother, everybody could still contact us and send us embarrassing screenshots!

All that said, I'm so very grateful and honoured that I was asked to be such a huge part of it. Thank you to every single person who tuned in and kept us going throughout the whole of Studio Zoo, even if it was just telling us to have a power nap or to hit Toby in the face (Note: we DO NOT condone violence! Only when Toby's involved).

But on a serious note, thank you to each and every one of you who were involved in any way for giving me and the rest of the Faulkner family an experience which we will never forget - I know I certainly won't! Bring on the next album...! No pressure Newton.

Love to Sam (Newton), Toby and Lottie x